You've heard of bitcoin before. It's the entirely digital, decentralized currency that supporters tout as the next step in financial evolution -- and critics call a massive scam. But what exactly are cryptocurrencies? How do they work, and why do some people believe they're as much a tool for conspiracy and crime as a tool for trade? In part 1 of this series, the gang invites returning guest Jonathan Strickland to explain the nuts and bolts of bitcoin, along with the advantages and flaws of the system.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
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come on visit, Iheart radio, dotcom slash, I heartland to start playing today, everyone,
we are having a couple more classic episodes this week, because we
went on a wee. Wee went out into the field, kind,
We did a very special live project which we should probably talk a little bit about gene
we did an incredible panel with the folks from lava for good members of the pod cas wrong
Conviction, bone valley and the war on drugs to discuss just that, the war on drugs we did alive of empty. I heart studios in inland
that and it's going to be turned into an episode for ya yeah, it's a it's a stem to stern bangor. We can't wait for you to hear it will probably also have some interview
with the luminaries we spoke with, but in
in time. While we were working on that, we saw,
We are talking about. Of course, we are always talking about strange com.
Robson conspiracies and allegations of the paranormal and
What we wanted to do this week is area special to part classic about. Crypto currency can speak.
We now this is bad
when bitcoin still sort that new car smell and our pal Jonathan strickland joined us, which is part of the reason this to border yeah, now now crypto just kind of smiles.
In a new car at all any. No. We talk about that. The question as to whether crypto was, or is some sort of long term kind of drift, and can a pan out to that effect
you a degree, so we hope you enjoy this and end. We can't wait to hear your thoughts on crypto today from your weapon,
Psychic powers and government conspiracies history is riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or learn,
the they don't want you to know
welcome back to the show. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is no one that feels weird cause: that's matt's part, but he's making a mad dash for the studio right now and should be joining.
Fourthly, yes, our compatriots will be here for the second part of our part episode. They call me Ben you or you were here with our super producer, Paul deck, and in that makes this stuff. They don't want you to know, but that makes this a varies
special episode of stuff. They want you to know our wherein I promise I will not mention Ben bucks. Too often we are
diving into the strange nascent world of crypto currency today, folks and to do so
We decided that we needed an expert. We needed a virgil for our collective dante as we venture into this darkness, and that is why we
fourchan is enough to persuade our friend, nemesis and returning guest Jonathan strickland to come on the show today. I'm I'm so too
Did you say it's time, gentlemen, that that's the wrong show yeah
for having me on, I hesitate to refer to myself as an expert level refer to use. I I appreciate
at all I'll sapped it, but only begrudgingly
and it's not really a shameless plugs and everyone in the room right now is involved, but rather was referring to another show. The ban, and I urge you got ridiculous history, where Jonathan makes a delightful, delightfully, cringe worthy appearance every every now and then his version of himself,
called the quiz stir. He has no it's pretty much. My true self, I mean, let's, let's be fair, sir, do you
check. It out. You will you.
And to listen to a couple of different episodes, because if we could provide you repeat behind the curtain, friends and neighbours,
sometimes on the show. No- and I are not completely certain winner, if Jonathan will show up, yeah is kind of pops out of the wings. I have a question to start a backward,
these days? Ah, I'm glad you asked, if you're going in
It really depends on the market because, as we know, all
currency functions is sort of an agreement, an article of faith or confidence. How many badgers can I buy for a ben, but oh badgers?
It hasn't been bikes,
pretty solid history, you can get a tiny badgers
one Ben buck. I'm a I'm starting to be concerned that there might be a bubble, you don't you don't need no stinking badgers. So ooh! That's that's a that's interesting question. Thank you for plugging boombox know, of course. I think that should be the next big currency, but for now we're just going to have to settle for bitcoin, which today is worth ten thousand
the nine hundred and four? U s dollars per bitcoin, which is kind of crazy, because it was not that long ago that it was worth almost twice that
it is that's one of the things about bitcoin in particular in crypto currency in general. That I'm sure we'll cover in this discussion is its volatility. Yet because the value that
we'll just provided us here at the top of the show. Will
certainly be different by the time the show publishes and may well be different by the time we're done, recording absolutely gap. In fact, that's a big problem.
With crypto currency, but I'm sure we'll get into that as well. Let's get right into this shirt off we're. What's it what's: crypto currency, what's his fancy terms
you thrown at us, so you guys know the the concept behind cryptography right, but you
got essentially some method of encoding information. Someone else has that method of decoding the information and that
why you keep the information safe between them.
