104. Augmenting Bitcoin with Samson Mow

 In this episode, Saifedean talks to Samson Mow, outgoing CSO of Blockstream and CEO of Pixelmatic, about why we should be “augmenting” rather than trying to change the bitcoin network. They begin by discussing Blockstream projects such as the Liquid Network that extend the range of options available to bitcoin users, while accepting the network’s fundamental protocol rules. They also discuss Samson’s role as a prominent “small blocker” in the 2015-2017 “Blocksize War” and whether – in retrospect – the victory of the small blockers was inevitable. Samson then shares his views on bitcoin adoption in Latin America, including El Salvador’s issuance of bitcoin-backed “volcano bonds” as a means of evading the debt-fuelled development model encouraged by the IMF. In the Q&A, Samson answers questions about bitcoin privacy, proof-of-stake and the issuance of securities on the Liquid Network.

Resources

• Samson on Twitter
• Official website of Pixelmatic
• Blockstream explainer outlining differences between Liquid and Lightning as Layer 2 scaling solutions for bitcoin
• Blockstream announcement on Baillie Gifford Series B investment
• Blockstream blog post announcing that El Salvador will issue $1bn in volcano bonds
• The Blocksize War by Jonathan Bier
• Saifedean’s first book, The Bitcoin Standard
• Saifedean’s second book, The Fiat Standard

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