The Bitcoin Standard Podcast

In this episode, Saifedean takes questions from regular seminar attendees on bitcoin fungibility, bitcoin price models and central bank digital currencies. The discussion focusses on whether the ability of governments and private analysts to monitor on-chain bitcoin transactions poses a threat to its fungibility, and whether this matters. Saifedean also answers questions on how PlanB’s stock to fl...

In this interview with the Mises Institute's Economics for Business podcast, Saifedean discusses his entrepreneurial work on saifedean.com : what is the business model, why he decided to leave behind the malinvestment of academia and work independently, how bitcoin was instrumental in this move, the benefits of independent knowledge entrepreneurship, and why this is the beginning of a growing...

In this episode Saifedean talks to Dr Terence Kealey, adjunct scholar at The Cato Institute, about government funding of science. They discuss the history of technological development including how the Industrial Revolution was able to take place in Britain at a time of limited government and no significant state support for science. They cover how western government involvement in science acceler...

In this episode Saifedean talks to regular seminar attendees about some common criticisms of hard money made by inflationist economists, and why these criticisms represent a misunderstanding of why recessions happen and how they are resolved. The conversation touches on the reluctance of mainstream economists to address the causes of The Great Depression, why they mistakenly attribute its length t...

In this episode Saifedean talks to Jeff Davidson, Executive Director at Saylor Academy, about how online learning is disrupting traditional education. Jeff describes why he became interested in education and how he came to partner with Michael Saylor on developing Saylor Academy into one of the world’s leading online learning platforms. They discuss the limitations of traditional university educat...

In this episode Saifedean continues his discussion on homeschooling and fiat education with Daniel Prince. They touch on whether homeschooling is just for the wealthy elite, what a forgotten 1917 book can tell us about the true purpose of state education, and why – when all costs are considered – private education and homeschooling are more cost-effective than state alternatives. To hear the first...

In this episode Saifedean talks to Daniel Prince – author of the book Choose Life and host of the Once BITten! podcast – about homeschooling. Daniel describes his experiences travelling around the world and homeschooling his four children, what he learnt along the way and how to avoid some common mistakes. He and Saifedean discuss the arguments in favour of non-traditional forms of education – dra...

Saifedean is delighted to be offering a free introductory course on Austrian economics through Saylor.org, Michael Saylor's free online university. In this Twitter Spaces discussion, Michael and Saifedean discuss the course content, how the Austrian School’s approach to economics differs from the mainstream, and why it is best to study economics in the Austrian tradition. They also discuss th...

In this episode Saifedean talks to Paul Saladino MD about meat eating and his book The Carnivore Code. They begin by discussing how transitioning from a vegan to a carnivore diet helped Paul to cure his eczema and why he now recommends others do the same. They cover why toxins are present in many commonly-eaten plants, what Paul learnt from studying the eating habits of the Hazda tribe, and whethe...

In this episode Saifedean talks about popular misconceptions regarding scientific progress, focusing on aviation as a case study. He describes how the Wright brothers invented the first airplane in 1903 despite claims from scientific authorities of the time that human flight was impossible, and how commercial aircraft capabilities started to decline after the 1970s. Drawing on insights from the wo...

In this episode Saifedean talks to software developer and author Gigi. They start by talking about Gigi’s book 21 Lessons: What I've Learned from Falling Down the Bitcoin Rabbit Hole, and why Gigi’s most important lesson is “you will not change bitcoin, but bitcoin will change you”. They move on to discuss the relationship between bitcoin and time. They cover how bitcoin solved the problem of...

Saifedean appearance on The Human Action podcast, hosted by Jeff Deist, President of Mises Institute. Quoted from the original description: Saifedean Ammous, famous for The Bitcoin Standard, has a remarkable new book detailing the effects of fiat money on virtually every aspect of society. In the tradition of Guido Hülsmann's The Ethics of Money Production, Ammous returns with The Fiat Standa...

In this episode Saifedean talks to bitcoin developer and author Jimmy Song about programming and Jimmy’s new book Thank God for Bitcoin, which explores bitcoin from a Christian perspective. They discuss how Jimmy’s Python coding skills helped him to get a job at a bitcoin company in 2013, and what benefits learning to code can bring to bitcoiners. In their discussion of Thank God for Bitcoin they...

