In this episode, Saifedean invites his newsletter subscribers to join a Q&A seminar normally only available to Saifedean.com members. He answers questions on whether money and debt are the same, whether bitcoin whales or “monopolists” will gain too much power on the free market, the impact of energy trends on bitcoin mining, and the risks of holding bitcoin on an exchange. Participants also share their personal stories about how reading The Bitcoin Standard changed their life by lowering the...
Dec 03, 2021•1 hr 54 min
In this episode, Saifedean talks to Katie The Russian (Katie Ananina) about Plan B passports and how to navigate a world of Covid hysteria. Saifedean and Katie talk about “Flag Theory” and how obtaining multiple passports and residences can help sovereign individuals respond to restrictive government policies. They also talk about the arguments laid out in the book The Sovereign Individual and whether the rise of the microprocessor has led to a strengthening or weakening of government power. In ...
Nov 25, 2021•1 hr 28 min
In this episode, Saifedean invites back PlanB to back discuss the resilience of his stock-to-flow bitcoin pricing model in the face of global economic changes. They talk about the range of events that have impacted the bitcoin price since the model’s inception – Covid lockdowns, MicroStrategy, Elon Musk, China mining ban, El Salvador – and why the price has largely stayed within one standard deviation of the model’s baseline throughout. They also discuss institutional interest in bitcoin, which ...
Nov 20, 2021•2 hr
In this Twitter Spaces discussion, Saifedean introduces his new book The Fiat Standard. Working through the chapters of the book, he discusses how the fiat monetary system works, why the Federal Reserve constitutes its “single node”, and how fiat is “mined” into existence through bank lending. He also talks about how the fiat monetary system impacts society in areas ranging from diet to energy to education. Saifedean then takes questions from Twitter users on The Sovereign Individual thesis, CBD...
Nov 18, 2021•2 hr 12 min
In this episode, Saifedean talks to author and public intellectual Jordan Peterson about how bitcoin solves the problems of The Fiat Standard. Saifedean starts by introducing the Austrian School of Economics, its key concepts such as “opportunity cost”, and how it differs from alternative schools. Saifedean and Jordan then move on to a discussion of the civilizing impact of hard money, why bitcoin is different from other cryptocurrencies, and why bitcoin mining changes the dynamics of the global...
Nov 17, 2021•2 hr 2 min
In this episode Saifedean invites back philosopher and energy expert Alex Epstein to talk about climate hysteria and the energy issues facing the world today. They discuss the ongoing COP26 talks in Glasgow and why those setting its agenda are driven by an anti-human philosophy. They also talk about emerging power shortages around the world and why these are caused by a government-led push towards unreliable energy. Alex explains why being opposed to human impact on the environment is equivalent...
Nov 15, 2021•2 hr 3 min
In this episode Saifedean talks to Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike, about how the Lightning Network is disrupting the global payments industry. Jack explains how international remittances work, why they are so costly and why the industry cannot compete with Lightning-based solutions. He and Saifedean then discuss how bitcoin is helping El Salvadorians transition from using cash to using bitcoin, whilst bypassing commercial banks. They also cover Jack’s role in helping to introduce Lightning tips to ...
Nov 11, 2021•2 hr
In this episode Saifedean invites back Professor Paul Frijters of the London School of Economics to debate whether bitcoin is a good form of money. Saifedean makes the case for money as a market phenomenon, and argues that bitcoin has the scarcity, divisibility, fungibility and transportability that humans have historically valued in monies. Paul questions whether bitcoin mining is a zero-sum game and whether the fact that people hold bitcoin really demonstrates it has value. The debate touches ...
Nov 07, 2021•2 hr 12 min
In this episode, Saifedean talks to London School of Economics Professor Paul Frijters about his book The Great Covid Panic. They talk about the role played by epidemiologists like Neil Fergusson in encouraging governments to pursue extreme lockdowns, and why mainstream economists failed to properly evaluate the opportunity costs of this policy. They discuss the damage lockdowns have caused and how societies were driven by crowd mentality to engage in largely ineffectual “Covid theatre” such as ...
Oct 31, 2021•2 hr 2 min
In this episode Saifedean talks to Nik Bhatia, author of Layered Money. They begin by discussing Nik’s first essays on bitcoin, The Time Value of Bitcoin and The Lightning Network Reference Rate, and why Nik thinks “Lightning banks” are on their way. They move on to talk about Nik’s book, starting with an overview of how “layered money” developed on top of gold through financial institutions, and how this eventually culminated in the emergence of a pure fiat financial system. Nik and Saifedean a...
