Freedom Technologies & Civil Disobedience with Austin Hill

“There are so many opportunities to use freedom technologies to build civil disobedience, to put power into the hands of individuals, and Bitcoin’s a part of that.”— Austin HillAustin Hill is a cypherpunk & former Blockstream CEO. In this interview, we discuss the dangers of absolutism within Bitcoin’s community, building consensus in promoting freedom money, and advancing the human condition. - - - - The development and adoption of Bitcoin is predicated upon a reaction to the manifest failures of current economic and political structures. The associated need to defend Bitcoin from multiple attack vectors resulted in a protective maximalist ideology. The end result is that the current Bitcoin community is dominated by big personalities with firm and unyielding convictions. Yet, maintaining an adoption curve mirroring that of the internet means proving the benefits of this innovative technology to everyone: the wider public, companies, and state-level institutions. This will require building consensus: coalescing around positive characteristics of the technology whilst working to ensure divergent opinions don’t overwhelm the debate.As Bitcoin enters a more nuanced phase of maturation, a pragmatic approach to furthering its adoption and effective development may be required. Do battle-hardened Bitcoiners now need to become more politically flexible? Is it possible to find agreement with those who hold contradictory views? Is compromise possible whilst protecting Bitcoin’s unique innovation? This episode’s sponsors:Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantlyBlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial servicesSportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts BitcoinCasa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security.Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware walletCompass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hostingLVL - Bank on BitcoinBCB Group - Global digital financial Services-----WBD490 - Show Notes-----If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following:Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contributeMake a tip:Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2SQR Codes: BitcoinIf you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank youSubscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS FeedLeave a review on iTunesShare the show and episodes with your friends and familySubscribe to the newsletter on my websiteFollow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTubeIf 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.