The Peter McCormack Show

Location: Zoom Date: Wednesday 29th April Project: Independent Trader Role: Bitcoin Quant Analyst Plan₿'s Stock-to-Flow model was warmly received by many in Bitcoin. The chart gave context to price action around halvings, validating the importance of scarcity. The S2F model does have critics, and with the third halving approaching, some had questioned whether the reducing subsidy drive price. The halving is one of the most significant events in the Bitcoin calendar. Every 210,000 blocks (~4 years) the block subsidy issued to the miners reduced by half. Initially, the block reward was 50BTC, now 11 years later on approximately May 12th, we will have the 3rd halving taking the block reward from 12.5BTC to 6.25BTC. By the end of this reward period on May 12th, 87.5% of all Bitcoin will have been mined. Satoshi implemented the halving as a way of controlling inflation, front-loading the rewards to kick start the protocol. Dan Held stated that halvings are a viral marketing loop which creates awareness. Historically, the Bitcoin price in the weeks and months following the halving has seen significant moves to the upside, with supply cut in half Bitcoin becomes more scarce and demand may increase. The Stock-to-Flow model tracks the scarcity of an asset and following the halving the stock to flow ratio of Bitcoin will rise from 25 to 50, meaning it would take 50 years for miners to mine enough Bitcoin to match the current Bitcoin supply, at the current level of issuance. When applied to non-digital assets such as gold and silver, stock-to-flow becomes a benchmarking tool. Plan B identified a flaw in the model, the overreliance on time. In the latest version of his model, Bitcoin Stock-to-Flow Cross Asset Model (S2FX), time is removed, and other assets such as gold and silver are added. The new model includes a significant change, Phase Transitions, which identifies that the properties of an asset can change. These changes in the properties of Bitcoin, for example maturing from digital cash to digital gold, identify why the market for the asset grows; thus, there is increasing demand. In this interview, I talk to Bitcoin Quant Analyst & creator of the popular stock to flow model, Plan₿. We discuss his new S2FX model, the upcoming Bitcoin halving, predicted price action and the impact on miners. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Zoom Date: Wednesday 22nd April Project: Coinkite Role: CEO & Co-Founder Bitcoin attracts a broad range of enthusiasts with different backgrounds, experience and political beliefs. The spectrum is broad, from those who treat it purely as a speculative asset, happy to buy and hold, to those who head deep down the anti-state and hard money rabbit hole. Those who are attracted to Bitcoin's hard money properties may often align with Libertarian ideas, free markets and the separation of money and state. These Bitcoiners will often push hard important topics such as holding your own private keys, validating transactions with a node, enhancing privacy with CoinJoin and generally hating on any altcoin or token project. The most hardcore of Bitcoiners may even avoid exchanges due to KYC/AML legislation and find other ways to accumulate Bitcoin. Almost all Bitcoiners will fit somewhere between these two extremes, and the beauty of Bitcoin is that it doesn't care about your personal beliefs. As Bitcoin continues to grow, it will attract people who may not align with some of the more anarcho-capitalist opinions but still wish to use Bitcoin. So, is it the job of more radical Bitcoiners to push everyone towards holding their keys, running a node and improving their privacy and OPSEC? While these are good practices, what about those who do not align with libertarianism or Austrian Economics, should Bitcoin welcome all or be toxic to those who don't follow certain ideologies. In this interview, I talk to Rodolfo Novak, the CEO & Co-Founder of Coinkite and Bitcoin OG. We get into Bitcoin purity and discuss self custody & personal responsibility, hardware wallets and Bitcoin narratives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Zoom Date: Monday 3th March Project: Bitcoin & Co Podcast Role: Host Earlier this year, I travelled to Venezuela to find out the reality of Bitcoin adoption in the country and what I found didn't exactly fit the widely accepted narrative. The truth is that while Bitcoin may have some use cases for the middle and upper classes, the poorest in Venezuela are surviving on a few dollars a month, and Bitcoin is not a useful currency for them. Zimbabwe, like Venezuela, is often touted as a perfect use case for Bitcoin. Both countries have experienced hyperinflation, both have significant wealth disparity, and both have a high percentage of the population unbanked. So, is Bitcoin more widely adopted in Zimbabwe, and how can Zimbabweans take advantage of it? In this interview, I talk to Anita Posch, Bitcoin podcaster, speaker and author. We discuss Anita's recent trip to Zimbabwe, free speech & freedom of expression, scams & MLM, hyperinflation and if and how Zimbabweans are using Bitcoin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeremy Allaire, CEO and Founder of Circle, dives into the rise of stablecoins like USDC and their role during economic uncertainty. He discusses the advantage of these digital dollars being fully backed compared to traditional banks, particularly during a financial crisis. Allaire highlights the risks, such as platform dependency and security concerns, while also exploring the implications for future digital banking. He addresses how stablecoins might offer better savings solutions than banks, emphasizing the need for trust and regulatory clarity.

