Writing the book finally transformed me into a Bitcoin maximalist — nothing but Bitcoin makes sense to me anymore.
How has Bitcoin changed your life?
I’m sort of a stereotypical bitcoiner in this aspect. Bitcoin definitely lowered my time preference: I think about the future much more, because there is something to look forward to. Fiat really messed up our economies and societies, and with Bitcoin we have a solution at hand.
Like many others, I started to search for value in other fields of life and found the benefits of intermittent fasting, the carnivore diet and regular exercise.
Bitcoin also changed my career. I left the corporate life in 2018 and I was able to focus first on “crypto,” then on Bitcoin when I found out that ”crypto“ is bullsh*t. I’ve been working for Trezor since Spring 2021 and it’s the best job of my life — I basically study Bitcoin every day and communicate why Bitcoin matters to others.
The pieces you have written for the magazine have aimed to educate others on how best to maximize their bitcoin stack. What do you think is most important for people to educate themselves about in regards to bitcoin?
Two things: how fiat works, and how Bitcoin works.
The majority of people don’t really think about how today’s money works. Many still believe there is some link to gold, or that central bankers have the science of money nailed down and there’s nothing wrong. But when you show people the long-term charts — interest rates, price levels, M2 money stock, central bank balance sheets, debt levels — it really doesn’t seem sustainable. So that’s the first important thing: to see that there’s something very wrong with how today’s monetary system operates.
The second one is how Bitcoin works. And I mean both as a monetary system and as a technology. Bitcoin’s value as money lies in its predictable, unchangeable monetary policy which is in direct contrast to the monetary policy of fiat money. But for people to benefit from this, they need to understand how it works on an individual level and how to hold bitcoin properly. And I believe the team at Trezor is doing a great job with providing the proper tools for ordinary people to safeguard their sats.
What are you most looking forward to in the Bitcoin space?
There’s many things. Taproot and Schnorr adoption and what benefits it will bring for users. El Salvador’s coming bitcoinization — and a massive growing adoption in developing countries in general. I’m looking forward to further growth in the Lightning Network and the third layer on top of it — check out Impervious AI’s recent hackathon, that is some fascinating stuff.
But mostly I’m looking forward to more and more people realizing that Bitcoin is never going away, and the implications of that.
What is your price prediction for the end of 2021, and the end of 2030?
Let me preface my answer with this: in the short term, we are usually too optimistic. In the long term, we are too pessimistic. At the end of 2021, I believe we will see bitcoin over $100,000. By 2030, over $1 million (in today’s purchasing power). But in the long run, fiat price doesn’t matter, because we will see fiat fail and bitcoin take over.