The centre and the recipient. If anyone intercepts it, they can't do anything
useful with it, because they they lack the ability to do that decoding. Typically, we do this within
called private and public keys public key,
something that you share with the entire world and any
since they want to send to you they can, in code with
a combination of a public key in a private key, you can then unlock it, because you also have that information. But it's
get bore into detail gets super technical and it requires a lot of definitions upon them.
since so, rather than do that will simply say: crypto currency is,
a method for sending a erect
the transaction between two entities and record of transactions,
because one thing you gotta remembers that bit coins are not physical things at all right, there's,
you have called, oh god, if you own bitcoins, you don't own anything. What you have is a record of trade
actions that all terminate,
with your digital wallet. So essentially just a record of transactions that all came to you and
that is what we mean when we say I own, like seven bitcoin, what it really means, as I have a record of a acumen
You should have seven bitcoins little terminated with my account ice
ok! So, typically, when we think of crypto currency for most people, we think of bitcoin riah, it's the it's there.
windows or the apple of the crypto currency, weird, but there are other
finds out there right who sure yeah there
the theory of theirs light coin. There's minero, there's a theory of classic. You know
they went to new areas and it didn't go so well and real big backlog. Yeah they decide they want to go out. No, there really is a curt crypto currency called a theory of classic and then there's also a theory of a sea
cash do
bitcoin, I there's a ton.
of them and bigger
is the one that best known because the d into t that that suggested, the creation of bitcoin is kind of looked at as the person who laid out the basic rules?
for crypto currency works, because if you have a digital currency that doesn't exist in any physical format whatsoever and you
have to have, you have to have a method of being able to buy something with that crypto currency or at least handover.
A cripple currency to another person. Otherwise, what's the point
if you can't do anything with it, you just have it right like it, though I do you any good franklin, mint,
the bill, spoon rawhide, exactly don't mock them there. They are going to appreciate value or hamas, the bottom there,
adorable, but yeah you. If you can't, if you can actually spend it, it's not currency. It's ninety god doesn't. Do you doesn't mean anything
at all, so you have to. I have a question on that. Yet I mean can't you still invest in something that you you have to make it liquid before you can spend it like. You can't technically spend stock sure
get your money back out of it. Then you could argue, and I think it would be a very convincing argument that crypto currency,
specially bitcoin rep
It's more of a commodity like a stock rather than an actual currency. Because of those problems I mention yo ben. You talk,
but how the value of a bitcoin could be drastically different by the end of this recording session, then it was the beginning of the recordings.
That's actually true, that can be true within the context of a single transaction which makes it
very difficult to spend any currency if, by the time the transaction is over, the amount of currency is that the worth of it is different. How do you
how do you reconcile that? But I think we all understand the how what makes us stock go up or down its tied to something like tangible, like a company doing well,
acquisition or something that you can say. Oh this companies doing well, the stock is improving going up in value yeah. How does that work for
What, where does this volatility come from its largely due to people's com?
hence our lack of confidence in it and that ends up being people.
This is really generic term, but it also means exchanges, bitcoin exchanges and companies that
come up around the the periphery of bitcoin, where we just call them. You know, like players or state,
older sure thing cause they're they're, not all individuals as sure right. Some of them are represent conglomerates of folks who have all kind of dedicated process.
The power to the mining of bitcoins will get into that.
I'm excited about yes, oh it's! It's this!
crazy thing. That no faith is a very powerful thing. Right
I if I really believe that that coin.
going to be worth more in the near future at enough on other people also really believe that, then that's what makes it worth more
honestly, when it comes down to it, is the value of anything.
determined by how much people are willing to pay for it right. There's nothing intrinsic about anything, I believe is also what makes fairies real. I mean if we want
older, don't know, o cash is a lie.
I would prefer the terminally an article of faith. There were a coupon is just a coupon. They can get you more things than say group on a bed bath beyond yea,
but yeah we like ok. So if I, if I give you a piece of paper- and I say this is good for what backdrop which spoil our lord day is around them,
urban now- you know what you're gonna get. So if I give
Do you know the value of that piece of paper I gave you is one backroom, but let's say instead I give you a dollar and you look
dollar- and you say what can I get for this dollar the crazy,
is the value of that dollar is completely dependent upon a huge number of factors right for
and what you can get for a dollar at one days can be different from
you can get for a dollar ten years from now
then the argonauts be that with crypto currency
We are seeing this at a much higher frequency, ridable frequency, to a point where I personally would be terrified to spend any bitcoins, because if I owned them, I do not in the just for everyone to know. I dont own any bitcoins, but if I did, I dont know that I can
Is it as a currency, because if I were to go into a store- and I say
I would like that candy bar and these store owners as well chap that candy bars one dollar and slap a dollar down and
by my candy bar and go home night, my candy Barnum all happy the next day, because
some sort of calamitous event. I suddenly discover that a dollar would allow me to buy five hundred candy bars. I would just think I wasted that dollar I spent yesterday right. I I shouldn't have spend that dollar cause I could have.
bought five hundred candy bars today with the dollar I spent yesterday. Well, that's like bitcoin, except it's happening every ten minutes
so are happening in real life. Early adopters, bitcoin use, I think, use it to buy a pizza, famously gs. You're about that yeah
and you know you can see the very, very depressed,
In the end, the humorous calculation of how much the poor guy actually paid for that pizza yeah- and this leads us to another question: what are the nuts and bolts about how this bitcoin transaction
works. Let's say no is selling you. The candy bars ass, you or by the candy barber turbine it with a bitcoin. How
Does that money move from you,
to know and how eventually do try to get it out of the system and then we'll have another question after
I hate. So this is starting to get into the realm of what blockchain is all about right,
and blockchain is in fact the technology. The idea that social knockabout- I was really talking about in the white papers that he they she who accrue members until she knockabout, oh, really is published back in the first decade of the two thousands
So what know what I would do, if our buying something far as giving knoll some amount of bitcoin, is that
there would be a transaction and in that transaction would be some pieces of data that would include the the public key, the private,
He re use by private key to sign off on this transaction. That kind of creates this code.
