The First 109 Episodes of the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast

Bitcoin Takeover Podcast Season 2 (June-July 2019, Episodes 12 to 23)

Having gained more confidence from producing and releasing the first season, I’ve wanted to one-up the quality of my previous work with something more grandiose. In terms of guests, I’ve discussed to record interviews with Giacomo Zucco, Udi Wertheimer, Chris DeRose, Jeremy Welch (Casa CEO at the time), and Pierre Rochard (who recently released Node Launcher, a dashboard for Bitcoin and Lightning on desktop).

However, the last two interviews never happened due to scheduling issues. According to the show’s ethos, I’ve also included interesting first time guests: Rajarshi Maitra (who in the meantime became a Bitcoin Core contributor), FartFace2000, and Karo Zagorus (BTCDragon).

The plan was to also include an interview with space cat hero Hodlonaut, but I’ve never released the episode because Calvin Ayre’s private investigators were actively trying to dox his identity. To protect Hodlonaut’s privacy, I’ve decided to keep the recording for myself. Maybe one day it will make a great release to mark a special milestone.

The most significant change turned out to be the episode distribution – instead of publishing all the content on the same day (“Netflix style”), I’ve opted for a more pragmatic approach. Some interviews were scheduled to take place within a couple of months, and the Bitcoin Takeover train couldn’t be stationed for too long!

Speaking of trains, the YouTube clips feature railroad travels from every guest’s home country. This decision appeals to the initial plan to add an artistic edge to the entire presentation. Unfortunately, I’ve received a copyright claim on my episode with Wassim Alsindi because the person who filmed the train ride wasn’t happy with the way in which his work was being used. Oh well, this is always expected on YouTube during a Bitcoin bear market. At least it was one user and not YouTube as a platform.

Another significant change can be observed in terms of overall aesthetics. Meme veteran BitcoinMemeHub set me up with nicer title cards for the episodes and also taught me how to remove backgrounds from pictures and crop them. It was definitely a much-needed upgrade, as back in those days I was more inexperienced with graphics.

S2 E1: Wassim Alsindi on Bitcoin as a time machine

If you’re going to ask me about the most underrated Bitcoin Takeover Podcast episode, then I’m going to mention my recording with Wassim Alsindi from June 2019. You see, Wassim is the kind of guy who doesn’t have much of a social media presence and is mostly known by developers and people with whom he interacts regularly. He teaches at MIT and has some very fascinating inter-disciplinary views on Bitcoin.

What makes this episode a must-listen: I really like the way that Wassim explains his understanding of Bitcoin and how alts/shitcoins merely experiment with features that can become features on the longest and most battle-tested chain after enough testing. He’s a reasonable maximalist who understands that a truly hyperbitcoinized world will require the most secure network which transacts the hardest money to accommodate all the use cases that we may or may not personally like.

The element of surprise: Wassim Alsindi is a true polymath. He’s been successful in lots of areas, including music and astronomy. So when he switched to computer science and eventually Bitcoin, he applied his past learnings in ways that might surprise you. Also, I love his theory about Bitcoin being a time machine.

S2 E2: Udi Wertheimer on being a bitcoiner

Love him or hate him, Udi Wertheimer has always known how to make us pay attention to whatever it is that he’s doing. When we recorded this interview, he was calling himself a “Bitcoin noob” as a way of raising awareness that this journey requires a lot of learning and you’re never truly an expert.

What makes this episode a must-listen: I don’t think you’ll hear another interview in which Udi talks about geopolitics. In this episode, he describes the Bitcoin scene in Israel and answers to nuanced questions such as “Is Bitcoin against the US foreign policy?” and “What if we are the bad guys?”. You wouldn’t guess that today’s Udiverse, who blocks everyone who disagrees with his edgy views (including myself), was once capable of expressing such complex yet eloquent opinions on hard topics.

The element of surprise: Mid-2019 Udi Wertheimer was a lot humbler than today. The interview also happened around the time when the Israeli bitcoiner was defining his views on the wastefulness of blockchains and the necessity for robust second layers like Lightning.

