The Peter McCormack Show

Location: Zoom Date: Thursday, 2nd April Project: Chainalysis Role: Co-Founder Bitcoin's strengths lie in its ability to separate money and state, censorship and seizure resistance. It is an open and permissionless network that allows anyone to interact with it. It is an entirely public network, but that doesn't mean it is anonymous. Addresses do not use personal information but created using alphanumeric characters, and addresses can be monitored to watch transactions and follow the flow of Bitcoin. Chainalysis is a controversial company, with many claiming they are antithetical to the ideals behind Bitcoin. They offer blockchain analysis software that will scan the blockchain and report on illicit or suspicious uses of Bitcoin. They provide these services to exchanges, governments and law enforcement to help tie real-world identities to Bitcoin transactions. In this interview, I talk to the co-founder of Chainalysis Jonathan Levin. We discuss whether Chainalysis is antithetical to Bitcoin, how they decide who can use the software, and if they are helping erode privacy.

Location: Zoom Date: Wednesday, 1st April Project: aantonop.com Role: Speaker, Author & Educator The coronavirus COVID-19 is an unprecedented global health crisis. There are now more than one million reported cases, the death toll continues to rise, and across the world, economies have been left decimated. The crisis is bringing to fore many questions regarding the role of the state, challenging political identity. Conservatives are considering socialist policies; Libertarians are considering state responses and socialists are considering free markets. While government responses vary, different approaches to lockdowns, surveillance and contact tracing are providing live case studies on how to handle the crisis. All these approaches question the role and the reach of the state, especially as some have seized this opportunity to implement new draconian laws. With stock markets posting their worst quarterly results in decades, central banks have slashed interest rates, offering bailouts and implementing unprecedented stimulus packages. Did Coronavirus cause these problems or highlight hidden issues? What does a post-coronavirus world look like? And what will the role of the state be? In this interview, I talk to Andreas M. Antonopoulos, speaker, best selling author and Bitcoin evangelist. We discuss whether Coronavirus is a challenge to political identity, the largest monetary experiment in history, bailouts and money printing.

Location: Skype Date: Friday, 27th March Project: Libertarian Institute Role: Founder & Director With the rapid spread of coronavirus COVID-19, governments around the world are taking drastic action to try and flatten the curve, slow the infection rate and take the strain off already struggling healthcare systems. China's authoritarian government quickly implemented strict controls, sealing people into apartments and increasing surveillance. All of which were reported as very useful, at least temporarily in slowing the spread. But, under democratic rule, how far can and should, the state go to save lives? Many governments have issued lockdowns forbidding people from leaving their homes for all but essential tasks and businesses order to close. Many of the measures are designed as temporary, but some fear that governments will be reluctant to revoke these new controls once the pandemic is over There is a direct trade-off between the encroachment on our civil liberties and saving lives, so are the strict measures worth it? And where do you draw the line? In this interview, I talk to Scott Horton, the Founder and Director of the Libertarian Institute. We discuss the ongoing coronavirus crisis, if a state is beneficial in this extreme public health crisis and how an anarchist society would deal with a pandemic.

Location: Skype Date: Thursday, 26th March Project: Real Vision Role: Co-Founder & CEO The coronavirus pandemic has led to a global economic crisis. With the movement of people heavily restricted, businesses forced to close and supply chains disrupted. Stock markets around the world have crashed, leading many to question if the restrictive measures to limit the spread of the virus are worth the economic impact. Donald Trump has stated that the "cure" cannot be worse than the "problem". To fight the recession and help those in need, most major economies, including the US, UK, Canada and Germany, have announced unprecedented economic stimulus packages to support the economy and those out of work. The severity and duration of the impact coronavirus will have on the economy is almost impossible to predict; however, this event will likely alter the world forever. In this interview, I talk to Raoul Pal co-founder & CEO of Real Vision and macroeconomist. We discuss the political and economic impact of coronavirus, the role of the state and the societal change that will occur.

Location: Skype Date: Monday, 16th March Project: CoinTracker Role: COO Nothing is certain but death and taxes, and for most people, their largest expense is not their rent, mortgage or car, it is their taxes. Most see taxes as an unavoidable fact of life, however, many Bitcoiners are also libertarians who believe taxation is theft and an infringement on their property rights. So, when I introduced a new What Bitcoin Did sponsor, Cointracker, who helps you prepare cryptocurrency tax returns, I received a few direct messages for supporting "the man". I understand that tax and Bitcoin do not necessarily go hand in hand, with tax being somewhat antithetical to Bitcoin. Bitcoin was created to separate money and state and with that taxation. Tax is not something I support or want to pay; however, I do so to avoid fines and legal retribution. In this bonus episode of What Bitcoin Did, I talk to Chandan Lodha, the COO of Cointracker. We discuss the ramifications of not filing crypto taxes, techniques to save money on your tax return and major exchanges getting subpoenaed.

Location: Skype Date: Monday, 23rd March Project: Amber Role: CEO In late January, when the Chinese City of Wuhan was placed into a government-enforced lockdown to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. All non-essential businesses were closed, travel restricted, and people could only leave their home to buy food. While the measures put in place appeared extreme, they helped to 'flatten the curve' and reduce the spread of the virus. Since then, the disease has spread rapidly throughout the rest of the world. Some governments have chosen to follow China, opting for widespread lockdowns. Italy implemented a nationwide quarantine in early March, Spain followed suit shortly after and the UK announced yesterday it was placing the country into lockdown. There are now 17 countries with lockdown measures in place. The hope is that by reducing the number of people infected, it will, in turn, lessen the strain on local healthcare systems and reduce the number of people dying from the disease. What is the cost of these draconian measures? Is it worth the impact on the economy and the erosion of civil liberties? Many Bitcoiners align themselves closely with Libertarianism and are against state intervention and therefore disagree with the restrictive measures put in place across the globe. We do though live in a democracy; if the will of the people supports these measures, then should they be supported? In this interview, I talk to Aleks Svetski, CEO at Amber and a passionate Bitcoiner. We discuss the COVID-19 coronavirus, state response to the pandemic, the economic impact and the threat to our civil liberties.

Location: Bedford Date: Tuesday, 17th March Project: Myjam Role: CEO In 2011, growing levels of unrest over lack of employment, political freedom and high levels of corruption in Syria led to a small number of pro-democracy demonstrations. Inspired by the ongoing Arab Spring revolution in nearby countries, the movement began gaining traction within Syria. The Syrian government retaliated with deadly force, leading to widespread calls for the president Bashar al-Assad to resign. Disdain for the government grew, and with it, the government's attempts at suppression intensified, escalating into a civil war that has now gripped the country for over nine years. It is no longer a case of for/against Assad as numerous groups and nations have been dragged into the conflict. The Syrian civil war is the second most deadly in the 21st century and has displaced millions. The total number of Syrian refugees is predicted to be over nine million with many heading to Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, with many migrating through Europe. For the people of Syria, Bitcoin offers enormous advantages over cash. Within Syria, a large percentage of the population does not have access to banking services, and the Syrian Lira suffers from high inflation. For refugees, there is a risk of theft and confiscation as they make their way to new countries. Once settled, Bitcoin is also a perfect tool for remittances to their families back in Syria. In this interview, I talk to Moe Ghashim, a Syrian Bitcoiner now living in the UK. We discuss the ongoing civil war in Syria, the devastating physical and economic damage to the country, and how Bitcoin is a perfect tool to help refugees.

