The Peter McCormack Show

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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