American bitcoiner Fartface2000 is best known for receiving the LNTrustChain torch from Hodlonaut as part of the movement which brought Lightning into the mainstream. In spite of this shot at fame, Jim (his real first name) remains humble, curious, and continuously willing to learn.

In this episode of the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast, Fartface2000 talks about always trying new technologies, getting involved in the world of cryptocurrencies, and the journey which led him to Bitcoin.

Furthermore, you will find out more about his business with Bitcoin-powered piggy banks for children. It's called Bit Piggys and it's a way of educating the youth to make savings and get used to rewards in BTC. 

In preparation for the Understanding Bitcoin Conference which took place in Malta back in April 2019, Giacomo Zucco has decided to present some of his objections towards the security model of Neutrino. In his view, the technology can potentially become a threat and a disentivization for users who run full BTC nodes. Therefore, this episode will reveal more of his considerations.

Also, Giacomo talks about Bitcoin-only events and how they are taking over the "crypto" and "blockchain"-focused gatherings which seem to mostly deliver vaporware.

In this episode you will also get a brief update on the B, an organization whose purpose is to finance Bitcoin development. 

American bitcoiner Sasquatch Muscle had a pretty typical beginning the the world of cryptocurrencies: he bought some shitcoins close to the all-time high, then got caught in the never-ending cycle of trading between them as a way of maximizing USD gains.

However, after months of studying the phenomena and learning more about Bitcoin and its community, he now runs his full BTC node and onboards the Lightning Network without making use of custodial wallet.

His transformation is inspiring and his story is definitely useful to help newcomers understand what kind of mistakes they should be avoiding in order to have a good experience from which they learn more than managing poorly informed speculation.

Also, Sasquatch Muscle presents some of his experiences working in the public sector and expresses his views on the ways in which Bitcoin can help create more responsibility, sovereignty, and accountability.

Patrick Miller has been involved in the Bitcoin space since 2013, enjoys writing articles and research papers about the value proposition of BTC as opposed to scammy altcoins, and holds some really interesting opinions that are worth listening.

Throughout this 90-minute interview, the topic of the conversation constantly shifts between BTC's social and economic impact, the uniqueness of Satoshi's invention, and the vices of altcoins.

Self-sovereignty, independence, and responsibility are also big topics of this discussion, and you better watch out for a strong criticism of Ethereum and its "post-modernist" approach to narratives and governance.

This interview with Karo Zagorus will help you find out more about the Bitcoin communities in Central and Eastern Europe, while also providing valuable insights on the experiences of two academics who write research papers on the topic of Satoshi's invention.

Inevitably, the discussion tackles the issue of politics, regulation, and how the politicians choose to address Bitcoin. The conclusion that you will discover is truly astonishing: though it would make a lot of sense for the gatekeepers of fiat money to reject the kind of currency they cannot control, it seldom happens because they might be corrupt enough to hide large amounts of money with it. Therefore, if the elites find themselves guilty of using Bitcoin, then the cryptocurrency will find itself in a perpetual grey area of inexistent regulation.

Indian bitcoiner Rajarshi Maitra talks about his involvement in the Bitcoin space and how his worldview has changed once he fell down the rabbit hole. Being brought up in a communist environment and having discovered the innovative way in which Bitcoin allows greedy interests to coexist in harmony, Rajarshi has undergone a significant ideological transformation which compels him to spread the word about Satoshi's invention.

Also, Mr. Maitra talks about the importance of gold in the Indian culture and the ways through which Bitcoin might be able to replace it. Other discussions involve doing meetups and spreading awareness on the importance of sound money.

Inevitably, the conversation leads to the question: "Is Bitcoin a cult?". Surprisingly, Rajarshi Maitra responds that it might be, yet there is nothing wrong with it as long as the intentions are pure.

Tune in for this interesting two-hour conversation and learn more about the Indian culture and the Bitcoin-related events taking place in the world's second most populous country.

Follow Rajarshi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RajarshiMaitra

Former ETCDEV lead developer Igor Artamonov talks about his expertise in analyzing blockchains and why Bitcoin has a competitive advantage in the field. As the discussion progresses, some points are made on the cleavage between ideology and development, and the ever-relevant topic of dev financing also gets part of the spotlight.

When he doesn't troll or shame altcoin fanatics who more or less rightfully deserve the "shitcoiner" badge, Udi Wertheimer is the kind of man who can leave toxicity behind and do a great exposition of his views on Bitcoin. Admittedly, his understanding is constantly shifting throughout time, and it was thanks to this dynamic of always learning that he temporarily labelled himself as a "Bitcoin noob". Throughout this interview, Udi talks about the BTC scene in Israel, transaction privacy and coin mixing with Wasabi wallet, and scalability through Lightning. Moreover, a philosophical discussion about Bitcoin's place in the grand scheme of things and world legal order takes place during most the second half of the podcast. Questions such as "What if we are the bad guys?", "What is the difference between Bitcoin and all the virtual currencies?" and "Is Bitcoin against the US foreign policy?" receive candid yet nuanced answers that are definitely worth listening. Understanding Bitcoin is a continuous process, and the insights that Udi Wertheimer gives us are undoubtedly valuable. Give him a listen, he's definitely much more than the toxic Twitter troll who takes shots at bad actors.