It would also be knolls address for his wallet, because there has to be a place for this to go and then that enters in
to a shared ledger that is across the entire bitcoin network? So when you think about bitcoin or any crypt occur,
see. There is a network of computers. Its isn't
might be using the internet to send information back and forth, but not the same thing as the internet. It is its own little network within
the greater realm of the internet
Everyone running the the m software is able to actually take part in this,
a transaction enters into a ledger of all transactions of all bitcoins that have been generated so far ever ever, and then the various computers out in the network are all working on a very, very difficult, math problem in order to verify the transaction. This takes about ten
minutes per block of transactions. Once that ten minutes passes and someone out there has solved the problem they
The are rewarded it. This is the mining process.
Where there are new bitcoins that are actually generated in this process until the ultimate number of coins has been created. That point no more bitcoins can be mind in that way, but that's there that's the compensation that you get for mining. You you! If you saw
but get those extra bitcoins. You also have said: hey I've just verified that transaction, because I solve this very difficult, math problem that was created through this record of transit.
Its tracing, all the way back to the very first ones and
this new block. Can act can be put on the end of this chain
So that's why you have this technological blockchain. Each block is a block of transactions that have been verified by the various computers running on this issue,
and once you have solved that block, which takes on average ten minutes to do it gets ad
to the chain, which is again shared across all computers, so
everyone knows that a transaction took part.
Now they don't know the identities of the people who spent and accepted the money which,
gonna be important later, nor I that's all anonymous boy
They know that the transaction happened. So in a way you could
do they know the accounts involved. They just don't know who those accounts belong to. You here live up people losing bitcoin or like having bought it,
the larks you like years ago, all of a sudden they're like oh, I got heard an npr story about the guy like I I
this bitcoin in our realises worth the whole crept on a money and the
the rapporteur, went with him and helped him dig through his attic. Looking for a particular hard drive right, why is it that specifically, legally
when I buy something I would think there's a record in the cloud. I wouldn't need a record on physical, dr. What else the deal there that that's part of-
The idea of keeping this secure so that you and you alone have access to that cash right. If it's something that just exists in the court in the cloud then our
You are billy with the right kind of technology. You would be able to access that information and be able to take advantage of it and spend bitcoins that are not your own right. That's the that's of the protections as you don't. There are two things the blockchain needs to protect against,
It needs to protect against you, spending that coins you don't actually have or you,
spending the same bitcoin more than once so, for example,
I send. If I have one bitcoin or the transaction record really of one bitcoin in my personal wallet,
and I set up a transaction with you know- and I said that bitcoin to you and
You accepted immediately before the trends.
Before the transaction can be verified
and then I send a bitcoin too
and a bitcoin, I do not own because of our spinet with you know, but because,
you ve already very, very accepted it would before the transactions verified. There's no record that the transaction is yet happened.
and then I send one to to Ben. I could potentially try and spend the same coin twice
the problem that we can't do that with physical currency. Right. If I give you a dollar, I can't magically
if that same dollar, to ban because already given it too, you know
we have, as in that time, have as the system know, which one was the legitimate transaction and like it's not listen
until the verification not legitimate until the verification occurs, and it takes ten minutes, which is why, if you're, making a big purchase? Typically, the vendors wolbert make you wait for
the transaction to have been verified before they will complete its happens with stocks as well.
Right you withdrawing stock into a fund, you do have a mandated waiting period. I wouldn't go back to the when I go back to the question
where we talked about generating new bitcoin reacting to foreign, a mining by bob block mice. All these math problems yet live by blocking said until
reach is a threshold of the ultimate amount of coins. It can be created right. That is not an apple
loot ceiling right? That's per block? Oh no. There
raise eventually an absolute ceiling that, once those bits
I have in mind there will be no more bitcoins ever mind, then that you get.
You get to it summer.
The twenty million range of bitcoins once you hit that that's it, but
you might ask? Well if the trend, if
Verifying transactions is how you earn extra bitcoin slew, and that's why
people are interested in dedicate their computers to doing this like their earning money. This way right there earning bitcoins that represents wealth. That's a incentive to be part of this group. If,
that all the bitcoins or mind. Why would you keep doing it right? Why would you keep supporting the system because you're no longer getting that wealth well in the future? What,
It happens. You're gonna see more and more transaction fees attached to any transaction, whereas certain portion of the amount of bitcoins that are being handed over are gonna, go to which every computer or computer system verifies those transactions, so that won't perpetuate the system. Even after all, the bit coins have been mind awe, and this leads us naturally to a couple of other questions, namely what these things
are used for we have a candy bar example, would yards to explain it, but that might not be the reality. We see on the digital ground and will explore this after a word from our sponsor love, great shopping deals and you'll, love wish and now wish is even better with flat rate shipping improve tracking and faster. Do
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all weekend long visit, I heart radio dot com, slash! I heartland to start playing today. The and we've returned of one of the questions that one of the questions that we didn't quite get tuesday or just for a plant in your head here is the idea of.
taxation which I believe governments are still trying to figure out. Well sure, yes out and I write
now, there's a practice called tumbling wallets right where
and someone wants to avoid being assumed
deleted legally was some kind of profit, but they still want to have the benefits of that. But it's it's a yeah. It's kind of the digital equivalent of swiss banker,
That's right! It's this idea of having having a a play.
