“This is a math problem, this is just math, they can’t take that out; looking at everything that’s about to go down in my opinion in the coming two to four quarters… things are about to get insane.” — Preston Pysh Preston Pysh is a co-founder of The Investor Podcast Network. In this interview, we discuss credit cycles depending on increasing debasement of the USD, accelerating inflation, and other signs of the long-term debt cycle ending. We also talk about Bitcoin changing the economic order. - - - - Every day we read new stories about economic turmoil: the UK's cost of living crisis resulting in people missing meals, Sri Lanka debt default resulting in an economic and social meltdown, raging inflation in Turkey, global food shortages, the slide of Japan’s Yen, bond funds bleeding billions etc. etc. etc. It is obvious these are not normal times. So what is actually happening? Ray Dalio has spoken at length about the long-term debt cycle: how the economy goes through regular patterns of growth and recession that result in the build-up of sovereign debt, and how over a longer period of time that debt becomes unmanageable and a deleveraging occurs. Many believe we are going through that process now. Preston Pysh is one such person, and he has the evidence to hand. The precipitous rise in the monetary base, capital becoming a liability, global credit cycles being dependent upon increasingly higher levels of USD debasement, the top-heavy state of equity markets - the data is all there; it’s happening. The question is how do governments respond? Is it possible to unwind from these situations, or are global debt levels too high? Can nations wean themselves off quantitative easing, or are they locked into a death spiral? And what will be the response of citizens to rising inflation and material impacts on their quality of life? The answers to these questions will impact the direction of our civilisation for centuries to come. The fear is that we repeat the past. The experience of an advanced country going through a hyperinflationary event still casts a shadow over our collective political culture. The destruction of a functioning society and its replacement by a machine of terror, recalibrated the global order for the next 75 years. But we have Bitcoin. Can that see us through? This episode’s sponsors: Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services Bitcasino - The Future of Gaming is here Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security. Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting Cake Wallet - Open-source privacy focused Bitcoin wallet BCB Group - Global digital financial Services ----- WBD516 - Show Notes ----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: Bitcoin If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my website Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.“The economy is not a combustion engine, where you change a fan belt, and it starts or stops. The economy is a large, complex multivariate emergent social phenomenon. And because of that, when you poke one side of the bear, you don’t know how it’s going to react. And it’s an incredibly volatile and incredibly complex place to try to play God. And so the best choice is not to do it.” — Harry Sudock Harry Sudock is a Vice President of Strategy at Griid. In this interview, we discuss whether Bitcoin’s real innovation is the fusion of Proof of Work and the difficulty adjustment. This enables it to exert a gravitational pull that’s disrupting money, assets, technologies and organising structures. - - - - Bitcoin's impact on society is far exceeding what anyone could have envisioned. While its properties as sound money are well established, the 2nd and 3rd order effects are still being discovered. Bitcoin is unique. It's centred on the combination of proof of work and the difficulty adjustment. These two fundamental parts of the system incentivise trustless honesty whilst providing security. In today's digital world with encroaching authoritarianism, there is no substitute. Bitcoin's power is having a gravitational pull on the settled cosmos of modern society, drawing more things into the singularity of its innovation. If money touches everything in society, and Bitcoin is the best form of money, it's seemingly inevitable that Bitcoin will change everything. Bitcoin is a black hole. This episode’s sponsors: Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services Bitcasino - The Future of Gaming is here Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security. Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting Cake Wallet - Open-source privacy focused Bitcoin wallet BCB Group - Global digital financial Services ----- WBD515 - Show Notes ----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: Bitcoin If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my website Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.“You could see how inflation could spin out of control under certain environments. Now, I’m not saying that’s going to happen, it’s not going to happen probably in the next several weeks. But it doesn’t take a lot, where the numbers that we saw that we’ve experienced in the recent past, would basically look like nothing compared to what we experience in the future.” — Peter Doyle Peter Doyle is the Co-Founder and MD of Horizon Kinetics. In this interview, we discuss investment in an economic climate marked by accelerating inflation, a debt crisis, an energy crisis, war and the potential for Bitcoin to upend the monetary system. - - - - The world’s economic leaders are publicly admitting that inflation is not the transitory phenomenon they were claiming it to be only a few months ago. Some observers think that behind closed doors they never really believed inflation would pass; given the extreme levels of debt, rising inflation makes sense as an unofficial government policy. Irrespective, inflation has to be controlled. But taming inflation is a delicate balancing act. The trick is to achieve a ‘soft landing’: reducing inflation without triggering a recession. This proved impossible during the 1970s and early 1980s when inflation last ravaged the US economy. The dilemma is the current economic and fiscal environment is much worse than during the 1970s. Interest rates have been at unprecedented low levels for over a decade. These have enabled governments to take on increasingly precarious levels of debt to shore up economies during pandemic lockdowns. Even modest interest rate rises risk triggering both sovereign default and recession. Whilst reducing the size of the state is problematic given its oversized share of GDP. At the same time, there is a limit to what governments can do to control inflation. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has resulted in a spike in energy prices. However, energy costs were already rising due to decades of underinvestment influenced by ESG mandates. This is a systemic issue affecting global markets. The expectation is for a prolonged period of inflation. Investments need to now consider an environment where “cash is trash”. However, what is becoming increasingly clear is that investment managers are seeking more than just inflation-beating returns. In the face of possible scenarios where inflation can’t be controlled, Bitcoin is becoming part of portfolios designed to protect wealth. This episode’s sponsors: Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services Bitcasino - The Future of Gaming is here Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security. Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting Cake Wallet - Open-source privacy focused Bitcoin wallet BCB Group - Global digital financial Services ----- WBD514 - Show Notes ----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: Bitcoin If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my website Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.