🎙️ My guest today is Stephan Livera, the host of the prominent Bitcoin podcast “The Stephan Livera Podcast”. Growing up in Australia, Stephan developed a deep interest in libertarianism and Austrian economics during his teenage years, which shaped his perspective on money and governance. In this episode, Stephan shares his journey from being a chartered accountant at Deloitte to becoming a leading voice in the Bitcoin space. We discuss his insights on Bitcoin's role in challenging fiat currency, the cultural decay caused by fiat money, and the growing adoption of Bitcoin by institutions and governments. Stephan also explores the future of Bitcoin custody, the balance between decentralization and scalability, and the implications of hyper-bitcoinization on governance, sovereignty, and society. Enjoy.
Yet another great podcast and guest! Stephan has such a broad and interesting background, he is able to speak intelligently on tons of topics. Lots of takeaways from this one, but first I must say I love how you share things about yourself during these episodes (I didn't realize that you lived in Australia for a number of years!). One of Stephan's statements that really resonated with me was simply "There are cultural consequences with fiat currency." That speaks volumes on it's own. A few examples of some interesting points he made (in no particular order) was his concept that there seems to be injustice with a two-tier policing system where some peaceful protests such as anti-lockdown (COVID) or the Canadian Trucker protests are blasted by media while other more violent protests occur where cities are being destroyed and burned are allowed to happen. Agree 100%. Additionally, found the discussion contrasting monarchies and democracies interesting, as well as the idea that many government managers are more focused on how many staff they have rather than actual results. Finally, found the discussion on immigration dynamics absolutely fascinating, where people with less money from struggling countries may come to the western world for more opportunity while people in the Western world that achieve more wealth may end up going in the opposite direction to pay less taxes and have a safer environment. In short, another AWESOME episode!
Yet another great podcast and guest! Stephan has such a broad and interesting background, he is able to speak intelligently on tons of topics. Lots of takeaways from this one, but first I must say I love how you share things about yourself during these episodes (I didn't realize that you lived in Australia for a number of years!). One of Stephan's statements that really resonated with me was simply "There are cultural consequences with fiat currency." That speaks volumes on it's own. A few examples of some interesting points he made (in no particular order) was his concept that there seems to be injustice with a two-tier policing system where some peaceful protests such as anti-lockdown (COVID) or the Canadian Trucker protests are blasted by media while other more violent protests occur where cities are being destroyed and burned are allowed to happen. Agree 100%. Additionally, found the discussion contrasting monarchies and democracies interesting, as well as the idea that many government managers are more focused on how many staff they have rather than actual results. Finally, found the discussion on immigration dynamics absolutely fascinating, where people with less money from struggling countries may come to the western world for more opportunity while people in the Western world that achieve more wealth may end up going in the opposite direction to pay less taxes and have a safer environment. In short, another AWESOME episode!