Bitcoin Magazine Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Weekly Bits #15: Assessing Bitcoin As A Tool For Philanthropy Feb 13, 2020

Show notes

In this week's episode, Colin and Peter evaluate Bitcoin's history as a technology that enables charitable giving. They discuss its effectiveness in response to natural disasters, the Bitcoin community's self-interested benevolence and the blockchain's prowess for facilitating a better kind of philanthropy.

Resources:

Twitter:

Matt Odell on Educating Bitcoiners Feb 11, 2020

Show notes

“Everybody has a bias, the important thing is not to Grandstand about having no bias. We see this with internet privacy in general, the narrative is framed by saying, some criminals are using it so let’s make the privacy worse for 99% of users who are law-abiding. That's problematic because at some point it's going to fall into the wrong hands.” —Matt Odell

Bitcoin is a tool for financial freedom, but not everyone who buys it understands that this means it also comes with more individual responsibility. In this episode, Dave Hollerith talks with Matt Odell, an active privacy advocate and educator in the Bitcoin Community, to discuss:

Bitcoin 2020 Conference in SF
The most effective ways to educate people about Bitcoin
Bitcoin narratives from the mainstream media
The problem with the Bitcoin payment app, PEI
Why Tor was a major part of the blocksize debate
Opsec and privacy tips (SIM swaps)
What Matt thinks is overhyped V. underhyped

Readings:

Bitcoin Time Traveler (Reddit)
Bitcoin Has Lost Steam... (NYT)
Tales from the Crypt (Last Rabbit Hole Recap)

Twitter:

Matt (@matt_odell)
Dave (@dshollers)
Bitcoin Magazine

Sponsors:

Etoro

DISCLAIMER: The following content is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this presentation constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by BTC Media, The Let’s Talk Bitcoin Network, or any third party service provider to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments.

Weekly Bits #14: Imagining The Bitcoin Citadel Future Feb 05, 2020

Show notes

Maybe you've seen the memes: Bitcoiners are fantasizing about fortresses fit for complete self-sufficiency and impregnable bag protection. But what really goes into the perfect personal Bitcoin citadel? And what does it mean to imagine a future in which Bitcoiners are siphoned off from the rest of society?

Colin Harper joins the show to dig deeper into his Bitcoin Magazine cover story "The 7 Safest Havens for Establishing Your Bitcoin Citadel."

Resources:

The 7 Safest Havens for Establishing Your Bitcoin Citadel

Twitter:

Lebanon's Financial Crisis & Bitcoin (Part 2): Bitcoin's Volatility As Stability Feb 04, 2020

Show notes

“While there is a reasonable use case for Bitcoin in the US, I would argue its a “nice to have versus a lot of other parts of the world like Lebanon where owning Bitcoin is almost like an act of survival to preserve your savings.” - Mark Saroufim

In this two-part series, Dave Hollerith interviews members of Lebanon's diaspora migrant population to understand the country's current financial crisis and why Bitcoin is both an important asset for mitigating its risks as well as how it could play a roll in the country's downturned economy.

In this episode (Part 2), Hollerith talks with a Lebanese Bitcoiner, Mark Saroufim, about how Bitcoin is ultimately fitting into Lebanon's downturned economy.

Topics discussed:

News information through Twitter, as opposed to political party, owned news companies
Lebanon's The Whatsapp tax
How inflation and unemployment are starting to change spending habits.
Government-issued “haircuts”
Consequences of the lira's devaluation: more crime and scams
Why Mark's Grandma understands Bitcoin
How a rogue Discord community wants to send Bitcoin to Lebanese friends and family

Resources:

Twitter:

Mark Saroufim (@formalsystem)
Dave Hollerith on Twitter
Bitcoin Magazine on Twitter

Sponsors:

Etoro

* Lebanese metal anthem courtesy of Youtuber and musician, LordPatrick123456

Weekly Bits #13: How Do Bitcoiners Maintain Privacy In The Age Of Government Blockchain Analysis? Jan 30, 2020

Show notes

In this week's episode, Peter is joined by Bitcoin Magazine staff writer Vlad Costea to discuss the latest cover story, "Maintaining Transaction Privacy in the Age of Government Analysis." The pair went over some Bitcoin privacy best practices, considered the honeypot risks of government-based transaction monitoring and examined the intersection of identity protection and user-friendliness.

