In decentralized crypto your ownership is pure and absolute with no strings attached. Something very rare in this world. There aren't many things in this world we truly own, nor own without needing to rely on trust, rely on a company or someone giving us

Crypto is one of the very few things in this world you can truly own and absolutely control, where there is no need to trust a third party.

The only person you need to trust is yourself. That's because every aspect of the ownership falls on you. There's no 3rd party in charge of your coins. Nobody else owns your coins.

In almost everything in this world where there's ownership, there's always a "but" in your ownership. There's conditions and strings attached. Governing laws. And always someone, some company, some institution, some governing body, some third party that stands between your ownership, and shares either the control or ownership of your assets.

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Real estate:

We'll assume you paid off your mortgage, and the bank no longer owns your house.

In real estate, you own the land and the house you're in, because a title company has a document that says so, and you have to trust that title company. A centralized body.

It's also based on which government has administration over that land. And which laws they decide to have about your land. And that can change. In many places around the world, governing bodies have changed, making old land ownership invalid. And it's not just in Malaysia after their coup d'etat, or in Ukraine when land switched hands back and forth.

People have lost their lands all over the world, over some other power deciding you no longer own your land.

Even if you're in the US, there's strings attached to land ownership. It can take many forms. For instance, you can violate some county rule, not pay a contractor, or violate your association's rules, and have a lien put on your house.

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Stocks, bonds, ETF, mutual funds, etc...

Most people don't even actually hold the certificate to own their shares or their bonds. And in most cases, it's a broker who owns your shares.

Even if you own a bond certificate, there's still strings attached, and you really own a certificate for a debt.

And even if you directly own the shares, and own enough to own 51% of the company, there are a ton of strings, limitations, liabilities, and rules getting between any real safe and absolute ownership.

When you own an ETF, you now have additional strings between your ownership. And if you own a mutual fund, you are even more removed from ownership. It's exactly like being back to having a broker own your shares.

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Cash:

Depending on the country, the cash you have may be the property of the government.

In the US, the Federal Reserve lets you "own" it. But it still controls it. They can devalue the currency if they want. They can also invalidate your note. You have to trust them with that ownership, which has strings attached.

And now that it's just fiat, and just a note for a debt, what you really own is just an IOU.

That's assuming you have physical cash you keep under your mattress.

If you put your cash in a bank, then your ownership is reduced even more.

It's in custody of the bank, and subject to their terms and conditions. And no, the FDIC insurance isn't protecting you as much as you think. FDIC is mainly just there to protect your money against a bank run, or a failed bank.

And since 9/11, many government agencies can freeze your funds without a warrant. You don't even need to be suspected of being a terrorist. The IRS has carte blanche on freezing accounts. You just need to raise a red flag in their computer.

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Gold, metals, art, antiques, collectibles etc:

Physical objects are the few things you really own and control. But not all your possessions are equal.

Your car, even if paid off and owned, has a lot of strings attached in the ownership, a lot of conditions, governing bodies.

Only a few things like antiques, collectibles, art, are owned without too many strings attached.

But only gold, silver, and precious metals are reliable, and can act as money, and you are owning something of more reliable value throughout the world.

But how is ownership determined?

Ownership is determined by possession. If you have that gold in your hand, it's yours.

There's not really a title company or anything else that can prove it's yours. If someone steals it, you have to be able to prove it was stolen.

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Crypto:

In decentralized cryptocurrencies, ownership is absolute: if you own the key you own the coins.

That's it.

There are no other strings attached, no other conditions, no other laws, and no company and no government that has a part in that. Nobody that can reverse that.

And unlike gold, you have something reliable to prove ownership: the blockchain.

You also don't need to rely on physical handling. It's digital. And it doesn't have to be in one country.

Your coins are on the blockchain all over the world. And you don't have to worry about having your coins in your hand, or your house.

If you want, you can even memorize 12 words, and there's absolutely nothing physical left, and nothing anyone can get their hands on.

This also means transactions are absolute and irreversible. Which means with that power comes more responsibilities.