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“The Fool’s Field Guide to Bitcoin” with Cryptocurrency Expert Wesley Schlemmer

Published on: 7th August, 2024

I first heard of Bitcoin around the time it was first gaining steam, circa 2010ish. I guess due to certain circles where I spent my time and education, it was only natural that it would come up in conversation. While it remained mysterious, I was brave enough to invest a bit of my own USD into Bitcoin in the 2013 timeframe, and have kept up with it somewhat through the years.

What attracted me to the Bitcoin "craze" at that time was how people who's opinion I respect explained that it's not an investment opportunity - as most folks think of it today - but it actually mimics the most sound of forms of money in many ways.

So I wanted to bring on to the show someone who is informed on the right reasons to "invest" in Bitcoin. I use the quotes around the word invest because it's not a typical investment where you put a certain amount of government-issued currency then gain a return on it after a period of time. It's actually much more complex (or simple?) than that.

Bitcoin is a means of exchange to pay for stuff that circumvents governments entirely.

Wesley Schlemmer of the Bitcoin Bay joins us on today's episode to explain the basics of Bitcoin, the Blockchain, the basics of sound money and more. While the fallout from the FTX misdeeds will be felt for some time, the upside is that Bitcoin is on people's minds, and we have an opportunity to learn about it, and learn how to do it the way the creators of Bitcoin intended it to be used in the first place!

In this episode, you'll discover:

-Wesley's personal background and becoming familiar with crypto...01:15

-Cypher Punks and a short history of Bitcoin (Hint: It's not an investment opportunity!)...03:45

-What is the Blockchain, and what is its relation to cryptocurrency?...14:15

-What is sound money, and what makes Bitcoin a sound form of exchange?...19:20

  • Three primary characteristics
  1. Medium of exchange
  2. Store of value
  3. Unit of account
  • Qualities of sound money
  1. Durable
  2. Fuingle
  3. Divisible
  4. Portable
  5. Scarce

-How Bitcoin promotes self-responsibility..27:00

-What the heck happened with FTX, and what can we learn from it?...31:00

-How to get into the Bitcoin game without it being a risky investment scheme...37:38

Resources mentioned:

Bitcoin Bay website

Cypherpunk Manifesto

Info about blockchain wallets Wesley mentions

The Bitcoin Standard

Muun Bitcoin Wallets

Bisq

Terms mentioned:

Blockchain

Litecoin

Ethereum

Block Chimes

Cypher Punks

Panopticon

Difficulty of Adjustment

Privacy v. Secrecy

Hal Finney

Blocksize Wars

BTC Token v. Network

Unit of Account

SAT's (not a pre-college test)

Stock to Flow Ratio

Seed Phrase

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About the Podcast

Ba Vojdaan با وجدان
Conscious Living in a Zonked-Out World
Conscious Living...In a Zonked-Out World.

If you consider yourself to be reasonably sane, and often find yourself saying words to the effect of...

"WTF happened to this world?"...

Welcome. You're among friends.

با وجدان (transliterated to Ba Vojdaan) is a Persian word which translates to English as "Conscientious".

I don't know about you, but I'm alarmed by the lack of conviction and integrity in our culture. People are on "autopilot" morally and spiritually. Whatever the talking heads on the boob tube tell us to think, that's what we think.

Sure, this has always been a problem since the dawn of time, but it just seems more pronounced in recent years.

And no one notices.

And those who do notice...they seem to either not care, or have given up trying to make a difference.

This podcast is one man's response to this pandemic of moral laziness and apathy.

Carry yourself with "Vojdaan" and you'll instantly set yourself apart from the zombies inhabiting our land.

This podcast will show you how to do it, and allow you to interact with others who think the same way.

So subscribe to the podcast and reclaim your sanity with daily interviews featuring folks who refuse to march in step with the rhythm of the world that is driving us into despair and chaos.

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It really helps to build credibility for the show!

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James Newcomb