Speaking of Bitcoin (formerly Let's Talk Bitcoin!)
By Adam B. Levine
Speaking of Bitcoin (formerly known as Let's Talk Bitcoin!) is the longest-running English language talk show on the ideas, people and projects surrounding the Bitcoin movement and Cryptocurrency phenomenon.
Speaking of Bitcoin (formerly Let's Talk Bitcoin!)Aug 20, 2022
A Final Discussion
In this final discussion with Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan and Adam B. Levine, the hosts discuss the present moment and look towards the future.
This episode was recorded several months before release.
Update 6/19/2022
Adam provides an update on what's happening now and what's still to come.
SOB #502 When the Referees Play Favorites (Part 1)
Join "Speaking of Bitcoin" hosts Adam B. Levine, Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Stephanie Murphy for a look at a recent move by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to "clarify" the responsibilities of publicly traded crypto companies.
This episode tackles the new custody rules that aim to solve market volatility. The hosts share their thoughts on how superficial and abetting conversation of custody rules can be used to mask adverse decisions and therefore create conditions for enhanced market volatility. They state their concerns that the hypocritical nature of embellished rules may be bypassed without an explanation if regulators do not favor the results.
CreditsThis episode featured Stephanie Murphy, Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Adam B. Levine. It featured music by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats, with editing by Jonas. Art for this episode was provided by Helen Cramer/Unsplash and was modified by Speaking of Bitcoin.
SOB #501 When More Is Less
Sometimes, more is less, better is worse, and blatantly superior products fail to overcome their competitors. On this episode of “Dare to Be Stupid,” correspondent George Frankly explores right answers to wrong questions.
Credits
This episode was written, edited and performed by George Frankly
SOB #500 Three Rules to Remember After Mailchimp Breach
As crypto holdings grow in value, criminals are becoming ever-more creative and audacious in their attempts to steal coins.
Join "Speaking of Bitcoin" hosts Adam B. Levine, Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Stephanie Murphy for a look at a recent insider compromise at Mailchimp that put crypto holders in the crosshairs. In this episode, we discuss what happened, what the scam was and three simple rules that, if followed, will help protect you from similar breaches.
CreditsThis episode featured Stephanie Murphy, Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Adam B. Levine. It featured music by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats, with editing by Jonas. Art for this episode was provided by Brett Jordan/Unsplash and was modified by "Speaking of Bitcoin."
SOB #503 The Check Engine Light and the Space Shuttle
The most shocking and surprising tragedies of the modern era were actually the predictable consequences of obviously bad decisions. There are far fewer surprises and unforeseen twists than we would like to believe, and most disasters stem from known issues and small, obviously terrible choices.
CreditsThis episode was written by George Ettinger with editorial assistance by Adam B. Levine and Adrian Blust. The music is by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats. Album art for the episode uses an image by Jean-Philippe Delberghe on Unsplash, while the front page artwork is in the public domain.
SOB #499 New Lessons From the Island of Stone Bitcoins
In examining one of the earliest pre-bitcoin examples of a very bitcoin-like technology, "Speaking of Bitcoin" correspondent George Frankly learns some valuable lessons about where convenience, belief and control collide.
CreditsThis episode was written by George Frankly with editorial assistance by Adam B. Levine and music by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats.
SOB #498 Rights Versus Privileges in a Global Financial System
This episode was recorded earlier in 2022...
Two critical questions about financial freedom and responsibility
As the second week of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine begins, questions continue to arise surrounding crypto’s complexities in a wartime environment alongside broader questions about the future of money.
On this episode of “Speaking of Bitcoin,” hosts Adam B. Levine, Stephanie Murphy and Jonathan Mohan dive into two critical questions about financial freedom and responsibility.
The first question surrounds an emerging narrative of sanction evasion. Could bitcoin (BTC) even be an effective tool for a nation-state to use to evade sanctions, given crypto’s relative market size to a nation’s reserves? Even further, how effective are these sanctions at all?
The second question lies in the distinction between rights versus privileges for financial freedom. Do nation-states or individuals have a right to transact, or is interacting with larger financial systems a privilege that can be revoked by whoever operates the system?”
Quick SOB Update (More frequent episodes coming... now)
Hey folks,
Adam B Levine here,
sorry for the lack of recent updates, we've got a backlog of episodes to bring you which we'll be releasing every two days until we're caught up. Things are once again shifting in the background, I'll have a larger update on that later. Until then, we appreciate your patience and hope you enjoy these shows.
Thanks for listening!
SOB #496 The Ups and Downs of Crypto Loans
On this episode of "Speaking of Bitcoin", join hosts Adam B. Levine, Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy and Jonathan Mohan for a discussion about loans in the world of crypto.
