The Peter McCormack Show

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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