1 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: This is red Pilled America. Bitcoin has been one of 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 1: the most fascinating and controversial developments in the history of 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: monetary technology. When Red Pilled America did our first deep 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: dive into bitcoin called Crypto in July twenty nineteen, each 5 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: bitcoin hovered around nine thousand dollars. When we did our 6 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: second deep dive called Crypto Revisited in January twenty twenty three, 7 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: it was at about sixteen thousand dollars. Today, as I 8 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:31,160 Speaker 1: record this, it's hovering at almost sixty five thousand dollars 9 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,160 Speaker 1: per coin, in almost seven times increase in seven years. 10 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: That seems impressive until you realize that over the past 11 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: seven months, the value of a bitcoin has been cut 12 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: by almost half its all time high of one hundred 13 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: and twenty six thousand dollars. Next week, on July twenty ninth, 14 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: the FED Chairman is expected to provide big news that 15 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: will impact the economy, Wall Street and bitcoin. So to 16 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: provide a refresher over the next week, we'll be republishing 17 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: both our deep dives on Crypto. Where is Crypto Going? 18 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: After listening to these six episodes, tell us what you 19 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: think and don't forget to become a Backstage subscriber, where 20 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: you get add free access to our entire back catalog 21 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 1: of episodes. Just go to Redpilled America dot com and 22 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: click join in the top of the menu. Now on 23 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: with the show. If you haven't heard about bitcoin by now, 24 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: you must be living under a rock. 25 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 2: Bitcoin. 26 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 3: Bitcoin. 27 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 4: That was the moment that I wanted to use bitcoin. 28 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 5: I personally I own bitcoin in my hedge fond. 29 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 6: Do you think this is a currency, a currency that's 30 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 6: really going to work eventually? Well? 31 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: I think it is what this internet. Cash has become 32 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: all the buzz, But recently the hype has taken a 33 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: different turn. Many powerful people seem to fear digital currencies. 34 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 6: Hey, look for colleagues to join with me and introducing 35 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 6: a bill to outlaw cryptocurrency. 36 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: With all of these economists, bankers and politicians raising a 37 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: red flag about the emergence of digital cash, it got 38 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: us to thinking, is bitcoin dangerous to America? 39 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 7: I'm Patrick CARELCI and I'm Adriana Cortez. 40 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: And this is Red Pilled America, a storytelling show. 41 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 7: This is not another talk show covering the day's news. 42 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 7: We are all about telling stories. 43 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,799 Speaker 1: Stories Hollywood doesn't want you to hear stories. 44 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 7: The media marks stories about everyday Americans of the globalist ignore. 45 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: You could think of red Pilled America as audio documentaries, 46 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: and we promise only one thing, the truth. Welcome to 47 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: red Pilled America. Is Bitcoin dangerous to America. The topic 48 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: has been popping up more and more on our screens, 49 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: but the speculation was sent into overdrive after President Trump 50 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: condemned bitcoin and other new digital currencies. 51 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:02,800 Speaker 8: A crypto is being talked about. The President actually weighed 52 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 8: in and tweeted about cryptocurrencies last night. He wrote in 53 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 8: part this, I'm not a fan of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, 54 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 8: which are not money and whose value is highly volatile 55 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 8: based on thin air. He writes, unregulated crypto assets can 56 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 8: facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity 57 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 8: rights the present. 58 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: To get to the bottom of bitcoin, we'll first look 59 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: into the origin of this tech phenomenon. We'll talk to 60 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: a few experts on its emergence and impact on America, 61 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: and we'll hear a story about the lengths to which 62 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: the United States government has gone to halt its growth. 63 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: But I want to warn you here before we get started. 64 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: At first glance, the topic of bitcoin seems complicated, It 65 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: has its own language and challenges the way we think 66 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: of money. That said, if you stay with us, you'll 67 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: know more about bitcoin than most And today that's vital 68 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: because some say the disruptive technology driving this new phenomenon 69 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: could even be bigger than the Internet. Understanding bitcoin has 70 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: now become mandatory. 71 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 9: A lot of people say that in bitcoin or internet 72 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 9: terms with it in like the nineteen eighties. 73 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 10: What would happen, for example, if golf nations, rather than 74 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,920 Speaker 10: trading oil and dollars, moved to bitcoin. That would I think, 75 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 10: destroy America as a global empire. 76 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 3: You know, governments are worried. However, I don't know that 77 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 3: anybody can prevent it. 78 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 6: They need an escapegoat, and Roster's their scapegoat. And I 79 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:37,840 Speaker 6: think I personally think it was because of the bitcoin. 80 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: Everyone is talking about bitcoin, but what is it? Simply put, 81 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: it's a new currency system. When we think of money, 82 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: our minds typically conjure up images of greenbacks, US dollars, 83 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: that physical paper money we sometimes carry in our wallets. 84 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 7: Bitcoin is also considered money, but it's a brand new 85 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 7: form of currency that only comes in electronic form. There 86 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,359 Speaker 7: is no physical coin or bit bill. This kind of 87 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:10,720 Speaker 7: digital money is called cryptocurrency. 88 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 3: Yeah. 89 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 9: I think the simplest way to think about Bitcoin and 90 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 9: other cryptocurrencies, all of which do stem from Bitcoin originally, 91 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,559 Speaker 9: is best thought of as Internet cash. 92 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 7: That's Billy Bambra, a freelance journalist. It's been covering cryptocurrencies 93 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 7: since twenty twelve. 