A Bitcoin Evangelist Tries to Convert Me
4/23/20261 hr 6 min
One question has haunted my investment strategy for years: What is cryptocurrency actually for? It feels as though the vibes are constantly shifting — one day it’s the dollar’s successor, and the next it’s little more than a meme. My guest this week is bitcoin evangelist Anthony Pompliano, the chief executive of ProCap Financial. We get into whether crypto is a bet against the American empire and whether its volatility is actually a strength.
- 0:00 - Intro
- 01:27 - Physical to digital: The evolution of financial assets
- 05:00 - The wealth inequality gap
- 09:58 - The global adoption of crypto
- 14:51 - Bitcoin vs. Ethereum
- 20:26 - Why "stability" is a financial lie
- 29:30 - A “digital savings account”
- 41:57 - The role of Bitcoin in political dynamics
- 56:05 - “A bet against America”
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Ross Douthat· Host0:14
[upbeat music] From New York Times Opinion, I'm Ross Douthat, and this is Interesting Times. On this week's episode, I'm trying to answer a question that's haunted my own investment strategy for years. What is cryptocurrency actually good for? It's up, it's down. Sometimes it's a centerpiece of Trumpian economic policy. Sometimes it's ransom money for crossing the Strait of Hormuz. Sometimes it's gonna replace the dollar or help the middle class afford retirement, and sometimes it's just a vibe. For my guest this week, Anthony Pompliano, there's very little that crypto can't do, or at least the OG cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, which he's permanently bullish on. We talked about crypto's reputation as a shady enterprise, whether Bitcoin is a bet against the American empire, and whether its volatility is a weakness