Best place to buy BTC in the U.S.? Coinbase and/or Square Cash and transfer to Ledger Nano X?

wow ! This was mind-blowing. Not something I would normally watch, but I'm glad I did.

Satoshi vs Hamilton mentioned by Balaji... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaMJi1_1tkA

Great interview, but if you're really limited to an hour, don't spend time on personal history - that's on wikipedia. Just let him talk.

1. The Fiat system has benefited the top 10 percent, but BTC will benefit the 0.01%, I think it will exacerbate the inequality.   2. For all the problem of the Fiat system, it has saved us from the financial crisis in 2008, and the flexible liquidity has created many jobs for the last 10 years, even now, it has helped a lot of unemployed and poor. There are many cases of abuse to it, the bailout of zombie companies, banks, enrich the asset owner, company management. etc. But consider the jobs it helps to create and the many financial meltdowns it has avoided. I am still hesitant about BTC. I am quite disappointed Balaji did not explain how BTC can solve those problems except it stops money dilution.    

Hi @Ash Don't know if this point was made by a previous commenter already - but there were at least a couple of points where you were forced to interrupt Balaji's train of thought half-way through an argument. Eg he was going somewhere with his some things deflation, some things inflation line. I am sure you know what the other occasions were too. What's worse than not hearing a good argument is hearing the first half of it. Can you please request him to post online (here) a few 5 minute clips to let him take those arguments/anecdotes/narratives to their conclusion. Hope that is not asking too much but I am genuinely in pain because of this. Vikram

Raoul? Can you make the text in the comments section “highlight and copy” please? Subscriber suggested URLs within a comment are tedious to type verbatim from a screenshot. Thanks:)

Thank god for Real Vision. And serious brews amirite Ash. IPA and crypto. Or perhaps Kombucha so perhaps I misread. Regardless, more off the cuff Balaji would be welcome. I would love to sit down and talk deep weeds with someone with such radically varied experiences.

Thank god for Real Vision. And serious brews amirite Ash. IPA and crypto. Or perhaps Kombucha so perhaps I misread. Regardless, more off the cuff Balaji would be welcome. I would love to sit down and talk deep weeds with someone with such radically varied experiences.

Hey Ash, fantastic interview! Balaji is a new favorite (.. & you too :). This interview got me cliffhung in a few spots. I’m wondering if we could get a super long form with him where you could just let him go without corralling to time constraints? Long form isn’t long enough for his vast ideas and intellect. I’m thinking 3 hours with some beers and tasty snacks along the way to keep him stoked. Introduce one setup question and then let him go!!

I really need to go back to school

So amazing, we need to have him speak weekly!

I have a question about transactions. Let’s say there is 21 million Bitcoins created, then theres no incentive for mining anymore. Is it still possible to make transactions at that point? And IF it still works. How would that impact transactions fees? Can someone please answer me. I cant find a simple answer anywhere. It’s like no one knows for sure. Been wondering this for years now.. If no one knows it might aswell be a bubble.

Great interview! Thank you. B

My halvening occurred when I followed Raoul's FX trade last month.

I could listen to Balaji for hours. Great thinker. We need more of this discourse in politics rather than the dumb politicos we have now. Hope to see more of Balaji on real vision

Would love an deeper dive into DeFi and how that might change finance.

