avatar

LTB E439 Bitcoin Only Matters Because the Game Is Rigged

The Original Let's Talk Bitcoin Show
The Original Let's Talk Bitcoin Show
Episode • Jun 21, 2020 • 44m
The episode is sponsored by eToro.com and The Internet of Money Vol. 3

On today's show we're going back to basics. While bitcoin and digital bearer assets in general are an incredibly important technology, the reason they're likely to be important to the future has little to do with the token and everything to do with the context surrounding them: The world we live in every day, where government controlled money is abused for the benefit of the few and to the detriment of the many.

* * *

"Bitcoin is a way of achieving consensus. And consensus is a way for a bunch of people who may disagree on things to agree to a singular fact that they then execute, so imagine if Congress actually had bipartisan support to unilaterally pass a bill every ten minutes... That's basically what's occurring in Bitcoin.

There's nothing more political than money because money affects everything else, and yet Bitcoin works. I think there's a lot of people looking at trying to reform the governance structures of the places that they're in, what they really should be doing is looking at things like Bitcoin and frameworks using blockchains to say "OK, how can we come to consensus over this or that governance issue of which money would be one... But I think the most transformative and phenomenal thing it'll do is, Nakamoto Consensus and then just blockchain governance writ large is a phenomenal way to have self governance.

We see these breakdowns and these desires to federate cities and the way decisions are made, [but] maybe rather than turning to a government based political solution, a community based solution using something like a blockchain would be something with a lot greater staying power and impact." - Jonathan Mohan

Topics:

Who is the economy still working for, and who is it not serving?
What’s wrong with money that makes alternatives attractive?
Why and how is Bitcoin disconnected from the current system?
What’s the value in the US and western Europe compared to the value in less developed parts of the world?
What role does speculation play in the story of bitcoin?
Bitcoin’s been around now for more than ten years. Are we on track to make a difference? What’s the normal adoption curve for disruptive or revolutionary technologies?
What IS a disruptive or revolutionary technology? Who is bitcoin potentially disrupting?
Does being part of the bitcoin community make you politically affiliated, or represent a distinct political viewpoint?

Credits

This episode of Let's Talk Bitcoin features Stephanie Murphy, Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Adam B. Levine and Jonathan Mohan. Music provided by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats, with editing by Jonas.

Photo by Macau Photo Agency on Unsplash