“We have to get back to the original vision of Bitcoin and the cypherpunks, which is that in a sense, Bitcoin and crypto in general, is outside of any particular nation-state system.” — Lane Rettig Lane Rettig is a former Ethereum Core Developer who now works as a core developer for Spacemesh. In this interview, we discuss the Terra/Luna crash, trust and the discipline of Bitcoin; the history, theory and reality of current Web3 initiatives; and Bitcoin’s future. - - - - On Friday Jack Dorsey’s Block announced that it is building “Web5” on Bitcoin. It is purposefully bypassing Web3, which Jack has previously criticized. In fact, Jack stated in a tweet to launch the initiative “RIP web3 VCs”. So, why are Jack, and many other bitcoiners, so fiercely against what in theory is supposed to be a revolution of the internet enabling it to decentralise? Maybe it is the same issue being raised about the crash of Terra/Luna, the issue raised about the much-critizsed ICOs and IPOs within the industry, and the issue raised about the motivation for VCs aligned with the “crypto” ecosystem. Rigged incentives and asymmetric risk where the VCs always win? Greed dressed as innovation and utility under the cynical rebranding of Web3? The problem is, by the time these flaws have been realised, the VCs have already exited and made a tidy profit. And as always, it’s retail investors who get hurt. Maybe Web5 is just what is required, for the internet, for retail investors, and for Bitcoin. This episode’s sponsors: Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services Bitcasino - The Future of Gaming is here Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security. Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting Cake Wallet - Open-source privacy focused Bitcoin wallet BCB Group - Global digital financial Services ----- WBD513 - Show Notes ----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: Bitcoin If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my website Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.“You watch the Fed very carefully: you analyse every word; you try to see where interest rates are going; you try to see what the Fed’s doing. There’s an old adage, don’t fight the Fed.” — Steven McClurg Steven McClurg is a Co-Founder of Valkyrie Investments. In this interview, we discuss how Steven called Bitcoin’s top, watching the Fed for policy indications, protecting wealth against high inflation, how governments should fight inflation, supply chain issues, and inflation hedges. - - - - Today, US CPI data shows that rather than inflation slowing as had been expected, it continues to accelerate. Year-on-year inflation currently stands at 8.6% - the highest in 40 years. Prices in May alone rose by 1%. But maybe this wasn’t a surprise for everyone. Janet Yellen, who previously characterised inflation as “transitory”, told Congress on Tuesday “inflation is really our top economic problem at this point and that it’s critical that we address it.” This is happening across the world: the ECB plans a “gradual but sustained” path of interest rate rises; India may need to dampen growth to control inflation; in Turkey inflation is out of control. So, how bad could it get? The great inflationary period of the 1970s? Or could it be worse? Some commentators talk of extreme examples such as when hyperinflation tore the fabric of the Weimar republic apart. Most think this can’t be a rational possibility: surely politicians and policy wonks are students of history and they’ll stop spending. But yet, there is talk another $5-10 trillion could be printed. Whatever the outcome, we’re entering a new paradigm in respect of the cost of living. Whilst there are opportunities in every market, the focus is turning to wealth protection ahead of wealth creation. Is this the time for Bitcoin? It has long been regarded by advocates as an inflation hedge. Yet, its current price performance would suggest otherwise. Maybe we need to recalibrate our understanding of what constitutes an inflationary emergency. Block’s recent survey has shown a strong correlation between inflation rates and viewing Bitcoin as a safe haven: Argentina came out top with nearly 50% of respondents stating they saw Bitcoin as protection against inflation. At the time inflation was north of 40%; it’s currently 58%. This episode’s sponsors: Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services Bitcasino - The Future of Gaming is here Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security. Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting Cake Wallet - Open-source privacy focused Bitcoin wallet BCB Group - Global digital financial Services ----- WBD512 - Show Notes ----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: Bitcoin If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my website Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.“You can convince people of these things much easier now because they believe that speech is violence and nobody likes violence…there’s a reason, a very specific reason that you recast words as violence because nobody wants to be opposed to free speech.” — Michael Moynihan Michael Moynihan is a correspondent for Vice News and co-host of The Fifth Column podcast. In this interview, we discuss identity politics and its effect on framing issues such as the Russia Ukraine conflict. We also cover culture wars, toxicity, mainstream media, and freedom of speech. - - - - US polarisation has turned society into isolated camps with defined ideologies and narrow cultural perspectives. Issues are expressed in binary terms: you’re expected to have a for or against a position. And the determination of which position to take is increasingly made as a reaction to what the other side believes. Politics is tribal. There are obvious issues with this trend. People become increasingly deaf to consideration of opposing views. The Socratic method has been ditched in favour of blind alliance to a given group. Critical thinking is decreasing; vitriolic rhetoric is on the rise. Identity politics is resulting in a balkanisation of our communities, as like seeks like, reinforcing the divide. The impacts are becoming increasingly disorientating, as both sides of the political divide align with beliefs that were previously antithetical to their respective ideologies. For example, the right and left have changed their relative positions in terms of support and distrust of government agencies. And, instead of trying to break down these barriers, our representatives and media are increasingly fermenting and exploiting these culture wars for financial gain. Media is becoming beholden to audience capture, both in terms of the large mainstream media corporations, and the wave of independent voices rising from social media. Real journalism is on the wane. The result is the true nature of life becomes clouded, including events of huge geopolitical significance such as the Ukraine Russian conflict. We’re unable now to distinguish fact and spin. The real problem is that people are unable to unite and coalesce around nationally vital policies. And as the world problems become more complex, how will this all play out? This episode’s sponsors: Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services Bitcasino - The Future of Gaming is here Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security. Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting Cake Wallet - Open-source privacy focused Bitcoin wallet BCB Group - Global digital financial Services ----- WBD511 - Show Notes ----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: Bitcoin If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my website Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.