From the mysterious creation story, to the early development among a small group of cypherpunks, to the emergence of the Silk Road, the collapse of MtGox, to the entry of a tidal wave of VC money and the Silicon Valley elite, Bitcoin’s short history has been action-packed. It’s no surprise that this could make for a riveting story and NY Times journalist Nathaniel Popper’s book ‘Digital Gold – Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money’ is precisely that. Popper joined us for a conversation about his must-read book about the remarkable story of Bitcoin. Topics covered in this episode: How Nathaniel Popper ended up writing a book about Bitcoin Why he chose ‘Digital Gold’ as a title and some of its different connotations Why he chose to focus on the people and stories of Bitcoin rather than the technology The story of the Silk Road and how it played such a critical role in the early days of Bitcoin How Xapo CEO Wences Casares came to play a crucial role in evangelizing Bitcoin among Silicon Valley’s power players The rising tension and passing of influence between the old, ideological guard and the newer Silicon Valley crew Episode links: Get 'Digital Gold' on Amazon Nathaniel Popper's website Can Bitcoin Conquer Argentina article Decoding the Enigma of Satoshi Nakamoto This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/081

Started in May 2013, Coinkite has by now almost advanced to senior citizen status in the short-lived Bitcoin startup space. CEO Rodolfo Novak joined us for a discussion about what drove their initial interest in Bitcoin, why they initially focused on providing ‘bank-like’ services and how they’ve transitioned to powering the infrastructure of countless Bitcoin startups with their API. We also discussed multi-sig and the business strategy they pursued that allowed them to be profitable and not require venture funding. Topics covered in this episode: How Coinkite started Why they have come away from calling themselves a Bitcoin bank Why they have been putting so much emphasis on multi-sig How they’ve ended up building an insane amount of features The transition of their business model to providing a powerful API for startups What the Bitcoin ecosystem in Toronto is like Episode links: Coinkite Coinkite-Ledger Partnership How to use Ledger Nano with Coinkite p2sh.info This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/079