The Bitcoin Standard Podcast

In this episode Saifedean invites back philosopher and energy expert Alex Epstein to talk about climate hysteria and the energy issues facing the world today. They discuss the ongoing COP26 talks in Glasgow and why those setting its agenda are driven by an anti-human philosophy. They also talk about emerging power shortages around the world and why these are caused by a government-led push towards unreliable energy. Alex explains why being opposed to human impact on the environment is equivalent to being anti-development, and why restricting the use of coal hits the world’s poorest the hardest. In the Q&A, Alex answers questions on the gas shortages in Europe, scientific consensus on climate change and how to stay calm in the face of irrationality.ResourcesAlex’s first book The Moral Case for Fossil FuelsAlex’s upcoming book Fossil FutureA Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations by Robert BryceThree billion people use less electricity than the average American fridge.18 spectacularly wrong climate predictions from the 1970s, including several made by Paul Ehrlich.Alex’s Power Hour discussion with Richard Tol.Subscribe to Alex’s Substack “Energy Talking Points”Alex’s Congressional Testimony, May 19, 2021Alex eviscerates COP26 on GB NewsSaifedean’s first book, The Bitcoin StandardSaifedean’s second book, The Fiat StandardEnjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In this episode Saifedean talks to Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike, about how the Lightning Network is disrupting the global payments industry. Jack explains how international remittances work, why they are so costly and why the industry cannot compete with Lightning-based solutions. He and Saifedean then discuss how bitcoin is helping El Salvadorians transition from using cash to using bitcoin, whilst bypassing commercial banks. They also cover Jack’s role in helping to introduce Lightning tips to Twitter and Strike’s new “Pay Me in Bitcoin” application. In the Q&A, Jack takes questions on Strike’s expansion into Europe, who he would most like to “orange pill”, and which countries are likely to make bitcoin legal tender next.ResourcesJack’s Medium post Announcing the Strike APIJack’s Medium post Pay Me in BitcoinJack’s Medium post Announcing Strike GlobalExplainer on LNURL for Lightning WalletsChivo Wallet, referenced by JackSaifedean’s book The Bitcoin Standard Saifedean’s book The Fiat StandardEnjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In this episode Saifedean invites back Professor Paul Frijters of the London School of Economics to debate whether bitcoin is a good form of money. Saifedean makes the case for money as a market phenomenon, and argues that bitcoin has the scarcity, divisibility, fungibility and transportability that humans have historically valued in monies. Paul questions whether bitcoin mining is a zero-sum game and whether the fact that people hold bitcoin really demonstrates it has value. The debate touches on the demonetization of silver in China, the scarcity of land, and whether government force is legitimate at all.ResourcesNick Szabo’s article Shelling Out for an account of the historical emergence of money.When Money Dies by Adam FergussonWhen Money Destroys Nations by Russell Lamberti and Philip HaslamThe Ethics of Liberty by Murray RothbardThe Great Cholesterol Con by Malcolm KendrickThe Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz, for further discussion of cholesterolPaul’s article Why Blockchain has no economic futurePaul’s textbook A Handbook for Wellbeing Policy-Making: History, Theory, Measurement, Implementation, and Examples.Saifedean’s first book, The Bitcoin StandardSaifedean’s second book, The Fiat StandardEnjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In this episode, Saifedean talks to London School of Economics Professor Paul Frijters about his book The Great Covid Panic. They talk about the role played by epidemiologists like Neil Fergusson in encouraging governments to pursue extreme lockdowns, and why mainstream economists failed to properly evaluate the opportunity costs of this policy. They discuss the damage lockdowns have caused and how societies were driven by crowd mentality to engage in largely ineffectual “Covid theatre” such as mask wearing and hand sanitising. At the end of the episode, Paul takes questions from seminar attendees about Sweden’s Covid response, vaccine mandates and what lessons can be learned from the Covid panic. ResourcesPaul’s book The Great Covid Panic on Amazon.List of Neil Fergusson’s failed predictions.Saifedean’s Twitter thread on Belarus.BBC article on the environmental impact of disposable masks.Article on the psychological impact of social isolation caused by lockdowns.Julian Simon’s book The Ultimate Resource 2.Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles MacKay.Paul’s article on historical analogies for Covid-maniaPaul’s article on why empirical sciences failed in times of Covid.Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In this episode Saifedean talks to Nik Bhatia, author of Layered Money. They begin by discussing Nik’s first essays on bitcoin, The Time Value of Bitcoin and The Lightning Network Reference Rate, and why Nik thinks “Lightning banks” are on their way. They move on to talk about Nik’s book, starting with an overview of how “layered money” developed on top of gold through financial institutions, and how this eventually culminated in the emergence of a pure fiat financial system. Nik and Saifedean also discuss money as it exists today, including the role of central banks and the eurodollar system. They end with a discussion of what the financial system of the future will look like, including why Nik is confident that both bitcoin and the US dollar will continue to exist throughout his lifetime, and why we should be concerned about the rise of CBDCs. ResourcesNik’s 2018 essay The Time Value of Bitcoin.Nik’s 2019 essay The Lightning Network Reference Rate.Nik’s book Layered Money on Amazon.Explanation of the Bretton Woods System on Mises Wiki.Bank of International Settlements paper on the Triffin Dilemma, referenced in Layered Money.Bank of International Settlements paper on Central Bank Digital Currencies, referenced in Layered Money.1971 paper by Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, The Euro-dollar Market: Some First Principles, referenced in Layered Money.Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

