It's been a whirlwind of a seven days for Bitcoin fundamentals.

Last week started with El Salvador passing a law that officially recognized bitcoin as legal tender. In the process, becoming the first nation state domino to fall, which should incite a chain reaction amongst nation states in similar economic situations. It will be interesting to see which domino, if any, falls next.

The week ended with the successful lock-in of Taproot via the Speedy Trial activation method. This means that Taproot will go live on the network at some point in November of this year. As of right now, the exact date is estimated to be November 14th. However, with that being said, less than 25% of reachable nodes are currently running node software that would enforce Taproot-compatible rules once officially activated.

The miners on the network have signaled their preparedness for Taproot. Now it's time to see if node operators are prepared for and willing to accept the upgrade. It will be interesting to see how this chart evolves between now and the middle of November. If you are running a node and want to utilize Taproot/Schnorr and the benefits that come with them, make sure you are running Bitcoin Core v0.21.1 (and higher once subsequent versions are released).

Moving along, the May inflation print came in today and it came in HOT.

Producers at the bases of global supply chains are experiencing and reporting rapid price increases. A 6.6% year-on-year increase in prices for the part of the economy that takes raw materials and turns them into products that are then shipped throughout the globe, adding additional costs at each stop on the way, is nothing to take lightly. We've been warning that inflation is going to run rampant since last April. Inflation is here, it is material, and your Uncle Marty isn't convinced that it will be "transitory". This is only the beginning. Especially when you consider the US Federal Government plans on printing (via debt) and spending $6 TRILLION this year. Prepare yourselves.

All of this combined - El Salvador, Taproot, and increased prices/decreased purchasing power - provides a fundamental backdrop for Bitcoin that could not look any better. Countries are hedging their currency exposure with bitcoin. Bitcoin is becoming more scalable, extendable, and private. And those in charge of the incumbent monetary system are running it into the ground via printing.

Fix the money, fix the world.

Final thought...

Mid day surf session? Yes, please.