WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:05.360 When it comes to strategic reserves, I think it's an 2 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:09.439 inevitability that all of these entities are going to eventually 3 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:15.439 adopt the strategic reserve. The question is gooplenks first? Which 4 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:19.719 major nation decides to go first, because that triggers a 5 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:21.120 domino effect. 6 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:28.440 This episode is brought to you by Uphold, which is 7 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:31.359 a great crypto platform that I've been using since twenty eighteen. 8 00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:35.039 Uphold makes it easy to buy, sell trade cryptocurrencies like 9 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:37.840 Bitcoin and all coins. In fact, they have three hundred 10 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:41.399 plus cryptocurrencies on their platform, and they carry precious metals 11 00:00:41.479 --> 00:00:43.520 such as gold and silver, and you can swap between 12 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:47.119 these assets, so it's really unique. Uphold is safe and reliable. 13 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:49.479 I've never had any issues with them, and they are 14 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:53.320 one hundred percent reserve. You can review their transparency report. 15 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.479 They don't commingle or lend out your funds now. Uphold 16 00:00:56.600 --> 00:01:00.600 recently launch a great product called Uphold Rewards, and it's 17 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:03.119 packed with many benefits. You can earn up to five 18 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:06.159 point twenty five percent on stable coins, get twenty four 19 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:10.280 our early access to new token listenings, and unlock exclusive 20 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:14.239 crypto insights, and they support a variety of stable coins 21 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:17.680 such as p Y USD that's PayPal, stable Coin Circles, 22 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:23.159 USDC and USBC. They will be supporting Ripples's upcoming launch 23 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:26.079 of r L USD. So this is a really great 24 00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:29.200 rewards program and if you'd like to learn more, please 25 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:32.200 visit the link in the description. Welcome into the Thinking 26 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:35.120 Crypto Podcast. I'm your host, Tony Edward, and my guest 27 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:39.439 today is doctor Arman mcgerion, who's the founder and CEO 28 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:42.280 of Timestamp. Arman, great to have you on. 29 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:46.000 Nice to be here, Tony, thank you for having me Armon. 30 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:49.000 Excited to learn about time stamp and the great things 31 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:52.760 you're doing around bitcoin in highlighting different bitcoin companies and 32 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:55.560 the ecosystem. But before we get there, tell us a 33 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:58.760 bit about yourself. What's your background and where are you from? 34 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:04.280 Sure, So, I'm Armenian born in Los Angeles, California. I 35 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:07.799 am the first generation in my family born in the US. 36 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:12.800 So my parents both immigrants to the country, and I 37 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:16.919 am the prototype for the American dream quite frankly, so 38 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:20.560 I'm the first in my family to go to medical school, 39 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:25.680 become a doctor, became a neuroscientist, and went down that 40 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:28.360 traditional route and achieved a lot of great things, but 41 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:32.280 eventually bitcoin is a bug I caught and that's the 42 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:34.560 path I ended up following. So I left that career 43 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:36.360 to work on bitcoin, and that's how I ended up 44 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:37.400 here talking to you. 45 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:41.960 Wow, that's a big jump going from the medical field 46 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.759 into bitcoin. I know, you know I can relate as 47 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:49.000 an immigrant myself, and you know, I don't know if 48 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:50.879 you agree, but our parents kind of wanted to either 49 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.280 be lawyers or doctors things like that. 50 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:56.719 It's so funny you mentioned that, because the path was 51 00:02:56.759 --> 00:02:58.759 always for me to become a doctor and my brother 52 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:01.599 to become a lawyer. And now I'm running my own 53 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:05.000 company that's bitcoin focused on my brother as a computer programmer. 54 00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:07.360 So it's funny how that works out. 55 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:11.479 Yeah, for sure. So what was your first encounter with 56 00:03:11.560 --> 00:03:13.280 bitcoin and what was your AHA moment? 57 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:20.080 Sure? So, I think I was primed to at least 58 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:23.240 be interested in bitcoin because I was very much the 59 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:29.080 Ron Paul libertarian type in the early two thousands, and 60 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:32.280 because of that, I think I got exposed pretty early 61 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:38.520 to the bitcoiner cipherpunk types. At the time, I didn't 62 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:42.879 know enough about money to really understand how important it 63 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:48.080 was and what bitcoin really offered. So like most people. 