The Peter McCormack Show

Location: Austin, TX Date: Friday 8th October Company: Independent, Multicoin Capital Role: Independent, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer In August, a bipartisan group of 69 senators passed a $1 trillion infrastructure package, including around $550 billion projected federal spending on roads, bridges, expanded broadband access and more. While this may seem irrelevant to Bitcoin, this 2000+ page document outlined how the government plans to fund the bill. Under the 'Other Provisions' section, the bill focused on the reporting requirement for "brokers" of digital assets and their definition. These reporting requirements are designed to extract a tax from users who misreport or underreport their taxes. This bill section caused a considerable backlash from bitcoiners as the proposed language is extensive and seems almost impossible to comply with. While bitcoiners were up in arms about the broker definition, lawyer Abe Sutherland says that the bill contains an overlooked "digital assets" provision that could become a far bigger issue, affecting almost every bitcoin user if it becomes law. In this interview, I talk to independent lawyer Abe Sutherland and Greg Xethalis, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Multicoin Capital, to discuss the onerous new reporting requirements hidden within the Infrastructure Bill.

Location: Nashville, TN Date: Thursday 30th September Company/project: The Investors Podcast & Great American Mining & TFTC Role: Host & Director of Business Development & Host 2021 has been a year of significant disruption. Trillions in deficit spending are ongoing. Many countries are experiencing the highest consumer inflation seen in decades, while assets and commodities prices have soared at a phenomenal rate. Meanwhile, China kicked half of Bitcoin's hashrate offline by instituting a country-wide ban on mining. However, the Bitcoin network has demonstrated its antifragility as thousands of ASIC machines migrate to other countries and come back online. While many Bitcoin naysayers have lambasted the energy use of Bitcoin's mining industry as being environmentally unfriendly, mining is driving more efficient use of low-cost, renewable, and otherwise wasted energy sources. In a world that is full of distortions, is Bitcoin the answer to society's problems? In this live interview, I talk to Preston Pysh, the host of The Investor Podcast, and Marty Bent from Tales From the Crypt and Great American Mining. We discuss rising inflation, why bitcoin mining is good for global energy use, and why bitcoin is this answer to many problems.

Location: New York Date: Monday 20th September Company: XBTO Humla Ventures Role: Managing Partner For millennia, technology has shaped society, and sometimes in giant leaps. Whether it's the invention of gunpowder or connecting our world with the internet, the result is civilisational transformation. Today, Bitcoin is still a nascent technology, yet it may already be a revolution of value in the digital age. Multiple industries that comprise tens of trillions of dollars may be on the precipice of massive disruption. So how will this financial transformation play out? In this interview, I talk to Greg Carson, a Managing Partner at XBTO Humla Ventures. We discuss how technology can reshape society, $20 trillion market disruptions, and Bitcoin's inevitable design.

Location: Remotely Date: Wednesday 29th September Company/project: Independent, Independent, Human Rights Foundation & Baillie Gifford Role: N/A, N/A, Chief Strategy Officer & Investment Manager The narrative around altcoins is constantly changing. However, one thing that remains consistent is that they almost always promise to 'improve upon Bitcoin' in one way or another. More often than not, this is improved layer one scalability, lower transaction costs or enhanced programmability. While many of these projects can offer faster and cheaper throughput and smart contracts, they come at the cost of the most fundamentally important aspects of Bitcoin; security, decentralisation and censorship resistance. Bitcoin maximalists often cite these reasons as to why all projects outside of Bitcoin are doomed to fail, but the market seems to think differently. Over short time frames, many of these altcoins can outperform Bitcoin and the opportunity to make quick gains draws in large amounts of retail investment regardless of premines, lack of product-market fit or whether a project is, in fact, meaningfully decentralised or not. Bitcoin is designed to be the hardest money the world has ever known and to demonetise the state. To achieve this, it moves slowly, protecting its core principles at all costs. In stark contrast to this, Altcoins operate on a model similar to Silicon Valley, move fast and break things. With growing concerns over a state-level regulatory crackdown on 'crypto', decentralisation is paramount. Bitcoin's decentralisation means it can survive almost any attack, but could altcoins survive without being meaningfully decentralised? In this interview, I talk to Allen Farrington, Crypto Cobain, Udi Wertheimer, and Alex Gladstein. We discuss tokens and securities, scalability vs decentralisation, nation-state resistance, and building on Bitcoin.

Location: New York Date: Sunday 19th September Project: Ethereum Role: Core Developer Ethereum was created to build upon Bitcoin's innovations and offer more functionality, and in 2015, Ethereum developers launched an ICO selling millions of ETH tokens, at the time worth over $18 million. Some of those funds, now worth nearly $1 billion, went to the Ethereum Foundation, which oversees the ongoing development and promotion of the Ethereum project. The foundation is a central entity that issues grants for relevant projects and employs core developers to work on the protocol. While the Ethereum ecosystem is thriving, questions remain about the technical roadmap, scalability, decentralisation of the network, and governance of the project itself. From changes in supply schedule and frequent hard forks, Ethereum governance is in stark contrast to the conservative, slow-moving and consistent nature of Bitcoin. So will the Ethereum project overcome the hurdles that lie ahead? Or is it doomed to fail? In this interview, I talk to Ethereum Core Developer Lane Rettig. We discuss the Ethereum foundation, why Lane quit, ethics, hypocrisy, decentralisation vs scalability, and building better institutions.