Interesting interview, just a few points: 1.) I wouldn't automatically suggest that a new user get onboarded using the Coinbase exchange. They've shown in the past that they can't handle large volumes, and there have been incidences of KYC/AML queries seemingly coming out of nowhere for approved accounts that has locked up user funds. They also use chainanalysis, so they attempt to qualify the source of your coins - for whatever reason, not just the obvious ones - and if they don't like it, you're out in the cold. There are numerous exchanges, just look at traded volume and jurisdiction to choose. You won't regret it. 2.) The argument against algorithmic monetary policy (AMP) versus legacy monetary policy (LMP) is simple. Humans are error-prone rationalization machines. There's always a reason for a LMP actor to tweak the rules "just because its different this time" when it most certainly isn't. That is the advantage of AMP, it stays true to the ethical bounds and doesn't step over the line and slide down the hill of moral hazard like the Fed has. 3.) Promoting Ethereum and "DeFi" (Decentralized Finance) should be done with a huge caveat. When "code is law" (until it isn't, in the case of the ETH DAO rollback) you are combining the attack surface of a Turing Complete system with the critical parts of a monetary ecosystem. There have been, to date, millions lost in these systems. In some cases the money was returned, but even innocent mistakes can cause losses - one event lost $560,000 USD alone. On another point, ETH is in the process of pivoting from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. There are large security risks in doing so, which is why this project has been delayed and deferred several times. I would keep this in mind if you're thinking about investing in this venture. 4.) ZCash and the like are privacy-oriented tokens, that use a variety of means to provide transactional anonymity. This is interesting, however the recent introduction of Schnorr Signatures (which is going to be merged into the main Bitcoin code soon) will make all privacy tokens obsolete. Be aware that any alt can be absorbed when you consider its feature set. Bitcoin has the most developer participation when you look at pull requests, merged requests and improvement proposals. No other ecosystem comes close. 5.) I suggest you keep at least 5% of your total portfolio into Bitcoin. I wasn't too happy with Balaji's non-answer. It certainly is his right to not do so, but I think its a dis-service not to provide alternate views. I've seen the 5% number from a few sources that run family offices and hedge funds. 6.) Please, please, please Real Vision -- do not use "Marketcap" like its a legitimate metric when applied to cryptocurrencies. It isn't. I suggest looking at more advanced metrics like those provided by IntoTheBlock for getting a true sense of dominance and actual utility. Marketcap is a flawed calculation for tokens that can be issued at a whim and traded on paper-thin orderbooks of third-rate exchanges. Please do more research. 7.) Bitcoin is the standard because it was the first that combined various concepts into a cohesive whole. First-mover advantage does matter, as much as it chafes the creators of altcoins that would like to recreate Bitcoin's massive success. The ecosystem is the largest, it has the deepest order books on exchanges and is able to transfer extremely large amounts for trivial fees. Also, as I mentioned before, Bitcoin has the most developer interest, which is useful when you are looking at preserving the security of your blockchain securing billions in value. 8.) Quantum Computers require a mini-keg of helium or liquid nitrogen to keep their "QBits" cold enough to do rudimentary calculations. There is some time yet. (And no, DWave's processor is a quantum annealer, not a true quantum computing device) And yes, as Balaji suggests, there do exist quantum-proof algorithms, so that risk is quite minimal in that regard. 9.) Taproot is coming for Bitcoin, which expands the use of the programmability, without exposing Bitcoin to the same attack surface as say, Ethereum. The point here is that its operations are constrained within a given domain, and not "Turing Complete" as ETH scripts purport to be. There is a ratio here -- the more functions you add, the larger the probability of a successful attack vector. Bitcoin's developers are acutely aware of this, which is why it has taken this long to get to this point. I could write more, but then Real Vision would have to pay me.

Is there a consensus regarding a possible bitcoin decline immediately following the halving (possibly for several weeks)? Does that concern warrant tight stops on bitcoin or maybe even selling on Monday and reentering in several weeks? All thoughts appreciated.

Great interview. Balaji is impressive. One question, isn’t one of BTC‘s principal distinguishing properties vs other cryptocurrencies that it is scarce? There is a finite number of BTC that can be mined, and because of halving the last estimated coin will only be mined in +100 yrs. Particularly in light of current central bank intervention, that is crucial. Are other cryptocurrencies as scarce?

Balaji is great! Strong thinker

This was one hell of an interview, five stars!

Another brilliant interview with Balaji. Ash, I am looking forward to a deeper dive into "DeFi" on RealVision and the East-West interview conducted by Balaji. Thank you, RV.

This guy is really a great mind! He expanded my thinking! Thank you Real Vision

"If [BTC] survives, it wins." It's virtually impossible to stop BTC. If BTC wins, the price will skyrocket. Worth a think.

Now that`s what I call a big brain!

I dont know which is greater, his smartness or my jealousy.