Bitcoin Audible

Guy Swann

The Best in Bitcoin made Audible. Guy Swann makes the knowledge of Bitcoin, the world's most secure, independent money, accessible to everyone. Exploring Bitcoin from an investment perspective, economic analysis, its philosophical foundations, & technological primitives. Reading and distilling thousands of hours of others' works on Bitcoin, Guy explains everything you need to know.

  1. Read_944 - Proof of Work in the Real Economy

    1D AGO

    Read_944 - Proof of Work in the Real Economy

    "If your money isn't sound, it is not reflecting any proof of work. It is not reflecting anything about who should be able to consume, or how much there is available to consume. It's just being corrupted, it's being defrauded, so that certain people get bad price signals. And this will incentivize them and everyone else to literally make economic decisions that appear to be economically profitable, that are actually destroying the society." ~ Guy Swann Why is it that 5,000 years of human civilization built monuments and railroads and cathedrals – and we built WeWork and Quibi? In this episode, I read Wyatt's case for a return to proof of work in the real economy, then push it further: sound money isn't just nice to have. Without it, the market doesn't break – it never emerges in the first place. And when it loses that property, society rots until it dies. Check out the original article: The Bitcoinization of Finance by Wyatt O'Rourke (Link: https://braiins.com/books/bitcoinization-of-finance) References from the episode The Bitcoinization of Finance by Wyatt O'Rourke – the book this chapter is pulled from, available now (audiobook coming soon, narrated by yours truly) (Link: https://braiins.com/books/bitcoinization-of-finance) Broken Money by Lynn Alden – referenced in the chapter and one of the best macro reads out there (Link: https://www.lynalden.com/broken-money/) The Price of Tomorrow by Jeff Booth – also referenced, and a foundational read on deflation and innovation (Link: https://www.jeffbooth.ca/books) Human Action by Ludwig von Mises – the original Austrian breakdown of boom-bust cycles (Link: https://mises.org/mises-wire/ludwig-von-misess-human-action-marking-70-years-continuing-relevance) The previous Read episode on Nick Szabo's The Fabric of Desires – perfect companion piece to this one (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/ByGugoFYLU0uFDPI6Z2t) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code ...

    36 min
  2. Read_943 - The Fabric of Desires

    3D AGO

    Read_943 - The Fabric of Desires

    "It is not markets that made money possible. It is collectibles, which we now call money, that make markets possible." ~ Nick Szabo What if everything we've been told about how money emerged is backwards? Nick Szabo's first article in nearly a decade tells the story of a stolen canoe, a tribal feud, and a string of shells – and uses it to challenge one of the most repeated ideas in economics. Did money come from barter, or did it come from something far older and far more human? Check out the original article: The Fabric of Desires by Nick Szabo (Link: https://jan3.com/blog/the-fabric-of-desires) References from the episode Nick Szabo's blog, Unenumerated – where so much of his foundational writing lives (Link: https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/) Aqua Wallet, the superapp by Jan3: Bitcoin, Lightning, and Liquid all in one, with USDT on Liquid too (Link: https://aqua.net/) The Nakamoto Institute: the best archive there is for Szabo's work and early Bitcoin thought (Link: https://nakamotoinstitute.org/) Carl Menger's On the Origins of Money – worth reading even where I think it falls short (Link: https://www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/menger/money.txt) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) “There's always a story. It's all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything's got a story in i...

    26 min
  3. Roundtable_020 - Anything But Bitcoin

    5D AGO

    Roundtable_020 - Anything But Bitcoin

    In this roundtable, we sit down with Steve, Mechanic, and Jeff, and honestly, we struggle to stay on Bitcoin for half of it. Our catch-up quickly turns into a rant about LLMs acting like corporate yes-men, and the frustrations of running AI locally. But we do get back to the money. We talk about the St. Louis Fed literally copyrighting Bitcoin price data, France tracking self-hosted wallets, Steve’s update on UTXOracle, and why the quantum computing threat looks a lot more like a funding scam with terrible marketing. On the technical side, we get into the proposed cluster mempool changes in Bitcoin Core. Mechanic also shares his view on renting hashrate, and how much money giant pools waste by ignoring empty block speedups. Guest Links Steve Simple Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3s6a8yn8) Steve Simple on X (Link: https://x.com/stevesimple) Bitcoin Mechanic Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/2tm827ut) Bitcoin Mechanic on X (Link: https://x.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Jeff Swann Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3sjc3bcp) Jeff Swann on X (Link: https://x.com/agoristview) Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction to the Roundtable(00:05:16) - Building the UTXO Oracle Reference Price(00:15:09) - Ocean Mining Pool Hashrate and Core Drama(00:23:40) - Analyzing AI Model Costs and Economic Feasibility(00:37:05) - Iran Reportedly Taking Bitcoin Tolls for Shipping(00:42:08) - VPN Usage and Legal Realities in Autocracies(00:53:12) - Governement Advancing Self-Hosted Wallet Regulations(00:59:06) - Debunking Google Quantum Computing Encryption Threats(01:16:45) - Analyzing Cluster Mempool Feasibility in Bitcoin Core(01:28:01) - AI Agents Operating Wallets(01:33:14) - The Rise of Decentralized Rentable Hashrate(01:44:26) - Hosted Bitcoin Nodes and Stratum Uptime Solutions(01:57:17) - Non-Custodial Wallet Adoption on Nostr(02:02:37) - Lightning Network UX Challenges and Bolt 12(02:13:14) - Updates and Final Thoughts

