The Peter McCormack Show

Location: New York Date: Wednesday 27th October Company: Equity Management Associates Role: Investment Manager Bitcoin is decentralised sound money whose supply cannot be arbitrarily expanded. It’s a system where no one has an advantage or disproportionate control. The ability to increase the supply of money is a very powerful tool to wield. Through monetary policy, orthodox economists aim to promote growth and mitigate crises. However, the Austrian school of economics explains instead that central banks create the environment for crises in the first place. In the Great Financial Crisis, trillions of dollars were printed to bail out failing banking institutions and stimulate the economy. Instead of repercussions, many bankers received millions in bonuses. While credit markets rebounded, many average Americans lost their homes, their jobs and received no bailouts. So can Bitcoin help by aligning incentives in society? And what will happen to gold? In this interview, I talk to Investment Manager and Austrian Economist Lawrence Lepard. We discuss sound money as a moral issue, the monetary role of gold, and why bitcoin is the most important invention in history.

Location: Remotely Date: Wednesday 20th October Project: Human Rights Foundation, American Security Project Role: Chief Strategy Officer, Adjunct Senior Fellow Palestine is a country ravaged by 4 wars in 15 years. However, military conflict is only part of the economic challenges the country faces. There is monetary warfare being waged against its citizens. Crucial services that people in most developing countries take for granted, like simply transferring money, are almost impossible. It’s exacerbated by economic policies that have left Palestinians dependent on the outside world. Can Bitcoin allow the people to peacefully fight back against arduous barriers and capital controls? In this interview, I talk to Alex Gladstein and Fadi Elsalameen. We discuss declining economic conditions in Palestine, the underlying monetary problems, and how Bitcoin can help.  

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 28th October Company: Hypersheet Role: Co-Founder In June, with the Bitcoin price in the low $30 thousands following a 50% drop, a number of technical analysts believed the top was in and that we were entering another prolonged bear market. However, the on-chain data told a different story and Willy Woo, amongst others, believed the bull market was still alive. The past few months have proved the case for the on-chain analysts. In October alone, the price of Bitcoin is up over 40%, and on the 20th, it broke over $66k, a new all-time high. The launch of the first US Bitcoin futures ETFs was a significant driver of this price rally, with futures ETFs facilitating access to deep pools of capital liquidity and risk-neutral trades. How will this impact the market, and what can we expect from phase 2 of the bull run? In this interview, I talk to an on-chain analyst and the co-founder of Hypersheet, Willy Woo. We discuss the impact of Bitcoin ETFs, the next stage of the bull market and the role of toxic maximalism.

Location: Remotely Date: Monday 25th October Company: lynalden.com Role: Macroeconomist Over the last 18 months, Bitcoin has had an astronomical rise, not just in price. It has gone from a niche asset driven by retail to being held on the balance sheet of some of the most forward-thinking corporations in the world. Not only that, El Salvador's groundbreaking legislation made Bitcoin legal tender.  During this time, the fiat currency experiment looks to be coming apart at the seams. Over the last 18 months, more than $5 trillion dollars have been created in the US alone. This increasing supply of money is driving prices higher. CPI in the US is now at 5.4%, and while the FED continues to claim inflation will be transitory, this looks highly doubtful. How high will inflation go, and is bitcoin truly a hedge? In this interview, I talk to macroeconomist and investment strategist Lyn Alden. We discuss the rising commodities markets, if we are likely to see wide-scale hyperinflation and the pros & cons of Bitcoin futures ETFs.

Location: Los Angeles Date: Sunday 17th October Company: Luxor Technologies Role: CEO Proof-of-work mining is at the heart of the bitcoin network consensus, ordering transactions into blocks and providing security. Without a healthy mining ecosystem, the Bitcoin network is vulnerable. Earlier this year, China banned Bitcoin mining within the country. At that time, over 50% of the hashrate was said to be located in China. What followed was a huge drop in the hashrate as miners migrated out of the country.  While, on the face of it, this could be seen as a negative, the outcome was a more decentralised hashrate and a smaller concentration of miners operating within an authoritarian country. In addition, stressed economic conditions have led to increasing uncertainty in the supply chains surrounding the fabrication of new ASIC mining equipment. So what is the state of the Bitcoin mining industry today? In this interview, I talk to Nick Hansen, CEO of Luxor Technologies. We discuss the resilience of the bitcoin network, mining pools and the global economics of ASIC supply chains.

