“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[1] — 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

References

  1. “Ford! Ford! We just needed to be held!”
    “Well, you got the bonus plan. Ohhh”