Tag: financial technology

Bitcoin’s Path To Ruin – Episode 185

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The Story: Is Bitcoin destined for failure?

If you got into Bitcoin early, it was probably because you saw the long-term potential of a platform that could disrupt the banking and central banking industries, holding governments accountable and limiting their power. You were probably a starry-eyed idealist who believed that real change was possible, by changing the systems that we all use, and hopefully, those stars have not yet left your eyes. If you got in more recently, you might hold the somewhat less principled position of “We’re all getting rich off this Internet nerd money!”

If you’re the second kind of speculator, you might fold as soon as times get tough, your position torn out easily like the shallow roots of a clover. If you’re the first kind, you might persist even when things are looking bad, because you knew that you had very good reasons to enter the market in the beginning.

Conditions have changed for Bitcoin, with high transaction fees from $1-$3, which rule out the microtransactions, small transactions and use for developing nations which idealists once believed made it unique. According to Mike Hearn, the Bitcoin developer who quit in January 2016, there are people on the team who don’t believe in the fanciful visions of its creator, and never saw it as anything more than a potential platform for large settlements. Hearn declared the experiment over, a statement that was easy to overlook for many, considering how often Bitcoin has been pronounced lost.

The team remains prudent and risk-averse, which makes sense for a multi-billion dollar project, but it also means the programmers on the team who are excellent are not free to innovate, which makes Hearn’s departure seem much more sensible in retrospect. With transactions that can take hours and fees 100x its competitors, the project is already years behind. In today’s world where invention and innovation are common, playing it safe can be a death sentence.

In this episode, Kurt presents the case that the Bitcoin experiment is on the path to ruin, likely being sustained by all the points in its favour, such as brand recognition and network effect, but eventually falling further into inutility, and likely causing misery for many. Join me on this value-investing tail of hope, disillusionment and suspense in the next episode of … The Paradise Paradox!

The Eps:

Infiltrators: Bitcoin paranoid – Episode 162

The Links:

The resolution of the Bitcoin experiment – Mike Hearn

Video format wars – Wikipedia

I looked into SegWit, and here’s what I saw – Nathan Hourt a.k.a. Modprobe

Dilbert comic – Catching up

The Cash:

If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit.

We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

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Bitcoin Price Explosion: Luis Fernando Mises – Episode 167

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The Story: The prices of digital currencies are going crazy

In late 2013, the price of Bitcoin started exploding, going from around $120, to close to $1200, within 3 months. People in the digital currency realm were stunned and amazed, and many people (including myself) started buying up currencies, chasing the Bitcoin bullet train. “This time it’s different,” we thought. “Who knows if the price will ever come down?” we thought. A few months later, the price came rolling down, eventually settling around $450. A lot of people surely lost a lot of money in those months, buying high and selling low. That was when I learned a simple lesson: the best time to buy an asset is when nobody gives a shit about it.

Now it’s June 2017, and in the past three months we’ve seen Bitcoin shoot up from around $1000 to more than $2500 – even to $3000 in some markets. I see people on social media boasting about their winnings, parading the fact that they have assets worth hacking. I tell them to be careful, that trading at all time highs can be a recipe for disaster. They tell me “The dollar is crashing against crypto!” and “This time it’s different!” I know some will probably lose a lot when the bull market ends, still believing that they’re digital currency genii and know how to pick winners. Others will prudently and consistently take profits, and wait for another opportunity to buy big.

In this episode, I welcome back Luis Fernando Mises, business consultant, entrepreneur, spiritual healer and digital currency investor, to discuss the latest rise in Bitcoin and altcoins, and what pitfalls people should look out for. We talk about ease of use in virtual currency, potential problems with Bitcoin, and spiritual perspectives to be gained when you lose a lot of money. We also discuss the problems with gossip in the liberty movement, how many are focused on the “telenovela” of liberty, and how that energy can be directed into something more fulfilling.

Join us on another bank-breaking episode of … The Paradise Paradox!

The Eps:

Shamanic aliens – Luis Fernando Mises: Episode 146

Shamans with guns – Luis Fernando Mises: Episode 95

The Links:

Emancipated Human

The Cash:

If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.

We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

The Dash instamine and why it doesn’t matter

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When a digital currency is mined before it’s released to the public, that may be a symptom of a scam – but it doesn’t prove without a doubt that it’s a scam. It may be an indicator that the creators just intend to boost up the value of the currency a little, sell their holdings, and leave. However, if we find that the creators continue to work on the coin long after any get-rich-quick scheme should have expired, is it still reasonable to say that the coin is a scam?