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 23rd September Company: Hypersheet Role: Co-Founder Bitcoin's controlled supply schedule and the four-year halving has, historically, led to predictable and cyclical price action with huge bull runs and brutal bear markets. Throughout the 2020/2021 bull market, people have been trying to predict bitcoin's price by comparing it to the 2013 'double pump' and 2017's parabolic top. However, this time the market is different. With large corporations now acquiring Bitcoin for their treasuries, a nation-state adopting Bitcoin as legal tender and an ETF, in the United States, likely just around the corner, could it be the end of the four-year cycle? In this interview, I talk to an on-chain analyst and the co-founder of Hypersheet, Willy Woo. We discuss whether Bitcoin is maturing, platforms vs protocols, decentralisation, and freedom.

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 23rd September Company: Validus Power Corp, Swan Bitcoin Role: Bitcoin Strategist, Head of Institutional Investment Over the last week, markets worldwide were hit hard as fears continue to grow over the liquidity of Chinese property behemoth Evergrande. The S&P, Dow Jones and Nasdaq all suffered their worst days in months. Evergrande is China's second-largest and the world's most indebted real estate developer. It expanded rapidly by borrowing more than $300 billion. however, when new rules were introduced to control the amount owed by big large estate developers, Evergrande was forced to sell properties at a significant discount and is now struggling to pay its debts. In 2008, the Great Financial Crisis began with an insolvent institution which precipitated a credit panic across the global banking system. When markets are saturated with debt, a single event can turn into a contagion. Will Evergrande spark another financial meltdown, or will it prove to be too big to fail? In this interview, I talk to the Head of Institutional Investment at Swan Bitcoin and Bitcoin Strategist Greg Foss. We discuss the Evergrande insolvency, whether a debt crisis is looming, and why Bitcoin is the perfect hedge.

SHOW DESCRIPTION Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 23rd September Company: Strike Role: CEO For the past few decades, fintech companies have launched many proprietary payment systems for digital payments, leading to competing standards that have left markets disconnected and bifurcated. Bitcoin is a new open monetary system, and the Lightning Network introduces instant cash-like digital finality. Any platform or company can now plug into a global interoperable financial network that operates at the speed of light. Twitter has become the first social network to integrate Bitcoin as its native currency. So what will this mean for social media and content creators? In this interview, I talk to Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike. We discuss the launch of the Strike API, integrating Bitcoin with Twitter, and the accelerating network effects of Lightning.

Location: New York Date: Sunday 19th September Company: Griid Infrastructure Role: VP of Strategy Bitcoin mining requires energy expenditure as a fundamental pillar of the proof-of-work consensus mechanism. While bitcoin is considered energy-intensive by some, it is often misreported in the media, overlooking its importance and the positive benefits for humanity of having sound money. Similarly, while some criticise bitcoin mining as wasteful, there is ignorance regarding how mining companies are improving communities, the efficiency of the energy grid, and even the impact of energy use itself. So how is bitcoin mining a driving force for beneficial change? In this interview, I talk to Harry Sudock, Vice President of Strategy at Griid. We discuss how bitcoin mining works, mining as a force for good globally, and demonetising the political class.

Location: New York Date: Friday 17th September Role: Programmer & Data Scientist Since the early 1970s, society has seen an explosion of progress in the digital world. As per Moore's law, we've seen increasing computing power at decreasing costs, but at the same time, there has been a stagnation of progress in physical sciences and related technologies. This stagnation has caused problems for institutions and economic systems built around a paradigm of embedded growth. So what has caused this great stagnation? And can Bitcoin fix it? In this interview, I talk to programmer & data scientist Rob Hamilton. We discuss the embedded growth problem, stagnation leading to violence, and how bitcoin realigns natural progress.

Location: New York Date: Monday 13th September Role: Businessman & TV Personality Fundamental changes are emerging in the way capital is being allocated across many industries. Environmental policies are materialising not from lawmakers but from mandates that originate within companies and institutions. Trillions of dollars of institutional funds are beginning to see the potential of bitcoin in portfolio construction; however, only if concerns over the environmental impact of bitcoin mining can be overcome. But is respecting investment mandates a path to centralise the mining industry? Or will environmental compliance drive Bitcoin adoption another order of magnitude higher? In this interview, I talk to businessman and TV Personality Kevin O'Leary. We discuss institutional bitcoin allocation, ESG compliance, and the changing economic landscape.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 7th September Project: Mauldin Economics Role: Analyst, Author In Ray Dalio's excellent video How The Economic Machine Works, he explains the concept of long-term debt cycles. This framework can shed light on where we have been economically, and where we might be going. With debt and spending soaring, and no sign of austerity, we may be approaching the conclusion of a long-term debt cycle. Whether you call it a cycle, or a "reset," in the end it means there may be some kind of great restructuring. The only thing that seems to be clear, is what we are doing today is not sustainable. So how can we get to the other side? And what do we have to be optimistic about? In this interview I talk to author and economic analyst John Mauldin. We discuss current labor shortages, crises and antifragility, and the looming global debt problem.