S2 E3: Igor Artamonov on Bitcoin’s competitive advantage

There used to be a time when I was hopeful that Ethereum Classic would defeat the unorthodox, unscalable, and uninspired Rube Goldberg machine that is Ethereum. The battle between ETH and ETC goes back to the DAO hack, when the network split between those who wanted to bail out the investors by breaking immutability, and those who believed in “code is law”. And yes, I was still a light shitcoiner in mid-2019.

I’ve decided to invite Igor Artamonov on Bitcoin Takeover because I always thought that the BTC and ETC people have a lot in common and it’s always great to provide a history lesson about what certain projects used to be. ETH isn’t the original project just like BCH is not the real Bitcoin. The fact that one side likes to follow leaders as opposed to principles is a different debate for another day.

What makes this episode a must-listen: There used to be a time when Ethereum was a project that wasn’t trying to compete with Bitcoin and there was a more friendly relationship between the two camps. After all, the Ethereum ICO was entirely funded with bitcoins and all early adopters were also bitcoiners.

But it was the ETC (Ethereum Classic) camp that carried the Bitcoin spirit by adding a limited supply, preserving immutability, planning to scale with sidechains, and never planning to ditch Proof of Work for Proof of Stake. And in this grand scheme, Igor Artamonov (also known as splix) played a major role which he describes throughout the interview.

The element of surprise: The ETC camp basically consists of Bitcoin maximalists who want to try other stuff on another network. Igor Artamanov acknowledges the superiority of Bitcoin and speaks highly of its security and robustness – unlike his ETH peers who constantly search for marketing narratives to attack Bitcoin.

S2 E4: Rajarshi Maitra on Bitcoin in India and the cult status of BTC communities

In June 2019, I’ve had the pleasure to meet Rajarshi Maitra: a passionate young man from India who expresses such a high degree of conviction in stateless, unconfiscatable, and cencorship-resistant money that he often engages with local communities and spends time near university campuses to recruit students to the Bitcoin project. Little did I know at the time that he would soon become a Bitcoin Core contributor.

What makes this episode a must-listen: Since Raj went on to become a Bitcoin Core contributor, it’s interesting to observe what kind of moral qualities he has. Because, as I often tell people, Core devs need much more than coding skills. It takes a certain willingness to make sacrifices while believing in the Bitcoin project’s mission. Rajarshi Maitra definitely has all of these qualities.

The element of surprise: When we talk about Bitcoin communities resembling cults, Rajarshi has a surprising reply which is most likely rooted in his learnings from the Indian culture. Where somebody else would have taken a step back to further analyze the terms, Rajarshi Maitra doubled down and proved his ideological consistency.

S2 E5: Karo Zagorus on Bitcoin in Hungary and the sociology of BTC

Before becoming the host of the Bitcoin Rehab podcast and writing his own book, Karo was just a whacky fire-breathing cartoon character on Twitter. As far as I know, this was his first time on a Bitcoin podcast. And let me tell you that he was a really nice surprise, granted that I didn’t know him at all prior to recording this episode and our conversation happened by chance after a short Twitter exchange.

What makes this episode a must-listen: Though his furry avatar may not reveal it, Karo is an academic. So when he talks about communities from a sociological point of view, he always brings insights that very few people in the space can express with such clarity. Really, I was blown away by the quality of this interview granted its random occurrence.

If anything, this speaks volumes about the quality of bitcoiners and why the project is going to succeed in the long term.

The element of surprise: At one point, we talk about Bitcoin regulation and how state actors may ban the currency. Then we have the eureka moment in which we realize that politicians from our countries are so corrupt that they might just use Bitcoin a lot to conceal their dealings – hence the lack of regulatory framework at the time in Hungary and Romania.

S2 E6: Patrick Miller on Bitcoin, sovereignty, and responsibility

In June 2019, Patrick Miller (BrickstringIndustries on Twitter) was a principled Bitcoin maximalist who understood the value of the network better than most people – and definitely better than myself at the time. He was also an early adopter of the Lightning network and an early supporter of my podcast – at one point, he sent me a large donation using a Lightning tipping platform and I’ll forever feel grateful for his contribution.

