"Given two competing views of the world, the state will always promote the one that increases its power to extract wealth from its citizens. The choice between inflation and deflation is an easy one. Deflation empowers the citizen by allowing her modest savings to purchase more goods over time. Calling for inflation empowers the state by allowing it to print more money and by reducing the size of its enormous debts in real terms. It should be no surprise that state-funded academic institutions p...
Sep 27, 2022•40 min
"The whole tokenize-everything-thing so far is one fast hype train. It is exciting not for the technical efficiencies it may provide but for the exact opposite: rent seekers seeking rent. Actually, between the lines, some projects seem to suggest to everyone: “You, too, can be a rent seeker.” - Niko Jilch Wouldn't you want to own 1/1000th of a London apartment? Or maybe a famous work of art? Wouldn't this make ownership of these things far more efficient and be a major shift in the access of the...
Sep 23, 2022•33 min
"Everyone loves a good origin story. Some are true, some made-up, and some a mix of the two. The true origin story of Bitcoin’s appearance in the world is one of the most fascinating mysteries ever told. Yet these events all took place in the 21st century, a time when everything is recorded, and can be recalled, investigated — and verified." - Tomer Strolight Bitcoin isn't merely a tool, but something so unique and fundamental, that it challenges widely held beliefs of the world & inspires q...
Sep 22, 2022•58 min
"Bitcoin is not merely a network, it's a foundation for an anti-authoritarian political movement in an increasingly authoritarian world. If you're looking for why so many people are deeply passionate about Bitcoin & nothing else, start there." - Guy Swann Today I decide to rant about what Bitcoin maximalism means to me, why I am totally and completely focused on Bitcoin and nothing else, and why I think "crypto" has lost the plot. Crypto is interested in building a bunch of toys to be accept...
Sep 19, 2022•1 hr 21 min
"This brings us to our fourth principle behind PoS, which is that **PoS relies on subjective truth**. There is simply no objective way to pick between two competing blockchains, and any new nodes to the network must ultimately trust some existing source of truth to resolve any ambiguity. This contrasts significantly with Bitcoin, where the “true” chain is always the one with the most work. It doesn’t matter if a thousand nodes are telling you chain X, if a single node broadcasts chain Y and it c...
Sep 16, 2022•1 hr 13 min
"That misinformation in the form of money wouldn’t just create polarization. Because money connects value between people and nations, it would drive a tremendous misallocation of capital and resources as individual actors in the system all made the system worse with their actions to make enough money to escape the system." - Jeff Booth Today we take another brief pause from the Maximalism discussion to hit an awesome "back to the fundamentals" piece from Jeff Booth that dropped just last week. H...
Sep 13, 2022•1 hr 15 min
"I’m going to clear things up here because most of the people piling on were deeply confused about me, my firm, and what I do. And yes, I’m including some choice words for the self-described Bitcoin maximalists. You asked for it. You got it." - Nic Carter Nic takes to his medium page to denounce Bitcoin maximalism after getting bombarded over an investment by his VC fund. Was there a grain of truth to the criticism, is Bitcoin maximalism to blame, and what's the difference between the Bitcoin ma...
Sep 09, 2022•1 hr 17 min
"I believe Africa represents the most elegant use case for a Bitcoin standard in existence. In the paragraphs that follow I will explain why." - Charlene Fadirepo Africa is a hugely under-appreciated, yet massive part of the Bitcoin universe that is growing into its own, due to multiple factors, the case for a Bitcoin standard in Africa holds incredible potential. With a young vibrant demographic, political variety, entrepreneurial spirit, & a constant state of monetary pain, there are few p...
Sep 08, 2022•50 min
"Cryptocurrency market-isms are built on claims about the economic and computer science advances Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have achieved, and thus have a direct relationship to those claims. While some are the product entirely of fandom, others are more complex, attempting to both define a scientific position, and then encourage beliefs and conduct based on those claims." - Pete Rizzo Today we start a dive into Bitcoin Maximalism that we will expand on during this week. What is maximalism, is...
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr 8 min
"Many aspects of the Bitcoin mining industry are poorly understood and often misrepresented. But one practice in this sector stands apart for the misunderstandings and under-appreciation that surround it: intermittent mining." - Zack Voell One of the most under appreciated aspects of Bitcoin mining is its ability to be interrupted. As a buyer of last resort for energy that is curtailed or produced when it can't be consumed, and also able to turn off without losing its purchaser (i.e. the Bitcoin...
