Edward Chancellor is a financial historian, journalist, and author of, "Devil Take the Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation" and his latest, “The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest”

The two books link together the history of money and finance, and human culture.

In today’s episode, we explore the ways in which money and finance are embedded deeper in our lives than we may have previously thought.

Art generated from the quote at [51:00 -] “Time is money. Once you realize that time has value, then it should start becoming, immediately clear, that taking interest rates—the price of time down to zero is highly unnatural. It would be like depriving an animal of oxygen. And taking them to negative becomes almost insane.” [51:27]

10% of proceeds go to Bankless DAO. 

As a reminder, this Monday Mint episode marks the end of Phase I of Bankless Collectibles. This is the last Monday Mint episode in 2023.

Ether

The Price of Time #23

Bankless - The Price of Time

Ethereum is getting yet another economic upgrade! The scarcity engine is getting a massive level up with the advent of the MEV Burn.

With Justin Drake and Dom, a core developer at the Ethereum Foundation, they walk us through the research and reasoning behind this next major upgrade.

Just when we thought we couldn’t get any more bullish…

ETH will become even more ultra sound.

Art generated from the quote at [1:25:30 - 1:26:00] where Justin Drake describes how ETH needs to become pristine collateral in order to fulfill its roll as money in the internet of value. 

10% of proceeds donated to ultrasound.eth

Bankless - MEV Burn

Tyler Cowen is an American economist, columnist, and blogger. He’s also a professor at George Mason University, where he also produces the Conversations with Tyler podcast with guests like Vitalik Buterin, Marc Andreessen, and Ray Dalio.

In this episode, Tyler shares why he thinks regulators should pause and wait before passing crypto regulation in the wake of FTX, how FTX and Enron are similar, why he calls himself a crypto-hopeful (*even though he thinks Balaji’s Network State idea is utterly wrong*). 

And finally, we play Tyler's favorite game—Overrated vs. Underrated—about everything relevant in 2023: Crypto AI, Inflation, America, China, Social Media, Wealth Inequality, and more.

Artwork generated from the quote at [3:05 - 3:11] where he states that crypto feels underrated by most intellectually honest people. 

10% of proceeds go to Bankless DAO.

Why Crypto Is Underrated #15

Bankless - Why Crypto Is Underrated

Society is off track. We all feel it. What’s wrong? How do we fix it without throwing out all the good parts? Tim Urban answers these questions.

Tim Urban is a blogger, writer, and illustrator, who is best known for his blog "Wait But Why.” 

Started in 2013, “Wait But Why” covers various topics, from science and technology to social issues and human behavior. 

Tim recently wrote a book titled: “What's Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies,” which Ryan and David think offers a roadmap for the tribal crypto communities battling in the Web3 landscape.

This is another episode on our journey exploring AI alignment. 

Artwork generated from the quote “We are a survival species. We are a bunch of survivors. And that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been horrible tragedies, genocides and awful things in the past. And we also have never faced a full kinds of existential threat. But I do think humanity has a knack for surviving. And that if we get scared enough, I think maybe that will be reason to prevail out of pure fear and pure survivor instinct.”  

10% of proceeds go to Bankless DAO.

Bankless - Society's Biggest Problem

Paul previously ran the language model alignment team at OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT. How now runs the Alignment Research Center, a non-profit research organization whose mission is to align future machine learning systems with human interests.

We’re on a mission to calm our fears on AI. 

This episode explores the solution-landscape to the AI Alignment problem, and hoping Paul can guide us on that journey.

Does humanity have a chance? 

Artwork generated from when Paul states “The most likely way we die involves not from AI comes out of the blue and kills us everyone, but involves we have deployed a lot of AI everywhere. And you can just look and be like oh ya if for some reason, god forbid, all of these AI systems would try and kill us, they will definitely kill us. 

10% of proceeds go to Bankless DAO.

Bankless - AI Alignment Problem

We're not going to die from AI. 

Back in February 2023, Eliezer Yudokowsky painted a chilling and grim picture of a future where AI ultimately kills us all. Robin is here to provide a different perspective. He explains why he believes Eliezer is wrong. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though — we might just become their pets instead. 