94 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 9: Just like you have cash that you use in a store, 95 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 9: Bitcoin or other forms of cryptocurrencies are or could be 96 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 9: considered cash that you use on the Internet. So it's 97 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 9: digital cash. It doesn't fit quite into the same definitions 98 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:47,360 Speaker 9: of a traditional currency. It doesn't fit quite the definitions 99 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 9: of a traditional commodity like gold. It's somewhere in between. 100 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 9: The exact use case has not quite been pinned down yet. 101 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 9: Because it is something entirely new. 102 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 7: Internet cash is a brand new, disruptive development in currency. 103 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 7: The history of money helps illustrate this fact. 104 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,160 Speaker 1: Before we had currency, people had to rely on the 105 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: barter system, or you would trade something of value that 106 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: you possessed for something of value that someone else possessed. 107 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 1: For example, your stockpile of furs were a form of 108 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: currency to purchase, say a bale of wheat that you needed. 109 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: But often there was a problem what you had of 110 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: value wasn't always what someone else wanted in a barter deal. 111 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:32,359 Speaker 1: Person A may have had a bale of wheat that 112 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,560 Speaker 1: you wanted, but they didn't need furs, so the trade 113 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 1: wouldn't happen. You'd have to find out what person A wanted. 114 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: Let's say they needed wood. Then you'd have to find 115 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,720 Speaker 1: person B that had wood and trade your furs with 116 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 1: that person, assuming they wanted furs. Then you could take 117 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: your newly acquired wood and go back to person A 118 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: and trade your wood for their wheat, that is, assuming 119 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: they still had the wheat. As you can see, bartering 120 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 1: was a bit complicated, and as societies grew it became 121 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: even more difficult. Need for currency arose in order to 122 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: facilitate trading. 123 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 7: Throughout history, people have used all kinds of physical currency. 124 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 2: There's hardly anything that hasn't been used for money. 125 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 7: That's the latent. Famed economist Milton Friedman. 126 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 2: Rock salt in Ethiopia, brass rings in West Africa, cowrie 127 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 2: shells in Uganda, crocodile money in Malaysia. I'm sir, it 128 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 2: isn't it. Even a toy cannon. Anything can be used 129 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 2: as money. 130 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 7: Most pre industrial Revolution, cultures decided on some form of 131 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 7: currency to facilitate trade. 132 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 11: Look, the most important thing with a currency, for example, 133 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 11: the Indian shell wapam, which would basically beats, is that 134 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 11: it be limited in supply. 135 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 3: What limited the supply of shell wapam was. It was 136 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 3: difficult to make. 137 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 7: That's economist Peter Maurice, Professor emeritus at the University of 138 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,520 Speaker 7: Maryland Robert H. Smith's School of Business. 139 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 11: Anybody could make it in the Indian community. However, it 140 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 11: took a lot of time and effort. 141 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 7: It's that time and effort in creating the shell wampom 142 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 7: that gave it value to the Indian people. 143 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: For thousands of years, gold and silver have been used 144 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: as money. We've mined these precious metals and forged them 145 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: into coins, each branded with an official stamp by some 146 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: trusted third party to guarantee their purity. The work that 147 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: went into mining it, refining it, and pressing it into 148 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: coins helped establish the value of the coin. Aside from 149 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,439 Speaker 1: the few commercial uses, gold and silver didn't necessarily have 150 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: any intrinsic value. They had value because everyone agreed that 151 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: they had value. 152 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 3: You know, money is based on face. 153 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 11: People need to understand that because theft all back in 154 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:46,840 Speaker 11: the days when we use gold would make gold value. 155 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 3: The answer is people made it valuable. 156 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 11: They assigned it was valuable and would exchange it for goods. 157 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 7: But as time passed, the use of gold and silver 158 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 7: coins its currency became inefficient. People needed to trade in 159 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 7: denominations smaller than the value of each coin. They needed 160 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 7: a form of currency that was easier to handle, so, 161 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:10,679 Speaker 7: in part to solve this problem, governments began issuing paper currency. 162 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: In the United States, For many years, our currency, the 163 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 1: US dollar, was backed by gold. This was known as 164 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 1: the gold standard. Our central bank, called the Federal Reserve, 165 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: would issue paper money with the total of all US 166 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:27,679 Speaker 1: dollars in circulation representing the physical amount of gold held 167 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 1: by the Treasury Department. The paper itself had no intrinsic value, 168 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,320 Speaker 1: but it was a form of accounting that represented an 169 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: actual portion of gold. In other words, the dollar was 170 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: just an accounting system to keep track of how much 171 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: gold everyone owned. The Federal Reserve could not just print 172 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: up extra paper money at will. It was generally limited 173 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 1: by the amount of the precious metal held by the Treasury, 174 00:09:52,160 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: but that officially changed in nineteen seventy one. 175 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 12: I have directed Secretary Connolly and temporarily the convertibility of 176 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 12: the dollar in the gold or other reserve assets accept 177 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,080 Speaker 12: in amounts and conditions determined to be in the interest 178 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,199 Speaker 12: to monetary stability and in the best interests of the 179 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 12: United States. 180 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: Many believe the United States had unofficially abandoned the gold 181 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: standard in the nineteen sixties when our government printed money 182 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 1: to pay for the Vietnam War and President Lyndon B. 183 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,680 Speaker 1: Johnson's Great Society programs. But in nineteen seventy one, President 184 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: Nixon made leaving the gold standard official. 