The Bitcoin Standard Podcast

March 17th 2022. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US confiscated the Russian central bank’s significant monetary reserves, and banned some Russian banks from the SWIFT network. Serious questions are being asked about the survival of the postwar dollar-based world monetary order. Will Russia, China, and other countries actually build an alternative international settlement system, after y...

March 9th 2022. Saifedean hosts Dr Cate Shanahan to discuss her remarkable work on nutrition and the long term consequences of traditional foods and modern fiat foods. Cate's experience at medical school was powerless to stop her own health deteriorating, causing her to look at nutrition as a deeper cause of health problems, sending her down a rabbit hole to discover the horrors of modern see...

February 25th 2022. In this episode, Saifedean appears on The Tom Woods Show for a discussion on how the damage caused by fiat money extends beyond economics. Saifedean and Tom discuss why fiat money increases the power of governments and heightens societal time preference, disincentivising long-term planning. They also talk about the rise of “fiat mentality” and how societal attitudes have change...

February 24th 2021. In this episode, Saifedean appears on The Tom Woods Show for a discussion of fiat money and debt slavery. Saifedean and Tom talk about the role of government debt in the creation of fiat money; the recent freezing of bank accounts in the wake of Canadian protests, and why bitcoin improves on the shortcomings of gold. They then discuss how the fiat monetary system warps societal...

 In this episode, Saifedean talks to Samson Mow, outgoing CSO of Blockstream and CEO of Pixelmatic, about why we should be “augmenting” rather than trying to change the bitcoin network. They begin by discussing Blockstream projects such as the Liquid Network that extend the range of options available to bitcoin users, while accepting the network’s fundamental protocol rules. They also discuss Sams...

In this episode, Saifdean talks to Safdar Alam, CEO of investment firm Maydan Capital, about Islamic finance. Safdar starts by describing the basic principles of Islamic finance and the ethical justification for Islam’s prohibition on lending with interest. He and Saifedean then talk about how Islamic finance works in practice today; how it is mimicking the mainstream financial system; and the way...

In this episode, Saifedean talks to author and health coach P.D. Mangan about how to improve wellbeing and slow ageing through some simple diet and fitness practices. They discuss why humans have adapted to thrive on a meat-based and paleo diets, the flawed science used to support widely accepted government dietary guidelines, and why so many people fail in their attempts to lose weight, combat fa...

In this epsisode Saifedean talks to economist and investor Lyn Alden about her views on the global macroeconomy. They start by discussing recent market turbulence in light of the Federal Reserve’s plans to tighten monetary policy, whether these plans are realisable, and what this will mean for consumer price inflation and the stock market. They then move on to a discussion of Lyn’s portfolio, her...

In this episode Saifedean talks to writer and head of business development at Unchained Capital Parker Lewis about his Gradually, Then Suddenly series. They start by discussing Parker’s career in traditional finance during the 2008 financial crisis, and how discovering Austrian economics and bitcoin helped him to truly understand the workings of global finance. They then talk about the arguments o...

In this episode investor Preston Pysh and Saifedean do a deep dive in Saifedean’s new book The Fiat Standard. They discuss why analysing the fiat monetary system through the lens of bitcoin can help readers understand the advantages, and numerous disadvantages, of the fiat system. They talk about how fiat partially solved the age-old problem of gold’s lack of saleability across space, and how this...

In this episode Saifedean talks to author and Mises Institute fellow Tom Woods about the importance of sound economics in an age of Covid hysteria. They discuss their experiences studying at Columbia University, and the different paths they took to discovering Austrian Economics. They then move on to discussing how they became independent academics, operating outside of traditional institutions an...

This seminar hosts Microstrategy CEO and bitcoin mega-bull Michael Saylor to discuss the correct strategies for buying, holding, and promoting bitcoin. Michael explains what he sees as increasing regulatory clarity around bitcoin and increasing risk around altcoins, which it is becoming clear are digital securities, while bitcoin is digital property. We discuss his views on the adoption of bitcoin...

In this episode Saifedean talks to Jeff Deist, president of the Mises Institute: the leading think tank dedicated to spreading the ideas of the Austrian School of Economics. They discuss the mission of the Mises Institute, its origins, and how its approach to economics differs from other think tanks such as the Cato Institute. They also talk about the problems of modern empirical economics and how...

