Beginner’s Guide #15: Bitcoin FUD with Nic Carter

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“Anything the government doesn’t like, from a transactional perspective, they will claim it is used by evil people.”
— Nic Carter

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Location: Skype
Date: Saturday, 29th February
Project: Castle Island Ventures
Role: Partner

Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin can be intimidating for beginners. The protocol is complicated, the community can be aggressive and unforgiving, silly mistakes can lose you money, and it is easy to succumb to altcoin marketing. 

Bitcoin does though, offer you the opportunity to hold a new type of monetary asset, one which can't be seized by the government and is censorship resistance and It has the potential to change the way the world. 

The goal of What Bitcoin Did has always been about making things simple; there are no stupid questions, and the show is here to help beginners navigate this new world. To kick off 2020, we are launching a special series to help beginners understand Bitcoin. We will be looking at the basics from breaking down the protocol to explaining the economics and discussing the potential societal shift. 

Beginner’s Guide Part 15 - Bitcoin FUD with Nic Carter

Bitcoin is a peculiar beast, and as with any new technology, it takes some time to understand it and its potential impact on the world. While Bitcoin media reporting is improving, there are still lots of untruths and myths that are perpetuated by mainstream media. Further, competing projects, anti-Bitcoin proponents and the uneducated add to the confusion by repeating false accusations.

Blanket statements such as "Bitcoin is only used by terrorists, criminals and money launderers" or "proof of work is wasteful and uses as much energy as X country", continue to cast a shadow over the technology. 

Bitcoin is still a relatively new form of digital money, the likes of which the world has never seen, as such, it is easy to be misled by outdated or poorly formed arguments. “Bitcoin isn't backed by anything” is another commonly used argument, which fails to recognise that neither is fiat currency and is printed at will, whereas Bitcoin has a fixed supply.

In this interview, I am joined by Nic Carter, a partner at Castle Island Ventures, and we discuss and dispel the myths, untruths and FUD that Bitcoin faces.

TIMESTAMPS

00:04:16: Introductions
00:06:23: What is FUD?
00:08:08: Why Bitcoin has intrinsic value
00:13:01: Price volatility
00:19:17: Scalability
00:25:49: Alt coin claims about scalability
00:32:50: Reduction of block subsidy
00:42:08: Bitcoin’s deflation
00:45:19: Energy usage for miners
00:52:59: Use of Bitcoin by criminals
00:58:17: Can Bitcoin be stopped?
01:04:00: Satoshi’s coins
01:06:11: Final comments

 

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SHOW NOTES

PodcastPeter McCormack