Location: Zoom Date: Friday, 10th April Project: Blockstream Role: Director of Research Bitcoin is very conservative. Unlike the typical tech industry ethos of move fast and break things, it is paramount that Bitcoin upgrades and changes to the protocol are absolutely necessary, slow, well planned and well tested. Two protocol changes that have been discussed for a while now are Schnorr signatures and Taproot. These proposals have lots of positive implications, including an improvement to privacy and scalability, but what will it mean for an average Bitcoin user? What is next on the roadmap? In this interview, I talk to Andrew Poelstra, the Director of Research at Blockstream. We discuss the upcoming upgrades to the Bitcoin protocol, including Schnorr signatures, Taproot and Miniscript and what that means to Bitcoin users. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Zoom Date: Wednesday, 8th April Project: BlockFi Role: Co-Founders On March 12th Bitcoin fell by over 50% from ~$8,000 to ~$3,800. One day earlier, the World Health Organisation had escalated the evolving COVID-19 situation to pandemic status, and Bitcoin wasn't alone in this, markets around the world crashed. The Coronavirus black swan event caused huge volatility which has been a critical concern held by many Bitcoiners about Bitcoin financial service companies. Critiques of these services have questioned what the impact would be of such an event on crypto-backed loans and whether they would lead to high default rates from borrowers. Would the risk management strategies put in place by companies such as BlockFi be robust enough? Coronavirus would trigger the market collapse that would test the doubter's theories. In this interview, I talk to Zac Prince and Flori Marquez, the co-founders of BlockFi, a bitcoin financial services business. We discuss how they manage high volatility, operating as a custodian and the state of the Bitcoin market. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Zoom Date: Wednesday, 1st April Project: WTFhappenedin1971.com Role: Host The gold standard was a monetary system in which the value of countries currency was directly linked to the amount of gold held in reserve. Although not currently used by any government, it was once a widely used system. A currency backed by a scarce asset such as gold prevents the government from printing more money without consequences. In 1931 the Bank of England abandoned the gold standard 'temporarily'; however, it never returned. Following Britains move to abandon the gold standard, a number of other countries followed suit. In 1933, during the Great Depression, US residents began hoarding gold which led US President Roosevelt to order all gold worth over $100 to be returned to the federal reserve and exchanged for paper money. The following year the price of gold, set by the US government, was increased to $35/once which, raising the feds balance sheet by 69%, marking the beginning of the end of the gold standard in the US. In 1971 Nixon announced that the US would sever all ties between the dollar and gold and would no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value of $35., putting an end to any remnants of a gold standard. WTF Happened in 1971 is a website that charts the economic impact and societal shift that has followed the abandonment of the gold standard. In this interview, I talk to Ben Prentice and Collin, the creators of WTFhappenedin1971.com. We discuss the gold standard, the Bretton Woods Agreement, monetary policy, inflation and hyperbitcoinisation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Zoom Date: Thursday, 9th April Project: Junseth's World Role: Host Junseth was the co-host of the hugely popular Bitcoin Uncensored, but in 2017 he and co-host Chris DeRose parted ways. One thing that made Bitcoin Uncensored both popular but also divisive was their ability to cut through the noise and call out ideas or bullshit in the crypto industry. Their interview with Perianne Boring is still one of the greatest podcasts in the world of "blockchain". There are so many topics that I have been wrestling with recently, from the politicisation and government response to the coronavirus pandemic to the very radical Bitcoin narratives offered by some of the most vocal and well known Bitcoiners. In this bonus episode, I am joined by Junseth the former co-host of Bitcoin Uncensored and host of Junseth's world. We discuss coronavirus, the politicisation of the pandemic and the economic impact, libertarianism, modern art and Bitcoin narratives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Location: Zoom Date: Friday, 3rd April Project: Pantera Capital Role: Co-Founder & CEO Markets around the world have posted their worst quarterly results in decades with the FTSE, DJI, S&P500 and many others down over 20%. While the coronavirus pandemic is certainly the catalyst behind this drop, it may have been the pin that popped the global economy propped up by cheap credit. With the markets falling, the forced closure of businesses and unemployment at record levels, governments around the world have taken unprecedented action with their monetary and fiscal policies. With huge amounts of quantitative easing globally, this economic event again highlights the benefits of Bitcoin's monetary policy. It was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, born out of years of cheap credit and poor government oversight. Now nearly 12 years since its creation, we are again in a time of financial crisis. So, could this crisis lead people to a non-sovereign, global, immutable, digital, decentralised, hard money? In this interview, I talk to Dan Morehead, a veteran investor and the co-founder & CEO of Pantera Capital. We discuss the effect of coronavirus on the economy, how the markets will recover, and Bitcoin's coming of age. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.