I sat down with Lyn Alden — investment researcher, Broken Money author, and one of the most articulate proponents of Bitcoin as a serious monetary technology — for ninety minutes of substantive disagreement. I went in with a thesis: Bitcoin is not coherent as a currency for civilization, and the philosophical-political case for stateless money does not survive the framework of liberal ethics. Lyn went in with the methodologically-modest version of her position: that people in bad-currency regimes deserve a right of exit, that financial surveillance can become draconian, and that technology shifts what governments can and should control.
What we found, across the conversation, is that the real disagreement is narrower than the public Bitcoin-versus-fiat discourse suggests — and sharper at the philosophical level than either camp’s slogans capture. I came out unconvinced that Bitcoin is the future. Lyn, I think, came out understanding why some of us draw the line where we do. The conversation was honest. If you’re interested in money and economics, I think you will find it worth your ninety minutes.
Thank you Jeanne Elbe, Ms. H, ArleneMach, Chardonai, Donnie Rivers, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.
