Episode 97
Nic Carter | What is Bitcoin? A History and Ontology of the Cryptocurrency
Episode 97
Nic Carter
Nic Carter | What is Bitcoin? A History and Ontology of the Cryptocurrency
summary
In this week’s episode of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Nic Carter, co-founder of both the VC fund Castle Island Ventures, as well as the research and data analytics company Coinmetrics.io. Nic also has a master’s degree in philosophy, and the two spend much of the overtime applying that discipline to bitcoin by examining the works of people like Friedrich Nietzsche and his philosophy around essence, John Rawls and his veil of ignorance, as well as applying a strain of utilitarian thought to questions of money and society.
This conversation with Nic Carter is an attempt to understand Bitcoin as more than just the sum of its parts. One of the lessons that Demetri has taken away from his continued research into Bitcoin through the works of people like Nick Szabo, Paul Sztorc, and others, is that trying to measure the cryptocurrency against existing systems or conventions is almost always counterproductive. This is likely because Bitcoin is more than just money or a payments network. Bitcoin is a movement. Within it exists a competent community of intellectuals who are actively engaged in what often feels like a grand project to remake society. This comes across in the seriousness with which Bitcoiners apply themselves. This is true whether we are talking about the engineers working on enhancements to the base layer or whether we’re talking about those contributing intellectually to debates about governance, economics, and ethics. In this sense, Bitcoin is not what most of us think it is, and even what we think it is, is constantly changing. Bitcoin’s resilience and adaptability, as both a store of value, but also as a diverse community of people who are coming to the cryptocurrency from different backgrounds and with differing motivations suggests that there is much more going on here than just naïve speculation.
As Nic Carter points out during this conversation, Bitcoin is a “subversive idea.” Bitcoin is an experiment in social organization that doesn’t play by the rules of the state or by the conventions of modern society. The momentum behind this movement is likely to grow, especially if governments validate the concerns of its proponents with further debt monetization or preferential bailouts in the event of another global financial downturn. In short, Bitcoin is not going away, and it is incumbent upon all of us to understand the message that it is here to deliver.
Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
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bio
Nic Carter is a partner at Castle Island Ventures, a Cambridge-based venture firm focused on public blockchains, and a Coinmetrics.io co-founder of Coinmetrics.io, a platform devoted to demystifying on-chain data and bringing transparency to the industry. He has written extensively about token holder rights, cryptoasset governance models, and public blockchains as political institutions. Previously, he was Fidelity’s first cryptoassets analyst. He holds an MA in Philosophy from the University of St Andrews and an MSc Finance and Investment from the University of Edinburgh.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. At enim, qua in vita est aliquid mali, ea beata esse non potest. Sin tantum modo ad indicia veteris memoriae cognoscenda, curiosorum. Non potes, nisi retexueris illa. Haec quo modo conveniant, non sane intellego. Nunc vides, quid faciat. Similiter sensus, cum accessit ad naturam, tuetur illam quidem, sed etiam se tuetur; Id quaeris, inquam, in quo, utrum respondero, verses te huc atque illuc necesse est. Duo Reges: constructio interrete.
Minime vero istorum quidem, inquit. Quare, quoniam de primis naturae commodis satis dietum est nunc de maioribus consequentibusque videamus. Nunc omni virtuti vitium contrario nomine opponitur. Sic, et quidem diligentius saepiusque ista loquemur inter nos agemusque communiter. Age nunc isti doceant, vel tu potius quis enim ista melius? Nos paucis ad haec additis finem faciamus aliquando; Sed quanta sit alias, nunc tantum possitne esse tanta. Itaque contra est, ac dicitis;
Cuius ad naturam apta ratio vera illa et summa lex a philosophis dicitur. Facile est hoc cernere in primis puerorum aetatulis. Iam id ipsum absurdum, maximum malum neglegi. Negat enim summo bono afferre incrementum diem.
Nam adhuc, meo fortasse vitio, quid ego quaeram non perspicis. Quae dici eadem de ceteris virtutibus possunt, quarum omnium fundamenta vos in voluptate tamquam in aqua ponitis. Nam de isto magna dissensio est. Inquit, respondet: Quia, nisi quod honestum est, nullum est aliud bonum! Non quaero iam verumne sit; Cur post Tarentum ad Archytam? Me igitur ipsum ames oportet, non mea, si veri amici futuri sumus.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Legimus tamen Diogenem, Antipatrum, Mnesarchum, Panaetium, multos alios in primisque familiarem nostrum Posidonium. Sed ad bona praeterita redeamus. Hosne igitur laudas et hanc eorum, inquam, sententiam sequi nos censes oportere? Igitur neque stultorum quisquam beatus neque sapientium non beatus. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Quis autem honesta in familia institutus et educatus ingenue non ipsa turpitudine, etiamsi eum laesura non sit, offenditur?