64 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:50.599 When I first heard about bitcoin, it was honestly, in 65 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:56.639 twenty thirteen. I was doing a surgical fellowship in Armenia, 66 00:03:56.680 --> 00:04:00.479 of all places, at a surgical hospital, and there were 67 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:04.919 several people there from the United States, including a friend 68 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:08.800 from back home, and he's very libertarian leaning. He was 69 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:12.199 a Ron Paul type, and we ended up in a 70 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:14.039 bank in the center of the city and we were 71 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:18.319 exchanging dollars for the local currency, and I very very 72 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:21.360 clearly remember him saying, you know, if we had bitcoin, 73 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:24.079 we wouldn't have to be doing this right now. And 74 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:27.560 I was like, what hold on, let's go back. What 75 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:29.959 do you mean by that? And you know, he tried 76 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:31.920 to tell me as best he could. Remember this is 77 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.079 twenty thirteen, where we had very little information. We didn't 78 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:37.680 have all these books and resources, so he did the 79 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:39.639 best he could. He tried to explain to me. But 80 00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:42.319 like most people, the first time I heard about bitcoin, 81 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:47.639 I thought, great, that's very cool meat de he nerdy money. 82 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:49.759 But it's never going to amount to anything. So I 83 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:53.879 just completely forgot about it, went about my life, you know, 84 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:57.439 my career path becoming a doctor. Then kept hearing about 85 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:01.000 it again and again and again an event truly, I said, Okay, 86 00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:03.040 I think I have to dig into this a little 87 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:06.079 bit further. And so by the time twenty fifteen twenty 88 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:09.519 sixteen came around, I think that's when I started becoming 89 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:12.279 obsessed to the point where I think my family can 90 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:15.519 attest to it. They thought I'd gone a little mad, 91 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:19.519 quite frankly. So that's around the time when I started 92 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:23.399 really becoming obsessed with it and it for me. You know, 93 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:26.319 when you look at my career path, you know, you wonder, 94 00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:29.279 how does someone that's a doctor and an academic become 95 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:33.879 a bitcoiner that's focused on this entirely. It's because those 96 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:38.480 two ships crossed in the night, right like the my 97 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:43.000 love for bitcoin and my dismay of the medical system 98 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:47.360 eventually just overlapped so hard that I just felt like 99 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:50.759 I needed to put the brakes on the medical career 100 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:53.480 and start focusing on something I truly loved, which was bitcoin. 101 00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:56.560 So I took the leap. I decided to end up 102 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.240 focusing on bitcoin, and I couldn't be happier about it. 103 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:05.279 That's amazing. And you know, obviously, people outside the United States, 104 00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:08.600 I think many times, and I might be wrong here, 105 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:11.800 but from what I've noticed they kind of grasp more 106 00:06:11.959 --> 00:06:14.759 or lean more towards bitcoin because they understand the money 107 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:17.199 problem they deal with. A very many of them are 108 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:20.879 dealing with hyperinflation. Their currency has been debased, and their 109 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.399 economies are not as great as maybe the United States, 110 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:27.079 which has the world reserve currency. And do you find, 111 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:29.519 you know, with your experience, and I think you said 112 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:33.920 Armenia right, that people there gravitate more to bitcoin. 113 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:36.560 Well, I'll tell you. I'll tell you an interesting story 114 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:40.720 on that. I have this prevailing theory that we in 115 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:44.800 the West are very privileged because we we we essentially 116 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:47.639 are living with the world reserve currency, right, the US dollars, 117 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:52.160 So we don't get to experience the day to day, 118 00:06:52.279 --> 00:06:55.040 the week, the week, the month to month troubles of 119 00:06:55.160 --> 00:06:59.160 living with a an inflating currency that's on the level 120 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:02.000 of something that you would experience in South America or 121 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:06.199 Africa or even other nations around the world. And most 122 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:08.439 people don't realize that a lot of these nations, I 123 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:11.480 think over sixty nations are dollarized, as in they have 124 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:15.360 their current currency and they also have the dollar because 125 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:18.600 their currency is so weak they don't need another currency 126 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:20.360 that they can save in and the dollar has become 127 00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:23.720 a savings mechanisms for a lot of these people. Now, 128 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:26.399 what I find interesting is that here in the West, 129 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:30.360 when we think about bitcoin, we think of it as 130 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:32.800 an asset class. We think of it as part of 131 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:36.319 our portfolio. Look at how it fits into your portfolio. 