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Explore every episode of the podcast Stephan Livera Podcast

Dive into the complete episode list for Stephan Livera Podcast. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.

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TitlePub. DateDuration
The Power of Political Decentralization with Ryan McMaken SLP60313 Sep 202401:17:25

Secession may seem like a dirty word, but it has happened many times in history and it’s worth understanding the political and economic benefits it can yield. Ryan McMaken, Executive Editor and Economist at the Mises Institute joins me to discuss his book, Breaking Away. 

Summary

In this conversation, Stephan and Ryan McMaken discuss the topic of secession and its advantages. They explore the historical and theoretical context of secession, highlighting the benefits of radical decentralization and the success of small, economically prosperous states. 

They also examine the conditions that enable breakaway states, including economic factors, military power, and ethnic or nationalistic identity. The conversation emphasizes the need for people to come to terms with the reality that the federal government cannot offer long-term economic prosperity and that unity does not necessarily mean shared values or interests. 

The conversation explores the challenges and potential solutions related to secession and breakaway movements. It discusses the negotiation process for exiting a larger government entity, the impact on national debt and pension obligations, and the historical examples of successful secession. 

The conversation also touches on the Brexit movement and the potential for secession movements in the United States. It emphasizes the importance of developing competing elites at the state level and gradually asserting more local control over policies and resources.

Takeaways

  • Radical decentralization and the success of small, economically prosperous states are key advantages of secession.

  • Breakaway states often emerge when the benefits of political unity no longer outweigh the benefits of separation.

  • Conditions that enable secession include economic factors, military power, and ethnic or nationalistic identity.

  • The federal government cannot guarantee long-term economic prosperity, and unity does not necessarily mean shared values or interests. Secession and breakaway movements require careful negotiation, especially regarding national debt and pension obligations.

  • Historical examples show that debt write-downs and negotiations are common in secession processes.

  • Brexit can be seen as a failure or a missed opportunity, depending on one's perspective.

  • Competing elites at the state level can challenge the entrenched interests of the federal government.

  • Gradual steps, such as asserting control over border policy and creating state-level institutions, can pave the way for secession.

  • Developing local revenue sources is crucial to reduce reliance on federal funds and assert more autonomy.

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:00) - What is Secession and why care about it?(05:25) - Why has the number of countries tripled since WW2?(09:00) - Why be Pro-secession?

(14:45) - Pros & Cons of a ‘Large’ State; Political Decentralization 

(19:28) - Sponsors

(21:45) - Advantages of smaller countries

(27:30) - Conditions that enable the pathway to Secession 

(33:11) - Sponsors

(41:07) - Dealing with Government Debt & obligations in a Secession

(46:23) - Was Brexit a failure?

(56:28) - Secession in the USA: A distant dream?

(1:02:42) - Elites vs. Counter-elites

(1:06:58) - Secession movements in the USA

(1:15:39) - Closing thoughts 

Links: 

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

Bitcoin Product Market Fit For Savings with Pierre Rochard SLP60211 Sep 202401:20:11

My friend Pierre Rochard (VP Research at Riot Platforms) rejoins me on the show to discuss some of his latest views.

Summary

In this conversation, Stephan and Pierre discuss the concept of long-term savings in Bitcoin and its product-market fit. Pierre introduces a metric for measuring long-term savings by looking at the age of UTXOs (unspent transaction outputs). They also explore the idea of rebalancing and the importance of aligning financial decisions with personal goals. The conversation then shifts to the challenges of running a profitable business in a Bitcoin standard and the role of passive index equity investing in a hyper Bitcoinized world. Further, Pierre and Stephan discuss the implications of individuals and governments holding Bitcoin. They explore the idea of investing time in Bitcoin rather than just money, and how businesses can leverage Bitcoin without large capital investments. They also touch on the moral implications of educating others about Bitcoin and the potential cultural changes that may occur on a Bitcoin standard. The conversation concludes with a discussion on government adoption of Bitcoin and the impact it may have on society.

Takeaways

  • Bitcoin has found product-market fit in the area of long-term savings, as evidenced by the increasing number of UTXOs that have not moved in more than a year.

