Episodes about:

Government

Ben Jarvie
Ben Jarvie
Ben Jarvie
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73
70
Minutes
April 29, 2024

The Economic Violence of the New Zealand State and the RBNZ with Ben Jarvie

Ben Jarvie is a writer and kiwi Bitcoiner working for Amber App, a Bitcoin-only exchange. We talk about Ben’s recent travels to El Salvador and Madeira, and we reflect on the declining situation of my beloved home country, New Zealand, and in particular the economic violence that the State and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand continues to unleash upon the people through its egregious manipulation of the money. But that said, we know that Bitcoin fixes this, and we are here to build bridges and meet people where they are at!

Rupert Carlyon
Rupert Carlyon
Rupert Carlyon
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68
52
Minutes
March 24, 2024

Kōura Wealth KiwiSaver and Bitcoin with Rupert Carlyon

I talk with Rupert Carlyon, Founder and Managing Director of Kōura Wealth KiwiSaver. KiwiSaver is the voluntary retirement savings scheme for New Zealand and Kōura Wealth offers a Carbon Neutral Crypto Fund KiwiSaver product, which is Bitcoin only. This is a way for everyday kiwis to get some kind of Bitcoin exposure with government and employer matched contributions and tax benefits. New Zealand was very late to the game with retirement savings schemes and the impact of this is beginning to be felt with very low savings, and old-age poverty issues. With all the talk about the Bitcoin ETFs globally, it is interesting to explore how traditional finance in New Zealand interfaces with Bitcoin, and the regulatory challenges they have had to overcome to get this product launched.

Andrew L. Wilson
Andrew L. Wilson
Andrew L. Wilson
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64
79
Minutes
February 26, 2024

State, Money, and Pilgrimages with Andrew L. Wilson

Andrew L. Wilson is an Author and Professor of History of Christianity as well as host of The Disentanglement Podcast, exploring privacy tech and the surveillance state. We discuss in detail severals books about the origin of the state and money, including James C Scott’s, “Seeing Like A State”, Rees-Mogg and Davidson’s “The Sovereign Individual”, and David Graeber’s “Debt: The First 5,000 Years”. We discover some interesting parallels between the unconfiscatable nature of Bitcoin and the origins of state power with its ability to tax easily countable grain crops versus something like a potato which grows underground.We also talk about the history of the printing press as it relates to inflation within the church, and Andrew's personal proof of work undertaking a 1000-mile pilgrimage in the footsteps of Martin Luther from Germany to Rome.

James Viggiano
James Viggiano
James Viggiano
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63
82
Minutes
February 19, 2024

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s Money Printer with James Viggiano

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.

Dash
Dash
Dash
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61
79
Minutes
February 4, 2024

On Hyperbitcoinisation, Game Theory, and Faith with Dash

I talk with Dash of the Tokyo Citadel Builders Podcast & Community. We dive deep into some of the game theory and scenarios that Bitcoin and hyperbitcoinisation presents, as well as what the broader economic landscape may look like in the future. Just as the internet has become far more than merely digital version of letters and newspapers, Bitcoin may not just be digital money as we know it, but an entirely new paradigm of value transfer and wealth storage that is difficult to fathom while we still exist within in the current system. Thus it is important to broach these ideas and have creative discussions to try and paint a picture of what may come to pass. I also talk with Dash about the role of faith, and purpose and meaning more broadly in these trying and changing times.

Prince Filip of Serbia
Prince Filip of Serbia
Prince Filip of Serbia
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60
83
Minutes
January 29, 2024

Bitcoin Adoption by Nation States with Prince Filip of Serbia

Prince Filip of Serbia is a prominent Bitcoiner, and Chief Strategy Officer at Jan3. We talk about Prince Filip's work at Jan3 engaging in high-level conversations about Bitcoin with nation-state leaders as well as his thoughts on monarchy, democracy, and culture. We discuss the role of Bitcoin and sound money and the chance presented for smaller countries such as Serbia and New Zealand to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. I also extend an invitation to Prince Filip and the Jan3 team to come visit and help spread awareness about what Bitcoin could mean for New Zealand, in particular its connection to energy and infrastructure.

