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The Peter McCormack Show — Business
The Peter McCormack Show

The Peter McCormack Show – politics, macro, Bitcoin and AI, long-form interviews. Twice-weekly conversations about money, power, and the shifts reshaping the next decade.

Peter McCormack interviews politicians, economists, investors, journalists, founders and Bitcoiners. Past guests include Liz Truss, Lyn Alden, Curtis Yarvin, Matt Goodwin, Mike Green, Balaji Srinivasan, Rupert Lowe, Firas Modad, Scott Horton, Jeff Booth, Connor Leahy, Andrea Miotti, Neema Parvini, Dr Tim Gregory and Simon Dixon.

Recurring threads: the debt and inflation endgame, UK political collapse and what comes after, Reform and the populist wave, the Middle East and the American war machine, AI safety and the race for superintelligence, energy and net zero, Bitcoin adoption and policy, and the slow-motion decline of Western institutions.

Long-form – most episodes run 60 to 120 minutes. New episodes 2 to 3 times per week. Video on YouTube and Spotify.

Host: Peter McCormack, a retired rapper from Bedford, UK, trying to understand this crazy world.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Latest Episodes:

Bonds, Inflation and the GBTC Premium with Lyn Alden - WBD328 Mar 31, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Friday 26th, March Company: lynalden.com Role: Macroeconomist

This month we have seen the markets signal an expected increase in inflation; while bond prices are a good indicator, Lyn Alden explains that just looking at bonds or the Consumer Price Index (CPI) does not tell the whole story. Price changes can vary wildly in services, commodities, and especially asset prices, but inflation affects different people in different ways.

Outside of inflation, Bitcoiners have been looking closely at the Grayscale Trust (GBTC) recently and specifically the premium. I asked Lyn why people would pay less (or more) than the market price of Bitcoin for shares of GBTC.

There are several reasons that GBTC is down recently, one of which is the potential approval of a Bitcoin ETF. Canada recently approved a Bitcoin ETF, with significant demand.

An ETF in the United States is still being held up by regulators, despite increasing applications from institutions like Fidelity. But the rumour is one is right around the corner, and it would likely have significantly more demand than Canada's.

In this interview, I talk to Lyn Alden, a macroeconomist and Lyn Alden Investment Strategy founder. We discuss bond yields, the effects of the rising inflation rate, the GBTC premium, and potential Bitcoin ETFs.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to Trade the End of a Bull Market with Willy Woo - WBD327 Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 25th March Company: Hypersheet Role: Co-Founder

In the first two weeks of March, the bitcoin price bounced from around $45k to a new all-time high and local top of $62k. The price then dropped significantly, with many blaming CryptoQuant for the sell-off after posting a message in their Telegram group saying, "18,961 #BTC ($1,145,210,023) aggregated inflow to #Gemini: be careful downside risk from whale dumping" just moments before the price began to crash.

While the data was accurate and someone moved a large amount of bitcoin into a Gemini wallet, it was misleading. The move was from BlockFi into Gemini's custodial wallets.

But during these dumps, who are the buyers? Willy thinks the people buying the dip are 'Rick Astleys'; HODLer's of last resort who 'never give up, or desert bitcoin'.

In this episode, I talk to on-chain analyst and the co-founder of Hypersheet; Willy Woo. We discuss the drop from $62k, Cryptoquant's analysis, the "Rick Astleys" buying the dip and how to catch the top of the market.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bitcoin Rehab: American HODL Yells at Everyone - WBD326 Mar 26, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 25th March Company: N/A Role: N/A

Back in the fall, American HODL and I bet on the outcome of the US election, with Phil Geiger, from Unchained Capital as the arbiter. In this show, we got together to settle the bet.

But so much has happened since we made the bet and I asked HODL to join us for a monthly bitcoin rehab show.

Despite the massive gains bitcoin has made this last year, it feels like a wall of money is still to come. Money managers increasingly realize their jobs may be replaced by two words: "buy bitcoin". Top risk analysis teams at companies like iconic insurance firm MassMutual are hedging with massive allocations. The only real question is, who's next?

While the price action has been bouncing around for the past few weeks, sometimes we perhaps lose perspective on how far we have come. Weak hands sell; strong hands accumulate.

In this interview, I talk to American HODL and Phil Geiger. We discuss settlement of our Trump bet, rumours of the incoming institutional stampede, strong hands (and HODL yells at everyone).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bitcoin Tech #3 - Wallets with Shinobi - WBD325 Mar 24, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 23rd March Company: Block Digest Role: Host

With Bitcoin, if you don't control your private keys, you don't own your bitcoin. That means the first thing you should do once you have bought bitcoin is to move it to a wallet you control.

Bitcoin wallets come in all shapes and sizes and offer different use cases depending on the amount of bitcoin you have and how you intend to use it:

For smaller amounts of bitcoin, mobile and desktop wallets are convenient and often simple to use. However, by operating on your device, they are constantly connected to the internet and more vulnerable to attack.
For more significant bitcoin holdings, hardware wallets separate your keys from an internet connection and offer a far greater level of security.
Another option for securing large amounts of bitcoin is multi-signature wallets. A multi-signature wallet requires multiple keys to sign a transaction; this means you can geographically distribute these keys and have no single point of failure.

In this interview, I talk to Shinobi, the host of Block Digest. We discuss the tradeoffs between different wallets, how wallets work, and how you should secure your bitcoin.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bitcoin Philosophy with Gigi - WBD324 Mar 22, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Friday 12th March Company: dergigi.com Role: Writer

Bitcoin is an implicit rejection of the existing system. From the early cypherpunks to the recent multi-billion dollar CEOs, the people that take the plunge down the rabbit hole possess an ability to think outside-the-box. They come with an open mind and often discover that Bitcoin has changed them.