In this episode, Saifedean invites his newsletter subscribers to join a Q&A seminar normally only available to Saifedean.com members. He answers questions on whether money and debt are the same,  whether bitcoin whales or “monopolists” will gain too much power on the free market, the impact of energy trends on bitcoin mining, and the risks of holding bitcoin on an exchange. Participants also s...

In this episode, Saifedean talks to Katie The Russian (Katie Ananina) about Plan B passports and how to navigate a world of Covid hysteria. Saifedean and Katie talk about “Flag Theory” and how obtaining multiple passports and residences can help sovereign individuals respond to restrictive government policies. They also talk about the arguments laid out in the book The Sovereign Individual and whe...

In this episode, Saifedean invites back PlanB to back discuss the resilience of his stock-to-flow bitcoin pricing model in the face of global economic changes. They talk about the range of events that have impacted the bitcoin price since the model’s inception – Covid lockdowns, MicroStrategy, Elon Musk, China mining ban, El Salvador – and why the price has largely stayed within one standard devia...

In this Twitter Spaces discussion, Saifedean introduces his new book The Fiat Standard. Working through the chapters of the book, he discusses how the fiat monetary system works, why the Federal Reserve constitutes its “single node”, and how fiat is “mined” into existence through bank lending. He also talks about how the fiat monetary system impacts society in areas ranging from diet to energy to...

In this episode, Saifedean talks to author and public intellectual Jordan Peterson about how bitcoin solves the problems of The Fiat Standard. Saifedean starts by introducing the Austrian School of Economics, its key concepts such as “opportunity cost”, and how it differs from alternative schools. Saifedean and Jordan then move on to a discussion of the civilizing impact of hard money, why bitcoin...

In this episode Saifedean invites back philosopher and energy expert Alex Epstein to talk about climate hysteria and the energy issues facing the world today. They discuss the ongoing COP26 talks in Glasgow and why those setting its agenda are driven by an anti-human philosophy. They also talk about emerging power shortages around the world and why these are caused by a government-led push towards...

In this episode Saifedean talks to Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike, about how the Lightning Network is disrupting the global payments industry. Jack explains how international remittances work, why they are so costly and why the industry cannot compete with Lightning-based solutions. He and Saifedean then discuss how bitcoin is helping El Salvadorians transition from using cash to using bitcoin, whils...

In this episode Saifedean invites back Professor Paul Frijters of the London School of Economics to debate whether bitcoin is a good form of money. Saifedean makes the case for money as a market phenomenon, and argues that bitcoin has the scarcity, divisibility, fungibility and transportability that humans have historically valued in monies. Paul questions whether bitcoin mining is a zero-sum game...

In this episode, Saifedean talks to London School of Economics Professor Paul Frijters about his book The Great Covid Panic. They talk about the role played by epidemiologists like Neil Fergusson in encouraging governments to pursue extreme lockdowns, and why mainstream economists failed to properly evaluate the opportunity costs of this policy. They discuss the damage lockdowns have caused and ho...

In this episode Saifedean talks to Nik Bhatia, author of Layered Money. They begin by discussing Nik’s first essays on bitcoin, The Time Value of Bitcoin and The Lightning Network Reference Rate, and why Nik thinks “Lightning banks” are on their way. They move on to talk about Nik’s book, starting with an overview of how “layered money” developed on top of gold through financial institutions, and...

Lecture delivered on Sept 17, 2021, to the Property and Freedom Society in Bodrum, Turkey, at the invitation of Professor Hans Hermann Hoppe. In this lecture, Saifedean discusses the relationship between time and preference and hard money. Saifedean argues that the ability to hold a form of money that holds its value into the future reduces the uncertainty surrounding the future, leading to less d...

October 4th 2021. In this episode Saifedean talks to bitcoin journalist Pete Rizzo about bitcoin maximalism, altcoins and Satoshi. They discuss objectivity in journalism, what constitutes a “neutral” stance on altcoins for journalists, and how bitcoin differentiates itself from other cryptocurrencies through its high degree of decentralization. They also discuss the role that Satoshi and his disap...