What Bitcoin Did with Peter McCormack
Business:Investing
“Bitcoin is beautifully simple: from a mind-virus perspective there are only 21 million, what you own, you own, it’s yours, you’re in control. It puts the burden and the responsibility back on the individual, and therefore the opportunity rests on the individual, and so Bitcoin is money for people who are ready to take responsibility for their lives.”
— Harry Sudock
Harry Sudock is Chief Strategy Officer at Griid. In this interview, we discuss what Bitcoin is: specifically, on what ideological foundation was it developed, what problem was it designed to solve, how it solves that problem, and why is it the best technical solution for solving that problem. It’s a tl;dr of the basic technical features underpinning Bitcoin.
- - - -
This is the second in a series of special What Bitcoin Did shows aimed at opening people up to Bitcoin. In the first episode, we learnt that Bitcoin is a new form of money. In this episode, we discuss what functions Bitcoin performs, which differentiates it from other forms of money. We then discuss the technical innovations that enable it to achieve these functions. In essence, this show focuses on what Bitcoin is.
Bitcoin is rooted in the cypherpunk movement that developed in the late 1980s centred on the US. As digital technology started to proliferate, its capacity to track and record digital activity became readily apparent. Concerned computer scientists, mathematicians and cryptographers acted to develop systems aimed at protecting individual privacy, despite a concerted government that sought to control the development of privacy-providing technology.
The cypherpunks movement included extensive work by many to develop anonymous digital cash. But, despite some incredible breakthroughs, none of these efforts had any material success. It was not until the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto brought numerous strands of all this work together that a viable anonymous and uncensorable digital currency was born.
The innovation centres on four key pillars: a clear and immutable monetary policy ensuing both scarcity and transparency; a proof of work consensus mechanism that provides decentralised security to the system; a difficulty adjustment, which ensures the issuance rate is highly predictable; and finally, its design considerations aimed at prioritising decentralisation.
To the uninitiated, these four key pillars may seem as merely interesting innovations. But, once comprehended, the effectiveness and elegance of Bitcoin’s design is truly breathtaking. The software has worked, day in and day out, for over 14 years, without being hacked. And, it’s all without a leader, or a clearing house, or a central committee dictating policy. Quick, uncensorable and private global settlement. By open-source code. Satoshi Nakamoto is the genius of our times.
- - - -
This episode’s sponsors:
Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly
Iris Energy - Bitcoin Mining. Done Sustainably
Ledn - Financial services for Bitcoin hodlers
Bitcasino - The Future of Gaming is here
Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet
Fortris - Digital asset treasury operations
Wasabi Wallet - Privacy by default
-----
WBD631 - Show Notes
-----
If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following:
Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute
Make a tip:
Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S
QR Codes: Bitcoin
If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you
Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed
Leave a review on iTunes
Share the show and episodes with your friends and family
Subscribe to the newsletter on my website
Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube
If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.
The Bitcoin Powered Revolution with Tuur Demeester
Everything is Coming to Bitcoin with Zack Voell & Willem Schroe
Bitcoin’s Economic Incentives with Parker Lewis
Bitcoin Back on the Ballot with Avik Roy
The Fight for Bitcoin with Ben Carman & Tony Giorgio
Bitcoin is Forever Money with Michael Saylor
An Existential Threat to Bitcoin with Matt Corallo
The Bitcoin Scammer Uncensored with Junseth
Bitcoin & AI Power Scarcity with Daniel Roberts
Bitcoin vs The Fiat Decline with Macro Alf
How Bitcoin Changes the World with NVK
The Fiat Apocalypse with Lawrence Lepard & Quoth the Raven
The Power of Bitcoin with Gloria Zhao
Nobody Understands Bitcoin with Jack Mallers, American HODL, Alex Thorn & Calle
Bitcoin Mining: A Paradigm Shift in Energy with Harry Sudock, Will Roberts, Erik Hersman, Thomas Pacchia, & Dennis Porter
First They Came for Samourai with Seth for Privacy & Bitcoin Q+A
Bitcoin is Resistance Money with Andrew Bailey, Bradley Rettler, Craig Warmke, & Allen Farrington
How Bitcoin Wins with Lyn Alden, Natalie Brunell, Alex Thorn, Thomas Pacchia, & Christopher Gordon
Bitcoin & Human Rights with Alex Gladstein & Natalie Smolenski
The Economics of Bitcoin with Lyn Alden, Preston Pysh, Allen Farrington, Max Hillebrand
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
The Tucker Carlson Show
U.S Property Podcast
Aligned Money Show
Dubai Property Podcast
The Ramsey Show