185 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:36,960 Speaker 12: Now what does this action, which is very technical, what 186 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 12: does it mean for you? Let me late a rest 187 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 12: the bugaboo of what is called devaluation. If you want 188 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:48,439 Speaker 12: to buy a foreign car or take a trip abroad, 189 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 12: market conditions may cause your dollar to buy slightly less. 190 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 12: But if you are among the overwhelming majority of Americans 191 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 12: who buy American made products in America, your dollar will 192 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 12: be worth just as much tomorrow as it is today. 193 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,080 Speaker 12: The effect of this action, in other words, will be 194 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 12: to stabilize the dollar. 195 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: Of course, that wasn't even remotely true. Today the value 196 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: of the dollar has plummeted by eighty four percent since 197 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:19,200 Speaker 1: Nixon made that announcement again. 198 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 9: Billy bambro So, the US system at the moment, and 199 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,960 Speaker 9: many other monetary systems around the world, are based on 200 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:34,439 Speaker 9: fractional reserve lending and on central banks deciding how much 201 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 9: money to print went to print at how to manage 202 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:37,120 Speaker 9: the economy. 203 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 7: From nineteen seventy one on, the US dollar was no 204 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,679 Speaker 7: longer backed by gold, but instead it was backed by 205 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 7: a promise from the United States government, its value being 206 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 7: derived by, among other things, how stable the government is 207 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 7: and how much money is in circulation. The US dollar 208 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 7: became just an accounting system of value backed by nothing 209 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 7: but a promise, with the banks acting as a trusted 210 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,599 Speaker 7: third party that records the economic transit actions in a 211 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 7: ledger like our bank statements and credit card transaction statements. 212 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 7: With gold no longer restraining how much money was in circulation, 213 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,319 Speaker 7: the central bank was free to create US dollars out 214 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:15,199 Speaker 7: of thin air. 215 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,319 Speaker 1: Today every major country has this type of currency system. 216 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: Because of the stability of the United States, our currency 217 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: became very powerful throughout the world because people trust that 218 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: they can safely hold their property in the US dollar 219 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: without their assets losing value. Modern Davenezuela, on the other hand, 220 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:36,440 Speaker 1: is unstable, which is why you see their paper currency 221 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 1: littering their streets. It's worthless. But even with the stability 222 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 1: of our government. In the early nineteen eighties, some began 223 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: to question our currency system and the government's ability to 224 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 1: monitor almost every financial transaction. At the time, US cryptographer 225 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 1: David Chom expressed the idea of an anonymous electronic money 226 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 1: to avoid Big brother's watchful eye. A cryptographer is someone 227 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: that designs safe ways to transfer information electronically without the 228 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: information being intercepted or duplicated by a third party. 229 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 7: A movement began to form around this desire for privacy. 230 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 7: The people drawn to the movement were called cipherpunks, cipher 231 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 7: referring to a secret way of writing what is referred 232 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 7: to in the digital world as encryption. 233 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: In the early nineties, these cipherpunks coalesced around an electronic 234 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:32,199 Speaker 1: mailing list to share their ideas, and the movement slowly grew. 235 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,920 Speaker 1: People like wikileak's founder Julian Assange and lesser known names 236 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: like US cryptographer Hal Finny were cipher punks by nineteen 237 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: ninety seven. The originator of the concept of cryptocurrency. David 238 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: Chalm secured some venture capital to start an Internet currency 239 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:53,440 Speaker 1: he called digicash. Other cipher punks also entered the ring, 240 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:56,839 Speaker 1: each attempting to create their own online money that was 241 00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:00,960 Speaker 1: as secure and anonymous as cash in the physical world. However, 242 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 1: the idea didn't spread. Rations and merchants weren't so keen 243 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: on the concept of anonymous internet cash. They liked capturing 244 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:13,840 Speaker 1: your data from traceable electronic transactions like credit cards, but 245 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: perhaps more importantly, consumers weren't lining up to use digital money. 246 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: David Choms said at the time, quote As the Web grew, 247 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: the average level of sophistication of users dropped. It was 248 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: hard to explain the importance of privacy to them end quote. 249 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: By the end of nineteen ninety eight, David Chom's digiti 250 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 1: Caash filed for Chapter eleven bankruptcy. The other electronic currency 251 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:41,800 Speaker 1: outfits failed as well. People hadn't yet understood the precious 252 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: data they were giving up to big tech companies with 253 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 1: every Internet transaction. And besides, in the late nineties, it 254 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,000 Speaker 1: was easy for everyone to open an account with a 255 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: bank or a credit card company. They welcomed everyone. No 256 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: one was being banned from these financial institutions, so the 257 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 1: demand for a new Internet cash was near zero. Still 258 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 1: by the turn of the millennium, even with the failed 259 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 1: attempts at a cryptocurrency, a few forward thinkers saw the 260 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: eventual development of Internet cash that was completely separate from 261 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 1: the US dollar. Again, Milton Friedman. 262 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 4: So that I think that the Internet is going to 263 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 4: be one of the major forces for reducing the role 264 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:26,520 Speaker 4: of government. The one thing that's missing but that will 265 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 4: soon be developed, is a reliable e cash, a method 266 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 4: whereby on the Internet you can transfer funds from A 267 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 4: to B without a knowing B or B knowing A. 268 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:40,840 Speaker 4: The way in which I can take a twenty dollars 269 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 4: bill and head it over to you, then there's no 270 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 4: record of where it came from, and you may get 271 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 4: that without knowing who I am. That kind of thing 272 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:52,400 Speaker 4: will develop on the Internet. 