“Picking the highs and lows is an impossible game, so I think the best advice for people is: know what you own and why you own it.” — Dan McArdle Dan McArdle is co-founder of Messari Crypto and creator of casebitcoin.com. Dan has been in Bitcoin since 2011. In this interview, we discuss the history of Bitcoin cycles and events: Mt. Gox hack, rise of altcoins and stablecoins, Ethereum DAO Hack, and 2017 Bitcoin cycle. - - - - Bitcoin is volatile: its history has been dominated by large swings in both directions; albeit, Bitcoin is volatile to the upside: in 10 years it is up well over 500,000%! But, in each cycle, new adopters can be forgiven for thinking they’re in the cycle that finally breaks the pattern. It is easy to question the investment when seeing the value drop by 80% for the first time. This is where experience is vital. Each cycle has seen events that have had the potential to destroy Bitcoin. Exchange hacks and exploits, the proliferation of competing coins with marketing buzz aimed at attacking Bitcoin, the realisation of altcoin failings, scams, bans, FUD. The most recent has been the UST and Luna crash. Each one destroys confidence and value. Yet, the one thing the critiques fail to mention is that each of these events has been external to Bitcoin. Each event has highlighted weaknesses in innovations in the ecosystem that has developed around Bitcoin. But Bitcoin has remained secure - the protocol itself has not been hacked. In fact, the “move slow and build things” ethos has strengthened through each event. This is why long term hodlers who have served one “tour of duty” (a four year Bitcoin cycle) are more inured to Bitcoin’s volatility. They have experienced Bitcoin being declared dead, only to reemerge stronger and more resilient. What hurts you can make you stronger. To look forward and speculate about the future it is therefore important to look back and see where we’ve been. Many believe Bitcoin is a paradigm shift not just because of ideology, but because the technology has been repeatedly tested and passed. That’s why it is being considered as an emerging global macro asset. This episode’s sponsors: Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services Bitcasino - The Future of Gaming is here Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security. Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting Cake Wallet - Open-source privacy focused Bitcoin wallet BCB Group - Global digital financial Services ----- WBD510 - Show Notes ----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: Bitcoin If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my website Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.“I think we’re going through a quote-unquote ‘fourth turning,’ so a time period where we’re examining our existing institutions. We’re decreasing our level of trust in them, whether it’s governments, whether it’s media, whether it’s corporations… basically the things that have been built over the past 50-100 years, and wanting to build new institutions. And that transition is always very messy.” — Lyn Alden Lyn Alden is a macroeconomist and investment strategist. In this interview, we discuss the macro environment. We zero in on the current inflationary crisis, focusing on the demand/supply problems with energy, prospects for recession, and the impact on markets and countries. - - - - The last time inflationary pressures seriously concerned the US was the 1970s. The decade ended with inflation at nearly 15%. Many believe current inflation, real inflation, not the figures provided by the US Dept of Labor, is at least 15% if not higher. And yet, we are in a much more precarious position now than in the period of the 1970s referred to as the “The Great Inflation”. Global debt is at an all-time high. US government debt is over 137% of GDP. Unprecedented money printing during the global financial crisis was followed by more extreme money printing during the pandemic. Most countries are now bloated with debt. Further, interest rates are still at abnormally low levels. Economies are precariously balanced. Recession is close at hand. At the same time, there is an energy crisis. Decades of underinvestment in energy infrastructure, poor policy decisions, and geopolitical issues means we have insufficient energy supply and price spikes. In the UK 40% of households could be deemed to be in energy poverty soon. There is talk of oil reaching $300 a barrel. Then there is an emerging food crisis. The war between Russia and Ukraine is affecting some of the biggest suppliers of wheat, sunflower oil, and fertilizer. According to the World Food Programme 276 million face famine. A cost of living crisis is hitting the most vulnerable in all corners of the globe. We are in very uncertain times. History suggests such pressures fuel populism, protest, and conflict. How should we protect our investments in such times? What assets could weather these storms? Who can we trust? This episode’s sponsors: Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services Sportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts Bitcoin Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security. Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting LVL - Bank on Bitcoin BCB Group - Global digital financial Services ----- WBD509 - Show Notes ----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: Bitcoin If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my website Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.“The larger these stable coins are, the more adoption there is, and the more stable they’re likely to be. But then the worse and more contagious the effect is if it fails. It’s almost like you have to be really big, in order for it to be stable. But once you get that big, the cost of failure is immense.” — Jonathan Wu Jonathan Wu is head of growth at Aztec network. In this interview, we pick over what happened when the stablecoin UST crashed, how it linked to the Terra blockchain and Luna governance token, the issues with recursive lending, and the need for financial disclosure in the industry. - - - - Stablecoins have provided financial sovereignty for millions who have been failed by their financial institutions and want predictable value in a currency. So, the failure of a stablecoin that had been financially backed by some of the biggest investors in DeFi has been particularly traumatic for many investors. Unlike some stablecoins, UST, native stablecoin of the Terra Blockchain, was under collateralized i.e. it wasn’t backed by another asset. Maintaining its peg to the dollar was (theoretically) stabilized algorithmically: linkage of UST to a governance token, Luna, and a complex dance of creation and burning of both of these coins. In theory, this enabled UST to remain decentralized. In practice, there were some inherent weaknesses in the process. Not only was the stablecoin designed to be a payments rail, but the governance token, Luna, could be staked to derive yield. It was accepted by lending protocols that allowed for recursive lending (rehypothecation), an activity raised as a significant risk to DeFi by many critics of yield farming (e.g. Allen Farrington). Then the house of cards started to crumble. Or, as Jonathan describes it: the death spiral began. The result was a quick unravelling of an asset, which had had a market cap of over $18 billion. An asset that many investors believed, wrongly, was devoid of the risks associated with altcoins. An asset now with an effective value of zero. The story involves large profits being made by major investors, a CEO who overplayed his hand and got some major calls wrong, some shady characters in the DeFi lending ecosystem, complex strategies not many understand, and a lot of people who could ill afford to lose their investments getting seriously burned. The critical issue is this again places Bitcoin in a bind. Its price was directly affected, but its reputation suffers: retail investors are warier to adopt, and regulators are more empowered to pounce. There is a lot for the industry to learn, and learn quickly. The stakes are currently stacked unfairly, and it’s the same people who end up losing. This episode’s sponsors: Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services Sportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts Bitcoin Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security. Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting LVL - Bank on Bitcoin BCB Group - Global digital financial Services ----- WBD508 - Show Notes ----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: Bitcoin If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my website Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.