Beginners Guide Part 1/3 - Why Bitcoin? With American HODL - WBD630
The Peter McCormack Show
Peter McCormack
4.7 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 13 March 2023
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
American HODL is a Bitcoiner who has been promoting the innovation for over 8 years. In this interview, we discuss why is Bitcoin important: what makes it an improved version of money, why society needs it, how it improves inclusion and thereby the world, the proof we have that Bitcoin can work, and how the world will look in the future with and without Bitcoin.
- - - -
This is the first in a series of special What Bitcoin Did shows aimed at opening people to the basic principles that underpin Satoshi Nakamoto's innovation. Bitcoin has been in existence for 14 years. Whilst the adoption rate is tracking other paradigm-shifting technologies like the internet, we are still very early. Most people still don't own Bitcoin. And, for those that do, a lot are still to fully properly grasp its properties and potential, and therefore understand why it's important.
The majority of people are yet to comprehend Bitcoin's capacity to better individuals and the world for a number of reasons. It is an innovation rivalling the disruptive power of any technology that has come before it. Those who grasp it are still in awe of its elegant and revolutionary design. But, because it risks upending the balance of power between individuals and the state, it rarely gets a fair representation in the mainstream media.
Further, Bitcoin touches on many fundamental tenets of modern society. Firstly, it is a new form of money, purposefully outside of the scope of centralized control. So, to understand Bitcoin, one must understand the principles of money and trade. Secondly, it has been developed to account for the manifest risks of increased surveillance of individuals in the electronic age. So, to understand Bitcoin, one must understand why privacy is the bedrock of democracy.
Bitcoin also requires an appreciation of cryptography, the internet, game theory, economics, politics, philosophy, and energy. It's the analogy of peeling an onion, where awareness at one level enables the next layer to be peeled away revealing hidden characteristics. Someone on this journey of discovery is said to be going down the Bitcoin rabbit hole. It takes time and effort.
Those embedded within the Bitcoin community know that understanding Bitcoin is a process. But further, they know the profound awakening that comes to those who open themselves to it. The period of time before you properly understood Bitcoin will be manifestly distinct from the period of time after. This is when the hyperbole from those advocating for Bitcoin suddenly seems understated. Asking why Bitcoin is important is the start of that journey.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The way in which you think about it will not be the way in which you think about it in 10 years time, but you are involved in something here that is going to be one of the defining things you do in your life. |
| 0:12.6 | This will be the thing that your grandchildren ask you about. |
| 0:15.5 | Hello there and welcome to What Bitcoin did podcast, |
| 0:17.7 | which is brought to you by Gemini. |
| 0:19.2 | Today is the first part in the three-part Beginners Guide to Bitcoin series, and today we're going to be covering |
| 0:24.5 | why Bitcoin with American Hodder now recorded a 17-part Beginners guide back at |
| 0:29.3 | the start of 2020 but we felt it was time to revisit this but just make it a little more digestible. |
| 0:34.8 | So three short episodes to get you started and listen if you're new to the show and this is the first time |
| 0:39.5 | you checking out what Bitcoin did we've made over 600 other shows so please do go and check those |
| 0:44.1 | out and if you've got any questions about this or anything else you can reach |
| 0:47.8 | out to me it's hello what Bitcoin did.com. Okay enjoy this first part. Why Bitcoin? |
| 0:52.8 | So what is Bitcoin? |
| 0:57.8 | Bitcoin is the next evolution in money. |
| 1:01.6 | It's a next generation monetary technology that is supplanting |
| 1:05.1 | fiat currency. What actually is money? Yes, what is that's such a deep rabbit hole of a question. What is money? |
| 1:16.0 | Money is three things, money is a store value, a medium of exchange, and a unit of account, |
| 1:21.6 | and really what money is to me is money is a proxy for |
| 1:25.1 | human time. We're all born with the sort of same scarce resource. We have a |
| 1:29.2 | certain amount of time, we have a life, we don't know how much that is, but you know it's in a range some people get |
| 1:34.7 | 10 years unfortunately some people get 120 years right but everybody has a |
| 1:40.8 | scarce amount of human time and attention that they can spend on this planet |
| 1:44.4 | and what we use is money is a proxy for human time. And so when you work a job you're spending your time |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Peter McCormack, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Peter McCormack and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.