HODL. It's crypto-land philosophy for not selling your preferred token even when things look their most bleak. But where philosophy intersects with real-world concerns like shelter, food and the niceties of life, tactics have emerged offering both opportunities and risks. From smart contracts to bitcoin collateralized mortgages, the hosts discuss their experiences with loans in the world of crypto.
CreditsToday’s show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Jonathan Mohan, Stephanie Murphy and Adam B. Levine, with editing by Adam B. Levine and music by Gurtybeats.com. Our episode art is a picture provided by The New York Public Library, modified by "Speaking of Bitcoin."
Any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
SOB #497 A Brief Look at Bitcoin Maximalism
On this episode of Speaking of Bitcoin, join hosts Adam B. Levine, Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy and Jonathan Mohan for a discussion about the origins and evolution of Bitcoin maximalism.
Bitcoin maximalists – the self-described pro-Bitcoin, anti-altcoin faithful – have been around for longer than most modern crypto projects. The term was coined by Vitalik Buterin prior to Ethereum's release. Buterin intended the term to be a direct criticism of individuals with an unwavering view that Bitcoin was the only true option for cryptographic token use-cases.
In this episode as we explore the phenomenon's' motivation and roots, we also draw from Speaking of Bitcoin's extensive library. It features the very first recorded explanation of why there should only be one cryptocurrency and why should be bitcoin as explained by Hashcash inventor and bitcoin developer Adam Back . That clip is excerpted from episode 77 (December 2013) before Adam became personally involved. It's a fascinating journey and one you won't want to miss.
CreditsToday’s show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Jonathan Mohan, Stephanie Murphy and Adam B. Levine, with editing by Jonas and Adam B. Levine. Music for this episode was provided by Jared Rubens and Gurtybeats.com. Our episode art was created by Adam B. Levine/pixelmind.ai
Any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
SOB # 495 First Practices Aren’t Best Practices
On this episode of Speaking of Bitcoin, join hosts Adam B. Levine, Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy and Jonathan Mohan for a discussion about crypto cycles and consequences.
As 2022 kicks into gear many of us are wondering what's in store for bitcoin and the broader crypto markets. Our lives, although our own, are driven by cycles which are often outside of our control. These cycles create the environment in which we each try to find happiness and success. But we can't see the cycles, at least not until they've come to pass and so we can't tell if this time is different until it's too late.
Credits:Today’s show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Jonathan Mohan, Stephanie Murphy and Adam B. Levine, with editing by Jonas, with music by Gurtybeats.com and Jared Rubens. Our episode art was created by Adam B. Levine with Pixelmind.ai
Any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
SOB #494 Bitcoin Security and a Rogue Power Plant
Bitcoin's energy usage has long been controversial but this time it's not what you'd expect, a story about a rogue power plant kicks off a wide ranging discussion between the hosts, touching on key issues like game theory, network security and more.
Links from this episode:- Bitcoin Miner Facing $5.6M Fine for Starting Rogue Power Plant
- Issue #1138: The network is very secure
- Bitcoin network graphs
- Billionaire Investor Bill Miller Now Has 50% of His Personal Wealth in Bitcoin
Today’s show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Jonathan Mohan, Stephanie Murphy and Adam B. Levine, with editing by Adam B. Levine and music by Gurtybeats.com. Our episode art was created by Adam B. Levine with Pixelmind.ai
Any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
SOB #493 The Endowment Effect, HODLing and the Impossible Self-Appraisal
This time on Speaking of Bitcoin, correspondent George Frankly shares another surprising look at glitches in human behavior and what we can learn from them.
In this episode we explore the endowment effect, the phenomenon of collectible cryptocurrency wallets and more.
This episode was written, edited and performed by George Frankly with additional production assistance from Adam B. Levine. Music for this episode was provided by Gurty Beats and Jared Rubens. Art for this episode was created by Adam B. Levine/Pixelmind.ai
SOB #492 Can Stablecoins Survive?
Join hosts Adam B. Levine and Stephanie Murphy along with special guest Josh Scigala, CEO of Vaultoro, for a wide-ranging exploration of the growing asset class of "Stablecoins."
On this episode we discuss:
- The possibility of central banks or regulators banning private 1:1 stablecoins.
- The challenges faced by early, decentralized, overcollateralized stablecoins.
- How negative interest rates will drive 1:1 stablecoins into fractional reserve.
- The potential weaponization of unlimited money printing to take control of limited resources.
- The scenario where governments freeze bank accounts connected to 1:1 backed coins in an attempt to destroy the wider crypto economy.
- The Potential for mismanagement of funds by 1:1 companies and threat of a Lehman brothers 2.0
- The shrinking but still dangerous dearth of transparency within the biggest stablecoin balance sheets
- Why regulators can't seem to keep up with real solutions
- Why Josh believes decentralised stablecoins present a better set of tradeoffs.