“When you look at the giving trends of the Bitcoin community, what’s interesting is they’re not like the traditional philanthropic community, they’re not really interested in Symphony tickets, or the art. They’re looking at ‘where are there game-changing impacts that if they were scaled would have world-changing effects, and have world-changing effects for human freedom?’” — Victor Boutros Victor Boutros is CEO and co-founder of the Human Trafficking Institute. In this interview, we discuss the anger that drove him into tackling human trafficking in the US and then set out to prove it could be tackled across the globe. His work literally saves lives. He needs support. - - - - Human trafficking is a hidden scourge. Most of us would assume human slavery is a shameful historical relic. Yet, the market for trading humans is thriving. People are traded for labour and sex in huge numbers. It is estimated that there are at least 25 million victims of this brutal industry, but the true number could be much much higher. Both perpetrators and victims hide in the shadows. Yet, statistics are just dry numbers. It is the stories of individual victims that evidence the evil that permeates human trafficking. Such stories display the cold heartless depravity that enables some to view others as tradable commodities to be exploited. It is these stories that have driven people such as Victor to dedicate themselves to trying to tackle this issue and save lives. Victor learnt and honed the skills necessary to combat traffickers in the US. But, with the knowledge that the majority of human trafficking takes place across other countries, he set up the Human Trafficking Institute. This mission has successfully proved that through thorough investigation, and dedicated enforcement, it is possible to curtail this scourge anywhere it exists. But, this work needs to be scaled, which needs funding. Bitcoiners have shown that they are a force for change, using their funds to help shape a better world in numerous ways. It is Victor's hope that the philanthropic zeal within the Bitcoin community could assist his mission. Can Bitcoin become the driving force behind the effort to make trafficked people free at scale across the globe? This episode’s sponsors: Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services Sportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts Bitcoin Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security. Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting LVL - Bank on Bitcoin BCB Group - Global digital financial Services ----- WBD507 - Show Notes ----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: Bitcoin If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my website Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.“It’s the worst parts of us that sometimes are displayed on these centralised networks because it’s driven by these algorithms, and I do think that the algorithms don’t know the difference between love and hate because they’re not humans; they just know the difference between high engagement and low engagement and virality.” — Justin Rezvani Justin Rezvani is the founder and CEO of Zion. In this interview, we discuss completing Ironman, his near-death experience, recovery and perspectives, and motivations for building a new business. Justin explains his vision to enable creators to own distribution and the future of social media. - - - - Not many of us walk through life thinking any day could be our last. But most live as though we have unlimited tomorrows. We leave dreams unfulfilled, arguments unresolved, our attention diverted to the wrong priorities. For those who experience death, but live to tell the tale, it is a pivotal event that leads to a refocused life. And for those who do get a second chance, they tend to grab opportunities as they arise. Justin came through a near-death experience and traumatic rehabilitation. Once recovered he seized the chance to use Bitcoin to remake social media. Better for creators, and users. Better for the curation and protection of online discussion. Better for the development of communities. The issues with current centralised platforms are obvious to all at the moment. Business models are incentivised to capture attention, not to nurture civil debate. The digital town square has turned into a digital bear bit. And yet censorship has turned into a blunt instrument open to abuse. The rule book needs rewriting. Bitcoin, decentralised identification and other technology offer an opportunity to provide creators ownership of the distribution. Communities will no longer be tied to a platform. There will always be aggregators of content, but creators and their audience will now have the flexibility to move across a decentralised internet if and when they choose or require. This episode’s sponsors: Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services Sportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts Bitcoin Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security. Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting LVL - Bank on Bitcoin BCB Group - Global digital financial Services ----- WBD506 - Show Notes ----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: Bitcoin If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my website Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.“I don’t think it’s going to work, I’m sure it’s going to work. Because the fundamentals are there. We can have some bumps in the road like everything… but, the fundamentals are the same. And it’s going to work because the philosophy of it is right. Just give it time. It’s going to work for El Salvador, it’s going to work for Bitcoin, it’s going to work for the world.” — Nayib Bukele The full interview with President Nayib Bukele, undertaken days after the Bitcoin Law became effective on September 7th 2021, sections of which were included in my film “Follow The Money #1 - Bitcoin in El Salvador”. In this interview, we discuss motivation, opposition and legacy. - - - - A few days following Bitcoin being given legal status, I was granted an exclusive access interview with President Bukele for the purposes of my film “Follow The Money #1 - Bitcoin in El Salvador”. Following the release of the film, it is time to publish the full interview. It has been over 8 months since El Salvador became the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender. A lot has been written about El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law, and a lot has happened since. But what was it like to be at the centre of this unprecedented event? An event that could change not just El Salvador’s future, but also Bitcoin’s and the rest of the world. The discussion covers President Bukele’s enthusiasm for what Bitcoin can do for his country and his people; the incredible timescale within which the law was passed (it was a mere 3 months from being enacted to becoming law); the strategy behind the country’s purchases of Bitcoin; internal and external opposition; and the plan behind the articles of the Bitcoin Law. As background noise to all these changes is vocal concerns about authoritarian actions Bukele is taking; he has removed judges, influenced a change in the constitution to enable a potential second term, had troops enter parliament, and implemented stern policies aimed at reducing gang violence. The term “dictator” is banded around. Nevertheless, he is an extremely popular president: he has an approval rating of 85%. Many citizens, sick of the years of violence and corruption, are pleased to finally see a decisive Salvadoran President. Could he become a beacon for the wider region? Could he be the leader of the Bitcoin age? This episode’s sponsors: Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services Sportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts Bitcoin Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security. Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Compass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting LVL - Bank on Bitcoin BCB Group - Global digital financial Services ----- WBD505 - Show Notes ----- If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute Make a tip: Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S QR Codes: Bitcoin If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed Leave a review on iTunes Share the show and episodes with your friends and family Subscribe to the newsletter on my website Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.