121. Is bitcoin dark money? with Giacomo Zucco

Bitcoin educator and investor Giacomo Zucco joins us to explain why he thinks bitcoin cannot be hard money unless it is dark money. We discuss: How dark is bitcoin given that its ledger of transactions is public, and given the recent identification of several hackers through chain analysis? Is bitcoin’s privacy overestimated by bitcoiners? What chance does the average user have at remaining anonymous? Does bitcoin need to be anonymous to remain secure? Can bitcoin survive government attack if most coins’ owners are known to governments?

Resources

• Giacomo on Twitter
• Giacomo’s article on the history of bitcoin as a privacy-focussed project.
• Giacomo’s article on common misconceptions about bitcoin privacy, and why privacy matters.
• For further discussion of the relationship between hard and dark money, see Giacomo’s conversation with Stephan Livera.
• Interview where Giacomo rates the top 20 cryptocurrencies and makes the case that every project that isn’t bitcoin is a scam. 
• Saifedean’s first book, The Bitcoin Standard.
• Saifedean’s second book, The Fiat Standard.