“People were telling the libertarians to shut up,” says New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper, “but they were the only ones willing to put their money on the line and keep Bitcoin alive.” Popper’s new book, Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money, tells the story of how the “cryptocurrency” went from an idea sketched out by an anonymous programmer in a nine-page whitepaper in the summer of 2008 to a global phenomenon with multi-million-dollar investments staked on its potential. Some believe Bitcoin will be as transformative as the Internet itself while others—including many governments and traditional investors and analysts—see it as a threat or scam that should be shut down or heavily regulated. Reason TV’s Nick Gillespie sat down with Popper to talk about the rise of Bitcoin and its underlying blockchain technology, which advocates say has virtually unlimited application. Shot by Joshua Swain and Alex Manning. Produced and edited by Jim Epstein. Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason TV’s YouTube Channel to get automatic updates when new material goes live. Nick Gillespie is the editor in chief of Reason.com and Reason TV and the co-author of The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong With America, just out in paperback. Matt Welch | 09.06.2015
Has Bitcoin Already Been Co-opted by Wall Street?
More of Today's Solutions
Earth Prize 2026 part I: teenage teams tackling big global problems
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Every year, The Earth Prize asks teenagers across the world the same question: what environmental problem would you ...
Read MoreEarth Prize 2026 part II: seaweed fabric, hornbill nests, and a healing bandage
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM This is part two of our Earth Prize 2026 coverage. Part one covered four regional winners from Ireland, ...
Read MoreHow the capital of Lithuania is turning itself into a vast open-air cafe
For many cities around the world, the need for social distancing has motivated cities to experiment with different urban planning schemes. Recently, we published ...
Read MoreThis power-free sewer treatment plant was inspired by cow stomachs
80 percent of the world’s sewage is dumped untreated into the natural environment. This is a huge health and environmental crisis, but traditional sewage ...
Read More