Oct 22, 2021•2 hr 3 min
Lecture delivered on Sept 17, 2021, to the Property and Freedom Society in Bodrum, Turkey, at the invitation of Professor Hans Hermann Hoppe. In this lecture, Saifedean discusses the relationship between time and preference and hard money. Saifedean argues that the ability to hold a form of money that holds its value into the future reduces the uncertainty surrounding the future, leading to less discounting of the future and thus a lower time preference. The lowering of time preference is what a...
Oct 13, 2021•42 min
October 4th 2021. In this episode Saifedean talks to bitcoin journalist Pete Rizzo about bitcoin maximalism, altcoins and Satoshi. They discuss objectivity in journalism, what constitutes a “neutral” stance on altcoins for journalists, and how bitcoin differentiates itself from other cryptocurrencies through its high degree of decentralization. They also discuss the role that Satoshi and his disappearance had in shaping today's bitcoin, and whether Satoshi was motivated by studying Austrian...
Oct 07, 2021•2 hr 9 min
In this episode, Saifedean takes questions from regular seminar attendees on bitcoin fungibility, bitcoin price models and central bank digital currencies. The discussion focusses on whether the ability of governments and private analysts to monitor on-chain bitcoin transactions poses a threat to its fungibility, and whether this matters. Saifedean also answers questions on how PlanB’s stock to flow model has so accurately predicted bitcoin price movements and what CBDCs have in common with the ...
Sep 18, 2021•52 min
In this interview with the Mises Institute's Economics for Business podcast, Saifedean discusses his entrepreneurial work on saifedean.com : what is the business model, why he decided to leave behind the malinvestment of academia and work independently, how bitcoin was instrumental in this move, the benefits of independent knowledge entrepreneurship, and why this is the beginning of a growing trend worldwide. THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORS NYDIG - https://nydig.com Cyphersafe - https...
Sep 12, 2021•51 min
In this episode Saifedean talks to Dr Terence Kealey, adjunct scholar at The Cato Institute, about government funding of science. They discuss the history of technological development including how the Industrial Revolution was able to take place in Britain at a time of limited government and no significant state support for science. They cover how western government involvement in science accelerated during the atmosphere of panic that followed the 1957 launch of Sputnik, and why the misguided ...
Sep 03, 2021•1 hr 50 min
In this episode Saifedean talks to regular seminar attendees about some common criticisms of hard money made by inflationist economists, and why these criticisms represent a misunderstanding of why recessions happen and how they are resolved. The conversation touches on the reluctance of mainstream economists to address the causes of The Great Depression, why they mistakenly attribute its length to the inflexibility of the gold standard, and how Austrian Business Cycle Theory provides the only c...
Aug 27, 2021•1 hr 40 min
In this episode Saifedean talks to Jeff Davidson, Executive Director at Saylor Academy, about how online learning is disrupting traditional education. Jeff describes why he became interested in education and how he came to partner with Michael Saylor on developing Saylor Academy into one of the world’s leading online learning platforms. They discuss the limitations of traditional university education, why government involvement in education has led to bureaucratization and stifled innovation, an...
Aug 23, 2021•1 hr 38 min
In this episode Saifedean continues his discussion on homeschooling and fiat education with Daniel Prince. They touch on whether homeschooling is just for the wealthy elite, what a forgotten 1917 book can tell us about the true purpose of state education, and why – when all costs are considered – private education and homeschooling are more cost-effective than state alternatives. To hear the first part of this conversation, check out episode #76 of The Bitcoin Standard Seminar. Related links: Su...
Aug 20, 2021•1 hr 40 min
In this episode Saifedean talks to Daniel Prince – author of the book Choose Life and host of the Once BITten! podcast – about homeschooling. Daniel describes his experiences travelling around the world and homeschooling his four children, what he learnt along the way and how to avoid some common mistakes. He and Saifedean discuss the arguments in favour of non-traditional forms of education – drawing on the ideas of thinkers such as Ken Robinson, Naomi Fisher and Peter Gray – and why this can h...
Aug 18, 2021•1 hr 34 min
Saifedean is delighted to be offering a free introductory course on Austrian economics through Saylor.org, Michael Saylor's free online university. In this Twitter Spaces discussion, Michael and Saifedean discuss the course content, how the Austrian School’s approach to economics differs from the mainstream, and why it is best to study economics in the Austrian tradition. They also discuss the incredibly successful model of Saylor.org. The platform has registered almost a million students, ...
