Bitcoin Toxicity with Giacomo Zucco & Neil Woodfine

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“It may be one shot, it’s important, the consequences on civilisation are huge, so we want to be over-cautious about not compromising the culture or the technical features of Bitcoin.”
— Giacomo Zucco

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Location: Squadcast
Date: Thursday 24th September
Company: BHB Network & Blockstream
Role: Director & Marketing Director

Bitcoin can be a toxic place. Ask the wrong question or fall on the wrong side of an argument; the community can be vicious in its response. It is a daunting place with Bitcoiners not only clashing with altcoin projects but with each other regarding Bitcoin ideas too. Rarely a day passes without a fight of some kind exploding on Twitter.

However, toxicity plays an important role. Bitcoin is a threat to the legacy financial system, and being decentralised; anyone can contribute. Bitcoin is therefore open to a broad range of attacks from technical to social and Bitcoin's immune system defends against these attacks to protect the protocol.

Segwit2x highlighted how a group might choose to co opt Bitcoin with dangerous consequences. Radical scepticism is levelled against other projects, people and companies to ensure that no outside party can have a negative influence on the future of the best money we have ever had.

So, what are the positives and negatives of toxicity in Bitcoin? When does toxicity cross the line and are there any unintended consequences? 

In this interview, I am joined by Bitcoin consultant and educator Giacomo Zucco and Neil Woodfine, Marketing Director for Blockstream. We discuss toxic Bitcoin maximalism, unintended consequences and politics within Bitcoin.

TIMESTAMPS

00:05:32: Introductions
00:14:05: What's at stake for Bitcoin?
00:17:05: Unintended consequences and the trade-off
00:22:06: UX and security
00:36:34: Toxicity versus criticism
00:46:08: Could toxicity lead to radicalisation?
00:53:10: Political ideas amongst bitcoiners
01:06:14: The topic of logical consistency
01:11:14: The inevitability of the state
01:17:21: Have we reached the tipping point?
01:19:56: The main growth area for Bitcoin
01:26:26: The importance of scepticism
01:29:14: Learning to develop immunity from toxicity
01:36:52: Referencing "Engines That Move Markets"
01:41:12: Final Comments

 

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SHOW NOTES

PodcastPeter McCormack