Have any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.showToday’s show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Jonathan Mohan, Stephanie Murphy and Adam B. Levine, with editing by Adam B. Levine and music by Gurtybeats.com. Our episode art was created by Adam B. Levine using pixelmind.ai
Any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
SOB #491 The Jokes Wear Thin as Inflation Becomes Normal
“We’re in the upside-down world. The time value of money is negative. Debts are assets and revenue streams are liabilities.”
Join hosts Adam B. Levine, Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan and Andreas M. Antonopoulos for a wide-ranging conversation about the current realities of inflation. They discuss the challenge inflation presents to policymakers, the growing likelihood of major disruption and what you can do to prepare.
CreditsToday’s show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Jonathan Mohan, Stephanie Murphy and Adam B. Levine, with editing by Jonas. Music for this episode was provided by Jared Rubens and Gurtybeats.com. Our episode art is a CC0 public domain photograph taken of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Sourced from Wikimedia Commons, modified by Speaking Of Bitcoin using Pixelmind.ai
Any questions or comments? Send an email to adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
SOB #490 Checking in on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network
The Lightning Network is arguably the most anticipated scaling solution for Bitcoin to date. Why isn’t everyone using it?
“Speaking of Bitcoin” hosts Adam B. Levine, Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Stephanie Murphy are joined by Rene Pickhardt, Bitcoin and Lightning Network Developer. The four lead a conversation on the still in development yet rapidly growing Lightning Network. It’s a second-layer network that enables fast, secure, private and inexpensive payments that don’t make sense to store on bitcoin’s base layer. But while that might sound ideal, it’s not simple in practice. A scrappy community of companies and developers have been pushing the tech consistently forward as the number of hard problems still to solve ticks down.
Even as early as we are, Lightning has proven to be a radical improvement on the user experience of bitcoin. On the bitcoin network, fees vary but typically range from $1–5 and complete with confirmation in an average of ten minutes. With Lightning, fees and transaction times drop dramatically: the transaction fees are generally 1/100th or 1/10th of a penny and take just seconds.
If the improvements of Lightning are clear, why isn’t everyone using it today? Listen to hear more about the challenges and solutions coming to this rapidly-evolving aspect of bitcoin.
Additional reading:- Mastering the Lightning Network
- Security and Privacy of Lightning Network Payments with Uncertain Channel Balances
- Optimally Reliable & Cheap Payment Flows on the Lightning Network
- Include the Uncertainty Network into the Payment Session and potentially acrosse payment sessions
- Rene’s lightning test tweets
- Zero Base Fee graph
- Support Rene in his work
Album art created using AI by Adam Levine/Pixelmind.ai
SOB #489 Big Gaming Signals NFTS Are Closer to Mainstream
With NFTs continuing their rapid advance into mainstream cultural awareness, how much is FOMO (fear of missing out) and how much is real? This time Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan and Adam B. Levine discuss the evolving battle lines in the nascent world of triple-A gaming NFTs and whether these early announcements are a signal or just noise.
Later, the hosts explore the still-to-come moment when the behemoths of game publishing select which blockchain or blockchains will be their native NFT layer. Are we in for a repeat of the corporate adoption story? Or will big-budget games become a new differentiating factor, elevating their chosen partners to de-facto “incumbent” status?
Photo by Igor Karimov on Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
SOB #488 How Far We've Come (And How Much Stayed the Same)
Today’s show is from a time before the trillion (or even billion) dollar market cap; Before Vitalik had ever spoken the word Ethereum; Before taproot, segwit, stock-to-flow and the institutional investing thesis. In the early days, Bitcoin was the absolute state of the art and the basis for an entirely new and utterly revolutionary form of technology. This time you’ll get a peek at how we discussed it before everything that would happen had happened.
Original show notes for episode 14 (6/7/2013): ‘In Search of Goldilocks’
- Listener mail: “Microtransaction powered social networks”
- Constance Choi, legal council at Payward brings us up to speed on Washington, DC, FinCEN & Treasury
- The retroactive bitcoin paywall
- Counterintuitive: Smaller amounts equal larger transactions?
- 1 Megabyte blocks, good or bad?
- Who needs banks? Zach Harvey of the Lamassu bitcoin vending machine
- Full node clients vs. lite clients: Are federated servers the future?
SOB #487 If Facebook Can't Run A Global Currency, Who Could?
A recent letter addressed to the social media giant from five democratic senators laid it out clearly; There's simply no way Meta (formerly Facebook) will be allowed, much less trusted, to run a supra-national stablecoin. It's a stance many agree with but it brings up a larger and much more controversial question. If one of the biggest, most successful consumer-facing companies in the world can't do it, who could?
