“Blockchains solve a very specific problem, that’s their big innovation, but they suck at pretty much everything else.”
— Nadav Kohen

Location: Remotely
Date: Tuesday 27th April
Company: Block Digest, Suredbits
Role: Host, Software Engineer

Since Bitcoin’s inception, scaling has been a divisive topic. The very first reply to Satoshi Nakamoto’s email introducing the bitcoin whitepaper stated that “We very, very much need such a system, but the way I understand your proposal, it does not seem to scale to the required size.”

The scaling debate came to a head in the block size wars. Part of the community wanted to scale bitcoin by increasing the block size. However, a larger section believed that scaling was better handled on other layers, culminating in 2017 with the BCash fork.

Four years on and the market has decided that layered scaling is the preferred solution. Today, there are several approaches to off-chain settlement, and by experimenting with these on higher layers separate from the protocol, the security of Bitcoin can remain robust.

These different second layers offer additional functionality and programmability not found on the Bitcoin base chain, but they do come with tradeoffs. Users should consider who or what they are trusting, be it a peg, a federation, a protocol, or a combination.

In this interview, I talk to Shinobi, the host of Block Digest and Suredbits software engineer Nadav Kohen. We discuss Bitcoin scaling, the Lightning Network, wrapped Bitcoin and Liquid.

This episode’s sponsors:
Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly
BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services
Sportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts Bitcoin
Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security.
Exodus - The world's leading Desktop, Mobile and Hardware crypto wallets.
Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet

-----

WBD342 - 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

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Leave a review on iTunes

Share the show and episodes with your friends and family

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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.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 27th April Company: Block Digest, Suredbits Role: Host, Software Engineer

Since Bitcoin's inception, scaling has been a divisive topic. The very first reply to Satoshi Nakamoto's email introducing the bitcoin whitepaper stated that "We very, very much need such a system, but the way I understand your proposal, it does not seem to scale to the required size."

The scaling debate came to a head in the block size wars. Part of the community wanted to scale bitcoin by increasing the block size. However, a larger section believed that scaling was better handled on other layers, culminating in 2017 with the BCash fork.

Four years on and the market has decided that layered scaling is the preferred solution. Today, there are several approaches to off-chain settlement, and by experimenting with these on higher layers separate from the protocol, the security of Bitcoin can remain robust.

These different second layers offer additional functionality and programmability not found on the Bitcoin base chain, but they do come with tradeoffs. Users should consider who or what they are trusting, be it a peg, a federation, a protocol, or a combination.

In this interview, I talk to Shinobi, the host of Block Digest and Suredbits software engineer Nadav Kohen. We discuss Bitcoin scaling, the Lightning Network, wrapped Bitcoin and Liquid.

“The TL;DR of the supercycle theory: what happens when the world wakes up to Bitcoin?”
— Dan Held

Location: Remotely
Date: Tuesday 27th April
Company: Kraken
Role: Growth Lead

When Dan Held first wrote about a possible bitcoin supercycle back in 2019, the idea seemed far fetched. The bitcoin price was just under $10,000, and we were a few months away from the first reported cases of COVID-19.

Now, 18 months on from that tweet, the idea of a supercycle is gaining traction. With governments around the world resorting to astonishing amounts of monetary and fiscal policy to temporarily prop up economies in response to COVID-19, the case for bitcoin has never been so clear. A new wave of investors has arrived, with bitcoin offering them a life raft from fiat currency debasement.

In early February, Dan Held came on the show to discuss the Supercycle thesis, and since then, the price of bitcoin is up over 50%. Still, more critically, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in a move that plays nicely into the supercycle theory.

In this interview, I talk to Dan Held, the Growth Lead at Kraken. We discuss his supercycle thesis, the macro elements that make this cycle different and why traditional investors are waking up to bitcoin.

This episode’s sponsors:
Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly
BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services
Sportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts Bitcoin
Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security.
Exodus - The world's leading Desktop, Mobile and Hardware crypto wallets.
Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet

-----

WBD341 - 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.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 27th April Company: Kraken Role: Growth Lead

When Dan Held first wrote about a possible bitcoin supercycle back in 2019, the idea seemed far fetched. The bitcoin price was just under $10,000, and we were a few months away from the first reported cases of COVID-19.

