Manifest

A prosperous, just, and ethical society is based on honest money. When people, families, companies, and countries have the opportunity to save in a neutral, conservative, decentralized monetary medium whose issuance does not depend on a central authority, they acquire a level of freedom and sovereignty over their own destiny that is not possible when money issuance and the monetary policy associated with it are under the control of governments and central banks.

History shows us that whenever the opportunity has arisen, governments around the world have sought to exercise control over their citizens' money and assets in order to control, coerce, and exert the authority necessary to maintain themselves in power. One of the most effective ways of achieving obedience from the population is through the threat of restricting access to the monetary energy that enables them to meet the basic needs of any human being: food, water, and shelter.

For millennia, gold and land were used as money. It was in this way that many dynasties bought the loyalty and obedience of their subjects and remained in power for several generations. The population only retained its economic power as long as it was convenient for those in power, who held the monopoly on force and military power. Therefore, for several centuries, the rights of custody and resistance to censorship of the monetary means available to human beings were always weak.

With the advent of the Internet, which enabled the digitization of the banking system, and with the hyper-financialization of capital markets, money acquired enormous speed, and today hundreds of billions of dollars, euros, and yuan circulate through the global banking network every hour. However, the world's economic energy has become increasingly centralized and under the custody of a few major central banks and financial institutions, which use this control to coerce and manipulate the very populations they claim to protect. They do so through capital controls, artificial manipulation of interest rates, and inflation of the money supply, which robs populations of purchasing power year after year.

Thus, we cannot expect governments and large banks to give up control of money voluntarily. The advantages and temptations are too great for that to happen freely and willingly. As F. A. Hayek said in 1984: "I don't believe we shall ever have a good money again before we take it out of the hands of government, that is, we can't take it violently out of the hands of government, all we can do is by some sly roundabout way introduce something that they can't stop." Today, there is an alternative: Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is an emerging and revolutionary technology that gives people back their financial sovereignty and the right to transact freely without depending on an authority or intermediary to authorize and validate the transaction. Moreover, anyone once again has the ability to custody their own monetary energy in a way that cannot be stopped, stolen, or confiscated. All of this happens in a decentralized, peer-to-peer manner, through a network of computers composed of sovereign nodes operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In turn, these nodes implement a conservative protocol that prevents inflation of the Bitcoin asset and guarantees a maximum of 21 million units in circulation.

Therefore, it is the mission of the Portuguese Bitcoin Institute (IPB) to represent the interests of the Bitcoin network and bitcoiners in Portugal. It is our duty to defend the ideology manifested by the Bitcoin protocol (decentralization, sovereignty, freedom, transparency, and security) and the right of all holders of this asset to maintain custody of their bitcoins and respective private keys, and to run the implementation of the protocol they deem appropriate on their own hardware.

Ultimately, Bitcoin is only as strong as the people who decide to dedicate their time, financial, and energy resources to the network. Thus, the IPB shall:

* Be the face of Bitcoin in Portugal;

* Commit to pedagogical education of the public, companies, and the political class;

* Support the government in developing laws and regulations beneficial to Bitcoin in Portugal and Europe;

* Conduct research and share reliable knowledge in order to combat the misinformation circulating about Bitcoin;

* Promote the establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve in Portugal;

* Create conditions for the Bitcoin industry, particularly mining, to flourish in Portugal and attract companies and capital to the country.

The IPB believes that Portugal's development and progress as a nation depends on how the country embraces emerging technologies such as Bitcoin. The correct stance toward this technology creates opportunities for economic and technological development and ensures the sovereignty of Portugal as an independent nation with nearly nine centuries of history.

We recognize that our objectives are ambitious but, just as five hundred years ago when Portugal initiated the Age of Discoveries, we believe the country should be at the technological forefront of this unprecedented innovation in History, and that its citizens should live in a free society where each individual has full control over their capital and where the right to transact freely is guaranteed.

In short, the Bitcoin protocol ensures an honest and fair financial system for billions of people around the world. Therefore, it is essential to defend it and promote its growth and adoption in Portugal.