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.