132 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:39.120 If you add just two percent or five percent, it's 133 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:43.199 going to outperform this portfolio that's just SMP five hundred 134 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:46.480 and bonds by x amount. And that's great. I'm happy 135 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:49.000 people are doing that. I'm happy people are putting it 136 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:52.439 into their ETFs and whatnot or saving into bitcoin, and 137 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:56.079 people should continue to do that. But when you go 138 00:07:56.199 --> 00:08:00.680 to these other places that have a dysfunctional currency and 139 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:04.120 you start talking to them about bitcoin, it's not a 140 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:08.639 hard sell. You basically sell them on the fact that, hey, 141 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:13.519 it's this money that can't be printed, there's a set supply, 142 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:17.519 it's a predictable issue and schedule. The government can't stop 143 00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:20.079 you from sending it or using it. And all of 144 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:22.240 a sudden, you see the wheels turn and they click, 145 00:08:22.279 --> 00:08:25.160 and then it starts becoming part of their lives. And 146 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:29.000 so what we're seeing is the adoption is different in 147 00:08:29.480 --> 00:08:33.720 different places based on their experiences, and so people in 148 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:39.240 South America, for example, are using it as part of 149 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:45.080 a portfolio of money essentially, where they have their daily currency, 150 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:48.480 which is what they earn in usually let's say, for example, apeso, 151 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:52.200 and then they have a dollar which they use as 152 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:55.320 a short to medium term savings, and then something like 153 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:58.480 bitcoin which they're using as long term savings. So you 154 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:00.279 don't see that kind of stuff in the way West 155 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:02.080 and the West you see it as a privilege and 156 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:04.759 an asset class that you can invest in. And I 157 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:07.159 think we're very lucky to be there, but I would 158 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:09.840 caution people in the West to take it a little 159 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:14.759 bit more seriously because once the game of musical chair stops, 160 00:09:15.080 --> 00:09:17.840 you're going to be want wanting to hold the hardest 161 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:19.879 money that there is out there, and that's bigcoin. 162 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:23.679 Yeah, and you brought up some great points and some 163 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:26.759 of it I've tried to explain to people that bitcoin 164 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:32.399 is this incredible monetary system where in the West it 165 00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:34.360 can be a store of value for some people, but 166 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:35.960 in other parts of the world it can be a 167 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:39.360 store of value and a currency and other things. Because 168 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.120 just depends on your financial situation, your living situation. But 169 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:47.559 that's what's great about it. It's this global asset, sits 170 00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:50.799 on a blockchain, twenty four to seven, immutable, borderless, all 171 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.399 all these great attributes. And even in the West, like 172 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:56.000 you said, where we're a privileged and we have the 173 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.200 world reserve currency, we can use it, but people around 174 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:01.320 the world can give benefit from it. So it doesn't 175 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:04.000 even matter what walk of life you're in. It's there 176 00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:07.279 to meet you or meet your need around currency, store 177 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:08.519 value in these different things. 178 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:11.720 I do feel like it's a bit of that parable 179 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.919 of everyone is standing around an elephant and they have 180 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:17.679 their hand on the elephant, and they're saying, you know, 181 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:19.440 if their hand is on the trunk, they think it's 182 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:21.559 on one thing. If they think if their hand is 183 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:24.080 on a leg, they think it's another thing. And no 184 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:26.320 one is seeing the full picture of the elephant, right 185 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:30.600 because none of us are experiencing that in its totality. 186 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:33.440 We're either seeing it as a savings mechanism or a 187 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.320 medium of exchange. And then some people that are all 188 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:38.240 the way at the end of the spectrum are actually 189 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:40.360 using it as a unit of account because they're already 190 00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:42.799 living on a bitcoin standard. And those are the people 191 00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:45.840 that are the hardcore times, right, there's very very few 192 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:49.200 of those. But I think we're all living on the 193 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:53.960 spectrum because we're living in real time during this monetary transition. 194 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:57.679 And it's only been fifteen years since bitcoins is inception, 195 00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:00.360 so that may feel like a long time, but really 196 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:02.919 it's nothing if you look at it on the grand 197 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:03.879 scale things. 