Location: Skype Date: Friday, 13th March Project: BHB Network Role: Director COVID-19 continues to spread around the world. 169,717 people are now infected, and the death toll stands at 6,518. The virus is highly contagious, making containment incredibly tricky. As the seriousness of the situation escalates, countries around the world are implementing strict controls on movement and contact. The COVID-19 coronavirus originated in China, where the number of cases has now risen to over 80,000. As the virus has taken hold, the Chinese Communist Party has implemented draconian measures. Despite criticism, the aggressive use of quarantine appears to have been effective in reducing the spread of infections. The number of reported daily new cases in China has dropped from almost 2,000 per day a few weeks ago, to less than 20 at the time of writing. Italy now has the highest number of cases outside of China, with over 25,000 testing positive. A nationwide lockdown is in effect, with police and soldiers enforcing the quarantine conditions, and on the 15th of March, the EU recorded the highest number of deaths in a single day so far. Giacomo Zucco is a Bitcoiner who is currently under lockdown in Italy. In this interview, he explains what life is like on lockdown, the measures that have been put in place, how he thinks the governments around the world have dealt with this pandemic and why he believes centralised planning is poorly suited for dealing with the crisis.

Location: Skype Date: Friday, 6th March Project: New project coming soon… Role: N/A Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginner's Guide Part 17- Fuck You, Bitcoin! with John Carvalho Bitcoin is not only the best version of decentralised money the world has seen; it is the best money the world has seen. It takes power away from centralised authorities and allows individuals to transact with whomever they want. With Bitcoin, nobody can confiscate your money, and the protocol has a clear set of rules that everyone on the network can see and follow. The Bitcoin protocol is robust, secure and self-governing, and with that, Bitcoin is 'fuck you' money. If a centralised powers want to seize your Bitcoin or stop payment, Bitcoin empowers individuals to say fuck you in a way that has never been seen before. Regardless of politics, economic uncertainty or almost any event imaginable, every 10 minutes Bitcoin continues to produce blocks, giving individuals the freedom to use it how they choose. In Part 17 of the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin, I talk to John Carvalho. We discuss removing power from governments, why altcoins are a poor investment, and why Bitcoin is 'fuck you' money.

Location: Skype Date: Friday, 6th March Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginner's Guide Part 16 - The Future of Bitcoin with Jeremy Welch In just 11 years, Bitcoin has already achieved so much: The price has grown from $1 equal to 1,309.03 BTC in 2009 to $7,950 per Bitcoin (at time of writing), having peaked at $20k in 2017. Market capitalisation is nearly $150 billion, and Bitcoin is now on the radar of investors globally. A phenomenal ~ 110Exahash secures the network. Transactions are regularly well over 300k per day. Bitcoin is the most decentralised and censorship-resistant currency in the world. A lot has happened in a short space of time, but what will the future hold for Bitcoin? There are still many challenges for Bitcoin, whether that is scaling, enhancing privacy or UX and ease of use. At the moment, Bitcoin is still for the relatively tech-savvy. While Bitcoin has been met with either scepticism or fear by governments, in general, there has been little action taken to disincentive people from owning using it. If adoption continues to grow, will the world powers enforce stricter regulations? In Part 16 of the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin I talk to Jeremy Welch to discuss the future of Bitcoin. We get into how governments and central banks will react as Bitcoin poses more of a threat, and if we will see hyperbitcoinisation.

Location: Skype Date: Saturday, 29th February Project: Castle Island Ventures Role: Partner Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginner's Guide Part 15 - Bitcoin FUD with Nic Carter Bitcoin is a peculiar beast, and as with any new technology, it takes some time to understand it and its potential impact on the world. While Bitcoin media reporting is improving, there are still lots of untruths and myths that are perpetuated by mainstream media. Further, competing projects, anti-Bitcoin proponents and the uneducated add to the confusion by repeating false accusations. Blanket statements such as "Bitcoin is only used by terrorists, criminals and money launderers" or "proof of work is wasteful and uses as much energy as X country", continue to cast a shadow over the technology. Bitcoin is still a relatively new form of digital money, the likes of which the world has never seen, as such, it is easy to be misled by outdated or poorly formed arguments. "Bitcoin isn't backed by anything" is another commonly used argument, which fails to recognise that neither is fiat currency and is printed at will, whereas Bitcoin has a fixed supply. In this interview, I am joined by Nic Carter, a partner at Castle Island Ventures, and we discuss and dispel the myths, untruths and FUD that Bitcoin faces.

Location: Skype Date: Thursday 27th Feb Project: What Bitcoin Did & Defiance Role: Host Venezuela is in the midst of a political crisis. For 20 years the country has been governed by the socialist party, led by Hugo Chavez from 1999 until his death in 2013. Following his death, Nicolás Maduro, his preferred successor, took control of the country following a much-disputed election. Under Manduro, the economy and local currency have collapsed, with extreme hyperinflation reaching unprecedented levels. The inflation rate reached 69% in 2014, and by 2018 grew to an astonishing 1,698,488%, leading to significant growth in poverty, hunger and mass migration, with millions leaving the country to find work, food and medical supplies. With the collapse of the Bolivar, many Bitcoiners, including myself, asked whether Bitcoin could help. Could Bitcoin reduce the impact of hyperinflation? Could locals mine Bitcoin at low energy costs to earn an income? I visited Venezuela to find the answers to some of these questions and asked fellow podcaster Stephan Livera to interview me about my experience. We discuss the realities of life in Venezuela and the myths and truths of Bitcoin adoption.

Location: Santiago, Chile Date: Tuesday, 4th February Project: Buda Role: Co-founder Chile was one of South America's richest and most politically stable countries, but recent political unrest has led to daily violent protests. These protests are considered the worst in Chile's history and were sparked by a rise in the Santiago Metro's subway fare. This was seen as another attack on the working class and highlighted the inequalities prevalent in the system. Since the protests began on October 7th there have been a reported 29 deaths, 2,500 injuries and over 2,800 arrests. In this interview, I talk to Guillermo Torrealba the Co-founder and CEO of Buda, a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange that operates in Chile, Argentina, Colombia & Peru. We discuss the ongoing political crisis in Chile, Bitcoin and climate change.

Location: Skype Date: Tuesday, 25th February Project: What Bitcoin Did & Defiance Role: Host Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginner's Guide Part 14 - Bitcoin Things You Need to Know with Peter McCormack The Bitcoin Beginner's Guide is all about breaking down the complexities of Bitcoin and making them as simple as possible to understand. In the series, we've explored everything from why we need Bitcoin, the economics, the protocol and even privacy, but, what have we learned? As a breakaway from the regular show structure, I decided to put myself in the hot seat and answer questions about Bitcoin. I wanted to challenge myself, see how much I have learned, and whether I can explain these complicated subjects accurately. With the help of my producer Danny, we break down the key takeaways from the Beginner's Guide series. We discuss Satoshi and the whitepaper, the 21 million hard cap, block rewards and size, mining, running a node and privacy.

Location: Las Vegas Date: Thursday, 20th February Project: Zap & Strike Role: Founder Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginners Guide Part 13 - The Lightning Network with Jack Mallers Bitcoin produces a 1mb block on average every 10 minutes. The block size and time limitations are essential for keeping the blockchain small enough so that anyone is realistically able to run a full node, keeping Bitcoin decentralised. The block size limit, however, does present a scalability issue, as there is a maximum number of transactions that can be broadcast in each block. The limit led to an acrimonious scaling debate, lasting years which resulted in a fork of the Bitcoin protocol and the arrival of Bitcoin Cash. With Bitcoin, layer two solutions have been hailed as the best way to solve scaling. The Lightning Network is a Layer 2 solution that runs on top of Bitcoin. By allowing users to create channels, Lightning allows for P2P micropayments that settle almost instantly and at a low cost. The Lightning Network offers other benefits such as improved privacy because the details of Lightning payments aren't on the public blockchain. The Lightning Network is still a relatively new protocol, as such, it can be intimidating to newcomers as the user experience has some key differences from transacting on the basechain. In Part 13 of the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin, I talk to Jack Mallers, the founder of Zap Lightning Wallet and Strike. We discuss the Lightning Network, the scaling debate, fees, settlement and the future of the protocol.

