The name Satoshi Nakamoto first appeared in a white paper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" in 2008, which outlined the technical framework and underlying principles of Bitcoin. The paper was released under the name Satoshi Nakamoto and was later followed by the launch of Bitcoin in 2009. Satoshi Nakamoto was involved in the development of Bitcoin until 2011 when he handed over control of the project to other developers and disappeared from public view. Attempts to uncover ...
May 15, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 18
We know that most likely, bitcoin in the future will be worth a lot more than bitcoin now. But this information is useless if you lose your bitcoin. Either you fall victim to a scam or you just misplaced your seedphrase. So how do we ensure that we can hold on to our bitcoin so that we can perhaps one day, enjoy the money (and possibly gains) that we worked so hard for?
May 03, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 17
So you're telling me I have to write down this random assortment of 12 or 24 english words and never show them to anyone and that list of words will secure my entire fortune? Yeah, you pretty much got it. Today we're exploring how bitcoin wallets work and the wonderful technology that is HD Wallets and BIP-39.
Apr 26, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 16
A Central Bank Digital Currency, or CBDC for short, is a digital version of a fiat currency that is issued directly by the government/central bank. People often confuse CBDCs with cryptocurrencies since they are both digital in nature, but that's about where the similarities end. CBDCs centralizes power to one entity, the government, while Bitcoin decentralizes power to individuals. This difference is extremely important. CBDCs have massive potential to be abused by the government by method of l...
Apr 19, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Today we go over 3 more criticisms of Bitcoin. In particular, does Bitcoin represent or promote radical ideologies? Is Bitcoin used for crime? And, has Bitcoin failed as an inflation hedge? Today we wrap up the mini-series on responding to criticisms of Bitcoin.
Apr 12, 2023•19 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Is Bitcoin worthless because it has no intrinsic value? What do I have to say to someone who says "I love blockchain but not bitcoin"? Is Bitcoin a Ponzi Scheme? I answer all these questions and more in today's episode. We're doing rapid fire mode for tackling all the arguments of the naysayers.
Apr 05, 2023•15 min•Season 1Ep. 13
This week I address the age-old criticism of bitcoin and its energy usage. Is Bitcoin a worthwhile endeavour for us to be spending our electricity on, and why is it a bad idea if we switch bitcoin to another consensus method such as Proof of Stake which uses less energy? Does the pathway to a sustainable future even require that we use less energy? Since demonstrably, humans use more energy even on a per capita basis, compared to humans 1000 years ago. I answer all these questions and provide my...
Mar 29, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Why Bitcoin? As in, why should we choose Bitcoin specifically as the basis of our monetary system rather than something else like another digital asset or just our current existing financial system? Also, why can't something better just come along and replace Bitcoin? How can we be sure of Bitcoin's longevity?
Mar 22, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 11
The Byzantine Generals Problem is an issue that presents itself in distributed computer networks. A blockchain is an example of a decentralized distributed computer network. How do we keep such a system in sync when there is no central authority to run the network? If an outage occurs, how can a decentralized distributed network recover from such an outage? Bitcoin solves the Byzantine Generals Problem in a unique way. Bitcoin relies on a consensus model that bears the name of its creator and is...
Mar 08, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 10
This week we explore more moral reasons why bitcoin should succeed. Tossing aside technological and economical reasons for just a moment, what moral benefits can be derived from using Bitcoin instead of fiat as our monetary standard? Fiat requires an army to back it, which triggers an arms race between countries who want to protect their fiat currency's power. Most of the wars in human history were fought over the allocation of resources. Gold is a resource that can be forcibly taken. We'll revi...
Mar 01, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Is inflation good? Is deflation bad? If you've ever been to any sort of post-secondary education on topics related to economics in the Western world, you've most likely been taught that we need a small amount of inflation, which is good for the economy. However, have you ever stopped to wonder whether this is actually true? Today, we'll explore an alternative viewpoint on the inflation vs deflation debate.
Feb 22, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 8
A flywheel, or more scientifically known as a "positive feedback loop", is a system where the output of that system is also the input that's needed to keep the system going. For example, things like social media, emails, fax machines, and Blu-ray players, are all examples of flywheels. Today we go through how bitcoin leverages the idea of flywheels to become the superior store of value, and how bitcoin threatens to eat away at the value of other assets such as gold, bonds, and real estate....
Feb 15, 2023•19 min•Season 1Ep. 7
We've spent several episodes already talking about the important and pivotal role that gold has played in our history in serving as money. We use the term "gold standard" to describe something that is the best or the highest quality in a given thing's category. So, if gold is so good, why did we leave the Gold Standard and transition to a Fiat Standard? As far as I'm aware, there are no countries on earth that still uses the Gold Standard. So what gives? Why doesn't gold work?
Feb 08, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 6
This week, we again discuss the 6 properties of money, but armed with the knowledge of how bitcoin works. We'll evaluate how bitcoin fits into the 6 properties which are: durability, portability, divisibility, homogeneity, scarcity, and acceptability. The goal is to find an alternative to both fiat and gold and try to beat both in finding a form of money that fairs well across all 6 categories.
Feb 01, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 5
This week we talk about what exactly bitcoin is, the technology behind what makes it work, and elude to its potential to fix a lot of the problems that we see with our fiat monetary system. We'll discuss what bitcoin has in common with the wildly popular board game Monopoly, and how we can use cryptographic hashing functions to create a digital resource.
Jan 25, 2023•21 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Imagine that you're an official in the Roman Empire in 117 CE at the greatest extent of Rome. Your empire stretches from what is now Portugal to the mouth of the Euphrates River (modern-day Iraq and Kuwait). Among your many duties, you have to preside over a case that deals with a dispute between two men over land deed records. You also need to pay your soldiers fighting for you in a conflict-ridden region of Germania. While all this is going on, you worry about not having enough gold on hand to...
Jan 18, 2023•19 min•Season 1Ep. 3
This week, the story begins in 1944 against the backdrop of the Appalachian Mountains in New Hampshire, where delegates from 44 nations gathered to create the Bretton Woods System, which defined how global economics would work for the decades to come. We still see the shadows and the consequences of Bretton Woods today. In this episode, we explore Bretton Woods, what happened in 1971, and how that relates to inflation, which has recently again become a hot topic.
Jan 11, 2023•16 min•Season 1Ep. 2
All about who I am and why I started this podcast. My name is Andy and this is a new thing we're trying. This episode is where I go over from beginning to end,, my personal story about how I got into the Bitcoin space. If you're new to the space, welcome!
Jan 01, 2023•16 min•Season 1Ep. 1
