1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,360 Welcome, dear viewer or listener to the Bitcoin Infinity Academy. 2 00:00:04,620 --> 00:00:08,840 This is our course on my second book, Bitcoin Independence Reimagined. 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:13,100 And I'm Knut Sronholm, and I'm here as always with Luke DeWolf. 4 00:00:13,300 --> 00:00:14,860 Good morning, Luke. How are you today? 5 00:00:15,540 --> 00:00:18,380 Good morning, Knut. I'm doing great. Thank you very much. 6 00:00:18,700 --> 00:00:20,740 It's been a little while since we last recorded, 7 00:00:20,940 --> 00:00:25,100 and we're about to wrap up our series on Independence Reimagined. 8 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:29,280 We have this episode and then just a recap, but this is a unique one. 9 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:43,820 It's on the chapter called Laws and Effects, which is going to be a little bit of a, I don't know, a Bitcoin glossary of important things that aren't chapters to themselves, but are worth knowing, right? Something like that. 10 00:00:43,820 --> 00:00:57,180 Something like that. And they are things I put there then, things that were on my mind. Maybe if I rewrote this or did a bigger thing about it, I would have included other things and maybe left out a couple of things. 11 00:00:57,180 --> 00:01:05,320 But anyway, they're all interesting and they're all thought nuggets that are definitely worth contemplating. 12 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:18,360 I think this is somewhat akin to Anil Patel's first work, the Bitcoin handbook or something, where there are visualizations of all of these concepts. 13 00:01:19,260 --> 00:01:26,100 And yeah, who knows? One day we might get an actual Bitcoin glossary where all of these concepts are listed. 14 00:01:27,180 --> 00:01:28,020 Good to know things. 15 00:01:28,580 --> 00:01:28,940 Perfect. 16 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:32,720 And before we dive in, just a reminder that the best way that you can get involved and 17 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:37,440 support the show is to go to our Geyser fund at geyser.fund slash project slash infinity. 18 00:01:37,780 --> 00:01:41,620 You can send us some sats there and join our Academy membership where we have a private 19 00:01:41,620 --> 00:01:46,400 telegram group and you can do all sorts of things such as join the live recordings of 20 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:47,020 this show. 21 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:51,640 And another new way that you can support us is also to subscribe on Fountain. 22 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:53,740 You get early access to the episode. 23 00:01:53,860 --> 00:01:56,600 So one day early and they're ad free, which is a perk. 24 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:02,260 So if you want to do that, you can find everything you need to know on our fountain page. 25 00:02:03,060 --> 00:02:04,320 Notes will be in the description. 26 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:06,040 So shall we get going? 27 00:02:06,740 --> 00:02:07,300 Absolutely. 28 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:08,480 All right. 29 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:09,860 Laws and effects. 30 00:02:10,700 --> 00:02:15,560 This chapter is dedicated to the concepts, natural laws, and effects that explain why 31 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:17,940 Bitcoin is so much more than the sum of its parts. 32 00:02:18,700 --> 00:02:23,060 Understanding these concepts is crucial when defending Bitcoin during conversations with 33 00:02:23,060 --> 00:02:24,340 intelligent pre-coiners. 34 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:30,300 Many of these concepts, if not all, have been discussed earlier in this book or in my first 35 00:02:30,300 --> 00:02:34,500 book, Bitcoin Sovereignty Through Mathematics, but this chapter is intended as a guide to 36 00:02:34,500 --> 00:02:38,880 wrapping your head around and being able to explain these concepts to newcomers with more 37 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:39,300 ease. 38 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:41,360 Scratching the surface, if you will. 39 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,980 Bitcoin is hard to understand in general, but to really comprehend why, it may well be the 40 00:02:46,980 --> 00:02:50,240 most important technological revolution you'll encounter in your lifetime. 41 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:55,140 you'll need to understand the why before even trying to grok the how. 42 00:02:56,180 --> 00:02:58,060 Alright, anything to say about this, Knut? 43 00:02:58,660 --> 00:03:02,160 No, I think that's pretty self-explanatory. 44 00:03:02,380 --> 00:03:04,460 You can go on with the first one, I think. 45 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:05,860 Okay, let's do it. 46 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:08,480 Subjective Theory of Value 47 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:12,400 Karl Menger, the founder of the Austrian School of Economics, 48 00:03:12,700 --> 00:03:16,260 described the subjective theory of value as the idea that the value of a good 49 00:03:16,260 --> 00:03:19,180 is not determined by any inherent property of that good, 50 00:03:19,180 --> 00:03:22,640 nor by the amount of labor necessary to produce the good, 51 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,740 but instead by the importance an acting individual places on a good 52 00:03:26,740 --> 00:03:28,900 for the achievement of his desired ends. 53 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:34,140 In other words, what anyone finds valuable is an entirely subjective matter. 54 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,780 Valuability is always personal and situational, 55 00:03:38,060 --> 00:03:40,280 and there is little reason to question this insight. 56 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:43,520 Keeping this fact in mind is crucial to understanding 57 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,740 why no economic theory can ever be used to predict anything with perfect accuracy. 58 00:03:47,740 --> 00:03:58,480 Every investment is a guessing game and requires the investor to take as many factors, potential risks and rewards, as possible into consideration before making the trade. 59 00:03:59,060 --> 00:04:00,540 All right, Knut, what does that mean? 60 00:04:00,660 --> 00:04:08,960 Yes, the most crucial of insights, yet so misunderstood and so people actually get what this implies. 61 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:23,200 And that like all other types of economics than Austrian economics aren't really economics at all, but they can be useful as tools for making economic assessment of the situation. 62 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:35,960 So sure, you can see trends in markets and stuff, and you can probably derive some value out of being good at seeing those trends and being good at quote unquote trading. 63 00:04:35,960 --> 00:05:04,180 But that is not economics. That is economic assessment, nothing else. Economics is the study of catalactics, which is the voluntary interactions between human beings. So it's human action leaving out the non-voluntary stuff. That's what economics is. It's the study of the market, which is a voluntary process that humans engage in. 64 00:05:04,180 --> 00:05:16,520 So vastly misunderstood because there are great powers out there who want you to misunderstand this to make you think that taxes and inflation are just and legit, which they're not. 65 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:22,620 Right. And value being situational, personal and situational. 66 00:05:22,820 --> 00:05:30,080 I mean, that point is also lost, I think, on when we talk about the concept of inherent value, that there's no such thing, right? 67 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:35,040 yeah and it's in the very first chapter of sovereignty through mathematics the the 68 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:44,200 analogy i i use there is like a breath of air it is worth nothing to to most people most of the time 69 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:53,400 but worth an infinite amount of money uh to a a free driver trapped a free diver trapped under ice 70 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:55,200 and yes 71 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:56,700 also 72 00:05:56,700 --> 00:05:59,820 I think I used the 73 00:05:59,820 --> 00:06:02,180 example of someone with a death 74 00:06:02,180 --> 00:06:04,340 wish and clean summer air 75 00:06:04,340 --> 00:06:06,160 to him like a breath of air 76 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:07,880 is worth practically zero 77 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:10,200 but 78 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:11,600 the free driver 79 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,160 needs the next breath of air 80 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:16,340 to survive so it's worth everything in the world 81 00:06:16,340 --> 00:06:16,860 to him 82 00:06:16,860 --> 00:06:20,280 this is just to show that 83 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:22,500 like you say it's subjective and dynamic 84 00:06:22,500 --> 00:06:28,540 and therefore you can't draw any conclusions from trying to shoehorn empiricism into economics. 