Bitcoin Tech Talk #365
Interesting Stuff
Bed, Bath and Beyond - What’s happened to the stock of this retailer is a microcosm of what happens under post-modern investing. The author details what ended up being 3 different pump-and-dumps, all entirely legal, and driven by narratives that really had nothing to do with the business itself. The dynamic at play is that the people that know what’s going on are able to make money by dumping on retail. And in a sense, retail doesn’t mind, as long as they get to gamble. I believe that this is the real dynamic behind all these altcoin pumps, and much like the story of this stock, the pumps are weaker and shorter over time. As the author points out, this particular stupid game has damnation as its prize.
Why Rome Fell - This is a great excerpt from Mises’ Human Action, where he explains that Rome didn’t fall because of barbarians, but because of government interference. There were price controls on food, which made food scarce and that caused people to move out of the cities, destroying the manufacturing capacity of cities, which in turn destroyed the food production in the countryside. All of this ultimately was the result of currency debasement and the policies that were enacted to combat the consequences of that debasement. It’s a great read on the second and third order effects of theft by debasement of money.
Illusion of Explanatory Depth - This is a term from psychology that recently stumbled upon and is an excellent way to describe how we think we understand something because we use it. The study quoted in this article is one where people are asked if they understand how a toilet works, and of course, all of them say yes. Then they are asked to explain exactly how it does, and they find they can’t. I’ve been saying for years that this is the case for most people and their impressions of money and energy. Glad that there’s a term for it, even if it’s not exactly a self-evident term.
What I'm up to
New Media - I talked to Aaron and David about new media and how the landscape is changing, particularly with respect to the economics of being a journalist. The current legacy media is hanging on through fiat subsidies, but that’s not sustainable, so we speculated on what media and media companies will look like in the future. As David pointed out, what people are willing to pay for in an age of free information are in-person experiences, which I think will be the bread and butter of most new media going forward.
Tech Intersect - I talked with Tonya Evans about my new book. We talked specifically about altcoins and why they’re very different than Bitcoin. The audience that Tonya has is a bit more filled with altcoiners, so this was a good chance for me to set the record straight on centralization vs. decentralization.
Bitcoin Amsterdam 2023 - I will be attending the second edition of this conference this week and will be speaking several times. Use code JIMMYSONG for 10% off and come say hi! I’ll also try to make the Amsterdam BitDevs on Wednesday, October 11.
Panel at Pacific - My panel from Pacific Bitcoin Conference is online! I was on a panel with Pierre Rochard and Tone Vays and moderated by Alex S. We talked about airline miles, stablecoins and some of the stupid things we did. The panel was a fun one and we had some disagreements about whether Bitcoin would be higher or lower or stay the same if altcoins never existed.
Nostr Note of the Week
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