Bitcoin or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Crypto

Jon Matonis is an e-money researcher and crypto economist focused on expanding the circulation of non-political digital currencies. His career has included senior influential posts at Sumitomo Bank, VISA, VeriSign, and Hushmail. Currently, He serves on the Board of Directors for the Bitcoin Foundation, is Tech Contributor to Forbes Magazine, and Op-Ed Contributor to American Banker. 

Jon is also Editor of The Monetary Future economics blog and board advisor to startups in bitcoin, gaming, mobile, and prepaid.

He earned his B.A. in Economics at George Washington University in 1985. He also studied Economics and Computer Software Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. 

Edited 3rd April 2013.  

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GoldMoney’s Andy Duncan talks to Jon Matonis of the Bitcoin Foundation who is also a contributor to Forbes Magazine. They discuss Bitcoin’s latest price spike and whether crypto-currencies are a credible alternative as a medium of exchange.

Though the price for Bitcoins has risen from $15 to $95 at the time of the podcast, Matonis does not think that it is a speculative bubble. With a fixed supply of Bitcoin and rising demand - in part due to fears related to Cyprus – surging prices are only logical. As there is no futures market for bitcoins yet, there is no leverage, which makes Bitcoin also suitable for investment purposes.

They discuss whether Bitcoin could become a serious rival to precious metals when it comes to alternatives to national currencies. He points to the complimentary nature of physical bullion and Bitcoin. While Bitcoin has advantages in the digital world, nothing beats the security of tangible metal as it is not reliant on the existence of electricity and internet connectivity.

Matonis sees a bright future in crypto-currencies and especially values its possible impact on capital controls and taxes. For Bitcoin the important question will be whether it will be introduced by big merchants and whether governments will impose regulation against such acceptance.

This podcast was recorded on 28 March 2013.

Doug Casey of Casey Researchdebates e-money researcher and “crypto economist” Jon Matonis on the virtues – or otherwise – of Bitcoin, and how it compares to gold as a form of money.

Casey, a Bitcoin sceptic, notes that Bitcoin satisfies Aristotle’s definition of what constitutes “good” money in all but one important aspect: that it doesn’t have value in any kind of non-monetary sense, unrelated to its use as a medium of exchange. This is in contrast to precious metals, which have unique chemical properties and uses in an industrial context.

Matonis argues that this is unimportant set against Bitcoin’s strengths: notably the ease of transacting in them and its decentralised nature, meaning that there is no central point of attack for its enemies (whoever they may be). He also points out that – unlike gold – physical confiscation of Bitcoin, a la FDR in 1933, is for obvious reasons impossible.

This podcast was recorded on 11 April 2013.