Join hosts Adam B. Levine, Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan and Andreas M. Antonopoulos for this wide-ranging conversation as they dig into the thorny issues of power, currency, trust and monetary policy.
Have any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
Today’s show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Jonathan Mohan, Stephanie Murphy and Adam B. Levine, with editing by Adam B. Levine and music by Gurtybeats.com. Our episode art is a photograph by Annie Spratt/Unsplash modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
SOB #486.5 Why Cryptoization Scares the IMF (Part II)
This is part two (a bonus episode) of last weeks discussion of "cryptoization" and why the IMF is utterly terrified of it going mainstream.
SOB #486 Why Is the IMF Afraid of Cryptozation?
The IMF has outlined yet another set of concerns it holds about crypto. Is crypto really the problem, or is the IMF just afraid of the things it cannot control?
Join hosts Adam B. Levine, Jonathan Mohan and Andreas M. Antonopoulos as they dissect the October global financial stability report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) subtitled “COVID-19, Crypto and Climate: Navigating Challenging Transitions.” An entire chapter of the report is dedicated to destabilization factors crypto poses, at least as identified by the IMF. It even coined a new term, “cryptoization,” to refer to the introduction and/or substitution of crypto in emerging markets.
Although worries of supply shocks, supply chain inflation and stagflation fill headlines, the IMF placed crypto in the top three stability concerns. Is the organization gearing up to poise crypto as the scapegoat in case of an oncoming financial crisis?
Have any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
Today’s show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Jonathan Mohan and Adam B. Levine, with music by Gurtybeats.com. Our episode art is a photograph by Giorgio Trovato/Unsplash recreated by Speaking of Bitcoin
Any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
SOB #485 The Sure Thing, the Force Multiplier, and the Underdoge
Why did a joke cryptocurrency with zero ambition find massive success, yet a calculated military campaign with plenty of ambition turned into a massive failure? With the right leverage, ten men can fight like one hundred, and one coin can spend like a million.
(Was planning to do a bonus episode on Sunday but ran out of time, sorry!)
Today’s show was written, performed and edited by George Frankly with additional production support from Adam B. Levine. Our episode art was created by Speaking of Bitcoin
Any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
SOB #484 A Brief History of Bitcoin Tipping (and Where Twitter Fits in it)
This time on Speaking of Bitcoin, join hosts Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan and Adam B. Levine for a look at bitcoin tipping through the ages. From the dogecoin-like fun and fervor of the early days to the game-changing bridges that first brought it to twitter, the hosts dig into Youtube, Changetip, TechCrunch and more.
But what happened to tipping? What was once the raison d'être of the early cryptocurrency experience faded away, as what was thought of as money turned out to be gold: Too precious to just toss around... Or was it?
In this episode we dig into the thought, experience and philosophy behind bitcoin tipping, how it changed and finally whether it's on the uptrend yet again.
Links from this episode:
Youtube is Broken - Rethinking Content Monetization with Bitcoin (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4tgNi5gle0
Kickstarter Coins - TechCrunch (2014)
https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/15/kickstarter-coins-2/
Have any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
Today's show featured Adam B. Levine, Stephanie Murphy and Jonathan Mohan. This episode was edited by Jonas, with music by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats.
Our episode art is from a photo by Keszthelyi Timi/Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin.
SOB #483 Exit, Voice & Bitcoin
Blockchain technology presents opportunities for dissonant opinions, fractionalization and internal reform unmatched in the fiat world.
Join hosts Jonathan Mohan, Stephanie Murphy and Andreas M. Antonopoulos as they dissect “Voice and Exit,” or the power and necessity of being able to impact a system, whether financial, social or governmental, and if necessary, leave altogether. “Voice and Exit” was popularized by Balaji Srinivasan in 2013, where Srinivasan outlined how voice is attempting to change a system from within, while exit is leaving to create a new one.
Crypto has provided new methods to exercise voice and exit. Forks, software or protocol changes that users can choose to upgrade to, are an example of exit inherent to blockchain technology. Forks give the community a chance to decide whether to continue with the upgrade or remain in the old rules; forks have created spin-off currencies like Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV.
As opportunities for voice and exit seem to be gradually disappearing, can crypto help those who need them most?
Image credit: Wesley Tingey/Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
SOB #482 Life on Bitcoin (2021 Edition)
In the early days of Bitcoin, a few idealistic individuals attempted to live entirely on the bitcoin currency. Nine years and an abundance of technological developments later, is an entirely closed-loop bitcoin economy possible, or even useful?
