🎙️ My guest today is Francis Pouliot, long-time Bitcoin advocate, cypherpunk entrepreneur, and CEO of Bull Bitcoin, Canada’s leading Bitcoin-only exchange.
In one word, this episode was ENERGIZING! This was a really fun listen with a lot of great discussion between the two of you. His passion for Bitcoin is absolutely contagious, and I was fired up after listening to this one! Also, it is obvious that he is very principled, and his brutal honesty was really refreshing. Like so many of your guests, he quickly noted that he has an ability to distill complex ideas, which once again seems to be a common theme among the most successful in the Bitcoin industry. Here were some of my key takeaways:
> Really enjoyed the discussion about how there are two ways to enforce your individual rights. You can have a government that protects you (e.g., constitution), or you have to take matters into your own hands and be sovereign.
> I have a keen interest in circular economies so the discussion about Bitcoin Jungle in Costa Rica was great. Loved his point that a circular economy is successful when Bitcoin becomes ubiquitous. Also found it cool that he mentioned he first tries to orange pill the people he wants to buy from (e.g., beef).
> The discussion of wallets was great. He mentioned Bitcoin Jungle is currently focused on MoE and payments, and it is a custodial wallet for now because it simply needs to work. But his ultimate goal with wallets is to make the self custody experience just as easy and painless as custodial.
> I found the discussion of Bull Bitcoin being a non-custodial exchange fascinating. He mentioned how his goal is to make it like an ATM, where you put in money and get your Bitcoin. One of my favorite lines of the entire episode was “I sell UTXO’s”, which was a great description of how a non-custodial exchange works.
> He clearly sticks to his principles, as he mentioned how he could have made a lot more money if he created a custodial exchange business and/or sold shitcoins. In fact, one of my other favorite parts of the episode was his discussion of a chart that shows scaling your business vs compromise. That is, Coinbase compromised their cypherpunk principles early and was able to scale their business quickly. However, you also can find an acceptable level of compromise and try to scale within that. Very interesting.
> Enjoyed his recounting of the old days when Roger Ver was trying to hijack Bitcoin and failed despite holding more Bitcoin than anyone. His take: If Roger couldn’t hijack Bitcoin, it can’t hacked. As an extension of this, loved the discussion between the two of you that focused on how Bitcoiners living the cypherpunk ethos are the immune system against attacks on Bitcoin. And we multiply!
> Finally, there was a line near the end that really resonated with me which was: The fiat situation in the western world may not be "bad enough” yet for Bitcoin to be fully accepted and used. In comparison, countries where many are unbanked and inflation is running wild are much more willing to use Bitcoin.
What a great episode! Francis is clearly one of the OGs who has SO much knowledge and perspective to share. Really enjoyed it, and learned a ton!! Give this one a listen!
In one word, this episode was ENERGIZING! This was a really fun listen with a lot of great discussion between the two of you. His passion for Bitcoin is absolutely contagious, and I was fired up after listening to this one! Also, it is obvious that he is very principled, and his brutal honesty was really refreshing. Like so many of your guests, he quickly noted that he has an ability to distill complex ideas, which once again seems to be a common theme among the most successful in the Bitcoin industry. Here were some of my key takeaways:
> Really enjoyed the discussion about how there are two ways to enforce your individual rights. You can have a government that protects you (e.g., constitution), or you have to take matters into your own hands and be sovereign.
> I have a keen interest in circular economies so the discussion about Bitcoin Jungle in Costa Rica was great. Loved his point that a circular economy is successful when Bitcoin becomes ubiquitous. Also found it cool that he mentioned he first tries to orange pill the people he wants to buy from (e.g., beef).
> The discussion of wallets was great. He mentioned Bitcoin Jungle is currently focused on MoE and payments, and it is a custodial wallet for now because it simply needs to work. But his ultimate goal with wallets is to make the self custody experience just as easy and painless as custodial.
> I found the discussion of Bull Bitcoin being a non-custodial exchange fascinating. He mentioned how his goal is to make it like an ATM, where you put in money and get your Bitcoin. One of my favorite lines of the entire episode was “I sell UTXO’s”, which was a great description of how a non-custodial exchange works.
> He clearly sticks to his principles, as he mentioned how he could have made a lot more money if he created a custodial exchange business and/or sold shitcoins. In fact, one of my other favorite parts of the episode was his discussion of a chart that shows scaling your business vs compromise. That is, Coinbase compromised their cypherpunk principles early and was able to scale their business quickly. However, you also can find an acceptable level of compromise and try to scale within that. Very interesting.
> Enjoyed his recounting of the old days when Roger Ver was trying to hijack Bitcoin and failed despite holding more Bitcoin than anyone. His take: If Roger couldn’t hijack Bitcoin, it can’t hacked. As an extension of this, loved the discussion between the two of you that focused on how Bitcoiners living the cypherpunk ethos are the immune system against attacks on Bitcoin. And we multiply!
> Finally, there was a line near the end that really resonated with me which was: The fiat situation in the western world may not be "bad enough” yet for Bitcoin to be fully accepted and used. In comparison, countries where many are unbanked and inflation is running wild are much more willing to use Bitcoin.
What a great episode! Francis is clearly one of the OGs who has SO much knowledge and perspective to share. Really enjoyed it, and learned a ton!! Give this one a listen!
thank you as always dear Larry!