  • The age of Bitcoin UTXOs can provide insights into the behavior of hodlers and the overall health of the Bitcoin network.

  • Rebalancing should be driven by personal goals and values, rather than trying to time the market or follow others' advice.

  • In a Bitcoin standard, it may be challenging for businesses to outperform Bitcoin in terms of returns, but there may still be a role for active investing and supporting entrepreneurial ventures.

  • Passive index equity investing may become less prevalent in a hyper Bitcoinized world, as individuals prioritize holding Bitcoin and investing in businesses they are actively involved in. Investing time in Bitcoin can be just as valuable as investing money.

  • Businesses can leverage Bitcoin without large capital investments.

  • Educating others about Bitcoin is important, but it's not necessary to force people onto the Bitcoin journey.

  • Cultural changes on a Bitcoin standard may include a shift towards lower time preference and more focus on family and spirituality.

  • Government adoption of Bitcoin can move them away from being a state and towards a more decentralized entity.

  • The amount of Bitcoin a government holds should be based on their immediate needs and the uncertainty of the future.

  • Government adoption of Bitcoin can accelerate Bitcoin adoption among individuals.

  • The moral implications of the government holding Bitcoin depend on whether it leads to the violation of the non-aggression principle.

  • Taxation with Bitcoin becomes more difficult, which may lead to a reduction in government spending.

  • Advocating for a strategic reserve of Bitcoin can lead to more conversations and ultimately more Bitcoin adoption.

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Intro

(00:57) - Bitcoin’s Product-Market Fit for Long-Term Savings

(02:12) - Measuring Long-Term Savings with UTXO Age

(10:56) - Should you Rebalance your UTXOs?; Financial Decision-Making through Rebalancing(21:17) - Sponsors

(23:57) - Is Running a Business on a Bitcoin Standard Profitable?

(33:22) - Passive Index Equity Investing in a Hyper Bitcoinized World

(39:43) - Trading your Time & Expertise for Bitcoin

(44:32) - Educating Others about Bitcoin

(48:35) - Societal & Cultural Changes on a Bitcoin Standard

(53:07) - Sponsors

(1:02:00) - Should the State Hold Bitcoin?; Neutrality vs Central Planning 

(1:13:41) - Advocating for a Strategic Reserve of Bitcoin; Accelerating Bitcoin Adoption

Links: 

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

How Do You Retire on Bitcoin? With Morgen Rochard SLP59322 Jul 202401:00:14

Can you retire on Bitcoin savings? What do the numbers look like? Morgen Rochard, Founder and Lead Financial Planner of Origin Wealth Advisers joins me to explain: 

  • The 4% rule and how to modify it

  • Being conservative in your planning

  • CPI inflation being hard to predict

  • Do you rebalance? 

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:03) - 4% rule, Bitcoin & FIRE

(04:41) - HODLers vs TradFi allocation

(12:34) - Why you should be conservative with Bitcoin retirement

(20:16) - What if you retire during a Bitcoin bull run?

(22:24) - Sponsors

(24:55) - Should you borrow against your Bitcoin stack?

(31:41) - Where are the fiat financial planners going wrong?

(37:34) - Separating Bitcoin from ‘Crypto’

(40:55) - The shift in sentiment about HODLing Bitcoin

(42:39) - Sponsors

(44:51) - Should you rebalance your Bitcoin allocation?

(49:40) - Estimating currency debasement 

(56:12) - Bitcoin’s CAGR

Links: 

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP503 Things Are Breaking - Lawrence Lepard 20 Aug 202300:55:38

Lawrence Lepard of Equity Management Associates rejoins me to talk about all the things that are breaking: 

  • Cost of living crisis
  • Are we going into recession and what timing? 
  • Boomer hate
  • US government debt
  • Policy responses
  • Social responses
  • The waiting game

Site:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP502 Validating Lightning Signer - Ken Sedgwick17 Aug 202300:56:42

How can lightning users secure themselves even further? Just like how hardware wallets and secure elements can help secure your cold storage coins, Validating Lightning Signer (VLS) is a project aiming to help improve the way lightning security works. In this conversation with project co-founder Ken Sedgwick, we chat:

  • Why VLS is needed
  • How VLS works
  • Implementing part of the lightning state machine
  • What rules are covered? 
  • What lightning implementations are supported? 
  • The impact of lightning protocol changes
  • Interactions with watchtowers? 
  • How you can get involved

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP501 RGB Walkthrough with Maxim Orlovsky 15 Aug 202301:13:26

Dr Maxim Orlovsky joins me on the show to walk through RGB, a smart contract layer for Bitcoin. We talk through:

  • Some of the history of RGB
  • Client side validation as a concept
  • RGB ecosystem
  • What it can be used for - tokens, bitcoin finance
  • MyCitadel wallet
  • What’s next for RGB

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP500 Finding the Winners with Andrew Henderson12 Aug 202300:52:50

Andrew Henderson, Founder of Nomad Capitalist rejoins me on the show to talk:

  • Home country bias
  • Looking beyond headlines 
  • Evolution in citizenship
  • Global minimum tax and ‘the international community’
  • CBDC
  • Nomad Capitalist Live

Links:

Sponsors: 

Stephan Livera links:

SLP499 Earning Bitcoin & Remote Working - Jonathan Chester, Bitwage07 Aug 202300:51:14

Jonathan Chester, Founder/CEO of Bitwage joins me to talk about his experience setting up the company and enabling more people to earn Bitcoin:

  • The story of growing Bitwage
  • The market size for payroll
  • Exploring Lightning payouts 
  • Remote working as a trend
  • HODLing as the use

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP498 BowTiedMara - Bitcoin and Geoarbitrage in Argentina04 Aug 202300:59:31

Mara joins me to talk about his adventures in Argentina, and his thoughts on:

  • Geo arbitrage
  • Rules in theory, rules in practice
  • FX in Argentina
  • Bitcoin use in Argentina
  • Argentina’s property market
  • Where things are going with CBDCs

Mara links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera:

SLP497 Olivier Roland KYC and AML are Destroying the World02 Aug 202301:12:00

Author, digital nomad and web entrepreneur Olivier Roland joins me to talk about his issues with AML and his very interesting views on where the world is going in the age of remote working and internet communications.

  • The problem with KYC / AML
  • FATCA
  • Taxes and the Sovereign Individual thesis
  • Digital Nomadism disrupting nation states

Links:

Relevant prior episodes:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP496 Bitcoin Is Not for Everyone with Fernando Nikolic29 Jul 202301:04:52

Fernando Nikolic, Director of Marketing and Comms at Blockstream joins me on the show to talk about the slightly controversial idea that Bitcoin is Not for Everyone! We get into:

  • His background and why he believes bitcoin is not for everyone
  • Who is it really for? 
  • What about savings technology?
  • Is there a role for bitcoin evangelists? 
  • Teaser on what’s coming with Blockstream Green
  • How to move forward

Links:

Sponsors:

SL Links:

SLP495 Joe Carlasare - Bitcoin ETF? Lawsuits and Bitcoin26 Jul 202301:03:38

Joe Carlasare (Partner at Amundsen Davis LLC) and Bitcoiner joins me to share his legal expertise and opinions on:

  • Why you shouldn’t expect the Bitcoin spot ETF soon
  • The SEC Ripple decision
  • SEC Binance and Coinbase
  • Bitcoin and stablecoins
  • Macro thoughts

Links:

Sponsors:

Links:

SLP494 Hannah Frankman - Intro to Homeschooling24 Jul 202301:04:12

Hannah Frankman of Rebel Educator joins me to talk about homeschooling and the problems of Public School:

  • Failures of public schooling vs homeschooling
  • Infantilization of people nowadays
  • Homeschooling vs unschooling
  • Social skills of homeschooled kids 
  • Single income trade offs
  • Results of homeschooling

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

The Fertility Crisis and Cultural Answers to it with Daniel Hess SLP59219 Jul 202401:14:53

The global fertility crisis is on with many western and developed nations below replacement fertility. Joining me to discuss this problem is Daniel Hess (aka @MoreBirths on X). 

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Intro 

(00:54) - How bad is the global fertility crisis?