Location: Skype Date: Monday, 17th February Project: Casa Role: CTO Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginners Guide Part 12 - Bitcoin Privacy & OpSec with Jameson Lopp When entering Bitcoin, you leave behind the traditional banking system. Bitcoin allows you to take back your monetary sovereignty, and with that, you must secure your coins. With Bitcoin, there is no insurance or fraud prevention, and if you mismanage your private keys and someone can access them, hackers can steal your Bitcoin. There are several techniques that you can use to protect your Bitcoin from hackers as well as your transactions and personal information from data-hungry companies such as Facebook and Google: VPN - Running a VPN masks your identity and location. 2FA - Two-factor authentication such as Google Authenticator & YubiKey adds another layer of security to your accounts. (Not SMS 2FA) Browsers - Privacy focused browsers such as Tor & Brave help shield your online activity from trackers and fingerprinting Hardware Wallets - Using a hardware wallet such as ColdCard, Ledger or Trezor takes your private keys offline and if your seed phrase is stored correctly is a very secure way of holding your Bitcoin Running a Node - A node is a program that directly connects to the Bitcoin network and allows you to verify the state of the blockchain and validate transactions. This removes the need to trust someone else's node to verify your transactions and balances. In Part 12 of the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin, I talk to Jameson Lopp, co-founder and CTO at Casa, and renowned Bitcoin privacy expert. We discuss Bitcoin privacy, best practices and operational security.

Location: Caracas, Venezuela Date: Thursday, 13th February Project: Cointelegraph Role: Journalist Venezuela is many years into a political and economic crisis. Rooted in the Hugo Chavez presidency and continued by Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela is a mafia dictatorship wearing the cloak of socialism. Years of economic mismanagement and corruption has led to financial disaster in Venezuelan, comparatively worse than the Great Depression, Zimbabwe's 2008–2009 hyperinflation crisis and the breakup of the Soviet Union. Hyperinflation led to significant growth in poverty, starvation and mass migration, with millions leaving the country. With the collapse of the currency, many Bitcoiners, including myself, asked whether Bitcoin could help. Could Bitcoin reduce the impact of hyperinflation? Could locals mine Bitcoin at low energy costs to earn an income? I visited Venezuela to find out. In this interview, I talk to Javier Bastardo, a journalist for Cointelegraph, based in Caracas, Venezuela. We discuss Venezuela's political and economic situation, hyperinflation and the reality of Bitcoin adoption in the country.

Location: Bogota, Colombia Date: Tuesday, 11th February Project: InTiColombia & Buda Role: Co-Director & Country Manager Colombia The use case for Bitcoin can vary from country to country. How people use Bitcoin in New York will differ from on the border of Colombia and Venezuela. Where speculators may have access to the best hardware wallets and sophisticated security, those in the developing world may have to share a phone and have limited data connectivity. As part of my series covering Bitcoin Around the World, I am going to visit the far reaches of our planet, to look at how different communities are using Bitcoin and the challenges they face. In this interview, I speak to Mauricio Tovar Gutierrez & Alejandro Beltran Torrado, part of the Bitcoin community in Bogota, Colombia. We discuss the politics and economics of Colombia, Bitcoin regulation and their close ties with Venezuela.

Location: Skype Date: Tuesday, 4th February Project: Ikigai Asset Management Role: Chief Investment Officer Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginners Guide Part 11 -Bitcoin and the Macroeconomy with Travis Kling Bitcoin was born in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, the worst economic disaster since the great depression. A bubble born out of years of cheap credit and poor government oversight, Satoshi recognised this. In 2009 as the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer was preparing to bail out the UK's failing banks, for the second time, Satoshi Nakamoto was releasing Bitcoin to the world. Bitcoin's monetary policy is the antithesis of the central banks, by removing centralised decisions and forcing the market to fix itself. Further, It is a non-sovereign, global, immutable, digital, decentralised, hard money. Twelve years on from the global financial crisis, some economists believe we may be heading towards a global recession. If this is correct, can Bitcoin become a hedge or insurance? Could it even emerge as the global reserve currency? In Part 11 of the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin, I talk to Travis Kling, Chief Investment Officer at Ikigai. We discuss the great big fiat experiment, monetary and fiscal policy, social unrest and where Bitcoin fits into all of this.

Location: Skype Date: Monday, 3rd February Project: Tales from the Crypt & Rabbit Hole Recap Role: Co-host Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginners Guide Part 10 - Buying, Spending and Earning Bitcoin with Matt Odell Most people looking to buy Bitcoin for the first time will use an exchange such as Kraken or Coinbase because they offer a simple way to buy and sell Bitcoin. Using your debit card or bank transfer, you can quickly swap your fiat currency into Bitcoin. Once you have bought Bitcoin, you will receive it in your wallet on the exchange. While some exchanges such as Kraken pride themselves on their security, these custodians, who look after hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin are a prime target for hackers. Exchanges are continually fighting off attackers, and many exchange hacks have led to significant losses for those holding their Bitcoin with them. In Bitcoin, if you don't control your private keys, you don't own your Bitcoin. That means the first thing you should do once you have bought your first Bitcoin is to move it to a wallet you are in control of. Buying on an exchange isn't the only way to get your hands on Bitcoin. While many buy their Bitcoin, Andreas M. Antonopoulos encourages people to, instead, earn Bitcoin. While countries like New Zealand have taken steps to make paying employees in Bitcoin easier, it is still not an option that's available to everyone. So, if your employer won't pay you in Bitcoin, how else can you earn it? Bitcoin cashback is one way of increasing your holdings. Services like Lolli and Fold, offer cashback from retailers, including Amazon, Starbucks, Expedia and hundreds more. With sats back credit cards coming, there are now many ways to stack sats without buying Bitcoin. In Part 10 of the Bitcoin Beginner's Guide, I talk to Matt Odell, co-host of Tales from the Crypt and Rabbit Hole Recap. We discuss the best way to buy Bitcoin, privacy as well as how to spend and earn Bitcoin.

Location: Skype Date: Sunday, 26th January Project: Castle Island Ventures Role: Partner Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginners Guide Part 9 - Altcoins, A History of Failure with Nic Carter From faster transactions to lower fees to better privacy, almost every altcoin promises to improve upon some technical aspect of Bitcoin. The blockchain myth, as some utopian database structure, has been nothing more than a marketing term for fundraising and hype, with little to no real-world traction. The soul of Bitcoin is not embedded in some technical measure but in the trust of the protocol. Improving upon some technological measure of Bitcoin always comes with a trade-off such as reducing decentralisation or security. The beauty of Bitcoin is in its simplicity, something which can take time to understand. The altcoin marketing machine can be a tempting distraction for those new to the world of crypto, but the long-term trend suggests that these investments are risky. Even trading altcoins as a way of increasing your Bitcoin holding comes at significant risk. Since the ICO bubble of 2017/18, the vast majority of these projects have all but died, with many holding worthless bags of hopium. In Part 9 of the Bitcoin Beginner's Guide, I talk to Nic Carter Partner at Castle Island Ventures a Venture Capital firm focused on public blockchains. We discuss the history of altcoins, their inferiority to Bitcoin, and why the failure rate is so high.

Location: Skype Date: Monday, 27th January Project: Coin Center Role: Peter Van Valkenburgh & Jerry Brito Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginners Guide Part 8 - How is Bitcoin Legal with Peter Van Valkenburgh & Jerry Brito Bitcoin is still a relatively new technology. However, it is already a very real threat to government-issued fiat currencies and central banks. This has made regulating Bitcoin a tricky proposition for governments. China took a hard-line approach to this new asset class and in 2013, banned Bitcoin transactions, and in 2017, the government banned exchanges and ICOs. In Bolivia, there is a unilateral ban on all cryptocurrencies. Other countries have taken a far more progressive view of Bitcoin, embracing it, though often with caution. Most accepting has been Malta which has created the Malta Digital Innovation Authority; a government body brought in specifically for creating responsible crypto policy. While the regulatory landscape is complex and jurisdiction-specific, regulations tend to apply more aggressively to businesses in the space than users. These laws and regulations that Bitcoin businesses must comply with, however, still have an impact. For example; the majority of exchanges must follow AML/KYC rules which means when buying Bitcoin on an exchange you do give up your privacy. In Part 8 of the Bitcoin Beginner's Guide and to help explain and navigate the regulatory landscape I talk to Peter Van Valkenburgh & Jerry Britto, the Director of Research & Executive Director at Coin Center a non-profit focused on the policy issues for Bitcoin. We discuss the Bitcoin regulatory landscape and the implications to the users.