Most importantly, Robin highlights his concerns about AI regulation and why he believes it's a greater threat than AI itself.

This is the counter-argument to Eliezer’s infamous episode “We’re all going to die”. 

Artwork generated from the quote [51:48 - 52:22] “One of the most striking features of our world is the mechanisms we use to keep that peace and coordinate among those divergent and conflicting things. And one of the moves that often AI people often make is to assume that AIs have none of that. AIs do not need to coordinate. They do not have conflicts between them. They don’t have internal conflicts. They don’t have any issues on how to organize and how to keep the peace between them. None of that is a problem for AIs, by assumption. They are just these other things that have no such problems. And of course that leads to scenarios like they kill us all. 

10% of proceeds go to Bankless DAO.

Bankless - We're Not Going to Die

Macro is confusing and we need help navigating these chaotic waters.

That’s why we bring on Lyn Alden. She gives us a wholistic view on the current macro environment, from inflation to bank runs and insolvency, to how crypto fits into all of this. 

Lyn has the answers and she always hits the market.

Artwork generated from timestamp [1:08:02 - 1:08:17] “I think the long arc of time points to this becoming relevant on a global scale. It’s already relevant for people. It’s relevant for individual Nigerians, it’s relevant for individual Argentinians. Individual people in Lebanon. It’s already a global money for people.” 

10% of proceeds donated to Bankless DAO.

Bankless - Bitcoin: The People's Global Money

After Balaji rang the BitSignal, Arthur Hayers, the Founder of BitMex, outlines how we’re in one of the most chaotic and pivotal times in the macro landscape that we’ve seen, at least since 2008. 

While not fully agreeing with Balaji on his $1M Bitcoin Bet, Hayes agrees directionally. There’s going to be a massive amount of money printed, the government is going to crack down, and the need for self-sovereign digital assets will be critical.

His advice? 

Get your Bitcoin, and get out. 

Artwork generated from the timestamp [52:52 - 53:15] “There’s all these things that the average person needs, that the government can’t print. If there’s just going to not allocate the losses from all this debt, which is essentially I’m going to take the future and spend it today. So we spent the future — there’s no more future. We have to pay for it. So if you have money inside the system, you will have to pay for it.”

Get Your Bitcoin and Get Out! #1

Bankless - Get Your Bitcoin and Get Out!

Jim Bianco is the Head of Bianco Research. He’s our go-to source on macro analysis from someone who knows crypto. He always gives us a pragmatic take. 

Jim was early and loud about the initial Fed pivot into rising interest rates, all the way back in March of 2022, before much of the crypto industry really understood how significant interest rates can be. In this episode, he discusses the Balaji $1M BTC bet, the state of the financial system, and answers whether or not the banks are insolvent (or just unprofitable).

Artwork generated from the timestamp [37:00 - 37:23] “Let me put this in Balaji terms - I agree Balaji $1M dollars for Bitcoin and I agree in 90…but maybe not days, maybe it’s weeks, maybe it’s months, maybe it’s quarters, but it’s not going to be 90 days. It’s going to occur a lot slower, but it will occur overtime.” 

10% of proceeds go to Biancoresearch.eth

Are the Banks Insolvent?  #13

Bankless - Are the Banks Insolvent?

Balaji Srinivasan is an investor, founder, the former CTO of Coinbase, GP at a16z, and author of The Network State.

He’s making a  bold claim - that Bitcoin will reach $1M in 90 days due to the U.S. dollar going into hyperinflation. With these dire predictions and a track record of strong takes, we needed to hear him out. 

He’s pulling the fire alarm for the end of the fiat world. 

Will he be right? 

Artwork generated from the clip [1:32:44 - 1:32:57] “We want the decentralized center. We want to have the free world. And really this is the moment, so take everything that you guys have said seriously over the last 5 years. You got all the right concepts. And help your guys go Bankless.”

The $1M Bitcoin Bet #10

Bankless - The $1M Bitcoin Bet

Hester Peirce is one of five SEC Commissioners. 

A previous guest on the podcast, Peirce operates on first principles. She’s often known to  dissent from her colleagues on crypto-related actions—one of the many reasons why we enjoy her and her guidance so much.