Resources

Privacy Against Government Blockchain Analysis - Bitcoin Magazine

Twitter

Bitcoin Magazine

Peter Chawaga

Vlad Costea

Lebanon's Financial Crisis & Bitcoin (Part 1): A Central Bank Ponzi Scheme Jan 28, 2020

Show notes

“The next year or two is going to give very interesting examples of the role of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in countries that are like Lebanon — where people, on the one hand, are well-educated, wealthy, and have access to information and on the other hand, are facing a banking crisis that has led a lot of them to distrust their banks.” -Mike Azar

This episode (Part 1) focuses on understanding the current Lebanese financial crisis in all it's complex historical, political and economic turmoil. Dave talks with Mike Azar, a financial consultant and lecturer, who walks him through how the Lebanese financial crisis started and what it could mean for the countries future.

Topics discussed:

How Lebanon's diaspora plays a crucial role in this crisis.
How political and economic mismanagement led Lebanon into its currently tenuous economic position.
Why the Lebanese central bank's insolvency is unique.
How economic factors such as inflation, unemployment, and civil unrest will likely get worse in Lebanon's near future.
The hard decisions that must be made to prevent the crisis from getting worse.
What current solutions like Bitcoin or a central bank-backed digital currency are currently being discussed to help mitigate the crisis.

Resources:

Lebanon NERDs blog

Twitter:

Mike Azar (@Azarstweets)
Dave Hollerith on Twitter
Bitcoin Magazine on Twitter

Sponsors:

Etoro

* Intro music courtesy of Creative Commons

* Outro music courtesy of Youtuber and musician, LordPatrick123456

DISCLAIMER: The following content is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Weekly Bits #12: What The Fed's Repo Market Pump Means For Bitcoin Jan 23, 2020

Show notes

The Federal Reserve has funneled roughly $500 billion into the repo market since September 2019 in what was originally pitched as temporary operations. Now, it wants to extend the same efforts to smaller institutions in an unprecedented extension of its influence over the economy. On this episode, Colin and Peter discuss Bitcoin Magazine's cover story about the Fed's actions and what they tell us about our financial system. If this reminds anyone of the climate before The Great Recession, then Bitcoin could be a solution.

Resources

The Fed Repo Market Is a Dam Ready to Break - Bitcoin Magazine

Twitter

Bitcoin Magazine

Peter Chawaga

Colin Harper

Mr. Pseu on Seeking A Bitcoin Education Jan 20, 2020

Show notes

In this episode, Dave Hollerith talks with A Boy Named Pseu (Phil Gibson). He is a libertarian writer and podcaster whose journey in understanding Bitcoin is more recent yet rooted by a longterm interest in Austrian economics and agorism.

To test his understanding of what actually happened to Bitcoin in 2019, Pseu recently wrote a Medium post, "Bitcoin Is Dead." In it he argues why Bitcoin's growth stands out as uniquely different from how it has been portrayed by mainstream media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal.

Topics of discussion:

Understanding Bitcoin as an educational growth opportunity
Bitcoin Is Dead - high-level concepts and real-world examples for newcomers on what happened to Bitcoin in 2019.
Philosophy of monetary value
Hodling as primary Bitcoin activity
Bitcoin Gift Cards Powering A Million Dollar Remittance Industry in Africa
Mr. Pseu's podcast
Mr. Pseu's (new) website

Twitter:

Mr. Pseu on Twitter
Dave Hollerith on Twitter
Bitcoin Magazine on Twitter

Sponsors:

Etoro

* Intro and outro music courtesy of Phil Gibson.

Bitcoin Happy Hour #12: Debating a Circular Bitcoin Economy and BTC Mining Deep Dive Jan 19, 2020

Show notes

Today, Colin sits down with Cassie Clifton and Christian Keroles, two of BTC Inc.'s content creators and conference organizers, to talk about the recent Dan Held v Ragnar twitter debate about the virtues of hodling versus creating a circular economy. Cassie also answers all the questions about Bitcoin Mining and gives fantastic analysis about what to expect in 2020.

Check out the episode on Bitcoin Magazine's YouTube Channel and don't forget to get your tickets to Bitcoin2020!

Weekly Bits #11: On the Coast of El Salvador, Bitcoin Is Becoming the Standard Jan 16, 2020

Show notes

Two coastal villages in El Salvador are living out the dream that many Bitcoiners envision: a circular bitcoin economy for those who have been ignored by the traditional banking system. On this episode of Weekly Bits, Peter is joined by staff writer Colin Harper to discuss his latest cover story on Bitcoin Beach, the program that is putting sats in the hands of those who need them with noteworthy success.

Resources

In El Salvador, Bitcoin Is Becoming a Standard - Bitcoin Magazine

Twitter

Bitcoin Magazine

Peter Chawaga

Colin Harper