Location: Skype Date: Wednesday, 22nd January Project: Kraken Role: Head of Business Development Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginners Guide Part 7 - Bitcoin's Monetary Policy with Dan Held In our current economic system, currency is issued by the central banks. As fiat (government-issued money) is no longer backed by gold or any other scarce asset these central banks are able to print, or issue money at will. As more and more money is printed and enters circulation, the money you hold in your bank account becomes a smaller percentage of the total supply and therefore loses value. This by de-facto promotes spending rather than saving and by many, is seen as a flaw in the financial system. When Satoshi released the Bitcoin protocol, it offered an alternative to this system: scarce digital money. Satoshi gave Bitcoin a fixed supply of 21 million Bitcoins. He also designed an issuance schedule of 50BTC every ~10 minutes which is cut in half every 210,000 blocks (~4 years). The exact number of the total supply of Bitcoin is not important and it doesn't matter that the issuance schedule is designed exactly as it is, what is crucial is that this monetary policy can't be changed. These rules are part of the Bitcoin protocol and can not be amended or changed without a hard fork. Social consensus for a change like this would almost certainly never happen and Bitcoiners can be confident that their Bitcoin holdings will not lose value to do inflation. In Part 7 of the Bitcoin Beginner's Guide, I talk to Dan Held Bitcoin OG and Director of Business Development at Kraken to look at Bitcoin's monetary policy. We discuss how the economy works, the 21 million hard cap, the release schedule and block rewards.

Location: Skype Date: Friday, 17th January Project: Block Digest Role: Host Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginners Guide Part 6 - How Bitcoin Works with Shinobi As a newcomer to Bitcoin, you can begin using the network without understanding the protocol. While in the early days Bitcoin required a level of technical knowledge, there is now a plethora of companies creating products which abstract this away. As Bitcoin is such a unique form of money, you should invest time in understanding some of the more complicated aspects such as how the protocol works. While there are good wallets which will take care of validating transactions for you, by operating a node, you can become fully self-sovereign by validating your transactions. The Bitcoin protocol is complicated, so in this episode, we give you an introduction and overview of how it works: Supply - Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million coins and a fixed supply issuance. Starting at 50BTC per block this reward is cut in half every 210,000 blocks (or ~every four years). UTXOs - an Unspent Transaction Output which is used as an input for a new transaction. Open-source - openly available source code that anyone can access allowing anyone to review and contribute to the code. Consensus rules - the rules that full nodes must follow to be in agreement with all other nodes on the state of the blockchain Full Node - a program that verifies and validates all transactions and blocks for the entire history of the Bitcoin blockchain Mining - the process of adding transactions to the Bitcoin ledger and securing the network. Miners create blocks by spending energy in what is known as proof of work. The difficulty adjustment - this alters every 2016 blocks (~2 weeks) based on the time it took to mine the previous 2016 blocks, which is how the network can maintain a ~10 minute block time. In Part 6 of the Bitcoin Beginner's Guide, I am joined by Shinobi, host of Block Digest. In this episode, we are looking at how the Bitcoin protocol works. We discuss the supply & halvings, transactions & UTXOs, consensus rules, mining and nodes.

Location: Skype Date: Wednesday, 15th January Project: Tales from the Crypt & Rabbit Hole Recap Role: Host Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginners Guide Part 5 - The History of Bitcoin with Marty Bent On October 31st 2008 Satoshi published the Bitcoin Whitepaper on a little known cryptography mailing list. There had previously been many attempts at digital cash, so when the whitepaper was released, it was met with a healthy amount of scepticism. A few months later on January 3rd 2009 Satoshi Nakamoto mined the genesis block and included the message "Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks". The message was important and indicated Satoshi's plan for a new financial system. In the 11 years that have passed Bitcoin has gone from a niche experiment to a network worth over $160 billion, but the history has been rollercoaster. Anyone new coming into Bitcoin is likely to hear about critical points in history, and these events helped define Bitcoin and at times teach valuable lessons. January 12th 2009 - The first Bitcoin transaction between Satoshi Nakamoto and Hal Finney March 2010 - bitcoinmarket.com started operating as the first Bitcoin exchange May 22nd 2010 - Lazlo Hanyecz pays 10,000BTC for 2 pizzas November 27th 2010 - SlushPool becomes the first Bitcoin mining pool February 2011 - The Silk Road opens, utilising Bitcoin as its currency April 26th 2011 - Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto leaves Bitcoin in the hands of Gavin Andreson June 14th 2011 - Wikileaks starts accepting donations in Bitcoin. Visa and Mastercard & ban payments and PayPal freeze their accounts April 24th 2012 - Erik Voorhees launches Satoshi Dice a Bitcoin betting game June 20th 2012 - Coinbase founded November 27th 2013 - Bitcoin Reaches $1,000 January 26th 2014 - Charlie Shrem, CEO of BitInstant, is arrested. Charlie eventually pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business. He was sentenced to two years in prison February 7th 2014 - Mt. Gox, the largest Bitcoin exchange at the time, halted withdrawals after a security breach. On February 24th 2014 the exchange went offline with 744,408 Bitcoin stolen. July 2014 - GHash exceeded 51% of the hash rate July 17th 2014 - The New York BitLicense is proposed to place regulations on any company or person that uses cryptocurrencies residing in New York. January 14th 2016 - Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja release the Lightning Network Whitepaper 2016 - 2017 - The scaling war. The community were divided between Segregated Witness and/or bigger block sizes as a way of reducing congestion on the blockchain. This culminated on August 1st with the BCash fork. December 17th 2017 - Bitcoin reaches its all-time high of $20,000 December 18th 2017 - CME launches Bitcoin futures contract March 15th 2018 - Elizabeth Stark announces the initial release of lnd 0.4-beta for developers July 12th 2019 - Donald Trump tweets about Bitcoin In Part 5 of The Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin, I talk to Marty Bent the host of Tales from the Crypt & Rabbit Hole Recap. We discuss the key events in Bitcoin's history from the launch of the protocol to the Silk Road and the Scaling Wars.

Location: Skype Date: Tuesday, 14th January Project: The Stephan Livera Podcast Role: Host Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginners Guide Part 4 - What is Bitcoin with Stephan Livera Despite being considered a high-risk asset, there are many reasons why people continue to buy Bitcoin. For some, Bitcoin is a speculative tool, for others, it is a means of payment, and for some, it is a hedge against local fiat currency risk and hyperinflation. It is the unique features of Bitcoin, which is driving adoption, and it is the growth in adoption, which is driving speculation. One key feature of Bitcoin is that it is censorship-resistant, this means that anyone can send anyone else a payment which no third party can block. This was important to Wikileaks when PayPal froze their account and Visa and Mastercard stopped processing payments. Bitcoin became a lifeline for Wikileaks. The key features of Bitcoin are open to everyone. With a smartphone and an internet connection, anyone can enter this new financial system without requiring permission from the government or an account with a bank. How is this possible? Because Bitcoin is decentralised. So what makes Bitcoin censorship resistant? What is decentralisation, and why does it matter? And why are trusted third parties security holes? In Part 4 of The Bitcoin Beginner's Guide, I ask fellow podcaster Stephan Livera, what is Bitcoin? We discuss how Bitcoin works, its key features such as decentralisation and censorship resistance and the reasons why people might want to own it.