85 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:33,860 Like empirical evidence can never deny nor confirm any economic theory. 86 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:39,380 Very good. And with that, I think the next one is quite apt as well. 87 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:42,160 Supply and demand. 88 00:06:42,940 --> 00:06:48,360 Holding all else equal, the unit price for a particular good or service will vary until it settles 89 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:52,360 at a point where the quantity demanded will equal the quantity supplied. 90 00:06:52,500 --> 00:06:56,380 resulting in an economic equilibrium of price and quantity transacted. 91 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:02,880 Even though demand, which could also be called intersubjectively assigned value, is subjective, 92 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:08,960 its relationship with the supply of a certain good or service has an obvious connection to the price of said good or service. 93 00:07:09,660 --> 00:07:13,060 The more abundant the supply, the lower the price, and vice versa. 94 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:19,400 It is important to remember that this theory can be applied to money just as much as it can be applied to any other good or service. 95 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:21,680 Okay, so supply and demand. 96 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:42,000 Yes, and the most important sentence here is holding all else equal. This is what you do in praxeology and Austrian economics. You make up these fictionary scenarios where everything else is equal to derive some form of truth from a statement. 97 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:46,400 if that's a precursor 98 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,860 whatever you call it, the holding all else equal wasn't there 99 00:07:49,860 --> 00:07:53,660 then supply and demand would not be 100 00:07:53,660 --> 00:07:58,180 interconnected the way they are because people's valuations 101 00:07:58,180 --> 00:08:02,180 are subjective and dynamic, there's nothing guaranteeing that everyone 102 00:08:02,180 --> 00:08:05,300 will just not demand the thing the second later 103 00:08:05,300 --> 00:08:10,220 so supply and demand is more of an observed 104 00:08:10,220 --> 00:08:19,580 effect than than anything else and it holds true only with the the holding else all else equal 105 00:08:19,580 --> 00:08:27,460 before before making the statement okay good clarification and i think the the other point 106 00:08:27,460 --> 00:08:34,080 that i would make here is that it's not saying that prices are out of kind of nothing the the 107 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,300 price is the signal that's the that's the kind of the point here right the the price is the signal 108 00:08:38,300 --> 00:08:43,800 of what someone is willing to pay for it it's not exactly the value of that thing exactly uh prices 109 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:53,040 are uh guesses of what someone will be paying for a good in the future given the what they have 110 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:58,840 paid for it in the past so it's an assessment that whoever puts the price tag on something 111 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:07,240 has to make personally uh they have to guess how much a consumer is willing to pay for the product 112 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:08,640 in order for him to make a profit. 113 00:09:09,500 --> 00:09:12,300 So they do signal value. 114 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,140 Money does never measure value. 115 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:16,360 It signals value. 116 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,340 And that is a very important distinction too. 117 00:09:21,380 --> 00:09:22,040 Yeah. 118 00:09:22,860 --> 00:09:23,760 Very good. 119 00:09:24,660 --> 00:09:25,120 Continue. 120 00:09:26,500 --> 00:09:27,660 Stock to flow. 121 00:09:28,340 --> 00:09:31,340 The impact and increase in the available supply 122 00:09:31,340 --> 00:09:32,880 of a good will have on its price 123 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,280 is correlated to the size of the existing stock of that good 124 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:39,460 compared to the increase per time unit, or flow. 125 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,260 This is called the stock-to-flow ratio. 126 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,520 If increasing the supply of a good is difficult and therefore expensive, 127 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:52,020 the impact an increase in the price of that good will have on its subsequent total supply is limited. 128 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,980 Therefore, the increase will not push the price down again as much as it would have 129 00:09:56,980 --> 00:09:59,980 if increasing the supply would have been easy or cheap. 130 00:10:00,900 --> 00:10:04,380 Remember that the supply of a good is directly correlated to its price 131 00:10:04,380 --> 00:10:06,340 if the demand for it doesn't change. 132 00:10:07,140 --> 00:10:09,560 The high stock-to-flow ratio of precious metals 133 00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:10,780 is what makes them expensive. 134 00:10:11,620 --> 00:10:14,160 The fact that you can make jewelry out of some of them 135 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,680 doesn't affect the price in the same way at all. 136 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:18,320 It's the other way around. 137 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:21,900 Expensive jewelry is made out of expensive materials 138 00:10:21,900 --> 00:10:24,620 because jewelry is a form of proof of work, 139 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:25,580 described below, 140 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:28,300 or at the very least, a proof of wealth. 141 00:10:29,140 --> 00:10:30,140 All right, stock-to-flow. 142 00:10:30,140 --> 00:10:38,060 yeah uh maybe that last sentence is a bit confusing uh first of all i'd like to say that 143 00:10:38,060 --> 00:10:47,420 the most misinterpreted uh thing about stock to flow is uh the increase in supply is not the thing 144 00:10:47,420 --> 00:10:55,100 it's increase in available supply so for instance if you had full bitcoin blocks with uh so you had 145 00:10:55,100 --> 00:11:02,680 shit high Bitcoin transaction fees in the future so that the miner would be disincentivized to sell 146 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:12,100 the mined coins, the newly minted coins, then that would not count as an increase in supply 147 00:11:12,100 --> 00:11:19,160 because it's not available supply. It's just supply. So it's whatever happens to come onto 148 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:27,640 the market not uh the if if it's not on the market it is by definition stock and not flow and this is 149 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:35,080 a crucial distinction that every a lot of people miss uh yeah so jewelry is made out of precious 150 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:42,280 metal because the metals are valuable not the other way around so they they choose to make them 151 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:49,960 out of this because a giving someone jewelry or buying jewelry for your fiance or whatever is a 152 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:57,940 it's also signal it's it's signaling to your future potential future spouse that you hold her dearly 153 00:11:57,940 --> 00:12:02,600 and that she's worth a lot of money it's the equivalent of uh yeah we talked about this in 154 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:10,780 sovereignty through mathematics, equivalent of a moose evolving great antlers to impress 155 00:12:10,780 --> 00:12:19,400 his future spouse, that he's a capable male that can carry around this great appendage 156 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:23,160 without too much trouble. 157 00:12:24,540 --> 00:12:26,900 So jewelry is basically the same thing. 158 00:12:27,500 --> 00:12:30,220 Okay, I think the jewelry isn't really the point of this paragraph. 159 00:12:30,220 --> 00:12:30,780 No, no, no. 160 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:31,840 That's an aside. 161 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:36,200 I just didn't like the proof of work thing in the last sentence. 162 00:12:36,540 --> 00:12:45,240 But the important point I want to make here is that flow is flow onto the market, not just an increase in the stock. 163 00:12:46,460 --> 00:12:47,440 Crucial distinction. 164 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:49,240 Okay, that's interesting. 165 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:51,200 I sort of push back on that. 166 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:52,460 In fact, I think you're wrong. 167 00:12:53,380 --> 00:13:01,480 Because this is really only a measure of the increase in what is actually, in fact, created. 