The Peter McCormack Show

Location: Miami Date: Wednesday 1st December Organization: City of Miami Role: Mayor of Miami It is a common refrain that politics is in crisis. Polarization is producing deadlock. Election cycles mean big decisions are kicked down the road. A lack of term limits in congress results in a generation of out of touch leaders. But there is hope. A new cohort of energised and informed political leaders willing to tackle systemic issues are coming to the fore. Emblematic of this shift is the Mayor for the City of Miami Francis X. Suarez. Galvanised by dealing with the impact of the 2007 financial crisis on municipal government, Mayor Suarez recognized that executive power means creating the conditions for prosperity: sound fiscal discipline, attractive tax codes, and a government that supports entrepreneurship. Mayor Suarez also knows that leadership is key in an uncertain and changing world. He understands how Bitcoin is leading a change to resolve broken human systems through code. Providing a vision of a Bitcoin led future aims to give Miami's citizens a new sense of economic hope and trust, both for themselves and the generations to follow. In this interview, I talk with Mayor Francis Suarez about leading the City of Miami. We discuss the political system, the role of a Mayor, and running a successful city. Further we talk about how Bitcoin re-energises capitalist systems, the benefits of Bitcoin mining, and MiamiCoin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Miami Date: Thursday 2nd December Company: Validus Power Corp Role: Bitcoin Strategist Credit is central to the modern capitalist system. This makes bonds the most important financial contract in the world, significantly more important than equities. So, when credit markets get sick, all other markets suffer. Bonds have performed well for nearly two generations. However, the market looks like it's about to turn. Yields are being suppressed by unprecedented government purchase schemes. This has to end, and when it does, yields will increase, prices will drop, and debt will become more costly for governments. The demand side effects are just as damaging. Pension funds are mandated to make significant bond purchases (usually representing 40% of a portfolio). Low bond yields in a high inflation environment result in increased liabilities for pension funds. Rising yields are obviously better, but not for those holding bonds dropping in value. Is it time for pension funds to be allowed to add bitcoin to their portfolios? In this interview, I talk with Bitcoin Strategist Greg Foss about how government bond markets are being manipulated through quantitative easing and how this will soon have to end. We further discuss what this means for equities and pensions and the potential for investors to seek refuge in bitcoin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Miami Date: Wednesday 1st December Role: Market Analyst Studying history helps us paint a detailed picture of where we stand today. But, our modern society is complex; it is shaped by the interplay between political, social, cultural, technological, and financial spheres. So, understanding our world requires gaining a knowledge of a range of histories. When one gains a full appreciation of the past, patterns can be identified. Sometimes, extraordinary patterns in society can emerge. We're on the cusp of a cyclical convergence that happens only once every 250 years. The last time this happened democracy was born and the world changed forever. We're again at such a moment, where momentous change is upon us. But the future is unclear, and this time the cycles could break. We could be on a path to an authoritarian future it may be impossible to return from. So could Bitcoin be the innovation upon which the fate of humanity depends? In this interview, I talk to the serial entrepreneur and market analyst Mark Moss. We discuss the rare confluence of multiple societal cycles, the pendulum of individualism and collectivism, and how Bitcoin could disrupt it all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Miami Date: Tuesday 30th November Company: Swan Bitcoin Role: Director of Marketing "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." This quote, credited to Mark Twain, is a good TD;LR for The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy by William Strauss and Neil Howe. In this seminal book, they theorize that American history can be subdivided into four recurring generational periods, which culminate in a crisis at the end of 80-90 year cycles. It is argued that we're in the middle of a fourth turning crisis, an era of destruction when institutions are dismantled and rebuilt. In the year since I first spoke to Brandon Quittem about The Fourth Turning, economic and geopolitical events have further fuelled this belief. US global hegemony is waning, concern is growing that factional tensions in the US could escalate, there is increasing grass-root tension across the world countries over state-mandated pandemic controls. In the meantime, as economic indicators flash red, trust in politicians and central bankers is rapidly eroding. So are we witnessing the evolution of the fourth turning amidst the rise of Bitcoin? In this interview, I talk to Brandon Quittem, a writer and advisor for Swan Bitcoin. We discuss what we can learn from previous turnings, Bitcoin's role as a life raft in these uncertain times, and whether Bitcoin could fundamentally end these cycles. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Miami Date: Tuesday 30th November Company: Castle Island Ventures Role: Partner What to some may have seemed wild conjecture last year, has now become real. A major public company and a nation state are now operating under a Bitcoin Standard. But, as the digital asset matures, so do the discussions and consideration of Bitcoin in terms of its role within society. With growing regulatory scrutiny in the US, what are the specific regulatory risks for Bitcoin? How should we acknowledge US political support and opposition? What is Bitcoin's role as competition to the state's monopoly on money? How does it facilitate alternatives to sovereign currencies, and how will currency failures in a world with Bitcoin manifest themselves? All these questions feed into the fundamental debate now manifesting itself within the Bitcoin community: will hyperbitcoinisation occur? Does it need to occur? Can Bitcoin successfully thrive as a societal good in tandem with Fiat currencies and central banks? In this interview, I talk to Nic Carter, Partner at Castle Island Ventures and co-founder and Chairman of Coin Metrics. We discuss Bitcoin's maturing role within the evolving US and global economy, and it's role in relationship to stable coins, gold, and the US dollar. