Download During this episode of Psychedelics Today, your host Joe Moore interviews Brian Normand of Psymposia and coordinator of the Cryptopsychedelic Conference.

• Banks are devaluing currency by charging high fees.
• With block chain, you've got to think in the long-term.
• There's so much going on with crypto, you can't keep up.
• What blockchain developer wants to go work for Facebook?

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Show Notes

• Joe and Brian discuss the CryptoPsychedelic Conference the took place in Tulum, Mexico.
• What is blockchain?
  • A next-gen decentralized ledger.
  • A peer-to-peer border-less, institution-less payment system.
  • Money will be one of the first users of blockchain.
  • Banks are devaluing currency by charging high fees.
  • The whole concept of money will transform, it will be a border-less thing.
• When Napster came out, peer to peer transfer became a very popular technology.
  • When the record companies worried about being irrelevant, they sued.
  • There could be something like Spotify that pays artists more fairly than Spotify currently does.
  • Social media could be rebuilt.
    • We could no longer be the product being sold, but get paid for our contributions.
• Could crypto be used to trace the history and purity of substances?
  • Yes, that's a definite use case.
  • The first voting on a block chain happened in Sierra Leone.
  • You've got to think in the long term.
• What were some of the more interesting things that came out of the CryptoPsychedelic conference?
  • Some of the new relationships and seeing the potential collaboration between the two communities.
  • Projects in this space need to be taken on.
  • It was a time to question, not really a time for answers.
  • Watch the movie 2001 a Space Odyssey in one sitting.
    • Every time you watch it you come away with a new experience.
  • Cryptocurrencies are border-less, some have minimal fees, and it's instant.
• Decentralized systems
  • Information is easier to access, it doesn't have to climb up a ladder.
  • The DAO is the Decentralized Autonomous Organization – there is no hierarchy.
  • Government could eventually be run via blockchain.
• How could we use the internet to further the message of psychedelics?
  • Before the internet, the only way you were exposed to information was top down.
    • Networks, authority institutions.
  • Because of the internet, information is moving more horizontally.
  • How do you change incentive structures in the drug war? Could it be these new technologies?
• The rate of innovation now is way faster than it was when the internet was first coming out.
  • You cannot keep up with what's going on, there's too much going on.
  • Look at money as a tool or form of energy.
• Crypto will change everyone's concept of paying taxes.
  • Air BnB cut the cities completely out of the picture.
  • Taxes and healthcare or both extremely important and impossible for people to understand.
  • Internet privacy is a big deal in crypto and psychedelics alike.
  • Brian doesn't think that Facebook will ultimately make it.
• Developers want to build new tools to take down the giants like Facebook.
  • Recently, Facebook announced a decline in users.
  • What can you do to reverse becoming "uncool"?
  • Reddit's price per impression is much lower.
  • Steemit has a fascinating model.
  • It would be cool if you could be compensated for putting helpful content online.
• We assume that the way the internet is now is how it's always going to be.
  • How can we use the tool to help the people whose lives aren't privileged like ours?
  • In a lot of refugee camps, you can't have cash, so crypto is huge for them.
  • What happens when people who are impoverished around the world can now crowdfund?

Resources Mentioned

• Psymposia
• CryptoPsychedelic

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Brian Normand Viveros

Brian Normand is CoFounder of Psymposia, entrepreneur, and advocate of psychedelic science, therapy, and drug reform. He attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and holds a B.S. in Plant, Soil, and Insect Science, Magna Cum Laude.