We’re only three months into 2023, but it’s one of the worst regulatory environments we’ve seen for crypto in the United States. In today’s episode, the SEC Commissioner shares some insight on what could crypto be like if we had a first principles SEC, what a security is, how we define it, and how can crypto take its share of the responsibility to move this industry forward.

Hester Perice is a certified American badass. Principled, smart, and willing to engage.  She’s everything a regulator should be and we are lucky to have her.

Artwork generated from Peirce’s statement at [19:01 - 19:21] “The other thing I don’t think Washington is not very good at, is thinking about ok no one cares whether the securities laws apply or not — no one outside of Washington cares. What they care about is are we making the world a better place by applying regulations or are we just making things complicated and not serving anyone’s interest.” 

10% of proceeds go to Bankless DAO.

What SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce Thinks About the SEC #4

Bankless - What SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce Thinks About the SEC

In this episode, we go over everything you wanted to know from Brian—his reflections on 2022 and his outlook on crypto moving forward. We cover the regulatory situation in America, how SBF infiltrated our halls of power, why Coinbase launched a chain in the worst regulatory environment we’ve ever seen, Wall Street’s understanding of Coinbase, and Brian’s best advice for the settlers and builders sticking around during this crypto winter.

The last time we had Brian on the podcast was in November of 2021. We’ve come such a long way since then…and more recently, he also hopped into a livestream with us in the middle of the FTX collapse last November. It was so good to have him back on, enjoy!

Artwork generated from [26:45 - 27:02]: “Crypto is going to outlast any administration, any official, that has the wrong idea. We can go through good periods and bad periods, as long as we keep building. The people who are engaged enough on the civic side who want to do it, that’s great, and the people who just want to build, that also great. We need both. I think we’ll get there eventually.” 

10% of proceeds are donated to Bankless DAO.

The Coinbase Long Game  #17

Bankless - The Coinbase Long Game

Eric Peters operates one of the largest institutional crypto hedge funds in the world. What do the institutions think of our little crypto asset class? Are they running for the hills?

Eric Peters is the Founder, CIO of One River Asset Management. His fund has made some of the largest institutional investments in crypto ever..including one purchase of over $600 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum. When we think institutional crypto, we think Eric Peters.

His first appearance on Bankless was in October 2021…we brought him back to catch us up on the current institutional thesis for crypto.

10% of proceeds donated to the Connecticut Foodshare, an organization delivering an informed and equitable response to hunger.

The Smart Money is Here #48

Bankless - The Smart Money is Here

Liv Boeree is a former professional poker player, master of game theory, systems thinker, and keen understander of the world of complex systems and the human experience.

She also is one of the few people out there in the world teaching about the lessons of Moloch— the study of human coordination—and is the reason why we wanted to have her on Bankless.

In the episode, Liv makes it clear how Moloch is more than an idea. Coordination and competition failures are happening in every aspect of our lives. Is crypto the solution?

Artwork derived from the timestamp [14:05 - 14:24]: *[Moloch] is the god of the unhealthy competition. It’s not the god of competition, competition is a neutral thing. it’s a form of an interaction, just like coordination or cooperation.* 

*Competition can be used for good. And it can can be used for bad. Moloch is when competition is used for ill.* 

10% of proceeds donated to Bankless DAO.

Why Can't We Have Nice Things #22

Bankless - Why Can't We Have Nice Things

Is the CIA spying on crypto? 

Annie Jacobsen is an investigative journalist and author writes about war, weapons, government secrecy, and national security. 

She’s written books on the secrets of Area 51, and the Pentagon’s military science R&D efforts over the decades.

The 2023 crypto movement is sufficiently large enough that it has certainly attracted the attention of every intelligence agency out there. 

We want to learn about how the world’s intelligence agencies might have or are interacting with the crypto community. 

Annie shares her thoughts and answers our question: is the CIA spying on crypto?

Artwork generated from [14:19 - 14:39] “With almost certaintity I would say, that the world of cryptocurrency is looked at by the intelligence community as a non-state actor….Which is a little bit dangerous, or a little bit adversarial for those of you in that community.” 