It's where your wealth can exist. That is not easily tagged to the actual person, the identity, whereas you could still, in theory at least access that wealth and perhaps liquify it and then get access to the the actual dollars that you would use to buy and sell or whatever, and they just gets really really complicated. And it's
the tricky thing to talk about, because you're either you're really need to talking about something that you've manufactured. To have value, I mean that's. The only purpose of bitcoin right is that it has to have value, and why have value, because people by and to the fact that it has value people dedicate ridiculous amounts of processing power to try and solve those
math. Probably no. I said that it takes ten minutes to verify transactions. That's by design. The math problems are only as difficult as they need to be, for the amount
of computing processing power there to solve them within about ten minutes. So
if you were to see a sudden drop off, let's say
we'll just realized, like I'm, losing more money running this gear that I am getting in bitcoin, it's actually more
spencer for me to mine that I'm gaining in what I'm getting back.
We see a lot of processing power drop off from the system? The problems, then, would become easier to solve so that it wouldn't require so much processing power and the amount of time it would take to verify transactions would remain ten minutes.
on a website. If more and more a processing power comes onto the system and the problem get more and more complicated, which means that the average person running bitcoin processing stuff on there little laptop computer has no chance really of having the machine that
please solve these math problems because elsewhere you have massive grid networks of computers, all doing it so very calmly.
it stuff. Meanwhile, you ve got the other people who are saying I want to use crypt crypto currency in order to to purchase things tis, to sell things and to a
Emily wealth without any sort of central authority being involved whatsoever cause. I don't think that it has a place in that process
ok, you knew no central banking sector
right! No governments, nothing like that like in fact I was one of the key elements of the design of crypto currency was,
decentralized approach. You you ve, actually democratized at across a network of computers, all running the bitcoin currents. What how is it legal humph I mean,
give. If you come up to me now- and you say, hey Jonathan, I really like coffee mug. Would you accept this pen?
that coffee bug- and I say yes, who's gonna stop me, but I must say, like the hours attacks attacks like there's, there's no way to there's not really that there are a lot of countries other than are attempting to find ways to tackle this, because when
what about very small amounts like small personal transactions like I am like, hey ben? Can you spot me if I, you know
dollars so excellently do within mowers, write something like that. No one cares right. It's its tiny little stuff. Bitcoin, though, can
represent enormous purchases. If you have enough of the currency, and the thing you want is available on one of the market's sure. That's where people start to pay attention.
and the fact that again, the volatility of the value of the currency means that someone who started off with a relic
These small investment early on could end up with what is
much more valuable a little bit later, and then you go governments saying how do I get a kite yeah? Additionally, what were seen, I would argue, is a common practice that we we ve explored in the past, both on your show text of
it wherever you get your pockets and on stuff they want. You know in past appearances and it's this the technologies and inherently disruptive and legislation,
Typically lags behind in terms of like we, we invent as a species. We invent these astonished
things, and then we spend the next few decades figuring out how to handle it.
Application of the rule fright late and where we ready for television or or a disruptive
ride sharing service that completely undermines and an exam
the industry that sort of stuff yeah well in this case also, you gotta remember that bitcoin is a global currency right. It's not something. That's innately
tied to a specific country, even though it was created in the united.
Data can be used anywhere
and that also brings up a host of problems because suddenly you're too
about well. How did it it's like whenever anyone talks about taxing the internet
Well, how do you do that? The internet isn't just a thing that resides in one geographic region. It is global in nature and and that's been so, it has been a difficult problem to solve. For me,
some countries, even for just regular transactions, that don't evolve crypto currency, and I talk about like how do we,
How do we legislate that for other types of goods and services that are going to cross international boundaries it it's? It's tough check this agenda. Yet on this page that does a comparison of like there's this
specialized pieces of hardware for mining bitcoin yeah. It is really interesting and it gives you like this. One here is called the antminer as nine and it's two thousand bucks and supposedly will yield you about point three, six, one three bitcoin per month, yeah, I just wanted to point out tubes- may be stating the obvious, but you can own part of a bit
and, like it's an all or nothing thing, you can have a little fraction. Oh sure, it can be divided way way way down like to attlee like to a millionth of a bitcoin. I think we're going to save a lot of this. This talk for the next episode, but this chart for this piece of hardware has these stats about processing power power efficiency? He has a big thing, because these tools
running constantly cost, you money cost you money and they also use a lot of a lot of juice. Yes, the thing is that, while you're spin, while you're running at europe, you're running up your electricity bill of you, so you start
you actually do have to start. Looking at that thinking, what are the statistical odds that I will earn a bitcoin running this equipment?
because it is not a sure thing right. Even if you buy the stuff, there is no sure thing about you actually earning those bitcoins, because if another entity out there does it,
you're out a lot raised. First past the post right near and and any than if you were to somehow tie with someone else, I'd say that I'm running
a massive bitcoin mining operation and ben? As my arch nemesis, you are also running a comparatively large.