Join hosts Jonathan Mohan, Stephanie Murphy and Andreas M. Antonopoulos as they reflect on bitcoin’s evolution as a currency and commodity. In the early days, an era of retail adoption as merchants began to accept bitcoin from their customers seemed to point to a bright future for daily bitcoin use. The 2013 IRS addendum treating bitcoin as a commodity, rather than as a foreign currency, quickly made transactions a burden with onerous tax reporting requirements, dimming that retail bitcoin future.
In the time since, the crypto community has adopted a HODL mindset. Why spend bitcoin if it’s disinflationary in nature and will bring you more value in the future? Those idealistic individuals' dreams of bitcoin as a daily currency may no longer align with bitcoin's maturation.
Developments in layer 2 technology, like the Lightning Network, have allowed experiments in bitcoin as legal tender to be not only a possibility, but a pragmatic choice for governments like El Salvador’s. With news of Ukraine considering following in El Salvador’s footsteps, will clusters of closed-loop bitcoin life bloom around the world?
Do you have any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
Today's show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy and Jonathan Mohan. This episode was edited by Jonas, with music by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats. Our album art is based off a photo by Ishan_@seefromthesky on Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
Upcoming Episodes
No episode again today but we've got two in editing now for next week.
Have a good weekend!
SOB #481 On National Adoption of Bitcoin
El Salvador’s decision to make bitcoin legal tender shocked the world. Earlier this week the rapidly-developed and adopted bitcoin law went live, kicking off what seems primed to be an era of accelerated change unlike anything seen in our lifetimes.
Join hosts Adam B. Levine, Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Stephanie Murphy for a quick three part discussion on the launch challenges, implications and listener comments from our previous show on the topic.
First, the launch: It was messy, but it happened. Alex Gladstein had an insightful twitter thread in the days leading up to it (https://twitter.com/gladstein/status/1434636006632747009). Matt Ahlborg dug into the day-1 government issued wallet and found a mixed bag, extra controls on the money given out at launch but a fairly robust technological package including native SegWit support and a functional lightning network integration (https://twitter.com/MattAhlborg/status/1435307724774989829)
Second, the implications: This path towards adoption was not what we expected. What El Salvador's move to use bitcoin directly suggests is that dollarized nations, or those who use another countries currency and in doing so become subject to their monetary policy decisions, may prefer bitcoin's non-monetary policy to either domestic or imported control. That's in sharp contrast to nations like India, China and the US who use their currencies and controls over it to accomplish policy goals. These powerful players see central bank digital currencies as a way to supercharge their monetary policy compared to their influence today over physical banknotes.
And finally, the local perspective: We had two listeners write in with corrections to our prior episode (We were incorrect about the reason why El Salvador "dollarized" their economy in 2000, it was billed as a move to lower the cost of borrowing, not because of elevated inflation) along with the many concerns and questions which are still unanswered. You'll find both listeners comments in full linked below.
Links from the episode:
Have any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
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Today's show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy and Adam B. Levine. This episode was edited by Jonas, with music by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats.
Our album art is based off a photo by Photo by Wilson Edilberto Santana Suarez on Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
SOB #480 Is Axie Infinity's Play-to-Earn Economic Empowerment or Exploitation?
Has decentralized gaming just created virtual menial labor?
Join hosts Adam B. Levine, Jonathan Mohan and Andreas M. Antonopoulos as they dive into the world of Axie Infinity and the growing global meta economy. Axie Infinity, a Pokémon-esc play-to-earn game on the Ethereum blockchain, has exploded in popularity around the world. The primary user-base has remained grounded in the Philippines as Filipinos from all walks of life buy, borrow, breed, trade and fight in-game NFT characters called “Axies.”
These fighting cartoon pets have earned players legitimate money – in some cases, enough to sway workers to quit their jobs to pursue Axie full-time. The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, especially in places like the Philippines, only make Axie that much more enticing. Individuals and groups with more capital have also snapped on the Axie opportunity in the forms of “scholarships” and lending schemes.
Axie Infinity, and in particular, the lending schemes, prompt a larger conversation about the ethical implications of exporting work and the geographic inequality of opportunities. In the best light, lending within play-to-earn can be seen as providing opportunities with profits orders of magnitudes higher than the local economies could provide. Yet, viewing the practice from a different angle, it can be seen as richer countries farming out low-paying work to individuals who have no better options locally.
Is Axie Infinity a solution or scam? Will the platform maintain its relevance or fizzle out?
See also: Some Filipino Merchants Prefer Payment in Axie’s SLP
This episode featured Adam B. Levine, Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Jonathan Mohan. It was edited by Jonas, our theme song comes courtesy of Jared Rubens and today's music during the break was Delta by Gurty Beats. Today's album art features a photo by Karen Fedida/Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin.
No Episode Today, Sorry!
Next week we'll share with you our preliminary exploration and implications of the growing Play-to-Earn movement. But no episode today, enjoy your weekend!