10% of proceeds are being donated to Annie’s son, a young crypto advocate exploring the space.

Is the CIA Spying on Crypto? #23

Bankless - Is the CIA Spying on Crypto?

The first Bankless episode on AI… and we went deep down the rabbit hole. 

This conversation with Eliezer Yudkowsky sent us into an existential crisis as we discussed ChatGPT and the new generation of AI, digital super-intelligence, the end of humanity, and if there’s anything we can do to survive.

According to Eliezer, we’re already too late. Humanity is doomed. 

Artwork generated from the timestamp [59:32-59:51] Nobody knows how to create any good AIs at all. The problem isn’t that we have 20 good AIs and that somebody finally builds an evil AI. The problem is that the first powerful AI is evil, nobody knows how to make it good, and then it kills everybody before anybody can make it good.” 

10% of proceeds donated to Eliezer's MIRI Foundation.

We’re All Gonna Die #42

Bankless - We’re All Gonna Die

Punk6529 is a pseudo-anonymous leader in the crypto space. 

He’s heavily focused on the world of NFTs and known for putting together extremely punchy and thoughtful Twitter threads, thinking about the world from first principles.

NFTs will represent every single digital non-fungible token that exists…and there are going to be a lot of them. Podcasts will be no different. 

Is Punk6529 the most bullish person in the world on NFTs?

In this episode, 6529 shares the benefits of using an NFT-backed pseudonym instead of your state name, why the “freedom to transact” is an essential human liberty we’ll lose without crypto, how the Metaverse is just a visualization layer of NFTs, and why NFTs are more important than DeFi…probably the most important thing crypto has produced.

Artwork generated from timestamp [1:04:47 - 1:05:06] “ There is just a clear path for NFTs being for glitch artist, to NFTs representing every single digital non-fungible object, which is a lot of them. We’re going to have a lot of digital objects. Our economy is not going to get less digital, it’s going to get more digital. 

10% of proceeds donated to Bankless DAO.

You're Not Bullish Enough on NFTs #100

Bankless - You're Not Bullish Enough on NFTs

Is Solana going to make it?
Price is down. Its major public backer, SBF, is out for the count…Will the network survive the bear market? 
We brought in the creator of Solana and the co-founder of Solana Labs Anatoly Yakovenko to ask exactly that. 
He shares the full Solana story, back to its earliest inflection points all the way to the current state of Solana today. 

This episode marks a pivotal point in Solana’s lifecycle at the depths of a bear market. 
Will Solana make it? It’s all or nothing now. 
Artwork generated from the timestamp [1:16:24 - 1:16:37] “My guess is that if you looked at all the product launches from inception of crypto to now, to what’s going to happen in the next 12-18 months, the next 12-18 months are probably going to be way more than everything else combined…”

Will Solana Make It?  #54

Bankless - Will Solana Make It?

Erik Voorhees is a crypto veteran of veterans. He’s one of the greatest advocates of open and permissionless systems that we have in this space.

In this episode we talk about his legendary debate with SBF—this is the first time we’ve caught up with him since. What are his reflections now? We also dive into how this bull/bear cycle is similar and different from previous ones, how do we preserve crypto’s core principles, and most importantly—why are we here? Why crypto? Why now? Why stay?

Erik doesn’t waste a word in this episode. Let’s keep building.

Why Are We Here?  #40

Bankless  - Why Are We Here?

Investing in waves. Are we talking about surfing? Are we talking about capital deployment? The answer is yes.

In this episode, Chris unpacks why he uses the term “trashy” to describe many 2022 projects (and their founders), why crypto is like surfing and how you catch a good wave, his rules for staying sober during bull and bear markets (hint: don’t fall in love with your coconuts), and finally his bull case for Solana.

Chris Burniske is a Bankless legend, making his third appearance on Bankless. He was first on three years ago for episode #20! 

Art generated from the timestamp at [20:22 - 20:35] where Chris draws the parallel between surfing and investing in crypto ecosystems. 

10% of proceeds are donated to Shielded Labs, an organization helping with the decentralization of Zcash!

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