(04:50) - Implications of low birth rate for future generations

(09:54) - Causes for declining global rate of fertility

(11:53) - Marriages affecting birth rate

(15:38) - Religion affecting birth rate

(17:36) - Fertility rate in the East

(21:28) - The impact of government policies on fertility rate

(25:47) - Sponsors

(27:43) - Urban planning & fertility rates

(32:40) - The impact of welfare state on fertility rates

(36:00) - Taking cues from the fall of Roman empire

(41:16) - Insights from the population curve of South Korea

(45:05) - Sponsors

(47:30) - The ‘3 Child Norm’

(52:57) - The lessons from ‘Baby Boomers’

(55:38) - Recalibrating expectations

(59:13) - The importance of low time preference 

(1:04:00) - Deregulating childcare

(1:14:20) - Outro

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP493 Hashprice Derivatives with Matthew Williams20 Jul 202300:47:51

Matthew Williams, Head of Derivatives at Luxor Mining joins me to talk about Bitcoin Mining hashprice derivatives and what they will do for bitcoin miners: 

  • Getting into bitcoin mining
  • What is hashprice?
  • How hashprice shifts over time
  • What is a non-deliverable forward? 
  • Who should use an NDF?
  • Professionalising bitcoin mining

Link:

Sponsors:

SLP492 eSIMs for Privacy and Convenience - silent.link18 Jul 202300:48:47

Have you considered using eSIMs instead of your typical telco mobile phone SIM? Silent.link joins me to talk about: 

  • How the online eSIM service works and costs
  • Privacy and security with phones
  • How carriers have you pwned
  • zero-day exploits
  • Convenience and traveling with an eSIM
  • Experiences using Bitcoin and Lightning

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan links:

SLP491 The Crossover Between Bitcoin and Nuclear Energy with Nuclear Bitcoiner12 Jul 202301:00:29

Ryan MacLeod (Nuclear Bitcoiner) joins me to talk about Bitcoin and Nuclear Energy. We talk: 

  • Is nuclear energy too costly?
  • What are SMRs? Small Modular Reactors
  • Nuclear waste and safety concerns
  • How Nuclear energy crosses over with Bitcoin mining
  • Reduced costs and increased accessibility

Links:

Sponsors:

SLP490 Dusty - What is Splicing and why will it improve LN? 10 Jul 202300:57:07

Dusty Daemon joins me to talk about splicing on Bitcoin’s lightning network. We talk about:

  • What is splicing? 
  • Splicing’s potential privacy benefits
  • Potential to undermine surveillance heuristics
  • Splicing’s efficiency gains
  • Splicing as one tool in the toolkit
  • Walkthrough of how it works

Site:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP489 Graham Krizek - Will every company be a lightning company?06 Jul 202300:53:49

Will every company be a lightning company? Graham Krizek CEO of Voltage rejoins me on the show to talk about this idea as well as what’s happening in bitcoin and lightning: 

  • Being near the printer
  • Why big companies do financial services
  • What lightning does differently
  • What use cases are there and who’s looking at them?
  • Products at Voltage
  • Thoughts on LDK by Spiral

Links:

Sponsors:

SLP488 Future Visions of Lightning, Greenlight & Breez SDK with Christian Decker and Roy Sheinfeld21 Jun 202301:41:59

Christian Decker (Blockstream) and Roy Sheinfeld (Breez) rejoin me on the show to talk about: 

  • What has improved about Lightning over time
  • Lightning in a high fee environment
  • What Greenlight is 
  • What Breez SDK is
  • Is anything changing on the existing Breez app?
  • Core-lightning contrasted with other implementations
  • Lightning protocol improvements

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:


SLP487 Bitcoin Mining Energy Debate - Digiconomist and Ben Gagnon15 Jun 202301:16:11

Digiconomist (Alex de Vries) and Ben Gagnon (Chief Mining Officer, Bitfarms) join me on the show to debate Bitcoin Mining energy. We talk through:

  • Bitcoin Mining machine efficiency assumptions
  • Where do the models break down? 
  • Media referring to scary numbers in the bull cycle
  • Transactions per second metrics