273 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: The race for a cryptocurrency was largely shelved by the 274 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 1: early two thousands, but little did the cipherpunks know that 275 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: their passion was about to be given a rebirth by 276 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: a mysterious, anonymous figure, a figure that would develop a 277 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: disruptive new technology that could threaten the government's monopoly on 278 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:10,360 Speaker 1: printing money. 279 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 7: Welcome back, I'm Adriana Coortez. So the race for a 280 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 7: digital cash or cryptocurrency had been largely shelved by the 281 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 7: early two thousands. Corporations and merchants preferred credit card transactions, 282 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 7: where they could capture data on their customers. People also 283 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 7: hadn't yet understood the attack on their online privacy. As 284 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 7: a result, there was no demand for cryptocurrencies. But an 285 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,480 Speaker 7: event of global proportions was about to give rise to 286 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 7: a mysterious character that would breathe new life into the idea. 287 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 13: This was going to be one of the watershed days 288 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 13: in financial market's history. 289 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 5: It was a manic Monday in the financial markets. The 290 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 5: Dow tumbled more than five hundred points after two pillars 291 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 5: of the Street tumbled over the weekend. Lehman Brothers, a 292 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,400 Speaker 5: one hundred and fifty eight year old firm, filed for bankruptcy. 293 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,240 Speaker 4: I don't think anyone really expected a bank as bigg 294 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,439 Speaker 4: as Reason to be in a position that it's in. 295 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:13,200 Speaker 5: Now, brought down by bad mortgage investments. Leman, which has 296 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:16,120 Speaker 5: twenty five thousand employees, will be liquidated. 297 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 7: With the fall of Lehman Brothers. In the throes of 298 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,639 Speaker 7: the two thousand and eight financial crisis, many Americans lost 299 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:25,879 Speaker 7: faith in the United States monetary system. Cipherpunks began revisiting 300 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:29,240 Speaker 7: the idea of a digital currency divorced from the centralized 301 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,760 Speaker 7: Federal Reserve, the system that many felt through the global 302 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:36,720 Speaker 7: economy into chaos. On October thirty one, two thousand and eight, 303 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 7: in the midst of the crisis, an unknown web user, 304 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 7: or perhaps a group of users, going by the name 305 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 7: of Satoshi Nakamoto, wrote a white paper entitled Bitcoin a 306 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:51,119 Speaker 7: Peer to Peer Electronic Cash System and published it to 307 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:54,919 Speaker 7: the web address bitcoin dot org. Satoshi then posted a 308 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 7: link to the document on a cryptography mailing list stating quote, 309 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:01,680 Speaker 7: I've been working on a new electronic cash system that's 310 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 7: fully peer to peer with no trusted third party end quote. 311 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 7: Satoshi was proposing a new form of Internet cash. It 312 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:14,399 Speaker 7: was the Napster of currency. The system Satoshi developed was 313 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:19,399 Speaker 7: a decentralized currency system called Bitcoin, one that eliminated the 314 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 7: need for banks as the middleman again, Billy Bambro. 315 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 9: Because of the two thousand and eight financial crisis in 316 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,359 Speaker 9: which Bitcoin was created and can be seen as a 317 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,680 Speaker 9: catalyst for interest in bitcoin, people have decided that perhaps 318 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 9: this monetary system is not the best one. 319 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 7: As we mentioned earlier our US currency, it's just an 320 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,920 Speaker 7: accounting system with third parties like banks, credit card companies, 321 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:46,040 Speaker 7: and other financial institutions, all recording transactions and keeping track 322 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:54,360 Speaker 7: of value in one way or another. Each of these 323 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 7: third parties fall under our central bank, the Federal Reserve. 324 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 7: Satoshi designed a system that replaced this centralized banking system 325 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:07,680 Speaker 7: with a decentralized collection of computers that automated the accounting 326 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 7: the banks performed. This automated system, known as the blockchain, 327 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 7: records electronic transactions on a public ledger residing on thousands 328 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,159 Speaker 7: of computers all across the world in a way that 329 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:24,639 Speaker 7: is near impossible to hack. The system removed a costly 330 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:29,280 Speaker 7: middleman like Bank of America, Visa, and PayPal that deducts 331 00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 7: large fees. This blockchain technology also partially anonymized every transaction, 332 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:39,000 Speaker 7: keeping everyone involved out of the watchful eye of the government. 333 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 7: Satoshi Nakamoto created the first Internet cache. Instead of shells 334 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 7: or gold coins or paper dollars, this new Internet cash 335 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:56,480 Speaker 7: system used bitcoins. The technology was revolutionary. When I send 336 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:59,280 Speaker 7: an email to someone, both I and the person receiving 337 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 7: it have a copy of the email. Satoshi's technology devised 338 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 7: a way to send a digital object, the bitcoin, to 339 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 7: someone without leaving a copy with the sender. So when 340 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 7: I send a Bitcoin to someone to purchase an item 341 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:15,639 Speaker 7: or pay for a service, I no longer have a 342 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 7: copy of the bitcoin. The person I sent it to 343 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 7: now has the possession of that digital coin. It's handed off, 344 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:26,639 Speaker 7: just like cash is. The transaction is recorded into a 345 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:30,600 Speaker 7: public ledger through an automated system of computers throughout the world, 346 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:34,320 Speaker 7: removing the middleman and the fees they may charge. A 347 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 7: key of the system is that the computers that perform 348 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 7: the computation behind these transactions are rewarded with bitcoin. Just 349 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:45,679 Speaker 7: like when people mine mountains in the hopes of finding gold, 350 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:50,720 Speaker 7: These computers compete to perform the computation of bitcoin transactions 351 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:54,400 Speaker 7: in hopes of being rewarded with bitcoins from the system. 