The Bitcoin Standard Podcast

In this episode Saifedean is joined by Vijay Boyapati, author of one of the most widely known articles for bitcoin beginners: The Bullish Case for Bitcoin. In this wide-ranging discussion Saifedean and Vijay analyse bitcoin’s rise through their shared framework of the Austrian School of Economics. They discuss Vijay’s four frameworks for valuing bitcoin, how technology “hype cycles” can help us understand bitcoin’s price movements and why fiat economists like Paul Krugman are so keen to undermine bitcoin’s success.Links referenced:The Bullish Case for BitcoinSpeculative Bitcoin Adoption/Price Theory blog post by Michael CaseyThe Use of Knowledge in Society by F.A. HayekBob Murphy’s critique of “Debt: The First 5000 Years”Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

This seminar discusses the problems of economic modeling, using examples from environmental, energy, and macro economics. Saifedean explains how his graduate school experience trying to model energy markets led him to appreciate Mises' calculation problem and the problems of complex quantitative predictive models. What are the problems with attempting to quantify economic and environmental impacts of different fuels? Are the models being applied to bitcoin mining useful? As these absurd models bring fear-mongering to bitcoin mining, will they change bitcoin, or will their flimsy foundations be exposed by the kind of people who like to use a technology built on 100% verification and 0% trust?Links referenced:The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjorn LomborgBjorn Lomborg on Twitter: @BjornLomborgThe Bitcoin Standard Podcast episode Allen Farringdon’s Adventures with Fiat IntellectualsDynamic stochastic general equilibrium modelling on the short-term impact of a vote to leave the European Union by HM TreasuryArticle explaining forecast failures by the Spectator  Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