198 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:07.879 Yeah, I mean, what is it a teenager, right if 199 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:11.159 you use human years, But you compare it to gold 200 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:15.080 and other currencies. Nothing, a tiny blip. 201 00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:19.799 A history, tiny blip in terms of time. It's also 202 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:23.159 still tiny in terms of its market cap people. I 203 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:25.360 think people have a unit bias when it comes to 204 00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:27.960 a lot of things. But bitcoin is a great example. 205 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:28.200 Right. 206 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:30.840 People see that the price of one bitcoin is one 207 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:34.679 hundred thousand dollars and that's exciting, but it is really 208 00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:38.960 a psychological barrier. Everyone thinks of one hundred thousand as 209 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:42.080 a big milestone, and it is, but when you look 210 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:46.039 at it relative to other asset classes like gold, it's 211 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:49.320 still less than ten percent of gold's market cap, So 212 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:53.200 it is tiny in comparison to everything else that is 213 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:56.960 surrounding it in terms of traditional asset classes, whether it's gold, 214 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.360 real estate, other currencies, and and we have to be 215 00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:05.279 cognizant of that when we talk to people that feel 216 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:08.120 like maybe they miss the boat. I do get that 217 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:10.480 a lot a lot of people who feel like, oh, 218 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:13.480 maybe it's too late to be into bitcoin, and so 219 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:16.639 I won't even bother with it. And people are not 220 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:21.679 seeing that it's a monetary technology. And ultimately, when it 221 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:25.679 comes to monetary technologies, you want to be holding the 222 00:12:25.720 --> 00:12:29.039 best money there is out there because the consequences of 223 00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:33.480 not doing so are serious. If you're holding a money 224 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:38.759 that is inferior to bitcoin or inferature, whatever you think 225 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:41.960 is the most superior type of money, you're losing your 226 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:45.399 purchasing power over an extended period of time. And then 227 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:48.440 you look up five, ten, fifteen, twenty years from now, 228 00:12:48.840 --> 00:12:50.720 and all of a sudden, all that work you put 229 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:56.480 in to earning value, earning money, keeping yourself sustainable, keeping 230 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:00.879 your family, keeping your generations, well, all of a sudden 231 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:04.720 that evaporates. And we have evidence to show that the 232 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:07.679 dollar is a great example of this. Even the US dollar, 233 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:10.480 which is the strongest currency there is out there, is 234 00:13:10.519 --> 00:13:14.399 the best house in a bad neighborhood, even that loses 235 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:18.559 ninety nine percent of its value over a century. And 236 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:23.080 so if your grand great grandparents or your grandparents decided 237 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:26.080 to save in the US dollar in the US banking 238 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:29.399 institution that somehow managed to survive over one hundred years, 239 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:33.200 even then they would lose ninety nine percent of its value. 240 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:37.320 And that's the tough part of it is, even if 241 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:39.440 you get all those things right, you somehow manage to 242 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:41.440 make it to the US, You somehow manage to save 243 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:43.480 in the dollar, You somehow manage to save in a 244 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:46.879 US banking institution, say like Chase, that survived for one 245 00:13:46.919 --> 00:13:49.639 hundred years, you still lost ninety nine percent of your 246 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:53.320 value because the currency itself that you're saving in is 247 00:13:53.399 --> 00:13:57.519 being printed and it's being expanded in terms of the 248 00:13:57.559 --> 00:13:59.879 currency supply, and all of a sudden you're left holding 249 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:02.159 bags and you're wondering what the heck happened. 250 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:06.000 Yeah, it's a great point. And I think as someone 251 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:08.799 who lives in the US, and I believe you're in 252 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:09.480 the US as well. 253 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:11.440 Right, I'm currently in Boston. 254 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:15.399 Message, that's right, Okay, So I think we both have 255 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:18.919 seen the headlines. People are like, why can I not 256 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:22.720 afford a house? Why is are things so hard right now? 257 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:25.559 And many of them don't know the underlying problem, and 258 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:28.159 that is the debasement of currency. You can't print the 259 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:30.519 most money ever in the history of the United States, 260 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:33.000 and just just in the short timeline of like twenty 261 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:36.559 twenty and then not expect inflation and not expect your 262 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:40.519 the you're purchasing power to be devalued. And they don't 263 00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:45.480 understand that, right. And now I should say politics is 264 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:50.120 downstream of economics. So people but Democrats Republicans, right, and 265 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:53.759 they're at each other, but they don't understand the underlying problem, 266 00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:55.840 which you know, bitcoin definitely fixes. 