But by the end of the year, he turned to the dark side, changed his name and started promoting BSV.

I could never predict this turn of events, but at the same time I would never remove an interview just because the guest has performed an U-turn on Bitcoin. At the very least, this is a useful historical record. At best, it can be a reminder for Patrick that he’s always welcome to return to the real Bitcoin.

What makes this episode a must-listen: While most content producers would have removed this episode from their portfolio to avoid giving exposure to someone who joined the scamming side of town, I thought it would be interesting to observe how someone as eloquent and knowledgeable as Patrick Miller can get bribed into shilling a fork of a fork that claims to follow the original vision.

Listening to this episode while having knowledge about the seemingly-illogical transition is definitely like trying to solve a mystery. There are pieces of the puzzle that we will never discover.

The element of surprise: Patrick presents a very good criticism of Ethereum’s approach to governance and how it chooses to push narratives in a rather post-modernist way. Really, it’s a shame that we lost this guy but I hope he will come back one day.

S2 E7: Sasquatch Muscle on going from shitcoiner to Bitcoin maximalist

As 2017 shitcoins and ICO tokens were getting abandoned en masse in the summer of 2019, Bitcoin was recovering from its market capitulation moment. This phenomenon of “draining the alts” and regaining dominance would help many people figure out why only Bitcoin matters while other networks fail.

My interview with Sasquatch Muscle reflects the story of many people who bought into shitcoins and their 2017 narratives about revolutionizing the world by fixing problems that they invented beforehand.

What makes this episode a must-listen: Sasquatch Muscle describes his trading experience with all the vices of chasing USD gains while losing value against BTC. While his adventure seems rather common, it’s the twist that will surprise you: in less than two years, the former ICO believer now runs a full Bitcoin node and utilizes a non-custodial Lightning wallet for which he opened his own channels. This transformation is always spectacular to witness.

The element of surprise: Sasquatch Muscle used to work in the public sector. And the view of the government apparatus that he acquired throughout the years now helps him understand how Bitcoin can pave the way towards a better, more accountable, and more responsible world.

S2 E8: Giacomo Zucco on Bitcoin-only events, The B & Neutrino

When I recorded my first podcast interview with Giacomo Zucco, he had three major events going on: attending the Understanding Bitcoin conference in Malta, setting up the legal details to make The B (a non-profit which sought to finance Bitcoin development) work, and settling a dispute about BIP 157 and light clients.

This episode definitely covers a lot of topics, but with a guest as eloquent as Giacomo it’s very hard to not explore a plethora of subjects and their intricacies.

What makes this episode a must-listen: Back in 2019, Neutrino (BIP 157 and BIP 158) was a really hot topic. Basically, it allowed all users to have a non-custodial and sovereign experience with Bitcoin and Lightning without running a node. By downloading block filters from other peers on the network, anyone could theoretically have the benefits of a full node without actually bothering to sync one.

Well, Giacomo Zucco explains why this is a bad idea and why it resembles the SPV light wallet experience much more than it grants financial sovereignty. This debate definitely reflects the principles of the community and how bitcoiners would regularly attack proposals that aren’t well-polished enough to carry the mission of the world’s hardest money.

The element of surprise: The B was much more than vaporware and definitely not an attempt to recreate the defunct Bitcoin Foundation. But the issues that the organization encountered were definitely very bitcoiny: they couldn’t set up a way to finance the developers that’s simultaneously privacy-friendly and legal. Everyone involved would have had to register with identity-revealing documents, which is why the initiative didn’t take off. Ever wondered why funding Bitcoin developers is so hard? You’re gonna find out more about it in this episode.

S2 E9: Fartface2000 on #LNTrustChain and investments in BTC

During the first couple of months of 2019, Hodlonaut’s #LNTrustChain was a really big deal. It travelled all around the world to demonstrate the speed and scalability of the Lightning network, it united bitcoiners around a cause, it allowed Jack Dorsey (at the time, Twitter CEO) to reveal his true orange colors, and it supported a charitable cause by funding community members from Venezuela.