Bitcoin mining operation. I well at dark blue. It's a supercomputer, it's not deep blue, because I did suit. I call it very blue jeans because of a big fan of the adventure zone and so
We both are trying to solve this problem and lets say that we both end up solving the transaction block at the same time.
Then the world of bitcoin both of those blocks?
will exist simultaneously?
Neither of us will be rewarded with any bitcoins, yet what what'll happen? Is
in the systems looking for which ever chain gets the next block. First and whichever
chain as the longest becomes the verified chain and the other person loses out.
oh wow, so it's a constant race and it might mean I mean it's very unlikely to happen, but it might mean you could see it happen a couple of times before someone's able to create the longest
chain before the other one, and that becomes the one that the entire network accepts as the verified ledger and then all those bitcoins would go to that particular
mining operation. The other thing I want to mention really quickly is that this has another consequence in the computing world, which is that it's getting real hard to find graphics processors because,
I'll graphics processors tend to be parallel process
and parallel processes are very good at trying to solve the problems that the bitcoin mining is all about: so's affecting a tangible acid
Oh yeah yeah. So if you are a gamer, you might hate bitcoin right now, because sir
many bitcoin mining operations are buying up graphics processing cards that it's hard to find them
it's. The demand is so high that the prices are not coming down that fast either. So it's
actually driving prices up. So it's getting more and more expensive to be a gamer, that's going on snowed.
Elite side of gaming. Like the professional side, it's hard to build a state of the art rig with the best equipment, because the bitcoin mining industry is. It is just jumping on those graphics cards as soon as they're coming off the line. So that's it,
vantage yeah. This currency pill there a lot more. If you want an early, sounds like I think I know
we hit on some of the advantages to this
This seems like sort of a new beast for the human species, so yeah, what are what are swore? The disadvantages? Are things people should watch out for and in what? What are people actually buying with this stuff excellent questions
so we ve hit on some of the disadvantages. The idea that the volatility and price makes it difficult to span. People are starting to treat more like it's like an accumulation of wealth that they don't then liquefied. They just keep trying to accumulate, will ultimately, if it's just a currency or if it's meant to actually be converted
Some other form of currency dat, that'll, eventually collapse in on itself. Right because you can't you can't sustained that indefinitely. If, if no one is in parting with anything, then
At some point you just say: will now it's not oddly enough, it's worthless, even though everyone's valuing it so highly because its there's no exchange happening. This is momentum dependent. Yes, so there's that
part of it, while the other disadvantages is again. I mentioned that the transaction time can be so long that the value can change and that's creating difficulties when it comes down to actually trying to use the cryptic currency for what
its intended purpose was you when you hear currency, you're thinking, that's a unit of exchange, so that I can hand over something that we have
both agreed upon, has a certain amount of value for a product or service that is of an equivalent amount of value. And then we can have that transaction. If that value
Is fluctuating so quickly that by the time I finish saying, thank you that it's worth a different amount. That becomes an issue again. So
big disadvantages there on the advantage side, assuming the leg you ve got a nice
stable value to it. If everything's working correctly
things working as it was intended to work. Then it's it's not
centralized and its anonymous. So if you are
certain with your privacy, and you want to be able to purchase something and whether the lagoon
worthy the of it can be set aside for now, but you want to purchase something, but you don't like the idea of that.
being tracked, you personally, for whatever reason this is a great way of doing it. It's a great
we have been able to say like I want to take
all that other nonsense out of the equation. I I don't want a third party, a trusted third party involved in this, like a credit company, I don't want any of that. I don't want a bank involved in any of this. I just all I want is to be able to have an agreement between two entities. May be it's two people. Maybe it's two businesses. It could be any combination thereof,
I just want to have that transaction be as simple as possible and we both agreed upon what the value is. We both
feed upon how many units of this currency it should represent, and the transaction happens and that's it so libertarians would love?
here's, the thing is that there is a record of that transaction right cause, that's part of the technology. It is completely shared across the entire network. Now it's not tied to your identity but
Others there is a ledger there, so it's not like it's not like it's so
per hush hush. It never happened. In fact it happened and everyone knows it happened. They don't necessarily know what
you bought, and they don't know who you are, but they know that
there was a transaction because that's how the system works. Ok, I'm going to hop in real, quick and and request that we take a quick ad break so that we can welcome our pal matt into the studio, love great shopping deals. Then you'll love wish and now wishes, even better with flattery
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download the wish to today. What's up, everyone is the host of stuff, and I want you to know been met and no here, you're invited to state farm park, and I hardly added in fortnight for a very special event. We are discussing secret societies, including the popular yet misunderstood. Fraternity known as freemasons, will go in depth about the secret society, who used the building of structured as a symbol for the accumulate
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or a couple, a different fronts. Yet is I'm here now it s a big change during the average wilkes high,
I met
that I'm usually here and now I am- I did your part
at the beginning of the shell are now weird, though, because I kind of did it in your voice yeah and I edit I felt kind of hollow inside it also took about fifteen
seconds to get him going. Your colleague starting a dead car has had the dead eyes. I was a slight what oh,
welcome to the after outbreak. So weird,
very glad you're here, for so you came at the right time to my guy
because you're now diving into one of the things that off air we had talked about the three of us and planned to ask Jonathan. Today, Jonathan, we said: we've agreed that bitcoin is probably the most.