SOB #479 Ethereum, Bitcoin; Hard Fork, Soft Fork: How Decentralized Change Is Made
Ethereum’s London hard fork, also known as EIP 1559, took place on Aug. 5. The backwards-incompatible upgrade reignited community debate over hard forks, soft forks and the best methods – most foolproof, least polarizing – to bring about change to a network.
Join hosts Adam B. Levine, Jonathan Mohan and Andreas M. Antonopoulos as they explore the various ways in which consensus has been reached recently across the two largest protocols. The differences in technology and underlying philosophy means some solutions are more enticing to Ethereum and others to Bitcoin.
Ethereum maintains a so-called “difficulty bomb,” whose fuse is lengthened with every upgrade. If it ever goes off, miners would face exponentially harder work and proportionally diminished rewards, forcing them to switch from the pre-fork chain to the upgraded one. Bitcoin’s equivalent to the difficulty bomb, the User Activated Soft Fork (UASF), accomplishes the same thing by other means. Are these mechanisms the proverbial ‘Chekhov’s Gun,’ inevitably to be used in some later act, or simply empty threats to coerce miners into compliance?
Listen to this episode of “Speaking of Bitcoin” for an in-depth explainer of how wide-spread change occurs across decentralized networks and what changes might be in store for the future.
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This episode featured Adam B. Levine, Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Jonathan Mohan. It was edited by Jonas, our theme song comes courtesy of Jared Rubens and todays music during the break was Sloth Beats by Gurty Beats. Today's album art features a photo by Anita Jankovic/Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin.
Have any questions or comments? Send Adam an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
SOB #478 The Expert Incentive, or ‘God Save the King of Kong'
On today's episode of Speaking of Bitcoin, correspondent George Frankly explores the expertise paradox through the lens of two very different historical figures.
What do 18th century physician Ignaz Semmelweis and professional Donkey Kong player Billy J. Mitchell have in common? The experts were wrong.
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This episode was written, performed and edited by George Frankly with additional production support by Adam B. Levine. Our theme song comes courtesy of Jared Rubens and this episodes album art features a photograph provided by Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin. Have any questions or comments? Send Adam an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
SOB #477 Stoner Cats Chaos and the Mainstreaming of NFTs
NFTs are emerging as the path from insular crypto community to a breakthrough in mainstream culture. Blockchain technology and pop culture collide to produce new possibilities for the future of art and beyond.
The question is, will NFTs prove to be valuable enough to endure beyond the hype?
“Stoner Cats,” a new animated series featuring top Hollywood talent (and Ethereum inventor Vitalik Buterin) successfully used a non-fungible token (NFT) sale to leapfrog the financial gatekeepers in Hollywood. With a cast list including Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Chris Rock and Seth MacFarlane, it is no wonder the campaign raised over $9 million in just a few hours.
Join hosts Adam B. Levine, Stephanie Murphy and Jonathan Mohan as they pick apart the ”Stoner Cat” ambitious and novel approach to the production of an independent animated series. This project is one example of many in NFTs proving their worth beyond just the art: They are now status symbols, pop culture phenomena and a viable financial tool.
The “Stoner Cats” NFT launch, though eventually fruitful, began with a set of stumbles. As prospective buyers lined up to the launch, Ethereum gas fees quickly skyrocketed and some paid more than five times the price in fees. While the implementation of this kick-starter style of on-chain fundraiser could be improved, “Stoner Cats” proved it was possible.
This episode features Adam B. Levine, Stephanie Murphy and Jonathan Mohan. This episode was edited by Jonas, features music by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats with additional production support from Eleanor Pahl.
Image credit: StonerCats.com, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
SOB #476 - Digging Into El Salvador's Bitcoin Bill
El Salvador’s decision to make bitcoin legal tender shocked the world. Soon, the dust will settle and catchy headlines will become real, lived experiences for Salvadorans.
Join hosts Adam B. Levine, Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Stephanie Murphy for a read-through and thoughtful conversation of El Salvador’s bitcoin legislation in full. The hosts discuss the highs and lows of the bill and potential risks to the country, its citizens and bitcoin globally.
Though many had predicted governmental adoption of bitcoin would come, none had predicted it would happen so soon. The rest of the world has watched attentively as El Salvador embarks on a nation-scale trial run of bitcoin as legal tender. This unprecedented circumstance brings an abundance of technical and social challenges.
What will the great successes be with this experiment? Where can it go wrong? And how will the Lightning Network factor in? Most worryingly, will El Salvadore’s trust fund be the world’s biggest honeypot?
The bitcoin bill is set to go in effect in about two months. Will El Salvador be able to address these concerns in time?