Location: Remotely Date: Friday 3rd September Company: Euro Pacific Asset Management & Validus Power Corp Role: CEO and Chief Global Strategist & Bitcoin Strategist Gold has been used as money for thousands of years, but once the US severed all remaining ties with the Gold Standard in 1971 and moved to our current fiat system, gold's use case shifted. Gold has become a safe haven, store of value, and insurance against what many gold bugs consider a broken fiat monetary system. Bitcoin is considered by many to be digital gold but is only 12 years old. Still, in that time, it has grown into a near trillion-dollar asset and is also a store of value but is decentralised and censorship-resistant. Many bitcoiners believe it is just a matter of time until bitcoin replaces gold as the world's primary store of value. Gold and bitcoin have some obvious similarities. They are both scarce assets and stores of value that offer an opt-out of government-issued fiat currencies. Likewise, gold bugs and bitcoiners share a similar mindset in their belief that the current fiat system is broken and we need a sound money alternative. For some, though, it isn't gold and bitcoin; it's gold vs bitcoin. Peter Schiff is firmly in this camp, and since 2012, he has regularly derided bitcoin, claiming that it has no intrinsic value and is eventually heading to zero. In this interview, I host a debate between gold bug Peter Schiff and Bitcoin Strategist Greg Foss. We discuss the value of bitcoin & gold, risk management & portfolio allocations and how bitcoin is helping oppressed people around the world.

Location: Remotely Date: Sunday 29th August Company: Blockstream Role: Co-Founder/CEO, CSO In 2017, thousands of ICOs flooded crypto markets. There was a lot of excitement around ICOs at the time, but they turned out to be largely scams and cash grabs, with most likely being illegal securities offerings. Blockstream is changing that by bringing to market regulated securities in tokenised form, and it's all being built on Bitcoin using the Liquid Network, creating some exciting new possibilities for capital allocation. Liquid is a federated sidechain built on top of Bitcoin, allowing assets like securities and NFTs to be issued and traded quickly, cheaply, and confidentially. So what is the potential for NFTs and tokenised securities built on Bitcoin layers? In this interview, I talk to Adam Back and Samson Mow, Blockstream's CEO & Chief Strategy Officer. We discuss the future of tokenised securities, practical NFT use cases, and decentralising hashpower ownership.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 31st August Company: Swan Bitcoin Role: Co-founder & CTO It has been nearly 13 years since Satoshi released the Bitcoin whitepaper. In that time, Bitcoin has overcome significant hurdles, going from an experimental attempt at digital money to a trillion-dollar asset. Bitcoin is the hardest money the world has ever known. In the early days, bitcoiners were mostly cypherpunks and libertarians, but now almost everyone has at least heard of bitcoin; corporations have begun holding bitcoin on their balance sheets and on September 7th, bitcoin becomes legal tender for the first time. Widescale mass adoption has never been closer, but much growth is still required, especially in the ease of onboarding, user experience, and education. In this interview, I talk to Yan Pritzker, co-founder and CTO of Swan Bitcoin. We discuss his family fleeing socialism, onboarding 10 million bitcoiners, and building for global bitcoin adoption.

Location: Remotely Date: Sunday August 29th Project: lynalden.com Role: Macroeconomist Bitcoin is still a relatively new technology with many adversaries and existential threats. And risk assessment is a crucial component of any sound investment strategy. While naysayers often cite long-refuted misunderstandings, not all threats are negligible. From regulatory action to protocol risk, there are many things to consider. So what is a real threat, and what is FUD? In this interview, I talk to Lyn Alden, a macroeconomist and investment strategist. We discuss potential long-term risks to bitcoin, mitigation, and bitcoin vs other technology.

Location: Dallas, TX Date: Thursday 26th August Company: The Stephan Livera Podcast and Swan International Role: Host and Managing Director Libertarian philosophy centres around non-aggression and defence of property rights as a foundation for organizing society. The idea that no one should take from others seems logical to most people, but it's often hard to imagine society absent of the state. Even amongst libertarians, there is disagreement whether to have a small government or no state at all. However, most libertarians agree that simply reducing the size of the government is an attainable step towards a better future. So what tradeoffs would we make with less or no government, and will Bitcoin help usher in such change? In this interview, I talk to Bitcoin Educator and MD of Swan International Stephan Livera. We discuss the foundations of libertarianism, the state's creeping growth, and how Bitcoin will keep it in check.

Location: Houston, TX Date: Thursday 25th August Company: Unchained Capital Role: Head of Business Development In times of economic crisis, central banks have the power to step in and attempt to aid recovery by 'printing' dollars. When injected into the commercial banking system, these new dollars prevent an economic slowdown. While this may sound like a favourable alternative to an economic slowdown and businesses failing, it is not without consequences. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the U.S government has printed money at an accelerating pace, with analysts claiming that this is driving inflation. In our economy, the central banks hold the ultimate power. They decide when they print money and how much. Bitcoin is different. With its fixed supply and controlled issuance, everyone on the network knows how many bitcoins are in circulation and the future issuance. It is the most inclusive and transparent monetary network ever to exist and the antithesis of central banking. In this interview, I talk to Parker Lewis, Head of Business Development at Unchained Capital. We discuss the fraying of the fabric of society, money printing and the wealth gap and why politics are ineffectual.

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 26th August Company: Hypersheet Role: Co-Founder Bitcoin's price had been trending lower for most of the summer, but after bottoming out just below $30k, it went on a run-up to $50k. Despite the market moves, there have been plenty of other signals that indicate bitcoin might break its four-year cycle. On-chain metrics indicate that this recent upward trend might be a warm-up for what's to come. Long-term holders are accumulating, rumours of a Bitcoin ETF coming to the US are swirling, and it could all converge on a massive supply shock. In this interview, I talk to on-chain analyst and the co-founder of Hypersheet, Willy Woo. We discuss traditional payment rails, making Bitcoin content, the recent price run and the evolving bitcoin cycle.