Famous crypto currency out their azure by far the most stone market, capitalized sure. Even fifty cent curtis jackson
recently found a million dollars and bitcoin they forgot. He has just like in his digital couch, cushions after the drop of were the draw recently. Some who knows how much aware that
I am a day is that right now that story is interesting because, like we were talking about earlier, how you have to be able, you have to accept bitcoin for transactions
where'd. You have value and mr kurdish jackson, fifty cents totally did that
for a record that he put out there. I don't think sold particularly well. I think he
lit up with somewhere the neighbourhood of seven hundred bitcoin, or something like that.
And yet, as you know, and he was, he declared bankruptcy and now he's sitting pretty at least you now as we recorded,
Yes, I assuming that you can ever liquefied your assets.
Then that's also so that a question like is it possible that you couldn't yeah, it's absolutely possible, it's absolutely possible that you could end up with an amount of bitcoin
and then you you but
I d go and liquefied, and then no one's willing to actually give you the cash that the market says that bitcoin is
tells us all yeah, no waiting.
I want to save stuff
Nor do I, how do you know I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna go and talk about whales.
We'll talk about whales later, ok, great! For now we need to figure out who created bitcoin. We talked about
We ve heard the name listeners Saito sheet.
Komodo- but here's the thing about Satoshi nakamoto people are pretty
certain it's a suited him. Yet.
Actually knows who this person is more if this is just a monaker used by multiple people and
We have a real life.
iser souci ask fig
in the world of crypto currents? First of all, I would argue that at least one person does know who he is.
It is incredibly lightly, but how hilarious would it be if that person
not know that they, if you were to tell me that the white paper on blockchain currency was goes written by some random code.
And that there is no solution, not commodo. I would have my brain melt up my ears out. Also, I would go see that movie and we were right in the script. I think in fact, a trademark copyright.
So what do we know about this? We know that this persons or people institution Satoshi nakamoto may be the norm, the plume of actually a group of people as very, very clever computer scientist
right, someone who really understood the potential for blockchain technology and of two to be clear.
into currency, blockchain technology. All of this stuff, these these are all basic building blocks that had preexisted the creation of bitcoin. By a couple of decades it was the Toshi nakamoto who kind of put all the pieces together and laid them out in a very compelling argument, and I think it was a two thousand and eight white paper that was originally published just to kind of have a list of people who are
just didn't cryptography, who would have been a previous use for that technology? Well, there are all sorts of different uses for it are you you talk about peer to peer network so that that's how the bitcoin
operations. Work peer to peer network is way that you can transfer files across a group of computers and lay napster napster, isn't it
or scour, if you wanna go, holds more like the swarm model, the kind of like a bit
Aren't you know we have everyone has a piece of it and it all kind of comes together to create the whole well yeah, where, where like, if I have started to download a file and someone else
to download that same vile. They may start pulling some of the data that I'm beginning to accumulate in mine, as well as other parts from other parts of the union.
Where this speeds up the process overall, it of its totally legitimate way to distribute files. However, it has been used extensively for the purposes of piracy, which is why it's a bad name, but that that's one element: for example a bitcoin that pre existed, the santos
now commandos paper. Now as we're not commodo him her or themselves. As you say, we
What really know the identity? There was a story in two thousand fourteen of a guy.
A fournier named
the Toshi nakamoto he actually has the name and everyone's like is this- is this? Is this the Satoshi nakamoto?
poor guy can you imagine yeah? He said I am not that guy he was in to complicate matters, computer scientist living calvin.
yeah, oh yeah, so a lot of people came up to me is like no
Oh well! There was another computer scientist who was living not too far from the real world, so toshiba about out named health, any who also could potentially created the crypto currency. He was interviewed finny. However, it's difficult to communicate with them he's geese is locked in a hurry.
It lacks the ability to to move and communicate the way the average person would so also very coy. With this very coy about his potential
movement, there have been people have said that there are essentially
We human beings in the world who potentially could have created bitcoin
There are, by the way, more than three people who have been associated as possibly being set ocean knockabout, oh, but those three body, nick saws, bow
the way dye or how fitting so there's this
I believe that it could be one or more of those three there's other
folks. There was a guy in Australia, craig right here for a while was claiming to have to be a toshiba commodo thing, I'm the one who came up with it. That's my pet name and then
he's. I get even show you how those first, those first transactions happened.
and he started to demonstrate their peoples edward technically. If you can,
haven't? I know how you could probably just recreate this and make it seem like you were there,
behind it, but you are actually just replicating something and then he kind of backed off
Hoax clearness, isn't hacking. This isn't illegally. There's no reason to be anonymous other than just I maintain the mystique or not want people to mess with you about
or imagine. Oh, there absolutely is there absolutely is because
Does she not about a likely holds a significant number of bitcoin
and so, if you are the owner of a massive amount of wealth, one of the things you might not.
