The Bitcoin Standard Podcast

Can Bitcoin Replace Government-Issued Money? Saifedean Ammous debates George Selgin

Oct 4, 2019

Economist Saifedean Ammous and George Selgin, director of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute, debate whether Bitcoin can replace government-issued money. They discuss the challenges Bitcoin faces, such as competing with an incumbent currency and the safety of transacting with Bitcoin. They also explore the vulnerabilities and challenges of Bitcoin, including hacking and value volatility, and compare Bitcoin's transaction costs to traditional methods. Additionally, they discuss the potential impact of the gold standard and the distinction between medium of exchange and means of payment.

01:26:16

Episode guests

George Selgin

Saifedean Ammous

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Bitcoin's potential as a medium of exchange is debated, with Saifedean arguing for its functionality and resistance to government control, while George questions its feasibility and limitations.

Both Saifedean and George discuss Bitcoin's hardness, with Saifedean emphasizing its advantages as an alternative to central banks and George highlighting its drawbacks as a medium of exchange.

Saifedean argues that Bitcoin can compete with established currencies and central banking systems, while George believes that its limitations and transaction costs make it unlikely to replace incumbent currencies.

Deep dives

Bitcoin's Suitability as a Medium of Exchange

Bitcoin's potential as a medium of exchange is debated. Safeen argues that Bitcoin is already working as a functional alternative to central banks, providing instant and final settlement of transactions. He emphasizes the advantages of hardness and the ability to resist government capture. He believes that as the value and liquidity of Bitcoin increase, the opportunities for trade and acceptance will grow. On the other hand, George questions the feasibility of Bitcoin transactions being cheap and speedy. He argues that the need for verification and confirmations make transactions costly and time-consuming. He also highlights drawbacks such as vulnerability to hacking, value volatility, and high transaction costs. George maintains that Bitcoin is unlikely to become widely accepted due to these limitations.

Introduction

4min

Can Bitcoin Replace Government-Issued Money?

22min

Bitcoin's vulnerabilities and challenges

32min

Impact of Gold Standard and Bitcoin Transaction Costs

3min

Can Bitcoin Replace Government-Issued Money?

4min

Comparison of Bitcoin and Ethereum and the Scalability Disadvantage of Cryptocurrencies

2min

Distinction between Medium of Exchange and Means of Payment

18min

"Bitcoin is poorly suited to the purpose of becoming any nation's main medium of exchange."

That was the topic of a public debate hosted by the Soho Forum in New York City on August 12, 2019. It featured George Selgin, director of the Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives at the Cato Institute, and economist Saifedean Ammous, author of The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking (2018). Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein moderated.

Welcome to the audio podcasting home of Saifedean Ammous and The Bitcoin Standard.When a pseudonymous programmer introduced “a new electronic cash system that's fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party” to a small Online mailing list in 2008, very few paid attention. Ten years later, and against all odds, this upstart autonomous decentralized software offers an unstoppable and globally-accessible hard money alternative to modern central banks. The Bitcoin Standard analyzes the historical context to the rise of bitcoin, the economic properties that have allowed it to grow quickly, and its likely economic, political, and social implications. Ammous' firm grasp of the technological possibilities as well as the historical realities of monetary evolution provides for a fascinating exploration of the ramifications of voluntary free market money. As it challenges the most sacred of government monopolies, bitcoin shifts the pendulum of sovereignty away from governments in favor of individuals, offering us the tantalizing possibility of a world where money is fully extricated from politics and unrestrained by borders.

THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORS

NYDIG - https://nydig.com

Cyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/

OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/

Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/

Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/

CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/