Andreas Antonopoulos is the author of several books about cryptocurrency engineering, including Mastering Bitcoin and Mastering Ethereum. In these books, Andreas lays out the systems of economics and computer science that underpin the two most mature decentralized monetary systems.

When Andreas originally discovered the Bitcoin whitepaper, he had witnessed the repeated mismanagement of government-backed fiat currencies. Andreas has a Greek background, and the financial collapse of 2008 had led to an economic crisis in Greece. His firsthand observation of the weaknesses of centrally planned government currencies, together with a degree in computer science and distributed systems have made him a dedicated evangelist for Bitcoin.

Andreas joins the show to discuss the Bitcoin ecosystem, and the relationship between decentralized cryptoeconomic systems and centralized corporations. Facebook has recently announced a cryptocurrency project called Libra, and Andreas suggests that Libra changes everything–not necessarily because Libra will make it to production, or because Libra itself will upend the world of finance–but because it allows us to further call into question the very nature of what makes a modern currency valuable and valid. 

After all, if a large government has the right to back a currency, why shouldn’t a large corporation have that same privilege?

Andreas is also a co-host of one of my favorite Bitcoin podcasts, Let’s Talk Bitcoin.