Money

“I don’t need money. I need questions answered.

Question number one: Can I have some money?”

—Ford Fairlane, in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Rock ’n’ Roll Detective

A simple, but gravely misunderstood thing.

It is misunderstood by tech people (bitcoin isn’t cash; it’s a fraudulent asset); by people who ask for client money protection from a bank, and those who aspire to take security over it.

Cash is not an asset. It is not property. Cash is is a token of abstract value. It cannot be owned, only held — which is another way of saying whoever holds it owns it, outright, against all the world. They can’t futz around with your interests to it, you can’t declare a trust over it, pledge it, or hold it for anyone other than your self.

See also

• credit risk
• client money
• bank
• bitcoin