    2h 26m
  4. Read_942 - Stepping Outside the Fiat Frame

    MAY 3

    Read_942 - Stepping Outside the Fiat Frame

    "They say the ruler is bent, then use the bent ruler to measure the table. They say the clock is broken, then solemnly read out the hour. They say the instrument is false, then ask it, with perfect seriousness, for one final certification. This is, in itself, a form of bondage. To measure gold in fiat terms is, in Jung’s sense, to deny the shadow: to denounce the paper system in public while continuing, in private, to let it decide what counts as value."  ~ Craig Tindale 1 BTC = 1 BTC. If fiat is broken, why do we still trust it to tell us what gold or Bitcoin is worth? Craig Tindale argues that even the rebels against fiat money remain captive to its grammar – measuring their escape in the very units they claim to reject. But is stepping outside the fiat frame really that simple, or does the nature of price itself trap us in ways even Bitcoiners haven't fully reckoned with? Check out the original article: Stepping Outside the Fiat Frame by Craig Tindale (Link: https://x.com/ctindale/status/2040918715961901280) References from the episode My recent two‑part series Read episodes: "Number Go Down" by Allen Farrington & Sacha Meyers and "Modern Money Only Works by Cheating" by Tyler Durden – both great companions to this episode. (Number Go Down: https://fountain.fm/episode/fLqds61ds9YbsnqGOkE8) (Modern Money Only Works by Cheating: https://fountain.fm/episode/UN8NHIQ3tR9tdc9ER89h) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1)

    42 min
  5. Guy's Take_106 - When Cheating Is The Law

    MAY 1

    Guy's Take_106 - When Cheating Is The Law

    "When you really dig into the heart of how finance, how our monetary system and how our political system work, and how deeply married they are, you begin to see something that's pretty disturbing. That cheating and manipulation aren't simply something that arise in bad behaviors. They're fundamentally required by the system itself. They're baked in. They are the standard. It is the law. And if that is our reality, then the only way we can actually restore honesty and sensible standards is to create a money that refuses to bend to the law. So the question is, have we done that?" ~ Guy What if the cheating, the manipulation, and the bailouts aren't bugs in our financial system, but the very features that keep it alive? In this rant, I push back hard on the idea that "elastic money" saved us from the 2008 collapse, the 1929 catastrophe, or any other economic event we've "papered over", and argue it's the very thing guaranteeing a far worse one. Is hard money really the villain of the 20th century, or have we been telling ourselves a comforting lie? References from the episode The previous Read of "Number Go Down", the essay by Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/fLqds61ds9YbsnqGOkE8) And the previous Read of "Modern Money Only Works by Cheating" by Tyler Durden (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/UN8NHIQ3tR9tdc9ER89h) Custodia Bank's ongoing fight for a full-reserve banking charter (Link: https://bankingjournal.aba.com/2026/04/tenth-circuit-denies-rehearing-en-banc-in-custodia-banks-lawsuit-over-master-accounts/) Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

    47 min
  6. Chat_166 - The Great Distraction: Epstein vs. Quantum in Bitcoin with Rob Wallace on Bitcoin News

    APR 27

    Chat_166 - The Great Distraction: Epstein vs. Quantum in Bitcoin with Rob Wallace on Bitcoin News

