Haven 2021: The Dawn of Financial Freedom

When the early internet was blossoming, a group of courageous and bold thinkers saw a future of interconnected people and possibilities. But they also saw a totalitarian threat was looming. They recognized the digital age could either bring freedom for the people or ultimate power for the establishment. These Cypherpunks began a movement which has brought you all here today, has provided hope to millions, and gives us a chance to wrestle back control from a sclerotic establishment that will do everything it can to keep us under control.

Haven Protocol is a Cypherpunk manifestation that builds upon the Bitcoin dream and provides a genuine path to financial freedom. Bitcoin will still be useful as a tool to reign in the central banks and government spending, but it lacks the privacy that is a human right and the stability to be used by the average person.

This is the culmination of an improbable story with a far reaching plot of momentous events. The financialization of our society has generated an embarrassment of riches but also created unimaginable inequality. This disastrous experiment began in 1971 when Nixon took the United States, and consequently the world, off the gold standard. The fiat money era had begun and this was the beginning of the end. The rich began to get richer and it hasn’t stopped for 50 years.

While currency debasement, like coin shaving, is as old as civilization, fiat money is an exponential catastrophe unfolding before our eyes. As the debts pile up, more money printing and more debt issuance is required. The ponzi scheme has to continue because if the printer stops going brrrr, it will all collapse. What is a meme to us is a horrifying reality for millions around the globe living under authoritarian regimes financing their power on the backs of their citizens. Inflation, once fully unleashed, can be a true hidden evil of governments.

Cheaply created money has enabled those with the right connections to get filthy rich in an elaborate casino of financial markets that grows ever more complex. It could only end in catastrophe. Time after time, global markets would fail and then the establishment would intervene, only to ensure further riches for a select few and the eventuality of another collapse. In the process, the savings of the average person was destroyed. Was this by accident or design? 

In 2009, when the global financial system had collapsed yet again, an unknown genius was stirring. Satoshi Nakamoto brought Bitcoin into this world. Bitcoin offered hope. It got people thinking. What does this note in my hand actually mean and where does it come from? The people began to wake from a slumber and understand the magnitude of the crime that has been perpetuated upon us for 50 years. There is still hope Bitcoin can reign in the establishment’s monetary monopoly and return financial freedom to the people. However, freedom cannot survive on sound money alone.

Unfortunately, at the same time, the Cypherpunks’ other great fear was just beginning to rear its ugly head. The era of digital surveillance was dawning.

In a world of increasing digitization, where nearly 60% of humanity has access to the internet, we are connected like never before. From the tribesmen of the Kenyan foothills to the Inuits in the Arctic, knowledge is at the touch of the button but the eye of big brother sits just behind the screen.  

The tendrils of authoritarianism reach far back into history. From Plato’s Republic through Hobbes’s Leviathan to Schwab’s Great Reset, the establishment has always believed that the masses must be controlled. Only through their stewardship and our obedience can utopia be achieved. These beliefs stem from their dim view of humanity, likely a projection of their cynicism and contemptuous morality.

The digital age has brought to life the possibility of a digital panopticon that can enable a global technocracy. Where the scientific management of the population will be coerced by rendering them incapable of critical thinking and preying upon their greatest fears. A world where every interaction is tracked, measured, and manipulated to enable those in power to hold the keys to our past, present, and future. This is a genuine possibility and an unprecedented danger for our self-sovereignty. 

A crucial component to this control is the surveillance of money. It is no secret that our data is harvested by a multitude of faceless corporations to be sold to the highest bidder. While known, this is treated by the public with apathy: “I’ve got nothing to worry about because I have nothing to hide.” The turkey is very happy with his life right up until Thanksgiving.

In every problem lies a solution. The maths integral to computer code offers an asymmetric defense against prying eyes. Encryption, easy to implement but almost impossible to crack, can enable the meekest individuals to thwart the mightiest of institutions.

And so encryption was applied to money and the word crypto returned to its true origins. Projects like Monero offered new hope, a truly innovative decentralized currency that offered users complete privacy through the power of encryption and cryptographic techniques. Surely now we had enough to protect our future freedom?

Perhaps. But at the moment this space is mostly an exciting hobby for already wealthy people, a select few lucky enough to hear about it and smart enough to see the opportunity. Even for the most dedicated amongst us, it is not possible to live a normal life through crypto alone. The average person has no hope. Volatility and a giant conceptual leap prevents the masses from recognizing crypto’s true potential.

The volatile and cumbersome nature of cryptocurrency means it can never help those who need it the most. Particularly for those where price fluctuations or a lack of privacy could mean death. Billions of people around the world still need help to avoid catastrophe. You still need help. 

To truly gain our freedom, we need a secure financial system that can exist in parallel. We need a solution that can bring crypto to the masses where privacy is the default, and the monetary value can align with that they are familiar with.

Haven Protocol solves this. Very soon we will be launching the first ecosystem of untraceable assets that enables users to convert between volatile assets and stable currencies directly within their vault, in complete privacy. As an open source, community-led project that builds upon the privacy of Monero, Haven’s xAssets will enable anyone in the world to reclaim their financial freedom. It means freedom to anonymously diversify their wealth and transact in a variety of stable assets to protect themselves and their businesses from governments and technocracy. 

This is a revolutionary solution that is the logical conclusion of this revolutionary movement. It’s the dawn of financial freedom. No more 1984, choose Haven.