December 12, 2020

Ron Paul on Bitcoin, Liberty & Freedom in Money | Stephan Livera Podcast

Check out The Stephan Livera Podcast Episode Page & Show Notes

“There are tax collectors out there that want to know exactly what people are doing with alternative currencies” – Ron Paul
- Exchanges collect information, so be vigilant, and expect IRS surveillance on monetary activities
“For me, the perfect system is freedom of choice, then you and I can decide exactly what we should use as our monetary system, but today that’s not here” – Ron Paul
- An individual’s mistake only affects them, but mistakes by the Federal Reserve affect the entire population and culminate in business cycles busts and booms
Opposing opinions are fine as long as no violence is involved. However, if we start to enforce currencies or opinions or vaccines, then it becomes dangerous
On growing Bitcoin’s user base, “Do your best to understand it and explain it and if it’s worth anything they will find you” – Ron Paul
- Movements occur by leadership, and 8% of the supercharged leaders are enough to influence others and ultimately the crowds
People react quickly when the government applies a lot of regulations, this usually manifests in the thriving of black markets
Market corrections serve to liquidate runaway debt and fix malinvestments; printing the debt away only delays the inevitable and prolongs the pain
- The government should learn from the 1921 depression, rather than replicating that of the 1930s

Ron Paul (@ronpaul) is a libertarian, a former congressman and presidential candidate, and host of The Ron Paul Liberty Report
Host: Stephan Livera (@stephanlivera)

While a lot of people trust and trade Bitcoin, the government can still attempt to confiscate it
- The larger Bitcoin and crypto grow, the more you have to be aware of government actions to protect its monetary system
  - Similar to how the growth of private and homeschooling can elicit government action to protect public schooling
“There are tax collectors out there too that want to know exactly what people are doing with alternative currencies” – Ron Paul
- Keep in mind, exchanges collect information, so be vigilant, and expect IRS surveillance on monetary activities
- “I don’t even believe in the IRS”, but they are not ignorant
Facing problems is what incentivizes the development of security measures

“For me, the perfect system is freedom of choice, then you and I can decide exactly what we should use as our monetary system, but today that’s not here” – Ron Paul
- Cryptocurrencies push people to think about their freedom of choice, and they fix the unlimited expansion of fiat currencies
People are free to make their choices because mistakes only hurt them
- On the other hand, mistakes by the Federal Reserve are painful for the entire population and culminates in the busts and booms of business cycles
- “Make it [crypto] legal and let people make their decisions” – Ron Paul
Gold ownership was outlawed from 1932 to 1975 under Executive Order 6102, similar actions aren’t inconceivable

Individuals get involved with Bitcoin for different motivations, whether it may be to try new technology, adopt superior money, or to get rich
- “I don’t think you can get everybody to agree on exactly why we have crypto and how it works” – Ron Paul
- Human action is an individual thing, and individuals should have the flexibility to freely choose cryptocurrencies
Opposing opinions are fine as long as no violence is involved
- However, if we start to enforce currencies or opinions or vaccines, then it becomes dangerous

In a nutshell, “Do your best to understand it and explain it and if it’s worth anything they will find you” – Ron Paul
There will always be a remnant who demand sound money, appeal to them, and use them to popularize the issue
- Movements occur by leadership, and 8% of the supercharged leaders are enough to influence others and ultimately the crowds
Bitcoin’s performance remains impressive despite all the predictions on its fate, but it still needs more time
- Keep in mind, we are still talking about cryptos in dollar value

The only purpose of a government is to protect your liberty and rights, but this is long-lost
The hypocrisy of lawmakers passing regulations that they don’t adhere to is the greatest incentive for people to wake up
- For instance, “Instead of prohibiting counterfeiting, they [government] become the biggest counterfeiters” – Ron Paul
  - That’s the source of problems like big state, wars, and the runaway welfare system
People react quickly when the government applies a lot of regulations, this usually manifests in the thriving of black markets

Market corrections serve to liquidate runaway debt and fix malinvestments. Instead, governments attempt to print the debt away and debase the currency
- This only delays the inevitable and prolongs the pain
“The next few years, even if they got more sensible about the lockdown, we still have liquidations” – Ron Paul
- Keep in mind, The bubble was already out of proportions before coronavirus hit
- The government can either prolong the depression similar to the 1930s or they can let it end quickly like the depression of 1921
  - Unfortunately, there is no way politicians will back up on spending
It’s impossible to predict the time of the crash, what’s important is what you will replace it with