Links from the episode:
- Bitcoin as Legal Tender? Why El Salvador’s Plan Isn’t as Crazy as You Think (Adam's Opinion piece)
- Bitcoin Neutrality (Andreas's original 2013 talk)
Have any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
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Today's show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy and Adam B. Levine. This episode was edited by Jonas, with music by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats.
Our album art is based off a photo by Photo by Wilson Edilberto Santana Suarez on Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
SOB #475 Emergent Complexity and Building Systems We Don’t Understand
If you landed in medieval times, could you build a phone? Or something even simpler, a pencil?
Join hosts Adam B. Levine, Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy & Jonathan Mohan for a deep dive into the wildly empowering, complex and terrifyingly automated world we live in. This wide ranging, philosophical discussion touches on such topics as the Suez Canal, Douglas Adams, combat drones, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and more.
The world’s complexity exponentially increases by the decade. A gradual systemization has led to the automation of specialized tasks, affording people free time to perform other, even more complex tasks. For example, consider navigation apps reducing the decision-making process from driving, or the rise of autonomous cars that will eventually remove human interaction altogether.
As the world depends more on an unimaginable web of logistics, what happens when something breaks? The evolution of automation from simple, rules-based systems to incredibly complex machine learning algorithms has diminished the ability to understand or predict these structures.
As much as we love decentralization and technological advancement, where do these aims fail us? Are we creating more problems than solving them?
Have any questions or comments? Send us an email at adam@speakingofbitcoin.show
Today's show featured Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan and Adam B. Levine. This episode was edited by Jonas, with music by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats.
Our album art a photo by Luca Carrà on Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
SOB #474 - Bitcoin Neutrality
On this episode of Speaking of Bitcoin, we're zipping back even further to the Spring of 2013, where Andreas M. Antonopoulos, fresh off his Let's Talk Bitcoin! debut episodes gave a pivotal talk entitled "Bitcoin Neutrality" before a tiny audience at the Bitcoin 2013 conference.
Next week we'll be back with a new philosophical discussion entitled "No One's Driving" on automation and technology, the good and the bad.
The following week we'll bring you our deep-dive into El Salvador, which is in editing now and has been a long time coming.
SOB #473 - The New Renaissance
Six years ago Adam B. Levine and Arthur S. Falls started a discussion on what they called The New Renaissance. It's a conversation about disruption, open source and the individual.
On today's episode of Speaking of Bitcoin, we're flashing back to 2015 for a look at where we're going through understanding where we've come from.
SOB #472 Wisdom of Crowds and the Information Disease
This time on Speaking of Bitcoin, George Frankly is back with the fifth installment in his Dare To Be Stupid series with a look at UFO sightings, jelly beans and the lurking information disease.4
Photo credit: Michael Herren/Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
SOB #471 How and Why Governments Lie About Inflation
This time on Speaking of Bitcoin, the hosts are joined by John Williams, rogue economist and long-time Editor of ShadowStats.com, a data source that tracks everything from inflation to GDP, money supply to unemployment using the original government defined methodologies. Over time, the government has changed how they measure all of these things and Johns work reveals that these changes all result in better looking statistics from the same, often terrifying numbers.
In this wide ranging conversation we talk about how and why this happened, plus what we can do about it. If this is a new topic to you, expect to come away with a different perspective in this epic episode.
Today's show featured John Williams (shadowstats.com), Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan and Adam B. Levine. This episode was edited by Jonas, with music by Jared Rubens and Gurty Beats.
Our album art is a composite work by Adam B. Levine using the current inflation chart from ShadowStats.com along with an excellent imposter-dog image from Brayden Anderson on Unsplash.
Have any questions or comments? Send me an email at adam@speakingof.bitcoin.show
SOB #470 Challenges Towards a Post-Scarcity World (and the Bullshit Economics of Star Trek)
This time on Speaking of Bitcoin: George Frankly is back for the fourth installment of his Dare To Be Stupid Series.
SOB #469 - Precursors to a Mainstream Moment in El Salvador?
This week on Speaking of Bitcoin, Adam B. Levine presents three perspectives on El Salvador as a bitcoin-as-legal-tender bill was announced, introduced and quickly passed into law.
In segment one, Adam presents his opinion piece written for CoinDesk early in the week.
(https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-el-salvadors-legal-tender)
In segment two, we read the full text of the bill as passed into law in El Salvador
(https://www.scribd.com/document/511099248/El-Salvador-Bitcoin-Bill-Draft)
In segment three, a local, skeptical perspective on the government potential ulterior motives and intentions around the bill courtesy of on of friend-of-the-show Alex Gladstein's on-the-ground contacts in El Salvador.