Location: Los Angeles Date: Sunday 17th October Role: Teacher & Congressional Candidate Aarika Rhodes is an elementary school science teacher who is running for CA 30th Congressional District in 2022 for the Democratic Party. She is up against the anti-bitcoin and 12 term veteran Brad Sherman. Unlike Sherman, Aarika is pro-bitcoin whilst also remaining a proponent for more left-wing policies like universal basic income. While some believe that Bitcoin's conservative monetary policy leads to it being a more right-wing idea, Aarika is proving that it is an apolitical tool that does not discriminate. Bitcoin is not going away, and those that embrace it early will be the ones who benefit the most, no matter which side of the political aisle they fall on. In this interview, I talk to Democratic congressional candidate Aarika Rhodes. We discuss financial literacy and education, universal basic income, and broken incentives in our political system.

Location: Remotely Date: Monday 18th October Project: Charity: Water Role: Founder & CEO Non-profit organisations have used Bitcoin to accept donations for a long time. One of the most notable examples of this was Wikileaks in 2011. When Paypal, Mastercard and Visa, refused to accept donations due to political pressure, Wikileaks looked to Bitcoin as a permissionless and censorship-resistant alternative. Not only did this allow them to continue accepting donations, but they gained immensely from Bitcoin's astronomical price rise since then. Charity: Water is a charity battling the global water crisis with the mission to bring clean water to every person living without it. They have accepted Bitcoin donations since 2014, but until now, they have almost instantly converted to fiat currencies, missing out on the price appreciation. However, they have now set up a Bitcoin trust with the goal of collecting as many Bitcoin donations as possible. Ideally, this allows the trust to appreciate in value and in 2025, when they start putting the Bitcoin to work; they can hopefully help a much larger number of people. In this interview, I talk to the Founder and CEO of Charity: Water, Scott Harrison. We discuss his journey from nightclub promoter to founding the charity, their goal to bring clean water to every person living without it, and the role Bitcoin plays in this.

Location: Austin Date: Thursday 7th October Project: From Bars to Bitcoin Role: Author The power of a permissionless network means that people are able to participate from all walks of life by removing the ability for any individual to control your money. From billionaires on Wall Street, to street vendors in El Salvador, it is the fairest money the world has ever known. Bitcoin is for anyone.  The path to bitcoin is different for everyone. While many of the early bitcoiners found it through libertarianism, now most come to Bitcoin, at least initially, to speculate. Justin Rhedrick's story, however, is not like most. After being released from prison for his role in a home invasion, longtime friend and author of Bitcoin & Black America, Isaiah Jackson, introduced Justin to Bitcoin.  So how did he go from prisoner to bitcoiner? In this interview, I talk to Justin Rhedrick, the author of From Bars to Bitcoin. We discuss his imprisonment, the power of discipline, and how bitcoin helped him unlock success.

Location: Nashville Date: Wednesday 29th September Company: Valkyrie Investments Inc Role: Co-Founder Mainstream economists consider a benchmark rate of 1-3% price inflation optimal to promote consumption and economic growth. However, as prices rise, savers lose purchasing power, and asset holders increase their net worth. Over the last 18 months, more than $5 trillion dollars have been created in the US alone, and legislation that would spend over $3 trillion more is under consideration. This increasing supply of money is driving prices higher. Today, Consumer Price Inflation has sustained a 30-year high of over 5%, and it may be threatening to go higher. So what happens next, and how does Bitcoin fit in? In this interview I talk to Steven McClurg, Co-Founder of Valkyrie Investments. We discuss the problems of rising inflation, fragility in equities and bonds, and if Bitcoin can serve as a hedge.

Location: Austin, TX Date: Thursday 7th October Company: Forbes Role: Editor In 1971, Richard Nixon ended Bretton Woods, severing the entire global monetary system from its anchor, gold. Governments around the world have since been able to create new money and increase debt virtually without restriction. Fifty years later, and there’s no political will to slow down spending. Instead, new money is created to pay for new spending, and the numbers involved get larger and larger. Governments can issue new currency to service their own debt, but the cycle of increasing deficit spending and monetary inflation may already be leading to spiralling debt and runaway prices with no obvious way out. In this interview, I talk to Avik Roy, Editor at Forbes. We discuss the growing problems with debt and inflation, healthcare, and central bank digital currencies.