796: Crypto: Kim Jong-un Crypto Funded Nukes vs. Billions Out of Poverty

Andreas Antonopoulos. He’s a technologist and serial entrepreneur. He has become one of the most well-known and well respected in bitcoin. He’s the author of Mastering Bitcoin, published by O’Reilly Media. Andreas is also considered the best technical guide in bitcoin and The Internet of Money—another term that he coined—is his book about why bitcoins matter.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? – Digital Gold
• What CEO do you follow? – N/A
• Favorite online tool? — Trello
• How many hours of sleep do you get?— 8
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “What you’re worrying about is really not worth worrying about, just go for it”

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:50 – Nathan introduces Andreas to the show
• 03:17 – Cryptocurrency is still volatile
• 03:20 – Most ICOs nowadays still converts 60-80% of funds
• 04:00 – There’s no single system in crypto
  • 04:21 – Andreas thinks that it isn’t the matter of ideology, but a matter of being a rational actor
• 04:48 – From a regulatory perspective, Andreas foresees that more than 90% of the ICOs will fail
  • 05:00 – Founders get rich because of the investors not doing much to evaluate the ICOs
  • 05:20 – There’s a lot of immature products coming to ICOs
  • 05:47 – The cycle will just burn through a lot of money
• 06:12 – Andreas isn’t involved in any ICOs and he’s actually against investing in them
• 06:50 – ICOs can be seen as another space for crowd funding which bridges the gap between angel investment and VC
  • 07:15 – At this time, there’s a lot of risk in ICO
• 07:44 – Cryptocurrency is the application of networks and market economics to the flow of money internationally
  • 07:50 – Just like the internet was the application of a flat network system to communication around the world
  • 08:23 – It is a system that doesn’t belong to any company or to any one person
  • 08:27 – It removed intermediaries in banking and finance
  • 09:00 – You don’t have to trust the person you’re dealing with, but just trust the platform
  • 09:32 – It is extremely important for developing nations
• 10:28 – Andreas shares how cryptocurrency protected his mom’s cash retirement from failing Greek banks because of Greece’s current economy
• 11:12 – Nathan shares a sample scenario with ISIS using cryptocurrency to attack Greece
  • 11:28 – Andreas shares why the US shouldn’t have spent 20 years bombing them as it led them to acquire weapons
• 13:30 – If Kim Jong-Un wants to acquire weapons in cryptocurrency, there’s no current way to regulate it
  • 14:42 – The ability of the government to control the money leads to corruption and oppression of people
  • 15:03 – “No, you can’t control money”
• 15:50 – Andreas is more interested in insuring that people who are trapped in poverty have the means to provide for basic necessities
• 16:50 – Andreas’ point regarding the future of the world depending on cryptocurrency
• 17:56 – ICO is a productive application of capital and investment, believing that there will be a return
• 18:31 – There’s a lot of people speculating about the future
• 19:11 – The comparisons between different cryptocurrencies and their market capital are not useful
  • 19:24 – It is mostly based on speculation at the moment
• 20:50 – Andreas’ primary advice is not to buy crypto, but to earn it
  • 20:55 – It is an online visual economy
  • 21:22 – He has been earning his cryptocurrencies for the past 3 years
  • 21:44 – The speaking deal of Andreas is in bitcoin, plus 20%
  • 22:06 – He liquidates his tokens on a monthly basis
  • 23:00 – There are some establishments that receive cryptocurrencies
  • 23:45 – There are also a lot of BTMs or bitcoin automated machines available
  • 24:22 – There are also local traders for cryptocurrencies but you just have to be cautious
• 25:12 – The questions Nathan should be asking for a pitch of a $5M crypto hedge fund
  • 25:30 – Crypto funds are holding crypto for thousands of investors
  • 25:40 – Their security should be a thousand times better and most companies can’t do that
  • 26:00 – It’s easy to hack on a computer
  • 26:35 – This is very similar to DAO
  • 26:44 – The better way is to hold crypto funds individually by putting them into a wallet
• 27:24 – “You can’t keep information securely concentrated in one place”
• 28:57 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

1. As of this moment, it is not that wise to invest in an ICO.
2. The future of cryptocurrency can have both a positive or negative effect on people.
3. Don’t buy cryptocurrency, earn it.

Resources Mentioned:

• Simplero – The easiest way to launch your own membership course like the big influencers do but at 1/10th the cost.
• The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences
• GetLatka - Database of all B2B SaaS companies who have been on my show including their revenue, CAC, churn, ARPU and more
• Klipfolio – Track your business performance across all departments for FREE
• Hotjar – Nathan uses Hotjar to track what you’re doing on this site. He gets a video of each user visit like where they clicked and scrolled to make the site a better experience
• Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
• Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible
• Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he’s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books

Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives