During the gold standard between 1717 and 1914 there were no recorded wars or financial crisis in the world. There was global peace and prosperity for almost 200 years. A gold standard needs to be implemented again.
Bitcoin is the superior and digital version of gold. It is the first mathematically absolute scarce commodity in the history of mankind.
Gold is currently still seen by established institutional actors as the most safe store of value. However, it is a matter of time before these actors understand that Bitcoin is the upgraded version of gold.
One of the key characteristics that makes gold the perfect store of value is that its supply cannot easily be increased over time. On Earth approximately 20% of the total current supply of gold is left to be mined in the future.
However, there are many near-Earth asteroids that contain more gold than there is on Earth. As soon as we have the capabilities to mine gold in large quantities from near-Earth asteroids, gold will lose its role as global store of value.
Strategically, Skyrock will focus first on building the capability to mine gold from asteroids. This will align the Bitcoin community with Skyrock's mission creating a common incentive to invest in building space mining capabilities.
By accelerating the transition from gold to Bitcoin, humanity can upgrade its store of value and potentially re-adopt a global sound money standard.
Bitcoin fixes this
The global demand for electronics and technology grows every year. This also increases the demand for precious metals that are currently mined mostly in third world countries, under dubious circumstances, often significantly impacting the environment.
Many near-Earth asteroids hold vast amounts of precious metals. Mining these will significantly lower geo-political tensions between countries and the impact on the environment.
Mining precious metals from near-Earth asteroids has the potential to enhance the clean energy transition by providing a sustainable and abundant source of rare materials needed for various clean energy technologies.
Some of these metals are platinum, palladium, rhodium, silver, osmium, iridium.
These metals and rare earth elements have various industrial applications, including in electronics, renewable energy technologies (e.g., wind turbines and solar panels), electric vehicle batteries, high-strength magnets, and catalysts for emissions control and fuel cells.
The presence of these materials in near-Earth asteroids makes them attractive targets for future space mining endeavors, as they can help meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies on Earth.
Sustainable energy & prosperity
In order for humanity to significantly increase its odds of survival it must become an interplanetary civilisation. The closest habitable planet is Mars.
The ability to utilise Martian resources efficiently will be crucial for establishing a sustainable colony on Mars. Reducing the need to transport materials from Earth will lower costs and increase the feasibility of long-term colonisation efforts. As exploration and technology development continue, the importance of these materials for Mars colonisation will become increasingly evident.
Water is crucial for supporting human life, as well as for generating oxygen and producing rocket propellant through electrolysis (splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen). Access to water on Mars, whether from subsurface ice or as a byproduct of human activities, is essential.
Hydrogen can be extracted from water and used in combination with carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Martian atmosphere to produce methane (CH4), a potential rocket propellant for return missions to Earth or other destinations.
In order for Mars to be independent, it would need an independent supply chain of these resources and many more to build a colony. Many of the resources needed can be sourced from asteroids instead of Earth for a significantly lower cost.
Asteroid mining will be a key capability for humanity to develop in order to become a truly independent interplanetary species.
Make humanity interplanetary
STAGE ONE
Collect high-quality data on asteroid’s composition and orbital characteristics
Based on target asteroid design a space mining probe that can validate its autonomous capability to mine and collect gold in low-Earth orbit
If step 2 is successful, launch first deep space mission to a near-Earth asteroid and retrieve a low amount of gold back to low-Earth orbit
If step 3 is successful: Launch a fleet of space mining probes so that the amount of gold that can be mined and retrieved increases exponentially over time
Collect all retrieved gold in low-Earth orbit and initiate reentry with SpaceX Starship into Earth’s atmosphere. Sell all gold for Bitcoin
Develop adjusted space mining probes that can mine and retrieve precious metals such as Platinum or Palladium to Earth
Develop adjusted space mining probes that can mine and retrieve resources to support our colonies on the Moon or Mars
Access to scarce resources
Resources that are scarce on Earth are abundant in space. Once these resources can be mined efficiently in space, it will greatly lower the cost of producing technologies such as electric vehicles and solar energy furthering economic growth and the transition to clean energy.
Decrease international conflict
By building space mining capabilities we lower the need to deplete Earth’s resources. This will decrease the need for countries to fight wars over scarce resources. Geo-political conflicts and wars will be reduced once abundant resources can be mined from asteroids and planets.
Protect Earth from asteroid impacts
Millions of years ago the dinosaurs went extinct after a massive asteroid hit Earth. By building the capability to deflect asteroids we increase our chance for survival in the future.
Interplanetary colonisation
By building the capability to build new supply chains in space, interplanetary colony's on the Moon or Mars will be less dependent on Earth. This further increases survival of humanity in the future.