To do is draw attention to the fact that you create
well thought of nothing like Lattimer prudent. So so, if you, if you go out new, created his wealth out of his shining packs, and
of horses. If you, if you create a crypto currency, which you you could say our awol, if we take a big big step back before you create bitcoin, there was no bitcoin. You created bitcoin
bought into the fact that it has value. You create value of effectively nothing
and you made yourself in
incredibly wealthy through the process of doing
and you're the one who understands how the whole system works, which raises quest
in some people's minds they ask what is there any way to game the system?
Surely the person who created it would know a way of doing that and the whole purpose of the system by the way is to make it very, very, very difficult to game the system. You would have to have fifty one percent of the computing power to do it.
Now it is difficult one at the beginning, there was no one else doing it right or not, subject to any government regulation so you're you have no way of actually backing up your wealth in this system and if you get screwed
Then you just this is over as well as the icy and as happened with exchanges going under right, like them
the system itself is, is secure in that you don't
have to worry about some one attacking the blockchain directly with it just its impractical, because it's too much computing power, but you could attack an exchange and people have attacked
exchanges we ve heard about you, know essentially oceans, eleven style heist only on the digital scale, where thieves aimed
Various companies that were they basically provided digital wallet.
This is the reason why you'd want to put it on your own hard drive rather than on someone else's machine, because you get enough bitcoins all in one place, that's a prime target sure
Oh, that, that's where we see the weakness in the system: it's not it's not in the currency, it's not in the transaction process, its in the storage end of it. That's where the the weaknesses question, yellow before
he's too much about nightmare. We do know some of the claim is that now commodo made themselves yes claim to be
a male living in japan, born in nineteen. Seventy five rather than make my age
Eric waiter, you situation
dude- would I be here yeah we're
we're a lot of fun to hang out with due
you were going to invite you to go play laser tag later. That's a true story
I mean I appreciate the compliment, but I have definitely not supposed to talk here right. Well, I wish I could. I wish I could come up to say like yes, I
I'm living a very under the radar lifestyle were pretty
indeed, to be japanese, my my caviar
dreams, stuff at least not not openly,
similarly the carrier. I could problem,
we have caviar in die, it's not shellfish! What, if you justly bathed in ok, there's a different basis, baby carrier that that's opulence, rape, tuesday night, we do
We know that a lot of people don't believe that situation I commodo, whoever he or she or they are they don't believe, is this entities
actually japanese and origin brain to some of the language used in forums right language that
sounds british for lack of a better term. The use of like were bloody and some of the spelling. You know like extra el, the purity, I think, he's banks the his bags. I refer for this conversation
we. We also know that
people say is unlikely to be japanese or they were unlikely, be japanese because of the software itself was not documented or labelled and japanese. Why? He-
there there woloda, there's, loves, circumvent, stanch, all evidence that points to it being someone outside O most theories. But
and suppose you knock about those identity. Assuming that there are there's just one either could like as ache. There could be multiple people who all just use that as their group pen name, they most people think that we are talking about a european or american computer scientist who is ultimately responsible for putting together the whole, show bang or a time
similar or a time drought, it came back to begin the currency. They would one day there are two things to do. Stop
large. Hadron collider and launch a crypto currencies. We have a wealth of candidates for the real situation like nyc mode.
Here and honestly in some in some circles. I think people are just picking folks, they think of as highly intelligent link. You see you probably wells
the scuttlebutt about elon musk sounds like you know.
You know who has enough time to do this: the guy trying to build a space colony, the guy who's, sending his own sports car to mars, which is cool. He could probably bust some sick doughnuts on mars, oh yeah,
yeah those craters yeah. You gotta get the right tires. Do you ever wonder, though, if it's only like elon musk, isn't full
you're working on those I mean elon musk has his hands dirty and that stuff, but he's not every day.
on the codes are working on the muskrats. An entrepreneur yeah he's an entrepreneur he's not that he's, not the kotor he's. Not there he's not. The guy
in the chair, as spiderman homecoming taught us
I guess I'm saying maybe does have the time, but maybe not the know how I think that's here, we'll speaking of the time. It sounds like it's about time for us to close our first chapter, crypto currency and
We have to. Thank you, Jonathan thanks for coming.
the show, despite the fact,
that you and nolan I are beefed up in and in a different show right. We we appreciate you coming on and walking all of us through what crypto currency is, how it works and helping us try to figure out who this mysterious person or people behind.
