cofounder of Axiom, coauthor of Bitcoin is Venice, Only The Strong Survive, Green Eggs And Ham, professional shitposter, semi-professional investor. honestly ask whatever you want, if it's inappropriate I'll just be sarcastic 👍
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cofounder of Axiom, coauthor of Bitcoin is Venice, Only The Strong Survive, Green Eggs And Ham, professional shitposter, semi-professional investor. honestly ask whatever you want, if it's inappropriate I'll just be sarcastic 👍
Is AI a more important invention than Bitcoin?
ew no
honestly, I don't think there is even such a thing as "AI". that phrase is an invention of marketers shilling the next big thing. there are just "computers" and (shock! horror!) they keep getting more powerful.
I used to think I was alone on seeing "AI" as such until now that you just said it out loud. Thank you.
Nice to see you SN. Thanks for joining us.
You have been on a lot of Bitcoin pods. What’s your favourite one?
to be on or to listen to?
Both if they aren’t the same.
I listen to TFTC a lot, that probably has to be my favorite. I sent Marty a screenshot of my being in the top 1% globally of listeners on spotify (although shame on me for not using fountain, I suppose).
to be on, not that I dislike TFTC, obviously, but I think doing it in person is invaluable, which I have never done with Marty, so with Pete and Danny on the old and new ones have been the most enjoyable experience.
I should also shout out the Saif episode from a long, long time ago, which was my first ever public appearance and I think was very, very funny if I don't say so myself 😋
Have enjoyed all the pod episodes you have been on. I think your knowledge of finance, history, with a bit of philosophy mixed in is an entertaining mix.
What kind of bitcoin projects are you focused on right now in terms of investing?
thank you, glad you enjoyed them! we're not really focused on any particular kind of project but you can get an idea of what we have invested in historically here: https://www.axiombtc.capital/investments
Yes, I reviewed the list was just curious.
Trust Me Bros was fantastic. What's your take now that half the bitcoin space seems to love finance boys NGU?
thank you! I dislike the ETFs for all kinds of pretentious technical and ideological reasons but I think the simplest take is they were inevitable. they are a part of life, they mean we are winning, just think about how to educate people out of them once they are in.
What is the biggest mindfuck difference between economics in theory and finance in practice?
that one has anything to do with the other. it doesn't. people who studied economics or finance are the last people you want to hire in finance.
Who are you and why should I care? No, really!
a shitposter, depends on how much you like shitposting in general and mine in particular.
An honest reply is so rare. I'm not even sure I can look at you in the same way now. You say you are a shitposter, but then, no shitposter would ever admit to that!
which isomorphism theorem is your favorite?
the first, obvs
groups vs rings vs fields: which algebraic structure is the best?
groups, obvs
correct answer
obvs
where does the yield come from?
the yield is the friends we made along the way.
love is the infinite ROI
What was the impetus behind writing the book Bitcoin is Venice?
two things. first, wishing it already existed and hence writing the book we wanted to read. second, being locked in our houses with nothing else to do because we were governed by authoritarian shitheads who were scared of a cold.
👏👏👏
How high is your excitement for Nostr compared to Bitcoin, and why?
it's very exciting but let's be honest, it's not as fundamental to saving civilization as bitcoin. I think it's fair to say that bitcoin's existence is core to its censorship resistance so at the very least we should be grateful for the demand pull this hopefully comes to represent.
Thoughts on Bitcoin mining? Are you bullish or bearish on mining companies? How do you see the next 10 years potentially playing out with regards to the diminishing economic incentives?
extremely bearish as I see it as inevitable that the marginal cost of power needed to mine profitably goes to zero or even sub-zero. at some point in the future (I don't know when exactly but let's say 5-20 years to be appropriately vague) there will be no standalone mining; only wasted or stranded energy will be diverted to mining where the incremental revenue exceeds the capex on mining equipment.
Are you taking a writing break to focus on Axiom, or do you have some new book/articles projects in the works? 👀
I doubt I'll ever write anything like Bitcoin Is Venice again as it was a huge effort and we also said pretty much everything we wanted to say! but yeah, I figure I may as well focus on Axiom now to the extent there are new topics I want to write about (you can find that output here: https://www.axiombtc.capital/content), and currently working on a pretty dense and thorough piece with Harris Irfan on Bitcoin And Islamic Finance. ETA in December so watch this space!
What are you favorite economics books?
depends what you mean. I find economics as a strictly academic subject to be quite simple and boring. you frankly don't need much beyond Principles of Economics by Menger. if you are interested in money specifically you should probably add The Theory of Money and Credit by Mises.
there are lots of books that are tangential to economic theory that I think are great. I routinely tout The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto, for example. I have veered more and more into economic history in the past few years too but rattling off that list probably isn't too helpful (unless you insist).
back to the question, there is a snarky end note in Bitcoin Is Venice that says the following, which I think is the best answer:
"to be frank, economics as an intellectual pursuit is nothing more than logic applied to risky and creative human affairs. Which is to say, if the reader has had any experience with people, any experience taking imaginative risks, and if they know how to think, economics will not be difficult, and in fact will all be rather obvious. Most mainstream economists fail on all counts, and the corpus they devote most of their professional time to memorizing adds nothing and likely subtracts whatever little they started with. Should the reader take it upon themselves to indulge in a smorgasbord of anthropology, social and economic history, and literature (for the people part), either become professionally involved in the creative arts or sports (or amateurly but at a high and serious level) or start a business (for the calculated risks and imagination part), and learn some elementary logic and statistics (for the thinking part), they will likely imbibe "economics” by accident and will never need to waste any time, energy, or money on materials exclusively devoted to the subject. Also, they should learn to code. It doesn’t have anything directly to do with this, it’s just a good idea."
