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Terra lost 99.9% of its value just over a week ago.  This "decentralized" crypto offered a 20% yield via staking (compared to a bank's .01% interest offered in savings accounts).

The stablecoin, UST, lost its peg to the dollar, causing the equivalent of a bank-run on Terra.  Terra attempted to peg the UST stablecoin to the US dollar without backing it with U.S. dollars.  Terra's solution to their problem was to increase their supply from 386 million Luna tokens to 6.5 trillion Luna tokens, debasing Luna.

Leaving us with the question: how can a decentralized crypto print 16,839x the previous total supply of Luna tokens?  It must be centrally controlled, just as any crypto with a pre-mine, a group of developers, or a figurehead is centralized--despite what it claims to be.

Crypto =/= Bitcoin

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Spoiler Alert: We discuss all 5 seasons of the TV show The Wire.

The Wire was released 20 years ago and depicted problems of government bureaucracy, corruption, and even misaligned incentives of dishonest press.  20 years later it seems nothing has changed.

One main focus of the show is on how easily our metrics for success can be manipulated.  The show discusses police and political related metrics such as violent crime rates, but this also applies to GDP, inflation, quarterly earnings reports, or any other quantitative metric that can be 'juked.'

Is the solution to rely only on qualitative metrics, or something else? 

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Spoiler Alert - Watch Blade Runner: 2049 before listening (we also spoil the OG one from the 80s).

This movie poses a ton of provoking questions surrounding identity and humanity.  What makes us human? Is it our physical form? and if so, what are the physical requirements--surely not our limbs, possibly just our brain?  

If we can replicate our brains (encompassing emotions, intelligence, and free will) in an android, is it then human?  What if we can do this in an AI that has no physical form?

Checkout the full episode for our takes

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Jack Dorsey recently began speaking his mind about issues he's had with the twitter board.  He uncensored himself, but we don't know what it will cost him yet.

And even every-day people are not so free to speak their minds.

Can we even propose the possibility that maybe we shouldn't be "standing with Ukraine?"  Or are we totally forbidden from questioning whatever "truth" is handed to us by mainstream media?

Can we say that men and women are different from one another, and that pronouns should be used based on people's gender, not preference?

It seems as long as you parrot the correct narrative, you will keep your job and likely receive a promotion.  But if you suggest anything counter to generally liberal beliefs you are liable to be fired.

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The biggest Bitcoin event of the year: The Bitcoin Conference, just happened in Miami.  We break down the important take aways such as: Strike's partnership with point-of-sale companies to bring Bitcoin lightning payments to restaurants and retail, Peter Thiel's take on Bitcoin and the Gerontocracy, Inflation at 8.5%, and more.

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There is an ongoing revival of questioning our assumptions.  Do we need to question the things we learned in elementary school, middle school, or high school?  Many of us learned about the food pyramid where humans are meant to eat ~55% carbs, ~25% protein, and ~20% fat.  Is this because it is more sustainable and cheaper for government to grow wheat and corn?  Are seed oils killing faster than high fat diets?

Do we need to use shampoo every day, or is it just a marketing scheme to condition us to use more product?

Is the questioning of these assumptions equivalent to the LGBTQIA+ community questioning the nature of males and females, or is there a distinct difference?

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Our first quarterly newsletter is free, like the rest of our podcast.  Below is a brief list of topics discussed.
- Ripple and Greenpeace's attempt to spread environmental FUD around Bitcoin and encourage a switch to proof-of-stake
- Vitalik Buterin's (Ethereum's creator) essay arguing for Bitcoin maximalism
- Pros and Cons of altcoins
- Implications of Russia pegging the Ruble to gold and demanding payment in rubles (thus gold)
- Decreasing legitimacy of U.S. reserve currency status
- Fed's warning of "brewing housing bubble"
- Inflation and how to hedge against it
- Most exciting possible future developments in the BTC space

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Spoiler Alert: We discuss the entire plot of the science fiction novel Three Body Problem.   If you haven't read it and don't intend to, we give a summary of the book so you can still enjoy the discussion.

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Should we be afraid of artificial intelligence?  Like most technology, it depends who's using it and for what ends.  Is it inevitable that we will create a sentient AI--one that is more intelligent than us?

If we physically augment ourselves with AI chips to improve our intelligence, will we still have free will?

Just a few of the topics discussed.  Also, spoiler alert we briefly discuss West World through season 3.

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This is a continuation of Episode 27: The Bitcoin Standard (Part 1)

Saifedean Ammous published The Bitcoin Standard in 2018 and it remains one of the most essential books in understanding the affects Bitcoin will have on the world.  He discusses what money is, identifies fundamental properties that separate good money from bad money, and correlates the rise and fall of civilizations both small and great with the soundness of their money.  His history of money begins with the most primitive societies which used stones, glass beads, and sea shells, and continues to the advancement and utilization of precious metals as money, and finally to our current age of fiat currencies.  The Bitcoin Standard gives a better understanding of economics than can be learned in most modern high-level education programs today.