168 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:07,120 is what this is measuring right like this is this is like a technical a tech on a technical level 169 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:13,840 what this actually is in terms of gold and copper and silver but it's not no it's not the if if i 170 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:21,520 mine gold and i don't sell it then it's then it's part of the stock not part of the flow sure uh but 171 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:26,960 that's that's not the that's not the measurement though in that's not the measurement in actual 172 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:33,280 economics. Well, there's no measurement. This is like, how do you, how do you even measure 173 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:39,840 stock to flow in gold? There is no, uh, sub objective way of measuring how much gold there is, 174 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:46,400 neither in the stock part or the flow part. The distinction I'm making is that flow only applies 175 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:59,999 to whatever ends up on the market Otherwise it is by definition the stock part uh all the all of the stock could come onto the market potentially but it not on the market until it actually there 176 00:13:59,999 --> 00:14:07,839 I think this isn't useful to the listener because it's extremely confusing when talking about Bitcoin, right? 177 00:14:07,979 --> 00:14:12,039 Because then stock to flow, it becomes meaningless by that definition. 178 00:14:12,039 --> 00:14:14,179 like you constantly have 179 00:14:14,179 --> 00:14:16,399 you constantly have a flow 180 00:14:16,399 --> 00:14:18,579 of things going on to the market and becoming stock 181 00:14:18,579 --> 00:14:20,159 so now this measure becomes 182 00:14:20,159 --> 00:14:22,539 effectively meaningless as far as 183 00:14:22,539 --> 00:14:24,359 Bitcoin goes I think you're 184 00:14:24,359 --> 00:14:26,439 actually completely muddling the point that you 185 00:14:26,439 --> 00:14:27,059 made in this 186 00:14:27,059 --> 00:14:30,179 paragraph of trying to educate people 187 00:14:30,179 --> 00:14:31,739 by framing it that way 188 00:14:31,739 --> 00:14:34,079 oh really this is interesting 189 00:14:34,079 --> 00:14:36,479 because then I think we should double click on this 190 00:14:36,479 --> 00:14:38,399 because I don't really 191 00:14:38,399 --> 00:14:40,459 think stock to 192 00:14:40,459 --> 00:14:41,899 flow is like 193 00:14:41,899 --> 00:14:45,439 Like stock to flow is not applicable to Bitcoin in the way people think it is. 194 00:14:45,719 --> 00:14:48,419 They think it is the new Bitcoins minted. 195 00:14:48,599 --> 00:14:49,759 That is the flow. 196 00:14:50,119 --> 00:14:51,259 And that is not the case. 197 00:14:51,839 --> 00:14:58,259 The flow is whatever part of the entire stock that happens to come onto the market. 198 00:14:58,819 --> 00:15:03,979 So the more hodlers of last resort you have, the more stock you have. 199 00:15:05,179 --> 00:15:08,319 But it's whatever comes onto the market. 200 00:15:08,319 --> 00:15:14,839 It's not about what, because how else would you make the distinction between the two? 201 00:15:15,239 --> 00:15:23,599 Otherwise, it would all be stock or all be flow, because theoretically, all the Bitcoins are flow or stock. 202 00:15:24,359 --> 00:15:28,699 But the concept is about what's on the market and what's not. 203 00:15:31,419 --> 00:15:34,099 I believe you are, in fact, still wrong. 204 00:15:34,099 --> 00:15:38,179 We can have this discussion at another time then. 205 00:15:39,259 --> 00:15:49,339 Well, okay, if I can just summarize the conventional understanding of stock-to-flow, which largely mirrors exactly what you said in the paragraph. 206 00:15:50,119 --> 00:15:52,459 So I don't know why you're changing the definitions here. 207 00:15:52,459 --> 00:15:59,699 But in Bitcoin's terms, the stock-to-flow is effectively the amount of new block reward. 208 00:16:00,379 --> 00:16:03,759 And that is added to the total supply that is available. 209 00:16:04,099 --> 00:16:08,319 And so I understand the point that you're making here. 210 00:16:08,319 --> 00:16:11,239 I understand it because I understand your thinking process. 211 00:16:11,659 --> 00:16:15,899 But the thing is, stock to flow becomes a meaningless definition. 212 00:16:16,239 --> 00:16:22,899 Like the supplies of gold going onto the market can in fact be, sorry, taken out of the ground. 213 00:16:23,099 --> 00:16:26,559 Like that's the definition of stock to flow when we're talking about the precious metals 214 00:16:26,559 --> 00:16:27,059 and et cetera. 215 00:16:27,279 --> 00:16:31,619 It's the amount in the ground versus the amount that's not in the ground and how much new 216 00:16:31,619 --> 00:16:33,419 stuff is taken out of the ground per year. 217 00:16:33,419 --> 00:16:56,919 Okay, maybe I'm muddling the point a bit, because the word I want to emphasize is available. And if for some reason it becomes unavailable, for instance, if the block reward is smaller than the amount of sats it takes to move them, then no one will ever move them, because there's no economic incentive to do so. So I wouldn't call that available. 218 00:16:56,919 --> 00:17:00,739 so this is the distinction I'd say 219 00:17:00,739 --> 00:17:02,339 but yeah I agree with you 220 00:17:02,339 --> 00:17:05,539 it's a very difficult term 221 00:17:05,539 --> 00:17:09,499 because how do you define what's available or not 222 00:17:09,499 --> 00:17:13,959 well you just decided to go and 223 00:17:13,959 --> 00:17:17,379 come up with a new definition of 224 00:17:17,379 --> 00:17:19,299 stock to flow here by surprise 225 00:17:19,299 --> 00:17:20,359 so thanks for that 226 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:26,599 I think zero people will agree with you on this 227 00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:35,259 zero. Okay, okay. Let's see. All right. Well, this turned fun. No, but this is an argument I've 228 00:17:35,259 --> 00:17:44,379 been making in this whole spam debate, because, and why we shouldn't desire full blocks. And I'm 229 00:17:44,379 --> 00:17:49,759 not going to dive into that, because that's too complex to fill up this chapter with. But yeah, 230 00:17:49,759 --> 00:17:56,539 we can, let's keep up the discussion about stock to flow. Comment below and brush your teeth. 231 00:17:56,599 --> 00:18:08,979 Yeah, I hope you, dear listener, aren't entirely confused about stock-to-flow, and I hope this isn't your first time encountering it, because if it is, well, good luck. Please comment, as Knut said, on what you think stock-to-flow actually means. 232 00:18:10,099 --> 00:18:11,119 Alright, continuing. 233 00:18:12,559 --> 00:18:14,519 Gresham's and Theer's Laws 234 00:18:14,519 --> 00:18:20,299 Gresham's law states that if there are two forms of commodity money in circulation, 235 00:18:20,679 --> 00:18:23,419 which are accepted by law and have similar face value, 236 00:18:23,899 --> 00:18:27,139 the more valuable commodity will gradually disappear from circulation. 237 00:18:27,999 --> 00:18:31,859 If we consider Bitcoin a commodity, it would gradually disappear, 238 00:18:32,459 --> 00:18:37,259 since its absolute scarcity would render Bitcoin the most valuable commodity in the world over time. 239 00:18:38,459 --> 00:18:43,639 Keep in mind that even if this happens and Bitcoin isn't ever used as money ever again, 240 00:18:43,639 --> 00:18:50,879 its value can still go up indefinitely. There is, however, a sort of counter-theory to Gresham's law. 241 00:18:51,759 --> 00:18:57,459 Theer's law shows that in the absence of effective legal tender laws, Gresham's law works in reverse. 242 00:18:58,179 --> 00:19:02,639 If given the choice of what money to accept, people will transact with the type of money they 243 00:19:02,639 --> 00:19:08,479 believe to be the highest long-term value. However, if not given the choice and required 244 00:19:08,479 --> 00:19:13,579 to accept all money, good and bad, they will tend to keep the money of greater perceived value 245 00:19:13,579 --> 00:19:16,739 in their possession and pass on the bad money to someone else. 246 00:19:17,459 --> 00:19:18,059 All right. 247 00:19:18,639 --> 00:19:19,719 These are a bit confusing. 248 00:19:19,959 --> 00:19:21,359 So do you want to explain this further? 249 00:19:22,539 --> 00:19:23,019 Yeah. 250 00:19:23,159 --> 00:19:28,259 So if there's a good money and a bad money, people will tend to use the bad money first 251 00:19:28,259 --> 00:19:31,179 because it's not as valuable to them over time. 252 00:19:31,179 --> 00:19:38,819 Which is why most Bitcoiners prefer to spend fiat over Bitcoin if given the choice. 253 00:19:38,819 --> 00:19:44,279 this is also why it's so important to accept Bitcoin for your goods and services 254 00:19:44,279 --> 00:19:48,079 and if not being Bitcoin only 255 00:19:48,079 --> 00:19:51,559 at least give people some kind of a discount for using Bitcoin 256 00:19:51,559 --> 00:19:53,979 so that you incentivize them to do so 257 00:19:53,979 --> 00:19:58,399 otherwise it's likely that people will want to use fiat instead 258 00:19:58,399 --> 00:20:04,119 since holding on to the fiat is less good for them in the long run 259 00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:07,099 a complicated way of saying the same thing 260 00:20:07,099 --> 00:20:09,879 But yeah, they're very connected, these two laws. 261 00:20:10,639 --> 00:20:10,999 Definitely. 262 00:20:11,319 --> 00:20:13,899 And it's subtle, right? 263 00:20:14,079 --> 00:20:18,819 And it also doesn't seem like it's playing out exactly as predicted either. 264 00:20:18,899 --> 00:20:19,779 Bitcoiners are weird. 265 00:20:19,899 --> 00:20:23,319 Bitcoiners go and pay with Bitcoin anyway. 