When war is waged, the State takes priority. Regardless of whatever the pre-war legal norms were, during wartime, whatever the State needs, the State takes. And because the State must have what it needs to wage war, the private sector is typically crowded out of a wide range of goods and services.

During wartime, access is key and price is secondary. Therefore, all essential goods and services have an inelastic price curve.

No matter how wealthy or powerful you may be, any asset whose ownership is conferred by legal title is fair game for wartime confiscation. Your bank account, your stock portfolio, your house, your car — your ownership of these things is predicated upon the State upholding and protecting your exclusive right to use them.

Before I jump in, a quick PSA — the time to buy Bitcoin is now, while you still can. Because once your fiat assets are frozen or fiat capital controls are erected, your wealth cannot be converted into a harder currency. At that point, you are at the whim of the State, and you better hope the flag printed on your passport wins. That is how the State gains the support of the masses — it takes away their modes of escape. The only way out is through!

War bonds convert citizens into “investors” in the war effort. Now, everyone’s interests are aligned. We win the war, and you get your money back.

As long as there has been settled human civilisation, there have been wars. And the State always uses inflation to “pay” for the war.

In today’s age — where capital is more mobile — keep an eye on the rules and regulations surrounding how public and private pensions / retirement accounts must be invested. The global baby boomer generation that holds trillions of dollars worth of “savings” in these managed pools. Governments deliberately construct the rules so that this capital can only find its way into “approved” investments. Be on the lookout for more restrictions on how retirement savings can be invested that prioritises the State over all else.

The free market of the past was physical, but if physical cash is banned and only electronic forms of money are accepted (Central Bank Digital Currencies, anyone?), then free market goods will be priced in an electronic currency that cannot be confiscated by the State. I predict that the currency of the free market will be Bitcoin.

The goal is to remain financially flexible in the face of the vagaries of war. 100% of your financial capital should never be parked in just one monetary instrument, whether that be Bitcoin, domestic fiat currencies, bonds, stocks, real estate, commodities, or gold. But your opportunity to move your fiat assets into Bitcoin and other “real” assets only exists today, and may not tomorrow. Remember that.