🎙️ My guest today is Joe Bryan, tech entrepreneur & former Goldman Sachs derivatives trader turned Bitcoin educator and creator of the viral film What’s the Problem. After a decade building tech businesses, Joe set out to craft a story that explains why the world needs Bitcoin. His film, now translated into more than 40 languages, uses Pixar-style storytelling to reveal how the fiat system quietly steals from everyone and why separating money from the state is essential. We discuss the compounding creep of digital control, the rise of digital IDs and CBDCs, Bitcoin’s evolution into “perfect money,” and Joe’s mission to help the world see and resist the problem before it’s too late.
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We talked about:
00:00 - Coming Up
01:30 - Intro to Joe & The Viral Video “What’s The Problem”
07:35 - The Problem With The Fiat System
10:45 - UK’s Digital IDs & State of Control
14:30 - Ad Break: Trezor, BitVault & Abundant Mines
17:10 - Tradeoffs Between Security & Sovereignty in The Digital Identity Era
20:40 - Can Bitcoin Be Scaled & Mass Adopted?
22:30 - Joe’s Visit At The Swedish Parliament
25:50 - Rapid Fireside Questions & Closing Thoughts
My takeaways from this interview:
Joe Bryan describes how, after a decade in tech and a prior career as a Goldman Sachs derivatives trader, he created *What’s the Problem*, a 39-minute film explaining why the world needs Bitcoin without mentioning it for the first 30 minutes
He explains that the film’s viral spread, now translated into more than 40 languages by volunteers worldwide, shows Bitcoiners’ collective power to educate through open-source storytelling
The video’s core message: the fiat system’s “greatest trick” is convincing people they’re getting wealthier while being quietly stolen from, and Bitcoin’s purpose is to separate money from the state
He emphasizes that most people fail to see the problem because it’s hidden in compounding small controls, a “boiling frog” path to tyranny
By abstracting the financial system into a “big red button,” the film helps viewers visualize how governments can devalue money or censor transactions at will
He warns that digital IDs are the prerequisite for CBDCs, calling them “tyranny in a box,” and insists that digital ID is the line humanity must not cross
In his view, CBDCs would trap citizens inside a programmable, permissioned system that blocks exits to Bitcoin, making financial sovereignty impossible
He argues that Bitcoin’s UX evolution mirrors the internet’s early years, rough at first but improving rapidly, and that Bitcoin will ultimately function as global money, not a speculative asset
Joe champions the Lightning Network as the infrastructure that will replace legacy payment rails, enabling instant settlement, merchant empowerment, and true peer-to-peer exchange
He recounts presenting *What’s the Problem* in Sweden’s parliament, where several MPs later proposed studying a national Bitcoin reserve, showing how the narrative is reaching political levels
Influenced by Rothbard’s “What Has Government Done to Our Money?” and Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”, he frames Bitcoin as the moral defense of productive people against parasitic systems
He concludes that true sovereignty means being able to say no, and that Bitcoin is the tool allowing humanity to finally make that stand
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"What's The Problem?" A New Movie About The Problem Bitcoin Solves
A new movie was just created and released by Joe Bryan (Entrepreneur, Investor & Advisor, ex-Goldman Sachs and Superbet - Linkedin) demystifying why we all need Bitcoin. Storytelling works like magic, and Joe understands that. I think that’s why he tells a story that is accessible to all, about Fiatello and the Big Red Button. This movie is something we…
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I was recently banned from Stripe, so I cannot have paid memberships on Substack… but there’s always another way!