266 00:20:23,579 --> 00:20:29,159 There's a subset of Bitcoiners that say, why would I pay with Bitcoin if I could just pay 267 00:20:29,159 --> 00:20:29,539 with fiat? 268 00:20:29,639 --> 00:20:32,559 And they're basically doing exactly what the law is. 269 00:20:32,779 --> 00:20:35,439 But then my response always is spend and replace. 270 00:20:35,439 --> 00:20:41,299 like use your bitcoin and then go acquire more like that's yeah that's that's the idea you if 271 00:20:41,299 --> 00:20:47,199 you have both fiat and bitcoin instead of paying with fiat you could spend the bitcoin and buy 272 00:20:47,199 --> 00:20:52,599 bitcoin with that fiat instead it's the same exact outcome except bitcoin has moved into new hands 273 00:20:52,599 --> 00:20:57,759 potentially actually new hands right increasing adoption etc etc so the benefits of spend and 274 00:20:57,759 --> 00:21:03,359 replace are extremely high and i think many bitcoiners grok that yeah absolutely uh then 275 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:09,499 And again, this whole velocity of money thing is a very confusing thing because it's a Keynesian idea to begin with. 276 00:21:09,919 --> 00:21:12,619 Don't let anyone ever tell you when to spend your Bitcoin. 277 00:21:12,619 --> 00:21:19,519 If you choose to hodl them for five generations and let your grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grandchildren spend them, good for you. 278 00:21:19,859 --> 00:21:21,639 It's not up to anyone else. 279 00:21:21,639 --> 00:21:30,259 so I don't necessarily think you can draw any conclusion about the conclusions about 280 00:21:30,259 --> 00:21:36,759 bitcoin's success as a medium of change from just looking at on-chain how many on-chain 281 00:21:36,759 --> 00:21:41,579 transactions there are first of all we have the lightning network and liquid and other stuff that 282 00:21:41,579 --> 00:21:48,299 people can use instead of using on-chain sats and also who am I to tell anyone what kind of 283 00:21:48,299 --> 00:21:54,739 time preference they ought to have. Yeah, definitely. I think all we can say in a slightly 284 00:21:54,739 --> 00:22:01,339 more kind of encouraging manner is that by spending your Bitcoin, necessarily there has to be a 285 00:22:01,339 --> 00:22:06,119 second hand to that transaction, right? A second side. So that increases merchant adoption or 286 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:12,619 encourages merchant adoption, which is a potential way of increasing the likelihood that people will 287 00:22:12,619 --> 00:22:18,219 adopt bitcoin themselves so there are network effects that are encouraged by spending your 288 00:22:18,219 --> 00:22:25,559 bitcoin basically yep um yes and if you look at the markets for if you look at fiat versus gold 289 00:22:25,559 --> 00:22:32,599 then you have like the entire market for store of value in a commodity and the entire well not the 290 00:22:32,599 --> 00:22:38,259 entire one but the one for gold if you look at precious metals and fiat let's say that so so you 291 00:22:38,259 --> 00:22:42,679 have commodities here and this this bucket and then you have medium exchange which is actually 292 00:22:42,679 --> 00:22:49,899 a way bigger bucket so and we want bitcoin bitcoin is both so we want it to to overtake 293 00:22:49,899 --> 00:22:56,779 both markets eventually very good great concepts hopefully they're somewhat more clear now 294 00:22:56,779 --> 00:23:06,019 the cantillon effect and wtf happened in 1971 as described earlier richard cantillon noticed 295 00:23:06,019 --> 00:23:10,979 that original recipients of new money enjoy higher standards of living at the expense of 296 00:23:10,979 --> 00:23:16,219 later recipients. The concept of relative inflation, a disproportionate rise in prices 297 00:23:16,219 --> 00:23:21,719 among different goods in an economy, is known as the Cantillon effect. Inflation is the main 298 00:23:21,719 --> 00:23:25,359 mechanism that funnels wealth into the pockets of the elite and away from everyone else. 299 00:23:26,099 --> 00:23:29,399 The further you are from the new money created, the more you pay. 300 00:23:30,439 --> 00:23:34,999 When President Nixon practically legalized counterfeiting in 1971 by abandoning the 301 00:23:34,999 --> 00:23:40,059 gold standard entirely, he gave the US the ability to literally trade worthless green 302 00:23:40,059 --> 00:23:44,279 paper for real commodities, and everyone on earth is still falling for it today. 303 00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:49,459 Many citizens of the United States became very rich in the process because of the Cantillon 304 00:23:49,459 --> 00:23:53,559 effect and were thus less likely to turn against this monetary policy. 305 00:23:54,059 --> 00:23:58,499 Yeah, that's a great point at the end there, that Americans have been the beneficiaries 306 00:23:58,499 --> 00:24:00,599 really of this global Cantillon effect. 307 00:24:00,599 --> 00:24:16,439 Yeah, as shown very clearly the last decade where the average American is now twice more richer than the average European than they were 10 years ago. 308 00:24:17,039 --> 00:24:19,499 Basically all because of the Cantillon effect. 309 00:24:20,239 --> 00:24:25,699 This is also fleshed out further in chapter 5 of this book, I believe. 310 00:24:26,079 --> 00:24:27,639 A Tale of Two Richards. 311 00:24:27,639 --> 00:24:29,679 So we've already talked about it there. 312 00:24:29,679 --> 00:24:33,119 So go back to that chapter if you want to know more about this. 313 00:24:33,639 --> 00:24:34,279 Perfect. 314 00:24:35,859 --> 00:24:37,379 Zero marginal cost. 315 00:24:38,579 --> 00:24:46,799 As Jeremy Rifkin argues in his book Named After the Phenomenon, most goods and services in the world are approaching a zero marginal cost. 316 00:24:47,799 --> 00:24:58,779 Intense global competition forces entrepreneurs to introduce ever more efficient technologies, accelerating productivity to the point where the marginal cost of production approaches zero, making goods and services almost free. 317 00:24:59,659 --> 00:25:03,259 We're in an era in which consumers are transforming into prosumers. 318 00:25:04,099 --> 00:25:10,279 Anyone can create music, art, videos, and books and distribute them to the world via the internet for almost no cost at all. 319 00:25:11,299 --> 00:25:14,559 This book and its predecessor are great examples of this. 320 00:25:15,199 --> 00:25:20,039 They're printed only whenever so demanded by a new customer and marketed solely by social media. 321 00:25:20,599 --> 00:25:26,039 I didn't spend a single penny creating these books except for what I paid for the electricity and the internet connection. 322 00:25:26,039 --> 00:25:34,499 In a world that has been so optimized by global capitalism that everything is nearly free to produce, all prices ought to reflect this phenomenon. 323 00:25:35,319 --> 00:25:36,999 Still, prices go up. 324 00:25:37,499 --> 00:25:44,279 The only thing hindering us from reaping the true fruits of our massive global collaborative efforts is our lack of sound, non-inflationary money. 325 00:25:44,859 --> 00:25:49,799 In a sound money economy, prices would go down, not up, over time. 326 00:25:50,519 --> 00:25:51,679 The Price of Tomorrow 327 00:25:51,679 --> 00:25:57,759 exactly this is jeff booth's the price of tomorrow boiled down to one single paragraph 328 00:25:57,759 --> 00:26:04,479 prices ought to go down and not up and we talk about this all the time people think that uh if 329 00:26:04,479 --> 00:26:12,359 prices were stable uh everything would be okay but in fact uh stable prices stable even stable 330 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:19,239 prices requires a shit ton of money printing and what ought to happen is prices dropping all the 331 00:26:19,239 --> 00:26:26,039 time to truly reflect the the zero marginal cost uh that were that all prices are approaching 332 00:26:26,039 --> 00:26:33,839 manufacturing and uh it's it's it's what we wrote about in clown world back again to if humans 333 00:26:33,839 --> 00:26:39,299 practice doing things then uh they get better at the thing they're practicing so all prices ought 334 00:26:39,299 --> 00:26:47,099 to go down uh manufacturing and transporting almost everything is all of those prices are 335 00:26:47,099 --> 00:26:52,399 dropping to zero or not well denominated in bitcoin all those costs are falling to zero 336 00:26:52,399 --> 00:26:58,359 is the correct term because a cost is not a price a cost is what what it actually takes 337 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:04,299 in in terms of human effort to do these things and that is dropping constantly so all prices 338 00:27:04,299 --> 00:27:10,679 ought to be falling yes absolutely and the zero marginal cost point i think is also important 339 00:27:10,679 --> 00:27:16,419 here because it really is that the innovation and competition is driving everything down down down 340 00:27:16,419 --> 00:27:23,099 down down yeah and and in in a world where the economy has tried to get planned and and like 341 00:27:23,099 --> 00:27:30,599 let's let's uh let's incentivize certain things by raising taxes on suites or whatever and and uh 342 00:27:30,599 --> 00:27:35,939 change human behavior this way it all gets distorted right and so we we basically have 343 00:27:35,939 --> 00:27:41,259 been losing these benefits of zero marginal cost by things like vat and and and all of these other 344 00:27:41,259 --> 00:27:55,078 taxes that just distort the market basically And so we lose the exponential growth function to the downside right We lose the benefits of things costing less and less and less 345 00:27:55,078 --> 00:27:58,218 by them being inflated by basically all of these distortionary policies. 346 00:27:58,918 --> 00:27:59,358 Absolutely. 