“I think we’re at the precipice of really next-level civilizational change, and it’s probably going to be messy a little bit in the transitionary period. But on the other side of this, or as we move forward, I think more good is coming than bad, and that’s something to be hopeful for.” — John Vallis John Vallis is a Bitcoin podcaster who hosts Bitcoin Rapid Fire. In this interview, we discuss what freedom means, parallels between Bitcoin and religious values, living a meaningful life, psychedelics and their importance, and a new civilisation centred on truth. - - - - Bitcoin provides freedom. Financial freedom; freedom from coercion; freedom of movement. But how should those who benefit from Bitcoin use this freedom? Should they use it to fulfil their own desires? Or are there higher values that Bitcoiners should strive to attain? Should Bitcoiners draw back into their citadels? Or, should they actively engage in trying to shape a better world? Such decisions will be in…“It’s a competition of ideas… and it’s a collaborative competition of ideas. So if you propose an organised set of ideas as a proposal, some parts of them might end up being good and used, and some parts might not. And you just have to be open to that.” — Adam Back Adam Back, an original cypherpunk, inventor of Hashcash and co-founder and CEO of Blockstream. We discuss the controversy around BIP 119: the soft fork proposal aiming to add “covenants” to Bitcoin. We also talk about the collapse of Luna. - - - - Flexible smart contracts are a USP of Ethereum and other blockchains. Currently, Bitcoin only enables basic smart contract functionality, such as a timelock that specifies when a transaction can be spent. BIP 119 proposes to add more flexibility for applying restrictions to transactions via a new programme operation code (opcode) called CheckTemplateVerify (CTV). CTV would enable conditions on spending UTXOs that would limit, not when they are spent, but how. Th…“What’s the end game? It is honestly to do less harm. Bitcoin doesn’t actually need politicians to make it succeed, it will succeed on its own merits; what would be helpful is to not have people actively attacking it and elongating the inevitable collapse of their own currencies, but also rise of Bitcoin as a global reserve currency.” — Will Cole Will Cole is Chief Product Officer at Unchained Capital. In this interview, we discuss Texas and Austin as ideological centres for Bitcoin, the undervalued importance of state sovereignty in the US, CBDCs being the greatest disaster for liberty and personal freedom, and toxicity on Twitter. - - - - Something is happening in Texas. It has always had an independent streak, rooted in its rich history. The state was born of revolution, and it was initially a republic in the mid 19th century before the Mexican-American War. That thirst for freedom is hard-wired into the Texan psyche. Now it is a beacon to Americans from other states se…“The idea is that fix the money fix the world, the thing that’s often said, and that most of our problems in the world come from bad money. And I think my point is that malevolence in man is something that is so core to the human condition that fixing the money isn’t going to actually magically fix all these problems.” — Rob Hamilton Rob Hamilton is a programmer and data scientist. In this interview, we discuss the risks associated with a transition to hyperbitcoinisation, the limits to what Bitcoin fixes, the issues of a libertarian world run on a Bitcoin standard, the benefits to the energy grid, and Bitcoin’s eternal September. - - - - Hyperbitcoinization, the adoption of Bitcoin as global money, was once a theoretical pipe dream that all but the most hardened Bitcoiners thought would be an impossibility. But we have witnessed a number of unprecedented events in recent years that mean impossible scenarios have now shifted into the realm of the possible. Does this cre…“Human rights don’t come easily, they actually have to be fought for; fought for with encryption, fought for with principled individuals, fought for with giving people other alternatives, and the best alternative is economic sovereignty.” — Austin Hill Jeff Booth is an Entrepreneur and Author of ‘The Price of Tomorrow’ and Austin Hill is a cypherpunk & former Blockstream CEO. In this interview, we discuss the unique sense of hope in El Salvador, the loss of freedom, Bitcoin as objective truth and hope, Elon Musk and Twitter. - - - - Show 500!!! What a ride it's been since I recorded my first show in November 2017. I'm so grateful to all the listeners, particularly those who send their support. Thanks to all the fascinating people I've had the privilege to interview: so many great stories, opinions, and advice. Thanks to my amazing sponsors - you enable my team to make what we think is the best show in the market. And finally, big up to the team, roll on the next 500!…“I don’t understand the moral position of absolute freedom, and the reason is because, when I hear people talk about it, it’s very obvious to me that absolutely everybody knows that there are limits to freedom, so absolute freedom is not something that anybody believes in.” — Junseth Junseth is a OG bitcoiner and the former co-host of Bitcoin Uncensored. In this interview, we discuss government being the logical extent of libertarianism, the evolution of news media, falling for conspiracies, admitting when you’re wrong, opinion versus fact, and the return of Trump. - - - - Our lives are full of examples of infective institutions, inefficient governance, waste, want, and an eagerness to wage war. It is hard to argue in defence of the state. Yet, any popular movements against the actions of the state are ignored. In these times, libertarian arguments are powerful and persuasive: the state, shielded by coercion, is ineffective so we need to tear it down. However, we don’…“The short of it is that I was involved in an online cult, I think it’s fair to call it that way…. and it’s not like I lived in a commune, but it was really involved. And a lot of my friends were involved with that too. And it was very, toxic and confusing. And it took me a long time to figure out what was going on and leave.” — Tuur Demeester Tuur Demeester is a Bitcoin investor and economist. In this interview, we discuss how he was drawn into a toxic online cult, his awakening and leaving, Twitter enabling cultist behaviours within Bitcoin and why it’s key to give air to all voices within Bitcoin. - - - - Wisdom is developed through experience: an individual's interaction with other people and events, and their personal reflections on the outcomes, enhance understanding of both the self and the world. Knowledge isn’t endowed genetically, and education provides limited direction. Perspective on exposure to our environment is what drives tangible learning and growth…“There are certainly genuinely evil people who do not hesitate to sacrifice entire nations to further and maintain their hold on power, and that to have some kind of civil discussion about this is so missing the mark, it’s not even funny.” — Michael Malice Michael Malice is an anarchist, author, and podcaster. In this interview, we discuss declining versus flourishing US cities, transitioning away from the state, Ukraine and Putin, conspiracies to cancel, challenges to free speech, and the enfeeblement of the media and education system. - - - - Anarchism has quickly evolved from being an extreme ideology, which was at best a interesting thought experiment, to a political vision whose merits are being given increasingly serious consideration. Even those who believe in the power of collectivism are questioning the effectiveness of our current institutions. But with power comes responsibility. Do anarchists truly believe that tearing down the state and its associated power str…“All of these monetary transitions involve people that could think of the unthinkable. And that could look past how the system currently is and envision: if you just start with a blank sheet of paper, how could it be? What are the alternative kind of timelines we could be under?” — Lyn Alden Lyn Alden is a macroeconomist and investment strategist. In this interview, we discuss currency crises, the history of money, the properties of good money, and whether Bitcoin can usher in a new era of programmable, commodity money. - - - - What is money? We are taught to critically question and evaluate the world around us. Yet, most people never query the essence of what is perhaps