In Scam We Trust: Bitcoin and the Illusion of Digital Wealth
P. T. Barnum, who, in 1881, founded the world-famous Barnum and Bailey Circus is purported to have said, “There’s a sucker born every minute”. Today, Mr. Barnum’s prophetic comment is more applicable to Bitcoin buyers than it ever was to his circus’ patrons. Despite all the warning signs, suckers continue to buy the smoke-and mirrors defined by Bitcoin.
2026 “In Scam We Trust” Silver Proof Coin, by Chris Duane
Chris’ new strike, In Scam We Trust, vividly exemplifies the abject perversity associated with Bitcoin. It is an enormous scam because it is literally based on nothing. Nothing tangible, nothing solid, nothing accumulative and nothing real. It’s numbers, written on a cloud in the sky, that can disappear with a change of the wind’s direction or a tap on a demon’s keyboard.
And yet, people continue to buy Bitcoin as though it were backed by something of historic value like real estate, commodities, stocks, silver or gold. These greedy gamblers behave as though the current bubble will never burst. And this is despite the fact that history has proven over, and over, again that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
The average age of an American Bitcoin owner is just 37 years old. 60% to 67% of all crypto owners are under 45 years of age with the most living in India, China and the United States. The majority of these people are inexperienced neophytes when it comes to “investments.”
In fact, the majority of these people are too young to have any personal experience with any of the previous asset bubbles that suddenly burst since 1980. Even if they are aware of the previous asset class’s crashes, they certainly don’t behave that way. They appear to be oblivious, blind and unaware of the historic risks involved with Bitcoin ownership. And that may be why they appear so ignorant, and so impervious, to the devious demon lurking just behind Bitcoin’s digital illusions of wealth, when instead, they should be running for the hills.
2026 “In Scam We Trust" Silver Proof Coin, by Chris Duane
To prove this observation, let's look at Bitcoin’s record. In 1980, when silver crashed, today’s 40-year-old Bitcoin Bubblehead wasn't even born yet. When the Stock Market crashed in 1987 today’s average 40-year-old Bitcoin owner was just a year old. The Dot-Com Bubble burst in 2000 when those same 40-year-olds were just 14. And, during the U.S. housing bubble, which exploded in 2007, they were still too young to even own a home. They have never had any skin-in-the-game, up until Bitcoin reared its ugly head.
Bitcoin was launched on January 3, 2009 as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. It was created out of thin-air by someone using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. To this day, no one knows for sure who that person was. This fact alone should have set off alarms among the buying public. And yet, people dove into the mire head first, and many suffocated to death, just eight years later, when the first major crypto bubble burst in 2017.
Bitcoin lost 84% of its value that year, only to repeat the crash again and again including during 2020, 2021 and again in 2025, while losing an average of 61.0% of its value each of those times.
The only people who have consistently made money with Bitcoin are those who were there at the very beginning. And, even those people know they are at risk of losing everything when the music stops. So, as Chris’ round, In Scam We Trust, illustrates, it remains a scam, despite their protestations to the contrary. And their affirmations are widely broadcast because, like a Ponzi scheme, these snake oil salesmen need more and more suckers to keep the scam running.
The truth is that no matter how much the swindlers dress-up Bitcoin, it is still an extraordinarily risky fraud. It is a racket, a hoax, a potential rip-off, and a con-job all rolled into one. It is one of the largest scams ever inflicted on mankind and there is no doubt that its bubble will burst again.
So, heed the cautionary tale and, “Beware of the big bad wolf who hides in sheep’s clothing”, or you will get eaten alive.
Other Silver Shield Proof Round releases
