Bitcoin: A New Kind of Property

As wildfires, hurricanes, and even social unrest become more prevalent, the realization is dawning that traditional methods of wealth preservation may not be as dependable as previously thought.

Traditionally, real estate has been viewed as one of the safest and most reliable ways to preserve wealth. Unlike stocks, bonds, or cash, real estate is a physical asset—you can feel it, live in it, and pass it down through generations. This tangible nature has established real estate as a cornerstone asset class for protecting wealth.

Conversely, bitcoin has often been seen by traditional investors as the antithesis of real estate. Detractors claim that it has no physical form, utility, or ability to retain value long-term. They argue that, unlike property, bitcoin is untouchable, uninhabitable, and difficult to insure. They see it as nothing more than code, questioning how something so intangible can serve as a store of value.

Ironically, the answer lies in those same physical characteristics—specifically, the vulnerabilities associated with physical assets. Recent events in California and North Carolina starkly illustrate that the ability to touch an asset does not guarantee its safety. In an era of rising geopolitical tensions, natural disasters, and shifting economic landscapes, bitcoin is emerging as an optimal store of value precisely because of its unique form of physicality. Essentially, bitcoin is a physical entity, just not one that is subject to the risks posed by natural disasters.

The Fragility Of Tangible Wealth

The devastating wildfires in Los Angeles have left a nightmarish scene of destruction, reducing over 12,000 homes and structures to ashes. Families who spent decades building wealth through their properties returned only to find the ruins and the grim truth that their most prized asset—their home—was gone.

In Western North Carolina, hurricanes wiped out entire communities. Months later, many residents still live in RVs, tents, or makeshift shelters, unable to rebuild due to skyrocketing costs, insurance disputes, or the fact that the land itself is no longer habitable.

These incidents serve as harsh reminders of a fundamental truth: real estate does not inherently possess a low-risk quality. A house, no matter its value, is tied to a specific location. If that area is ravaged, occupied, or rendered uninhabitable, the asset’s value could quickly evaporate. The wealth encapsulated in a home can vanish in an instant, and rebuilding can take years—and even then, the process may be subject to environmental changes, regulatory decisions, and other external factors.

For those impacted by these disasters, the notion that real estate is a fail-safe method of wealth preservation is evidently false. Instead, they are faced with the realization that everything they’ve worked for can be wiped out—by natural catastrophes like fires and floods, or by bureaucratic hurdles such as affordable housing mandates, “Coastal Commission” stipulations, and endless administrative roadblocks.

Bitcoin: A New Kind Of Property

This is where bitcoin upends the traditional narrative. While bitcoin is indeed a physical commodity—it has a real-world existence—its physicality is fundamentally different from that of real estate or precious metals. Rather than residing in a single location that is vulnerable to natural or political disturbances, bitcoin exists as uniform data replicated in computer memory across hundreds of thousands of devices scattered around the globe—and even in outer space.

Bitcoin’s ledger meticulously records claims of ownership, and this ledger is both immutable and uniformly distributed millions of times over. You access your wealth through a secret key that only you control. It can be stored in multiple locations, encrypted digitally, or even memorized. If secured properly, your assets cannot be destroyed, confiscated, or lost in any disaster short of one so extreme that it threatens humanity as a whole.

Consider the implications: If a fire consumes your house, your bitcoin remains intact. If a hurricane devastates an entire region, your bitcoin assets don’t change. If conflict erupts and you must cross a border, there’s no need to abandon your wealth—you can carry it with you simply by knowing a secret. No matter where you end up, as long as you can eventually access the internet, your money is accessible.

This concept is something that people enduring geopolitical turmoil instinctively grasp. A person fleeing a war-torn nation understands that their wealth, if tied to a business or property, could be seized, bombed, or taken over by a new ruling power. Bitcoin, on the other hand, offers a lifeline—a means to maintain financial independence even if all else is lost.

For many Americans, this perspective has been largely foreign. Unlike people in nations ravaged by conflict or oppressive regimes, Americans have enjoyed relative stability for decades. However, as wildfires, hurricanes, and even civil unrest become more prevalent, the realization is setting in that traditional methods of wealth preservation may not be as reliable as once thought.

In reality, the “stability” of the U.S. is more of a comforting illusion than a fact. A close examination of American history shows that any given American has a guaranteed 100% chance of experiencing civil unrest in their vicinity. This observation is not meant to imply that the U.S. is particularly