Question: “Ndubuisi, if a single currency cannot save Africa, what about a currency backed by gold? I understand your advocacy for production as the true cushion of currencies. As you explain, comment on using Bitcoin treasury reserves.”
My Response: Good People, in today’s interconnected global economy, the notion of backing a modern currency with gold is largely a beautiful illusion. Consider this: the United States holds about 8,133 metric tons of gold, roughly $1 trillion in value. If America melts every ounce of that gold, it will still not be worth up to 25% of Apple Inc. Yes, a single innovative company outperforms all the gold in Fort Knox because markets price productivity, not minerals.
Globally, gold in all its forms like bullion, jewelry, derivatives, and reserves adds up to about $13 trillion. Meanwhile, the world economy is about $105 trillion. With every nation tethered to its currency, there is simply not enough gold to credibly back the world’s money supply unless we wish to return to an imperial age where trade is constrained and economies are throttled.
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Gold functions best when a nation is cut off from global trade, because it provides a secondary stabilizing layer. That is why Russia, under sanctions, turned to buying physical gold to fortify the ruble. It was a kind of two-factor authentication for their currency, a cushion against frontal attacks. In isolation, gold works. In a globalized marketplace, it is inadequate.
To strengthen any currency, especially one that is not the global reserve like US dollar, the path is simple: produce, innovate, and export massively. The United States earns global trust in its dollar because its economy produces value the world desires. America prints the dollar; the world earns it. That asymmetry is built on productivity, not precious metals.
Africa must understand this truth: gold will not save our currencies; only production will. And on Bitcoin, the challenge is even more fundamental. Bitcoin has no balance sheet, no income statement, no productive capacity, and no earnings to counter market sentiment. Tesla can be hit by fears today and surprise the market tomorrow with higher sales and revenue. Bitcoin cannot. It stands only on the faith of the faithful, and that is not enough to anchor a national currency.
Therefore, piling Bitcoin into national treasuries will not create monetary strength. It will create dependency, complacency, and eventually economic calamity. Just like the dream of a single African currency under heterogeneous economies where the supranational bank will naturally favour large economies like Nigeria and neglect smaller ones like Gabon, Bitcoin reserves will amplify imbalance and accelerate vulnerability with massive welfare losses. Simply: Africa cannot build monetary stability on illusions. It must build on production.
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