*This is a write-up of the interview Josh and I conducted on our podcast.

Justin O’Connell grew up listening to music, especially punk rock, and playing baseball. He really got into studying History through a great teacher. He started researching the history of money and started working at a precious metals shop in 2010. He mentioned many in the precious metals space didn’t like Bitcoin or even understand it. He also talks about an early Crypto-for-Gold/Silver exit scam you can read about here.

Gold, Silver, and Crypto?

We discuss his fairly balanced view on how he sees Crypto and Gold/Silver being complementary and how he thinks you should cash out of Crypto into precious metals instead of cash. He also gives us some advice on something he thinks is undervalued that you can buy on Ebay. What is it? You’ll have to enter lunar orbit and visit the Darkside of the HODL Moon to find out.

Sometimes, I wonder "Can't we all just get along?!?" when I think about the in-fighting between Crypto Warriors and Precious Metals Mercenaries. I think people like Justin and Mike Maloney are on the right track when it comes to having a more nuanced and balanced approach.

We talk about the Comex and Bakkt (and others) not having fully backed reserves and the inherent problems and risks with that. We discuss the difference between the paper price and physical price of silver. Some of these irregularities in the precious metals markets are so strange that Justin said he’s never seen them before.

CoronaVirus in the Batter's Box?

We talk a little about baseball and basketball and using stats to increase a team’s winning percentage. He talks about how in San Diego, where he is, they locked down early (compared to the rest of the country) and were very strict for 2-3 weeks. You couldn’t even walk on the grass! He also mentioned how the Wuhan lab was funded by the US under Dr. Fauci.

Josh mentioned that some CoronaVirus content was censored, including ZeroHedge being kicked off Twitter (even though their content turned out to be accurate). He also mentioned that many think there will be more deaths due to the lockdown than the virus itself.

Money Printer goin' BRRR and a Crypto Hiring Spree

Justin mentioned that the economic crisis is going to draw even more attention into the gold/silver/Crypto markets. He talked about how the FED is doing some odd things, perhaps acting like the “Central Bank of Central Banks” and all the money printing craziness.

He mentioned a hiring spree in the Crypto Space, which traditionally has been opposed to money-printing and bailouts. He also talks about how the Crypto space has expanded beyond the Austrian Economists and that it’s expanded to people with other political or economic beliefs. He makes a case that there is no place to go except gold/silver/Crypto when it comes to protecting your wealth from the money-printing.

 Justin mentions how he plans to look into more privacy coins and expresses some concerns with the amount of Crypto Mining in China and why it could be dangerous due to China’s policies and politics.

We talk about the Fed and how the Fed is now allowing some countries to print dollars and all the crazy coordinated financial planning through the central banks and global quantitative easing. We also talk about whether or not this is good.

Mainstream Media Journalism

We also talk about the lack of long-form content in journalism, especially in the Crypto space. We get into the economic reasons for this, and the side effects. For example, writers may only get $15-25 dollars per article on the low-end, which incentivizes the production of low word-count, low quality articles.

We also talk about the Mainstream Media (MSM) and some of the issues many people have with them. Justin reveals how he had to cater to “click-bait” in order to get published after his original submissions were rejected. We talk about how the new media revenue model isn’t working out and what could be done to fix this. He pitched the alternative media as being the new MSM; the current MSM these days is just protecting their sponsors and advertisers. I thought this was very interesting idea and one I hadn't heard before. This makes me think personally that the patronage model will start gaining more traction. This could be through micro-tipping using Crypto payments or some sort of subscription model for high-quality news, writing, podcasts, and shows.

Leaning into Strengths, Going for it, and Talent Stacks

We talk about the importance of reaching out when you want something, whether it’s sending out emails or cold-calling. You’d be surprised how often you get responses which could turn into a connection , a job, or a money-making opportunity.

We also talk about the importance of “leaning into your strengths” and the importance of being well-rounded, or a 3-dimensional person. I emphasized the importance of having a talent stack and when you should or shouldn’t follow your passions as a money-making venture.

We also discuss the feasibility of getting a job in the Crypto Space and why learning programs and continual self-education are so important.

Justin's Writings: Cryptographically Discussed

Finally, we delve into Justin's Crypto writings, which Josh and I are both really into. First, we discuss Web 3.0 which Justin postulates will create a truly independent and grass-roots internet. He tells us we need to look at the central points of failure with the internet and says, “We’ve never really moved away from a model of oligarchy.” He ponders whether some start-up founders are “paying for and creating our own chains.” I found both of these ideas novel, especially the later. You can read his Web 3.0 article here.

 We go over some of his other articles and guests he's interviewed. He stressed the need to "step outside the Mass Media paradigm" and asks rhetorically if an A.I. future is a forgone conclusion: "There is an alternative timeline."

Bottom of the 9th Inning

We finish up by talking about his Erik Voorhees article and its importance. You can hear what we thought of that and everything else we talked about on the full podcast. Be sure to check out it here, here, here, or here...and give us your thoughts. Cheers.