Location: Remotely Date: Wednesday 21st July Role: Author, Student Bitcoin can take a lot of time to understand, but the core foundations of sound money are relatively straightforward. For adults, learning about bitcoin often means unlearning the status quo. Understanding bitcoin challenges what we take for granted about the existing monetary system. While older generations may struggle with bitcoin being digital-only, a digital world is all that young people have ever known. Growing up with computers, the internet, and video game currencies makes understanding a purely digital decentralized monetary network a much easier task. So what do kids think of Bitcoin? And how can we teach the next generation? In this interview, I talk to author Michael Caras and student Violet Mauceri. We discuss how digital natives understand bitcoin, the properties of sound money, Bitcoin and Judaism.

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 6th August Role: N/A, Angel Investor, Author & Entrepreneur Most Bitcoiners are staunch believers in the technology's potential to facilitate a more honest, fair and prosperous future. Bitcoin emerged from the unifying values of crypto-liberty, but as its appeal grows, so does the diversity of the beliefs surrounding it. It wouldn't be possible or beneficial for Bitcoin's ideology to become homogenised, but certain values need to be upheld, and a balance must be found in rejecting bad ideas while welcoming new ones. But if the ultimate goal is to bring Bitcoin to the entire world, how can a leaderless movement bring that to fruition? In this interview, I talk to American HODL and Angel Investor and Author Jason Williams. We discuss the negatives of cancel culture, asset inflation, buying Lambos and how bitcoiners can manifest the future.

Location: Remotely Date: Wednesday 4th August Company: Kraken Role: Growth Lead El Salvador made history by becoming the first country to embrace Bitcoin as legal tender. This bold step to adopt Bitcoin empowers Salvadorians and utilises the network's powerful technology to build a better financial future for the country. While nation-states adopting Bitcoin has been talked about for a long time amongst bitcoiners, El Salvador found itself in a unique position. The country is a dollarised nation with an incredibly popular leader. As such, President Nayib Bukele passed the Bitcoin Law with ease, but the hard part is still to come. On September 7th, all eyes will be on El Salvador. So will this bold move be a catalyst for prosperity? And will other nations follow suit? In this interview, I talk to Dan Held, the Growth Lead at Kraken. We discuss hyperbitcoinisation, El Salvador adopting Bitcoin, living on a personal Bitcoin standard and the regulatory game theory of Bitcoin adoption.

Location: Remotely Date: Wednesday 4th August Role: Author Hyperbitcoinisation is a belief that the current fiat monetary system is broken and a change is inevitable. Eventually, the hardest form of money will rise to the top and society will then adopt a Bitcoin standard, with Bitcoin as the world's dominant form of money and the base asset of the entire financial system. While to some this might sound extreme, in just 12 years, Bitcoin has become a $900bn asset class, and El Salvador has recently become the first country to adopt it as legal tender. Meanwhile, fiat currencies are being debased at an unprecedented rate, and higher levels of inflation are flashing warning signals. So what does the road to hyperbitcoinisation look like? And how does it impact society? In this interview, I talk to bitcoin author Knut Svanholm. We discuss the road to hyperbitcoinisation and its impact on society, whether everything other than Bitcoin is a scam and why bitcoin's value always grows.

Location: Remotely Date: Friday 6th August Company: Independent & Commodity Discovery Fund Role: Bitcoin Quant Analyst & Chairman In early 2019, PlanB released his now widely regarded Stock-to-Flow model (S2F). This model was built around the four-year halving cycle and is a way to track the scarcity of an asset. At current levels of issuance, Bitcoin has a stock-to-flow of 50, meaning it would take 50 years for miners to mine enough Bitcoin to match the current Bitcoin supply. When applied to non-digital assets such as gold and silver, stock-to-flow becomes a benchmarking tool. Gold, for example, has a stock to flow number of ~58, slightly higher than Bitcoin. While the Stock-to-Flow model is an incredibly popular tool amongst bitcoiners, it is not without its critics, and with Bitcoin's drop from ~$64k to ~$29k, the model is coming under increasing scrutiny. So, is the model broken, or is Bitcoin still heading for $100k+ this year? In this interview, I talk to Bitcoin Quant Analyst & creator of the popular Stock-to-Flow model, Plan₿ and investor, entrepreneur & publicist Willem Middelkoop. We discuss S2F, gold vs Bitcoin and whether we are heading to a big reset.

Location: Remotely Date: Monday 9th August Company: Alameda Research Role: Co-CEO, Quant Trader While the Bitcoin market has grown massively over the last few years, in comparison to traditional markets, it is still somewhat immature. With a large number of inexperienced retail participants and derivative platforms offering huge leverage, just one tweet from an eccentric billionaire or a significant piece of news can cause huge volatility and cascading liquidations. These periods of high volatility are when most traders look to profit. However, a quantitative trader approaches the market a little differently. Quant traders rely on data, algorithms and bots to execute billions of dollars in daily trading at incredibly high frequency. So how does quant trading work in the Bitcoin market, and what impact do they have on the price action? In this interview, I talk to Sam Trabucco, Co-CEO and Quant Trader at Alameda Research. We discuss the role of a market maker, sentiment & momentum in Bitcoin and if there is too much leverage in the system.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 3rd August Company: ShapeShift / Independent Role: CEO, Founder / Developer, Consultant, Bitcoin Activist Erik Vorhees was a very early bitcoiner, drawn to it because of its alignment with his Libertarian beliefs. Erik created one of the first widely used applications on Bitcoin, Satoshi Dice. A 'provably fair' betting game that at one time made up around 50% of all bitcoin transactions. In 2014, in the wake of the Mt.Gox collapse, Erik built ShapeShift, a trading platform that allowed the user to trade bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies without KYC or counterparty risk, which again aligned with both Erik's and Bitcoin's Libertarian ethos. However, in 2018 regulation pushed ShapeShift to KYC every customer and comply with various surveillance and reporting requirements. Erik decided the best way to push back against this would be to dismantle the legal company and move instead to a protocol, forming a Decentralised Autonomous Organization (DAO). In this interview, I talk to Shapeshift Founder & CEO Erik Voorhees and Developer & Consultant Udi Wertheimer. We discuss the increasing regulatory pressure, decentralising a company and whether tokens have merit.