347 00:27:59,358 --> 00:28:04,838 And even though we do, the market is so strong 348 00:28:04,838 --> 00:28:07,518 so that it pushes things in a good direction anyway. 349 00:28:07,678 --> 00:28:10,799 And we do see some exponential effects. 350 00:28:10,799 --> 00:28:13,138 like AI for instance has made 351 00:28:13,138 --> 00:28:14,738 almost everything 352 00:28:14,738 --> 00:28:17,138 so much easier 353 00:28:17,138 --> 00:28:18,878 and faster and therefore 354 00:28:18,878 --> 00:28:20,338 less costly to produce 355 00:28:20,338 --> 00:28:23,378 the amount 356 00:28:23,378 --> 00:28:25,078 of time it takes to produce a book 357 00:28:25,078 --> 00:28:26,039 now is 358 00:28:26,039 --> 00:28:29,218 like half of what it was last year 359 00:28:29,218 --> 00:28:30,918 and one year from now 360 00:28:30,918 --> 00:28:32,559 it will probably be half of that 361 00:28:32,559 --> 00:28:34,438 so there are still exponential effects 362 00:28:34,438 --> 00:28:37,319 if you put things under a microscope 363 00:28:37,319 --> 00:28:39,698 yeah no 364 00:28:39,698 --> 00:28:42,698 also important to remember 365 00:28:42,698 --> 00:28:45,418 costs can never be 366 00:28:45,418 --> 00:28:49,158 can never be zero entirely 367 00:28:49,158 --> 00:28:51,338 they can just approach zero 368 00:28:51,338 --> 00:28:54,658 so it's forever approaching zero 369 00:28:54,658 --> 00:28:56,258 but it never reaches zero 370 00:28:56,258 --> 00:28:58,819 there's always 371 00:28:58,819 --> 00:29:00,638 in delivering a good 372 00:29:00,638 --> 00:29:02,778 there's always at least a time cost 373 00:29:02,778 --> 00:29:03,539 in doing so 374 00:29:03,539 --> 00:29:05,218 very good 375 00:29:05,218 --> 00:29:10,918 nothing is free no free lunch no free lunch and no second breakfast 376 00:29:10,918 --> 00:29:16,178 all right moving on the first law of thermodynamics 377 00:29:16,178 --> 00:29:23,018 the first law of thermodynamics also known as the law of conservation of energy states that energy 378 00:29:23,018 --> 00:29:28,918 cannot be created or destroyed in an isolated system bitcoin can express how much energy that 379 00:29:28,918 --> 00:29:34,559 was sacrificed in order to acquire a share of a limited supply you can of course also acquire 380 00:29:34,559 --> 00:29:40,338 Bitcoin by buying it rather than mining it, but in doing so you also spend energy. You somehow 381 00:29:40,338 --> 00:29:44,698 acquired the money you bought the Bitcoin with and that somehow came to be because someone 382 00:29:44,698 --> 00:29:50,539 sacrificed time and energy somewhere else. Bitcoin lets you express that you see that 383 00:29:50,539 --> 00:29:55,318 there's a connection between value and scarcity by sacrificing effort or labor to be a part of the 384 00:29:55,318 --> 00:30:00,978 network. The value of the total amount of sacrificed labor cannot leave the isolated system. 385 00:30:00,978 --> 00:30:07,018 time. Therefore, theoretically, the total value of the network cannot decrease over time, 386 00:30:07,018 --> 00:30:10,938 even if the price does. Interesting. Do you want to explain that further? 387 00:30:10,938 --> 00:30:17,718 No, I want to deny it. This is one of the theories that I had back then that is has 388 00:30:17,718 --> 00:30:26,278 no grounding in reality. Simply because value is subjective and dynamic. And you cannot merge 389 00:30:26,278 --> 00:30:33,878 physics and praxeology in this way so i'd i'd like to maybe we should put a footnote under this in the 390 00:30:34,838 --> 00:30:40,758 if there's ever a next edition of this book because this is not how energy works and this 391 00:30:40,758 --> 00:30:48,598 is not how human beings work so so i'd like to uh apologize for being an idiot and cancel this 392 00:30:48,598 --> 00:30:56,118 entire paragraph all right cool nothing more to say then the price of money and the prices 393 00:30:56,118 --> 00:31:01,799 of everything else. This is the sort of embryo of a theory I came up with while writing this book. 394 00:31:02,299 --> 00:31:06,218 It's just a thought at this point in time, but well worth mentioning while explaining money in 395 00:31:06,218 --> 00:31:11,658 general, and Bitcoin in particular, to someone else. The theory goes something like this. 396 00:31:12,578 --> 00:31:16,358 The lower the cost of money production, the higher the prices of everything else, 397 00:31:16,458 --> 00:31:22,118 and vice versa. In today's society, money is almost the cheapest commodity to produce in the 398 00:31:22,118 --> 00:31:25,738 world. Phenomena such as negative interest rates are a testament to this. 399 00:31:26,118 --> 00:31:35,938 The only things that become cheaper over time in an ever-increasingly inflationary economy are those that become cheaper to produce at a rate faster than that of the monetary debasement. 400 00:31:36,539 --> 00:31:42,838 If money, on the other hand, was the most expensive commodity to produce, everything else would be cheaper in comparison to it. 401 00:31:43,578 --> 00:31:44,278 More for less. 402 00:31:45,018 --> 00:31:55,818 In a sound money economy, the market economy would function several orders of magnitude better than it does now because it would disincentivize frivolous spending and promote long-term investment instead. 403 00:31:56,118 --> 00:32:02,818 all right what do you think of this theory now i think it 100 holds true 404 00:32:02,818 --> 00:32:10,098 and it's it's fun when we edit when we re-edited this book we uh you told me that it was very 405 00:32:10,098 --> 00:32:15,018 similar to the price of tomorrow or a lot and you said like this is all jeff and stuff 406 00:32:15,018 --> 00:32:21,218 but you hadn't realized that this was published before price of tomorrow so maybe the inspiration 407 00:32:21,218 --> 00:32:22,198 was the other way around. 408 00:32:22,498 --> 00:32:25,178 I don't think that Jeff actually read this book 409 00:32:25,178 --> 00:32:26,958 before he wrote The Price of Tomorrow, 410 00:32:27,559 --> 00:32:30,598 but we became very good friends 411 00:32:30,598 --> 00:32:33,039 because we think in similar ways 412 00:32:33,039 --> 00:32:35,098 and came to the same conclusions here. 413 00:32:35,578 --> 00:32:40,059 And I think this is yet another TLDR on Jeff's book. 414 00:32:40,138 --> 00:32:42,118 I still think you should read Jeff's book 415 00:32:42,118 --> 00:32:44,898 because it's got way more points to it 416 00:32:44,898 --> 00:32:46,338 than just these two paragraphs. 417 00:32:47,178 --> 00:32:49,258 But if you like this kind of thinking, 418 00:32:49,258 --> 00:32:54,898 That's a highly recommended book that explains all of these things further. 419 00:32:55,318 --> 00:32:58,258 But this is not really my... 420 00:32:58,938 --> 00:33:02,299 I mean, I may have had this idea when writing this book, 421 00:33:02,518 --> 00:33:10,518 but Rothbard and Mises wrote endless paragraphs about this phenomenon. 422 00:33:11,258 --> 00:33:13,598 There's even a Rothbard article where he explains 423 00:33:13,598 --> 00:33:22,158 how one single monetary unit would be uh could fuel the entire world economy given that it was 424 00:33:22,158 --> 00:33:27,318 divisible enough so the the notion of having to increase the money supply is simply wrong 425 00:33:27,318 --> 00:33:34,559 and has negative effects the in fact if the money supply is limited prices fall 426 00:33:34,559 --> 00:33:38,778 which is what they ought to do that's the true nature of the free market 427 00:33:38,778 --> 00:33:46,818 yeah it's i don't have a ton to add here except it's just it's just funny how this is so completely 428 00:33:46,818 --> 00:33:53,039 gotten wrong uh i mean the opposite idea is basically that we need inflation in order to 429 00:33:53,039 --> 00:33:58,438 incentivize people to spend which is the velocity of money thing and and is probably the cause of 430 00:33:58,438 --> 00:34:03,098 most of the consumerism in the world which is definitely a definitely a negative and it's it's 431 00:34:03,098 --> 00:34:09,078 just crazy to me that that it's not better understood that this is the problem and everything 432 00:34:09,078 --> 00:34:16,598 is exactly backwards at the moment yeah saving is what allows you to set aside time to build things 433 00:34:16,598 --> 00:34:23,238 that can make you be more productive in the future like robinson crusoe uh setting aside 434 00:34:23,238 --> 00:34:29,618 time to construct a fishing net rather than catching fish with his bare hands so the velocity 435 00:34:29,618 --> 00:34:35,979 of money is if money has a high velocity is actually acting in the actual in the exact 436 00:34:35,979 --> 00:34:42,118 opposite direction of that disincentivizing people from from saving which is civilization 437 00:34:42,118 --> 00:34:49,439 saving resources and deferring consumption for later use is what makes us civilized it's also 438 00:34:49,439 --> 00:34:59,598 what makes colder countries more technologically advanced because we people we as in people who grew 439 00:34:59,598 --> 00:35:09,678 up in colder countries had to stockpile food and wood and stuff for the winter making us forced to 440 00:35:09,678 --> 00:35:15,678 implement a lower time preference and therefore we got more technologically advanced faster 441 00:35:15,678 --> 00:35:20,678 Absolutely. Yeah, nothing more to add here. I think we should just continue. 442 00:35:21,459 --> 00:35:21,999 Sure. 443 00:35:23,019 --> 00:35:28,419 Metcalfe's Law. Metcalfe's Law states that the effect of a telecommunications network, 444 00:35:28,578 --> 00:35:33,419 and therefore also its value, is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of 445 00:35:33,419 --> 00:35:39,919 the system. A single telephone is useless, but the value of every telephone increases exponentially 446 00:35:39,919 --> 00:35:44,019 with the total number of telephones in the network, because the total number of people 447 00:35:44,019 --> 00:35:47,038 with whom each user can call and receive calls increases. 