I first heard of Bitcoin around the time it was first gaining steam, circa 2010ish. I guess due to certain circles where I spent my time and education, it was only natural that it would come up in conversation. While it remained mysterious, I was brave enough to invest a bit of my own USD into Bitcoin in the 2013 timeframe, and have kept up with it somewhat through the years.

What attracted me to the Bitcoin "craze" at that time was how people who's opinion I respect explained that it's not an investment opportunity - as most folks think of it today - but it actually mimics the most sound of forms of money in many ways.

Now with the recent revelations of the FTX scandal, Bitcoin is in the news more than ever. And while it's for all the wrong reasons, I wanted to bring on to the show someone who is informed on the right reasons to "invest" in Bitcoin. I use the quotes around the word invest because it's not a typical investment where you put a certain amount of government-issued currency then gain a return on it after a period of time. It's actually much more complex (or simple?) than that. Bitcoin is a means of exchange to pay for stuff that circumvents governments entirely.

Wesley Schlemmer of the Bitcoin Bay joins us on today's episode to explain the basics of Bitcoin, the Blockchain, the basics of sound money and more. While the fallout from the FTX misdeeds will be felt for some time, the upside is that Bitcoin is on people's minds, and we have an opportunity to learn about it, and learn how to do it the way the creators of Bitcoin intended it to be used in the first place!

In this episode, you'll discover:

-Wesley's personal background and becoming familiar with crypto...01:15

-Cypher Punks and a short history of Bitcoin (Hint: It's not an investment opportunity!)...03:45

-What is the Blockchain, and what is its relation to cryptocurrency?...14:15

-What is sound money, and what makes Bitcoin a sound form of exchange?...19:20

• Three primary characteristics

1. Medium of exchange
2. Store of value
3. Unit of account

• Qualities of sound money

1. Durable
2. Fuingle
3. Divisible
4. Portable
5. Scarce

-How Bitcoin promotes self-responsibility..27:00

-What the heck happened with FTX, and what can we learn from it?...31:00

-How to get into the Bitcoin game, and the proper reasons for doing so...37:38

Resources mentioned:

Bitcoin Bay website

Cypherpunk Manifesto

Info about blockchain wallets Wesley mentions

The Bitcoin Standard

Muun Bitcoin Wallets

Bisq

Terms mentioned:

Blockchain

Litecoin

Ethereum

Block Chimes

Cypher Punks

Panopticon

Difficulty of Adjustment

Privacy v. Secrecy

Hal Finney

Blocksize Wars

BTC Token v. Network

Unit of Account

SAT's (not a pre-college test)

Stock to Flow Ratio

Seed Phrase

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