267 00:14:57.480 --> 00:14:59.799 There's another thing I'd like to add here is you 268 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:04.720 mentioned it. So around COVID, we saw more money printing 269 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:07.039 in those six to twelve months than we saw in 270 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.320 the first two hundred and fifty years as a country. 271 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:13.360 And there's a price to pay for that. It doesn't 272 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:18.200 come for free. Oftentimes, what happens is there's a lag 273 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:21.440 between the action and the effect when it comes to 274 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:25.159 money printing and economics, and we saw that in that 275 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:29.440 very short timeframe. We didn't see prices rise. People were 276 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:31.919 very happy, they were getting stimulus checks, they were spending 277 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:34.840 left and right on all these sorts of things. And 278 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:38.240 then what we saw was a year or two later, 279 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:41.639 the prices of everything was slowly starting to rise. But 280 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:45.200 more importantly, and I think maybe some people don't realize this, 281 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:52.840 asset prices rose, so that money printing really affects the 282 00:15:52.919 --> 00:15:56.320 lower and middle class more than anyone else. And the 283 00:15:56.360 --> 00:15:59.200 reason being is when the money is broken. When money 284 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:02.080 is being printed, the people that are in the know, 285 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:06.799 the people that have wealth, are investing that wealth into assets, 286 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:10.759 so things like real estate and stocks, and so what 287 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:14.679 happens is the people that are living paycheck to paycheck, 288 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:17.840 lower to middle class, or the people that have a 289 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:21.879 tiny bit of savings, they're not able to attain those assets. 290 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:24.399 So take a look at real estate. Now, most people 291 00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:27.080 our age, quite frankly, are not owning a home and 292 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:30.799 have no reasonable path to actually own a home anytime soon. 293 00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:34.440 The reason being is when the money is broken, a 294 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:37.320 lot of people decide they need to park their money somewhere, 295 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:40.279 and the safest place to park it is in assets. 296 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:45.600 So real estate prices decide to skyrocket. You have everyone 297 00:16:45.639 --> 00:16:47.720 and their mother trying to invest in real estate, whether 298 00:16:47.799 --> 00:16:54.159 it's foreign entities or investment banks. We've seen people entities 299 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:57.360 like black Rock investing in real estate. They're all trying 300 00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:59.960 to park their money somewhere because it's a melting ice 301 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:02.840 cube that you're sitting on if you're holding cash, and 302 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:05.000 so you've got to find somewhere to put it. And 303 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:08.839 the avenue for most people nowadays in this current era 304 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:12.200 is real estate and stocks, and so you see those 305 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:17.160 prices of those assets skyrocket in a way that doesn't 306 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:21.039 necessarily make sense because when you look around you you 307 00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:24.279 see people struggling, right, You see people struggling with their 308 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:27.359 grocery bills, you see people struggling with their car payments. 309 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.640 And then you see asset prices go up, and you say, 310 00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:33.759 how does this make sense? The economy's not doing well 311 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:36.160 because look at everything around me, But then you see 312 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.640 these asset prices going up. So you're seeing this cognitive 313 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:42.960 dissonance of the day to day economy in your life, 314 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:44.920 the day to day economy in your neighbor's life, your 315 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:48.039 community's life is getting worse and worse and worse. But 316 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:51.319 asset price is rising, and that's all related to the 317 00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:52.759 broken money that we're living with. 318 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:55.799 Absolutely, and you know, I hope the folks who are 319 00:17:56.200 --> 00:17:58.839 going to watch this and listen to this really grasp 320 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:03.599 what you just said there. It's so important because many 321 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:06.680 are struggling and they just don't know why the knowledge 322 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:08.839 is not there. And you know, I'm hoping we can 323 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:11.599 get that information out there and unders and folks can 324 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:16.640 see there's bitcoin an avenue, a flight to safety, so 325 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:19.000 to speak. And it's not going to solve every problem, 326 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:21.839 but at least can help them to retain their purchasing 327 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:27.559 power and outpays the debasement and the inflation and for 328 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:30.559 them and even their future generations. Right because like for me, 329 00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:33.079 my plan, Like I have a six year old, there's 330 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:35.720 some bitcoin I'm not selling. I'm it's gonna go to her. 331 00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:40.400 And because I see, you know, bigcoin really open my 332 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:43.240 understanding of the economy, how the money system works, the 333 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:45.799 federal is there, what central banks are doing. And it's 334 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:47.640 like a blessing