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP486 Bitcoin Estate Planning with Peter Dunworth14 Jun 202301:00:18

Peter Dunworth is a financial adviser for high net worth individuals and families. He joins me to talk about what most people are getting wrong on bitcoin estate planning and inheritance. We discuss:

  • Why bother with all this? 
  • Legal, asset protection and tax benefits
  • Possession vs Title of coins
  • Collaborative custody
  • Practical components
  • Miniscript and technical advances
  • Valuation framework for Bitcoin and why inheritance matters

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP485 What is Inflation? with Jonathan Newman13 Jun 202300:54:05

Jonathan Newman, Associate Professor of Economics and Mises Fellow joins me to chat:

  • Contrasting definitions of inflation
  • How did Mises define inflation?
  • How did Rothbard define inflation? 
  • Where and how does fractional reserve come into it? 
  • Cantillon effect and the Mises effect
  • Costless production of money

Links:

Sponsors:

SLP484 Robin Linus ZeroSync: Speeding up Bitcoin Initial Block Download (IBD)05 Jun 202300:45:01

Robin Linus from the ZeroSync project joins me to talk about how ZKPs can be used to help people quickly get started using Bitcoin. We discuss:

  • What ZKPs are and what they can be used for
  • Speeding up IBD
  • Contrasting ZeroSync with utreexo and assumeutxo
  • UTXO set commitment
  • Blockstream satellite
  • What’s being verified? 
  • Different types of nodes

Links:

Sponsors

Stephan Livera links:

Stable Channels with Tony Klausing (SLP591)15 Jul 202401:00:42

Even as bitcoiners, we can’t deny that there is demand for ‘stablecoins’ or some kind of stable value feature. Tony Klausing, bitcoin and lightning developer joins me to talk about Stable Channels. This approach to stable value is self custodial, P2P, and bitcoin-native. We talk about the benefits, trade offs and who this would be suitable for. 

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Intro 

(00:51) - Tony’s background 

(03:28) - Opportunity of Stable Channels

(05:46) - Fiat-backed stablecoins Vs. Crypto-backed stablecoins(10:23) - Overview of Stable Channels

(14:17) - Difference between DLCs & Stable Channels

(18:02) - Stable Channels during varying BTC price scenarios

(21:34) - Sponsors

(23:49) - Who are Stable Channels for?

(30:50) - Dual funding & splicing on Stable Channels

(32:24) - How do participants of Stable Channels find each other?

(38:22) - Addressing concerns around Stable Channels 

(41:12) - Sponsors

(42:33) - Possible challenges for Stable Channels

(46:43) - Payments on Stable Channels

(52:07) - Is Stable Channels a ‘Quasi-decentralized exchange’?

(53:57) - Lightning payment vs legacy financial payment

(58:03) - Usability challenges

(1:00:09) - Outro

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP483 Lightning in a High Fee Environment with Niftynei, D++ & Nate02 Jun 202301:19:35

What happens under a high fee environment on the lightning network? We had one recently and so I asked Niftynei (Lisa of Base58), D++, and Nate (Voltage Head of Support & Education) to join me to talk about it:

  • Lightning implementations handling the fee spike
  • Force closes in lightning
  • Bitcoin performed just fine
  • Anchor outputs
  • Mitigation techniques 
  • Setting fee rates

Links:

SLP482 Burak - Ark: A new L2 protocol for Bitcoin 29 May 202301:21:04

Burak (Bitcoin researcher/developer) joins me to talk about Ark, a new protocol for Bitcoin scaling and privacy. We chat about:

  • Downsides of LN
  • High level overview 
  • ASPs, vTXOs
  • Vapourware?
  • Other criticisms
  • Interactive vs non-interactive versions
  • Covenants and what they’d mean for Bitcoin

Links:

Relevant prior episode:

Sponsors

SLP481 Can There Be a Bullish Case for Bitcoin Custodians? with Kemal (pretyflaco)25 May 202301:00:27

Kemal of Galoy Money joins me to chat about his Bullish Case for Bitcoin Custodians. We debate the trade offs and points such as:

