A Conversation With Vijay Boyapati, Author of the Bullish Case for Bitcoin

Published: 2021-08-20 09:00:01

Recorded, written and produced by Alexandra Moxin

This episode features Vijay Boyapati, a distinguished senior software developer, prominent bitcoiner and Author of The Bullish Case for Bitcoin. Trying out a new format for show notes, let us know what you think!

Covered in this episode

00:32 Vijay’s background as a former Google engineer and computer scientist (Ph.D.) in machine learning. Working on Google News. Leaving Google to work on Ron Paul’s campaign in the 2008 presidential elections. Vijay’s Bitcoin origin story beginning in 2011.

04:56 What it was like working at Google, in the early days.

09:52 Taking a stand against censorship and speaking about it in a corporate setting.

11:05 Vijay’s book, The Bullish Case for Bitcoin. The original medium article, translated into 20 languages, and his process of turning it into a book; challenges and proudest moments.

15:26 A deeper dive into Vijay’s Bitcoin origin story.

21:45 The artwork created by an anonymous bitcoiner in The Bullish Case for Bitcoin.

23:14 The power in anonymity and why using nyms enables you to be your most authentic self.

25:27 Where Vijay sees Bitcoin going in the next few years; what technical developments look promising to him.

27:57 The Lightning Network, Strike, and El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as legal tender. Bitcoin being on the cusp of mainstream adoption.

31:01 Combating fear, uncertainty and doubt. A high level explanation of: why Bitcoin - for people who are brand new to it.

31:45 Defining money in terms of economic goods, cash flow, trade, value, price, store of value, portability, fungibility, scarcity, ease of transmission, and inflation vs. fixed supply. Why Bitcoin is the best form of money that’s easy to keep possession of, not be debased or confiscated, and is very easy to transmit over the internet.

36:57 The difference between gold and money. Understanding why gold no longer backs money and hasn’t since 1971. Why that happened, the unrestrained money printing in 2020 and why Bitcoin is a good hedge.

42:15 Why fiat currencies didn’t out compete gold, instead, how governments demonetized gold through executive order and force.

43:06 Vijay’s thoughts on what the world looks like as it’s going through hyperbitcoinization.

45:48 Moral decay; debasing the money leads to debasing the value of actual human beings. Retaining value and why money should be boring.

49:01 Lowering your time preference. Vijay’s thoughts on what the world may look like post hyperbitcoinization. Making it harder for governments to wage endless foreign wars.