The Story Behind Youxia

In 1099, Christian armies captured Jerusalem from Muslim control which led to pilgrims from across Western Europe visiting the Holy Land. The journey could take up to a year and many of them were attacked along the way. The pilgrims needed some form of protection.

An obscure band of knights offered their services to protect the pilgrims. They were warrior monks, inspired by theology, a declaration of principles, and an ethical code. Their code made them act with honor, dignity, and grace, regardless of age or gender. They protected innocent lives. They were revered for being the first to enter battle and the last to retreat. They were the Knights Templar.

The Templars soon realized the attackers were thieves trying to steal from the pilgrim’s and it was their wealth that needed protection most. The solution was setting up Templar houses from Ireland to Jerusalem where pilgrims could deposit gold, silver, and jewels for safe keeping. Anything deposited with the Templars was not pooled or reinvested. It remained in its owners’ strongboxes and could not be accessed without the owner’s permission. The Templar’s duty to protect the wealth was incorporated into their moral code.

Pilgrims received a letter of credit for their valuables which could be redeemed at any Templar house along the journey. To help prevent fraud and enhance privacy the Templars used ciphers. Algorithms for scrambling the information on paper that only those with the secret key could read.

The Knights Templar invented safe deposit boxes, the traveler’s cheque, and ultimately the world’s first international banking system.

Templars invented all kinds of banking services to uphold human rights and privacy. They created the Swiss private banking model to defend privacy rights against religious and political persecution. They invented the common law trust for estate management and protection. They invented branch banking, bank bonds, certificates of deposit, and bank guarantees. This framework of banking, designed to be humanitarian for the people, is considered the foundations of modern banking. However, the Templars would completely reject the status of our current financial system – fiat currency, fractional reserve banking, and capital controls. Genuine Templar banking embodied the golden rule which arguably led humanity from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance.

Temple Church, consecrated in 1185 as the home of the Knights Templar, is also London’s first bank. Legend says the founding Templars were so poor they could only afford one horse between two men.

During the Renaissance the idea of a Templar Knight, a warrior on a quest motivated by idealism, evolved into the Knight Errant. In Chinese literature this person is called a Youxia (you-sh-ia). The literal translation is wandering vigilante.

Yóu means wander, travel or move around, and xiá means someone with power who helps those in need. The xiá stressed the importance of being treated equally and defending the weak. A Youxia’s temperament and need for freedom caused them to roam the land and help those in need from the powers that be. Folktales describe them as being princes, poets, musicians, physicians, soldiers, merchants, monks and even humble farmers or butchers. Some were skilled with a sword. Others were just as clever with a pen.

Satoshi Nakamoto is a Youxia, a modern-day Knights Templar. Satoshi strolled into the financial world and righted the wrongs of conventional money. Satoshi invented Bitcoin, an egalitarian money that’s near impossible to censor, debase, or steal. For the first time in history, everyone on the planet can protect themselves from capital controls, inflation, and outright theft. Instead of needing a Templar on your side to protect your wealth all you need is a smart phone.

The world’s first statue of Satoshi Nakamoto erected in Budapest, Hungary. The statue represents a general human figure, since we don’t know the gender, race, or age of the mysterious developer. The face is made of a special bronze-aluminum composite, thus every visitor can see their own face when looking at Satoshi. We are all Satoshi.

The invention of bitcoin set off a Cambrian explosion of cryptocurrencies that are laying the foundation for a new financial system. A system just as revolutionary as the Templar’s and just as idealistic as the Youxia. Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is inclusive to all peoples, most importantly the unbanked, who are excluded and oppressed by the traditional financial system (TradFi). Liberating the world from the tyranny of fiat money and central banking will usher society into a second renaissance.

Youxia Crypto is your trusted guide on the journey. We navigate the complexities of investing in crypto for you. We’re an asset management company driven by the same principles as the youxia and we’re inspired by crypto’s potential to lift the unbanked out of poverty, represented by the lower-case “y” in our name being the same size as the capital letters.

At Youxia Crypto, you come first.

Nicolaus Copernicus statue in Torun, Poland

Nicolaus Copernicus led Europe from the Renaissance into the Scientific Revolution with his work that proved the earth rotates around the sun. He also developed the quantity theory of money and the principles known today as Gresham’s Law.

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