  • Remnant vs ‘Big Tent’
  • Why not write down 12 words?
  • “Mis-selling” Bitcoin
  • Shotgun KYC, and FRB ‘paper bitcoin' risk
  • Jurisdictions and regulation
  • Financial hierarchy of needs

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP480 The Bitcoin Handbook - Anil Patel21 May 202300:51:39

The Bitcoin Handbook is a new visual and simplified explainer of Bitcoin concepts by Anil. Anil has been making awesome graphics and explanatory content about Bitcoin and he joins me on the show to chat:

  • Meeting people where they are 
  • Different ways of explaining bitcoin concepts
  • Why property should not be your piggybank
  • Property Bubbles and investing around the world
  • The intransigent minority
  • Where to get the book

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP479 Defending Open Source with Jess Jonas of Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund 16 May 202300:41:06

Jess Jonas, Chief Legal Officer of the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund joins me to chat:

  • Overview the Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund - supported by Jack Dorsey, Alex Morcos, Martin White
  • What's the threat with the Tulip Trading Case? 
  • What are the open source licensing implications for developers? 
  • Secondary case and Bitcoin copyright claims

Site:

Sponsors:

SLP478 Debunking Digiconomist on Bitcoin Mining with Ben Gagnon14 May 202300:54:22

Ben Gagnon CMO of BitFarms joins me to talk about the flaws of the overly cited Digiconomist’s work on Bitcoin Mining impact. We discuss:

  • Key flaws in methodology and assumptions
  • Carbon emissions per transaction is a flawed metric
  • Better comparisons and ways of reasoning about mining

Links:

Sponsor links:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP477 Decentralising Bitcoin Transaction Selection using SRI with Pavlenex and Fi310 May 202300:43:18

You may have heard about bitcoin mining pool centralisation. Stratum v2 and SRI (Stratum v2 Reference Implementation) are here to help by decentralising Bitcoin transaction selection. Listen and learn about how Stratum v2 Reference Implementation can help:

  • Overview of Stratum v2 benefits
  • Encryption, efficiency, censor resistance
  • Are changes needed to Bitcoin Core? 
  • Different actors in mining: Pools, Miners, Hardware
  • Device firmware and translation proxy
  • How you can help or contribute

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera:

SLP476 What is FROST? Is it the future of Bitcoin Multisig? with Nick Farrow03 May 202300:59:18

Nick Farrow joins me to talk about new developments coming in Bitcoin multi-signature security:

  • FROST and what it is 
  • Privacy benefits
  • Downsides of FROST e.g interactivity, complexity
  • ROAST - what it is
  • How hardware and software might have to change to adapt
  • The future of multi sig

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP475 Why Every Portfolio Should Contain Bitcoin with Rapha Zagury28 Apr 202301:19:28

Rapha Zagury CIO and Head of Research at Swan joins me to talk: 

  • Financial modelling flaws in the fiat financial world
  • Putting things in terms that other people understand
  • Open source research
  • Nakamoto Portfolio
  • Schrodinger Model
  • Lump sum vs DCA
  • Bitcoin vs altcoin

Links:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP474 Challenges of Operating Lightning Nodes & Torq with Henrik Skogstrøm26 Apr 202300:54:48

Henrik Skogstrøm, Founder and CEO of LN Capital joins me to talk about the lightning network:

  • Managing large lightning nodes
  • Key challenges
  • Monitoring
  • Notifications
  • Tools required
  • Privacy vs reliability
  • New tech

Links:

Sponsors:

MicroStrategy Bitcoin and Lightning for Corporations event May 3-4, 2023 (code LIVERA): https://www.microstrategy.com/en/world-2023/bitcoin-for-corporations

The Bushido of Bitcoin with Aleksandar Svetski (SLP590)10 Jul 202401:06:53

Aleksandar Svetski (@SvetskiWrites) rejoins me to talk about his newest book, The Bushido of Bitcoin. We get into a discussion about:

Anti-egalitarianism Virtues Why Bitcoiners should ‘stop being plebs’ The ascend & descend of civilisations Imbibing warrior culture in Bitcoin The masses and the remnant Timestamps: (00:00) - Intro (00:41) - Who is ‘The Bushido of Bitcoin’ for? (11:13) - The role of legitimate hierarchy (18:14) - The cyclical nature of civilisations (22:21) - Sponsors (25:20) - Choosing to opt out of a nation (30:29) - The pleb culture of Bitcoin (39:00) - Upholding virtues on a Bitcoin standard (42:53) - Sponsors (45:05) - Shaming as a morality check (49:17) - Retaining customs & norms in a new world on Bitcoin (53:17) - The masses and the remnant (59:35) - Natural elites in a free market (1:03:00) - Satlantis - travel & community social network (1:05:54) - Outro Links: https://x.com/SvetskiWrites https://www.bushidoofbitcoin.com/ Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) http://swan.com/livera CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) http://coinkite.com/ Mempool.space https://mempool.space/ Nomadcapitalist.com/apply https://nomadcapitalist.com/apply Stephan Livera links: Follow me on X: @stephanlivera https://x.com/stephanlivera Subscribe to the podcast: https://plinkhq.com/i/1415720320 Subscribe to Substack: https://stephanlivera.substack.com/

SLP473 Why Bitcoiners Must Focus on Bottom Up Adoption with Matthew Mezinskis18 Apr 202300:58:43

Matthew Mezinskis of Porkopolis / Crypto Voices joins me on the show to help explain the structure of the fiat fractional reserve system. Listen to this episode to get an understanding of the different monetary metrics and more: 

  • Monetary metrics, monetary base and more
  • Fractional reserve in the fiat system
  • Eurodollars and ‘crypto’ eurodollars
  • How the bitcoin system may evolve in future
  • Why focusing on bottom up is key

Links:

Sponsors:

SLP472 BTC Prague and Bitcoin in Europe Matyas Kuchar16 Apr 202300:42:42

Matyas Kuchar joins me to talk about the Czech Bitcoiner scene and what’s coming up with BTC Prague: 

  • Notable and early bitcoin companies in Prague
  • Organising Bitcoin conferences
  • What to expect with BTC Prague

Links:

Sponsors:

SLP471 Bitcoin & Cryptosovereignty with Erik Cason13 Apr 202300:55:02

Erik Cason joins me on the show to talk about his journey as a Bitcoiner, from working at Coinbase to leaving and now writing and speaking about Bitcoin: 

  • Digital Panopticon and defunding three letter agencies
  • Making Money vs Caring for money
  • Can Bitcoin be corrupted? 
  • Cryptosovereignty and political power

Links:

Sponsors:

SLP470 Correcting NYT Disinformation on Bitcoin with Pierre Rochard11 Apr 202300:51:03

Pierre Rochard (VP of Research at Riot Platforms) rejoins me on the show to correct the NYT’s recent disinformation article on Bitcoin. We discuss:

  • Fundamental problems with the degrowth world view
  • Factual errors in the article
  • Demand response
  • Bitcoin mining has zero emissions
  • How Bitcoiners should respond

Links:

Sponsors:

SLP469 Is the World Really Dedollarising? with Peter St Onge05 Apr 202301:02:10

Peter St Onge rejoins me to talk about whether the world is really dedollarising. What kind of timeframe are we talking about here? We also talk through some recent developments from an austrian economics perspective: 

  • Dedollarisation
  • Cantillon Effects
  • Fictional Reserve Banking systems
  • Did the market really ‘choose’ FRB? 
  • How Bitcoin is really what most people think of as money
SLP468 LNURL, Lightning Box, Blixt, Soft Forks with Hampus Sjoberg21 Mar 202301:02:21

Hampus Sjoberg, creator of Blixt Wallet joins me to talk about lightning technology and crafting a non-custodial experience while dealing with the trade offs of custodial lightning. 

