International Man: Since its inception in 2009, the US government has been largely hostile toward Bitcoin—but that changed dramatically with Trump's victory in the 2024 election.

For the first time, the leader of the world's most powerful nation is openly pro-Bitcoin.

What's your take on this remarkable shift?

Doug Casey: Maybe Trump was brought around to appreciating the merits of Bitcoin by his association with Silicon Valley tech guys and various Bitcoin bros. The recent creation of Trumpcoin has added a couple of billion to his net worth and undoubtedly cemented his enthusiasm. Although, like 99% of the zillions of meme coins out there, Trumpcoin appears to serve no useful purpose and has zero tangible value.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, has real value—even though it's just a mathematical construct floating in the ether. In today's world, Bitcoin is a reasonable money. Through the last 5,000 years of history, gold has been money, followed by silver and, to some degree, copper. We can now add Bitcoin to that short list.

Let me take a moment to review what constitutes a good money, which has six essential characteristics. It must be durable, divisible, convenient, consistent, usable, and limited.

It must be durable. That's why we don't use wheat as money. Gold is ultra-durable. So is Bitcoin, barring a catastrophic collapse of the electrical grid and the internet—a very small but real danger.