Bitcoin vs Economic Imperialism with Erik Hersman - WBD749
Mr Obnoxious
Peter McCormack
4.8 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 15 December 2023
⏱️ 65 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Erik Hersman is a co-founder of Gridless. In this interview, we discuss Africa, focusing on economic issues like inflation, devaluation and people’s struggles to make a living. We talk about Bitcoin’s potential to create economic opportunities in Africa, the importance of building products that meet the needs of people and provide real value, and the use of mobile money. Finally, we cover Bitcoin mining in Africa and its impact on energy infrastructure.
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On previous podcasts, we’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Erik Hersman to better understand how his company, Gridless, is partnering with East African communities in need of energy to provide subsidised power using Bitcoin mining. Last week we had the incredible honour of being invited to visit one of Gridless’s operational sites in Malawi. This will be included in a forthcoming film we will release in 2024. But, we used the opportunity to record another interview with Erik.
Being here, in person, allowed us to gain a better understanding of the context and ask relevant questions. We were not just discussing abstract concepts; we were seeing them first-hand and interviewing people on the ground. As per our previous podcast with Femi Longe, this interview has provided us with valuable insights into the Bitcoin story in Africa.
We delved into the challenges and complexities of addressing the historical and current inequalities between Western countries and Africa, and why such inequalities are being allowed to perpetuate. Erik and I talk about why there is a belief in the potential of Bitcoin to create economic opportunities in Africa. We covered the challenges of implementing Bitcoin-focused initiatives, the need for a comprehensive plan and how Bitcoin adoption in Africa.
Erik emphasized the importance of building products that meet the needs of people and provide value in their lives, rather than creating products based on assumptions or fantasies. We consider some of the plenty of examples of unique innovations utilising Bitcoin across Africa that address real needs. We also cover the concerns of government surveillance of mobile money that Bitcoin could help address.
Finally, Erik explained how Gridless has helped communities in Kenya and Malawi increase their usage of hydropower. This has led to financial and energy sustainability for such communities, but more fundamentally, it has also provided families with electricity for the first time. Erik emphasised the amazing potential for Bitcoin mining to bootstrap renewable energy infrastructure in Africa. As he stated “There's nothing to fight against here. It's good for everyone.”
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Show notes: https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/bitcoin-vs-economic-imperialism
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | We really have to look at what people need and what people will use, right? |
| 0:06.7 | And go to them and do real things that matter in their lives instead of having some fantasy of what we think people will want. |
| 0:14.7 | Hello there how are you all doing? How should we go in? Right, Lebanon film. It's nearly done. |
| 0:20.8 | I've got the final edit just going to review and we're going to sound mix and get it released |
| 0:25.2 | Hopefully out in the next week maybe between Christmas and New Year, but very very close having that done and also once that's done we're going to move on to the |
| 0:33.8 | edit for our film in Africa so very excited to get both of those films out to you |
| 0:38.1 | anyway welcome to the What Bitcoin did podcast which is brought to you by the |
| 0:41.8 | legends Iris Energy the largest largest NASDAQ listed |
| 0:44.4 | Bitcoin miner using 100% renewable energy. |
| 0:47.6 | I'm your host Peter McCormack, and today we have Eric Hersman from Gridlers back on the pod pod. Now while we were out in Africa we visited |
| 0:55.1 | Malawi and the Gridlous mining site and while we're out there we felt you know it's a good time |
| 1:00.2 | to sit down with Eric again. I was in the middle of making a film and I've got to admit it was a tough |
| 1:04.3 | film to make because I didn't really know where to take the story because I've seen so many |
| 1:09.0 | conflicted messages with regards to the economic situation in the various countries in Africa and also the adoption of Bitcoin which wasn't as I expected |
| 1:17.4 | So with Eric there somebody who's lived out in Kenya for a very long time. I felt it was a good time to just kind of share what I've seen, |
| 1:25.4 | pick its brain, and also just find out a little bit more about everything that's happening |
| 1:29.4 | with gridless. So we get into economic imperialism and government restraints in central banking and of course |
| 1:35.6 | whether Bitcoin can help. |
| 1:36.7 | So I do hope you enjoy this. |
| 1:38.0 | If you do have any questions about this or anything else, please do get in touch. |
| 1:41.6 | My email is hello at what |
| 1:42.8 | Bitcoin did dot com. |
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