  • LNURL - what is it and where is it useful?
  • Comparison with bolt12
  • Blixt wallet and its tradeoffs
  • Lightning Box for offline payments
  • Bitcoin soft forks - why they should be considered

Links:

  • Twitter: @hampus_S
  • Site: Blixt Wallet 
  • nostr: npub1v4v57fu60zvc9d2uq23cey4fnwvxlzga9q2vta2n6xalu03rs57s0

Prior episodes:

Sponsors:

SLP467 An Unsustainable Fiscal Path with James Lavish18 Mar 202301:18:19

James Lavish (Author of the Informationist and Managing Partner of Bitcoin Opportunity Fund) rejoins me on the show to talk about the latest:

  • Shocking US government debt stats
  • Silicon Valley Bank bailout and what it portends
  • Using Bitcoin to stay operational in banking crisis
  • Bitcoin Opportunity Fund

Links:

Sponsor links:

Stephan Livera links:


SLP466 The Time Value of Truth with Benjamin Carlson 17 Mar 202301:05:35

Ben Carlson, journalist and former editor at The Atlantic joins me on the show to chat about:

  • How the media operates and the model has shifted over time
  • Getting to the truth in this new age
  • How stories get covered up
  • Future of media
  • Uncovering interesting videos

Links:

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SLP465 What is utreexo? with Calvin Kim13 Mar 202301:02:33

Calvin Kim (BitMEX & HRF grantee) joins me to talk about utreexo:

  • utreexo and the UTXO set
  • comparison with other ideas e.g. assumevalid and assumeUTXO
  • utreexo proofs
  • Types of utreexo nodes - Bridge + Compact State nodes
  • How it might look in practice
  • Running your own electrum server
  • Privacy benefits

Links:

Sponsors:

SLP464 Can Free Private Cities Make the World Dramatically Richer? with Erick Brimen CEO of Prospera08 Mar 202301:17:49

Erick Brimen of Prospera joins me to talk about:

  • Creating $100-200T more wealth globally
  • The market for living together
  • Historical examples
  • Governance, Government, & The State
  • ZEDE law and uncertainty
  • Working with Galoy Money
  • Accepting Bitcoin & AmityAge on the island

Links:

Other episodes:

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Abundance, Generosity, and the State with Guido Hulsmann SLP58907 Jul 202401:09:26

Jörg Guido Hülsmann is a Senior Fellow of the Mises Institute, and he rejoins me to discuss his latest book on Abundance, Generosity and the State. Bitcoiners like to spell out a lot of the social and cultural problems in the world today, and Dr Hülsmann is one of the leading lights in showing how fiat currency and government intervention have caused negative outcomes. 

We discuss the way gratuitous benefits come to us in a free market capitalist society, and the many ways government intervention can interrupt this process. Instead of having strong families, communities and private clubs that assist in making our lives better, the state disrupts this process and makes society poorer. 


Links:

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SLP463 Bitcoin Transaction Pinning, ANYPREVOUT & eltoo with Greg Sanders (Instagibbs)05 Mar 202301:02:21

Greg Sanders of Blockstream joins me to talk about Transaction Pinning, ANYPREVOUT and eltoo. We discuss a range of questions:

  • What is Transaction Pinning?
  • How does mempoolfullrbf help?
  • Transaction Pinning vectors and possible fixes
  • v3 transaction relay
  • Overview of ANYPREVOUT
  • Improvements with eltoo
  • LN Penalty contrasted with LN Symmetry
  • Scaling Bitcoin longer term

Relevant episodes:

Links:

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SLP462 Bitcoin Multi-signature with Craig Raw26 Feb 202300:56:52

Craig Raw of Sparrow Wallet rejoins me to chat:

  • Bitcoin multi signature security
  • Passphrases contrasted with multi-sig
  • NFC support
  • What’s the difference between seed, passphrase, PIN & app password?
  • Stages of HODLing
  • BSMS
  • BIP329 Import and export of transactions
  • BIP47 support

Links:

Relevant episodes:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

SLP461 What Bitcoin Specialises In with Matt Corallo22 Feb 202301:27:16

Matt Corallo of Spiral Bitcoin rejoins me to chat about the purpose of Bitcoin and developments in the space:

  • Bitcoin contrasted with stablecoins
  • Bitcoin’s specialty
  • Future problems vs today problems
  • Canadian Trucker Bitcoin
  • Donations and adversarial environments
  • Cultural aspects
  • What does it take to have Bitcoin Soft forks again?
  • LDK

Links:

Other relevant episodes:

Sponsors:

Stephan Livera links:

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