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 5th August Company: Independent, Bitcoin Magazine Role: On-chain Analyst, Director of Financial Markets & Research From early May to late July, the price of Bitcoin dropped substantially from ~$64k to below $30k. This was following a wave of negative press, a renewed ESG, anti-proof of work narrative and Elon Musk FUDing Bitcoin. During this time, the sentiment amongst most Bitcoin traders turned negative, with many calling for the price to drop into the low $20,000s. The futures markets reflected this negative sentiment, with a large majority of participants in short positions. One faction of the trading community that remained bullish throughout the turndown was the on-chain analysts. While the price fell, key on-chain metrics pointed at this being a dip rather than the beginning of a long term bear market. New users on the network grew, short term holders turned to long term holders, and retail was buying the dip. Many on-chain analysts predicted a sizeable short squeeze that quickly took the price from sub-$30k to over $40k in just a few days. So, what's next for Bitcoin? Is this just a dead-cat bounce, or are we heading higher? In this episode, I talk to on-chain analyst Will Clemente, and Bitcoin Magazines Director of Financial Markets & Research Dylan LeClair. We discuss the recent Bitcoin price action and the current macroeconomic backdrop.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 3rd August Company: Unchained Capital Role: Head of Business Development For people new to bitcoin, it can be confusing at first. From public key cryptography to mining, block sizes to nodes, there are many new ideas to understand. However, bitcoin has a sound monetary policy at its core, and understanding this is the most important step in understanding it. Over the last 18 months, central banks worldwide have issued currency at alarming rates in an attempt to bolster economies and stimulate growth. In reality, this practice is also boosting asset prices while debasing the currency. Bitcoin offers a sound alternative and as Parker Lewis says, "Bananas grow on trees. Money does not, and bitcoin is the force that reawakens everyone to the reality that was always the case". It's for this reason that bitcoin is common sense. In this interview, we discuss the printing of money and currency debasement by central banks, why bitcoin is anti-fragile and what makes it a common-sense alternative.

Location: Remotely Date: Friday 23rd July Project: Coindesk Role: Chief Content Officer Historically, the control of information was held mainly by powerful entities like the church, governments, or corporations. While the dawn of the internet age has made the ability to broadcast worldwide cheap and accessible, algorithmic curation is influencing our discourse. Now, the left v right paradigm is more divisive than ever, leaving many disenfranchised with politics. A new battle is emerging between incumbent-centralisation and disruptive-decentralisation that is spreading not just through information and governance but with Bitcoin, money itself. In this interview, I talk to Coindesk's Chief Content Officer, Michael Casey. We discuss the power of controlling information, the divisiveness of left v right politics and how in the future governance may decentralise.

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 29th July Project: Hypersheet Role: Co-Founder Since mid-May, Bitcoin has ranged between $30k-$40k, following a build-up of negative news, from bans in China to concerns about energy use. While on-chain analysis showed strong signs of accumulation during this time and pointed to the bull run not being over, the price kept grinding lower. By July 20th, the price again dropped below $30k and held below this crucial level for the longest period since the dip began. With sentiment heavily bearish and many calling for a further dip to ~$20k, what started as a small rally turned into a $10,000+ move after shorters were forced to close their positions. The price on one futures exchange hit as high as $48k on the back of the liquidations. Bitcoin has been sat at $40k, another crucial level, for several days now, and with on-chain metrics showing a massive influx of new entrants and FUD wearing thin, market sentiment seems to be flipping positive. So has the bull run recommenced? And is this cycle different? In this interview, I talk to on-chain analyst and the co-founder of Hypersheet, Willy Woo. We discuss accumulation by small holders, the recent bullish move and why this might be the last cycle.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 27th July Project: lynalden.com Role: Macroeconomist Nassim Taleb is a well-regarded author and statistician and one-time bitcoin bull who has since turned critic, claiming that it "can be neither a long or short term store of value" and that "its expected value is no higher than 0." Taleb recently wrote a black paper criticising bitcoin's ability to function as a store of value, questioning its ability to protect against oppressive governments and claiming bitcoins distribution is unfair. Several key points in the paper were without merit, and it led to bitcoiners questioning whether the article is Taleb being intellectually dishonest or ignorant. In this interview, I talk to Lyn Alden, a macroeconomist and investment strategist. We break down Nassim Taleb's "Bitcoin Black Paper" and discuss his misconceptions and whether it offers any valid criticisms.

