CoinDesk Podcast Network

"...I think the right lesson to draw from all of this is that a global order needs to be based on a distributed operating system, not on a centralized architecture. And I think that applies not just in the realm of money but also across the board so that there is a greater capacity for local response than we currently have..."

CoinDesk's Michael Casey speaks with author, historian and Hoover Institution senior fellow Niall Ferguson about our disrupted world, inevitable crisis and what it could mean for money. 

Album Art Photo by Christine Roy on Unsplash

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In this episode of The Breakdown, @NLW reflects on the themes that defined an absolutely wild week in global markets and society. 

Those themes include:

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The Senate passed $2T in Stimulus. That includes a one time $1,200 check to impacted individuals and….you guessed it, billions and billions for corporate relief. Included in that are hundreds of billions of dollars in corporate bond buying programs. The Federal Reserve has recruited asset management giant BlackRock to administer three of those programs. 

Here’s the kicker. As Bloomberg describes it: “under the arrangement [BlackRock] could buy some of its own funds on behalf of the central bank.” 

Outrage is running rampant, and to help listeners sort through it, @NLW is joined by Meltem Demirors, Chief Strategy Officer at CoinShares. In this conversation, they discuss:

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In this second part of the “Bitcoin in Africa” podcast documentary series, join Anita as she learns about Zimbabwe and the country's multiple currencies. Combining on-the-ground recordings, interviews and thoughtful narration, she paints a picture of why things are how they are, as well as the state of human rights and free speech.

In the first episode we learned about the current living situation of Zimbabweans and the country's political history. Anita helped us understand why things are how they are as well as the state of human rights and free speech. In this episode you'll get to know the multi-currency world, the different forms and usages of money as well as the price fluctuations that Zimbabweans are dealing with day by day. We'll also take a look at the current regulations of cryptocurrencies, the usage of mobile payments and internet connections and the prospects of Bitcoin in Africa.

This podcast special and Anita's trip to Africa would not have been possible without her sponsors and supporters.

ANITA:

I want to thank my sponsors first: Thank you: LocalBitcoins.com a person-to-person bitcoin trading site, Peter McCormack and the whatbitcoindid podcast, Coinfinity and the Card Wallet, SHIFT Cryptosecurity, manufacturer of the hardware wallet BitBox02 and many thanks to several unknown private donors, who sent me Satoshis over the Lightning Network.

This special is edited by CoinDesk’s Podcasts Editor Adam B. Levine and published first on the CoinDesk Podcast Network. Thank you very much for supporting the Bitcoin in Africa series with your work.

Thanks goes also out to stakwork.com – stakwork is a great project that brings bitcoin into the world through earning. One can do microjobs on stakwork, earning Satoshis and cash them out without even having an understanding about the lightning network or bitcoin. I think we need more projects like that to spread the usage of bitcoin around the world.

Thank you also to GoTenna, for donating several GoTenna devices to set up a mesh network in Zimbabwe and to Team Satoshi, the decentralized sports team for supporting my work.

This special is also brought to you by the Let’s Talk Bitcoin Network.

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CoinDesk’s Chief Content Officer Michael Casey and Head of Research Noelle Acheson join for a lively debate about the new $2 trillion stimulus package and era of “unlimited” QE, including:

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Mark Yusko is the founder of Morgan Creek Capital Management. In this wide-ranging conversation, he and @NLW discuss: 

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Last October, Ikigai Asset Management’s Travis Kling predicted that Central Banks would have to “juice QE to infinity” in order to save markets from recession. Yesterday on 60 Minutes, Fed President Neel Kashkari said “there is an infinite amount of cash at the Federal Reserve. We will do whatever we need to do to make sure there is enough cash in the financial system.” 

This was followed this morning by an announcement that the Fed was giving itself effectively unlimited capacity to intervene in markets. Markets were...still not impressed. In less than two hours, an initial gain had entirely retraced. 

On this episode of The Breakdown, @NLW looks at:

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On today's episode of Let's Talk Bitcoin we're discussing the coming bailout-everything regime in a topic that's both extremely timely but is also what originally forced many long-term bitcoin enthusiasts to learn about money and become interested in cryptocurrency originally. 

As much of the world on an almost uniform and bipartisan basis shuts down to slow the spread of COVID19 and prepares to bail out first financial markets and now basically everything that can't work on a fully remote basis, we're talking about crisis, bailouts, the limits of monetary policy and the real possibility that it's not a straw that breaks the back of our money but rather the whole world suddenly jumping on.

This episode of Let's Talk Bitcoin is sponsored by eToro.com

On today's show we'll discuss:

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CoinDesk reporter Leigh Cuen is joined by cognitive economist Leigh Caldwell, author of “The Psychology of Price,” to talk about mental health and cryptocurrency in a time of coronavirus crisis. 

People who struggle with anxiety, gambling addiction, and a wide array of other other mental health issues may want to develop healthy habits for engaging with financial tools like cryptocurrency.

Most American researchers agree these days that roughly 2 percent of the population is estimated to be at high risk for gambling addiction. Case and point, when Texas Tech University assistant professor Devin Mills surveyed 876 people who had gambled within the previous month, more than half of the respondents traded cryptocurrency. 

“Our data suggests that around 40 percent of regular gamblers who traded cryptocurrencies in the past year reported elevated levels of either depression or anxiety, or both,” Mills said. 

However, the frequency with which the respondent traded cryptocurrencies was positively associated with most other types of gambling. The data doesn’t suggest bitcoin uniquely causes a gambling addiction, online harassment, or other mental health risks. It may simply be that people who already face these challenges are more likely to trade.

“There is a good Russian saying: The pig will find the dirt,” said New York therapist Yevgenia Mastyayeva, who specializes in gambling addiction. “The technology and society shape your addiction, give it a particular form, but it is you who are predisposed or not to develop addiction in the first place.”

There are also other mental health risks associated with cryptocurrency communities, namely habits that exacerbate anxiety disorders or expose users to anxiety-inducing harassment. 

Psychiatrist turned crypto entrepreneur Prash Puspanathan said financial distress can fuel some people’s pre-existing anxiety disorders, which could contribute to suicides. And, regardless of whether someone has an anxiety disorder, routine online harassment is stressful. 

Puspanathan also described online harassment related to “women sexually shamed... with occasionally devastating consequences.” According to a Pew Research Center survey in 2017, nearly 20 percent of Americans reported that online harassment damaged their relationships at home, work, or school, sometimes making it more difficult to find housing or employment.

In short, a healthy bitcoiner should strive to find a balance of habits, minimized exposure to online harassers, and watch out for signs of erratic or addictive behavior. Some people might prefer to keep a separate budget for crypto investments versus household spending, plus use multisig wallets for long-term holdings, Mills said.

Mastyayeva agreed bitcoin custody setups and trading platforms that simplify “realization of the impulse” might not be the best choice for those who display signs of addictive behavior. Limiting screen time can be helpful. 

What else do doctors suggest? Sleep. According to cognitive economist Leigh Caldwell, author of “The Psychology of Price,” it also might be prudent for people to avoid financial choices based mainly on Crypto Twitter.

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Peter McCormack is the host of What Bitcoin Did and the Defiance podcast. He recently returned from travel to a number of countries in South America including Venezuela and Colombia as well as the Turkey-Greece border. 

In this off-the-cuff and wide ranging conversation, Peter and @NLW discuss

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