Don't trust.
Verify.

Throughout the site you'll see small orange badges: don't trust, verify×DON'T TRUST, VERIFYClaim: This is what a verification badge looks like when you click it.Verify at: Don’t Trust. Verify.Try it: click the badge to toggle this panel open or closed. Click any of them and a panel expands with the exact claim, where to verify it, and why it's flagged. This page is the longer explanation.

Why every claim has a source

Bitcoin's core design principle is that you don't have to trust anyone. You run a node, you verify the blocks, you confirm your balance yourself. Nothing is taken on faith. Every transaction in the whole 17-year history is checkable by anyone.

This site tries to live by the same principle. When this site says the dollar lost 87% of its purchasing powerpurchasing powerWhat a dollar can actually buy, not what the dollar number says. A 1971 dollar bought a gallon of gas. Today's dollar buys roughly a third of one. Same dollar, much less buying ability.Full definition since 1971, that number comes from the BLS CPIConsumer Price Index (CPI)The government's measure of how much a typical basket of consumer goods costs over time.Full definition inflationinflationA general increase in prices over time, meaning each dollar buys less than it did before.Full definition calculator and the link is in the sources section. When this site says Bitcoin's 10-year CAGRCompound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)The average yearly growth rate of an investment, assuming profits are reinvested each year. has been around 55%, the CAGR is a specific calculation against CoinGecko data over a specific window, and the window is stated. No "studies show," no "some say." If the claim is worth making, the source is worth citing.

The internet is full of finance content that's confidently wrong, and AI chatbots now generate it at scale. The only defense is: check the source. See AI Financial Advice for why model output in particular demands verification.

How to read a verification badge

Click any don't trust, verify×DON'T TRUST, VERIFYClaim: The badge expands to show you the specific claim, the source, and why it's flagged.Verify at: This page ↗Badges are interactive. Open them, read the source, close them with the × or the Escape key. badge and the panel below it shows:

• The claim: the specific statement that needs verification, in plain terms.
• The source: a direct link to the primary source, usually a government data series, an issuer prospectus, a book, or a peer-reviewed paper.
• Why it's flagged: most common reasons are "rates change," "data updates monthly," "law may have been amended," or "self-reported figure."

Keyboard users: tab to a badge and press Enter or Space to open it. Press Escape to close. Mobile: tap to open, tap again to close, or tap elsewhere on the page.

What gets flagged

Any claim where the right answer today might not be the right answer next month. Categories that get flagged routinely:

• Dollar figures that update: IRS contribution limits, HYSA APYsAnnual Percentage Yield (APY)The real return on savings after the bank pays interest on top of interest. A 5% APY savings account turns $1,000 into $1,050 after one year.Full definition, ETFExchange-Traded Fund (ETF)A basket of investments (stocks, bonds, or Bitcoin) that trades on a stock exchange like a single share. AUM and expense ratios, current prices.
• Moving statistics: Bitcoin CAGR over rolling windows, volatility figures, mining hash ratehash rateA measure of how much computing power the world is putting into running Bitcoin. The higher this number, the harder and more expensive it would be for any attacker to overpower the network.Full definition, Sharpe ratios.
• Legal and tax rules: IRS notices, revenue rulings, state tax laws, pending regulatory changes.
• Self-reported industry data: Bitcoin Mining Council energy mix surveys, corporate treasury holdings, ETF self-disclosures.
• Quotations: where exact wording matters and the source material is second-hand or summarized. This site paraphrases and flags rather than fabricating a quote.

What doesn't get flagged

Claims that are stable and already have a cited primary source in the page's sources block don't carry badges. The badge is a prompt to re-check; a stable citation doesn't need one.

Opinion, argument, and framing also don't carry badges. "Bitcoin is a long-durationdurationA measure of how sensitive a bond price is to interest rate changes. A bond with 10-year duration falls roughly 10% in price when rates rise 1 percentage point. Longer duration = more interest rate risk. hedgehedgeAn investment made to offset potential losses in another position, like buying gold to protect against currency declines. against fiscal dominance" is an argument, not a fact claim. This site says so directly and cites the people who built the framework (Lyn Alden, Parker Lewis, etc.) rather than fact-checking an opinion.

Report a bad source

For questions, corrections, or source disputes:

Email shrimpstacked@fiatisfake.org with:

• The URL of the page
• The specific claim
• The primary source you believe is correct (with link if possible)

No registration, no form, no account. Just email. Updates land fast when a claim on this site is wrong.

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