The Peter McCormack Show

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 6th August Role: N/A, Angel Investor, Author & Entrepreneur Most Bitcoiners are staunch believers in the technology's potential to facilitate a more honest, fair and prosperous future.  Bitcoin emerged from the unifying values of crypto-liberty, but as its appeal grows, so does the diversity of the beliefs surrounding it.  It wouldn't be possible or beneficial for Bitcoin's ideology to become homogenised, but certain values need to be upheld, and a balance must be found in rejecting bad ideas while welcoming new ones. But if the ultimate goal is to bring Bitcoin to the entire world, how can a leaderless movement bring that to fruition? In this interview, I talk to American HODL and Angel Investor and Author Jason Williams. We discuss the negatives of cancel culture, asset inflation, buying Lambos and how bitcoiners can manifest the future.

Location: Remotely Date: Wednesday 4th August Company: Kraken Role: Growth Lead El Salvador made history by becoming the first country to embrace Bitcoin as legal tender. This bold step to adopt Bitcoin empowers Salvadorians and utilises the network's powerful technology to build a better financial future for the country.  While nation-states adopting Bitcoin has been talked about for a long time amongst bitcoiners, El Salvador found itself in a unique position. The country is a dollarised nation with an incredibly popular leader. As such, President Nayib Bukele passed the Bitcoin Law with ease, but the hard part is still to come. On September 7th, all eyes will be on El Salvador. So will this bold move be a catalyst for prosperity? And will other nations follow suit? In this interview, I talk to Dan Held, the Growth Lead at Kraken. We discuss hyperbitcoinisation, El Salvador adopting Bitcoin, living on a personal Bitcoin standard and the regulatory game theory of Bitcoin adoption. 

Location: Remotely Date: Wednesday 4th August Role: Author Hyperbitcoinisation is a belief that the current fiat monetary system is broken and a change is inevitable. Eventually, the hardest form of money will rise to the top and society will then adopt a Bitcoin standard, with Bitcoin as the world's dominant form of money and the base asset of the entire financial system. While to some this might sound extreme, in just 12 years, Bitcoin has become a $900bn asset class, and El Salvador has recently become the first country to adopt it as legal tender. Meanwhile, fiat currencies are being debased at an unprecedented rate, and higher levels of inflation are flashing warning signals. So what does the road to hyperbitcoinisation look like? And how does it impact society? In this interview, I talk to bitcoin author Knut Svanholm. We discuss the road to hyperbitcoinisation and its impact on society, whether everything other than Bitcoin is a scam and why bitcoin's value always grows.

Location: Remotely Date: Friday 6th August Company: Independent & Commodity Discovery Fund Role: Bitcoin Quant Analyst & Chairman In early 2019, PlanB released his now widely regarded Stock-to-Flow model (S2F). This model was built around the four-year halving cycle and is a way to track the scarcity of an asset.  At current levels of issuance, Bitcoin has a stock-to-flow of 50, meaning it would take 50 years for miners to mine enough Bitcoin to match the current Bitcoin supply. When applied to non-digital assets such as gold and silver, stock-to-flow becomes a benchmarking tool. Gold, for example, has a stock to flow number of ~58, slightly higher than Bitcoin. While the Stock-to-Flow model is an incredibly popular tool amongst bitcoiners, it is not without its critics, and with Bitcoin’s drop from ~$64k to ~$29k, the model is coming under increasing scrutiny. So, is the model broken, or is Bitcoin still heading for $100k+ this year? In this interview, I talk to Bitcoin Quant Analyst & creator of the popular Stock-to-Flow model, Plan₿ and investor, entrepreneur & publicist Willem Middelkoop. We discuss S2F, gold vs Bitcoin and whether we are heading to a big reset.