 

Why Amanda B. Johnson loves Dash – Episode 155

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The Story: Amanda B. Johnson of Dash Detailed

Amanda B. Johnson is a familiar face to many who are interested in financial technology, and particularly to those interested in cryptocurrency. For months she was the host of The Daily Decrypt, bringing news about new developments in the technology, informing us about the latest altcoins released and the progress of Bitcoin adoption. Eventually she got frustrated when she saw how tedious and stilted the movement was in Bitcoin, and about how awful most of the new coins were. She finished The Daily Decrypt and decided to start Dash Detailed, giving us a weekly report of the progress in Dash – the currency which she figures is the most likely to reach mainstream adoption.

In this episode, Amanda tell us why she’s so excited about Dash, explaining the concept of money as a service, the importance of user experience, how she might market Dash to people who know nothing about cryptocurrency in the future, and why it’s not easy to crack Dash’s privacy features – even when someone controls a masternode. We also talk about the incentives involved in Dash, and how its anonymity features compare to Monero’s.

Join us in the next blockchaining episode of … The Paradise Paradox!

The Eps:

Amanda B. Johnson & Pete Eyre: The Daily Decrypt – Episode 79

The Links:

Will Dash ever get its killer app? Amanda at Anarchapulco 2017

The Cash:

If you enjoy our posts, please have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.

We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.

The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

Episode 108 – Ether, Slock.It and The DAO: Decentralised Autonomous Organisation

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The Episode:


To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

The Cash:

We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.

The Story:

Many people are just starting to hear about Bitcoin for the first time, and grappling with all their brain cells to understand the basics of how it might function, let alone its implications. Meanwhile, those who have been interested in cryptocurrency for years are continually looking forward to try to imagine or develop the next big thing, building on top of the base which Bitcoin has laid, and pushing into ever-more disruptive territories. The DAO, or decentralised autonomous organisation, is one project which has many people’s eyes fixated on it.

The DAO is a platform on which decentralised applications might run, allowing for decentralised arbitration services which move further towards making government courts of law redundant. Within a few short weeks, the DAO raised about $130 million through crowdfunding – the largest crowdfund in history to date. Of course, this is no guarantee of its success, but it does indicate the level of public support and faith that this project has behind it.

Will the DAO go on to transform the world? Or is it merely a stepping stone to building something even more ambitious, transformative, and disruptive? We discuss its potential in this episode of the Paradise Paradox.

Disclaimer: We are not financial advisors, we have no idea what you should do with your money, and we don’t claim that we do. Do your own research before making any financial decision, and be careful.

In the interests of disclosure, note that we do own Bitcoin, Ether and DAO.

The Eps:

Episode 50 – Ethereum and the Future: Juan Galt

The Links:

Andreas Antonopoulos on decentralised arbitration

The DAO – a radical experiment that could be the future of decentralised governance

Episode 74 – Latin America Bitcoin Conference LaBitConf Arrival

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The Episode:

To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.

Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.

If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.

The Cash:

We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.

The Story:

Argentina was once one of the richest countries in the Americas, and in the world. One hundred years ago in Paris, the phrase “rich as an Argentine” was a common phrase. Now, not so much.

Today, Argentina is a country plagued by the whims of corrupt bureaucrats and central bankers. Over the last 60 years, the Argentine peso has been devalued 4 times, now being worth approximately one ten trillionth of what it was worth. Because of this, when Argentinians such as Rodolfo Andragnes heard of Bitcoin, they were particularly receptive to the idea of sound money with no central point of failure – no corrupt bankers that could steal or print their wealth away. These ideas captured the imagination of Andragnes, and in 2013 he decided to start the first Latin American Bitcoin Conference, Labitconf.

Many Latin Americans are excited at the possibilities that it offers, perhaps giving Venezuelans a way to escape the hyper-inflation of the Bolívar, and giving favela-dwellers in the depths of urban sprawling Rio de Janiero an opportunity to build a reputation, trade outside of their direct communities, and grow real wealth.

In this episode, we describe our arrival in Mexico City to attend the third Latin American Bitcoin Conference, and talk about what we expect to happen at the event, and all the interesting speakers we hope to interview.

The Links:

Localbitcoins

Bitso

Andreas Antonopoulos on Twitter

TDV Interview Series: Jose Rodriguez on Latin American Bitcoin Opportunities

E-coin ATM card

Bitnation ATM card

Coinjar ATM card