OPINIONATED: The Heretic’s Guide to Bitcoin Debating, Feat. Brett Scott

02/28/21 • 22 min

This week on the Opinionated podcast we’re joined by Brett Scott, the author of “The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money.”

Scott is a former derivatives broker who became a financial market reformer in the wake of the 2007-2008 crisis.

Many such reformers became big fans of Bitcoin. But Scott’s views on cryptocurrency are mixed and nuanced. He appreciates some aspects of the technology, but also criticizes people in the space for over-indulging certain arguments about it.

As he wrote recently in our op-ed pages, Scott believes that Bitcoin advocates often conflate points of attack that don’t belong together, namely that bitcoin can be a new form of money and a tradable asset simultaneously.

Check out that op-ed here:

How to Win a Bitcoin Street Fight (Without Mortal Combat)

And then listen in to my conversation with Scott on the podcast.

He has fascinating insights into the nature and future of money and how we can talk about bitcoin more usefully.

Brett Scott’s Twitter handle is: @Suitpossum.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on the Opinionated podcast we’re joined by Brett Scott, the author of “The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money.”

Scott is a former derivatives broker who became a financial market reformer in the wake of the 2007-2008 crisis.

Check out that op-ed here:

How to Win a Bitcoin Street Fight (Without Mortal Combat)

And then listen in to my conversation with Scott on the podcast.

He has fascinating insights into the nature and future of money and how we can talk about bitcoin more usefully.

Brett Scott’s Twitter handle is: @Suitpossum.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Previous Episode

OPINIONATED: Preston Byrne on GameStop, Online Mobs and Marmots

Preston Byrne is a partner in Anderson Kill's Technology, Media and Distributed Systems Group, and a CoinDesk columnist.

He joins CoinDesk Features Editor Ben Schiller to discuss his recent op-ed about GameStop, Robinhood and the rise of online mobs.

See the article here:

‘The Squeezening’: How the GameStop Backlash Will Curtail Freedom

Schiller spoke to Byrne about:

The rise of online mobs from GameStop to Capitol Hill and how the internet is impacting real life in an increasingly tangible way
What policymakers can do to prevent mobs doing damage to decent companies
Why it’s likely the WallStreetBets Reddit contained some pump-and-dumpers
How the regulatory reaction to the WallStreetBets could impact cryptocurrencies
How the backlash from “elites” impacted by GameStop could harm free speech
Why Preston Byrne supports marmots (which are like squirrels or groundhogs)

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Next Episode

OPINIONATED: Dogecoin’s Future, Beyond the Hype and Memes

This week, we’re shaking up “Opinionated’s” format and adding two more co-hosts, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson. And we’re joined by another CoinDesker, our managing editor of podcasts, Adam B. Levine.

This episode is sponsored by hellointerpop.io and The Sun Exchange.

Last week he wrote a column on the rise of dogecoin, “Dogecoin Is Not the Next Bitcoin – But Here Are the Similarities.” Dogecoin was created in 2013 on litecoin’s infrastructure, and didn’t command much attention until last year.

Adam has been in crypto for ages and has seen the rise and fall of many projects. Is he seriously hopeful for DOGE’s bright future, or just trolling? In any case, on this podcast Adam, Ben, Anna and Danny are doing their best to take DOGE as seriously as they can.

Adam’s point is clear: Crypto is all about consensus, and if a consensus forms around the idea that dogecoin is a good asset/digital money, why can’t it become really big and notable on the global financial scene?

Dogecoin already surpassed bitcoin in investment returns over the last seven years, as Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal ironically (?) noted in his recent newsletter.

People want predictable digital money that other people use as well. Can dogecoin become this one day?

Can DOGE evolve into some kind of reliable money system not pegged to any particular state and government? Or will crypto influencers and companies like Slim Jim just have fun with it for a while and then forget about it for another eternity?

Listen to Ben, Adam, Anna and Danny discuss both fun and serious things about dogecoin, all while having fun staying DOGE-poor.

And check out Adam’s op-ed here: Dogecoin Is Not the Next Bitcoin – But Here Are the Similarities.

Adam B Levine’s Twitter handle is @AdamBLevine.

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