S9 E7: Knut Svanholm on Sovereignty and Bitcoin in El Salvador

While most Bitcoin podcast interviews feature people who agree on almost every topic, this discussion with Knut Svanholm feels much more like a debate where we have opposing views. We talk about El Salvador, the state of sovereignty & why BTC is bullish. Sponsored by Vaultoro & Wasabi Wallet. Time stamps: 4:20 – Why did Knut Svanholm stick around the Bitcoin space? 7:20 – Bitcoin conferences are the new rockstar tours 9:55 – Opinions on “The Sovereign Individual” by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg 15:47 – The free will paradox 17:30 – Bitcoin as financial atheism 19:00 – Faith in verification 20:15 – Linux and open source 23:30 – Bitcoin privacy 26:08 – Financial incentives vs ideology 28:33 – Karen culture and Chainalysis 35:00 – Stockholm syndrome and the brilliance of George Orwell 38:13 – The El Salvador situation 58:50 – Elon Musk, Michael Saylor, and corporations getting involved in Bitcoin 01:01:50 – Mining from home and altruism 01:12:23 – Miners, Taproot, and SegWit activation 01:19:55 – Bitcoin’s J-shaped price action and S-shaped user adoption 01:23:54 – Why we’re still in the early days of Bitcoin 01:28:00 – The issue of fake bitcoins that can create inflation on Revolut, PayPal & eToro 01:31:45 – Day trading is like the poker boom 01:32:20 – People quitting their jobs because of the bitcoin bull run 01:34:30 – HODLing vs trading 01:36:00 – Bitcoin and the environment 01:43:00 – Bitcoin memes and reality 01:47:20 – Inflation is coming 01:48:45 – Yearly lows are more interesting than all-time highs 01:49:30 – Lightning is readier than ever 01:55:50 – Bits vs sats 01:57:00 – The mempool is empty again in 2021 01:59:54 – Peter Schiff is always the bottom indicator 02:03:57 – If you’re a Karen and want to speak to the manager of Bitcoin, where do you go? 02:06:30 – Knut’s next book 02:08:58 – Is Bitcoin libertarian? 02:13:00 – Starship Troopers, Robocop and other films that Hodlonaut also loves 02:14:50 – Roko’s basilisk and the Honey Badger Basilisk 02:17:09 – Why we need more Bitcoin podcasts 02:21:05 – Bitcoin, Christianity and atheism 02:23:00 – Why podcasts are better than television and radio 02:25:00 – How and why limits can be helpful and productive 02:27:05 – Interviewing Chris DeRose and keeping up with him 02:32:00 – Debating Roger Ver? 02:34:20 – Shitcoinery at the Bitcoin 2021 conference 02:36:00 – Shitcoins today are basically Bitcoin sidechains 02:37:50 – Stablecoins are oxymorons, altcoins are no real alternatives 02:39:00 – There’s a lot of method acting in Ethereum 02:41:00 – Zooko is most likely still a hardcore bitcoiner 02:43:00 – Vitalik, the Magic Flute and opera 02:47:50 – Fame 02:49:53 – People want to be loved, just like Charles Foster Kane 02:52:00 – Why kids and inheritance matter 02:56:00 – The flaws of education in Sweden 03:08:05 – Social democracy in Sweden