Popular Episodes

I talk with Hanoz Bilia, the founder of The Altruist, a new Bitcoin education and community space based in the Auckland CBD. The Altruist is NZ's first dedicated Bitcoin space and is a great project helping connect Bitcoiners and people interested about Bitcoin in real life! We discuss Hanoz's motivation to start the space, the importance of providing resources for people to learn and

I talk with Nathan Seiuli, Outreach and Events Coordinator at the Free Speech Union in New Zealand. Over the past few years, it’s become evident that many New Zealanders are both unaware of how vital freedom of speech is, and how dangerous some of the moves are to exclude its protections. We talk about the work the Free Speech Union is doing in New Zealand, including campaigns to promote debate and critical thinking in schools, providing feedback and advice to government, and calling out actions that infringe upon freedom of speech. We also talk about how technology such as Bitcoin and Nostr can provide protection for Freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

Dr Matthew Birchall is a Research Fellow at The New Zealand Initiative. The New Zealand Initiative is a policy think tank conducting independent research on a wide range of issues. We talk about Matthew's report “Paving the Wave: Learning from New Zealand past to Build a Better Future.” The report explores how the country effectively tackled infrastructure projects in the past, and offers guidance on how the country can rediscover this talent.

I talk with James Viggiano about recent comments made by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Not soon after we spoke, James shared a clip that went viral of the governor talking frankly about the exorbitant privilege of money printing that the central banks and governments have. James and I talk about some of the game theory from the perspective of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to defend the Kiwi Dollar and their attempts to talk down inflation, and shift the narrative even as the cost of living crisis continues. We also talk about the opportunity for what New Zealand could look like on a Bitcoin standard and how that could interface with the legacy financial system.

I talk with Bitkiwi Paul about the next Bitkiwi meetup that is happening on Saturday October 28th in Auckland. We also discuss the social layer of Bitcoin in New Zealand and how it has grown enormously over the last 12 months. This time last year I didn’t really know any Bitcoiners in person, but here we are with a thriving community of Bitcoin projects, businesses, and collaborations that I am involved in, and I know there are many others out there doing the same. A lot of Proof of Work has gone into building on Bitcoin over the last few years and that is going to be important as more and more people start finding and learning about Bitcoin.