Kishin Kato
Kishin Kato
Kishin Kato
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58
50
Minutes
January 15, 2024

Bitcoin in Japan: Community, Financial Gatekeepers, and Narratives with Kishin Kato

Kishin Kato is a Japanese Bitcoiner working on various Lightning and Bitcoin education-focussed projects, and heavily involved with the Bitcoin community in Japan. We discuss some of the broad connections between Japan and New Zealand, including the state of agriculture, free trade, financial gatekeepers, as well as the emergence of different Bitcoin narratives.

Bitkiwi Dan
Bitkiwi Dan
Bitkiwi Dan
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57
113
Minutes
January 8, 2024

Bitcoin Political Parties, Accounting Rules, and the Circular Economy with Bitkiwi Dan

Bitkiwi Dan is one of the co-founders of the BitKiwi meetup events in New Zealand. We canvas a range of topics from government decision-making and how political neutrality works in the public sector to what it might take to form a new Bitcoin political party in New Zealand. Dan is also a Chartered Accountant and we discuss the opportunity around businesses wanting to hold Bitcoin on their balance sheet, integrating with legacy banks, and how the bitcoin circular economy could develop.

Kevin Whitmore
Kevin Whitmore
Kevin Whitmore
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38
40
Minutes
August 25, 2023

Exploring Bitcoin, Nostr, and the Lightning Network at Callaghan Innovation's Web3 Team with Kevin Whitmore

I talk with Kevin Whitmore from Callaghan Innovation. We discuss payment innovations with the Lightning network, Bitcoin, Nostr, and more. I am encouraged to see an interest in Bitcoin technology from the New Zealand Government. I welcome Callaghan’s approach of objectively looking at everything that comes their way and making judgements based on first principles. Ultimately having a vehicle like Kevin’s work at Callaghan Innovation could be one of the ways New Zealand becomes a first mover in adopting Bitcoin. I am quietly encouraged to see the label "Web3" reclaimed by genuinely decentralised tech such as Nostr, Lightning Zaps, and Fedi.

Dash
Dash
Dash
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29
77
Minutes
June 30, 2023

Privacy, Security, and Freedom Tech with Dash

Dash is part of the Tokyo Citadel Group, who I was able to meet when I was travelling through Japan recently. My impression from the Tokyo Citadel was that there was real interest in privacy, security, and the potential threats that Bitcoiners personally face from the nation state. Now this is not unfounded, and we have seen people being detained over things like coinjoins and through chain analysis. But I wanted to understand this perspective more and compare it with the situation in New Zealand.

Te Kahukura Boynton
Te Kahukura Boynton
Te Kahukura Boynton
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23
57
Minutes
May 19, 2023

Bitcoin for Māori Empowerment with Te Kahukura Boynton

Te Kahukura Boynton is a young wāhine studying law and running the blog and podcast Māori Millionaire, documenting the journey of learning about financial independence and empowerment for Māori.

Darcy Ungaro
Darcy Ungaro
Darcy Ungaro
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18
79
Minutes
April 14, 2023

Fix the Money, Fix the World: Bitcoin as an Everyday Investment for the Future with Darcy Ungaro

Today I talk with Darcy Ungaro. Darcy is a financial advisor, a Bitcoiner, and he also hosts the NZ Everyday Investor Podcast. This episode is very much a crossover where we talk about our views on Bitcoin and what the future may look like.

Ben Jarvie
Ben Jarvie
Ben Jarvie
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17
58
Minutes
April 7, 2023

Māori Sovereignty and Self-determination Through Bitcoin with Ben Jarvie

Today I talk with Ben Jarvie. Ben is a Bitcoiner working for Amber App, a Bitcoin-only exchange, and he is also a writer. In this episode we talk about a piece that Ben wrote for Bitcoin magazine titled "New Zealand's Past, Pūtea, and Future: CBDC vs Bitcoin".

Tokyo Citadel
Tokyo Citadel
Tokyo Citadel
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16
72
Minutes
March 31, 2023

Bitcoin in Japan with Andy, Dash, and Mike from Tokyo Citadel

Today I talk with Andy, Dash, and Mike from Tokyo Citadel. The group’s goal is is to move bitcoin adoption, use and knowledge forward in Tokyo. They run a Bitcoin podcast and organise regular meetups and events. In this episode we discuss Bitcoin in Japan and its perceptions by the public, as well as the bitcoin development and innovation that is taking place and what the current economic & political landscape is.