448 00:35:48,158 --> 00:35:50,758 Imagine this law's impact on Bitcoin's value, 449 00:35:51,158 --> 00:35:53,698 where expressing value is the sole purpose of the network, 450 00:35:54,218 --> 00:35:58,198 and where this is achieved through dividing a fixed number among the users. 451 00:35:58,919 --> 00:36:01,898 To say that the thought is mind-blowing would be an understatement. 452 00:36:02,818 --> 00:36:04,358 All right, Metcalfe's law. 453 00:36:04,919 --> 00:36:10,459 Yes, this has little to no effect on Bitcoin as a store of value, 454 00:36:10,758 --> 00:36:12,178 or a medium of exchange over time, 455 00:36:12,178 --> 00:36:19,039 but as a medium exchange over space this is absolutely true the the more things you can 456 00:36:19,039 --> 00:36:25,298 spend your bitcoin on in other words the more big people that accept bitcoin the more powerful it 457 00:36:25,298 --> 00:36:34,238 becomes as a medium of exchange uh which is just uh and as we said before that that the demand for 458 00:36:34,238 --> 00:36:42,358 it as such has so much potential in the future because almost no one accepts bitcoin except for 459 00:36:42,358 --> 00:36:50,939 very local communities like el santa and madeira and prague and stuff but we are everywhere and we 460 00:36:50,939 --> 00:37:00,499 are growing everywhere so i'm just stoked by how much potential value there is in in simply the 461 00:37:00,499 --> 00:37:06,718 communications network growing because it is a communications network where it's just a tool to 462 00:37:06,718 --> 00:37:13,618 communicate appreciation for one another prices signaling value not measuring value that's what 463 00:37:13,618 --> 00:37:19,238 it is so it's it's definitely a communications network in even a language if you will 464 00:37:19,238 --> 00:37:25,959 yeah i i really find this interesting and it's it's uh also a bit of a funny 465 00:37:25,959 --> 00:37:32,778 thing. This feeds into the power law idea. I hate to bring it up and give it time, 466 00:37:32,778 --> 00:37:38,479 but the whole idea of this power law thing is that it mirrors how those sorts of networks 467 00:37:38,479 --> 00:37:46,919 grow. And it's an observational theory, sort of. And who knows? I'm not a proponent of it, 468 00:37:46,979 --> 00:37:53,019 but it is interesting to make the comparison that Metcalfe's law applies. And then potentially 469 00:37:53,019 --> 00:37:58,218 it follows an adoption curve that is similar to that. That's the only observation I have. I don't 470 00:37:58,218 --> 00:38:04,439 think the power law is actually true because of the number go up phenomenon and etc. But it's 471 00:38:04,439 --> 00:38:10,198 interesting that things have played out similarly. Absolutely. I don't believe in the power law 472 00:38:10,198 --> 00:38:17,778 either. But I think one should expect that exponential growth is more likely than linear 473 00:38:17,778 --> 00:38:24,439 growth when it comes to Bitcoin because of because of Matt Coleslaw. Perfect. The Byzantine 474 00:38:24,439 --> 00:38:30,738 General's Problem. The Byzantine General's Problem describes the condition of a computer system, 475 00:38:31,118 --> 00:38:36,738 distributed computing systems in particular, where components may fail. And there is imperfect 476 00:38:36,738 --> 00:38:42,398 information on whether a component has failed. Imagine that several divisions of the Byzantine 477 00:38:42,398 --> 00:38:48,138 army are camped outside an enemy city, each division commanded by its own general. The 478 00:38:48,138 --> 00:38:53,959 generals can communicate with one another only by messenger. After observing the enemy, they must 479 00:38:53,959 --> 00:38:59,378 decide upon a common plan of action. A trader among the ranks could deliver false information 480 00:38:59,378 --> 00:39:05,419 and prevent the group from reaching consensus. The generals must, therefore, develop an algorithm 481 00:39:05,419 --> 00:39:10,398 to guarantee that all loyal generals decide upon the same plan of action and that a small number 482 00:39:10,398 --> 00:39:16,398 of traitors cannot cause the loyal generals to adopt a bad plan. Now, think of a traitor as a 483 00:39:16,398 --> 00:39:20,678 malicious party within a distributed ledger that aims to facilitate fraudulent transactions. 484 00:39:21,678 --> 00:39:25,738 In accordance with Metcalfe's law, as the number of parties in the system increases, 485 00:39:26,318 --> 00:39:30,838 the number of channels for communication increases exponentially. Each communication 486 00:39:30,838 --> 00:39:36,398 channel could be used to carry false information. Imagine the complexity of building consensus in a 487 00:39:36,398 --> 00:39:41,258 truly decentralized system with thousands or millions of parties involved. This is the main 488 00:39:41,258 --> 00:39:46,078 computer science problem that Bitcoin solved by aligning participants' incentives in such a way 489 00:39:46,078 --> 00:39:51,798 that cheating becomes very risky and expensive. All right, the Byzantine Generals problem. This 490 00:39:51,798 --> 00:39:56,919 really described the problem and not how it was solved exactly, but yeah, do you want to comment? 491 00:39:57,578 --> 00:40:06,298 Yeah, it basically solves it by making it extremely expensive to go against 492 00:40:06,298 --> 00:40:08,499 the common will of the network. 493 00:40:10,618 --> 00:40:14,238 So that's the way it solves it, through proof of work. 494 00:40:15,499 --> 00:40:20,178 But here's, yeah, this is interesting because we've both been tweeting 495 00:40:20,178 --> 00:40:25,298 vehemently about this the last couple of days here after the CAT proposal 496 00:40:25,298 --> 00:40:30,238 and how this is actually playing out in reality and whether it has to do with 497 00:40:30,238 --> 00:40:38,258 the code or with the bitcoin's users actually choosing to do one thing over another and it's 498 00:40:38,258 --> 00:40:45,058 very interesting i think and uh yeah i'm gonna eat my metaphorical popcorn here seeing how this 499 00:40:45,058 --> 00:40:52,939 whole thing plays out it's going to be very interesting uh yeah but it's also like the um 500 00:40:52,939 --> 00:41:03,499 When you take Metcalf's law into account, you can also see why it's so hard to filter out spam from the network. 501 00:41:03,499 --> 00:41:12,858 because even if 90% of the nodes do not relay the spam, 502 00:41:13,238 --> 00:41:14,578 the spammy transactions, 503 00:41:15,479 --> 00:41:18,959 the remaining 10% is still so big, 504 00:41:19,098 --> 00:41:23,959 so the spam will find its way to a miner anyway. 505 00:41:25,419 --> 00:41:27,158 And therein lies the problem. 506 00:41:27,158 --> 00:41:31,039 So the strength of the network lies in that, 507 00:41:31,039 --> 00:41:48,778 and also potential problems if you see spam as a problem which you should should but anyway uh there there a lot to be double clicked on here but yeah uh i i think we should move on yeah i only briefly 508 00:41:48,778 --> 00:41:53,538 comment that i first ran into the byzantine generals problem when i was studying computer 509 00:41:53,538 --> 00:42:01,698 science in university and this this would have been about 2012 or 2013 i think and uh and so 510 00:42:01,698 --> 00:42:06,477 So obviously Bitcoin was a thing, but the thing was my professor didn't think the Byzantine 511 00:42:06,477 --> 00:42:08,438 general's problem had been solved yet. 512 00:42:08,877 --> 00:42:12,877 And the funny thing was, like the reason for this was because it's not solved mathematically. 513 00:42:12,877 --> 00:42:17,738 It's just solved in this kind of theoretical way that the proof of work makes it so that 514 00:42:17,738 --> 00:42:21,538 the Byzantine general makes it so that the problem is irrelevant, basically. 515 00:42:21,798 --> 00:42:26,198 But I think what we're seeing here in the modern day is that you can still have bad 516 00:42:26,198 --> 00:42:32,337 actors, not acting in the same towards the same goals as the rest of the network, or at least 517 00:42:32,337 --> 00:42:39,357 I'll hedge it slightly, that that use the network in their own way. And and so the proof of work 518 00:42:39,357 --> 00:42:47,617 doesn't necessarily solve this thing 100 percent. It solves it mostly. And this is this is all to 519 00:42:47,617 --> 00:42:52,637 say I don't really want to muddle this entirely. The Byzantines generals problem was solved by 520 00:42:52,637 --> 00:43:01,177 Bitcoin, but it is solved in an imperfect way and not in a mathematically provable way. 521 00:43:01,377 --> 00:43:05,058 So maybe my professor had a point all along. 522 00:43:05,977 --> 00:43:12,177 Yeah, it's very interesting because I don't think it can be solved mathematically. 523 00:43:12,498 --> 00:43:15,477 And I think that's the point the professor tried to make. 524 00:43:15,477 --> 00:43:21,738 And if you see the world solely through a mathematical lens, then this might be an unsolvable 525 00:43:21,738 --> 00:43:22,398 problem. 