Location: Skype Date: Thursday, 9th January Project: Bitcoin Magazine Role: Technical Editor Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin. Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Beginners Guide Part 3 - Aaron van Wirdum on Bitcoin's Pre-History and the Cypherpunks Founded by Eric Hughes, Tim May and John Gilmore the cypherpunks were a group of hackers, privacy enthusiasts and crypto-anarchists. The group consisted of some of the most prominent cryptographers including Phil Zimmermann, Adam Back, Nick Szabo and Hal Finney. The cypherpunks had its factions; some focussed on privacy tools, others on encryption and some on building decentralised monetary systems. It was on the cypherpunk mailing list and during their meetups that the building blocks of Bitcoin were born. On October 31st 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto emailed the cypherpunk mailing list, telling them "I've been working on a new electronic cash system that's fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party." In the 11 years that followed Bitcoin has proven to be the most successful attempt at creating a censorship-resistant and trust minimised digital currency. Each previous attempt at creating a form of digital money had solved parts of the puzzle, but Satoshi was able to put these pieces together along with his innovations to create Bitcoin. The previous attempts included: In the 1990's eCash, headed by David Chaum, attempted to make online payments anonymous. In 1997 Adam Back created HashCash, a proof-of-work system to reduce email spam and prevent denial of service attacks. In 1998 Wei Dai proposed B-money to allow for an "anonymous, distributed electronic cash system". Around the same time, Nick Szabo proposed Bit Gold where unforgettable proof of work chains would share properties of gold: scarce, valuable and trust minimised but with the benefit of being easily transactable. In 2004 Hal Finney built upon the idea of Hashcash and created Reusable Proofs of Work. When Satoshi released the Bitcoin whitepaper, rather than a revolution, Bitcoin was an evolution of all that had come before it with Bitcoin being the most trust minimised, censorship-resistant and hardest currency that has ever existed. In Part 3 of The Bitcoin Beginner's Guide, I talk to Aaron van Wirdum, a journalist and Technical Editor at Bitcoin Magazine. Aaron explains the cypherpunk movement and the digital money projects which paved the way for Bitcoin.

Location: Skype Date: Monday, 6th January Project: Unchained Capital Role: Head of Business Development Welcome to The Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Part 2 - What is Money with Parker Lewis As the old adage says: money makes the world go round, but why? Money allows for free trade between people, solving the double coincidence of wants problem. To facilitate trade, early money took many forms: from Rai stones to salt to shells. The characteristics of base metals quickly led them to become the dominant form of money once introduced, with gold being the most valued. In the 1800s, both the UK and the US, as well as many other countries, implemented a gold standard, allowing banks to issue paper money to represent the gold that they held in reserve. The gold standard maintained gold as a hard currency but with paper bills solving the problem of transporting heavy bullion and divisibility. In the 1930s, during the depression, the US government devalued gold and made it illegal to own privately. In 1931 the UK abandoned the gold standard, and in 1971 the US severed any remaining ties to it. This marked the beginning of the current era of money. Whereas gold has the characteristics of sound money - it is durable, divisible, fungible and scarce, the new fiat monetary system didn't and therefore was open to abuse by government. With its infinite supply, it misses the key characteristics of sound money, scarcity and cost of production. Bitcoin has all the characteristics of sound money; however, in one key area, it far exceeds gold - transferability. In a digital age, Bitcoin is sound money that can be sent over the internet and has the potential to change the nature of money for everyone. In part 2 of The Bitcoin Beginner's Guide, I talk to Parker Lewis head of business development at Unchained Capital. Parker answers the question, what is money? We also discuss the history of money and the characteristics of sound money.

Location: Skype Date: Monday, 11th November Project: aantonop.com Role: Author & Public Speaker Welcome to The Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. Part 1 - Andreas M. Antonopoulos on Why We Need Bitcoin Bitcoin is multifaceted. Some treat Bitcoin as a speculative tool for growing wealth, others as a way of avoiding financial censorship from traditional payment channels, and some use it as a way of claiming their monetary sovereignty and removing power from the banks and state. The real reason Bitcoin is essential is for all of these reasons and more. On 3rd January 2009, Bitcoin was introduced to the world by its pseudonymous creator (or creators), going by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin brought with it an alternative to the banking system, a way of truly controlling your finances and to 'be your own bank'. Being your own bank is incredibly powerful but is often a confusing and misused term. There are currently 1.7 billion people across the world who do not have access to proper banking services. Bitcoin can fix this by allowing users to hold, send and receive value. Cross-border payments are expensive and complicated using traditional banking and financial systems, and that's assuming the recipient has the means to receive payment. Bitcoin fixes this. Governments have a history of putting pressure on payment systems to stop allowing payments to recipients that they deem unfit. In 2010 Visa, Mastercard and PayPal all stopped allowing payments to WikiLeaks. Bitcoin fixed this. Bitcoin's power is in its decentralised, censorship-resistant, neutral, permissionless network that allows you to transact globally without any intermediary or third party and with whoever you want for whatever reason you want. Bitcoin doesn't care. We will soon be living in a cashless society, government-issued 'fiat' currency will become entirely digital, and we will wave goodbye to any remaining shreds of financial privacy that still exist. Some governments will look to create a cryptocurrency alternative; providing the perfect tool for increased financial surveillance and oppression and represents the antithesis of Bitcoin. So, maybe we will have to choose whether its Bitcoin or a state-run digital currency. Should we choose Bitcoin? This interview previously appeared on my other show Defiance and is a great starting point for the beginner's guide. Here I talk to Andreas M. Antonopoulos to find out. Andreas is a speaker and the best selling author of Mastering Bitcoin and The Internet of Money and is unrivalled in evangelising Bitcoin. Andreas explains why the current monetary and financial system is no longer fit for purpose and why Bitcoin may be the answer.

Location: New York Date: Monday, 23rd December Project: Tales from the Crypt & Rabbit Hole Recap Role: Co-host The Bitcoin space moves fast, and 2019 has been no different. Starting the year at the bottom of a harsh bear market after hitting a low of $3,100, Bitcoin began 2019 trading close to $3600. While the price spiked at around $14,000, it has settled in the $7-8k range, representing an approximate 100% rise in price. Also, despite the volatility, the hashrate has reached an all-time high. Bitcoin has been featured widely in the media, and everyone from NFL player Russell Okung to Donald Trump and even President Xi have spoken about it. The Lightning Network has grown from strength to strength with Bitfinex now accepting Lightning deposits and the Tor Project accepting Lightning donations. The SEC is still yet to approve a Bitcoin ETF with Bitwise' proposal the latest to be rejected. Jack Dorsey launched Square Crypto, and Facebook made plans to launch a 'cryptocurrency' called Libra. With exchanges, Cryptopia was hacked and subsequently shut down, and QuadrigaCX suffered the same fate following the suspicious and shock death of its CEO Gerald Cotten. So 2019 has been a busy year in Bitcoin and my final interview of the year is with Matt Odell, co-host of the Tales from the Crypt and Rabbit Hole Recap. We take a look back at 2019, discussing Bitcoin only businesses, the most important projects and our predictions for 2020.

Location: Boulder, Colorado Date: Monday, 23rd December Project: Zap Role: Founder The Lightning Network is a layer two solution that allows users to send and receive Bitcoin 'off-chain'. Sending and receiving transactions on Lightning is both fast and cheap, allowing the Bitcoin network to scale while maintaining decentralisation by keeping the basechain block size small. The technology isn't perfect though. In its current state, the Lightning Network can be complicated and intimidating to newcomers as the user experience has key differences from transacting on the basechain. Lightning is developing at pace, and UX design is abstracting away many of the intricacies of the network. Lightning as a micropayment mechanism for the mainstream market is just one potential use. Jack Mallers, Founder of the Lightning Network wallet Zap, thinks that Lightning may have a far broader value proposition. In this interview, I review The Lightning Network in 2019 with Zap founder Jack Mallers. We discuss why Lightning matters, private key management, custodial v non-custodial wallets, and how proprietary trading firms may be the next big use case.

