S1 E2: John Carvalho on Being a Long-Time Bitcoiner and Getting Engaged in Bitcoin Politics

Before he became an executive at Bitrefill and moving on to build the ambitious Synonym company, John Carvalho was best known as the CEO of Xotika (the first camgirl website which enabled BTC tips) and the Bitcoin hero who made Roger Ver rage quit at the end of a heated debate. John Carvalho candidly opens up about his involvement in the Bitcoin space and recalls some of the moments when he played key roles within the community.  Watch out for interesting stories about The Bitcoin Foundation and how every attempt to represent the entire group of bitcoiners inevitably suffers from a quick demise. What makes this episode a must-listen: John opens up about his involvement with the Bitcoin Foundation and speaks about the time he mined BTC in his garage. He also provides some useful perspectives about his personal philosophy on Bitcoin. The element of surprise: John describes his debating technique in various contexts. He explains how he prepared for his confrontation with Roger Ver and also highlights the “zooming out” approach which becomes necessary when dealing with a sophisticated debater like Chris DeRose (whom I’d have on the show a couple of months later). Time stamps: 02:10 – The politics of Bitcoin 05:25 – Getting into BTC for the first time 08:12 – Bitcoin back in the day 10:18 – Bitcoin Foundation 12:25 – Consulting Bitcoin Foundation 14:00 – Opinions on The B (Foundation) 15:00 – Bitcoin Foundation vs The B 20:10 – Bitcoin’s multiple narratives 24:30 – Should everything be on a blockchain? 25:10 – Moments of despair in Bitcoin 29:15 – Bitcoin wants to be set free 30:30 – Andreas Antonopoulos and Roger Ver 32:00 – BTC millionaires by accident 33:30 – Bitcoin then and now 36:30 – The Bitcoin world is smaller than it seems 38:00 – Political considerations on Bitcoin 41:20 – Store of value vs mean of exchange for altcoins and for Bitcoin 43:15 – Swiss bank in your pocket 45:00 – Trump helped Bitcoin and the bull run? 48:30 – Bitcoin vs stocks 50:10 – John’s education and involvement in finance 52:50 – How John learned how to debate 53:50 – Preparing to debate Roger Ver 58:25 – How to ruin an honest debate 1:01:25 – On being skeptical 1:02:00 – Blockstream 1:08:50 – Politics vs merit and reputation 1:10:00 – Roger Ver causing friction on markets and burning his resources 1:15:00 – On Roger Ver and Jihan Wu potentially returning to Bitcoin 1:18:30 – Proud of Bitcoin involvement 1:19:10 – Bitrefill and gift cards 1:22:50 – Steam vs Steemit 1:23:40 – On the Brave browser and BAT 1:28:30 – Hyperbitcoinization 1:32:00 – On governments buying BTC 1:36:40 – Retail businesses in BTC 1:38:00 – Bitcoin in 10 years 1:40:00 – Bitcoin and fiat as Ponzis 1:41:00 – The Cantillon effect 1:42:30 – Deflationary economy