Saifedean's interview on Power Hour, hosted by Alex Epstein, author of The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, about how systematic government control--"fiat"--wreaks havoc in the realms, not just of currency, but of science, education, and energy. They cover: - How government control in the realm of ideas is treated as benign but is in fact incredibly dangerous. - The myth that leading un...

In this episode we host author Nina Teicholz to discuss healthy eating and the sorry state of fiat nutrition science. We begin with the corrupt scientific establishment’s treatment of Mary Enig, John Yudkin, and other great scholars who went against the dogma promoted by industrial food manufacturers. We further discuss dietary guidelines, why they came about, and how disastrously effective they h...

In this episode Saifedean talks to Ben Gagnon, Chief Mining Officer at Bifarms, a Canadian bitcoin mining company that accounts for 1-2% of global hash power. Ben tells the story of how he became involved in bitcoin after missing an opportunity to buy 100 bitcoin for $70 in 2010. He and Saifedean discuss when it makes sense for people and companies to mine bitcoin, whether it’s a good idea to inve...

In this episode Saifedean talks to regular seminar attendees about why bitcoin operates like a machine. They discuss why – like a washing machine – bitcoin continues to serve people who use it regardless of whether they understand the mechanics of how it works, why bitcoin’s critics are analogous to luddites, and why money should be understood as a private market good, rather than a public good. L...

Saifedean's seminar is joined by Neil Woodfine, Head of Marketing at Unchained Capital, who lived and worked in the bitcoin industry in China since 2014. Neil talks about his experience navigating the unpredictable Chinese regulatory environment, how he views China’s recent ban on bitcoin mining in light of previous Chinese bitcoin policy, the implications for the bitcoin network, how Chinese...

In this episode Saifedean talks to Greenpeace co-founder and “drop out” Dr Patrick Moore about the misperceptions and hysteria surrounding climate change. They discuss the anti-human philosophy of modern environmentalist movements, the limitations of computer modelling as a means of making long-term climate forecasts and why there’s a case for actually increasing rather than decreasing human CO2 e...

In this episode Saifedean is joined by Vijay Boyapati, author of one of the most widely known articles for bitcoin beginners: The Bullish Case for Bitcoin. In this wide-ranging discussion Saifedean and Vijay analyse bitcoin’s rise through their shared framework of the Austrian School of Economics. They discuss Vijay’s four frameworks for valuing bitcoin, how technology “hype cycles” can help us un...

This seminar discusses the problems of economic modeling, using examples from environmental, energy, and macro economics. Saifedean explains how his graduate school experience trying to model energy markets led him to appreciate Mises' calculation problem and the problems of complex quantitative predictive models. What are the problems with attempting to quantify economic and environmental im...

We often hear bitcoin is a waste, but rarely will someone present a full accounting of all the costs and the benefits associated with bitcoin. In this seminar, based on a chapter from upcoming The Fiat Standard, Saifedean attempts a full accounting of the costs that go into making bitcoin work, from electricity to infrastructure, and compares them to the benefits bitcoin provides: appreciating sav...

In this episode Saifedean talks to regular seminar attendees about El Salvador’s recent adoption of bitcoin as legal tender. They discuss how this is a test of the importance of legal tender laws for monetary choice, and the drawbacks of legal tender laws. Will this hasten bitcoin's adoption in daily transactions? Or will it encourage hodling? What impact would wider use of bitcoin have on El...

In today’s seminar Saifedean talks to regular seminar attendees about the Bitcoin Mining Council: a recently formed group of North American bitcoin miners that aims to “promote energy usage transparency [and] accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide.” They discuss why centralized attempts to alter bitcoin are unlikely to succeed without broad community consensus, what we can learn from the...

In this episode Saifedean talks to Bitcoin Angel investor Simon Dixon about central bank digital currencies and Bitcoin in the context of today’s economy. They cover why CBDCs represent a radical monetary reform that would give governments unprecedented surveillance power, how the IMF is struggling to find relevance, why Bitcoin represents a lifeboat during times of uncertainty, and why we’re livi...