352 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 7: As a result, these computers are called miners. Satoshi released 353 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:02,360 Speaker 7: the blockchain computer code that operated this new internet cash 354 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,840 Speaker 7: system on January third, two thousand and nine, and the 355 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:09,119 Speaker 7: first transaction was recorded just a few days later, when 356 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 7: Satoshi Nakamoto sent ten bitcoins to a member of the 357 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 7: cipher Punk movement hal Finny. A key feature of this 358 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:18,439 Speaker 7: bitcoin system is that there is a limit to the 359 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:22,280 Speaker 7: amount of bitcoins in circulation. Unlike the US dollar that 360 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 7: can be printed by the Federal Reserve at will, the 361 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 7: maximum number of bitcoins that will ever exist is twenty 362 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:33,000 Speaker 7: one million. Satoshi forced the bitcoin system to mimic the 363 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:35,640 Speaker 7: limits set up by the gold standard, where the number 364 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,119 Speaker 7: of US dollars were confined to the amount of gold 365 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 7: in the Treasury Department. This is a very important point today. 366 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 7: As the Federal Reserve continues to print money, the US 367 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,440 Speaker 7: dollar loses purchasing power over time because there are more 368 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:52,720 Speaker 7: dollars in circulation. If you think of dollars as shares 369 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 7: of stock in the United States, the more dollars that 370 00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 7: there are, the smaller the share of the United States 371 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:00,720 Speaker 7: you own. So the value of a US dollar decreases 372 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,399 Speaker 7: from year to year. That's why the price of products 373 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,520 Speaker 7: continues to rise every year. It's because your dollars are 374 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 7: losing value. Satoshi wanted to solve this problem of inflation 375 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,879 Speaker 7: by limiting the number of bitcoins it could ever be 376 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:16,919 Speaker 7: in circulation to a finite number twenty one million. So 377 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 7: from year to year, the value of bitcoin will not 378 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 7: be diluted like the US dollar. The first known commercial 379 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 7: transaction using bitcoin occurred in twenty ten, when a programmer 380 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 7: named Laslo Hanyax bought two Papa John's pizzas. The price 381 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 7: tag for the two pies ten thousand bitcoins. In December 382 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 7: twenty twenty, the same amount of bitcoin would trade for 383 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 7: roughly two hundred and thirty million dollars. In the first 384 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 7: couple years of bitcoin, few merchants were adopting the cryptocurrency. 385 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 7: It needed a kickstart, one that could prove Bitcoin's ability 386 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 7: to actually serve as digital cash. That would come with 387 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 7: the creation of an online marketplace that would not only 388 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:58,359 Speaker 7: prove the legitimacy of cryptocurrency, but would also show how 389 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,920 Speaker 7: much the government feared this new Internet money. The first 390 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 7: brought audience to see the potential of crypto was the Libertarians. 391 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 7: They believed in small government, liberty, and free markets. They 392 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 7: wanted an end to the War on drugs and saw 393 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,360 Speaker 7: the Federal Reserve as the key culprit behind the two 394 00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:17,160 Speaker 7: thousand and eight financial crisis. One of their leaders, Ron Paul, 395 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:19,639 Speaker 7: called for an end to the FED and a return 396 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:21,639 Speaker 7: to the financial system backed by gold. 397 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:26,760 Speaker 12: There is no authority in the Constitution authorizing a central bank, 398 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 12: which means there should be no Federal Reserve sess down. 399 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:36,119 Speaker 7: But even as it became abundantly obvious that our central 400 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,160 Speaker 7: banking system played a primary role in the financial crisis, 401 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,480 Speaker 7: it also became clear that Washington d c. Was not 402 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:46,119 Speaker 7: going to end the Federal Reserve's reign. The emergence of 403 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:50,160 Speaker 7: bitcoin provided a new revolutionary way forward. If the Federal 404 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,200 Speaker 7: Reserve could not be removed, it could just be ignored. 405 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:58,440 Speaker 7: If people adopted cryptocurrency, they could make financial transactions privately 406 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:02,400 Speaker 7: between two consenting adults, without a banking system as the middleman. 407 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 7: Like paper cash, cryptocurrency promised true liberty, a paramount principle 408 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 7: for libertarians. 409 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 13: I've gone into cryptocurrency very early on. 410 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 7: That's Curtis Green, author of Silk Road Takedown. After the 411 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 7: financial crisis, Curtis was, like most middle Americans in a 412 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 7: bad financial place. Jobs were not easy to come by. 413 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,480 Speaker 7: The Utah native had a bad back, so work options 414 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,640 Speaker 7: for Curtis were limited. He began looking for online work 415 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 7: and possible investment opportunities that could produce a quick return. 416 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,679 Speaker 7: That's when he ran across a discussion of bitcoin on 417 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:45,359 Speaker 7: a web forum. 418 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 13: So like that, well this is in our So I 419 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,960 Speaker 13: started following a little bit and I wasn't give to 420 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:55,119 Speaker 13: a big time I would and intrigued me and I 421 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 13: Bitcoin talk was up at the time had just started 422 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 13: and that's where ninety nine point nine percent of all 423 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 13: bitcoin discussion was take And so I was on there 424 00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:07,960 Speaker 13: quite a bit early on. And as I was reading 425 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 13: the discussion that I learned more of what it can do, 426 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 13: the benefits. I learned about how it's. 427 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,640 Speaker 3: A ledger, and how it I got educated. 428 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 13: So I saw this bitcoin as being a way of 429 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 13: digital money. They solved a huge problem, the double spend. 430 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 7: The double spend problem is perhaps the first barrier blocking 431 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 7: most people from taking cryptocurrency seriously. An idea embedded in 432 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,960 Speaker 7: all of us is that digital files can easily be copied, 433 00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:40,840 Speaker 7: So someone can copy a digital bitcoin. It would allow 434 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 7: a coin to be spent more than once, or the 435 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 7: double spend. So how could internet cash not be counterfeited? 436 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:51,720 Speaker 7: Satoshi Nakamoto solved the double spend problem with bitcoin, but. 437 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:57,520 Speaker 13: Stoshi, the developer of bitcoin, came up. I don't know 438 00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,600 Speaker 13: how he figured it out, but he figured out how 439 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 13: to stop this double spend. So if I had one bitcoin, 440 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 13: than it to you. That bitcoin goes to you and 441 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:11,680 Speaker 13: it can't be duplicated. So to me, that was that 442 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:12,480 Speaker 13: was fascinating. 443 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 7: The more curt Is dug into bitcoin and the blockchain 444 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,480 Speaker 7: technology driving it, the more he was sold on the system. 