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Miami Date: Monday 29th November Company: Microstrategy Role: CEO In August 2020, MicroStrategy commenced with the bold defensive move to invest significant treasury assets in Bitcoin in response to inflationary pressures. Since then, MicroStrategy has strategically enhanced their holdings to become the largest corporate owner of Bitcoin and just last week announced an additional $414 million purchase. The strategy has been led by CEO Michael Saylor. As a developer of enterprise software, Saylor has long espoused digital transformation. Bitcoin is part of that process, digitising the last major building blocks of the analogue society: property, energy, and money. Whilst this first wave of corporate adoption is entrepreneurial in spirit, the advantages of corporate adoption are clear. Yet, despite a glut of Bitcoin miners maximising their Bitcoin hodling, MicroStrategy hasn't been followed by a wave of institutions following suit. Such inertia is predicated on a range of impediments that may fall away in the next few years. In this interview, I talk to Michael Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy. We discuss the evolution of their Bitcoin strategy, technological disintermediation, and Bitcoin as a foundational societal technology. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Remote Date: Sunday 28th November Project: tomerstrolight.medium.com Role: Writer The modern capitalist system is based on centralised and hierarchical structures of control. Bitcoin is a divergent innovation, structured to be decentralised. Progress is made through consensus, which forgoes the need to know or trust any of the parties involved. This can be an anathema to some people who are introduced to Bitcoin. They can not conceptualise how such a system can operate. This is partly because there has not been a great history of decentralised governance systems in modern societies. Part of the issue may also be how people conceptualise Bitcoin. Trying to frame it around man-made systems may be a fool's errand. Is it better to compare it to less understood yet ubiquitous biological systems, specifically the human brain? In this interview, I talk to Bitcoin writer Tomer Strolight. We discuss how Bitcoin is analogous to the human brain, the organisation of decentralised systems, and the emergent nature of consciousness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Remote Date: Thursday 25th November Project: Hypersheet Role: Co-Founder Comparisons between the 2017 & 2020/2021 bull markets are commonplace, and for a good reason. The 2016 halving kicked off a huge run and the first instance of wider retail getting involved in the Bitcoin market. 2020's halving was one catalyst for the current bull run. However, this time, the market participants are very different. Michael Saylor helped change the way institutions approach bitcoin, and a slew of other companies followed in his footsteps. Then, most notably, El Salvador became the first nation-state to make Bitcoin legal tender. Mainstream bitcoin investment has been a defining event of 2021. Further, this year has witnessed much more complex market activity: ETFs, shorting, and debt leveraged long positions. As a result, stakeholders have also had to assimilate a rapid increase in market-shifting news. This past month has been no exception, culminating in Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president, announcing his country's 'Bitcoin Bond'. In this interview, I talk to on-chain analyst and long-time friend of the show, Willy Woo. We discuss price forecasts, El Salvador's 'Bitcoin Bond', political attacks on Bitcoin, macro events, and comparisons to Ethereum. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Remote Date: Wednesday 25th November Project: Plebnet The benefits of the Lightning Network are clear for all to see. By taking transactions off-chain, you can settle almost instantly for a tiny fee while retaining better privacy than with an on-chain transaction. The Lightning Network is paramount to Bitcoin's scaling, and it is growing at a rapid pace, but while the Lightning Network is thriving, for new users it can still be a daunting experience. When running a Lightning node, you need to consider things like opening and closing channels, channel size, rebalancing and liquidity. Luckily, Plebnet is here to help. Starting out as a small group of people looking to educate and onboard Bitcoiners to Lightning, they have grown into a community of over 5,000 members and over 1,100 nodes. In this interview, I talk to American HODL, P, and D++. We discuss the importance of the Lightning Network, the challenges of onboarding people and the growth of Plebnet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Remote Date: Monday 22nd November Project: lynalden.com Role: Macroeconomist In the last month alone, Bitcoin has hit all-time high prices, Bitcoin on exchanges has hit multi-year lows, and El Salvador announced a $1 billion Bitcoin bond to fund the development of a Bitcoin city. At the same time, economic signals have started to flash red. Inflation is on the rise: it's hit 6.2% in the US and is rising at the fastest rate in decades. Traditionally strong bond markets are under pressure and currencies in some parts of the world show signs of distress. The dichotomy is that whilst some search for safe havens, with the lack of a positive yielding bond market, many are looking to riskier assets. The economic conditions for bitcoin to become a recognised international gold-like reserve asset are upon us. The scope and scale of bitcoin adoption suggest that major players are literally buying into this narrative. In this interview, I talk to macroeconomist and investment strategist Lyn Alden. We discuss the lack of yield in bond markets, El Salvador's bitcoin bonds, inflation and the direction and role of the Fed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.