The internet can be a very chaotic place. It has caused dramatic shifts in how we communicate and how we consume information. Being a platform that allows literally an infinite variety of content, it is unsurprisingly a fertile place for anarchy to grow and economy to evolve.
One fascinating way in which the internet is facilitating economic evolution is through cryptocurrency. Today I’ve interviewed a prominent supporter of crypto, Jeff Berwick. Libertarian and anarcho-capitalist, Jeff is best known for founding Stockhouse, a penny stock promotion and marketing site. He was an avid early investor in bitcoin and appears publicly on mainstream news outlets like Fox news. The following is a candid peek at Jeff’s view on Bitcoin, politics, and the future of crypto.
How did you first get into the world of cryptotech? Do you have a technical background?
I did have a technical background, having founded Canada’s largest financial site, Stockhouse.com, in 1994, but I don’t think that played a big part in my interest in cryptocurrencies. What played a bigger role was my understanding of Austrian Economics and knowledge of how the modern central banking scam works. Armed with that knowledge, when I first heard about bitcoin at $3 in 2011 I immediately knew it would change the world.
I understand that the implementation of Bitcoin ATMs got off to a rough start. What happened? Does it have a future?
I was involved in the world’s first fully functioning bitcoin ATM in 2013 but had a falling out with the founders of the company and moved on. AS for bitcoin ATM’s themselves, they definitely have a future as more and more people discover the value of bitcoin.
What’s your opinion on the new virtual currencies like Dogecoin, litecoin and ethereum?
Well, dogecoin and litecoin aren’t exactly “new” ass they have been around for a while. Ethereum is a bit newer although it has been in development for years. And, of course, there are hundreds of other cryptocurrencies now. When it comes to currency nothing comes close to bitcoin in terms of size and user base. There are a few other cryptos that are trying to improve on bitcoin though and some have done well in 2016, like Monero.
What other applications do you see for the use of Blockchain?
Well, it’s already happening. We now have social media networks, like Steemit, based on the blockchain. Of course, any private contract can be on the blockchain using cryptos like Ethereum. Your own identity and citizenship can be put on the blockchain via Bit Nation. And the entire internet is trying to be put on the blockchain by Maid Safe. The applications are unlimited.
Bitcoin had a good year. How much do you think politics influenced that?
Well, politics is just using violence to get the things you want. So, in that sense, politics didn’t have any particularly big influence than it normally does on bitcoin this year. Every year governments try to stop bitcoin but they can’t. Governments continue to enslave their own citizens and this causes many of them to begin to use bitcoin as a means of escape. But the main reason for bitcoin’s excellent year was more people are using bitcoin, more people are producing services and goods connected to bitcoin and central banks across the world continue to inflate their fiat currencies to worthlessness.
Who did you vote for?
I don’t vote. Government is an immoral and illegitimate idea and is the biggest problem in the world today.
As a self -proclaimed anarcho-capitalist, what roles do you see cryptocurrencies playing in anarchism?
Most governments cannot grow very large without a central bank to print money to allow the to go into more debt than they otherwise would be able to do. Cryptocurrencies hold the potential to make central banks and fiat currencies obsolete and, with them, big government. Eventually, we could see cryptocurrencies be the biggest reason for complete anarchy on Earth and we’d then know a time of peace and prosperity like we’ve never known.
What advice would you give a nontechnical person who wanted to get into cryptocurrency?
You don’t have to be technical to use cryptocurrency anymore than you need to be technical to do online banking. If you can move a mouse and read what’s on the screen that’s pretty much all you need. I suggest trying to earn income in bitcoin by telling your employer you want to receive bitcoin or selling your products for bitcoin and then you can begin to see how amazing it is. Orm alternatively, just open an account at an exchange and buy some. I wrote a book called Bitcoin Basics which you can get with a subscription to our Dollar Vigilante newsletter at dollarvigilante.com/subscribe.
I heard you got into a shipwreck and survived by floating on a broken surfboard. How long were you lost at sea? Did you see any sharks?
Yes, I once tried to sail around the world and lasted exactly one year to the day before sinking in El Salvador. We were only out there a few hours before some local sailors saved us and the government took credit even though they didn’t even show up until the next day. We didn’t see any sharks but the government was certainly preying upon us.
Currently, we stand at the forefront of an evolving age of economics and figures like Jeff are the radical trailblazers testing the waters. As it stands, Bitcoin holds a reputation mostly associated with criminals like Silk Road’s Dread Pirate Roberts and hackers. But when you look at history, you’ll find that most revolutions begin with revolutionaries who are initially viewed as radical and even criminal.
Like Chelsea Manning going from holding the longest criminal sentence (for a whistleblower) to being commuted, how quickly will the public adopt the utility of crypto? This process has already begun. The internet has been proven to facilitate paradigm shifts in business and culture. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before this applies to our money as well.