Now, 18 months on from that tweet, the idea of a supercycle is gaining traction. With governments around the world resorting to astonishing amounts of monetary and fiscal policy to temporarily prop up economies in response to COVID-19, the case for bitcoin has never been so clear. A new wave of investors has arrived, with bitcoin offering them a life raft from fiat currency debasement.

In early February, Dan Held came on the show to discuss the Supercycle thesis, and since then, the price of bitcoin is up over 50%. Still, more critically, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in a move that plays nicely into the supercycle theory.

In this interview, I talk to Dan Held, the Growth Lead at Kraken. We discuss his supercycle thesis, the macro elements that make this cycle different and why traditional investors are waking up to bitcoin.

“My prediction is that Bitcoin will be 213% higher a year from now...that puts it at $200K a year from now, and I know it sounds crazy but I think it’s likely to happen. ”
— Dan Morehead

Location: Remotely
Date: Friday 23rd April
Company: Pantera Capital
Role: Co-Founder & CEO

Dan Morehead is a veteran of Wall Street, having worked at Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs before co-founding Pantera Capital. He is the embodiment of institutional investors, and he is predicting bitcoin will hit $115k by August 2021.

In 2013, Pantera launched the first cryptocurrency fund in the U.S. and offered accredited investors direct exposure to bitcoin. The firm also provides insights and price targets based on historical performance, market conditions, and models like stock-to-flow.

While, historically, bitcoin has faced many challenges that have kept some investors at bay, with the availability of institutional custody solutions and increasing regulatory clarity, these investors are now entering the market.

This increased institutional adoption of bitcoin has been a significant driver of the current bull market. With $trillions in government deficits worsening asset inflation, corporations have begun looking to bitcoin to protect their wealth. 

In this interview, I talk to Dan Morehead, a veteran investor and the co-founder & CEO of Pantera Capital. We discuss the Pantera price target, the firm's investment thesis for bitcoin and the impact of inflation.

This episode’s sponsors:
Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly
BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services
Sportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts Bitcoin
Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security.
Exodus - The world's leading Desktop, Mobile and Hardware crypto wallets.
Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet

-----

WBD340 - 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.

Location: Remotely Date: Friday 23rd April Company: Pantera Capital Role: Co-Founder & CEO

Dan Morehead is a veteran of Wall Street, having worked at Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs before co-founding Pantera Capital. He is the embodiment of institutional investors, and he is predicting bitcoin will hit $115k by August 2021.

In 2013, Pantera launched the first cryptocurrency fund in the U.S. and offered accredited investors direct exposure to bitcoin. The firm also provides insights and price targets based on historical performance, market conditions, and models like stock-to-flow.

While, historically, bitcoin has faced many challenges that have kept some investors at bay, with the availability of institutional custody solutions and increasing regulatory clarity, these investors are now entering the market.

This increased institutional adoption of bitcoin has been a significant driver of the current bull market. With $trillions in government deficits worsening asset inflation, corporations have begun looking to bitcoin to protect their wealth.

In this interview, I talk to Dan Morehead, a veteran investor and the co-founder & CEO of Pantera Capital. We discuss the Pantera price target, the firm's investment thesis for bitcoin and the impact of inflation.

“ Satoshi kind of left an unfinished product, because in order for it to be finished, it had to solve the riddle of him.”
— Pete Rizzo

Location: Remotely
Date: Wednesday 21st April
Company: Kraken & Bitcoin Magazine
Role: Editor

Ten years ago, in April 2011, Satoshi Nakamoto sent his last known message to Mike Hearn, stating that he had "moved on to other things" and that Bitcoin was "in good hands". Satoshi left the development with Gavin Andresen and a group of contributors and left the Bitcoin community for good. 

At launch, Bitcoin was governed and developed entirely by Satoshi; it was centralised. To reach the level of decentralisation that Satoshi envisioned, Bitcoin couldn't have a leader that the community looked towards; instead, it needed to rely on peer review, debate and consensus. Satoshi, the mythical and mysterious leader, had to leave the project he founded.

