OPINIONATED: You Sold Your Bitcoin Because of Elon? Think Again

06/03/21 • 30 min

This week, “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are discussing one of the most interesting topics raised during CoinDesk’s Consensus 2021 virtual conference – bitcoin’s ESG (environmental, social and governance) moment.

This episode is sponsored by PumaPay.io.

The question of bitcoin’s impact on the environment has been hovering over the industry for years, but recently, it got a real momentum after Elon Musk first sent bitcoin prices surging, then plunging, then going up again, by tweeting about bitcoin’s environmental impact.

After showing disapproval of bitcoin’s ecological impact, Musk soon returned with a new message: he met with the North American bitcoin miners to get them to adopt greener standards of work.

Cathie Wood, the founder of Ark Investment Management, believes the move was dictated by some very pragmatic reasons, as she said in a Consensus interview with Nathaniel Whittemore:

“Elon probably got a few calls from institutions,” Wood said. “I noticed that BlackRock is [Tesla]’s number three shareholder and Larry Fink is the CEO. He is focused on ESG and especially on climate change. I’m sure BlackRock registered some complaints and perhaps there are some very large holders in Europe who are extremely sensitive to this.”

In setting up the Bitcoin Mining Council, some wondered if Musk and his fellow founder-whale Michael Saylor wanted to centralize bitcoin mining. This is hardly possible (for now). However attempts to create various white lists and black lists for bitcoin, depending on how green or dirty, sanctioned or politically clean they are, and so on, might harm bitcoin’s core value: borderless money with no rulers to control it.

Ben, Anna and Danny discuss these and other topics related to the heavily controversial bitcoin environmental agenda.

Ben Schiller’s Twitter handle is: @btschiller

Anna: @baidakova

Danny: @reaDannyNelson

750,000,000 PMA tokens are now up for grabs. By depositing today, you will become part of the next evolution of DeFi payments. Go to PumaPay.io.

Image credit: Andy /iStock/Getty Images Plus/ modified by Coindesk

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

This episode is sponsored by PumaPay.io.

After showing disapproval of bitcoin’s ecological impact, Musk soon returned with a new message: he met with the North American bitcoin miners to get them to adopt greener standards of work.

Cathie Wood, the founder of Ark Investment Management, believes the move was dictated by some very pragmatic reasons, as she said in a Consensus interview with Nathaniel Whittemore:

Ben, Anna and Danny discuss these and other topics related to the heavily controversial bitcoin environmental agenda.

Ben Schiller’s Twitter handle is: @btschiller

Anna: @baidakova

Danny: @reaDannyNelson

750,000,000 PMA tokens are now up for grabs. By depositing today, you will become part of the next evolution of DeFi payments. Go to PumaPay.io.

Image credit: Andy /iStock/Getty Images Plus/ modified by Coindesk

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: QuadrigaCX: An Exit Scam or Just a Crypto Tragedy

This week, “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson are talking to Aaron Lammer, author of a podcast series about the now-defunct Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX.

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

The QuadrigaCX saga, first broken by our colleague Nik De and still not finished, could be a dark detective novel: Gerald Cotten, a CEO of a cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX, reportedly dies in India, the crypto wallets are empty and his widow inherits a mind-blowing fortune, while users are trying to get their money back in court for years (the case is still ongoing).

Aaron Lammer, an experienced crypto podcaster, took on a tricky task to tell the QuadrigaCX story to people who might not know about crypto but definitely can learn a thing or two from this thriller story. Aaron told us how he was investigating the QuadrigaCX story and trying to explain the basics of crypto to a non-crypto audience. The first episodes of his show, “Exit Scam,” are now available for listening.

Aaron interviews a very diverse group of people who have insight into what could have happened at QuadrigaCX, from a private detective specializing in fake deaths to Michael Perklin, chief information security officer at ShapeShift, who knew Gerald Cotten personally. He walks us through what we know and don’t know about QuadrigaCX and its founders, and how the centuries-old history of scams and financial fraud got a new life in crypto.

Enjoy the conversation, as we did, and definitely check out the podcast, an arresting detective story with elements of Crypto 101 course for everyone.

Aaron’s Twitter handle is: @aaronlammer.

InterPop is redefining the future of NFTs and fandom. Learn more at interpop.io.

The Sun Exchange is offering CoinDesk Reports listeners a free solar cell with your first purchase and automatically lease them to power businesses in sunny, emerging markets.

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Next Episode

OPINIONATED: Ransom and Legal Tender: Bitcoin's Diverging Paths on the Global Stage

This week, “Opinionated” co-hosts Ben Schiller, Anna Baydakova and Danny Nelson dig deep into two of the biggest storylines in crypto: the proliferation of ransomware (and what crypto’s got to do with it) and El Salvador’s upstart bid to become a global bitcoin capital.

This episode is sponsored by PumaPay.io.

Just over a month after ransomware group DarkSide held gas company Colonial Pipeline hostage for $4.4 million in bitcoin, there’s been a major development. The feds say they’ve gotten most of the payment back – an almost unheard of feat, and one shrouded in mystery.

How did they pull it off? The gang runs through some of the most popular theories, from FBI honeypot mixing services to good old police work. Then, they hash out what it might take to pull off the perfect crypto crime.

Even as the U.S. is moving to (possibly) crack down on bitcoin, another nation, El Salvador, is racing to embrace it. President Nayib Bukele closed out Miami’s crazed bitcoin conference with the blockbuster news that he’d make bitcoin legal tender. It's being framed as a means to give El Salvador’s majority unbanked population access to financial services – but is that really the case?

Ben, Anna and Danny discuss these and other topics, plus an update on where the ESG movement stands.

Ben Schiller’s Twitter handle is: @btschiller

Anna: @baidakova

Danny: @realDannyNelson

750,000,000 PMA tokens are now up for grabs. By depositing today, you will become part of the next evolution of DeFi payments. Go to PumaPay.io.

Image credit: metamorworks /iStock/Getty Images Plus/ modified by Coindesk

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