Exploring the Intersection of Bitcoin and Anthropology

Natalie Smolenski joins me to discuss her paper, 'Toward an Anthropological Theory of Money.' We talk about the relationship between anthropologists and economists, the difference between social institutions and social technology, and the anthropological significance of Bitcoin. 

Natalie Smolenski is an author, Bitcoin entrepreneur, and theoretical anthropologist. She is the founder of the Texas Bitcoin Foundation. 

// GUEST // 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NSmolenski 
Website: https://www.txbitcoinfoundation.org/

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// OUTLINE // 
00:00:00 - Coming up 
00:00:40 - Intro 
00:02:14 - Helping Lightning Startups with In Wolf's Clothing 
00:03:00 - Natalie Smolenski's Background and Her New Paper 
00:05:00 - David Graeber and Nick Szabo Twitter Debate 
00:11:34 - Bridging Together Anthropologists and Economists 
00:16:26 - Graeber's Top-Down Theory of Money 
00:19:45 - Interstate Payments 
00:21:43 - How Fiat Shaped Social Science 
00:24:47 - Social Consensus and the State 
00:27:27 - Defining Social Institution and Social Technology 
00:30:04 - Run Your Business from Anywhere with NetSuite 
00:31:09 - Secure Your Bitcoin Stash with the iCoin Hardware Wallet 
00:32:07 - Distinguishing Social Institution and Social Technology 
00:36:46 - How Technology Affects Institutions 
00:38:31 - Money is the Most Sailable Good 
00:41:18 - Spheres of Exchange 
00:45:35 - Money as a Social Institution 
00:47:37 - Functions of Money 
00:51:55 - Objective Measurement of Value 
00:53:41 - Credit Money vs. Commodity Money 
00:57:10 - How the State Utilizes Credit Money 
01:00:28 - Is Money a Creature of the State? 
01:04:38 - Geopolitical History of Gold 
01:07:23 - Enhance Your Brain Power with Mind Lab Pro 
01:08:30 - Take Control of Your Healthcare with CrowdHealth 
01:09:32 - A Bitcoin Wallet with Privacy Built-In: Wasabi Wallet 
01:10:23 - Payment vs. Settlement 
00:14:56 - Legal and Psychological Settlements 
00:19:04 - Legal Money vs. Emergent Money 
01:22:46 - Value of Emergent Commodity Money 
01:25:40 - Tending toward Commodity Money 
01:28:45 - Utility of Bitcoin 
01:31:10 - Anthropological Significance of Bitcoin 
01:34:32 - Where to Find Natalie on the Internet

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