In this episode of Bitcoin Magazine“Meet the Taco Plebs,” joined me by homie Ben Carman. I’ve been interacting with Carman on Bitcoin Twitter for the past few years and he’s someone I’ve even met in person through a conference. Carman has been contributing a lot to helping develop Bitcoin by working on Bitcoin Core, Wasabi Wallet and now as a developer at Suredbits.
In this podcast, we discussed how Carman got into Bitcoin and crashed down the rabbit hole, having heard about it a few times in the early Bitcoin past. We discussed what he was involved in before Bitcoin and the kind of work he did, and how that helped him transition to development in this space. Then we turn into what he’s currently working on at Suredbits.
Carman walked through his past and what his beliefs were on life before Bitcoin, and how much they have changed. We discussed the problems in society today and why they exist. We concluded that the Federal Reserve and fiat money are at the root of all our problems, and Bitcoin solves this.
Below are some of Carman’s best thoughts shared during the interview. And be sure to watch the full episode for more.
How did you find Bitcoin and knock down the rabbit hole?
“I got into Bitcoin in November 2017. I had heard of Bitcoin many times before and was told it was the future of money, but I never looked into why that was and what it is make important and necessary upgrade.
“During the 2017 bull market, I heard about the price so I bought a few and started watching some Andreas videos, I quickly fell down the rabbit hole and took the orange and red pill in one gulp. Initially, I was fascinated by the technology, but finding the econ side of it was what kept me interested.
“I was a total Bernie Bro before I got into Bitcoin and always assumed that all the economic problems in the world should be solved by more taxation and giving to the poor. After reading and listening to tons of content about the Austrian School I became convinced that the centrally designed economy was the real problem and a solid currency is the best way to solve this and Bitcoin is the best way to achieve the goal that. “
How Has Bitcoin Changed Your Life?
“Bitcoin has changed my life drastically. I took a total of 180 on my political and economic perspectives and finished committing my life and career to it. I was in college for computer science when I discovered it, but I had no real plan in life. I spent most of my free time playing League of Legends and would never save any money. After college, I wanted to get some desk job and collect a pay check. After getting into Bitcoin, I started committing almost all my free time to learning about Bitcoin and then contributing to open source projects. ”
What do you consider to be the most amazing thing about Bitcoin?
“What amazes me about Bitcoin is how smart some of the people are working on the project. Satoshi had the intuitive desire to create the system and then all these wonderful minds from around the world have aligned to make this project a success. I spend most of my time doing Bitcoin stuff and there is so much I don’t know and even if I catch up, there will always be new things to learn. “
How Would You Advise Someone To Learn About Bitcoin? What Are Your Favorite Podcasts, Articles and Books?
“There is so much good content out there for Bitcoin. I’m more of an aural learner so I listen to countless podcasts. I’d say the best intro content exists on “Tales From The Crypt” and Stephan Livera, they have hundreds of hours of content for your rabbit hole tour. There are plenty of good books too. Saifedean’s “The Bitcoin Standard” was a huge eye-opener and really convinced me how important Bitcoin is and what it means to the world. ”
What Is Your Best Bitcoin Field?
“My favorite way to install bitcoin is to just say it’s more fair money. Bitcoin is simply the fairest currency ever created and will fix many of the social problems we have in the world. I think 2020 has been great for installing Bitcoin and you can pick up a chart of any currency in the world and show how much is printed. “