Location: Remotely Date: Monday 9th August Company: Alameda Research Role: Co-CEO, Quant Trader While the Bitcoin market has grown massively over the last few years, in comparison to traditional markets, it is still somewhat immature.  With a large number of inexperienced retail participants and derivative platforms offering huge leverage, just one tweet from an eccentric billionaire or a significant piece of news can cause huge volatility and cascading liquidations. These periods of high volatility are when most traders look to profit. However, a quantitative trader approaches the market a little differently. Quant traders rely on data, algorithms and bots to execute billions of dollars in daily trading at incredibly high frequency. So how does quant trading work in the Bitcoin market, and what impact do they have on the price action? In this interview, I talk to Sam Trabucco, Co-CEO and Quant Trader at Alameda Research. We discuss the role of a market maker, sentiment & momentum in Bitcoin and if there is too much leverage in the system.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 3rd August Company: ShapeShift / Independent Role: CEO, Founder / Developer, Consultant, Bitcoin Activist Erik Vorhees was a very early bitcoiner, drawn to it because of its alignment with his Libertarian beliefs. Erik created one of the first widely used applications on Bitcoin, Satoshi Dice. A ‘provably fair’ betting game that at one time made up around 50% of all bitcoin transactions. In 2014, in the wake of the Mt.Gox collapse, Erik built ShapeShift, a trading platform that allowed the user to trade bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies without KYC or counterparty risk, which again aligned with both Erik’s and Bitcoin’s Libertarian ethos. However, in 2018 regulation pushed ShapeShift to KYC every customer and comply with various surveillance and reporting requirements. Erik decided the best way to push back against this would be to dismantle the legal company and move instead to a protocol, forming a Decentralised Autonomous Organization (DAO).  In this interview, I talk to Shapeshift Founder & CEO Erik Voorhees and Developer & Consultant Udi Wertheimer. We discuss the increasing regulatory pressure, decentralising a company and whether tokens have merit.

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 5th August Company: Independent, Bitcoin Magazine Role: On-chain Analyst, Director of Financial Markets & Research From early May to late July, the price of Bitcoin dropped substantially from ~$64k to below $30k. This was following a wave of negative press, a renewed ESG, anti-proof of work narrative and Elon Musk FUDing Bitcoin.  During this time, the sentiment amongst most Bitcoin traders turned negative, with many calling for the price to drop into the low $20,000s. The futures markets reflected this negative sentiment, with a large majority of participants in short positions. One faction of the trading community that remained bullish throughout the turndown was the on-chain analysts. While the price fell, key on-chain metrics pointed at this being a dip rather than the beginning of a long term bear market. New users on the network grew, short term holders turned to long term holders, and retail was buying the dip. Many on-chain analysts predicted a sizeable short squeeze that quickly took the price from sub-$30k to over $40k in just a few days. So, what's next for Bitcoin? Is this just a dead-cat bounce, or are we heading higher? In this episode, I talk to on-chain analyst Will Clemente, and Bitcoin Magazines Director of Financial Markets & Research Dylan LeClair. We discuss the recent Bitcoin price action and the current macroeconomic backdrop.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 3rd August Company: Unchained Capital Role: Head of Business Development For people new to bitcoin, it can be confusing at first. From public key cryptography to mining, block sizes to nodes, there are many new ideas to understand. However, bitcoin has a sound monetary policy at its core, and understanding this is the most important step in understanding it. Over the last 18 months, central banks worldwide have issued currency at alarming rates in an attempt to bolster economies and stimulate growth. In reality, this practice is also boosting asset prices while debasing the currency. Bitcoin offers a sound alternative and as Parker Lewis says, "Bananas grow on trees. Money does not, and bitcoin is the force that reawakens everyone to the reality that was always the case". It's for this reason that bitcoin is common sense. In this interview, we discuss the printing of money and currency debasement by central banks, why bitcoin is anti-fragile and what makes it a common-sense alternative.

Location: Remotely Date: Friday 23rd July Project: Coindesk Role: Chief Content Officer Historically, the control of information was held mainly by powerful entities like the church, governments, or corporations. While the dawn of the internet age has made the ability to broadcast worldwide cheap and accessible, algorithmic curation is influencing our discourse. Now, the left v right paradigm is more divisive than ever, leaving many disenfranchised with politics. A new battle is emerging between incumbent-centralisation and disruptive-decentralisation that is spreading not just through information and governance but with Bitcoin, money itself. In this interview, I talk to Coindesk’s Chief Content Officer, Michael Casey. We discuss the power of controlling information, the divisiveness of left v right politics and how in the future governance may decentralise.

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 29th July Project: Hypersheet Role: Co-Founder Since mid-May, Bitcoin has ranged between $30k-$40k, following a build-up of negative news, from bans in China to concerns about energy use. While on-chain analysis showed strong signs of accumulation during this time and pointed to the bull run not being over, the price kept grinding lower. By July 20th, the price again dropped below $30k and held below this crucial level for the longest period since the dip began. With sentiment heavily bearish and many calling for a further dip to ~$20k, what started as a small rally turned into a $10,000+ move after shorters were forced to close their positions. The price on one futures exchange hit as high as $48k on the back of the liquidations.   Bitcoin has been sat at $40k, another crucial level, for several days now, and with on-chain metrics showing a massive influx of new entrants and FUD wearing thin, market sentiment seems to be flipping positive. So has the bull run recommenced? And is this cycle different? In this interview, I talk to on-chain analyst and the co-founder of Hypersheet, Willy Woo. We discuss accumulation by small holders, the recent bullish move and why this might be the last cycle.