In A World At War, Doge Is Waging Peace
Hey everyone,
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has thrown the world into a state of uncertainty
Amidst global chaos, cryptocurrency has emerged as a powerful force for good, allowing regular people to protect themselves from becoming collateral damage of the war machine.
Crypto may be transforming global conflict for the better, with Doge leading the way. Here’s how it’s playing out.
Economic Warfare
Emerging from a two-year pandemic, the people of earth find themselves staring down the possibility of a world at war.
In response to Russian military action in Ukraine, the West has hit Russia with waves of financial sanctions, including plans to ban Russia from SWIFT, the system used for interbank transfers across the world. Sanctions are seen as a way for the West to hurt Russia without directly contributing to the physical conflict.
The nominal aim of these sanctions to cut off money flowing into Russia and make life difficult enough for Russian citizens that they demand a change of leadership. The next Presidential election in Russia will take place in 2024.
In the past, the strategy of inflicting economic pain on innocent people may have worked.
However, the emergence of the digital financial system is complicating the picture, and changing the nature of economic warfare before our eyes.
The Crypto War
Dubbed the "the world's first crypto war" by the media, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has exposed the reality crypto policy is now a matter of national security for countries across the globe.
In late January, Putin publicly commented that Russia had "competitive advantages" mining Bitcoin, and urged the government and central bank to regulate crypto rather than ban it. At the start of February, the government announced an agreement with the bank had been reached to recognize crypto as a form of currency.
Russia's pre-emptive response to sanctions may be part of a combined effort by Russia and China to reduce the influence of the US Dollar and implement their own digital currencies.
Last week, as Russia's institutions were cut off from the global financial system and the Ruble tumbled, its citizens scrambled to buy crypto in order to preserve their purchasing power and financial sovereignty. The price of Bitcoin surged as the importance of censorship-resistant money became evident to all.
Despite outside pressure, crypto exchanges continued to service individual Russian citizens, who bear little responsibility for the actions of their leader.
Crypto has also played an important role for Ukraine's citizens and government during the conflict.
As thousands of people fled the combat zone and ATMs ran out of money, crypto became a preferred way to store and move value. At one point, Bitcoin and Ethereum were trading on Ukrainian exchanges at a significant premium over global averages.
With the conflict intensifying, the Ukrainian government began accepting donations in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Last Thursday, donations topped $47 million dollars. The money has been used to buy critical supplies such as drones, bulletproof vests, and gasoline.
The government originally planned an official token airdrop to thank donors, before changing course and announcing an NFT airdrop instead.
The idea of a beleaguered government raising money through NFTs would've seemed fanciful even a year ago, but here we are.
Crypto's spirit of generosity extended to its institutions as well. The exchange FTX gave $25 to every Ukrainian user, while lending platform BlockFi donated $50 to Ukrainian clients.
In the bigger picture, the hope is for crypto to incentivize cooperation among countries who store value on the same digital network.
Jason Lowery calls this idea Mutually Assured Preservation, an optimistic revision of the principle of Mutually Assured Destruction that has defined the global order since the advent of nuclear weapons.
In this framework, Bitcoin acts as a defensive technology for a nation's wealth. States deploy energy resources to secure their wealth on the Bitcoin network instead of devoting them to building up destructive weaponry to capture the wealth of others.
The network's genius is that it offers nations a way to pursue their respective self-interests in a mutually beneficial, nonviolent competition. The more electrical energy participants devote to the network, the better job it does at protecting each participant's wealth, and the less energy remains to build up offensive weaponry.
The result, in this theory, is to reduce the probability of a destructive kinetic war—a noble goal well worth pursuing, whatever its odds of success.
Last week, Elon seemed to weigh in on the situation, tweeting an unattributed line about technology's influence on warfare in response to a quote by Sun Tzu to "Build your opponents a golden bridge to retreat across."
Taken together, the quotations represent opposite potential outcomes to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
If the kinetic war is allowed to escalate, Ukraine will likely find itself outgunned by Russia, owner of the world's largest nuclear arsenal. Given enough time, Russia's superior military could overpower Ukrainian forces, no matter how badly Western sanctions hurt the Russian people.
Alternately, Ukraine and the rest of the West can offer Russia a golden bridge to exit the conflict by throwing its weight behind the alternative financial system, which offers an equal playing field to everyone. As circumstance would have it, President Biden was scheduled to release an executive order on crypto the same week the war started, which looks like it pushed back the announcement to this week.
A transition to the digital financial system by China, Russia, and the West would mean that the US would lose the unilateral power to inflict financial damage on other countries, but could result in fairer and more peaceful relations in the long run.