We often hear bitcoin is a waste, but rarely will someone present a full accounting of all the costs and the benefits associated with bitcoin. In this seminar, based on a chapter from upcoming The Fiat Standard, Saifedean attempts a full accounting of the costs that go into making bitcoin work, from electricity to infrastructure, and compares them to the benefits bitcoin provides: appreciating savings, money transfer, and most importantly, obsoleting fiat money, with its massive costs. We estimate fiat inflation costs the world around 2.5% of global wealth per year, and has incalculable costs with rising time preference, economic distortion, activist government, and conflict. We also discuss how to best think about bitcoin's efficiency, and why it can be approximated by the stock-to-flow ratio!Links referenced:The Bitcoin Standard podcast episode on stock to flowThe Bitcoin Standard podcast episode on CPIEnjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In this episode Saifedean talks to regular seminar attendees about El Salvador’s recent adoption of bitcoin as legal tender. They discuss how this is a test of the importance of legal tender laws for monetary choice, and the drawbacks of legal tender laws. Will this hasten bitcoin's adoption in daily transactions? Or will it encourage hodling? What impact would wider use of bitcoin have on El Salvador’s exports? Why are governments without their own currencies more likely to adopt bitcoin? Can bitcoin inspire a populist anti-inflationist political movement in Latin America? They also touched on recent media reports about recovery of bitcoin from colonial pipeline hackers.Related links:Jack Mallers talk at Bitcoin 2021 conference during which president Nayib Bukele announces bitcoin will become legal tender in El Salvador: https://youtu.be/_59hrgTiRJUJordan Schachtel article on colonial pipeline hack: https://dossier.substack.com/p/the-colonial-pipeline-hack-the-russians Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In today’s seminar Saifedean talks to regular seminar attendees about the Bitcoin Mining Council: a recently formed group of North American bitcoin miners that aims to “promote energy usage transparency [and] accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide.” They discuss why centralized attempts to alter bitcoin are unlikely to succeed without broad community consensus, what we can learn from the proposed SegWit2x software upgrade of 2017, and why the claims of some popular green energy initiatives are dubious.Related Texts:Article on establishment of Bitcoin Mining Council: https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/business/musk-s-bitcoin-mining-council-promises-sustainability/storyThe Blocksize War by Jonathan Bier: https://blog.bitmex.com/the-blocksize-war-chapter-1-first-strike/Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In this episode Saifedean talks to Bitcoin Angel investor Simon Dixon about central bank digital currencies and Bitcoin in the context of today’s economy. They cover why CBDCs represent a radical monetary reform that would give governments unprecedented surveillance power, how the IMF is struggling to find relevance, why Bitcoin represents a lifeboat during times of uncertainty, and why we’re living in the most exciting time in financial history. ResourcesSimon’s Emergency Broadcast - IMF calls for Bretton Woods Monetary Renegotiation As Predicted https://youtu.be/enmHW4gCkAY   Simon’s website: https://app.bnktothefuture.com/about   IMF Announcement of New Bretton Woods Moment: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/10/15/sp101520-a-new-bretton-woods-moment   Bank of England Bank Charter Act of 1844: https://web.archive.org/web/20101203090327/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/legislation/1844act.pdf Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In today’s episode Saifedean talks to former investment banker and author of Heaven’s Bankers, Harris Irfan. They discuss Harris’ decades of experiences in Islamic finance and what sparked his interest in bitcoin as a Muslim. Harris explains why bitcoin might be the most sharia-compatible money, why the decentralized nature of bitcoin should be appealing to Muslims, and what Islamic scholars get wrong about bitcoin. We then discuss whether a hard free market money like bitcoin would make finance more equity-based than debt-based. Links:Harris’ book Heaven’s Bankers: https://amzn.to/3wtxRVzHarris’ personal blog: https://islamicmarkets.com/pages/heavens-bankers Harris’ 2019 article, Cryptocurrency and the Future of the Islamic Economy: https://islamicmarkets.com/articles/cryptocurrency-and-the-future-of-the-islamic-economy-1  Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In this episode Saifedean talks to libertarian author and comedian Dominic Frisby about the history of taxation, the rise of Bitcoin and whether we are moving towards a more or less statist world. They cover the story of how Dominic first found out about Bitcoin in December 2010, how voluntary taxation worked in ancient Greece, the rise of digital nomads, and whether land value tax represents the “least bad tax”.LinksNational Debt Clock of the United States: https://www.usdebtclock.org/Dominic’s song about Brexit: https://youtu.be/f2zJ8vaB5joDominic’s booksDaylight Robbery: How Tax Shaped Our Past and Will Change Our Future: https://amzn.to/3woT5nsBitcoin: The Future of Money? https://amzn.to/2ScOw12Life After the State: https://amzn.to/3v08Ot3Books referenced by DominicFor Good and Evil: The Impact Of Taxes On The Course Of Civilization by Charles Adams: https://amzn.to/3hCO07bThe Sovereign Individual by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg: https://bit.ly/3hGRQMoWhy We Eat Too Much by Dr Andrew Jenkinson: https://amzn.to/3v9KjtE Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In this episode Saifedean talks to regular seminar attendees about Elon Musk’s recent bitcoin comments, and what they teach us about him & his business empire. Saifedean compares Elon Musk to John D. Rockefeller – both the richest men in the world in their eras – and discusses the extent to which their innovations have had an impact on the lives of everyday people, to give us an idea of how fiat alters society. To become the richest man in the world, Rockefeller built the modern industrial world, transforming the lives of billions, while Musk traded carbon credits & received subsidies to unprofitably build a few toy cars for the rich.Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/

In this episode Saifedean talks to Rahim Taghizadegan, the president of the Free Private Cities Foundation, and one of the few Austrian School economists still operating in Austria. They discuss the history of the Austrian School, the problems of modern fiat academia and why Rahim sees Bitcoin as an essential part of the monetary infrastructure that would support Free Private Cities. ResourcesThe Raven of Zurich: The Memoirs of Felix Somary: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Raven-Zurich-Memoirs-Felix-Somary/dp/0312664079Free Private Cities official website: https://www.freeprivatecities.com/en/  Titus Gebel’s book, Free Private Cities: Making Governments Compete for You:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Free-Private-Cities-Governments-Compete/dp/1724391380Institut Scholarium website (German Language only): https://scholarium.at/ Enjoyed this episode? You can take part in podcast seminars, access Saifedean’s courses and read chapters of his forthcoming books by becoming a Saifedean.com member. Find out more here.THE BITCOIN STANDARD TOOLKIT/SPONSORSNYDIG - https://nydig.comCyphersafe - https://cyphersafe.io/ OKCoin - https://okcoin.com/Nodl - https://www.nodl.it/Coldcard - https://coldcardwallet.com/CoinBits App - https://coinbitsapp.com/