civilisation’s most important tool. We readily accept the money we have and use it without examining its history, characteristics, or whether it could be improved and changed. We are living through extraordinary times. The world around us is in flux: established norms are being upended. Yet, the most extrao…“We have a lot of things that make me extremely bullish on Bitcoin… did I wish this to happen on the world? Absolutely not, I wish we didn’t need to have Bitcoin because we could trust, but we can’t.” — Dan Held Dan Held is the Growth Lead at Kraken. In this interview, we discuss the splintering and factionalization of the Bitcoin community, trying to be honest in a toxic environment, update on the Bitcoin supercycle, and Bitcoin application (selling, hodling, lending, and collateralizing). - - - - Bitcoin is under almost constant attack, but despite significant pressures, efforts to ensure the technology remains truly decentralised and open have been successful, in a large part, thanks to the toxicity within the bitcoin community. But those who have worked at close quarters to the Bitcoin ecosystem have witnessed a rapid evolution and segmentation of beliefs, business proposals, and market for what is still a nascent innovation. The original libertarian community that…“The one thing that’s certain is it’s never going away because this is the best accounting technology, which is instrumental to run the world, that has ever been invented. And so the rest of it is just noise to me, it’s going to go up, it’s gonna go down, the daily price fluctuations are meaningless, we just keep building. ” — Darin Feinstein Darin Feinstein, an early investor in Bitcoin, co-founded Core Scientific, one of the largest Bitcoin mining operations. In this interview, we discuss the revolution of triple-entry accounting, providing 8 billion people property rights and banking, combating FUD, and rapid advances in mining chips. - - - - Bitcoin is causing tectonic shifts in global financial and political systems that have companies, authorities, and nations reeling. This creates a lot of noise. But, has this resulted in the community easing off on extolling Bitcoin’s principal revolutionary characteristic - the consensus protocol? And, does that open it up t…“If you have any influence on a situation, and you’re using that influence to prevent or discourage low cost, reliable energy, I think you’re contributing to the life catastrophe that is widespread poverty.” — Alex Epstein Alex Epstein is a philosopher and author of ‘The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels’ and ‘Fossil Future’. In this interview, we discuss how energy abundance has enabled humans to flourish, whether climate mastery has made us unnaturally safe, and the need for more low-cost reliable energy. - - - - According to a recent survey for the UN, 64% of people believe that climate change is a global emergency. News reports are dominated by stories of floods, heatwaves, droughts, hurricanes and other events, highlighted as potential signs of a warming world. The implicit assumption is that urgent reductions in the use of fossil fuels are required to minimise the potential impacts. But increasingly, a growing collective is questioning these opinions. Exploitation…“You can put on this Bitcoin miner attached to your nuclear facility… and since your Bitcoin mining site can be dialled up and dialled down for how it’s dispatched, you’ve just put a supercharger on your nuclear plant; you can now actually provide flexibility to the grid because you have the ability to ramp your nuke through the Bitcoin mining.” — Shaun Connell Shaun Connell is Executive VP of Power at Lancium and an energy trading expert focused on incorporating Bitcoin mining into energy transition services. In this interview, we discuss the fundamentals of energy trading, the need to balance energy supply with demand, and the symbiotic relationship between Bitcoin mining, renewables and the energy grid. - - - - If climate change forecasts are to be believed, the implications for society are profound. Many believe that the sources of energy that enabled our society to thrive and prosper over the past 250 years need to be replaced by alternative types of energy deemed t…“When we say Bitcoin fixes this it’s now so clear, it is the only non-corruptible network… you see it right there on the blockchain, you can check it by your own rules everything. That’s really the only thing we have going for us because everything else is under someone else’s control.” — Adam Curry Adam Curry is a DJ, internet entrepreneur, and, along with Dave Winer, the creator of podcasting. In this interview, we discuss Texas and guns, how Bitcoin features in world events, food intelligence and smarter education, as well as the origins, ethos, and future of podcasting. - - - - The ubiquity of podcasts has masked how innovative and ground breaking the technology is. In only 2 decades an idea about using RSS feeds to distribute audio blogs has now arguably become the most effective media channel rivalling both main stream media and increasingly social media. It is estimated that more than a third of Americans regularly listen to podcasts. Market forecasts suggest t…“There are so many opportunities to use freedom technologies to build civil disobedience, to put power into the hands of individuals, and Bitcoin’s a part of that.” — Austin Hill Austin Hill is a cypherpunk & former Blockstream CEO. In this interview, we discuss the dangers of absolutism within Bitcoin’s community, building consensus in promoting freedom money, and advancing the human condition. - - - - The development and adoption of Bitcoin is predicated upon a reaction to the manifest failures of current economic and political structures. The associated need to defend Bitcoin from multiple attack vectors resulted in a protective maximalist ideology. The end result is that the current Bitcoin community is dominated by big personalities with firm and unyielding convictions. Yet, maintaining an adoption curve mirroring that of the internet means proving the benefits of this innovative technology to everyone: the wider public, companies, and state-level institutions. This…“These ideas of communism and free-market collide, and they’re both communism over time. And that sounds harsh, but it’s a control structure. There is no free market, if there’s a distortion of money, because everything else is on top of that distortion of money.” — Jeff Booth Jeff Booth is Entrepreneur and Author of ‘The Price of Tomorrow’. In this interview, we discuss the distortion of money, how Bitcoin can herald in a fairer system based on truth and a free market of ideas, and the transition from scarcity to abundance. - - - - Bitcoin is revolutionary. More than its cryptographic protocol, monetary policy, and decentralised technology, Bitcoin is built on promulgating truth. It is feasible that a new economic paradigm is being built that democratises knowledge and information. The old ways of spin, exaggeration, false equivalence, hustle, denial, and outright lies served the fiat system well during the 20th century. Being ‘economical with the truth’ became…“The moral case for Bitcoin is that you don’t have this cesspool of theft, corruption and cronyism that you do with the US dollar. Fiat money is just straight up evil, it is an institution of corruption, of theft, of extracting value from people that can least afford it; and bitcoin is one that’s way fairer.” — Jimmy Song Jimmy Song is a Bitcoin educator, developer and entrepreneur. In this interview, we discuss Bitcoin’s growing political power, how Lightning has better privacy properties than Monero, why decentralisation is binary, and the moral case for Bitcoin. - - - - There is plenty to be concerned about in today’s world: economic, social, and political issues are compounding in severity. Solutions from governing elites are in short supply. And there seem to be bad faith actors at every turn. Imagine then a world without Bitcoin. But whilst people may thank God (or blind serendipity) for Bitcoin, we also need to be cognizant of, and prepared for, the associated…“There’s some pretty big stuff happening behind the scenes. I’m no commodities expert, I’m not in this every day, but I’ve been watching