#173 – Nic Carter: Bitcoin Core Values, Layered Scaling, and Blocksize Debates

Nic Carter is a financial researcher, investor, writer, and podcaster on topics of decentralized finance. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
Nic’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/nic__carter
Nic’s Website: https://niccarter.info/
Nic’s Blog: https://medium.com/@nic__carter
Nic’s Podcast: https://onthebrink-podcast.com/

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
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Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman
YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips

SUPPORT & CONNECT:
– Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast
– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
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– Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman

OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00)– Introduction
(13:05)– Can humans fully understand reality?
(15:34)– The dollar system
(21:44)– Bitcoin
(23:19)– Opendime
(27:22)– Core values of Bitcoin
(35:51)– Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?
(41:39)– How Bitcoin works
(50:02)– Bitcoin blocksize wars
(1:02:27)– Layered scaling of Bitcoin
(1:07:25)– Lightning network
(1:10:25)– Schnorr/Taproot update to Bitcoin
(1:15:17)– Criticisms of Bitcoin
(1:25:04)– Bitcoin failure modes
(1:33:07)– Bitcoin vs Ethereum
(1:37:03)– Vitalik Buterin
(1:39:56)– Creative destruction
(1:44:51)– Future of Bitcoin
(1:48:38)– Tesla, Elon Musk, and Dogecoin
(1:56:44)– NFTs
(2:04:00)– Bitcoin maximalism
(2:10:37)– On writing
(2:16:37)– Writing a book on Bitcoin
(2:21:07)– Bitcoin resources
(2:23:57)– Book recommendations
(2:25:56)– Advice for young people
(2:29:13)– Meaning of life