Location: El Salvador Date: Thursday, 19th December Project: Bitcoin Beach Role: Founder El Salvador is a country gripped by gang violence. It consistently ranks among countries with the highest murder rate per capita and is one of the deadliest countries in the American subcontinent. Gangs are prolific, and unlike other Central and South American countries, the drug route through Central America misses El Salvador, so instead, the gangs here turn to extortion and murder. Jobs are scarce, and a considerable percentage of men leave the country in search of work, others are pulled into gang life, imprisoned or murdered. The breakup of the family and the difficulty of finding a job makes recruiting new gang members easy, perpetuating the gang culture. Bitcoin Beach is trying to help. The organisation is building a Bitcoin economy in Punta Mango, a small beach town in El Salvador. Bitcoin Beach offers free Bitcoin classes and pays young people in Bitcoin to do work such as clean the polluted rivers and streets and stay in education. Local businesses are incentivised to accept Bitcoin, creating a local Bitcoin circular economy. In this interview, I speak to Michael Peterson founder of Bitcoin Beach, to discuss the project, creating a Bitcoin economy, custodial vs non-custodial solutions and the gangs and violence that plague El Salvador.

Location: Uruguay Date: Sunday, 15th December Project: arielmuslera.com | IOVLabs Role: VC Investor | CEO Bitcoin is still mostly a speculative asset in the developed world. However, in countries with a history of poor monetary policy, Bitcoin is now a viable hedge against high inflation and government seizure. Argentina's recent history is one of poor monetary policy. Between 1991 and 2002 the Argentine Peso was pegged to the USD with the central bank claiming to operate a full reserve. This peg was used to combat hyperinflation and initially appeared to work with inflation falling from 3000% in 1989 to 3.4% in 1994. The reality was very different, and the strong USD overvalued the Argentine Peso and made international trade difficult. In 2001 the dollar-pegged Argentine Peso was abandoned, and the Argentine peso has lost over 98% of its value with 1 USD now buying almost 60 pesos. With hyperinflation and the capital controls used by the Argentinian government, many locals look to find ways of protecting their wealth with hard assets. While many will use USD and real estate, more and more are turning to Bitcoin as a way to preserve their capital. In this interview, I speak to Ariel Muslera and Diego Gutierrez-Zaldivar about the current state of monetary policy in Argentina, the political landscape, and how more and more Argentinians are using Bitcoin to hedge risk.

Location: Skype Date: Wednesday, 17th December Project: nathanielrich.com Role: Author In December 2018 Gerald Cotten, the CEO of Canadian crypto exchange Quadriga, was on his honeymoon in India with his new wife. While there Gerald fell sick and a few days later died from complications related to his Crohn's disease. Gerald was the only person who held the private keys to Quadriga's cold storage wallet, leaving an estimated CA$250m ($190 US) of customer deposits unrecoverable. In January 2019 QuadrigaCX, Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange shut down for business, filing for bankruptcy in April. While initially it was suspected the loss was down to gross incompetence and failure to structure a contingency plan, conspiracies quickly started to circulate: Had Gerald faked his death in India as an elaborate exit scam? When Gerald lost $millions of Ethereum in a smart contract bug a couple of years earlier, had he used customer funds on other exchanges to try and trade his way out of this hole? Had Gerald lost funds he was harbouring for criminal gangs and escaped to avoid repercussions? To add to the mismanagement of funds and keys the events leading up to and following his death were equally suspicious: Just days before the trip Gerald had signed a new will leaving his entire estate to his wife. Following his death, Gerald's wife did not request an autopsy and removed the body from the hospital. His death was announced on January 14th, Despite dying on December 9th. Whatever the course of events in India, the death and mismanagement of the exchange and private keys raise many questions, and there are likely parts of the story we may never know. In this interview, I talk to author Nathaniel Rich about his investigation into Quadriga for Vanity Fair. We discuss the suspicious death of Quadriga's CEO Gerald Cotten, the missing $250m of customer funds and the FBI's investigation. Note: following my interview with Nathaniel, the lawyers representing the customers of Quadriga have asked Canadian authorities to exhume Gerald's body. You can read more about that here.

Location: Skype Date: Tuesday, 26th Nov Project: Premier Ark LLC Role: Manager When Bitcoin is held on an exchange or with another 3rd party custodian, that 3rd party owns the Bitcoin, they have control of the private keys and can they have the ability to use it as they choose. As the customer to that custodian, all you have is the promise of that Bitcoin. One of the core fundamentals of Bitcoin is that it allows you to become self-sovereign; so is adding a layer of trust to a trustless system antithetical to what it was designed to do? On the anniversary of Bitcoin's genesis block Trace Mayer's Proof of Keys campaign encourages everyone to take control of their Bitcoin and remove it from these 3rd party custodians. Not only does this encourage everyone to control their private keys, but it also 'stress tests' the exchanges and offers proof that they are running fully reserved. In this interview, I talk to Trace about his Proof of Keys campaign, exchange hackings, claiming your monetary sovereignty and stress testing custodians.

Location: Los Angeles Date: Monday, 25th Nov Project: hollyrandall.com Role: Pornographer Holly Randall is a second-generation pornographer and the daughter of Suze Randall, the first female staff photographer for both Playboy and Hustler. In 1998, at the age of 20, Holly became a photographer for the family-run website suze.net. Having worked in the industry for 20 years, Holly has experienced the porn industry pre and post-internet and witnessed how the industry has adapted to the growth in free online content. Despite porn being legal, like others in the adult industry, Holly faces a constant battle with financial censorship. Banks regularly close accounts, credit cards are often rejected, payment operators freeze accounts and standard business services such as employee insurance can be hard to get. With its censorship resistance, trustless and decentralised nature, Bitcoin is a natural fit to help the adult industry solve problems of financial censorship; however, as of now, it is a niche solution for the tech-savvy. In this interview, I talk to pornographer Holly Randall about censorship. We discuss how the industry has changed, financial censorship, whether Bitcoin can be a solution and the misconceptions and misrepresentations of adult performers.

Location: Austin Date: Friday, 23rd Nov Project: Jimmy Song Consulting Role: Bitcoin Educator, Developer and Entrepreneur Bitcoiners regularly criticise altcoins; so much so that the term "shitcoin" has become synonymous with anything which isn't Bitcoin. From the centralised nature of these projects to premines, often Bitcoiner will identify altcoins as a poor investment with some going as far as calling everything that isn't Bitcoin a scam. Why are these projects still able to raise $millions in funding and why are investors so divided in their opinions? Are Bitcoiners right that Bitcoin is the only use for a blockchain or are they just toxic and close-minded? Are multicoiners right that this is a new wave in decentralised technology or holding a bias due to their bag holding? How are inexperienced investors meant to navigate this minefield? There are nearly 5000 cryptocurrencies with many claiming to have the superior-tech to Bitcoin; whether that's faster block times or cheaper transactions, Turing complete smart-contracts or environmentally friendly consensus mechanisms. But at what cost? The key trade-off with blockchain technology is decentralisation, where Bitcoin outperforms every other cryptocurrency in the market on almost every measure. So if decentralisation is key and Bitcoin is king, why do altcoins continue to attract investors despite apparent risks? Is it all down to marketing and the centralised foundations, creators and businesses and are they all doomed to fail? In this interview, I talk to Jimmy Song; Bitcoin educator, developer and author. Following his recent article "On Altcoin Valuation", we discuss why altcoins are a poor investment, the misuse of blockchain and why shitcoins rely on marketing to grow.

