A fun fact: In 1933, U.S. President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6102, banning American citizens from owning gold bars. Citizens were forced to sell their gold at low prices, essentially robbing the public to devalue the dollar. It wasn’t until 1974, after Nixon abandoned the gold standard in 1971, that Americans were allowed to own gold again. As for China, before 1949, during the Republic of China era (1935–1948), private ownership and trading of gold and silver were prohibited. Later, with the introduction of the Gold Yuan Certificate, which aimed to "stabilize silver with gold," the government similarly plundered the public to stabilize the currency. From 1950 until the Shanghai Gold Exchange opened in 2002, Chinese citizens were not allowed to trade gold. During the era of the gold standard or unstable fiat currency, governments had to be the sole market maker for gold. They wouldn’t allow any opposing forces and were always motivated to plunder the public. Don’t say this view is too extreme—gold freedom has existed for less than 50 years in most countries. In fact, most countries have only been modern states for a few decades. Perhaps these few decades are just a lucky anomaly in human history. Chaos and plunder are the true norm for humanity. Always hold some $BTC. If possible, stock up on firearms, ammunition, compressed biscuits, manual generators, and alcohol. Because civilization is fragile.