Location: Remotely Date: Monday 19th July Project: Plan B Passport Role: Founder Bitcoin and libertarianism go hand in hand. As such, avoiding tax and limiting reliance on the government is a significant goal for many bitcoiners. Plan B Passport, a company set up with bitcoiners in mind, aims to make that happen, and through their work, they want to accelerate the 'Sovereign Individual' thesis. By enabling people to obtain a second passport and removing their dependency on any single state, it empowers the individual while taking power away from governments. People can now vote with their money and their feet. So how easy is it to obtain a second passport, and what are the pros and cons? In this interview, I talk to Plan B Passport Founder, Katie the Russian. We discuss flag theory, the state as a service provider, why some nation-states will fail to compete in a free market and how Bitcoin enables all of this.

SHOW DESCRIPTION Location: Remotely Date: Wednesday 21st July Project: Block Digest & Bitcoin Core Role: Host & Developer A core fundamental feature of Bitcoin is decentralisation. Being a distributed and decentralised network, Bitcoin allows anyone to transfer money to anyone else without relying on a third party or intermediary to authorise or facilitate the transaction. For years bitcoiners have fought to keep Bitcoin as decentralised as possible. A segment of the Bitcoin community wanted to increase the block size to allow for more transactions in each block. However, the tradeoff of this proposed change would increase the size of blocks and thus the size of the blockchain, making it harder to run a node on standard hardware. While the debates around decentralisation are generally around the protocol rules, Bitcoin also relies on the Internet, something outside of bitcoiners' control. Some aspects of the Internet are highly centralised and could potentially be used to attack Bitcoin. So, how significant is this threat? And, what can be done to stop it? In this interview, I talk to Shinobi, the host of Block Digest, and Bitcoin Core Developer Dhruv. We discuss the importance of decentralisation, the protocols that power the internet and how a centralised internet threatens Bitcoin.

Location: Remotely Date: Monday 19th July Company: Blockstream, Lightning Labs Role: Researcher, Infrastructure Engineer The Bitcoin blockchain is an open public ledger, thus building privacy solutions on-chain is challenging. However, the Lightning network's design is a massive improvement in privacy as the tradeoffs are different. Lightning removes transactional friction with significant security and privacy assurances today. But what are the potential attack vectors, and how might they be mitigated? In this interview, I talk to researcher Christian Decker and infrastructure engineer Carla Kirk-Cohen. We discuss the current state of privacy on Lightning, potential vulnerabilities and most likely solutions.

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 15th July Company: Validus Power Corp, Bitcoin Magazine Role: Bitcoin Strategist, Director of Financial Markets & Research In Ray Dalio's video How the Economic Machine Works, he explains the concept of deleveraging long-term debt cycles. Currently, central bankers have pulled all the levers they can to avoid unwinding the supercycle of global debt, but eventually, something has to give. The final tool that central bankers have to avoid creative destruction is inflation, and it is now a mathematical certainty that a devaluation of fiat currencies is coming. Is the rise of Bitcoin the only logical conclusion to the fiat money system? In this interview, I talk to Bitcoin Strategist Greg Foss and Dylan LeClair from Bitcoin Magazine. We discuss crony capitalism and perpetual bailouts, why debt cycles spell inflation, and how the world will turn to Bitcoin.

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 15th July Project: Strike Role: Role: CEO With Strike, Jack Mallers is taking on the traditional financial rails and neobanks by facilitating the sending of money anywhere in the world, near-instantly and for free. Strike does this by utilising the largest and best open monetary network of all time, bitcoin. After running a successful pilot campaign in El Salvador, a country that relies heavily on remittances, Jack was instrumental in its groundbreaking bill that made it the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. In a country where a vast proportion of the population operating outside of the banking system, Strike helps build financial inclusion, and they now have their sights set on the rest of the world. In this interview, I talk to Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike. We discuss the Lightning Network as a medium of exchange, the power of open networks, and how the Bitcoin rails change remittance.

Location: Remotely Date: Wednesday 7th July Project: RaspiBlitz Role: Role: Developers Bitcoin operates thanks to a decentralised network of nodes whose job it is to maintain the network rules, known as consensus, and ensure all transactions and blocks are valid by keeping a copy of the entire history of the blockchain. Setting up a Bitcoin & Lightning node can be a daunting task for those that aren't technical, but there are now a number of simple 'plug and play' style nodes like Umbrel, MyNode and Raspiblitz. In this second episode of our Lightning series, I talk to RaspiBlitz developers Openoms and Rootzoll. We discuss the importance of running a node, tradeoffs between custodial and non-custodial wallets and the different node solutions available.

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 5th July Project: aantonop.com / Freelance Role: Role: Speaker, Author and Educator / developer and Data Scientist The Lightning Network helps Bitcoin scale. As a layer two solution, Lightning takes transactions off the base chain and allows for near-instant transitions for a small fee. While Lightning Network is growing fast, there is still a learning curve to understand and use the technology. This series will go through everything from how the Lightning Network works, the improved privacy, and why Lightning is vital to Bitcoin's success. In this interview, I talk to Bitcoin Speaker, Author & Educator Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Lightning Network developer René Pickhardt. We discuss how the Lightning Network works and why scaling off-chain is so essential.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 6th June Company: Unchained Capital Role: Head of Business Development When people attempt to understand bitcoin, it is easy to get caught up in some of the myths we addressed in Gradually then Suddenly Pt 1 - Killing the FUD. In this Part 2 episode, we go deeper into the principles of monetary economics. Money solves the intersubjective problem of trade and facilitates specialisation in society. Therefore, how we solve these problems can help objectively evaluate the properties of money. The most important property of money is scarcity, and bitcoin, with its fixed supply and monetary properties, reigns king. But from where do these properties derive? And what about other blockchains? How can bitcoin obsolete all other money? In this interview, I talk to Parker Lewis, Head of Business Development at Unchained Capital. We discuss the principles of money, monetary convergence, and why Bitcoin obsoletes all other money.