Location: Austin Date: Thursday, 22nd Nov Project: Adamant Capital Role: Founding Partner The 16th-century Reformation was a political and cultural upheaval that spread across central and northern Europe. Reformers questioned the power and authority of the Roman Catholic Church and wanted change. With the Reformation came decades of rebellion and several wars. However, the Reformation also brought with it a significant political and religious shift to greater freedom and a move towards the world we now live. Could a new Reformation have Bitcoin at its heart? Will cryptography, computation and telecommunications be the 21st-century equivalents of the printing press, bookkeeping and the hourglass of the 16th century? Millennials have grown up in the wake of 9/11, where safety is not guaranteed, and trust is not a given. The millennials early adulthood witnessed the 2008 global financial crisis, living through a recession and budget cuts alongside reckless and immoral banking practices. Millennials are also the primary adopters of Bitcoin, and by 2029 they are expected to be the generation with the largest share of disposable income. They will likely be controlling the management of significant funds and institutional money, and this could mean a paradigm shift in the way the world sees and uses Bitcoin and lead to the Bitcoin Reformation. In this interview, I talk to Tuur Demeester; macro investor, analyst, business cycle expert and founding partner at Adamant Capital. We discuss his recent article The Bitcoin Reformation, Bitcoin financial services and distrust in the current banking system.

Location: Austin Date: Thursday, 22nd Nov Project: Texas Gun Sense Role: Executive Director (Texas Gun Sense) & Board Member (c) The 2nd Amendment to the U.S constitution outlines Americans' right to keep and bear arms. America is now home to more guns than people and is the country with the highest number of deaths by firearms in the world. The gun debate continues to polarise the nation. While many firmly stand by the constitution and see removing their right to own a gun as an attack on their civil liberties, others see the weapons as a dangerous and unnecessary threat responsible for tens of thousands of deaths per year. Texas Gun Sense is a group who come at this debate with a more nuanced viewpoint. They aim to bring 'common-sense, fact-based gun policies to Texas'. The organisation is not anti-gun, but they do support increased and more rigorous background checks alongside education to improve gun safety practices. In a previous episode, Ragnar Lifthrasir joined me on What Bitcoin Did, and we discussed why he believes it is every American's right to own a gun. To continue the discussion, in this episode, we hear from Executive Director at Texas Gun Sense, Gyl Switzer and Leesa Ross from Lock Arms for Life, whose son was killed in a handgun accident. We discuss their approach to gun ownership while still supporting the 2nd Amendment.

Location: Austin Date: Thursday, 22nd Nov Project: Noded Podcast Role: Co-Host The ideology of Bitcoiners aligns closely with Libertarians as both value self-sovereignty and self-governance. Because of this, going down the Bitcoin rabbit hole often leads to Libertarianism and Austrian Economics. There are though many levels of Libertarianism. Some believe in minarchism, the reduction but not complete removal of the state while others believe in full anarchy where there is no centralised state planning, and the free market determines what is best. Alternatively, some see it as a personal philosophy that they follow within the lines of current government and state systems. How would the free market operate in an imperfect world? Without regulations, would it be possible to keep people safe? What about human greed? Would there be a social cost to a society structured this way? To find out the answers to some of these questions, I talk to Michael Goldstein, the co-host of the Noded Podcast and President of the Nakamoto Institute to discuss Libertarianism. We discuss Libertarianism, the free market, rejecting activism and the transition to an anarcho-capitalist society.

Location: Indianapolis Date: Monday, 18th November Project: Coinist Podcast Role: Host Two years ago I sat down with Bitcoin trader & analyst, Luke Martin in LA to record the very first episode of What Bitcoin Did Luke has dropped out of school to focus on his trading full time, and he's now known as being one of the most followed in his field. He's also a fellow podcaster, the host of the Coinist Podcast and even been a guest on CNN. By coincidence, we managed to find ourselves in the same city exactly two years ago to the day that Luke and I recorded WBD001. Two years is a significant amount of time in Bitcoin and lots has happened. Luke and I have remained friends, and we have supported each other along the way, Luke telling me to stop fighting on Twitter, and I have encouraged Luke to continue podcasting. As a fellow podcaster, Luke speaks with people in the industry, gaining insights predominantly on the Bitcoin market, trading and exchanges. In this interview, we sit down and reflect on the two years since we recorded WBD001 and discuss Bitcoin, financial services and Twitter.

Location: New York Date: Thursday, 14th Nov Project: Kraken Role: Head of OTC Sales & Trading Liquidity is crucial for any tradeable asset. A liquid market means lots of buyers and sellers, making it easy to move in and out of a position without paying a premium or selling at a discounted price. Increased liquidity also means a smaller spread (the gap between the highest bid and the lowest ask). Bitcoin is the most liquid cryptocurrency by far but compared to traditional stocks, bonds or precious metals, it is still comparatively illiquid. For smaller trades this doesn't present a significant problem, however, for large traders buying and selling tens, hundreds or even thousands of Bitcoin, this can present a challenge as even $100,000 can move the market significantly, especially during times of low volume. Large traders have the option of using an over-the-counter service which allows them to place an order which is fulfilled by the OTC desk utilising multiple exchanges or other OTC clients orders to limit the effect that these large trades have on the market. In this interview, I talk to Nelson Minier. Nelson is a Wall Street veteran who, for the last two years, has been head of Kraken's OTC desk. We discuss working on Wall Street, how an OTC desk operates, and if institutional investors are buying Bitcoin.

Location: London Date: Monday, 11th Nov Project: The Missing Cryptoqueen Role: Host OneCoin, a project founded by Ruja Ignatova, promised a financial revolution. By the time Ignatova disappeared, the scam was alleged to have received over $5bn in investment (though some estimates may put it at over $15bn). While OneCoin claimed to be running a private blockchain, in reality, it was a Ponzi scheme where buyers purchased 'packages' and received 'educational material'. During the process, they earned OneCoin tokens, and there were incentive schemes to onboard new users. Once people had received their OneCoins, the only place they could trade them was with another OneCoin user on the scheme's private 'exchange'. While the scam began to unravel with the disappearance of Ruja and the arrest of her brother, many struggled to accept it was a scam and money continued to pour in. The word scam is thrown around loosely in crypto, often from cult-like followers who disagree with an ideology that another coin possesses or sometimes due to a lack of knowledge. While some projects may be misguided or have questionable use-cases, not all are scams like OneCoin Bitconnect and PlusToken. Experienced investors see these projects and immediately identify the warning signs; sadly, this is not necessarily the case for newcomers. The language used in Bitcoin and crypto can be confusing, and when regular people hear or read about a project that is 'The New Bitcoin' with promises the project is like buying Bitcoin at $1, $10 or $100, these scams can quickly suck in naive investors. So, should Bitcoiners be doing more to spread awareness of these scams as they arise and what can Bitcoiners learn about guiding new investors from scams such as this? In this interview, I talk to Jamie Bartlett, host of the BBC's podcast The Missing Cryptoqueen, an investigation into OneCoin and the disappearance of its founder Ruja Ignatova. We discuss scams, Ponzi's, pyramids, cults and multi-level marketing.

Location: New York Date: Tuesday, 22nd Oct Project: O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, LLC Role: Chairman & Chief Investment Officer Jim O'Shaughnessy is a true Wall Street Legend and the best selling author of What Works on Wall Street and Invest Like the Best. With over 30 years of research in equity returns, Jim O'Shaughnessy is a pioneer of quantitative equity research, with over $6 billion under management. How he achieved this success is no secret, and his four books share, in detail, what he's learnt along the way. As a New York Times bestseller, he writes on the roles that value, quality and momentum all play in investing. His grandfather's success sparked Jim's interest in investing. O'Shaughnessy's grandfather built what was, one of the world's largest privately-owned oil companies, before giving away 95% of his fortune. It was family discussions around what to do with that money which got 17-year-old O'Shaughnessy interested in the markets. In this interview, I sat down with Jim to discuss his career, media power & bias, censorship and free speech, quantitative easing and investing.