Crypto currency actually might be. I mean this. This is one of those legitimate mysteries out there for that. That again, like a few people, know the real answer, but most
sir just left wondering and ultimately it I dont think it really matters, because what really matters is that people have the belief in the system and as long as that works as well as people have that belief that
There is value there. The question is whether one day be come a time when people just completely lose that belief and everything becomes valueless and then, ultimately, by the end of it, has anyone lost anything. These are like big, like philosophical questions that are hard to answer as with off yacht currency, eventually, the people to stop believing in it I mean
The you know, that's the only thing that keeps going right like you could argue that the that state currencies are backed by a government but then you're
that just shifts your belief from the currency to the government and the and look at the government right by the way did we discuss turning your gaming rig,
to a bitcoin mining system. We discuss the fact that it is now getting increasingly difficult to find graphics cards because they're all being put to use in bitcoin mining. I was going to ask you about that. Was it
but when you have robust Emily geologists, Jonathan and are
I t guy Israel put together.
Using gaming pc- and I was going to ask- I know It- has a cool parallel. Graphic processor was
tough defy was renewed I'd, but that's because we gutted some or some
slightly older max and they happened to have graphics cards, one of the few that
compatible both with mac and with pc, and we put all three in parallel so that we have three parallel gb use
one rich now, but I still can't get a chicken dinner graphics, rich baby
that's right to consider another thing that has been severely affected by bitcoin soup. We ate sue.
I think it's interesting that you're you're arguing the identity of this creator doesn't matter. I ought not. Ultimately, I think I think that's an interesting argument. I would I would tend to disagree just because, just because if it were
some group of people who are aiming to manipulate market than it does matter very much, because there would be a motive that we would not understand
and which makes it and even less secure investment,
You could argue that. But at this point I think the machine is moving forward with so much momentum that anyone with any particular motivation what really be able to bring it into full effect humming unless
you have a plan to essentially sabotage multiple exchanges simultaneously or if the whales move all together, the system is going to be nice and secure, but that's something we should save for maybe the next episode and folks. This concludes port. One of our episode on crypto currencies. However, off air, we brought up something it.
We haven't done in a while. She had gone asked chosen this an email, especially for you. We thought it something that you might enjoy. Yes comes from, Keith Russell Keith says greetings fellow conspirators, it's been sometimes
made contact. I'm a bit wiser and sending this message this time, not using
gmail. I'm using proton mail brought to you by cern makers of the Mandela effect
this email, any incantations therein is being typed on privately centred keyboard, hosted on encrypted servers and being sent through encrypted packets of european. Why am I taking such precautions because of advanced persistent threats?
We have known about the AP tee for some time, but we now have a rare glimpse into the operations. One such a pity, dark kara call clerical curse.
Oh see a a our l, curricle dark. Morocco. Look out and e f F did agree
right up, one dark caracas, seeing that's wrong and operate
out of beirut, lebanon,
course we know that lebanon isn't only player in this space, china
rush hour very active china has been reached.
Possible for many cyber espionage campaigns in russia was most likely responsible for not paid, not paita, not pick you up
not picture, is something you are aware of. Jonathan, yet ok
but china and russia are the only nation states with this capability, the shadow brokers and wikileaks vault, seven involved. Eight revelation show that the innocent and cia or very adept in this space, though not enough to keep their secrets and stuxnet, was probably a joint effort by the eu
us and Israel, and did you know that there is a company called zero medium which, by zero day, exploits and brokers
to the highest government for a bitter, and then you links
They have offered a one million dollar bug bounty to any hacker who was discovered a zero day on the signal tour. What's up and other privacy tools? That's a bit scary anyway,
dark caracas and zero day market should fill in an episode and ashamed and morse would be a great guest farewell for now
this email comes was from MR venomous. Your pal, Jane, more smith, morsel hack, five, fame and and tech threat
If she's great put in a good word. Maybe we can get her on the show another episode I'll I'll I'll. Let her know
We should absolutely look into zero day exploits. Maybe we can get you and sharing back on the show in the future,
I think that the
This email has a lot
it, and hopefully our super producer can chop it up a bit to make a little
more sense for
everybody. Listening AP teasing all that stuff there thanks
I have a really pressing one that one was was with super important, but this one really, I think, takes the k. It is from nick love it he says, hague.
as nearly in everyday listener, spotify at work and in the truck found you about two months ago and start at the top of the list, and just let it play, of course in reverse chronological order. I just came across this. May fifth episode, the color
seven lana at the beginning of the show matt questions if the right ships from checks makes or sold individually. While we had already discovered this by now, it just so happens that I discovered in a convenience, store a while back a bag of just ride. Ships
so they are in fact available map. That's amazing, told you was important, was an acute
because I know where some of those are the
they didn't specify the store nick. Please write his back and let us know where to get these delightful snacks and- and we really appreciate the tip
This concludes our what not,
sure, I'm so glad we decide to make this a two part episode, because we have not even scratched these serve.
is of some of these strangers- crypto currency conspiracy.
At the Joe rogan show. We don't do nine our episodes we have to do now. We will keep things in little nuggets. Digestible
the end of this classic episode. If you have any thoughts or questions about this episode, you can get into contact with us
a number of different ways. One of the best
just to give us a call or numbers one. Eight, three, three s t d, w whitey k- if you want to do that, you can send us
good old fashioned email. We are conspiracy,
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Transcript generated on 2023-06-27.