B is for Bitcoin with Graeme Moore
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B is for Bitcoin with Graeme Moore
On this episode of Magic Internet Money, host Brad Mills invites children’s book author, Graeme Moore onto the show to discuss teaching kids about Bitcoin in his book, B is for Bitcoin. Graeme kicks things off explaining his start with Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and the ethics of it. Brad dissects and elaborates on why altcoins that aren’t Bitcoin are not currency. Finally, the two speculate on the potential regulations that could change cryptocurrency markets in North America.
Early Starts with Bitcoin
Brad starts the show asking Graeme how he got started with Bitcoin. Graeme mentions a few ethical reasons. The first being the fact that not everyone in the world has access to money, let alone a bank account. Bitcoin changes that and provides everybody an opportunity to hold currency, and even be their own bank. In addition to this ethical reason, Graeme cites scarcity and the tech lagging behind in the world of finance.
Citing his experience in finance, Graeme points out that much of the finance world is running on outdated tools that make it slow and cumbersome. The way he describes it, the field of finance is a bloated and outdated institution. Knock Bitcoin’s transaction rates all you want, it’s still better than 2 days waiting on paperwork from administrative departments from bank branches. In addition to this, Graeme offers a remark of staggering importance, “the last major financial innovation was credit cards in the 70’s”. What’s interesting about this remark, is that the credit card came out around the same time America dropped the gold standard. Which is both an interesting and convenient datapoint. Not that they are correlated, but it is certainly interesting that the field of finance changed to benefit a generation of baby boomers coming of age and the same thing is happening again, but for the millennial generation coming of age.
Coinbase and Predatory Exchanges
After the introductions, Brad discusses his dislike of Coinbase, which he claims “...are predatory speculators”. Brad cites a scenario that’s all too common with new Bitcoiners, it’s lengthy so I’ll paraphrase: A new Bitcoiner Googles “how to buy bitcoin” and is referred immediately to Coinbase, who shows them how to play at the crypto casino. But then they start making suggestions and offering advice to buy altcoins, which “totally have growth potential, trust me man I’m a currency exchange company I have no stake in this.” They know full well they’re gonna make all kinds of money on their exchange fees and market volatility. This is a good point to remind you to always do your research before buying cryptocurrency because you can get rekt.
Graeme takes the other side. That Coinbase has a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders to make money. His argument is that as a private company, people should expect that from them. To maximize their profit generating ability to deliver value to shareholders. I must agree with Brad about this. Large exchanges holding influence over cryptocurrency holders goes against much of the cypherpunk values that Bitcoin was founded on and I find those to be among the strongest cases of it’s value. Regardless of these two camps, I think it is undeniable that Coinbase is/was a necessary evil for Bitcoin in order to give newcomers easy access to a new financial system. For the time being, they’re very good at distributing Bitcoin, and that I think is a good thing.
B is for Bitcoin
As the podcast rolls on, the duo discuss how Graeme came up with his children’s book, B is for Bitcoin. Graeme recalls when he entered the cryptospace in 2014. He mentions thinking “this is the most amazing technology ever”. In a move to give back to the community, he decided to write a book. Starting off by writing each letter of the alphabet in his iPhone and then writing what that letter stood for. Years later, while working at Polymath a co-worker pushes him to write and publish the book.
Grame explains his reasoning. “The idea is, would you rather teach your kid A is apple, B is for ball or A is altcoin, B is for bitcoin?” This is, of course, brilliant. Brad jokes before he mentions this, to “get the propaganda in there early” but he’s exactly right. The earlier children are educated about Bitcoin and blockchain technologies, the sooner they can start innovating with them and making money. A major hurdle to Bitcoin is the digital literacy required to using it. While anyone can learn these skills and use these tools, it is much easier to do if you’re educated about it at a younger age. With demand for Bitcoin ballooning the way it is, the sooner we have a generation of Bitcoiners contributing to the blockchain, the better.
Timestamps
00:04:32 - Show start
00:07:19 - Graeme describes his start with Bitcoin, working in finance, and the clunky financial system
00:20:25 - Brad describes how companies and exchanges prey on new Bitcoiners
00:29:10 - Bitcoin under attack Brad and Graeme discuss the “currency wars” between nations and crypto
00:36:55 - Graeme mentions that few people think truly rationally and promotes understanding irrationality in economics
00:44:44 - Red Goldman-Sachs or Blue Goldman-Sachs: The danger of binary thinking
00:55:30 - The duo speculate on the direction of Ethereum and Bitcoin in the near future
01:12:07 - The dotcom bubble was ahead of its time. Companies that went out of businesses have their use cases working now.
01:17:55 - Brad explains to Graeme why altcoins aren’t a real currency and why Bitcoin is
01:30:15 - Brad and Graeme speculate on the future of altcoins and how crypto will be regulated in North America
01:43:19 - Brad mentions buying Graeme’s book for his nephew and Graeme describes his inspiration for it
01:48:25 - The two share a brief conversation about TikTok and viral media
01:50:25 - Brad recalls Youtubers like PewDiePie being in favor of cryptocurrency, and speculates on the value of influencers
02:00:12 - The two discuss Graeme’s time working at Polymath and how Bitcoin related to altcoins
02:14:15 - Graeme offers some use cases for security tokens based on his time working at Polymath
02:29:10 - Brad mentions the Crypto Rating Council and his thoughts on regulators changing the landscape of Bitcoin
02:33:55 - Closing remarks and social media plugs
Podcast Mentions
Reminiscence of a Stock Operator