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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>About 20 yrs ago, we concluded that the critical factor in the value of a currency is not what is behind the currency, but rather how the supply of the currency is controlled. It can be gold backed, silver backed, government promise backed, it doesn't matter, only that it isn't created arbitrarily.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>The US government came to the same conclusion simultaneously, so it borrowed and spent the value behind its own currency, while Hal's group (BitCoin) invented a way to control supply of a currency based on compute time, secured by block chain. They created a currency representing no actual value, representing no precious metals or anything else, no government promises behind it, acknowledging this right up front. Its only real asset as a currency is that the supply is controlled in such a way that it is impossible to counterfeit or print in arbitrary quantities, unlike all fiat currencies.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>This is what happened:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><a href="https://www.google.com/finance/quote/BTC-USD?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj3pqyYx772AhUZITQIHQRrDc8Q-fUHegQIGxAS&window=5Y">https://www.google.com/finance/quote/BTC-USD?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj3pqyYx772AhUZITQIHQRrDc8Q-fUHegQIGxAS&window=5Y</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>spike<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>