Erik Voorhees on Understanding Libertarianism

Location: Denver
Date: Wednesday, 18th September
Project: ShapeShift
Role: Founder & CEO

Since its birth over 10 years ago, Bitcoin has resonated with Libertarians. Through its very design, Bitcoin aligns closely with the Libertarian belief that governments should have no interference in people's lives or money.

Helped by popular Bitcoin books such as Saifedean Ammous’ The Bitcoin Standard, more and more newcomers to Bitcoin are becoming aware of Libertarianism as well as Austrian Economics. However, these can be confusing concepts to grasp, especially for those growing up always accepting and/or believing that there must be a state.

So, what is Libertarianism? Should we strive for smaller decentralised societies with little or no government intervention or regulation? And could Bitcoin play a key role in reducing the size of governments around the world?

In this interview, I speak with Erik Voorhees the Founder and CEO at Shapeshift. Erik explains the theory behind a Libertarian state, reducing the size of governments, minarchism vs anarchism, and internal Libertarian conflict points.

-----

Connect with Erik:
- On Twitter @erikvoorhees
- On Medium
- On LinkedIn
- On AngelList
- On CrunchBase

Connect with ShapeShift
- On Twitter @ShapeShiftio
- On LinkedIn
- On Crunchbase
- On Instagram
- Their Website

Mentioned in the interview:
- Battle of Bunkerville
- Marxism
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Edward Snowden
- WikiLeaks
- Permanent Record by Edward Snowden
- Edward Snowden’s Bitcoin Tweet
- Cannabis legalisation in the U.S
- The Silk Road
- Bill Clinton ‘didn’t inhale’

Other relevant WBD podcasts:
- WBD141 - Stephan Livera on Austrian Economics, Libertarianism and Bitcoin
- WBD140 - Raoul Pal on Bitcoin as a Global Recession Hedge
- WBD127 - Saifedean Ammous on Understanding Bitcoin Economics
- WBD114: Giacomo Zucco on Why Brexit Is Good for the UK (and Bitcoin)
- WBD036 - The Threat of Fractional Reserve Bitcoin from Wall Street with Saifedean Ammous & Caitlin Long
- WBD032 - Tuur Demeester on the Looming Debt Crisis and Central Banks for Bitcoin
- WBD027 - The Supreme Courts Denial of Ross Ulbricht's Petition with Lyn Ulbricht

-----

If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show my doing the following:

Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute

Make a tip:
Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S
QR Codes: Bitcoin | Ethereum | Litecoin | Monero | ZCash | Ripplecoin
If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you

Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | TuneIn | RSS Feed

Leave a review on iTunes

Share the show and episodes with your friends and family

Subscribe to the newsletter on my website

Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube

If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.