(https://twitter.com/gladstein/status/1403479559555543040)
Album art credit: Rodrigo Flores/Unsplash modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
SOB #468 - Leapfrogging to Bitcoin's Third Layer
On today's episode of Speaking of Bitcoin, join hosts Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Adam B. Levine, Jonathan Mohan and Stephanie Murphy as they explore the idea of users jumping straight into bitcoin's third layer (That's Bitcoin - Layer 1, Lightning Network - Layer 2, Applications built on top of Lightning Network that go beyond payments - Layer 3). We also get into the very cool and growing trend of using the Lightning Network to stream messages and money to podcasts that are streaming content back to you.
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Also check out LNBits.com
Today's episode break featured music from GurtyBeats (https://www.gurtybeats.com/)
Prefer the podcast version? Subscribe for free:
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SOB #468 - Official Cowards, Financial Scatology & Precursors to Hyperinflation
On today's episode of Speaking of Bitcoin, join hosts Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Adam B. Levine, Jonathan Mohan and Stephanie Murphy as they dive into the growing topic of inflation. Our modern world is increasingly divided; The currently dominant narrative asserts that Modern Monetary Theory (MMT, or "Financial Scatology" as Jonathan likes to call it) is a free ticket to a better tomorrow... On the other hand, there are those who believe that money is just one of many measurements of reality. And increasingly those metrics have been corrupted to keep the party going and avoid at all costs blame falling on those responsible. In this episode, the hosts dig in deep for a sobering yet real conversation about what's going on and where all of this is headed.
Today's episode break featured music from GurtyBeats (https://www.gurtybeats.com/)
Podcast subscription links:
Apple: Not currently working. We may have been shadowbanned alongside Hidden Forces and a number of other shows. Investigating this, but use another option for now.
Direct RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/b421fd4/podcast/rss
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2u3oXWilTSFmZ034vQeUGq
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Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes640581455/the-lets-talk-bitcoin-network
Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/anchor-podcasts/lets-talk-bitcoin-2
Radio Public: https://radiopublic.com/lets-talk-bitcoin-8jOrdv
PocketCasts: https://pca.st/DU8V
Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/sjaeb-91e5b/Let%27s-Talk-Bitcoin%21-Podcast
Image credit: celynkang13 and @christopher__burns via Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
SOB #467 Familiarity Breeds Contemplation
This time on Speaking of Bitcoin, correspondent George Frankly presents his third installment in the Dare to be Stupid series.
SOB #466 Modern Mania 2: Musk Madness and Derivative Memes
On this episode of Speaking of Bitcoin join Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan and Adam B. Levine as we dive into two new stories perfectly illustrating the oppressive, silly, modern mania that surrounds us all. First we dig into the intense fervor surrounding recent comments by the always controversial Elon Musk. After the break we dig into the recent explosion of Dogeclones and how Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin probably picked the least-worst option available.
Prefer to listen as a Podcast? Subscribe to Speaking of Bitcoin:
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Image Credit: Tengyart/Unsplash modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
SOB #465 - Power Dynamics & Taproot Revisited
This time on Speaking of Bitcoin, hosts Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan and Adam B. Levine revisit Bitcoin's upcoming multi-part "taproot" upgrade. We discuss the speedy trial required for activation, the power dynamics making change challenging for the seemingly popular upgrade.
Gavel Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash
SOB #464 - How Numbers Learn to Lie
This time on Speaking of Bitcoin, correspondent George Frankly presents his second installment in the Dare to be Stupid series.
SOB #463 - Dogecoin, Crack-up Booms and the Modern Mania
On this episode of Speaking of Bitcoin we’re digging into the growing sense of mania. Across all asset and social classes money is on everybody’s mind: Whether you’ve got a lot of it and don’t know where to put it or you need a lot of it and can’t get access to it, times are strange and it’s no accident.
This time hosts Stephanie Murphy, Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Jonathan Mohan and Adam B. Levine discuss the modern manias and what they could mean for our future.
Prefer to listen as a Podcast? Subscribe to Speaking of Bitcoin:
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RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/lets-talk-bitcoin-8jOrdv
Image Credit: Jp Valery/Unsplash modified by Speaking of Bitcoin
SOB #462 The Past, Present & Potential of Blockchain Collectibles
This is both the first and the last episode in our series on NFTs - Recorded on March 11th, the day of the Beeple sale (which we learned was a 'signaling event' during our conversation with MetaKovan,) you'll hear the hosts react and explore recent events in real time.
Link to the story Adam mentioned:
https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/tokens-and-the-family-car
This episode features Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Stephanie Murphy, Jonathan Mohan and Adam B. Levine.
SOB #461 - Infinite NFTs and What Comes Next
On this episode of Speaking of Bitcoin, NFT early adopter MetaKovan (Vignesh Sundaresan) joins the hosts for the final of our three part exploration. This time we discuss how the NFT market is developing in the aftermath of the Christie's $69.7M Beeple auction.