I just checked https://www.axiombtc.capital/investments, what do you think of https://lnmarkets.com? Will this be easy to shut down by authoritarian shitheads too? Thanks.
I don't want to comment on companies we haven't invested in, to be honest. I may or may not want to comment on companies we have invested in, depending on the question!
slightly more seriously, these conversations are implicitly in confidence, so it would be quite unwise to relay it all back in a public setting. founders need to know I won't do that or they (rightyl!) won't talk to me at all.
I loved your takedown of Nassim Nicholas Taleb. What inspired you to write that and do you still feel the same way?
the amazing coincidence of seeing him fuck up in three different areas in which I randomly happen to have niche expertise in the space of about a week. that had a kind of Gell-Man amnesia-type effect on me, leading me to think: "wait a minute, what if he is this stupid on everything?" I looked into it and turned out he was.
also, it didn't hurt that I was locked in my house and had just had a holiday cancelled, both due to covidhysteria. so my "inspiration" was anger and having lots of free time.
For reference. I forgot how long it is...
How long did it take you to grow that beard?

don't remember. also I haven't been clean-shaven in a long time so hard to tell.
How was it to work with Dr. Seuss?
inspiring
I never read part two of Green Eggs..
Is there anywhere I can read it?
Great job on bitcoin space! Thanks
What's the biggest mistake you see bitcoin companies making?
products that are only for hardcore bitcoiners
do miners count as hardcore bitcoiners?
not in this sense. their customer is the protocol, they don't need to market.
What's the most likely way that bitcoin fails?
custodians and address whitelisting such that the majority of the population thinks they are using bitcoin but really are not, and the fiat money printer subsidises the marketing required to keep up the psyop until all of us give up or die.
Can you elaborate on your recent "Saylor is a fiat retard" post?
view on njump.mehis comments on Saif's podcast were some mix of fiat and retarded. there is no yield without risk.
Absolutely!
At this stage of Saylor's life, I believe, it's all about business, and he's doing it the fiat way.
What are your hobbies?
gym, running, bouldering for exercise, football and hiking are sorta exercise but more social and fun, piano and guitar, lots of reading obviously.
Where is Michael Saylors 5% JP Morgan risk free yield coming from?
I have no idea, and I don't think he knows either.
I'm a big traveler. I've always had Ireland and England circled on my list to settle down and spend some time, but it's only really been because I've met lots of people from those places.
What's your bullish case for visiting Scotland for a bit? Would it be a decent spot to digital nomad?
that it's beautiful and the people are great! no idea on nomading, sorry, not my thing.
What is capital?
tools
What has been your biggest inspiration to become a writer?
my then gf, now wife told me to.
What do you believe is the most secure way to hold or store bitcoin?
I don't want to be taken as an authority on that, sorry
Hey Allen, welcome to SN!
no, yes.
Thoughts on mining pool centralization? Is Bitcoin fucked?
I don't have any particularly original thoughts here, I'm afraid.
Do you think it's all a non-issue larp or could the economic incentives of the Bitcoin network potentially pressure hashrate into centralization and censorship? (As in regulated pools needing to mine OFAC compliant blocks else be guilty of strict liability sanctions violation by big daddy state.)
as I understand it (which is not much) it's not as simple as "pool or no pool" - it's what is the technical feasibility and, therefore, economics of pools enabling decentralized template construction. if this is trivial to do then pools refusing to do so and obviously censoring to the detriment of fees will be crushed.
What excites you most about the next year?
Pretty mistreous
Who is Allen Farrington?
Loved the book! Wish I could get the whole country to read it.
Do you regret your support for zero-conf?
An intriguing mix of investing, writing, and sarcasm! Excited to see how you juggle such serious concepts with your legendary sense of humor.
Quick question: is sarcasm as profitable as investing? 😄
“With such a diverse portfolio, from cofounding Axiom and coauthoring Bitcoin is Venice to being a ‘professional shitposter,’ which role do you find most challenging and why?”
Have you used linux? If yes how it was?
Extremely random one:
Have you dug into geoengineering/chemtrails at all? I know Daniel Prince has been covering it in UK, and I've seen Ireland has been getting hammered as well. I assume Scotland is probably in that mix also.
I haven't, no.
so many "anon" questions here... that I start thinking were made by the same @allenf itself...
congrats you're retarded lmao
who will believe an anon post?
nobody?
only your double digit iq pals will believe you buddy
What do you mean by professional shitposter, semi-professional investor?
I was shitposting
By which year you think Bitcoin will establish itself as STANDARD?
like the exact year or a year at which I am confident it will have happened by?
According to you.
What's the biggest non-problem you see people larping about in the bitcoin space?
lightning having "failed"
If you were to start a new business today, what would it be?
Smartest person you've ever met?
Which question do you get asked all the time?
You've done so many podcast appearances on all the biggest shows - What's your favorite episode you've ever done?
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