Location: Los Angeles Date: Friday, 18th October Project: 1000x Role: CEO Bitcoin is a public ledger, which allows anyone to view any transaction and address thus offer pseudonymity rather than anonymity. What this means is that Bitcoin can provide a certain level of privacy if your Bitcoin address is not attached to personal information, for example, exchange KYC data. Bitcoiners wanting to protect their privacy must take careful steps, a lapse in concentration can identify you as the owner of a particular address. By accessing a block explorer without using Tor or a VPN, posting your public key online, utilizing a KYC compliant exchange are all examples of how chain analysts can identify you. Because of this, Bitcoin may not seem like the perfect tool to facilitate transactions on dark markets, yet it currently accounts for the vast majority of them. So why is this? Bitcoin, by design, as a censorship-resistant currency enables dark markets. If you want to purchase something that your government deems illegal, and If you are willing to take the necessary precautions (using a VPN or Tor, CoinJoin and not reusing addresses) you can maintain your privacy. Since the Silk Road, Bitcoin has been the most used cryptocurrency used to buy drugs, firearms, identity documents and anything else from dark markets. By tracking the data in this space are we able to judge whether Bitcoin adoption is growing? And, is censorship resistance the only use-case that matters? In this interview, I talk to Cedric Dahl from 1000x. 1000x is a private think tank focused on researching Bitcoin usage data. We discuss dark markets, sanctioned states using Bitcoin and censorship resistance.

Location: New York Date: Friday, 25th October Project: Bloomberg Role: Editor The Winklevoss twins first Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) application was rejected by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in March 2017. In the 2 ½ years since, there have been a number of other applications for an ETF, all of which have been rejected, with the SEC citing concerns regarding manipulation, volatility and fraudulent activity. But does a government-granted ETF fit with the ethos of Bitcoin? Bitcoin was born out of the cypherpunk movement, with the goal of taking power away from the government by giving people a trustless and censorship-resistant monetary system. As such. seeking approval from a government-run body for an investment fund is seemingly against this ideology. It seems apparent that most Bitcoiners' motivation behind seeking an ETF is likely down to money. The added liquidity, easy access to investors and media coverage an approved ETF would garner may well lead to a price increase and thus an ETF approval seems like an easily identifiable path to another bull market. Could this be interpreted as Bitcoiners being hypocritical and caring more about the price of their coins than the intended goal of a censorship-resistant currency? On the other hand, it could be seen as a significant achievement in terms of mainstream adoption. After all, nothing aides Bitcoin's adoption than media coverage and price-driven FOMO. In this interview, I talk to Bloomberg Business News Editor, Joe Weisenthal. We discuss contradictory Bitcoin ideals and challenging the status quo, ETF's, censorship resistance, privacy and the current state of the global economy.

Location: New York Date: Friday, 25th October Project: Independent Role: Tech Startup Advisor, Author & Speaker The name Hotep Jesus hit many radars for the first time when he appeared as a guest on the Joe Rogan podcast. The tech startup advisor, was there to speak about his latest book, and during the interview, the topic of blockchain was raised and BSV was mentioned. The mention of BSV, although brief, caused a significant backlash towards Hotep on crypto twitter despite it not being Hotep who raised it. Many were angry that he chose to speak out seemingly in favour of the altcoin and felt he was 'promoting' it without the required knowledge and was adding to the misinformation and confusion in the space. Although misguided, I could relate to Hotep's confusion and felt that his conversation with Rogan was a typical example of many people who are beginning their journey into Bitcoin. I too had attempted to raise the confusion when a friend asked me which Bitcoin to buy on Coinbase as he saw two options. The "2 Bitcoins" saga became a meme to attack by particular Bitcoiners, avoiding the issue of confusion. Coming into the space it can be confusing. With multiple coins with Bitcoin in the name, some with a cult-like following and all shilling different ideologies/technical narratives, it can be confusing. How is a newcomer meant to know who to believe and which Bitcoin is the real Bitcoin? The objective amongst us can understand that the narrative for each coin can be persuasive. Some people prefer to go for the approach of letting the newcomers get rekt before finding out for themselves. However, I believe this hard-line approach can scare people out of the market altogether, and we should concentrate on educating these newcomers. In this interview, I speak with Hotep Jesus about confusion entering the market, as well as the benefits of Bitcoin, altcoins, race and equality and free speech.

Location: San Francisco Date: Monday, 21st October Project: n/a Role: Blockchain, cryptocurrency, and smart contracts pioneer On October 31st 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto emailed the cypherpunk mailing list, telling them "I've been working on a new electronic cash system that's fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party." In the 11 years that followed Bitcoin has proven to be the most successful attempt at creating a censorship-resistant and trust minimised digital currency. Bitcoin was not the first attempt at creating a trust minimised currency, and there were several proposals, implementations and technologies which led to Bitcoin: In the 1990's DigiCash, headed by David Chaum, attempted to make online payments anonymous. In 1997 Adam Back created HashCash using a proof-of-work system to reduce email spam and prevent denial of service attacks. In 1998 Wei Dai proposed B-money to allow for an "anonymous, distributed electronic cash system". In 2004 Hal Finney built upon the idea of Hashcash and created Reusable Proofs of Work. And in 2005 Nick Szabo proposed Bit Gold. Where unforgettable proof of work chains would share properties of gold: scarce, valuable and trust minimised but with the benefit of being easily transactable. When Satoshi released the Bitcoin whitepaper, rather than a revolution, Bitcoin was an evolution of all that had come before it with Bitcoin being the most trust minimised, censorship-resistant and hardest currency that has ever existed. Among Satoshi's email recipients was Nick Szabo, a computer scientist, cryptographer, the designer of Bit Gold and Smart Contracts pioneer. In a rare interview, Nick joins me to discuss the cypherpunk movement, what money is, privacy and of course, Bitcoin.

Location: New York Date: Tuesday, 22nd October Project: Kraken Role: Bitcoin Evangelist Despite the arguments that Bitcoin is the hardest money, it is the opportunity for new Bitcoiners to make a profit in their local fiat currency which is the primary driver of awareness and adoption. Since the launch of Bitcoin over 10 years ago, there have been a number of bull markets which has seen a rapid rise in the price of Bitcoin leading to wider awareness. The volume during the most recent bull run in 2017 led to exchanges struggling to cope with the volume and some dropping offline. Such was the demand that Bittrex and Bitfinex had to close down new user registrations. Making it easier for new Bitcoiners to acquire the asset has been a key driver of adoption. Good exchange and wallet UX, and education regarding key issues such as private key management not only support adoption but help new Bitcoiners avoid making silly mistakes. The Bitcoin rabbit hole is deep and there are many new concepts which can be intimidating to new Bitcoiners which sometimes OGs take for granted. Transacting alone requires consideration for a type of transaction fee, unconfirmed transactions and the reality that mistakes can't be reversed. Having talked to Hotep and followed his journey into Bitcoin and the distraction with shitcoins, people told me to ignore him. I wanted to do the opposite as I wanted to learn about how someone new sees the space. Kraken recognises that UX can be a hurdle for adoption, and are working on making it as simple as possible for new Bitcoiners to acquire and understand the asset. They recently hired Bitcoin OG Pierre Rochard to help with onboarding new users and Bitcoin adoption. In this interview, Pierre and I discuss why they were the right fit for him, mass adoption, onboarding, Bitcoin financial services and the lightning network.

Location: Los Angeles Date: Friday, 18th October Project: OpenNode & Tantra Labs Role: Research Strategist State adoption of Bitcoin is unclear but countries such as Iran, North Korea and Venezuela are believed to be holding and using Bitcoin. While these countries are in the minority, some believe it is just a matter of time before Bitcoin becomes a generally accepted state-level monetary tool. State-level censorship resistance is useful for nations subject to tight sanctions. The unique properties of Bitcoin could make governmental ownership of Bitcoin a necessity in the future and increased accumulation by governments around the world may lead to the U.S Dollar being replaced by Bitcoin as the global reserve currency. Further, the global economy is becoming increasingly uncertain, with negative interest rates and the Fed's growing intervention in the repo market standing as warning signs of an imminent global recession. Could all these factors speed up the shift towards Bitcoin adoption? In this interview, I talk to Nik Bhatia, Research Strategist at OpenNode and Tantra Labs. We discuss how banking works, the global economic outlook and why Bitcoin is a response to centralised and monopolistic money creation by central banks.