In a Nutshell: Margot Paez says the financialization of the US economy is one reason why it’s been difficult to take decisive action on climate change. She views Bitcoin “as a very important tool in this whole process because it exists outside of the system. And it’s also kind of an attack on the existing financial structures because it takes away a centralized power basically from Wall Street and decentralizes it in a very non-coercive way. And everybody has an opportunity to participate in it and use Bitcoin to their benefit.”

The challenge for bitcoiners like my guest today, Margo Paez, is how to dispel the FUD and encourage companies and governments to actualize the benefits that Bitcoin offers. We don’t need to wait 10 or 20 years to harness Bitcoin’s ability to address climate change or wealth inequality. And emphasizing the power of Bitcoin’s present might be the surest path towards realizing its potential for a more equitable future.

Guest: Margo Paez (aka jyn urso on Twitter), Fellow – Renewable Energy, Environmental Studies, Bitcoin Policy Institute and a PhD candidate in the civil engineering department at Georgia Institute of Technology.

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We discuss:

  • The breadth of Bitcoin’s appeal to people across political and philosophical spectrums.
  • How Bitcoin could restore some of the decentralized spirit that helped the early internet grow and, eventually, flourish.
  • Why it might be time to reframe environmental issues as an opportunity for global “regeneration” along the lines of what Paul Hawken is pursuing.
  • The truth about Bitcoin mining and climate change, and how Bitcoin can actually help more than it supposedly hurts.
  • Could an ever-expanding monetary supply create an uninhabitable planet?
  • Using Bitcoin to reconcile socialist ideals with capitalist realities.
  • How social, political, and economic labels can trap us in battles from the past rather than help us build a better future.

Featured Tweet:

Margot Paez Resources Featured In This Episode

Margot Paez on Twitter

Margot Paez on Medium

Progressivism and Bitcoin are Not Opposed Margot writing for Bitcoin Magazine