S1 E3: Zack Voell on Bitcoin as a Political Instrument, The Opt-In Economy & Dating

Before becoming a researcher on markets and data journalism at Coindesk, and even prior to his Blockstream adventure, Zack Voell agreed to record a crossover episode that was also supposed to also get published on The Coin Pod. Though the arrangement didn’t work out, the audio was still published as the third episode of Bitcoin Takeover.

Throughout the 90 minutes of discussion, Voell talks about his background in academia, why he likes Austrian economics, why Bitcoin enables individual freedom, how he thinks Bitcoin is related to the American political system, and what it’s like to go on dates in New York as a bitcoiner.

If you enjoyed our crossover, don’t forget to follow Voell on Twitter.

Listen to the episode on iTunes and Spotify!

Time Stamps:

0:50 – Introduction

1:58 – Our common academic background in political science

3:25 – Bitcoin’s impact on politics

4:10 – Vlad’s journey to Bitcoin;

7:58 – The power of Bitcoin to create alternative markets;

10:59 – The opt-out power than Bitcoin grants you;

13:11 – Even the US dollar was illegal in its first days;

14:45 – The creation of the US dollar is similar with the creation of Bitcoin;

19:00 – Why Bitcoin is a paradoxical American invention;

31:35 – Bitcoin is more American than the post-FDR USA;

35:00 – Thoman Jefferson’s gold and silver monetary system and why he didn’t like fiat money;

39:30 – 18th century philosophy (Rousseau, Voltaire, French Revolution, American Revolution);

43:00 – We aren’t taught how money works and why it exists, so Bitcoin is a crash course in human civilization;

47:15 – Bitcoin teaches you a lot, and your background counts a lot;

52:00 – Why did Zack Voell describe himself as a Bitcoin Noob?

55:15 – Dating as a bitcoiner;

1:00:50 – Going on dates and paying the bill with bitcoin;

1:06:20 – Russia turning BTC into a reserve currency?

1:10:00 – Russian economist thinks that Bernard Madoff is Satoshi Nakamoto;

1:14:00 – Will developed or underdeveloped nations adopt Bitcoin first?

1:16:30 – The paradigm shift in terms of Bitcoin narrative: free speech money will bring more adoption than sound money;

1:22:19 – The convenience of centralization & the responsibility of freedom;

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