Sep 03, 2022•27 min
"A study of the hill tribes of Southeast Asia titled “The Art Of Not Being Governed” provided a fresh take. The author, James C. Scott, posits that the hill tribes were not “left behind” by the valley states but instead composed of refugees from the negative consequences of state-making down in the valleys: bondage, tribute, slavery, war epidemics and more. The rough terrain in the hills served as a natural impediment to absorption by the state." - Captain Sidd Today's article brings a unique pe...
Sep 02, 2022•51 min
We have got a great episode of Shitcoin Insider today, we bring the Insider himself back to the show today to discuss what Bitcoin maximalism even means, is it a "dying breed?" Is it just a bunch of meanies on Twitter? Or have we found ourselves fighting over a caricature that's equated to the lowest common denominator of the Twitterverse, while ignoring the actual set of principles behind the Bitcoin-only philosophy and what it truly means? You don't want to miss today's excellent conversation ...
Aug 31, 2022•1 hr 44 min
"The answer that matters depends on the context. The context you need to have is that cryptocurrency, i.e. Bitcoin, was invented/discovered initially to allow a money by the people that cannot be shut down by government. In that context, the most important element to be decentralized is the network of Nodes. -- If the nodes are not decentralized, nothing else decentralized matters. -- If the nodes are decentralized, then the other things kind of matter, but not as much." - Arman the Parman Today...
Aug 30, 2022•40 min
"I think too many people in those early years interpreted “e-cash” to mean quick-and-easy payments for everyday goods using the base layer, when a better way to think of cash today is as a private censorship-resistant final settlement transaction method. Physical cash, after all, is not necessarily the easiest payment type, or a medium of exchange that we need to use for everything, but it’s the most private and the hardest to prevent from occurring." - Lyn Alden The full, uninterrupted reading ...
Aug 30, 2022•2 hr 20 min
Tearing down the fallacies of the collective, and digging through the principles of liberty and personal responsibility with the one and only Aleks Svetski and co-author Mark Moss. My brother also joins us today to dig into this topic with a really fun chat on the powerful, but ultimately broken ideas of communism, and why Moss and Svetski's book, The UnCommunist Manifesto, is a short, succinct breakdown of the principles that align us with truth and personal responsibility. You don't want to mi...
Aug 27, 2022•1 hr 27 min
"Back when the iPhone was introduced in 2007, few people thought, “wow this could really disrupt the taxi industry a decade from now.” A few technologies had converged by that the point to where everyday people could have a pocket supercomputer with a big touchscreen and a high-bandwidth mobile internet connection, and this served as a set of building blocks that could exponentially eat into many other industries, including allowing Uber to come along and change how we move across cities. All ma...
Aug 24, 2022•1 hr 36 min
"But more broadly, one must ask, “at what point would someone want to permanently exchange their self-custodial scarce money (bitcoin) that has a 1.8% annual supply inflation rate that is exponentially shrinking, for a soft money (fiat currency) that typically has a 7% annual supply inflation rate or higher?” The answer for many people, is never, as long as the Bitcoin network is still working." - Lyn Alden What is up we are digging into Part 2 of Lyn Alden's amazing piece "A Look at the Lightni...
Aug 22, 2022•2 hr 3 min
"Simple “bubbles” don’t survive through several 70%+ drawdowns over a period lasting thirteen years and counting; it looks more like Metcalfe’s law of network adoption at this point. That doesn’t mean it is without risks, but it means it should be studied and understood rather than dismissed, to see what it is about this network that allows it to keep growing through resistance." - Lyn Alden After about 20 requests we are finally diving into Lyn Alden's incredible piece on Bitcoin's evolution fr...
Aug 19, 2022•1 hr 33 min
"Today, people use inflation to refer to two separate things, and whenever you hear someone saying inflation it’s not always clear which definition they are referring to. One definition is “the prices of consumer goods increasing” and the other is “dilution of the money supply”. So which is it?" - Steven Lubka Steven brings an excellent piece today from the Swan Bitcoin Blog about the nature of Bitcoin as an inflation hedge. Does that mean Bitcoin will stay perfectly in line with the general pri...
Aug 18, 2022•55 min
WE ARE BACK! Were you wondering about everything that happened in the collapse of TerraUSD, the algorithmic stablecoin that got algonniahilated? And how exactly did one project's failure create such a cascading shitstorm of Defi defaulting? Cory Klippsten, CEO of SwanBitcoin, and outspoken critic who warned everyone of these projects long before they collapsed, breaks down what he saw in these [rojects and companies that brought them to their inevitable conclusion. Follow Cory here . (Link: http...