It was the tour de force, as money would get sent in a permissionless and instant way across national borders. Centuries-old conflicts between nations have been settled by peace-loving individuals who passed the torch to each other. The phenomenon was truly remarkable, and Fartface2000 (also known as FF2K) is the man who legitimized Hodlonaut’s idea. One can rightfully argue that Fartface200 has been to the #LNTrustChain intiative what Hal Finney has been to the Bitcoin project – the first man to believe in it.

What makes this episode a must-listen: This is Fartface2000’s first ever podcast interview. Though his name was printed on t-shirts, posters and mugs, nobody actually asked him to speak his mind before I arrived on the scene. And FF2K took full advantage of this opportunity to express his thoughts on Bitcoin, the state of the technology, and the road that led him from carpentry to becoming a bona fide Lightning proponent.

The element of surprise: At one point during his story, Fartface2000 breaks into tears while recalling a tragic family event. It helped me remember how grandma Costea helped me find the motivation to start this show and it paved the way to a more humanistic discussion about a money technology that rarely makes us feel something meaningful but provides the means to pursue greater causes.

S2 E10: R.L. Bryer (Pittsburgh HODLR) on Bitcoin and Austrian economics

R.L. Bryer is among the people who started searching for something like Bitcoin after supporting Ron Paul’s presidential campaign from 2008. According to him, he joined the space in 2010 and has been an active BTC advocate on Facebook. When I interviewed him, he had released a book named “Blockchain Project Renaissance” and was about to publish a sequel.

While I can’t agree with his views on shitcoins, R.L. Bryer and I still had a very nice chat about Austrian economics – the perspective through which he regards the Bitcoin phenomenon.

What makes this episode a must-listen: The process of trying to figure out to which extent R.L. Bryer truly wears the OG badge. He claims he hasn’t posted on the BitcoinTalk forum, he doesn’t mention Bitcoinmarket.com (the first BTC exchange which was set up in March 2010), and yet he is an overall interesting individual who makes good points about economics.

The element of surprise: The stories about volunteering for Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign are really inspiring.

S2 E11: Brent Philbin on Bitcoin-only events and podcasts

If the first season had two crossovers with other podcasters (Zack Voell’s “The Coin Pod” and Car Gonzalez’ “Thriller Crypto”), then why shouldn’t the follow-up also have at least one? So when Brent contacted me during the SXSW week in March 2019, I couldn’t say no this opportunity to exchange impressions.

What makes this episode a must-listen: Brent and I talk about how we approach podcasting. And while his approach is to take every cryptocurrency project and present an overview of what it does and I’m focused on Bitcoin, we still have similarities in the way we criticize scams and shitcoins.

The element of surprise: Brent Philbin describes the Bitcoin scene at SXSW and lets us all know that we’re still very early, as most presentations were about shady shitcoins with large marketing budgets to burn.

S2 Bonus: Unpopular opinions with Chris DeRose

Speaking of crossovers between podcasts, I couldn’t end the season without a bang. When I interviewed Chris DeRose, he was still trying to find his place after Bitcoin Uncensored had ended.

At the time, he would embrace all sorts of unpopular opinions and I’m pretty sure that he was doing it just for the sake of arguing with the people he didn’t like. Yet even when he finds himself on the wrong side of the debate, Chris still presents interesting arguments. He’s clearly one of the most avid readers in Bitcoin and it shows.

What makes this episode a must-listen: Back in June 2019, Chris DeRose was going through a phase in which he was trying to embrace all the hateful words that people threw at him. And to retaliate, he would go to great lengths in deconstructing arguments to make everything more absurd. John Carvalho tried to warn me in S1E2 that debating DeRose requires “zooming out” and I like to think that I’ve done a pretty good job at defending Bitcoin against the “thebitcoin dot foundation” argument.

The element of surprise: Chris DeRose and I spoke about the philosophy books that we enjoy reading. I wasn’t really surprised to find out that he’s into post-modernism. But I was blown away when I realized how many books he has actually read and how well he understands the phenomena.

At the time, people were describing Chris DeRose as a “fake Socrates who uses MS Paint”. But I can argue that he could easily make Socrates scratch his head in a debate.