This was a dream interview for me. I must admit I'm a big fan. Not only because we see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues (block size debate, freedom, free-markets, NAP, etc.) but because he's still in there fighting for what's right in his mind. Just check out all the content he's been putting out recently. And he puts his money/crypto where his mouth is by donating to worthy causes and organizations.

I wanted to dive a little deeper into Roger's story and hear some new things. Having watched many of his interviews, it seems like most interviewers go over the same topics and ask the same questions. I thought we veered a little off the beaten blockchain and covered some new ground with this one. I hope you'll agree.

Summary and Comments on our Interview

(Full Disclosure: This is a timeline and synopsis of our interview. If you want to listen to it first, click here.)

We first discuss his nickname "Bitcoin Jesus" and what he thinks of it. He mentioned that things didn't work out that well for the original Jesus. Enough said there. I personally think it's the coolest Crypto nickname on the Blockchain.

Then, we discuss what he makes of the Govermental responses to the CoronaVirus Pandemic. He takes a very Jeff Berwickian or Jeffrey Tucker-like attitude. He thinks people who want to work should be able to and those that want to stay in should stay in. He doesn't think you should be forced to stay in. No argument from me, especially since the predicted number of deaths was so far off. Dr. Ferguson has a history of making failed predictions (Swine Flu, Bird Flu, Foot & Mouth Disease) that have been way off. He didn't even follow his own guidelines. Even Elon Musk pointed out how ridiculous it was and overblown it was on JRE. One thing he mentioned is that he has 7,000 employees in China and not a single one has died from Covid.

Following that, I had to get his take on the money printer going BRRRRR. If you know anything about sound money and what Roger's thinks makes money useful, you already know what his answer was. We also briefly touch on how the double whammy of the Fed Printing money like they've lost their minds, combined with the lock-down orders, is really going to hammer the economy. The lockdown is going to likely hurt and kill more people in the long run that the virus itself. If only more people had a clue what the law of unintended consequences was.

Roger's Early Backstory (until discovering Bitcoin)

Then, we took a deep dive into Roger's Pre-Bitcoin backstory and early years. We hear how he first learned about inflation through his experience w/ "LindyLand Dollars." He talks about how the supply of these dollars (from a teacher) kept exploding so the prices of things they would buy/sell/trade (cookies/toys/etc) jumped dramatically from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. Bummer for Roger, but at least it was just a little school experiment and not the life of someone living in Venezuela or some other Hyperinflationary Fiat Hellscape.

That reminded me of a story. I actually know someone who gave her younger siblings "Jaclyn Dineros" for doing things for her (feeding her grapes, cleaning her room, giving her candy, etc). They were literally just slips of paper she wrote on. "10 Jaclyn Dineros" or "25 Jaclyn Dineros." There was no hard-cap, they weren't backed by anything, and they weren't redeemable for anything. They still bring it up over 15 years later and still seem a little bitter about it. They should have asked for Crypto or gold in lieu of Jaclyn Dineros.

We then discuss how he thinks government taxes and rules hurt society, not help it. If you're also someone you thinks that way, that's great. I just wish this way of thinking wasn't such a small slice of the population. We also talk about government schools. One thing I didn't know before is that Roger actually attended both Public and Private School in California. One surprising thing that he told me is that there really wasn't much difference between the two since the govt. still licensed the private school. He admitted the quality was better but also mentioned that the private school was far more patriotic and shared an interesting story about how looking back, he saw how brainwashed he and his classmates were.

Roger's Backstory (Discovering Bitcoin to Now)

We then hear about how, when he finally looked deeper into it, he became obsessed with it. I know other people that are really into Crypto but Roger is the only one I know who has been hospitalized because he couldn't stop researching it. Even though this was many years ago, I could really feel his passion and enthusiasm when he was telling us this story of doing it "all day, every day."

Following this, we hear some really interesting stories about the early days of Bitcoin. We learned that he was probably the second person in history to sell things (memory chiefly) for Bitcoin. The first guy just sold socks. This was something that changed the narrative for Bitcoin and the whole "What can you buy w/ it?" narrative. We learned about E-Gold, an early online currency that was backed by gold. We also hear about it's sad demise. This is something many in the space don't know about because we see arguments for gold-backed cryptos all the time. Something similar was tried in the past and Roger makes a good case for why Bitcoin is superior.

One of the members of the BCH Boston group wanted me to ask Roger "Do you remember selling Casascius Coins out of a vending machine for $7 at PorcFest?" Roger's answer doesn't disappoint.

Although it's been talked about a lot, we also go over his time spent in prison (if you don't know why he went you'll shake your head) and why he gave up his citizenship.

He tells us about his bet with Charlie Lee and why Charlie isn't honoring it.

We of course go into the blocks filling up, the fees, and the Bitcoin Forks.

We talk about the censorship in the CryptoCommunity.

We hear how Andreas M. Antonopoulos won't debate Roger, or even attend the same conferences as him. We also talk about Andreas' refusal to attend conferences w/ "Booth Girls." Roger shares an inspiring story about hiring booth girls at Anarchapulco.

We also talk about the negative unintended consequences of Affirmative Action and why there aren't many women in the Liberty Movement.

We talk about Roger's love of Korean BBQ (I love it too) and he shares a hilarious Lightning Network Story.

We learn about how he was a seed investor in a lot of the early Crypto companies and start-ups.

He tells us what developments he's excited about on BCH and why he wants to see a Darknet IPO...and a whole lot more.

Closing Thoughts:

 If you want to hear more about the early days of Crypto or want to learn some new stuff about Bitcoin Jesus (or both), you can find our full interview on ApplePodcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app.

We also have it on Bitchute and may soon be joining LBRY, Thinkspot, and a host of other burgeoning free-speech and censorship-resistant platforms. We stopped putting content on Youtube for philosophical reasons so don't look for us there. We'll soon hopefully have our full back catalog on Bitchute in addition to the podcast options.

Roger ended the video with "Don't be Tribal and think for yourself."

We see that in the Crypto Space and the political sphere as well. If you've ever suggested the government be smaller or do less, you've seen this tribalism from passionate statists telling you you're "bad because (insert random non-sensical answer here)."

I think that's the way I'd like to end it as well.

Don't be Tribal and think for yourself.

Until next time.
-₿locKade