445 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,439 Speaker 13: But as I started learning it intrigued me more and 446 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:23,920 Speaker 13: more and more. I'm like, and this could solve a 447 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,240 Speaker 13: lot of problems, and you know, to. 448 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:29,679 Speaker 3: Be unvan being able to have control of. 449 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:32,200 Speaker 13: Your own money instead of having one bank or one 450 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:36,120 Speaker 13: person or company being in control, where you can basically 451 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:41,199 Speaker 13: take back that control. And that's why it's revolutionary and 452 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:43,480 Speaker 13: it's going to change the way we do think. I 453 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:47,640 Speaker 13: put blockchain, and that's why I use blockchain as a cryptocurrency, 454 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 13: because blockchain is the technology behind cryptocurrency. That's what I 455 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 13: put blockchain technology up there to the invention of the 456 00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,480 Speaker 13: cell phone, to the invention of a computer. That's what 457 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:01,840 Speaker 13: it's going to do to help liberate this and help 458 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 13: us with our daily lives in the future. 459 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:08,480 Speaker 7: To try and make money from this new movement currency, 460 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:12,199 Speaker 7: he set up his computer to become a minor, configuring 461 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 7: his hard drive to help with the computations behind bitcoin transactions. 462 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 7: When his computer performed this computational task successfully, he received 463 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 7: a reward a small amount of bitcoin. As time went on, 464 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,240 Speaker 7: he started to generate some income from this, and he 465 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,240 Speaker 7: wanted to connect with other enthusiasts of the cryptocurrency. 466 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 3: And then all of a. 467 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 13: Sudden, I was looking for more places to talk about bitcoin. Well, 468 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:39,000 Speaker 13: the silk oxite came up. 469 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 7: But what Curtis didn't know at the time was that 470 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:45,760 Speaker 7: the website's silk Road was about to become a target 471 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 7: of some of the most powerful institutions in the world. 472 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,480 Speaker 7: Do you want to hear red Pilled America stories ad free, 473 00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:00,280 Speaker 7: then become a backstage subscriber. Just log onto Redpilled America 474 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 7: dot com and click join in the top menu. K 475 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:06,120 Speaker 7: today and help us save America one story at a time. 476 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,320 Speaker 1: Welcome back to Red Pilled America. So as Curtis became 477 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:13,760 Speaker 1: more fascinated by the potential of bitcoin, he began searching 478 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,520 Speaker 1: for other places to talk about the cryptocurrency. The website 479 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:20,400 Speaker 1: silk Road began to pop up in online message forms 480 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:25,359 Speaker 1: as the place to be for the Bitcoin revolution. Silk 481 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 1: Road was an anonymous online marketplace located on what's called 482 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: the dark Web. As we promised at the onset of 483 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: this show, an entirely new language comes with the discussion 484 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 1: of bitcoin. So before getting into Silk Road, you'll need 485 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:44,720 Speaker 1: to understand what exactly is the dark web. The dark 486 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:47,600 Speaker 1: Web is a collection of websites that cannot be found 487 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:51,080 Speaker 1: by searching Google or through normal web browsers. It's actually 488 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: even bigger than the regular Internet. The only way to 489 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: get to a website on the dark Web is to 490 00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:59,440 Speaker 1: use a web browser called the Onion router or tour 491 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:02,200 Speaker 1: for short. Think of the dark web as an alternative 492 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 1: Internet universe, invisible to normal Web telescopes like Google or 493 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:10,360 Speaker 1: browsers like Safari or Chrome on the regular Internet. Anyone 494 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 1: attempting to track you can easily find your real identity, 495 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:16,880 Speaker 1: your physical location, all of the websites you visited, what 496 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 1: kind of computer you using, your operating system, your browser. 497 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: They can follow you wherever you go next and gather 498 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: information all along the way, including even your weblogins and 499 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:31,040 Speaker 1: credit card info. Your so called private information is typically 500 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 1: out there for anyone to exploit if they are savvy enough. Tour, 501 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:37,719 Speaker 1: on the other hand, allows web users to browse through 502 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 1: an encrypted network, protecting the privacy and identity of all 503 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:44,480 Speaker 1: of its users. It does this with several layers of 504 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:47,920 Speaker 1: encryption around the user, hiding all of the user's private 505 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: information and what could be thought of as a digitally 506 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 1: locked box that can only be opened with a key 507 00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 1: to add an extra layer of security. When a tour 508 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:58,600 Speaker 1: user punches in an address for a website on the 509 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,600 Speaker 1: dark Web, tour does not take them directly to the website. 510 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:05,480 Speaker 1: The browser instead route the user through multiple tour servers 511 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: all across the world before reaching the intended website, making 512 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:12,520 Speaker 1: it near impossible for anyone to track the identity and 513 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 1: original address of the user. Websites on the dark Web 514 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:19,480 Speaker 1: only allow the tour browser to connect to their site 515 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,720 Speaker 1: to increase the privacy and security of its users. The 516 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,360 Speaker 1: dark web allows people to send emails, texts, and other 517 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: communications privately and anonymously. This is how many journalists speak 518 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:34,120 Speaker 1: to whistleblowers, and how citizens in countries like China or 519 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,960 Speaker 1: Iran communicate safely and avoid the censorship of their governments. 520 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,520 Speaker 1: Using the dark Web is how the famed publisher Wikiliks 521 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,640 Speaker 1: communicates privately with whistleblowers that give them leaked data. Like 522 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: the DNC emails during the twenty sixteen election. This may 523 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: lead many people to believe that the dark web is 524 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: a network set up by anarchists and outlaws. The Tor 525 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 1: browser was actually designed in the mid nineteen nineties by 526 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 1: the Navy to protect US intelligence communications. Online tour gave journalists, 527 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: their sources, dissidents, informants, activists, and others a way to 528 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 1: communicate with intelligence agents without fear of being discovered. The 529 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:22,160 Speaker 1: silk Road website that Curtis had heard about on the 530 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: bitcoin forums lived on this dark web, so he decided 531 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,800 Speaker 1: to check it out. What he found out was that 532 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:31,880 Speaker 1: silk Road was an e commerce website on the dark web, 533 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:36,719 Speaker 1: like eBay or Amazon, but the site emphasized anonymity and security. 