83. Bitcoin Maximalism, Altcoins and Satoshi with Pete Rizzo

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 disappearance had in shaping today's bitcoin, and whether Satoshi was motivated by studying Austrian economics. They also discuss the late Mircea Popescu's underrated role in articulating and demonstrating bitcoin's immutability, resistance to capture, and sovereignty. In the Q&A session, Pete answers questions about potential attack vectors for bitcoin and explains his views on the likelihood of hyperbitcoinization.

Related links:

• Pete’s article Against Cryptocurrency: The Ethical Argument for Bitcoin Maximalism on Forbes
• The Yield On Money Reconsidered by Hans Hermann Hoppe
• Article explaining that a quarter of all Ethereum nodes run on AWS
• Pete’s Bitcoin Magazine article The Last Days of Satoshi
• The Blocksize War by Jonathan Bier of Bitmex Research 
• Murray Rothbard’s views on money
• Pete Rizzo’s obituary of Mircea Popescu
• Official blog of Mircea Popescu
• Outline of Knut Svanholm’s argument on hyperbitcoinization, referenced during the Q&A
• Pete Rizzo’s profiles on Twitter, Bitcoin Magazine and Forbes

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