002. Phil Geiger - An Introduction to Money and Bitcoin

The Dumbest Guy in the Room

Recorded 5/19/21

Bitcoin price at the time ~$38,000

Phil Geiger is a Director at Unchained Capital and exceptionally well-versed in the Bitcoin space. I made this episode specifically for people that are newer to Bitcoin and the ideas that it introduces so that they can start to learn from the base layer--Phil does a phenomenal job of explaining these concepts in a clear, concise, and easily digestible manner. On this show he does a wonderful job of walking the listener through the properties of money, how Bitcoin is different than what we are accustom to and much more!

Where to find Phil Geiger:

@Phil_Geiger (https://twitter.com/phil_geiger)

Email: [e-mail]

Unchained Capital (https://unchained.com/)

Medium (https://medium.com/@philgeiger)

2:00 - Phil’s introduction to Bitcoin

4:30 - Keynesian and Austrian Economics

5:30 - How Bitcoin solves gold’s problems and establishes itself as sound money

7:15 - What is money? - Money at its core is the first layer and a communication tool - “Which is ultimately why I believe that bitcoin will be selected as the global reserve currency.” (13:35)

13:45 - Digital scarcity, what is it and how did Bitcoin achieve this? How Bitcoin increases in decentralization over time

17:00 - Bitcoin vs. Ethereum, Doge, all other altcoins

21:45 - Network effects of Bitcoin

24:30 - Bitcoin being anti-fragile due to its decentralized nature - short term volatility does not equal fragility

27:30 - Is Bitcoin alive?

31:15 - Have you been afraid at any point in Bitcoin?

36:40 - Multi-signature and owning your own keys - self-custody of your Bitcoin

45:00 - Bitcoin's future as humans become an interplanetary species

47:45 - Bitcoin as a clock

55:30 - A deeper dive into the 5 properties of money - scarcity, divisibility, durable, fungible, portability

1:01:40 - Altcoins - “Bitcoin gives you the power to reject other people’s money”

1:03:25 - Volatility and how it leads to long-term stability

Resources mentioned:

Bitcoin white paper (https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf)

Swan Bitcoin - (swanbitcoin.com/e3)

Cash App - (https://cash.app/app/KWJSDQR)

Keynesian vs Austrian Economics (https://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/austrian-school-of-economics.asp)

Gradually, Then Suddenly - Parker Lewis (https://unchained-capital.com/blog/category/gradually-then-suddenly/)

Bitcoin Astronomy - Drew Fonsell (https://unchained-capital.com/blog/law-of-hash-horizons/)

Kardashev Scale (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale)

Bitcoin is Time - Gigi (https://dergigi.com/2021/01/14/bitcoin-is-time/)

HODL Waves (https://unchained-capital.com/hodlwaves/)

Bitcoin is the Mycelium of Money - Brandon Quittem (https://www.brandonquittem.com/bitcoin-is-the-mycelium-of-money/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTgDQ56Su38)

The Blocksize War - Jonathan Bier (https://www.amazon.com/Blocksize-War-controls-Bitcoins-protocol/dp/B08YQMC2WM)

An Economic Analysis of Ethereum - Lyn Alden (https://www.lynalden.com/ethereum-analysis/)