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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:

Bitcoin Tech #2 - Nodes (Part 2) with Shinobi - WBD318 Mar 07, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Saturday 6th March Company: Block Digest Role: Host

The core fundamental aspect of Bitcoin is its censorship-resistant nature; this is only possible because the network is meaningfully decentralised.

Bitcoiners achieve decentralisation across the world, running nodes. These nodes maintain the network rules, known as consensus, and ensure all transactions and blocks are valid by keeping a copy of the entire history of the blockchain.

Following my previous interview with Shinobi, I went away and attempted to set up three things:

Tor - a distributed network that preserves my privacy by hiding the location of my node and preventing eavesdropping
Bitcoin Core - the most popular bitcoin node software
Specter - software that connects to your Bitcoin node and allows you to create a local wallet or connect to a hardware wallet

In this interview, Shinobi helps me set up Tor, Bitcoin Core and Specter, and we discuss the difficulties for non-technical people, UX and why running a node is essential.

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What Traditional Investors Think of Bitcoin with Raoul Pal - WBD317 Mar 05, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 4th February Company: Real Vision Role: Co-Founder & CEO

Unlike almost every other market, in bitcoin, retail had the chance to front-run Wall Street. Since before bitcoin even had a price, the libertarians and cryptographers believed in bitcoin's ability to become the world's most dominant financial system.

Bitcoin has been through many boom and bust cycles that were almost entirely retail-driven, yet the institutions have dominated the 2017 narrative.

MicroStrategy changed the landscape for bitcoin investment and ushered in a new wave of 'smart' money. While there was undoubtedly institutional investment before MicroStrategy, it was their purchase of 21,454 bitcoin in August of last year that opened the floodgates to corporate investment.

But how do these traditional, 'smart' money investors view bitcoin? And what do they think of bitcoiners?

In this interview, I talk to Raoul Pal, macroeconomist and co-founder & CEO of Real Vision. We discuss the differences between retail and institutional investors, what a $1 trillion market cap means, volatility and market cycles.

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The Nation State Case for Bitcoin with Balaji Srinivasan - WBD316 Mar 02, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Friday 19th February Company: balajis.com Role: Angel Investor & Entrepreneur

The corporate adoption of bitcoin has widely defined the last 12 months for bitcoin. Following Michael Saylor's watershed move, companies such as Tesla and Square have been adding bitcoin to their treasuries.

Many see the next logical step as nation-states adding bitcoin to their reserves. While some countries like Estonia and Malta have been very open to bitcoin, a large number still, at least publicly, have a less welcoming stance.

The Indian government recently announced its intention to ban 'private' cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, fearing adoption would threaten national security and create a capital outflow from the country. Balaji Srinivasan thinks this is the wrong move and put forward the opposite case in his recent article Why India Should Buy Bitcoin.

In this interview, we discuss the benefits to a nation-state adopting bitcoin, why India are the perfect first mover and the demise of Silicon Valley.

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Bitcoin Tech #2 - Nodes (Part 1) with Shinobi - WBD315 Feb 28, 2021

Show notes

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

The core fundamental aspect of Bitcoin is its censorship-resistant nature; this is only possible because the network is meaningfully decentralized.

Decentralization is achieved by bitcoiners worldwide running nodes (a computer connected to the bitcoin network, e.g. Bitcoin Core).

These nodes maintain the network rules, known as consensus, and ensure all transactions and blocks are valid by keeping a copy of the entire history of the blockchain.

Aside from supporting the network, running a node helps improve your privacy and allows you to validate your transactions without requiring a 3rd party. If you are not running a full node, you cannot use the bitcoin network in a trustless way.

It is hard to know the exact number of nodes connected to the bitcoin network. However, Luke Dashjr estimates the number to be somewhere around 80,000.

In this interview, I talk to Shinobi, the host of Block Digest. We discuss what a node is, why running a node is crucial for the network, which hardware & software to use, and the impact on privacy.

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Sovereign Bonds & Bitcoin with Lyn Alden - WBD314 Feb 26, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 25th Feb Company: lynalden.com Role: Macroeconomist

Bitcoin is not slowing down after its massive start to 2021, and February has been another incredibly bullish month for bitcoin.

First, following Tesla's announcement that they bought $1.5bn of bitcoin for their corporate treasury, the price surged above $50,000 for the first time.
A few days later, with the bitcoin price at $53,763, the market capitalisation of bitcoin broke $1 trillion.

Although bitcoin has since dropped back below the $1 trillion market cap, some analysts have suggested that if bitcoin can hold above that level, this de-risks bitcoin as an investment. With this, some institutional investors may begin to see bitcoin as a more feasible option.

In this interview, I talk to Lyn Alden, a macroeconomist and investment strategist. We discuss Tesla buying bitcoin, MicroStrategy's billion-dollar raise, hitting a $1 trillion market cap and the sovereign bond market.

