🎙️ My guest today is Knut Svanholm, author, educator, and philosopher focused on Bitcoin. Drawing on ethics, praxeology, and monetary history, Knut argues that sound money reduces conflict by aligning human action with natural law and voluntary exchange. In this episode, he explains why fiat banking already functions like a CBDC system in practice, why cash preserves privacy but not liberty, and why real freedom requires self custody and non-KYC Bitcoin. We explore his critique of custodial “paper Bitcoin,” the case for non-custodial adoption over treasury companies, and his view of Bitcoin as intellectual armor that raises the cost of violence. Knut outlines a practical path away from banks, explains why stablecoins can be a bridge yet remain fiat, and why a low-time-preference culture of quality over quantity matters.
This episode is also on Twitter, Spotify, YouTube, Fountain, Rumble and more.
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We talked about:
00:00 - Coming Up
01:23 - Introduction to Knut
03:40 - Current Affairs: Stablecoins & CBDCs
06:55 - Cash & Fiat vs. Bitcoin
08:20 - Ethics of Money, Natural Law, First Principles
10:00 - Conflict Resolution via Violence Or Communications
13:12 - Ad Break: Trezor & BitVault
15:30 - Bitcoin as Intellectual Armor
20:30 - Knut’s Take on Bitcoin Treasury Companies
23:11 - Ad Break: Abundant Mines & Expat Money
27:39 - Mass Adoption & Future Outlook
29:46 - Transitioning to a Bitcoin-Only Reality
34:44 - The Psychological Manipulation of Obedience
39:05 - Hope & the Shawshank Redemption Metaphor
42:43 - Bitcoin as a Tool for Human Freedom & Hope
48:12 - Closing Thoughts & Acknowledgements
My takeaways from this episode:
Knut frames fiat banking as de facto CBDC, KYC surveillance and account freezes show that control already exists without new tech or laws
He argues cash can help privacy but not liberty, fiat credit is a claim controlled by bank and state, not property you truly own
He introduces the “bank account as rigged multisig” metaphor, you hold one key, banks and the state hold two master keys
For students and builders, he stresses natural law and the non-aggression principle, discover ethics, do not legislate them
Bitcoin reduces conflict by changing the payoff of aggression, the attacker cannot know your total holdings, cooperation becomes rational
Stablecoins may help the unbanked and can bridge to Bitcoin, but they are still fiat hence inferior
He warns that corporate treasury plays create layers of paper Bitcoin, self custody and running a node remain the core
Adoption should prioritize non-KYC, accepting Bitcoin for goods and services, and keeping KYC and non-KYC stacks separate
Real “mass adoption” is personal, measured by self custody and reduced bank dependence, not by custodial balance sheets
Hope is rational, choose agency over permission seeking, move away from banks, build voluntary systems that minimize conflict
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