Aug 18, 2022•1 hr 1 min
"I think there are some important economic errors in the stories I see people telling about crypto, on Twitter and elsewhere — errors that have important implications for how we should think about the value of Bitcoin and other blockchain assets." - Noahpinion Unfortunately I think there are quite the few economic errors in Noahpinion's article titled, "Economic misconceptions of the crypto world." While he may actually have some fundamental points to add around much of the "crypto" space and th...
Aug 13, 2022•1 hr 57 min
"These two jobs are almost always in tension. Any added protection to keep a bad actor out adds a risk that it may also trip up the owner, and any new backup or alternative way to access creates a new potential security hole." - @max_guise Today we dive into a practical piece on how to build a unique self custody model that allows the user room to make mistakes, but still retain control, or the ability to recover their funds. Safely storing Bitcoin keys can be incredibly challenging and the unfo...
Aug 12, 2022•1 hr 13 min
Following up on the release of Keet.io and a simple to use, responsive, encrypted, & scalable P2P data sharing protocol in Holepunch, its network backend, we bring the CEO of Holepunch Mathias Buus, and the CSO of Holepunch and CTO of Bitfinex, Paolo Ardoino on the show to talk about what the long term vision of this project truly is. This isn't just a better video chat app, this is the first building block in a plan to rebuild the internet & potentially break down the walls of the inter...
Aug 09, 2022•1 hr 56 min
"It’s not and never was about equality or perfection. It’s about fairness and consequence. Bitcoin is “Responsibility go Up” technology." - Aleks Svetski The principles and rules of Bitcoin do not establish utopia, they do not create a perfect equality for all participants, instead it creates fairness and enforces equal responsibility on all who use the Bitcoin system. It is rules without rulers, it is a form of natural, incorruptible law, and all the consequences that come with that. Svetski br...
Aug 04, 2022•47 min
Orange pilling the everyday user with Mash. Combining simple, fast onboarding into the Lightning ecosystem and enabling a unique monetizing experience with micropayments and payment flows to any content imaginable. Author Jesse Berger joins to announce the experience available for exploring his book, Magic Internet Money. Pay for the book, or by the chapter, or the page. Pay only for what you want to read, and not a sat more. Find out more in today's chat, Mashing it with Magic Internet Money. E...
Aug 02, 2022•1 hr 37 min
"Holepunch makes Hypercore more accessible by abstracting away low-level technical details of the protocol. It takes Hypercore one step further by simplifying the architecture and enabling more people to build apps with it — which enabled a single frontend developer to build Keet in under four months" - Namcios Keet is going to change the game. P2P encrypted and decentralized, video, audio, and file sharing. Built on Holepunch and Hypercore, a technology stack that has the potential to drastical...
Jul 29, 2022•1 hr 16 min
"If a money (the most salable good) is easy to create more of, then any rational economic actor would just go out and create more money for herself, diluting the whole supply of it. If an asset has a monetary premium on top of its pure utility value, then it’s strongly incentivizing market participants to try to make more of it, and so only the forms of money that are the most resistant to debasement can withstand this challenge." - Lyn Alden The full, unabridged reading of Lyn Alden's excellent...
Jul 27, 2022•2 hr 45 min
“Fedi and Fedimint will help put monetary power back into the hands of everyone, everywhere,” said Fedi Inc. co-founder and CEO, Obi Nwosu, in a statement. “This creates brighter futures for billions and especially for those struggling under oppressive regimes, which ultimately makes the world a better place.” - Namcios The cypherpunk mission of Chaumian Ecash may finally be realized, as a federated payment model on top of Bitcoin. Fedi, the company implmenting a user-friendly, community custody...
Jul 26, 2022•47 min
"Like any powerful technology, bitcoin can be used for good or ill. As proponents of the technology like to say, bitcoin is “money for enemies” because it’s a bearer asset that can be verified rather than trusted, and it’s hard to block payments for anyone. It’s like a commodity; something that can be partially regulated within certain jurisdictions but that in the holistic sense, exists outside of anyone’s control." - Lyn Alden Today we hit the third and final part of Lyn Alden's incredible bre...
Jul 20, 2022•1 hr 25 min
"To put it into perspective, this international monetary system based around centrally-managed fiat currency is only 16 years older than me. My father was 36 when the US went off the gold standard. When I grew up, after a period of financial hardship, I began collecting gold and silver coins as a kid; my father gave me silver coins as savings each year. The Swiss dropped their gold standard when I was twelve years old, which was six years after Amazon was founded, and three years before Tesla wa...
Jul 18, 2022•1 hr 7 min
