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PROLOGUE
I Wrote This for My Dad
I watched a reel in 2025 where someone counted how many times the word "stablecoin" was
said at a financial conference. It was a lot. And something clicked.
Not about crypto. I'd been in that world for years — hackathons, Web3 projects, the whole
ecosystem. This was different. This wasn't about volatile tokens or speculative trading or the
latest meme coin. This was about money itself.
A stablecoin is a dollar on a blockchain ledger instead of a bank ledger. That's it. Same dollar.
Different infrastructure. And that single shift — moving existing money from private bank
databases to a shared, programmable, global ledger — unlocks everything you're about to read
in this book.
I know this not because I read a white paper. I know it because I live it.
My cofounder is in Punta Arenas, Chile. He's the godfather of my child. We run a business
together across two continents. And moving money between us is a nightmare. Jumping
between banks, intermediaries, account types. Certain banks won't send to certain banks. Two
people who share a godchild can't easily share money across a border.
I built a platform for sportfishing competitions — derby.fish. Sub-dollar entry fees for fishing
derbies. The prize pool needs to be 100% whole. But processing fees — a percentage plus a flat
fee on every transaction — either gouge the customer or eat the prize. Stablecoins unlock the
entire product. Without them, micro-derbies are economically impossible.
And then there's my dad.
I have spent hours — truly, hours — explaining Bitcoin, blockchain, crypto. He asks "what is
Bitcoin?" the way you'd ask what's for dinner. Not hostile. Not opposed. Just... willfully
unbothered. He lets it pass over his head. Every time. Not because he's incapable. Because
nobody has explained it in a way that matters to him.
This is not a Bitcoin book. Not a crypto-hype book. Not a technology manual. It's a book about
the future of money for everyone — and the people already living in it.
I wrote this for my dad. And for everyone like him.