In this in-depth interview, polymath Wassim Alsindi talks about his views on Bitcoin, why it resembles the qualities of a time machine, and how altcoins can actually be interesting experiments which reveal the limitations of certain technological and social governance models. The discussions transcend the idea of maximalism and explore a more scientific approach to everything involving blockchains: while there is no doubt that Bitcoin reigns supreme and will remain king, there are always good or bad lessons to be learned from the more or less reckless experimentation conducted via altcoins. The fundamental idea is that some technological breakthroughs (such as MimbleWimble and Confidential Transactions) may end up being implemented in BTC at some point, but the fact that other projects try them first ensures a better implementation in the conservative, definitely more decentralized, and resilient-by-design network of Bitcoin. Also, Wassim Alsindi is specialized in protocol forks and political hacks, which makes his points about derived altcoin projects much more knowledgeable and interesting. Throughout the nearly three hours of interview, you will also get to find out more about the early days of Mr. Alsindi as a Bitcoiner and how he became interested in pursuing research in this exciting field which combines computer science and cryptography.

If you’re going to ask me about the most underrated Bitcoin Takeover Podcast episode, then I’m going to mention my recording with Wassim Alsindi from June 2019. You see, Wassim is the kind of guy who doesn’t have much of a social media presence and is mostly known by developers and people with whom he interacts regularly. He teaches at MIT and has some very fascinating inter-disciplinary views on Bitcoin.

What makes this episode a must-listen: I really like the way that Wassim explains his understanding of Bitcoin and how alts/shitcoins merely experiment with features that can become features on the longest and most battle-tested chain after enough testing. He’s a reasonable maximalist who understands that a truly hyperbitcoinized world will require the most secure network which transacts the hardest money to accommodate all the use cases that we may or may not personally like.

The element of surprise: Wassim Alsindi is a true polymath. He’s been successful in lots of areas, including music and astronomy. So when he switched to computer science and eventually Bitcoin, he applied his past learnings in ways that might surprise you. Also, I love his theory about Bitcoin being a time machine.

Donald McIntyre is a collaborator of Nick Szabo’s, and a man who left behind the world of mainstream finance (he previously worked at UBS Securities and Morgan Stanley) to embrace the cypherpunk ethos. He’s passionate about history of money, cypherpunk culture, natural sciences, and anthropology.

What makes this episode a must-listen: The crash course in cypherpunk history and the fact that Donald McIntyre knows Nick Szabo’s work so well that this interview is the single closest experience to having the Bit gold inventor himself on the show.

The element of surprise: The tribute to Tim May (the cypherpunk legend who passed one month before we recorded this interview) and the criticism of David Chaum’s Elixxir project. The interview definitely is very cypherpunk-oriented. Also, Mr. McIntyre mentions “Truth Coin” (Paul Sztorc) as a must-have guest — thus establishing a goal that would take me eight seasons to accomplish.

Donald McIntyre talks about the anthropological and historical elements that led to the creation of Bitcoin, and reveals his admiration and affinity for the works of Tim May and Nick Szabo.

Topics and timestamps: 

0:50 – Introduction

2:50 – Was Bitcoin Inevitable?

6:45 – Cypherpunks

7:50 – Desire for Privacy and Sound Money

9:30 – Money as Freedom

13:00 – Trust Minimization

14:40 – Nick Szabo's Social Scalability

18:30 – Privacy and Intelligence Agencies

24:00 – Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins

30:00 – Comments on Centralized Projects

32:00 – Views on Hyperbitcoinization

39:45 – The 1% Wasn't First in Bitcoin

44:00 – The Early Bitcoin Days

44:50 – Bitcoin as a Biological Invention, Nick Szabo's Approach, The Origins of Money

57:00 – Nick Szabo, Tim May, Wei Dai, Hal Finney, Satoshi Nakamoto

1:10:00 – Bitcoin's Game Theory

1:15:00 – Satoshi and Nick Szabo Are Just Like Newton and Leibnitz

1:19:00 – What Was Tim May Like?

1:22:00 – David Chaum

1:26:00 – Cypherpunk Inventions

1:30:00 – Tim May and Wei Dai on Violence

1:32:00 – What Is Ethereum?

1:38:00 – How ETC Supplements BTC

1:42:00 – Bitcoin and Ethereum Classic in 10 Years

1:53:00 – The Only Legitimate Hard Fork in Bitcoin

1:54:00 – Governments and Bitcoin

1:58:00 – Miners' Attacks on Bitcoin Supply and Block Reward