    "The whole point of libertarianism is that we should recognise that we don't know how to plan the world. We don't know what the solution is going to be. You can't have a central planner decide it.If it was really just that libertarians understood how the world worked, then you could have a central planner. You would just need them to be libertarians. That's not how it works at all. It's antithetical to the whole concept. That's why the Block Size War was such a huge success, because it did not hard-fork. It did not decide: 'Oh, if there is a schism in the community, one small group is going to be able to force it onto everybody else.' And that's exactly the thing that you actually need to have society's rules be sustainable, because otherwise, that's all you get. You get people who will violently disagree about the tiniest shit, and then they will put a gun to everybody else's head, and they will say: 'You just got to come along with me or you're screwed.'" ~ Guy Lately, it feels like an endless stream of noise tries to predict the death of Bitcoin. So I joined Rob Wallace on the Bitcoin News channel to cut through the panic and tackle the two loudest distractions: Google's latest quantum computing claims and the wild conspiracy that Jeffrey Epstein dictated Bitcoin's code. We look at the actual physics of quantum processing to see if scaling qubits without catastrophic environmental noise is even possible. But the Epstein drama is what really gets me fired up. People are rewriting the history of the block size wars to fit a comfortable narrative. We lay out why he had zero practical influence over Bitcoin, and why some folks would rather believe an elaborate lie than accept the reality of decentralized consensus. But we do not just stay in the weeds. I also share why I am incredibly optimistic about non-custodial scaling solutions like Ark, and how vibe coding is sparking a peer-to-peer renaissance. Big thanks to Rob and the Bitcoin News channel for hosting me! Chapters (00:00:00) - The failure of central planning and libertarian ideals (00:01:41) - Assessing the actual quantum threat to Bitcoin (00:08:44) - Why quantum experiments lack genuine cryptographic proof (00:20:06) - Prioritizing quantum resistance among protocol developers (00:22:50) - Debunking the Epstein and MIT Media Lab narrative (00:31:06) - The reality of the early Blockstream investments (00:39:41) - Why the liberty movement split over Bitcoin scaling (00:44:12) - Hard truths about network architecture and TCP/IP (00:52:29) - Can Bitcoin truly separate money from the state (00:55:08) - The friction of living entirely on a Bitcoin standard (01:00:12) - Vibe coding and a new peer-to-peer renaissance Guest Links Rob on X (Link: https://twitter.com/_Rob_Wallace) Bitcoin News on X (Link: https://twitter.com/bitcoinnewscom) Bitcoin News Website (Link: https://bitcoinnews.com/) Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bi... Chapters (00:00:00) - The failure of central planning and libertarian ideals(00:01:41) - Assessing the actual quantum threat to Bitcoin(00:08:44) - Why quantum experiments lack genuine cryptographic proof(00:20:06) - Prioritizing quantum resistance among protocol developers(00:22:50) - Debunking the Epstein and MIT Media Lab narrative(00:31:06) - The reality of the early Blockstream investments(00:39:41) - Why the liberty movement split over Bitcoin scaling(00:44:12) - Hard truths about network architecture and TCP/IP(00:52:29) - Can Bitcoin truly separate money from the state(00:55:08) - The friction of living entirely on a Bitcoin standard(01:00:12) - Vibe coding and a new peer-to-peer renaissance

    1h 4m
  7. Read_941 - Number Go Down - Part 2

    APR 23

    Read_941 - Number Go Down - Part 2

    "The idea that some authority can deduce the correct level of this balance is not merely wrong, it is not even wrong, it is methodologically incoherent. Asking for the 'correct' interest rate is like asking how much the color orange weighs."  ~ Allen Farrington & Sacha Meyers What if deflation isn't the economic boogeyman we've been told to fear, but the very *signal* that progress is happening? In Part 2 of Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers' brilliant essay, we dismantle the central myth of fiat economics – that printing money creates growth – and reveal why falling prices are the only honest measure that innovation has actually occurred. If the fiat prescription worked, where's the evidence? And why have central authorities never let us run the experiment? Check out the original article: Number Go Down by Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers (Link: https://x.com/allenf32/status/2045477517201477686) References from the episode Part 1 of "Number Go Down" – make sure you catch it before this one. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/fLqds61ds9YbsnqGOkE8) "Bitcoin is Venice" by Farrington & Meyers – second edition announced for 2027. (Medium: https://allenfarrington.medium.com/bitcoin-is-venice-8414dda42070) (Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Venice-Essays-Future-Capitalism/dp/B09TTTGT11) "On the Manipulation of Money and Credit" by Ludwig von Mises. (Link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2212135) And the companion Guy's Take coming soon on Bitcoin, Trust, and The Human Problem. Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1)

    46 min
  8. Read_940 - Number Go Down - Part 1

    APR 21

    Read_940 - Number Go Down - Part 1

    "The fiat economist universally chooses to set the printing press to brrrrrrrrrr. While the enlightened elite watch their stock portfolios moon and their debts disappear, the common man is told to be thankful that he was 'this close' to the horror of living in a world where his wages bought more every year, and his government respected his private property. Imagine how hard it would be for that government to raise debt in such a world. It would have to justify its spending. We cannot have that." ~ Allen Farrington & Sacha Meyers What if falling prices aren't the economy stifling nightmare that fiat economists claim, but instead is actually the only natural spending incentive of a real economy fundamentally? Dive into Part 1 of Number Go Down, Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers' latest essay, where we dismantle the deflation myth, explore how hard money fuels real growth, and question why Bitcoin's promise hinges on surviving extreme stress. Could this be the key to a more stable, productive world? Check out the original article: Number Go Down by Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers (Link: https://x.com/allenf32/status/2045477517201477686) References from the episode Give a listen to our two-part episode "Modern Money Only Works By Cheating" by Tyler Durden for the backstory on what the market's really pricing in Bitcoin. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/UN8NHIQ3tR9tdc9ER89h) Don't miss my audiobook version of "Bitcoin is Venice" by Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers – it's one of my all-time favorites and dives deep into these economic themes. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/s6Fu2VowAddRACCCIxQh) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) “The first rule is to keep an untroubled spiri...

    1h 3m
4.8
out of 5
54 Ratings

About

The Best in Bitcoin made Audible. Guy Swann makes the knowledge of Bitcoin, the world's most secure, independent money, accessible to everyone. Exploring Bitcoin from an investment perspective, economic analysis, its philosophical foundations, & technological primitives. Reading and distilling thousands of hours of others' works on Bitcoin, Guy explains everything you need to know.

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