the charts and it’s like, my god, there’s something’s breaking. You see volatility across commodities, equities, credit markets, foreign exchange. I think it’s going to intensify, there’s no happy ending here over the short term.” — Dylan LeClair Dylan LeClair is a Bitcoin and macro analyst working for Bitcoin Magazine. In this interview, we discuss the playing out of the long term debt cycle, the coming commodity wars, how Bitcoin is a lifeboat, and transitionary investments. - - - - We are living through unprecedented times, where the old ways of order are expected to crumble. And yet, life seems comfortably familiar. This can lure people into a false sense of confidence that the political, economic, and monetary norms will continue undiminished into the future. The same sense gripped German citizens during the 1920s. ‘…“What the fuck is society? Is it this group of people? Is it that group of people? It’s a useful fiction – we’re describing a group of people with a fictional term, like society, or collectivist, or communist, or whatever the term is, and you don’t know who’s included and excluded from that group so you can never have clarity of conversation; whereas if you focus on the individual, that’s very clear where the individual starts and ends.” — Robert Breedlove Robert Breedlove is a philosopher within the Bitcoin space. In this interview, we discuss useful fictions used for collective organisation, slavery as the violation of property rights, Bitcoin changing the logic of violence, and the reality of an anarcho-capitalist world. - - - - Cooperation across large groups is the basis for the rise and evolution of human civilisation. As the historian Yuval Noah Harari espouses, such cooperation has been enabled through the exploitation of useful fictions (i.e. religion, nat…“If it’s too hard to manage your own keys, which even today it is too hard for people, that we wind up in a world in which just a few global custodians hold all the keys and that’s unlikely to result in the Bitcoin that we know and love and want to see for the world; so it’s very important that a sizable percentage of Bitcoin users are controlling their own keys.” — Steve Lee Steve Lee is Lead at Spiral, a subsidiary of Block. In this interview, we discuss how Spiral is enabling lightning integration, Block’s aim to create an open Bitcoin mining ecosystem, a vision of zero cost decentralized Bitcoin mining, and inspiring open-source Bitcoin projects. - - - - The orange pilling of Jack Dorsey was a hugely consequential event, affecting the evolution of his business plans and Bitcoin. Jack and his team believe Bitcoin is the best money, and they want to help it spread. As a result, Block has developed a symbiotic mission: it seeks to nurture Bitcoin, strengthen its devel…“The best new idea I’ve come across… it’s a market-based, voluntary, bottom-up mechanism to resolve individual qualms around sustainability relating to ownership of bitcoin.” — Nic Carter Nic Carter is a Partner at Castle Island Ventures, and Troy Cross is a Fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute. In this interview, we discuss Bitcoin mining as an ESG offset and how Bitcoin miners could be the frontier of energy development whilst helping nations attain energy sovereignty. - - - - The two extremes of the climate change debate are engaged in a zero-sum game. For some, the existential threat of climate change requires humans to rapidly transition to energy production 100% derived from renewable sources. A particular contingent believes a transition is required by force: a carbon tax to dissuade investment in fossil fuels and a degrowth agenda to enable society to prioritise the use of more limited but sustainable energy sources. The counterargument is that catastro…“Once you have international trade getting settled in Bitcoin instead of the dollar, I think that’s when you’ll know: alright, we’re under a Bitcoin standard. ” — Marty Bent Marty Bent is the founder of the Bitcoin focused media company TFTC.io, Venture Partner at Ten31, and Director of Cathedra Bitcoin. In this interview, we discuss resisting centralised narratives around the Ukraine/Russia conflict and the push for ESG and renewable energy. - - - - The fragmentation of modern media provides access to a limitless supply of analysis, interpretations, and opinions. But rather than bringing clarity, this cacophony of commentary more often results in confusion. Into this mix, powerful centralised institutions mobilise significant resources to drive narratives. Over the past few generations, fearless investigative efforts have identified examples of deficient and deceptive institutions. This has resulted in such centralised messaging being treated with caution, if not…“Most people are good, and have good ambitions for the world, and want things to be better, and so the goal is not to just scream at someone when you disagree with them, it’s to figure out what values you share; and, in the case of advocating for Bitcoin, for example, showing how Bitcoin leads to those values.” — David Zell David Zell is a co-founder of the Bitcoin Policy Institute and Director of Policy at BTC Inc. In this interview, we discuss echo chambers and groupthink, how Bitcoin being for everyone makes it stronger, the threat of Bitcoin to China, and political exploitation. - - - - Bitcoin’s survival and flourishing from the early days was down to having an impassioned and protective community. Some of this was defensive; resilience builds over years of criticism and ridicule. Some of this was offensive as various existential risks have had to be overcome. What has evolved is a kind of ethical militancy, as Bitcoin maximalists have banded together to thwart anyth…“Right now the integrity of the dollar is in question, people don’t trust US power, US is withdrawing from the international sphere, the international institutions we set up in 1944 are fraying; nobody really trusts them anymore.” — Nic Carter Nic Carter is a Partner at Castle Island Ventures and co-founder and Chairman of Coin Metrics. In this interview, we discuss the seizure of Russian Central Bank assets by the G7, the demise of US hegemony, and a multipolar multi-reserve world. - - - - Whilst it is arguable whether America’s geopolitical reach can be classed as an empire, the decline of its hegemonic power is compared to the passing of great empires of the past. Such analysis shows that there are no fixed dates to assign to the actual fall of empires; declines are marked by a prolonged unwinding of influence and cohesiveness. Nevertheless, the atrophying of empires are signposted by critical dates: the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths in 410; the humiliation of Brita…“We’ve assumed global peace: no geopolitical issues, we’re all gonna kumbaya, get together; and as we enter a world where that’s not the case anymore, we have to put more resiliency into our supply chains, more duplication – so if you have to duplicate things, it’s inherently less efficient, and more inflationary, but more resilient.” — Lyn Alden Lyn Alden is a macroeconomist and investment strategist. In this interview, we discuss the economic impacts of the Ukraine Russia conflict, including the effect of sanctions on Russia, wider global impacts, and the responses of individuals, companies, and nations. - - - - As the Ukraine Russia conflict continues well into the third week, it is hard to think beyond the wretched humanitarian impacts. But, it is imperative the serious economic impacts are analysed, both in terms of the direct and indirect collateral costs of the physical war, and the unprecedented economic actions being applied as tools of warfare. The main is…“You hear this all the time: well, how come Ukraine doesn’t have the right to join whatever military alliance they want? You hear that every day, all day, well, just think about that. Is that really true? Is anyone thinking for a minute that Canada and Mexico have the right to join into a military alliance with Russia and China? Or is that absolutely preposterous?” — Scott Horton Scott Horton is an anti-war radio host, podcaster, and author. In this interview, we discuss whether there are any just wars, the Ukraine/Russia conflict, and how a chain reaction of misunderstood