Pete Rizzo wrote The Last Days of Satoshi to answer the fundamental questions about Bitcoin's early history and its creator. How did he run the project? And why did he have to leave?

In this episode, I talk to Pete Rizzo, the Editor at Kraken & Bitcoin Magazine. We discuss Satoshi's final days, his contribution to Bitcoin, the project's transition to decentralisation, and why his disappearance was inevitable.

This episode’s sponsors:
Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly
BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services
Sportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts Bitcoin
Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security.
Exodus - The world's leading Desktop, Mobile and Hardware crypto wallets.
Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet

-----

WBD339 - 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.

Location: Remotely Date: Wednesday 21st April Company: Kraken & Bitcoin Magazine Role: Editor

Ten years ago, in April 2011, Satoshi Nakamoto sent his last known message to Mike Hearn, stating that he had "moved on to other things" and that Bitcoin was "in good hands". Satoshi left the development with Gavin Andresen and a group of contributors and left the Bitcoin community for good.

At launch, Bitcoin was governed and developed entirely by Satoshi; it was centralised. To reach the level of decentralisation that Satoshi envisioned, Bitcoin couldn't have a leader that the community looked towards; instead, it needed to rely on peer review, debate and consensus. Satoshi, the mythical and mysterious leader, had to leave the project he founded.

Pete Rizzo wrote The Last Days of Satoshi to answer the fundamental questions about Bitcoin's early history and its creator. How did he run the project? And why did he have to leave?

In this episode, I talk to Pete Rizzo, the Editor at Kraken & Bitcoin Magazine. We discuss Satoshi's final days, his contribution to Bitcoin, the project's transition to decentralisation, and why his disappearance was inevitable.

“The world now has an open monetary network, it’s the first one of all time, and throughout the history of the world, open networks really defeat closed networks and usher in a lot of change and innovation and disruption.”
— Jack Mallers

Location: Remotely
Date: Tuesday 6th April
Company: Strike, Square Crypto & Bitcoin Beach
Role: CEO, Bitcoin PM, FounderCIO

Bitcoin Beach is an experiment set up by Michael Peterson, trying to help the people of El Salvador. The organisation built a Bitcoin economy in Punta Mango, a small beach town in El Salvador where local businesses now accept Bitcoin, creating a local Bitcoin circular economy.

In rolling out bitcoin services in this part of El Salvador, the speed and cost of transacting on the base layer presented challenges. Migrating to using the Lightning Network has solved these issues and helped build a circular bitcoin economy.

Jack Maller’s Strike has also launched in El Salvador to solve other issues for the local people. With the Strike app using the bitcoin network as the payment rail, users can send fiat currencies instantly and at no cost.

In this interview, I talk to Zap CEO Jack Mallers, Square Crypto's Miles Suter, and Bitcoin Beach's Michael Peterson. We discuss the Lightning Network, international remittance and how Strike solves problems for people in El Salvador.

This episode’s sponsors:
Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantly
BlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial services
Sportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts Bitcoin
Casa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security.
Exodus - The world's leading Desktop, Mobile and Hardware crypto wallets.
Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet

-----

WBD338 - 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.

Location: Remotely Date: Tuesday 6th April Company: Strike, Square Crypto & Bitcoin Beach Role: CEO, Bitcoin PM, FounderCIO

Bitcoin Beach is an experiment set up by Michael Peterson, trying to help the people of El Salvador. The organisation built a Bitcoin economy in Punta Mango, a small beach town in El Salvador where local businesses now accept Bitcoin, creating a local Bitcoin circular economy.

In rolling out bitcoin services in this part of El Salvador, the speed and cost of transacting on the base layer presented challenges. Migrating to using the Lightning Network has solved these issues and helped build a circular bitcoin economy.

Jack Maller's Strike has also launched in El Salvador to solve other issues for the local people. With the Strike app using the bitcoin network as the payment rail, users can send fiat currencies instantly and at no cost.

In this interview, I talk to Zap CEO Jack Mallers, Square Crypto's Miles Suter, and Bitcoin Beach's Michael Peterson. We discuss the Lightning Network, international remittance and how Strike solves problems for people in El Salvador.