If you've ever wondered why Bitcoin maxis won't shut up about "bearer assets," here's why. A bank takes in a million dollars of deposits and lends it out. The math says the bank now has zero. But the ledger says two million. Both the depositor and the borrower think they have money. That's how most modern money works. Your balance is a claim on someone else's ledger, not an asset you hold. Bitcoin is different because you can actually own it. No ledger entry that depends on someone else staying solvent. Once you see that distinction, the "bearer asset" thing stops sounding like ideology and starts sounding like common sense.