The permissionless nature of Bitcoin means that anyone who is running a node and interacting with the network is able to decide for themselves what Bitcoin is. For different people, it solves different problems, but ultimately, everyone on the network is confined to the rules of consensus.

In this interview, I talk to Bitcoin writer Gigi. We discuss the philosophical teachings of Bitcoin, toxicity as a feature, and how bitcoin creates its own space-time.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bitcoin Borrowing & Lending Markets with Zac Prince - WBD323 Mar 19, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 16th March Company: BlockFi Role: CEO

BlockFi is a platform that brings financial services to bitcoin, and with their platform, you can earn interest on bitcoin deposits and take out collateralised loans.

While BlockFi has operated successfully in the space for several years and survived market challenges, such as the March 2020 crash, Bitcoiners often criticise their business model.

"Not your keys, not your coins" is an important message regarding bitcoin, and some view custodial lending platforms as antithetical to this, questioning whether 6% interest per year is worth the risk on an asset that, on average, appreciates 200% a year.

While it is a personal choice, there is also a subset of bitcoiners that spread misinformation and unsubstantiated claims against BlockFi and other lending platforms.

To address the risk-reward of BlockFi and answer some of the questions & misconceptions, I talk to BlockFi CEO Zac Prince. We discuss building the present and future of Bitcoin capital markets, the demand for crypto-liquidity and BlockFi's solutions to the challenges of managing risk in this growing financial frontier.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bitcoin in Space with Dhruv Bansal - WBD322 Mar 17, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 16th March Company: Unchained Capital Role: Co-founder

With SpaceX CEO Elon Musk "highly confident" that his company will land humans on Mars by 2026, the human colonisation of another planet within our solar system has never been closer. Once humans settle on another world, one question that will have to be solved is what money will be used as the local currency? The obvious answer may, on the surface, be bitcoin. But how would that work?

With the time it takes to send a signal over such a vast distance, we will need to consider how bitcoin functions at scale throughout the solar system. Sending bitcoin transactions from Mars to Earth could work fine if you don't mind waiting several hours for confirmation, but mining will be impossible on Mars. So, will we use bitcoin on Mars, or will its colony rely on a new 'Muskcoin'?

In this interview, I talk to Unchained Capital co-founder Dhruv Bansal. We discuss his Bitcoin Astronomy series of articles, the prospects of Bitcoin as an interplanetary currency, SpaceX, colonisation of other planets, and hyperbitcoinisation.

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Bitcoin as Investment Portfolio Insurance with Greg Foss - WBD321 Mar 15, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 9th March Company: Validus Power Corp Role: Bitcoin Strategist

Since early February, 10-year Treasury yields have risen from 1.13% to as high as 1.625%. This rise, which equates to 48 basis points, is the highest in a year and has sparked some bond investors to raise inflation concerns.

While the Consumer Price Index (a metric for judging the level of inflation) is currently around 2%, analysts suggest the actual inflation rate could be as high as 10%. Because of this and growing uncertainty in the markets, Bitcoin Strategist Greg Foss sees Bitcoin as portfolio insurance. He believes that if you don't own Bitcoin, you are taking "extreme amounts of risk".

In this interview, I talk with Greg about the growing treasury yields, what this means for the markets, inflation and what a debt spiral means for fiat currencies and bitcoin.

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The Sovereign Individual Pt 1 - Bitcoin: The Ultimate Offshore Bank with Robert Breedlove - WBD320 Mar 12, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Sunday 7th March Company: Independent Role: Bitcoin Writer

The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age is a prophetic book released in 1997 by William Rees Mogg and James Dale Davidson. The book was written before the widespread adoption of the internet, social media, and Bitcoin, yet predicted a future that is remarkably close to the one we live in today, opening with the quote, "The future is disorder."

In the book, Mogg and Davidson describe their vision of the future and how the rise of digital technology would make the world much more competitive, unequal and unstable. The pair also predicted a 'cyber money' that would empower the individual to splinter from the nation-state. "As cybercommerce begins, it will lead inevitably to cybermoney. This new form of money will reset the odds, reducing the capacity of the world's nation-states to determine who becomes a Sovereign Individual".

In this interview, I talk to Bitcoin writer Robert Breedlove. We discuss why The Sovereign Individual is such an essential book for Bitcoiners, violence in a libertarian world, why bitcoin is a threat to the state and the ascending and descending world.

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Bitcoin, Gold and Tax with Dominic Frisby - WBD319 Mar 09, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 4th March Company: dominicfrisby.com Role: Author, Comedian & Voice Actor

COVID-19's impact on the global economy has been immense. Efforts to counter these effects have been varied, from unprecedented levels of money printing to increased taxation and other fiscal policies.

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, recently announced that, in 2023, there will be an increase in corporation tax in the UK, claiming this would put the burden on business to support the economic recovery from COVID-19. It has, however, raised concerns that this may force companies to move elsewhere.

Dominic Frisby is a British author, comedian and voice actor who has written several books, including; Bitcoin: The Future of Money and, more recently, Daylight Robbery: How Tax Shaped Our Past and Will Change Our Future.

In this interview, I talk to him about his book Daylight Robbery, the effects of taxation and the proposed rise in corporation tax in the UK, libertarianism and gold vs bitcoin.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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