Recte, inquit, intellegis. Ergo adhuc, quantum equidem intellego, causa non videtur fuisse mutandi nominis. Apparet statim, quae sint officia, quae actiones. Dulce amarum, leve asperum, prope longe, stare movere, quadratum rotundum. Nemo nostrum istius generis asotos iucunde putat vivere. An eiusdem modi? Nam nec vir bonus ac iustus haberi debet qui, ne malum habeat, abstinet se ab iniuria. Sed quanta sit alias, nunc tantum possitne esse tanta.
Nihil ad rem! Ne sit sane; Idem etiam dolorem saepe perpetiuntur, ne, si id non faciant, incidant in maiorem. Erit enim mecum, si tecum erit. Hanc ergo intuens debet institutum illud quasi signum absolvere. Nam quibus rebus efficiuntur voluptates, eae non sunt in potestate sapientis. Hic nihil fuit, quod quaereremus. Quid enim necesse est, tamquam meretricem in matronarum coetum, sic voluptatem in virtutum concilium adducere?
Hoc uno captus Erillus scientiam summum bonum esse defendit nec rem ullam aliam per se expetendam. Nullus est igitur cuiusquam dies natalis. Tum Piso: Quoniam igitur aliquid omnes, quid Lucius noster? Quo plebiscito decreta a senatu est consuli quaestio Cn. Illa videamus, quae a te de amicitia dicta sunt. Quid de Platone aut de Democrito loquar?
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Occultum facinus esse potuerit, gaudebit; At hoc in eo M. Nihilo beatiorem esse Metellum quam Regulum. Si quidem, inquit, tollerem, sed relinquo. Quae quidem vel cum periculo est quaerenda vobis; At miser, si in flagitiosa et vitiosa vita afflueret voluptatibus. Quamquam tu hanc copiosiorem etiam soles dicere. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Solum praeterea formosum, solum liberum, solum civem, stultost; Callipho ad virtutem nihil adiunxit nisi voluptatem, Diodorus vacuitatem doloris.
Quacumque enim ingredimur, in aliqua historia vestigium ponimus. Semper enim ex eo, quod maximas partes continet latissimeque funditur, tota res appellatur. Si enim ita est, vide ne facinus facias, cum mori suadeas. Nec vero sum nescius esse utilitatem in historia, non modo voluptatem.
Non quaeritur autem quid naturae tuae consentaneum sit, sed quid disciplinae. Itaque rursus eadem ratione, qua sum paulo ante usus, haerebitis. Inde igitur, inquit, ordiendum est. Ita relinquet duas, de quibus etiam atque etiam consideret. Quid enim tanto opus est instrumento in optimis artibus comparandis? Quid ait Aristoteles reliquique Platonis alumni? Est tamen ea secundum naturam multoque nos ad se expetendam magis hortatur quam superiora omnia. Nemo nostrum istius generis asotos iucunde putat vivere. Summum ením bonum exposuit vacuitatem doloris;
Portenta haec esse dicit, neque ea ratione ullo modo posse vivi; Si verbum sequimur, primum longius verbum praepositum quam bonum. Sit hoc ultimum bonorum, quod nunc a me defenditur; Nam his libris eum malo quam reliquo ornatu villae delectari. Quid loquor de nobis, qui ad laudem et ad decus nati, suscepti, instituti sumus? Ut optime, secundum naturam affectum esse possit. Quippe: habes enim a rhetoribus; Non est igitur summum malum dolor. Quo modo autem optimum, si bonum praeterea nullum est? Ergo illi intellegunt quid Epicurus dicat, ego non intellego?
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quamquam haec quidem praeposita recte et reiecta dicere licebit. A primo, ut opinor, animantium ortu petitur origo summi boni. Te ipsum, dignissimum maioribus tuis, voluptasne induxit, ut adolescentulus eriperes P. Sed ad bona praeterita redeamus. Sequitur disserendi ratio cognitioque naturae;
Memini vero, inquam; Ab his oratores, ab his imperatores ac rerum publicarum principes extiterunt. Eadem nunc mea adversum te oratio est. Beatus autem esse in maximarum rerum timore nemo potest.
Eadem nunc mea adversum te oratio est. Illa videamus, quae a te de amicitia dicta sunt. Huic ego, si negaret quicquam interesse ad beate vivendum quali uteretur victu, concederem, laudarem etiam; Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Quamquam haec quidem praeposita recte et reiecta dicere licebit. Quid sequatur, quid repugnet, vident. Hoc sic expositum dissimile est superiori. Sed residamus, inquit, si placet.
Quae in controversiam veniunt, de iis, si placet, disseramus. Apparet statim, quae sint officia, quae actiones. Hoc loco discipulos quaerere videtur, ut, qui asoti esse velint, philosophi ante fiant. Etiam inchoatum, ut, si iuste depositum reddere in recte factis sit, in officiis ponatur depositum reddere; Illa argumenta propria videamus, cur omnia sint paria peccata. Cum salvum esse flentes sui respondissent, rogavit essentne fusi hostes.