Though the fog of war is thick, a few things are clear so far: crypto allows individuals to exert greater influence on the direction of conflict, and the overwhelming majority of the world's population desires peace. As crypto restores power to the people, we can hope and act toward a future with less war.
Off The Financial Grid
No matter how the Russia-Ukraine conflict resolves, it is virtually certain that regular people from both countries will suffer most, while high-level decision-makers will be insulated from their consequences.
Dogecoin, the people's crypto, is already being used to ameliorate some of the worst consequences of the conflict on citizens.
After Ukraine started to solicit Bitcoin and Ethereum donations, Doge creator Billy Markus tweeted out a platform that allowed the DogeArmy to donate Dogecoin to humanitarian relief.
Last Wednesday, in surely one of the most surreal tweets in history, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine posted a Doge wallet address and called on the DogeArmy to support his country.
As of Monday afternoon, more than 760,000 Dogecoins were donated to Ukraine through 1,800 transactions.
No one knows when this situation will resolve. Many military conflicts drag on longer than they should as politicians posture and attempt to save face on the world stage.
Dogecoin gives regular folks the chance to get off the financial grid today, whether the power players approve or not. It is heartening to see Doge being used to improve people's lives during global conflict.
Doge brings more to the table than just censorship-proof digital financial rails.
The absurd humor intrinsic to Dogecoin is a respite from global upheaval, allowing people from all backgrounds to bond over shared love of memes and dogs.
In this tempest of uncertainty, Dogecoin is a source of hope and optimism for many. That alone gives it value in these strange times.
The world is changing, and with it the nature of war..
The world's first "crypto war" has made digital money impossible to ignore. Crypto is being used by both sides to prevent regular people from becoming collateral damage in this conflict between international superpowers.
In the long run, crypto has the potential to soften and, ideally, eliminate the worst aspects of armed conflict.
While nation states slowly lurch toward crypto adoption, Dogecoin offers the opportunity for regular people to get off the financial grid today.
More than just a practical cryptocurrency, Doge's meme-powered blend of humor and hope is a force for light. In the darkness of our global predicament, that counts for a lot.
Dogey Treats: News Bites
Elon pointed out that oil-rich Saudi Arabia owns 2/3rds of Tesla competitor Lucid. He said it would be "damn near impossible" for other companies to make cost-efficient electric truck and invited the UAW to attempt to unionize Tesla's Fremont, CA factory. On Friday night, he called for the US to increase oil and gas output because "extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures."
MyDoge, a crypto wallet designed specifically for Dogecoin, was released on the Apple App Store.
At AMC's Q4 earnings call, CEO Adam Aron said retail owns 90% of the public float.
After Biden failed to mention Tesla at his State of the Union and tweeted about Ford and GM, Elon ratio'd the president in a tweet directed "to the person controlling this Twitter. On Friday, Biden acknowledged Tesla as the nation's largest EV manufacturer.
Pomp was ratio'd by ex fake Doge CEO greg. He responded gracefully: "If I was to ever get ratio’d, I would want it to be no one other than you Greg :)"
Meme stock villain Citadel Securities is becoming a market maker for crypto.
Elon urged Ukrainian Starlink users to "use with caution" because it is "the only non-Russian communication system still working in some parts of Ukraine" and the probability of being hit with a Russian attack is "high." He posted tweets urging Ukraine to "hold strong" and extending his "sympathies to the great people of Russia, who do not want this." He acknowledged that Starlink signals were being jammed and refused to block news sources at the request of "some countries," saying "sorry to be a free speech absolutist." He also tweeted that "all news sources are partially propaganda, some more than others."
Tesla is offering free supercharging at stations in Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary for Ukrainian refugees.
Elon called on McDonalds to accept Doge again.
The SEC is probing NFT creators for regulatory violations.
There have been nine Falcon launches in the first nine weeks of 2022.
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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice and I am not a financial advisor. The article above references an opinion for entertainment purposes only and it is not investment advice. Do your own research and consult with a licensed financial adviser before making any investment decision. Do not treat any opinion expressed in this newsletter as a specific inducement to make a particular investment. Content, news, research, tools, and securities symbols are for educational and illustrative purposes only and do not imply a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell a particular security or cryptocurrency or to engage in any particular investment strategy. The information provided is not warranted as to completeness or accuracy and is subject to change without notice. The projections or other information regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, are not guaranteed for accuracy or completeness, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future results. All investments involve risk, losses may exceed the principal invested, and the past performance of a security, industry, sector, market, cryptocurrency, or financial product does not guarantee future results or returns. Dogecoin is a speculative and highly volatile asset susceptible to pump-and-dump schemes.
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