534 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:40,440 Speaker 1: To do this, it married tore and bitcoin. The only 535 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,160 Speaker 1: way to visit silk Road was through the Tor browser, 536 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,000 Speaker 1: and the only way to purchase products on the site 537 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 1: was with bitcoin, making the entire transaction between the seller, buyer, 538 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:54,160 Speaker 1: and website anonymous. And it was also the first massive 539 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,880 Speaker 1: trial for the use of bitcoin as Internet cash, and 540 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 1: it was quickly becoming a phenomenal success. In addition to 541 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,959 Speaker 1: the marketplace, silk Road had community forums where people talked 542 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,720 Speaker 1: and helped each other solve problems. Curtis was drawn to 543 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 1: these forums. 544 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,120 Speaker 13: They were talking about bitcoin, they were talking about it 545 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,480 Speaker 13: was a community, and there was there was the merchant 546 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:18,760 Speaker 13: side where the stuff was sold, and there was also 547 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:23,640 Speaker 13: then there was the community threads and and that's what 548 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 13: is really interesting. 549 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:28,520 Speaker 1: Community boards like these can be found all across the 550 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,000 Speaker 1: regular Internet. Places like Reddit, four chan, and the comment 551 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: sections of websites are just message boards where people gathered 552 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:38,760 Speaker 1: to communicate with like minded folks. The boards on Silk 553 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,920 Speaker 1: Road were just the dark Web version of those message boards. 554 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:46,960 Speaker 1: Curtis became acclimated with the predominant philosophy behind the core users. 555 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 13: Of the site, and then obviously I looked and I 556 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 13: saw there's these things that you know, libertarian view, where 557 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 13: you know, we should be able to put into our 558 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 13: own bodies what we want as long as we don't 559 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 13: harm the third person. 560 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,760 Speaker 1: Many on the Silk Road message board were anarcho capitalists, 561 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,000 Speaker 1: a form of liberty marianism that has a radical view 562 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:07,840 Speaker 1: on capitalism, free markets, and the role of the state. 563 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 1: They advocate for an elimination of the centralized state that 564 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:14,440 Speaker 1: they view as an oppressor that always rules by force 565 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:18,600 Speaker 1: and diminishes freedom. The silk Road administrator himself would post 566 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:20,960 Speaker 1: on the message board that the site was founded on 567 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:25,160 Speaker 1: libertarian principles. Silk Road users vehemently opposed the war on 568 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,240 Speaker 1: drugs and felt they should in fact be legalized because, 569 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,120 Speaker 1: in their view, besides the principle that people should be 570 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:33,440 Speaker 1: able to put in their bodies whatever they want. Many 571 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,400 Speaker 1: libertarians on these message boards believe that the war on 572 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 1: drugs was unwinnable. They thought legalizing drugs would reduce the 573 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:44,120 Speaker 1: violence associated with the street trade. Because of the anonymous 574 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,760 Speaker 1: nature of silk Road and the emergence of the Internet 575 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:50,760 Speaker 1: cash bitcoin, silk Road became an extraordinary petri dish to 576 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:54,800 Speaker 1: experiment with these libertarian free market ideas. People sold all 577 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:56,240 Speaker 1: kinds of items on the site. 578 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:57,160 Speaker 3: Well, you get. 579 00:33:57,080 --> 00:34:01,959 Speaker 13: Anything on that. You could buy shirts, you could buy computers, 580 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:04,320 Speaker 13: you could buy thought and it was all they yet 581 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:08,520 Speaker 13: because one of the rules is you couldn't lift something 582 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 13: on them that would harm a third person. 583 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 1: But the items that were most prominent on the site, 584 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,280 Speaker 1: the product that would eventually make silk Road and national headline, 585 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:20,320 Speaker 1: were the drugs. 586 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,960 Speaker 13: I think it was seventy seven percent of the drugs 587 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,279 Speaker 13: that were on the site was marijuana, and so the 588 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,040 Speaker 13: grand majority was the substance of. 589 00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:33,600 Speaker 3: Legal in I don't know how many states now. 590 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:36,560 Speaker 13: Even in Utah they just legalized the. 591 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:40,360 Speaker 1: Medical marijuana, But the other twenty three percent included MDMA 592 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:46,239 Speaker 1: or ecstasy, cocaine, heroin, LSD, meth, mushrooms, and other illegal substances. 593 00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:49,440 Speaker 1: How much of these were actually being sold was unknown, 594 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:52,040 Speaker 1: but they were no doubt listed for sale on the site. 595 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:55,759 Speaker 1: Enthusiasts of silk Road believed that the portal itself was 596 00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:58,920 Speaker 1: helping reduce the violence associated with the procurement of these 597 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:01,680 Speaker 1: substances on the streets because the people would be buying 598 00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:05,279 Speaker 1: them with or with out the Silk Road marketplace. Many 599 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:09,279 Speaker 1: believed making the transaction anonymous and shipped rather than hand 600 00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:12,440 Speaker 1: it off in some back alley, eliminated the potential of 601 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:15,480 Speaker 1: violence at the point of sale. Drugs have always been 602 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:18,480 Speaker 1: illegally sold online, but the emergence of the dark Web 603 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:21,640 Speaker 1: and bitcoin made silk Road the right idea at the 604 00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:26,160 Speaker 1: right time for this type of illegal marketplace. Curtis had 605 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:29,799 Speaker 1: libertarian leanings and believes people should generally be able to 606 00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,120 Speaker 1: do what they want to do with their body, as 607 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:34,040 Speaker 1: long as it doesn't hurt another person. 608 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,560 Speaker 13: I don't drink, but if I want to drink, I 609 00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:38,120 Speaker 13: want to be be able to drink. As long as 610 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 13: I don't get in the car and drive drunk and 611 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:44,200 Speaker 13: kill somebody. Then what I do in my own is 612 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:44,440 Speaker 13: by this. 613 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:47,160 Speaker 1: But he says drugs weren't the reason why he was 614 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,840 Speaker 1: at the site. It was the community board and their 615 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 1: discussions of bitcoin. 