My guest today is Ian Gaines. Ian is the Government Relations Assistant Director for The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) in Washington D.C. COSSA is a nonprofit advocacy organization working to promote and advance the social and behavioral sciences in federal policymaking. Ian has worked with Black Bitcoin Billionaires, Bitcoin Policy Institute, and is co-authoring a book, writing a chapter focusing on economic empowerment. Needless to say, he has played a huge part in a lot of behind the scenes policy work regarding bitcoin in the U.S. In this conversation Ian shares his personal bitcoin journey, provides historical context around financial alternatives needed for marginalized communities in the US, discusses assumptions some progressives have about bitcoin, emphasizes the importance of free speech principles, and touches on upcoming crypto policy/legislation and needed research on bitcoin’s real-world societal impact.
COSSA: https://cossa.org/
Black Bitcoin Billionaires: https://www.blackbitcoinbillionaire.com/
Bitcoin Policy Institute: https://www.btcpolicy.org/
Ian Gaines
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NatureofG
Trey Walsh
https://nostree.me/Trey@progressivebitcoiner.com
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Start
00:01 Intro
00:02 Ian’s bitcoin journey
00:07 Historical context
00:12 Financial alternatives
00:19 Real world impact
00:24 Sponsor break
00:25 Unbanked in the US
00:31 Assumptions about bitcoin
00:38 Free speech principles
00:46 Having honest conversations
00:50 Slippery slope of censorship
00:56 Values from the left
01:00:00 Cultural shift
01:07:00 Bitcoin and national security
01:13:00 Research on bitcoin’s impact
01:19:00 Do you think there’s a problem?
01:25:00 Making bitcoin accessible
01:27:00 Where is policy moving?
01:31:00 Outro
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