526 00:43:22,637 --> 00:43:38,818 And this is the important part about how Bitcoin solves it, is that proof of work is just the tool the network uses to make it work. 527 00:43:38,818 --> 00:43:41,538 but the network can change 528 00:43:41,538 --> 00:43:44,398 and the users can change their minds 529 00:43:44,398 --> 00:43:47,357 and change the code 530 00:43:47,357 --> 00:43:49,857 into another set of rules 531 00:43:49,857 --> 00:43:54,198 that the proof of work will help us enforce 532 00:43:54,198 --> 00:43:57,677 so Bitcoin is still dynamic 533 00:43:57,677 --> 00:43:58,898 and can never ossify 534 00:43:58,898 --> 00:44:01,977 sure it doesn't change unless all of us want it to change 535 00:44:01,977 --> 00:44:05,357 but that doesn't mean that it's set in stone 536 00:44:05,357 --> 00:44:07,957 if there's enough irritation 537 00:44:07,957 --> 00:44:10,617 because of some bad actor behavior, 538 00:44:11,278 --> 00:44:15,677 then enough of the network will want it to change to such an extent 539 00:44:15,677 --> 00:44:18,617 that the proof of work will enforce something else 540 00:44:18,617 --> 00:44:20,337 than what it's enforcing right now. 541 00:44:20,857 --> 00:44:26,038 And this is an idea I had in my head for the last couple of days 542 00:44:26,038 --> 00:44:28,177 because I think this is the crux of the problem 543 00:44:28,177 --> 00:44:31,637 with the so-called technical crowd of Bitcoin. 544 00:44:31,637 --> 00:44:34,558 If you see it as only as code, 545 00:44:34,558 --> 00:44:39,818 you miss the point that the code can change. 546 00:44:40,198 --> 00:44:43,238 Sure, it's hard to change it, but it can change, 547 00:44:43,357 --> 00:44:50,778 meaning that the code is only enforcing what we want it to enforce. 548 00:44:51,157 --> 00:44:54,218 It's not the code that sets the rules. 549 00:44:54,337 --> 00:44:56,018 It's the code that enforces the rules. 550 00:44:56,258 --> 00:44:59,698 But we're the ones setting what rules the code should enforce. 551 00:45:00,038 --> 00:45:02,518 So it's complex in that way. 552 00:45:02,518 --> 00:45:09,318 it's intricate and it's the the will of the individuals in the network and the will of the 553 00:45:09,318 --> 00:45:15,258 code if you will are intertwined but at the end of the day it's not backed by energy it's backed 554 00:45:15,258 --> 00:45:24,918 by human beings so it's not an immutable spreadsheet of data you know encrypted and 555 00:45:24,918 --> 00:45:31,318 and secured by energy like some technical bitcoins bitcoiners want to call it it's still 556 00:45:31,318 --> 00:45:40,318 at the end of the day backed by whatever human action happens in the background and 557 00:45:40,318 --> 00:45:48,877 whoever chooses to adopt these tools. Very good explanation. Now I think we're ready to move on. 558 00:45:49,258 --> 00:45:55,198 The Black Swan Theory. According to Wikipedia, a black swan event is an event that comes as a 559 00:45:55,198 --> 00:45:59,817 surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalized after the fact 560 00:45:59,817 --> 00:46:00,998 with the benefit of hindsight. 561 00:46:01,738 --> 00:46:05,078 The term was popularized by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. 562 00:46:05,877 --> 00:46:07,957 The discovery of Bitcoin was such an event. 563 00:46:08,677 --> 00:46:11,177 Almost no one believed that a currency native to the internet 564 00:46:11,177 --> 00:46:13,778 could ever be created due to the nature of data itself 565 00:46:13,778 --> 00:46:15,438 and its infinite replicability. 566 00:46:16,477 --> 00:46:18,337 We're still in Bitcoin's infancy, 567 00:46:18,518 --> 00:46:21,098 and most people are still reluctant to believe 568 00:46:21,098 --> 00:46:23,038 that the network will work long term. 569 00:46:24,177 --> 00:46:25,938 All right, the black swan effect. 570 00:46:25,938 --> 00:46:35,418 yeah a black swan event i i definitely think that bitcoin was a black swan event uh and 571 00:46:35,418 --> 00:46:42,418 an event meaning how it played out the first 10 years because it's not like an event like a specific 572 00:46:42,418 --> 00:46:50,218 point in time it's more like what bitcoin unfolded into uh the the the outcome of the block size wars 573 00:46:50,218 --> 00:46:51,258 and so on and so forth. 574 00:46:52,418 --> 00:46:54,598 Yeah, something can be mentioned about Taleb. 575 00:46:54,718 --> 00:46:57,018 He wrote The Black Swan, which is a very good book, 576 00:46:57,198 --> 00:47:00,957 and he wrote Skin in the Game, which is also a very good book. 577 00:47:01,738 --> 00:47:03,998 And then he wrote The Forward to the Bitcoin Standard. 578 00:47:04,218 --> 00:47:06,998 And after that, I think he bumped his head into something 579 00:47:06,998 --> 00:47:09,278 because he became a bit of a statist cuck 580 00:47:09,278 --> 00:47:15,477 and wore three masks at the same time during the retarded lockdowns, 581 00:47:15,558 --> 00:47:18,098 and now his Bitcoin takes are just retarded. 582 00:47:18,578 --> 00:47:19,758 Yes, totally agree. 583 00:47:20,218 --> 00:47:24,157 But that doesn't mean he didn't contribute to things in other ways. 584 00:47:24,457 --> 00:47:26,817 No, and this is actually a good point. 585 00:47:27,817 --> 00:47:38,238 Appreciating people's ideas is usually more constructive than appreciating their personality. 586 00:47:38,718 --> 00:47:42,038 That's why I don't care who Satoshi Nakamoto was, for instance. 587 00:47:42,038 --> 00:47:47,518 I don't care at all who that individual was. 588 00:47:47,518 --> 00:47:55,317 it was an individual that had a very good idea just like pythagoras i i don't know pythagoras 589 00:47:55,317 --> 00:48:02,957 personality either and uh you know uh the black swan events and skin in the game are two super 590 00:48:02,957 --> 00:48:10,498 good ideas regardless of what mr taleb did before or after he had those ideas or popularized them so 591 00:48:10,498 --> 00:48:17,157 yeah weigh the good against the bad and and judge ideas not people yes judge ideas not people 592 00:48:17,558 --> 00:48:17,857 Great. 593 00:48:18,898 --> 00:48:19,617 The Lindy effect. 594 00:48:20,098 --> 00:48:33,518 The Lindy effect is a theory that the future life expectancy of some non-perishable things like a technology or an idea is proportional to their current age, so that every additional period of survival implies a longer remaining life expectancy. 595 00:48:34,137 --> 00:48:38,977 The longer Bitcoin survives, the higher the probability that it will survive in the long term. 596 00:48:39,438 --> 00:48:39,998 Yep, that's it. 597 00:48:40,218 --> 00:48:40,817 The Lindy effect. 598 00:48:41,718 --> 00:48:43,578 Yeah, a pretty simple concept. 599 00:48:43,837 --> 00:48:45,798 I wouldn't say that it's a theory. 600 00:48:45,798 --> 00:48:53,038 it's more of an observed thing like uh an observation that people have made that that 601 00:48:53,038 --> 00:49:01,377 this is usually the case in when predicting longevity of an idea so if that observation 602 00:49:01,377 --> 00:49:10,457 is true for most things then bitcoin will uh is very likely to survive for at least 16 more years 603 00:49:10,457 --> 00:49:14,677 there's not much else to be said about it. 604 00:49:14,817 --> 00:49:18,477 I mean, this is also a thing that Taleb promoted. 605 00:49:18,718 --> 00:49:20,357 I think I read Skin in the Game 606 00:49:20,357 --> 00:49:24,038 pretty just before I wrote this book. 607 00:49:24,538 --> 00:49:27,177 So maybe that's why there's a bit of Taleb in it. 608 00:49:27,977 --> 00:49:31,038 Yeah, well, keeping Bitcoin running 609 00:49:31,038 --> 00:49:33,677 and therefore increasing the odds 610 00:49:33,677 --> 00:49:34,798 that Bitcoin will keep running 611 00:49:34,798 --> 00:49:36,198 is I think very important. 612 00:49:36,357 --> 00:49:37,637 It's important to defend Bitcoin 613 00:49:37,637 --> 00:49:39,298 and keep it going. 614 00:49:39,298 --> 00:49:43,837 However, we all want to do it. So the Lindy effect, maybe we're all actually contributing 615 00:49:43,837 --> 00:49:48,538 to the Lindy effect in that way. That's, that's actually one point about Bitcoin's anti-fragility 616 00:49:48,538 --> 00:49:56,098 that, that sorry to, to, yeah, but Bitcoin's anti-fragility is all about humans actually 617 00:49:56,098 --> 00:50:02,758 working to keep it anti-fragile, right? Like it's not like Bitcoin, the system with zero action is 618 00:50:02,758 --> 00:50:08,398 ever going to be like, it's going to break eventually, but the anti-fragility is in the 619 00:50:08,398 --> 00:50:14,238 people in the system continuing to keep it running so yeah i think we're all contributing to the 620 00:50:14,238 --> 00:50:20,918 lindy effect that way yes and it gonna break eventually we'll see if that is uh when some 621 00:50:20,918 --> 00:50:27,518 human beings do something stupid or when the sun uh finally devours the earth and we've all we're 622 00:50:27,518 --> 00:50:37,298 on on a spaceship on our way to alpha kentauri we don't know that yet but uh um it certainly looks 623 00:50:37,298 --> 00:50:43,357 like it's gonna survive but once again backed by human action not energy absolutely all right 624 00:50:43,357 --> 00:50:52,758 roko's honey badger the concept of roko's baski the concept of roko's basilisk has been called 625 00:50:52,758 --> 00:50:59,778 the most dangerous thought ever imagined it describes a non it describes a non-existent 626 00:50:59,778 --> 00:51:04,157 artificial intelligence punishing everyone who didn't contribute to bringing about its eventual 627 00:51:04,157 --> 00:51:10,177 existence retroactively. Rational people would, therefore, help it come about just out of fear of 628 00:51:10,177 --> 00:51:14,977 what could potentially happen to them if they didn't, similar to why some people believe in 629 00:51:14,977 --> 00:51:21,157 God because of the supposed rationality described by Pascal's wager. Bitcoin could be said to be a 630 00:51:21,157 --> 00:51:27,817 sort of inverted Rocco's basilisk in a way, since not having any Bitcoin if, when, hyper-Bitcoinization 631 00:51:27,817 --> 00:51:33,157 happens will be at least indirectly punished as such an event would render those that do have 632 00:51:33,157 --> 00:51:39,538 Bitcoin richer than those who don't at a very fast pace. This only holds true if you think that 633 00:51:39,538 --> 00:51:44,798 relative wealth gaps are inherently important, though. As described in earlier chapters, 634 00:51:44,998 --> 00:51:50,477 wealth gaps are of little importance to Austrian economics. What's important is if you're better 635 00:51:50,477 --> 00:51:56,317 off than you have been historically, no matter what anyone else owns or earns. If you rethink 636 00:51:56,317 --> 00:52:02,738 this supposedly rationalistic phenomenon, you end up with Roko's honey badger instead. An entity 637 00:52:02,738 --> 00:52:04,877 that rewards those who help it come alive 638 00:52:04,877 --> 00:52:06,758 rather than punishing those who don't. 639 00:52:07,798 --> 00:52:10,778 And this is a fascinating, unique concept. 