616 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:52,000 Speaker 3: I didn't go there. 617 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,160 Speaker 14: Because the drug, but I'm not I want to drug 618 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:56,919 Speaker 14: you or don't. I've ever taken an illegal street drug 619 00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:00,280 Speaker 14: in my life. But when I got there, I noticed 620 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:02,920 Speaker 14: that people they weren't talking about that. They were cockying 621 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:04,720 Speaker 14: more about cryptocurrency. 622 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:08,040 Speaker 1: But even with illegal drugs being sold, the site oddly 623 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 1: wasn't anything goes. They had their own community rules. The 624 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:15,319 Speaker 1: site administrators didn't allow anything to be sold on the 625 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:18,520 Speaker 1: site that harmed innocent people or was necessary to harm 626 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:22,280 Speaker 1: innocent people to be brought to market. They prohibited counterfeit money, 627 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:26,640 Speaker 1: stolen items, intentional fraud, em pirated software. Hit men were 628 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:30,520 Speaker 1: also not allowed, and neither was child pornography. Anything else 629 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 1: that didn't meet these criteria was fair game. The site's 630 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:37,640 Speaker 1: community believed silk Road helped people avoid the regulation of 631 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:40,880 Speaker 1: the state and their eyes an oppressive entity that attempted 632 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:44,400 Speaker 1: to control every aspect of people's lives. They thought silk 633 00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:47,440 Speaker 1: Road was a way to take back control from the government. 634 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:51,799 Speaker 1: While on Silk Road, Curtis obviously saw the drugs for 635 00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:55,200 Speaker 1: sale and noticed people talking about them on the community board. 636 00:36:55,719 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 13: I saw the people were buying substances that were very questionable, 637 00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:02,880 Speaker 13: and so I came. 638 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:04,920 Speaker 3: Up the idea. It was called a heart reduction. 639 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:07,880 Speaker 1: He thought starting a harm reduction form on the site 640 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:11,880 Speaker 1: could help addicts and others expressing an interest in self harm. 641 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:15,480 Speaker 1: Years earlier, Curtis earned his AMT license and worked as 642 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:17,520 Speaker 1: a volunteer on an ambulance. 643 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 13: And I wanted to help people that got you because 644 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:24,640 Speaker 13: I have admit at the background, and to help them 645 00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:27,480 Speaker 13: if you know they wanted wanted to cut suicide or 646 00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 13: they were wanting to think about doing drive, because I would, 647 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:32,319 Speaker 13: I wouldn't steer them away from it. 648 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:43,759 Speaker 1: At the time in twenty eleven, the creator of silk 649 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:46,680 Speaker 1: Road wasn't known, but there was a function to send 650 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:49,759 Speaker 1: a message to the site administrator. So Curtis reached out 651 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,320 Speaker 1: to the admin and brought up the idea of starting 652 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:53,520 Speaker 1: a harm reduction. 653 00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:56,319 Speaker 13: Form and I said, hey, I think this would be 654 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:58,399 Speaker 13: a great idea, and he thought it was awesome. He thought, 655 00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,040 Speaker 13: oh yeah, we need definitely need that. So he and 656 00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:02,920 Speaker 13: then he said, oh, by the way, you're going to moderate. 657 00:38:03,239 --> 00:38:06,160 Speaker 13: So that's basically how why he got pled was still 658 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:09,200 Speaker 13: through it. It was just it was basically to help 659 00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:11,400 Speaker 13: people with their issues. 660 00:38:11,719 --> 00:38:14,920 Speaker 1: The Silk Road administrator set up Curtis as the moderator 661 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:17,359 Speaker 1: of this forum, giving him more access to the site 662 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:22,279 Speaker 1: than general visitors. But Curtis couldn't have known that by 663 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:25,720 Speaker 1: taking on this role, his life was about to change forever. 664 00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:29,120 Speaker 1: Before it was all done, federal agents would raid his home, 665 00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:31,960 Speaker 1: torture him, fake his death, and framed him for a 666 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,560 Speaker 1: crime that threatened to put him in prison for life. 667 00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:37,280 Speaker 1: And at the bottom of it all was a little 668 00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:38,400 Speaker 1: thing called Bitcoin. 669 00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:42,600 Speaker 15: It's a certifiable one stop shop for illegal drugs that 670 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:46,719 Speaker 15: represents the most brazen attempt the pedal drugs online that 671 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:49,879 Speaker 15: we have ever seen. It's more brazen than anything else 672 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:50,720 Speaker 15: by light years. 673 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:54,040 Speaker 1: Coming up in part two of Crypto and. 674 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:57,080 Speaker 13: That's the ninety went and stole all the money and 675 00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:59,359 Speaker 13: tried to blame me for it. It was twenty five 676 00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:00,720 Speaker 13: thousand bitcoins. 677 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:03,000 Speaker 3: The day that the word hundreds of millions of dollars. 678 00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:06,000 Speaker 10: Road was a marginal company. Why do they target it? 679 00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:08,399 Speaker 10: Because Wall Street wanted to shoy Bitcoin before it could 680 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:10,960 Speaker 10: get big enough to compete for them, because a lot 681 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:13,600 Speaker 10: of people don't want to have to deal with central bankers. 682 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:15,840 Speaker 6: And I think it's political, and I think it's also 683 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:21,160 Speaker 6: about the bitcoin, and in fact that NSA was urgently 684 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:24,239 Speaker 6: targeting bitcoin users a few months before the silk Robe 685 00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:25,920 Speaker 6: was taken down and Ross was arrested. 686 00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:28,680 Speaker 11: The Chinese now use bitcoin to get money in and 687 00:39:28,719 --> 00:39:31,360 Speaker 11: out of the country, so they can't otherwise get in 688 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:33,920 Speaker 11: and out. The same thing with the Koreans. And the 689 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:36,839 Speaker 11: real question becomes is just like armies. You know it's 690 00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:39,160 Speaker 11: illegal to have a private army in the United States, 691 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:40,400 Speaker 11: should it be I legal to. 692 00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:41,280 Speaker 3: Have private money? 693 00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:46,120 Speaker 7: Red Pilled America is an iHeartRadio original podcast. It's owned 694 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:49,560 Speaker 7: and produced by Patrick Carrelci and me Adrianna Cortez of 695 00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:52,640 Speaker 7: Informed Ventures. Now you can get ad free access to 696 00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:56,520 Speaker 7: our entire archive of episodes by becoming a backstage subscriber. 697 00:39:56,760 --> 00:40:00,239 Speaker 7: To subscribe, visit redpilled america dot com and click join 698 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:03,360 Speaker 7: in the top menu. That's red pilled America dot com 699 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:08,360 Speaker 7: and click join in the top menu. Thanks for listening. M.