Location: Remotely Date: Friday 25th June Company: Suredbits Role: Software Engineer Bitcoin's proof-of-work blockchain solves a specific problem: achieving consensus of a distributed ledger without a central authority. Out of this decentralised network, new properties emerge like censorship resistance and probabilistic finality. Bitcoin's success led to an explosion of altcoins, with most claiming to improve upon Bitcoin somehow, whether it's speed, privacy or scalability. However, blockchains are a delicate balance of specific tradeoffs, and these altcoins pale in comparison to Bitcoin's decentralisation and censorship resistance. While changing a parameter might seem to add functionality, it can also introduce unintended consequences. To resist influence and attacks, Bitcoin must remain decentralised by allowing for easy validation. Can we achieve sufficient privacy and functionality on the second layer? And why are other consensus methods, like proof-of-stake, flawed? In this interview, I talk to Suredbits software engineer Nadav Kohen. We discuss why blockchains must scale with second layers, proof-of-stake vs proof of work, and tradeoffs of privacy technology.

Location: Zoom Date: Saturday 27th June Project: Tonga Role: Tongan Politician & Noble of the Realm. Following El Salvador's groundbreaking decision to make bitcoin legal tender, politicians from all over Central & South America, Africa and the Pacific Islands began putting laser eyes in their Twitter bios and publicly endorsing bitcoin. One of these politicians was Lord Fusituʻa, a Tongan politician. Tonga is a small country in the South Pacific. Their economy relies heavily on remittances, most notably from Australia, New Zealand and the United States. With close to 41% of their GDP coming from remittance and fees, sometimes as high as 50%, the Polynesian country would benefit greatly from removing these middle-man fees. After seeing Strike's success in El Salvador and their government's steps to legalise bitcoin, Lord Fusituʻa wants to bring bitcoin to Tonga. In this episode, I talk to Tongan Politician and Noble of the Realm, Lord Fusituʻa. We discuss the history of Tonga, why the country relies so heavily on remittance payments and the steps he is taking to bring Bitcoin to the Tongan people.

Location: Remotely Date: Friday 25th June Project: CJ Wilson Racing, WBD Employee of the Month Role: Owner and founder, N/A CJ Wilson has led an exciting life. He was a two-time All-star during his decade-long major league baseball career, and he went on to found a professional sports car racing team. Given his understanding of sound money, bitcoin was something he had to pursue to protect his wealth. CJ is a bitcoin maximalist, a term initially coined as a pejorative and now worn as a badge of honour. The culture of toxicity is under constant criticism, with opponents suggesting it pushes people away from Bitcoin, while bitcoiners maintain it's an essential defence against scams and misinformation. Critics claim that maximalism itself is in opposition to liberty, but taking a hard stance is a cornerstone of sovereignty. Is maximalism anti-freedom? Or is it simply the free market's rallying cry of a monetary revolution? In this interview, I talk to American HODL & MLB all-star and sports car racer CJ Wilson. We discuss CJs sports career, racing fast cars and the role of toxic bitcoin maximalism.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 22nd June Project: Kraken Role: Head of OTC Options Trading Derivatives are contracts that allow traders to take a position with an asset based on possible outcomes; while they can provide dramatic rewards, they come with risk. Derivative exchanges have been a growing part of the maturing bitcoin ecosystem. However, with the rise of exchanges like FTX and Binance, offering high leverage, there is an increasing lens on these exchanges. Derivative contracts are a valuable tool for experienced traders. With exchanges offering leverage of up to 125x, inexperienced traders can quickly amass significant losses. Whenever bitcoin has a sharp move in either direction, those on the wrong side of the trade often get liquidated. These capitulation events regularly wipe out hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in positions. Some people suggest that high amounts of leverage are detrimental to the price discovery of bitcoin, but it's clear from the rise of certain exchanges that these are the types of markets traders want. In this interview, I talk to Juthica Chou, Head of OTC Options Trading at Kraken. We discuss how bitcoin derivatives work, the different types of contracts, and Microstrategy's leverage plays.

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 24th June Project: Hypersheet Role: Co-Founder Over the last few weeks, a significant amount of bad news and FUD has circulated bitcoin. Elon Musk publicly questioned the energy mix used by the bitcoin network shortly before the initial drop to ~$30k, and since then, Bitcoin has ranged between $30k and $40k. While other positive news has come to market, such as El Salvador making Bitcoin legal tender, the news cycle has been dominated by bearish narratives, from energy concerns to China, again, banning Bitcoin. During this period, the hash rate has dropped by nearly 50% as miners turn off their machines and move out of China, and the difficulty adjustment, expected around 2nd July, is expected to drop by over 25%. The last month has been turbulent in bitcoin, and the narrative has become cloudy, with bitcoin continually defending the ~$30k mark. Is this the bottom? Or just the start of a longer-term bear market? In this interview, I talk to on-chain analyst and the co-founder of Hypersheet, Willy Woo. We discuss the reliability of on-chain data and TA, miners moving out of China and whether we have entered a bear market.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 22nd June Project: lynalden.com Role: Macroeconomist The new legislation in El Salvador making Bitcoin legal tender is a bold move for the country. As a dollarised nation and with remittance making up 15% of GDP, there are clear benefits in bringing bitcoin and the Lightning Network to the country. A catalyst for this move is the macroeconomic fallout of 2020 which included unprecedented monetary expansion and economic disruption. Today, it seems some of the effects are starting to appear in price inflation and oddities in the overnight lending markets between financial institutions. Will El Salvador's bet on Bitcoin pay off? And are these simply transitory macroeconomic irregularities, or is there cause for concern? In this interview, I talk to Lyn Alden, a macroeconomist and investment strategist. We discuss El Salvador making Bitcoin legal tender, other countries adopting Bitcoin, the Lightning Network and the reverse repo market.