and a curse to know that. 335 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:53.119 Tony, Do you know about the curse of Cassandra. No, 336 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:58.240 So it's this ancient fable that it's it's a it's 337 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:04.039 a Greek god Cassandra that was blessed with knowing things 338 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:07.920 before they happen and trying to warn others. But the 339 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.559 curse is that no one listens. Yeah, and no one 340 00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:14.319 is able to take that information and do anything with it. 341 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.559 So it is a blessing and a curse. And I'm 342 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:19.160 telling you, I'm sure you've experienced this as well. You're 343 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:21.880 often shouting into the void for years and years and 344 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:26.039 years and people you love, it's people you want to help, 345 00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:29.720 and they just that there's a dissonance there, there's something 346 00:19:29.799 --> 00:19:32.680 that's missing in terms of the connection. And so I 347 00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:34.839 found that the best way to do it is to 348 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:37.559 do what you do is to keep putting yourself out there, 349 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:40.759 keep talking about it, and eventually they'll come around. Maybe 350 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:43.319 it won't be the first time, but usually it takes one, two, 351 00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:47.160 three touch points and eventually people will say, Okay, tell 352 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:49.160 me about it now, I'm ready. They have to be 353 00:19:49.240 --> 00:19:51.599 ready to actually be able to take in that information. 354 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:56.480 Yeah. Absolutely, well said before we talk about timestep, I 355 00:19:56.519 --> 00:19:59.319 did want to get your thoughts just because the conversation 356 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:03.559 is leading this dire Bitcoin Strategic reserve. The United States 357 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:06.319 put their stake in the ground. We're hearing Russia talk 358 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:09.039 about it now. There's a bunch of states within the US. 359 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:12.519 I think just Texas yesterday announced they want to have 360 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:16.000 a Bitcoin strategic reserve. So do you see the start 361 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:18.720 of hyper bitcoinization right now? With all these things. 362 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:24.720 So, the fascinating thing about bitcoin is it's one of 363 00:20:24.759 --> 00:20:29.759 the few technologies and innovations I can think of where 364 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:36.000 retail was able to access it first before institutions and governments. 365 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:42.119 And so what you saw with retail is being replicated 366 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:44.559 on the corporate side, and it's also being replicated on 367 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:47.799 the nation state side. So on the retail side, there 368 00:20:47.799 --> 00:20:50.720 were people like myself and you who saw the value 369 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:54.200 in bitcoin and decided, Okay, I'm going to start using 370 00:20:54.279 --> 00:20:58.720 bitcoin as my savings and consider that a store of value. 371 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:01.720 I believe it's a better money than x, whether it's 372 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:04.720 a dollar or gold or what have you. And so 373 00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:10.240 by being early compared to most other people, you benefit 374 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:15.359 from holding that currency and your wealth and your influence 375 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:18.599 grows with that. And so like you're saying you want 376 00:21:18.599 --> 00:21:21.000 to hold some bitcoin for your daughter, the why do 377 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:22.720 you want to hold it for your daughter? Because you 378 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:25.599 know in the future that it's going to do well 379 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:27.799 compared to all these other currencies. It's going to hold 380 00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:30.000 its value well, and you want your daughter to be 381 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:33.599 in a position where she can use that wealth to 382 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:36.319 exert her influence on the world and actually make a 383 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:39.720 significant impact. And so we all think like that, I 384 00:21:39.799 --> 00:21:41.680 do the same thing. I mean, I have some bitcoins 385 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:44.720 sort away. I have some bitcoins sort away for those 386 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:48.359 family members that don't listen to me, because I know 387 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:50.599 that'll eventually come back, and I have like a little 388 00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:54.680 portion sort away for them. Now, that's all well and good. 389 00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:58.759 On the retail side, I've been around for over ten 390 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:03.680 years now. On the bitcoin side of things, this last cycle, 391 00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:06.920 i'd say the four years or so has been very different. 392 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:13.960 We've definitely crossed rubicon here where it's no longer the 393 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:18.799 cipherpunk libertarian retail investors only. We've had a lot of 394 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.880 institutional adoption. So let's take Michael Sailor as an example. 395 00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:28.279 On the corporate side of things. He really, really, you know, 396 00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:34.200 pioneered the corporate side of things, started adopting bitcoin as 397 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:39.079 a reserve asset in his corporation and then started doubling 398 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:41.960 and tripling down on it by essentially borrowing money to 399 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:46.720 buy more bitcoin. And so I promise you this, A 400 00:22:46.759 --> 00:22:48.920 lot of people in the corporate world are looking at 401 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:52.880