My Journey to Financial Security
In 2017, I had been saving money for a few years, with the goal of never being in debt, and realized the prices of houses were growing faster than I could possibly save money. I felt like the system was rigged, and decided to just spend recklessly, seeing long term savings as almost pointless. I realized I would probably never own a house unless I wanted to go into debt.
Fast forward to 2024, I was having an existential crisis about what to do with my life and heard about the Bitcoin halving (an event reducing Bitcoin's supply). I decided to revisit my previous surface level interest in Bitcoin. Through a combination of the Nostr community, and a podcast on crypto, I decided people really believed it was going to keep growing. A video about a town adopting Bitcoin in South Africa pushed me over the edge to making my first purchase.
I still was not sure what exactly I was buying into, but I could feel the energy and confidence I craved in these people I was seeing. I'd suggest doing more research than I did. Since then this path has led me to research what money even is, and how it works, and why we have the systems we have in place today. While I don't believe the dollar system or inflation is evil, I do believe that the incentives around it harm the average person.
The idea that the Bitcoin boat has sailed can feel daunting, and it initially put me off. But I believe sharing journeys like mine can help people get past that fear enough to learn about it. My research leads me to have quite a bit of confidence in Bitcoin continuing to grow against the dollar, although it will likely continue to be volatile for the foreseeable future; your research may bring you to the same conclusion. My goal with Can't Be Printed isn't to push Bitcoin as the only solution (I invest in the S&P 500 as well for short term savings), but to show how exploring and finding grounding in the principles that Bitcoin is built on helped me feel secure.
If you're feeling uncertain about your future, hopefully this site inspires you to take whatever small steps towards your goals and dreams. The misery I felt before I started this journey was suffocating, and while Bitcoin wasn't the solution to everything, the part it does play in my life has been powerful. Can't Be Printed is here to share my perspective and story, hoping those like me who just want to build a good future without needing to get trapped in debt are able to.