Location: El Salvador Date: Friday 18th June Project: El Salvador Role: President Twenty years ago, El Salvador became a dollarised nation, bringing economic stability to the country and improving the country's potential for investment. However, it did so at the cost of giving up its monetary policy to the US Federal bank. Two decades later, following the COVID-19, the global economic outlook has changed significantly. As a result, the Fed has taken extreme measures to combat the economic impact of the pandemic and is printing money at previously unseen levels. The stimulus packages that help American's do not make their way to dollarised El Salvador, but the people of Salvadorans do suffer the adverse effects of the US debasing the dollar. Two years ago, Nayib Bukele won a landslide presidential election in El Salvador, becoming the first President since the Salvadoran Civil War who did not represent either of the two major parties. As the founder of the political party Nuevas Ideas, President Bukele lived up to his reputation when on the 8th of June 2021, El Salvador enacted its Bitcoin Law, making it the first country to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender. The decision has been met with excitement and scepticism. Could this bold move be a catalyst for prosperity in El Salvador? And will other nations follow suit, potentially helping billions? In his first interview since the Bitcoin law was passed, I talked to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele. We discuss the decision to make bitcoin legal tender, education & infrastructure, volcano mining, and why he believes bitcoin is a 'no-brainer'.

Location: El Salvador Date: Thursday 17th June Project: Strike Role: CEO El Salvador made history by becoming the first country to embrace bitcoin as legal tender. This bold step to adopt Bitcoin empowers Salvadorians and utilises Bitcoin's powerful technology to build a better financial future for the country. As a dollarised country, El Salvador is at the whim of the Fed, and the groundbreaking legislation included this excerpt: "Central banks are increasingly taking actions that may cause harm to the economic stability of El Salvador; That in order to mitigate the negative impact from central banks, it becomes necessary to authorise the circulation of a digital currency with a supply that cannot be controlled by any central bank." The bitcoin project in El Salvador has a long history; Bitcoin Beach, a project started by Michael Peterson in El Zonte, a surf town that has become a bitcoin hub in El Salvador. This local project has become the poster child of what a bitcoin community and economy can look like. Jack Mallers and the Strike team have taken El Salvador by storm, but this story is bigger than any one person. From Bitcoin Beach to developers, and the entire community, every bitcoiner played a part in bringing a fair and inclusive financial future to El Salvador. In this interview, I talk to Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike. We discuss the story that led to Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador, all the credit due to the community, and his mission to secure financial freedom for all.

Location: Miami Date: Monday 7th June Project: Griid Infrastructure Role: WP of Strategy Bitcoin mining has been subjected to a considerable amount of criticism over recent years, but the number of articles disseminating misinformation has exploded over the last few months. Almost every mainstream media outlet has shared ill-researched hit pieces, and several hugely influential figures, from Elon Musk to Elizabeth Warren, have publicly questioned its energy usage. While the conversation about Bitcoins energy usage is worthwhile, almost all of the criticisms come from a misunderstanding of Bitcoin and the energy sector. However, the reach of these articles is widespread and potentially damaging. To address this FUD, I talk to Harry Sudock, the Vice President of Strategy at Griid. We discuss the energy consumption of Bitcoin mining, energy generation & the power grid and the case for renewable energy.

Location: New York Date: Wednesday 9th June Project: michaelmalice.com Role: Author It's a common misconception that anarchy revolves around chaos and war when it is simply about freedom. Anarchists want to see the removal of all government and society to run on an entirely voluntary, cooperative basis. While it's uncertain what our world would look like without rulers, technology is the greatest driver of transformation in the modern world. Bitcoin has realised an anarchist dream as an incorruptible form of money, controlled by the people outside of government intervention. It is a powerful catalyst for freedom. Michael Malice is a staunch anarchist and author who believes anarchism is an apparatus for achieving human joy. In this interview, we discuss how the world would operate without state intervention, the human propensity for cooperation, and how Bitcoin is a catalyst for change.

Location: New York Date: Wednesday 9th June As of February 2021, annual growth in the money supply reached 39% in the US, leading to widespread fears of inflation and the impact on the economy. Consumer prices soared 5% in May, the largest increase since 2008. While the Fed has argued that inflation will revert to normal by next year, others are looking to hedge the risk of inflation. Bitcoin is viewed by many as the ultimate inflation hedge. With its fixed monetary policy and transparent, consistent and decreasing supply issuance, it is the antithesis of fiat currencies, perpetually debased by governments' increasingly extreme monetary policy. Are we right to fear more significant inflation? And what role do Bonds and Bitcoin play? In this interview, I talk to William Elman and Greg Mercer. We discuss bond yields and what they signal, the pros and cons of market intervention and the ever-increasing government debt.