Aug 11, 2021•1 hr 11 min
In this episode Saifedean talks to Paul Saladino MD about meat eating and his book The Carnivore Code. They begin by discussing how transitioning from a vegan to a carnivore diet helped Paul to cure his eczema and why he now recommends others do the same. They cover why toxins are present in many commonly-eaten plants, what Paul learnt from studying the eating habits of the Hazda tribe, and whether fruit and honey have a place in a predominantly meat-based diet. They end by talking about the lim...
Aug 04, 2021•1 hr 54 min
In this episode Saifedean talks about popular misconceptions regarding scientific progress, focusing on aviation as a case study. He describes how the Wright brothers invented the first airplane in 1903 despite claims from scientific authorities of the time that human flight was impossible, and how commercial aircraft capabilities started to decline after the 1970s. Drawing on insights from the work of Terence Kealey, Saifedean describes how many other historical inventions – such as those of Th...
Jul 31, 2021•1 hr 23 min
In this episode Saifedean talks to software developer and author Gigi. They start by talking about Gigi’s book 21 Lessons: What I've Learned from Falling Down the Bitcoin Rabbit Hole, and why Gigi’s most important lesson is “you will not change bitcoin, but bitcoin will change you”. They move on to discuss the relationship between bitcoin and time. They cover how bitcoin solved the problem of reaching decentralized agreement on time and how bitcoin, as an unparalleled savings technology, se...
Jul 30, 2021•1 hr 47 min
Saifedean appearance on The Human Action podcast, hosted by Jeff Deist, President of Mises Institute. Quoted from the original description: Saifedean Ammous, famous for The Bitcoin Standard, has a remarkable new book detailing the effects of fiat money on virtually every aspect of society. In the tradition of Guido Hülsmann's The Ethics of Money Production, Ammous returns with The Fiat Standard. From a framework of Austrian economics, this book explains the sordid history of central banks s...
Jul 23, 2021•1 hr
In this episode Saifedean talks to bitcoin developer and author Jimmy Song about programming and Jimmy’s new book Thank God for Bitcoin, which explores bitcoin from a Christian perspective. They discuss how Jimmy’s Python coding skills helped him to get a job at a bitcoin company in 2013, and what benefits learning to code can bring to bitcoiners. In their discussion of Thank God for Bitcoin they cover how money affects our morality and time preference. They tackle questions such as whether it i...
Jul 21, 2021•1 hr 45 min
Saifedean's interview on Power Hour, hosted by Alex Epstein, author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, about how systematic government control--"fiat"--wreaks havoc in the realms, not just of currency, but of science, education, and energy. They cover: - How government control in the realm of ideas is treated as benign but is in fact incredibly dangerous. - The myth that leading universities such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford are "private." - What freedom of scientific...
Jul 18, 2021•1 hr 15 min
In this episode we host author Nina Teicholz to discuss healthy eating and the sorry state of fiat nutrition science. We begin with the corrupt scientific establishment’s treatment of Mary Enig, John Yudkin, and other great scholars who went against the dogma promoted by industrial food manufacturers. We further discuss dietary guidelines, why they came about, and how disastrously effective they have been at getting people the world over to abandon the foods of their ancestors in favor of the he...
Jul 15, 2021•2 hr
In this episode Saifedean talks to Ben Gagnon, Chief Mining Officer at Bifarms, a Canadian bitcoin mining company that accounts for 1-2% of global hash power. Ben tells the story of how he became involved in bitcoin after missing an opportunity to buy 100 bitcoin for $70 in 2010. He and Saifedean discuss when it makes sense for people and companies to mine bitcoin, whether it’s a good idea to invest in bitcoin mining companies, and how events such as China’s recent mining clampdown will affect t...
Jul 13, 2021•1 hr 38 min
In this episode Saifedean talks to regular seminar attendees about why bitcoin operates like a machine. They discuss why – like a washing machine – bitcoin continues to serve people who use it regardless of whether they understand the mechanics of how it works, why bitcoin’s critics are analogous to luddites, and why money should be understood as a private market good, rather than a public good. Links referenced: @s2fmultiple on Twitter For Ludwig von Mises’ definition of money as a medium of ex...
Jul 09, 2021•1 hr 8 min
Saifedean's seminar is joined by Neil Woodfine, Head of Marketing at Unchained Capital, who lived and worked in the bitcoin industry in China since 2014. Neil talks about his experience navigating the unpredictable Chinese regulatory environment, how he views China’s recent ban on bitcoin mining in light of previous Chinese bitcoin policy, the implications for the bitcoin network, how Chinese miners adapt to these bans, and the state of bitcoin trading and payments in China in general. Link...
Jul 04, 2021•1 hr 12 min
