manzan.dev

Hello, world! 👋🏼

Last week, I kicked off a series where I share my favorite Bitcoin content. If you missed it, you can check out the introduction here.

To recap, I believe Bitcoin is one of the most fascinating socio-techno-economic topics of our time. Through this series, I hope to spread great content, spark curiosity, and inspire others to embark on a deeper Bitcoin learning journey.

❯ Podcast of the Week

Andrew Bailey: Resistance Money, Bitcoin & Environmental Impact of Cryptocurrency Mining (March 2024)

This beginner-friendly podcast spans topics from the fundamentals of money to the basics of the Bitcoin network. It even delves into more nuanced subjects like mining and its often-mischaracterized environmental impact.

Today we talk with Andrew Bailey, associate professor of philosophy at Yale college in the National University of Singapore. His work focuses on the intersection of politics, philosophy and economics. In this episode we talk broadly about the nature of money and its role in society before diving deep into bitcoin. We discuss a wide range of topics around bitcoin, from its role in providing stable currency in unstable nations to empowering individual autonomy in financial transactions. Professor Bailey encourages students to consider their relationship with money and go through life with an understanding of how money works and influences everyday activity.

By the way, I’ve also heard great things about Andrew Bailey's book, Resistance Money, though I haven’t read it myself yet.

❯ Website of the Week

Leo Mattes: FixYourMoney

This interactive website, created by Leo and Nils compares Bitcoin to other forms of money, such as gold or the US dollar.

The site is structured a bit like a journey, and requires active exploration, like clicking on and interpreting various charts. It first demonstrates the effect of using different units of account to measure asset prices and currencies (for another great resource, see PricedInBitcoin21)). Secondly, it highlights monetary competition, by showing the Gold/Bitcoin ratio, for example.

Ultimately, it helps users understand the differences between money and currency by exploring the characteristics of sound money. The site also addresses crucial questions like: What is (sound) money? And what could be implications of using it?

The price of Bitcoin is increasing nearly every year, but why? Is it possible that Bitcoin goes up forever? Why are stocks, houses and consumer goods prices rising? And what is money? What are important and necessary characteristics of money? Why are prices increasing although we are working, innovating and increasing the productivity every day? Why don’t we learn about money and monetary history in today’s education system? Why are the measurements for length, time and weight fixed to natural constants, but the measurement for our prices isn't? Just few understand this. Be one of them and discover the world out of a new perspective. Fix your money, fix your world!

That's it for now. I hope you enjoy this content, and please feel free to reach out if you want to chat about anything.

~ manzan