Haralabos Voulgaris on owning Bitcoin and the value of self sovereignty
UpOnly: Chats with Crypto Experts
Investing in Cryptocurrency
"i was blown away by it once. I wish i got into it earlier," he says of his fascination with crypto. "It's just something that you can like, trust and go a, this is mostly going to be unaffected." He thinks the bit coin communiy will decide at some point to print more coins in an emergency order or something. 'I'm not sure the transaction fees are going to sustain that type of security'
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Show Notes
Betting
– Big betters work hard to conceal how and where they are betting
– You don’t just roll up to MGM and place huge bets usually
– You do it through a bot that places bets on different websites instead
– Then hope they pay out lol
– Got rugged heavy in 2009 for like 7 figures then the guy made off to Panama or wherever
– Books will refuse really good gamblers, but will accept “fish” as long as they sign that they aren’t addicted lol
Crypto
– First saw it on Wired magazine when Bitcoin was around $1
– Didn’t jump in at first
– Started using Bitcoin in 2012 to get paid
– Ledger: “Did the process in how you thought about gambling transfer over to crypto?”
– Hara: “Yes I think the fact it was governed by math”
– Could insulate yourself from idiotic government policies and ideologies
– Gotta think about how the dollar gets manipulated since Bitcoin will remain constant
– Hara thinks at some point people will decide to increase the supply of Bitcoin
– This is a flaming hot take sir – I respect it
– We’re gonna be old bags of dust and these kids are just gonna be living in the metaverse
– It is so native and built into these kids
– Ledger: “We’re just gonna go away its gonna be like the blow off top of humanity”
Metaverse
– Cobie: “How do you think about NFTs?”
– Hara likes 2017 era NFTs
– Loves CryptoPunks – all about the narrative and the story
– Likes the old stuff, some of the new stuff is just super out there
– More of a Bitcoin maximalist even though Hara finds Bitcoin Maximalism super toxic
Bitcoin Maxis
– A lot of them might’ve gotten burnt in 2017 and now just think everything is a scam
– Calling anything that isn’t Bitcoin is a shitcoin means that mentally there is something wrong with you
– Cobie: “Part of the toxic maxis is that they missed out, then they join a cult and they have friends now and chant the same words and chant shitcoins and say “Udi you’re wrong!” and then go somewhere else”
– Hara: “The bullish case for me is when nations put Bitcoin on their balance sheet – they aren’t gonna put Ethereum or Solana on there”
Next Steps
– Ledger: “What’s next in your life?”
Hara: “I think its about sovereignty”
– Has always been an individual, wants to be protected instead of looking for gains
– Crypto is the #1 way to preserver your wealth
– Goal before was always to buy a basketball team (need about $1B) but once he got close he was like “idk i don’t really wanna sell my Bitcoin for a basketball team” lolllll
Basketball and NFTs
– Ledger: “How’s it feel to see these guys getting into NFTs? Does that worry you about where we are in the cycle?”
– Not at all
– Thinks that’s not indicative of a top, we are nowhere even close to euphoria
– People are out here protesting racism and other things
– Thinks people might/ should be protesting the dollar, is surprised its not bigger yet
– Hara likes the penguins! LFG
– Hasn’t bought NFTs in a long time
– These athletes aren’t buying punks cause they’re always looking for a deal!
Twitter NFT Integration
– Cobie: “How is this going to go down with the furies”
– Ledger doesn’t get why these are so controversial
– Hara wants to create an NFT project for all these furies
– Ledger: “They already exist they’re called FLUFs – I can give you a good deal on some if you want”
– *Cobie and Hara making fun of FLUFs
– Ledger: “Y’all just aren’t gonna make it”
Constitution DAO
– Hara didn’t do it, didn’t get it
– Thought it woulda been cool to get in then like burn it
– Ledger: “That’s a really good way to get regulators to pay attention to crypto” lol
Forks
– People trade on FOMO so hard
– Like there’s some random ass ohm fork people ape into
– ETH can get myspaced, all of this stuff can probably get replaced
– Bitcoin can never get replaced
– Bitcoin Diamond and Gold and Cash and all that stuff just no chance at all
The Flippening
– If ETH gets to like 0.08 I’m probably a net seller of ETH
– I don’t like to say ahead of time because its so hard to know the context for the move
– It probably signals a time to be cautious even when people are dancing in the streets
Chat Questions
Sports world guys we need?
– Steven A Smith
– NFTs are the gateway drug of crypto
Anon account?
– No
Bitcoin volcano bond?
– Interesting, can just buy El Salvador bond or Bitcoin though, don’t need this although it is cool and interesting
– Saylor will end with fireworks either way
*The Winklevoss are the only people to ever refuse coming on UpOnly. What an outrageous decision.
If you’re 25 with 100k what do you do?
– Would do crypto, trying to build something, tracking different wallets
– Prob not Bitcoin would do something more aggressive, L2s, track engagement, wouldn’t do leverage
FINAL ALPHA
– Hara: “Success = responsibility. Think about what is truly valuable and finite which is your time. Be mindful of your time and what you want to accomplish.”
Notes by Kevin
Music by GiovanniPickle
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