Key Insight

This week’s key insight is written by Brady Tinnin.

I distinctly remember my college days as a freshman who paid close attention to the little savings I had, when my go-to Chipotle chicken burrito cost $6.50. Today, that same exact burrito costs $8.75. A 34.6% increase in the last seven years for a typical fast food meal.

In your own life, you’ve probably noticed prices of goods climbing year after year too. But have you ever put the money’s rate of decay into actual numbers?

Taking charitable, publicly-listed numbers from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:

• In the last year, the US dollar has inflated by 2.9%

• Over five years, it’s lost 19.1% of its purchasing power

• 10 years? 27.5%

• 15 years: 35.2%

These are the “official” numbers, but it is numbers from personal experience (like the example I gave) that should lead one to question and conclude that true inflation is much higher than what the BLS and other government entities suggest.

If you have receipts from the past, do the math yourself. Compare the prices of everyday goods from years ago to today. See how quickly the value of your cash is eroding. 

Now in the context of business, inflation is equally pernicious. According to 2024 data from the same Bureau:

• 20.4% of businesses fail in their first year 

• 49.4% of businesses fail in their first 5 years 

• 65.3% of businesses fail in their first 10 years

• 75% of new businesses fail before making it past 15 years 

How much of these failures stems from a business’s inability to keep up with the rate of inflation? Were they actually suffering from a flawed business model, or was the cost of their “fixed” expenses running away from them faster than otherwise sustainable profits could come in?

You won’t find any direct data to correlate the “business mortality rate” with inflation, but it’s a straightforward conclusion to draw: when money is evaporating, the fuel that’s powering those businesses is becoming increasingly less potent. How much more likely, then is that engine to fail sooner?

In a world where money is characterized by inflation, it’s easy to cast these failures as normal. But how much more successful could businesses be—and how much more quality could they offer—if they didn’t have to spend their limited energy on capital preservation?

Bitcoin is the tool designed to address this problem directly. It’s fuel that can’t be diluted; in fact, as technology improves, so does the efficiency of that fuel.

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Other Noteworthy News

🏛️The White House announces that President Trump will host and speak at the first-ever White House Crypto Summit on March 7.

💼Tether Appoints New CFO as It Moves Toward Full Audit

🪙Florida Governor Candidate Byron Donalds Wants Bitcoin in State Portfolio

💠Bitwise CIO Says Market Is Wrong, Trump's Bitcoin Reserve Is Bullish

🔶Ray Dalio Believes Bitcoin Could Play a Big Role in Wealth Protection

🪨BlackRock's IBIT sees record daily outflows as US spot Bitcoin ETFs' negative streak extends to $3 billion

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This article by Adrian Christiansen explains how fiat money enables inflation and erodes value, while bitcoin, with its fixed supply, offers a decentralized and superior alternative for preserving wealth.

The ECB cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.5%, citing a “less restrictive” policy stance. Inflation eased to 2.4%, while growth forecasts were downgraded amid trade and investment uncertainty.

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Chart of the Week

Addresses Holding > X BTC by Year

This chart from the On-Chain Introduction Collection tracks the yearly growth of bitcoin addresses holding at least 0.01, 0.1, or 1 BTC.