640 00:52:10,998 --> 00:52:12,657 I don't think anywhere else. 641 00:52:13,558 --> 00:52:15,857 You haven't heard of Roku's Basilisk before? 642 00:52:16,418 --> 00:52:17,398 No, the honey badger. 643 00:52:17,778 --> 00:52:18,477 Oh, the honey badger. 644 00:52:18,477 --> 00:52:21,778 No, that's inverting the idea 645 00:52:21,778 --> 00:52:25,677 and claiming that's something that would reward you, 646 00:52:26,457 --> 00:52:29,398 helping something that would reward you 647 00:52:29,398 --> 00:52:32,578 over and over again in ad infinitum in the future. 648 00:52:32,738 --> 00:52:34,798 would be a rational choice. 649 00:52:35,018 --> 00:52:39,218 So it's literally the same kind of thought process 650 00:52:39,218 --> 00:52:42,278 as the one surrounding Rocco's Basilisk. 651 00:52:42,598 --> 00:52:46,198 And I think this is what's going on. 652 00:52:47,058 --> 00:52:49,977 Funny thing about Pascal's wager there is, 653 00:52:50,498 --> 00:52:54,137 you know Pascal's wager, to explain that shortly, 654 00:52:54,457 --> 00:52:58,918 Pascal said that you might as well believe in God 655 00:52:58,918 --> 00:53:06,558 because if he exists, it will be the correct choice to have made 656 00:53:06,558 --> 00:53:09,798 when you eventually die because you'll end up in heaven instead of hell. 657 00:53:10,418 --> 00:53:16,778 So if you didn't believe in him, then that was the wrong choice to make. 658 00:53:17,018 --> 00:53:20,398 So by simply weighing one option against the other, 659 00:53:21,278 --> 00:53:23,457 the rational choice would be belief in God. 660 00:53:23,998 --> 00:53:28,657 The problem I have with Pascal's wager is it leaves out all the other 661 00:53:28,657 --> 00:53:35,977 5,000 deities and belief systems that humans have come up with over the years. 662 00:53:35,977 --> 00:53:41,738 So there's no way of knowing what God to believe in instead of any other God. 663 00:53:42,038 --> 00:53:49,018 Like reminds me of that South Park episode where everyone's in hell and Satan reveals 664 00:53:49,018 --> 00:53:53,058 that it was the Mormons that were right about everything and everything else led you to hell. 665 00:53:53,058 --> 00:53:59,038 But anyway, if by God you mean Bitcoin, Pascal's wager actually works. 666 00:53:59,418 --> 00:54:07,357 Because if you act as if Bitcoin exists, you actively help it come into being. 667 00:54:07,617 --> 00:54:15,637 So the more people that accept Bitcoin as a real thing, the realer it becomes. 668 00:54:15,877 --> 00:54:21,218 So Pascal's wager actually works on Bitcoin, if by God you mean Bitcoin. 669 00:54:21,218 --> 00:54:44,137 And I think that's super interesting. Sometimes it feels like Bitcoin is actively trying to push me to become religious, and I'm fiercely resisting it still, but it just keeps poking me about these strange phenomenon that are now totally applicable to this new mode of being. 670 00:54:44,977 --> 00:54:45,337 Absolutely. 671 00:54:45,758 --> 00:54:51,457 Yeah, no matter what, an interesting thought experiment, and I think one that holds, absolutely. 672 00:54:52,898 --> 00:54:54,657 Alright, last one. 673 00:54:55,758 --> 00:54:57,617 Mass adoption and exponential growth. 674 00:54:58,578 --> 00:55:00,398 So, where are we now? 675 00:55:00,998 --> 00:55:06,617 At the time of writing, it is estimated that around 1% of the world's population own some Bitcoin. 676 00:55:07,518 --> 00:55:12,938 During the first 11 years of Bitcoin's existence, the number of Bitcoin users worldwide has doubled every year, 677 00:55:12,938 --> 00:55:15,337 and even quadrupled during bull market years. 678 00:55:15,977 --> 00:55:18,337 As Albert Allen Bartlett said, 679 00:55:18,998 --> 00:55:21,117 the greatest shortcoming of the human race 680 00:55:21,117 --> 00:55:23,817 is our inability to understand the exponential function. 681 00:55:24,498 --> 00:55:27,877 At the same adoption rate as that which we have now, 682 00:55:28,377 --> 00:55:29,877 not taking bull runs into account, 683 00:55:30,278 --> 00:55:31,798 more than half the planet's population 684 00:55:31,798 --> 00:55:33,218 will own Bitcoin in less than 70%. 685 00:55:33,277 --> 00:55:40,737 years. 2% in the first year from now, 4% in the next, then 8, 16, 32, 64, and so on. 686 00:55:41,697 --> 00:55:47,837 So cut out the noise, buckle up and enjoy the ride. Bitcoin changes everything. Ignore it at 687 00:55:47,837 --> 00:55:55,477 your own peril. All right. So I think the exact rate of increase hasn't played out exactly as 688 00:55:55,477 --> 00:56:02,757 predicted. Yeah, maybe not in the short term, but if you zoom out, maybe it will. So I think it's 689 00:56:02,757 --> 00:56:04,997 too early to tell. 690 00:56:06,337 --> 00:56:07,197 That's the thing. 691 00:56:07,297 --> 00:56:08,957 We don't know what the 692 00:56:08,957 --> 00:56:10,957 scale looks like here. We don't know what the 693 00:56:10,957 --> 00:56:12,837 long-term graph looks like. 694 00:56:13,297 --> 00:56:14,497 And it might be 695 00:56:14,497 --> 00:56:16,837 J-shaped rather than 696 00:56:16,837 --> 00:56:18,937 most people 697 00:56:18,937 --> 00:56:20,677 think it will play out like this, 698 00:56:20,877 --> 00:56:22,937 like an ever-decreasing 699 00:56:23,477 --> 00:56:24,897 sloping curve, but 700 00:56:24,897 --> 00:56:26,757 that curve may be the other way around. 701 00:56:26,997 --> 00:56:28,937 And it depends on what time frame you're 702 00:56:28,937 --> 00:56:29,637 looking at this 703 00:56:29,637 --> 00:56:31,277 through. 704 00:56:31,277 --> 00:56:39,437 yeah I mean yeah if there's anything I could add to this book it's the word excelsior and an 705 00:56:39,437 --> 00:56:45,537 exclamation mark as an extra paragraph at the end there so ignore it at your own peril excelsior 706 00:56:45,537 --> 00:56:52,017 what do you think of that perfect perfect way to end it yeah and with that that has been 707 00:56:52,017 --> 00:56:58,757 independence reimagined we'll come back next week just for a last recap on everything uh but this 708 00:56:58,757 --> 00:57:04,557 has been it. So I think we'll round off first of all, just by mentioning our friends at Plan B 709 00:57:04,557 --> 00:57:09,877 Network. And there's something you can actually do now to get involved with them. You can take 710 00:57:09,877 --> 00:57:16,717 their courses, either the business course or the development course. And both are fantastic. You 711 00:57:16,717 --> 00:57:31,697 can use code infinity over there for a discount And you might get a chance to go attend their prestigious summer school in Lugano What do you think about that Knut It fantastic I had the joy of being there this summer 712 00:57:31,957 --> 00:57:34,737 and the plan is that I'll go back next summer 713 00:57:34,737 --> 00:57:37,557 to meet all the students and hang out with them 714 00:57:37,557 --> 00:57:40,877 and have interesting discussions with them the entire week. 715 00:57:41,577 --> 00:57:43,457 I absolutely love Lugano. 716 00:57:43,657 --> 00:57:45,577 I absolutely love the Plan B project, 717 00:57:46,177 --> 00:57:47,917 and I'm happy to be a part of it. 718 00:57:47,917 --> 00:57:50,117 we're also making my 719 00:57:50,117 --> 00:57:51,897 Praxeology book into a course 720 00:57:51,897 --> 00:57:54,137 so I will be in Logano 721 00:57:54,137 --> 00:57:55,617 giving lectures about that 722 00:57:55,617 --> 00:57:58,137 sometime during the spring 723 00:57:58,137 --> 00:58:00,137 of 2026 soon to be 724 00:58:00,137 --> 00:58:01,157 announced so 725 00:58:01,157 --> 00:58:03,937 yeah keep your eyes peeled and 726 00:58:03,937 --> 00:58:07,797 check out the Plan B network 727 00:58:07,797 --> 00:58:10,177 fantastic and also 728 00:58:10,177 --> 00:58:12,157 go check out Bitbox if you or 729 00:58:12,157 --> 00:58:14,217 a family member needs a hardware wallet 730 00:58:14,217 --> 00:58:16,297 most likely a family member 731 00:58:16,297 --> 00:58:22,257 considering you self-custody your Bitcoin in a hardware world already, dear listener, I assume. 732 00:58:22,797 --> 00:58:28,337 But yeah, the Bitbox is fantastic. They even right now have a little Christmas bundle going on. 733 00:58:28,397 --> 00:58:32,917 I don't know for how much longer or if it'll arrive in time, but go check it out. You can get 734 00:58:32,917 --> 00:58:41,237 the Bitbox Zero to Nova edition, plus a nice red knitted cap and a bunch of Christmas cards or 735 00:58:41,237 --> 00:58:45,817 something like that. So that's fantastic. I gave a few of those to some friends last year, actually. 736 00:58:45,817 --> 00:58:50,257 Not the Nova because it wasn't out yet, but the Zero2 Bitcoin-only firmware, of course. 737 00:58:51,297 --> 00:58:56,297 Yes, what the Japanese would call the Bitbox Christmas Abundaru. 738 00:58:57,797 --> 00:58:58,417 All right. 739 00:58:58,577 --> 00:59:01,237 I think with that, this has been the Bitcoin Infinity Academy. 740 00:59:01,837 --> 00:59:02,857 Thank you very much for listening. 741 00:59:03,677 --> 00:59:04,097 Bye-bye. 742 00:59:15,817 --> 00:59:45,797 Thank you.