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Bitcoin Bull Market Strategy - Feb '21 Trading Update with Willy Woo - WBD313 Feb 23, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Monday 22nd Feb Company: Hypersheet Role: Co-Founder

Since last month's episode with Willy Woo, bitcoin went from ~$30,000 to a new all-time high of over $58,000. This price action came on the back of a couple of massive announcements:

Tesla added $1.5bn of bitcoin to its company treasury.
MicroStrategy announced a raise of $600m in a convertible senior note sale to buy bitcoin before reassessing and increasing the raise to $900m. Upon completion of the raise, the company estimated the proceeds to be close to $1.05bn
The bitcoin market cap broke through $1 trillion

While corporations are still driving the bitcoin price, Willy Woo believes that we have entered a new phase of the bull market and that retail traders have arrived. As stated in his recent newsletter: "Bitcoin's blockchain is seeing 20,000 new users per day, this is a sudden 3x increase over the normal 5,000-10,000 per day previously. It's a very sure sign that retail investors are now coming in. They typically start ramping up in numbers during the middle phases of bull markets."

In this interview, we discuss the Tesla & MicroStrategy news, the recent drop in price and what retail entering the market will mean for bitcoin.

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$50k Bitcoin, What's Next? With Bill Barhydt - WBD312 Feb 19, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Thursday 18th Feb Company: Abra Role: Founder & CEO

In the last week, bitcoin broke $50,000 for the first time, a significant milestone, helped by corporate adoption. Tesla's $1.5bn bitcoin buy was a watershed moment. Still, it would likely not have happened without MicroStrategy, who themselves announced this week that they would be raising another $900 million to acquire more bitcoin.

Using Bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset is only expected to grow, with some bitcoiners suggesting that as many as half the S&P500 will hold bitcoin in their balance sheet before the end of 2021.

The next logical step after corporate adoption of Bitcoin is the nation-state. With India looking to ban Bitcoin, it is clear there is still a large amount of scepticism from nation-states. However, the first country to embrace Bitcoin will likely see the same benefits as MicroStrategy did.

In this interview, I talk to Bill Barhydt, the CEO and Founder of Abra. We discuss what $50k bitcoin means, increasing corporate adoption and which nation-state will be the first to embrace Bitcoin.

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Bitcoin & The Sovereign Company with Christian Keroles & Robert Breedlove - WBD311 Feb 16, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Monday 15th February Company: Bitcoin Magazine & Independent Role: Media Editor & Bitcoin Writer

Bitcoin is the separation of money and state. It allows hodlers to opt-out of government-issued fiat currency and take sovereignty over their money. For many libertarian-minded Bitcoiners, this was the draw to Bitcoin, even before it had any real value.

Throughout late 2020 and into early 2021, more and more companies have added Bitcoin to their treasuries. MicroStrategy led the way, but the most notable is Tesla's recent $1.5bn Bitcoin acquisition.

For many, Bitcoin's attraction is due to its monetary policy and thus is a hedge against the unprecedented levels of money printing and the fear of high inflation. However, as Christian Keroles said in his article for Bitcoin Magazine The Sovereign Company Thesis "As companies adopt Bitcoin, they will begin to gain new levels of sovereignty and leverage over the state … this in and of itself will challenge the dynamics of governance and the nature of nation-states as we currently know them.

So, what does the future of sovereign companies look like?

In this interview, I talk to Christian Keroles, the Media Editor of Bitcoin Magazine and Robert Breedlove. We discuss the idea of sovereign companies, jurisdictional arbitrage and moving away from a state-controlled world.

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Bitcoin's Wild Start to 2021 with Cory Klippsten - WBD310 Feb 12, 2021

Show notes

Location: Remotely Date: Friday 5th February Company: SwanBitcoin Role: Founder

We are just over a month into 2021, and it has already been a wild start of the year for Bitcoin and the broader financial markets.

The r/wallstreetbets subreddit took it to Wall Street by collectively buying up the heavily shorted GameStop (GME). The stock price went from around $20 in mid-January to over $450 in less than two weeks, wiping a staggering $4.5 billion off Melvin Capital's balance sheet.

In early February, corporate Bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor held his 'Bitcoin for Corporations' event which around 7,000 companies attended. Just days after the conference, Tesla announced that they had bought $1.5bn of Bitcoin.

With any bull market, shitcoins also see an increase in activity. With the rise of Clubhouse, the salesmen are out in force. Yet, Bitcoiners are marshalling the rooms, educating newcomers on why Bitcoin is the only asset they should be considering.

In this interview, I talk to Cory Klippsten, the founder of SwanBitcoin. We discuss how shitcoiners are invading Clubhouse, r/wallstreetbets, corporations buying Bitcoin, and which nation-states will first disclose a Bitcoin position first.

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Tesla's $1.5bn Bitcoin Buy with American HODL & Preston Pysh - WBD309 Feb 09, 2021

Show notes

Location: RemotelyDate: Monday 8th FebruaryCompany: N/A & The Investors PodcastRole: N/A & Host

On Monday, Tesla made the announcement that Bitcoiners had been anticipating. In their annual report to the SEC, Tesla disclosed that they had invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and the Bitcoin price soared to a new all-time high of over $47,000.

In 2020, Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy paved the way for corporations to add Bitcoin to their treasuries and since then several companies have followed suit, including Square and MassMutual.

However, as the richest man in the world and one of the most influential in the tech industry, Elon Musk's could prove to be the most important in the history of Bitcoin. It has sent shockwaves through the corporate world and will make the CEO of every publicly traded company question their treasury strategy. But, what does this mean for Bitcoin? And does this mark the beginning of the corporate race for Sats?

In this interview, I talk to American HODL and Preston Pysh, author, engineer & the host of The Investor Podcast. We discuss Tesla's announcement, MicroStrategy's influence and corporations scrambling to buy Bitcoin.

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