events going back to WW1 got us here. - - - - History is not necessarily objective: observers are usually partisan, and chroniclers of collected stories have their own subjective biases that can affect the evidence base. These issues are most pronounced in the records of wars. This is because history is written by the victors. Mainstream presentation of the history of wars rarely credits divergent int…“Bitcoin is this unbelievably unparalleled asset, that respects your time spent, and your labour, and it puts it into this safe and growing in value bank in cyberspace as Saylor says. But you can screw it up if you lever it... levering Bitcoin literally inverts 180 degrees the way that Bitcoin otherwise respects your time.” — Andy Edstrom Location: Los Angeles Date: Friday 4th February Company: Swan Bitcoin Role: Head of Institutional Investment As with all assets and commodities, a myriad of financial instruments have been developed around Bitcoin. The riskier end of the spectrum are opportunities to take levered positions. These positions can produce stellar returns, providing opportunities for those who feel like they’ve missed out on previous bull runs, or have the appetite to try and continue to outplay the market. If only it were that simple. Stating leverage involves risk is a massive understatement. You. Can. Lose. Everything. Liquidation is a brutal experience. The…“There’s something about the way in which money, and China, and law, and the US government, and technology interact…every institutional player, at some level it seems of any size, capitulates; everybody’s recording a hostage video at the institutional level.” — Eric Weinstein Location: Los Angeles Date: Friday 4th February Company: Thiel Capital Role: MD Culture wars, identity politics, the intellectual dark web, audience capture: this is the well-worn nomenclature used to define the battles of open discourse that have been raging over the past few years. Retaining an authentic and honest voice in today’s polarised and intolerant society has required fortitude and resilience. But, trying to engage with those who refuse to have (or are incapable of having) an open mind takes its toll. In addition, it is equally waring to engage with those who have a firm opinion on all matters. People generally refrain from admitting they don’t know, or that they are open to changing…“Bitcoin is a perfect match for renewable energy, it helps monetize the build-out of renewable energy, it helps monetize the operation of renewable energy, it helps to stabilise the grid; and we need it to happen at a massive scale, a massive scale.” — Troy Cross Location: San Francisco Date: Tuesday 8th February Project: Bitcoin Policy Institute Role: Fellow On both sides of the Atlantic, politicians and regulators are questioning the sustainability of Bitcoin mining. These positions knowingly or unknowingly use narratives and statistics that have been widely dispelled by authorities within our industry. Bitcoin is cited as a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, ignoring the detrimental impact of the petrodollar and other institutionally accepted activities. Bitcoin transactions are disingenuously portrayed as being incredibly polluting; as Nic Carter stated “The question of Bitcoin’s energy footprint is riven with misconceptions.” Usage of renewable power fo…“The very first sentence of the White Paper says that Bitcoin is a peer to peer electronic cash system that can allow people to send payments without going through financial institutions. That’s the first sentence: built around self custody, not around inflation protection, not around digital gold.” — Nick Neuman Location: New York Date: Thursday 9th December Company: Casa Role: CEO Not your keys, not your coins. Despite being a central mantra of Bitcoiners, self-custody is still an issue for the ecosystem. Whether it be major institutional investors or new small volume retail buyers, there are material concerns over the risks and technical skills required with being responsible for Bitcoin keys. Whilst delegating custody removes perceived barriers to entry, they present new risks to individuals and the wider network. These new risks may be nebulous and abstract to many. But they are real and significant issues that contravene Satoshi’s central mission for a decentralized…“If we break the all time high properly, we run through the fibs and let’s face it $69k to $100k is nothing.” — Willy Woo Location: Remote Date: Thursday 23rd December Companies: Hypersheet Role: Co-Founder 2021 has been a year like no other in Bitcoin. The market has matured dramatically with increased institutional interest following the Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy playbook, El Salvador driving nation-state adoption and more sophisticated market instruments with the launch of two US-based Bitcoin futures ETFs. The maturing of the market seems to have broken the typical 4-year cycle around the halving. No longer are we seeing huge parabolic run ups and massive +80% sell-offs. Instead, we have had much more complex price action throughout the year. After hitting mid-$60,000s in May, we had a 50% correction followed by months of consolidation before another run-up and a new all-time high in November. Now, at the end of 2021, the bitcoin price is ~$50,000, and while it…“When you make this change that we just talked about going from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake you break a lot of the really cool stuff…I don’t think any of us appreciated the complexity and how much fixing we’d have to do after breaking Nakamoto consensus.” — Lane Rettig Location: New York Date: Sunday 5th December Project: Ethereum Role: Core Developer The Proof of Work (PoW) consensus protocol is under relentless attack. Earlier this month The House of Representatives held a hearing on digital assets. Rashida Tlaib dismissively questioned PoW, quoting erroneous Bitcoin transaction energy cost data. In response Stellar’s CEO Denelle Dixon implicitly agreed PoW was energy intensive, and that “we all need to focus on minimizing the energy consumption as much as possible”. The next day Ripple’s co-founder Chairman Chris Larsen published a medium article that stated “Bitcoin’s code needs to be changed to a low energy consensus algorithm like those used by n…“It’s a different game now, it’s more measured, a little bit slower, much more capital involved...Bitcoin has really crossed that chasm now to impact traditional finance very clearly in this year.” — Willy Woo Location: Remote Date: Thursday 25th November Project: Hypersheet Role: Co-Founder Comparisons between the 2017 & 2020/2021 bull markets are commonplace, and for a good reason. The 2016 halving kicked off a huge run and the first instance of wider retail getting involved in the Bitcoin market. 2020's halving was one catalyst for the current bull run. However, this time, the market participants are very different. Michael Saylor helped change the way institutions approach bitcoin, and a slew of other companies followed in his footsteps. Then, most notably, El Salvador became the first nation-state to make Bitcoin legal tender. Mainstream bitcoin investment has been a defining event of 2021. Further, this year has witnessed much more complex market activity: ETFs, s…“Buy the dip is the main thing you want to do, and the only time you really want to consider selling the top is the macro top.” — Willy Woo Location: Remotely Date: Monday 22nd Feb Company: Hypersheet Role: Co-Founder Since last month's episode with Willy Woo, bitcoin went from ~$30,000 to a new all-time high of over $58,000. This price action came on the back of a couple of massive announcements: Tesla added $1.5bn of bitcoin to its company treasury. MicroStrategy announced a raise of $600m in a convertible senior note sale to buy bitcoin before reassessing and increasing the raise to $900m. Upon completion of the raise, the company estimated the proceeds to be close to $1.05bn The bitcoin market cap broke through $1 trillion While corporations are still driving the bitcoin price, Willy Woo believes that we have entered a new phase of the bull market and that retail traders have arrived. As stated in his recent newsletter: "Bitcoin's blockchain is seeing 20,000 new users p…