Lecture delivered on Sept 17, 2021, to the Property and Freedom Society in Bodrum, Turkey, at the invitation of Professor Hans Hermann Hoppe. In this lecture, Saifedean discusses the relationship between time and preference and hard money. Saifedean argues that the ability to hold a form of money that holds its value into the future reduces the uncertainty surrounding the future, leading to less discounting of the future and thus a lower time preference. The lowering of time preference is what allows for the process of civilization to take place, with increasing capital accumulation, rising productivity, and improving living standards. Drawing on his research into the gold standard, the fiat standard, and the bitcoin standard, Saifedean illustrates several societal and economic trends which illustrate this relationship. Watch Video presentation on Youtube.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

October 4th 2021.In this episode Saifedean talks to bitcoin journalist Pete Rizzo about bitcoin maximalism, altcoins and Satoshi. They discuss objectivity in journalism, what constitutes a “neutral” stance on altcoins for journalists, and how bitcoin differentiates itself from other cryptocurrencies through its high degree of decentralization. They also discuss the role that Satoshi and his disappearance had in shaping today's bitcoin, and whether Satoshi was motivated by studying Austrian economics. They also discuss the late Mircea Popescu's underrated role in articulating and demonstrating bitcoin's immutability, resistance to capture, and sovereignty. In the Q&A session, Pete answers questions about potential attack vectors for bitcoin and explains his views on the likelihood of hyperbitcoinization.Related links:Pete’s article Against Cryptocurrency: The Ethical Argument for Bitcoin Maximalism on ForbesThe Yield On Money Reconsidered by Hans Hermann HoppeArticle explaining that a quarter of all Ethereum nodes run on AWSPete’s Bitcoin Magazine article The Last Days of SatoshiThe Blocksize War by Jonathan Bier of Bitmex Research Murray Rothbard’s views on moneyPete Rizzo’s obituary of Mircea PopescuOfficial blog of Mircea PopescuOutline of Knut Svanholm’s argument on hyperbitcoinization, referenced during the Q&APete Rizzo’s profiles on Twitter, Bitcoin Magazine and ForbesEnjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In this episode, Saifedean takes questions from regular seminar attendees on bitcoin fungibility, bitcoin price models and central bank digital currencies. The discussion focusses on whether the ability of governments and private analysts to monitor on-chain bitcoin transactions poses a threat to its fungibility, and whether this matters. Saifedean also answers questions on how PlanB’s stock to flow model has so accurately predicted bitcoin price movements and what CBDCs have in common with the currency of the Soviet Union.Related links:PlanB on TwitterPlanB on The Bitcoin Standard PodcastMises.org article about Paul Samuelson’s textbook, Economics, that praised the Soviet UnionEnjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In this interview with the Mises Institute's Economics for Business podcast, Saifedean discusses his entrepreneurial work on saifedean.com: what is the business model, why he decided to leave behind the malinvestment of academia and work independently, how bitcoin was instrumental in this move, the benefits of independent knowledge entrepreneurship, and why this is the beginning of a growing trend worldwide.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In this episode Saifedean talks to Dr Terence Kealey, adjunct scholar at The Cato Institute, about government funding of science. They discuss the history of technological development including how the Industrial Revolution was able to take place in Britain at a time of limited government and no significant state support for science. They cover how western government involvement in science accelerated during the atmosphere of panic that followed the 1957 launch of Sputnik, and why the misguided policies that followed were based on flawed economic assumptions. Terence and Saifedean also critique some popular misconceptions about how scientific progress happens, including the influential work of Philippe Aghion, Ken Arrow and Mariana Mazzucato.Related links:Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations Rand Institute paper on government funding of science by Ken Arrow and Richard NelsonLudwig von Mises’ critique of socialismWhy Most Published Research Findings Are False by John P. A. Ioannidis The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact by Ludwik FleckIntroduction to Jason Potts Terence Kealey’s book Breakfast is a Dangerous MealTerence’s articles on Mazzucato are here and hereOpen: How Collaboration and Curiosity Shaped Humankind Paperback by Johan NorbergEnjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/