Erik Voorhees knows how to stop crypto’s biggest threat

Many of you probably see crypto as a Tool to make a ton of money well Eric Voorhees the CEO of shapeshift believes Crypto's ultimate goal is creating a new Financial system a system where money is Separated from the state and governed by Open immutable code what should the Price of money be That's a question for markets not for Politicians not for banks to decide for Us but States want to give up their Control over money without a fight and The battle for the future of finals may Have already started in recent months United States Regulators have moved Against the world's largest crypto Companies cutting off ties linking Crypto with a traditional banking system So is the crypto industry facing its Most crucial tests and can open Immutable code Prevail against the power Of the state I talked about it in my Conversation with Eric Voorhees the CEO Of shapeshift and one of the most Influential people in crypto according To coin telegraph's top 100 list before We start don't forget to like the video And subscribe to our Channel I'm Giovanni on this show we challenge the Ideas that shape the world of crypto in Each episode we assess a crypto Narrative a macroeconomic Outlook or a Potentially disruptive technology only The most solid ideas will make it to the

Other side [Music] Foreign So you said that your personal mission In crypto is separating the money from The state so why do you think that is so Important Great question So yeah I think um I think money should Be separated from the state which means That the institution of money which is Obviously so important right like we're All using it every day for everything Um should not be centrally planned or Controlled and this this is essentially A result of just feeling like um Markets handle uh goods and services Better than Central monopolies I think most people agree with that to Some extent And yet they allow the most important Good of all which is money to be Essentially controlled by a by a Monopoly And um there's a number of reasons why It should not be the case one is a Matter of economic efficiency like what Should the price of money be Uh that's a question for markets not for Politicians not for banks to decide for Us Um there should not be like one price of Money that is set by a a group of Figures you know in a building in

Washington DC like that sounds very Soviet to me that does not sound like What the the world's largest capitalist Economy should should have Um and then the other is about you know Censorship and control and um I think it would be a very scary world In which uh the money that you have can Be censored blocked reversed canceled Deleted uh if you hold the wrong opinion That's already the case in China and if People are not careful that is the Direction which Fiat currencies will go In in the western world we are seeing That that's uh The Wider Administration Is apparently adopting a very a tough Stance on the crypto industry do you Believe that there is a coordinated Effort in the U.S to crack down on the Crypto industry It appears that there is some degree of Coordination especially in the last Two three months um You know maybe as a result of the the Crazy blowup of of FTX last fall you Know the degree to which it's Coordinated is is hard to know but all These agencies share a similar interest So even if they're not actively Coordinating with each other it's Reasonable that they would come to the Same conclusions that they if they would Start acting sort of in concert Um and that is that that cryptocurrency

Blockchains decentralized systems uh Pull power and authority away from Government and put it in the hands of People So of course people that work in the Government uh are not going to be okay With losing that power And they're going to work you know where They can to to eliminate that change you Know I'm a little surprised it took this Long but uh we're we're entering more of A you know then they fight you kind of Stage so I was talking to a Corey Clipson from Swan Bitcoin a couple of uh Days ago a few days ago and he was we're Discussing the situation in the US and He was making a big difference between Like how this Crackdown is impacting Crypto and how this Crackdown is Impacting Bitcoin and for him this Crackdown in a way it's benefiting Bitcoin because it's sort of uh Affecting mostly everything else so he Sees everything else Bitcoin as a Distraction what is your view on this Sort of uh maximalist Bitcoin this is Um Anyone who says that Bitcoin is not part Of crypto is disingenuous and just Technically full of nonsense like Obviously these are uh similar systems Existing in a similar space they overlap They have differences but it's all Crypto and these Maxis that try to

Distinguish Bitcoin from from the rest Of the industry I mean I guess it's good it's a good Rhetoric but I don't know why I don't Know why it's helpful like what's more Helpful is to distinguish quality Projects from non-quality projects for Example the entire stablecoin Market Which is this multi-billion dollar Market that people are finding immense Value in Superior to Banks Um Not Superior to bitcoin different than Bitcoin but Superior to bank certainly Is all enabled by ethereum like ethereum Has allowed an immense amount of Economic activity that Bitcoin hasn't Been designed to and and cannot and does Not provide these are wonderful Complementary systems and it's it's Absurd for the Maxis to try to like Throw everything under the bus and just Focus on on their one preferred protocol It's it's partisan it's tribalist the One we are seeing now it's um They are fighting us moment so basically A moment where the government is not Ignoring crypto anymore It's not laughing at it anymore but it's Trying it recognizes potential so Disrupt the established the Establishment system and now and that's Why they are trying to fight it so would You say that this is the shot the final

Showdown between Crypto and the government the moment Where crypto needs to uh go through the Maximum pressure in order to uh show That it's able to survive Um we're definitely not at like the Final moment or the final boss at all Like the fight is really just getting Started I don't actually think that many People in the government believe That crypto is a threat to Fiat I think They though the ones who are attacking It large to see it as opportunistic like They see it as sort of this scammy area Where they can come in and look like the Hero for cleaning up but Um a mess Uh this is why the attention has been so Much larger you know during a bear Market and in the wake of all the Blow-ups we had last year Um when they start waking up to the fact That This stuff actually threatens Fiat Actually threatens the banking system Um I think the tone is going to be much More hostile and so we're in a we're in A race to make sure that the world Understands why this is valuable and That enough of the world is Uh comfortable and using it so that when When the politicians do see the Existential threat to Fiat it will be Too late for them and people won't buy

Their arguments that this is some evil System because too many people are Already used to it and they can see for Themselves that it is that is valuable a Lot of people cd5 as basically the Antidote to cbdc's that cbdcs are these Uh sort of uh basically the Queen the Quintessential example of how the Government can really control money and So the antagonist basically of crypto But and the the strong the strong point That they are probably going to offer to People is conveniences or good user Experience simple and and so on so can Defy compete with this can if I win this Race for the hearts and minds of people Yeah I mean not only can It win it it Will win because of economic principles So Cbdcs are Fiat Fiat degrades in value Over time because it's printed Um more and more and more Uh Bitcoin cannot be printed and so over The long term All else equal Bitcoin appreciates Relative to Fiat Um and the world will slowly learn what That feels like to save in an asset Which is not debased continually Um it will win even if only for that Reason And there are more reasons than this Right so like Capital goes where Friction is is leased

Um Capital does not like to be bound by Borders Uh Capital does not like to be Restricted in where it can move and when Capital does not like to be frozen on a Sunday or on Christmas And in the crypto world Capital moves freely it moves Effortlessly it moves without Restriction or friction Um and so over time capital is going to Flow through those channels which are The least restrictive just before I get To the final question I just wanted to Drop their provocative question Um if you were the president of the United States What would be your your first sort of Approach to crypto I would State Categorically that Americans have a Right to privacy This is the right to privacy in their Own homes it's the right to privacy in Their property and it's right to privacy In their finances And um as such I would State Categorically that Surveillance of innocent people who Haven't even been accused of a crime is Unethical and should be illegal And that anyone that's building Private Financial systems should be applauded as A a pro-american hero rather than as Some you know evil terrorist

And I would state that loud and clear And I would expect my executive branch To follow through with policy in that in That line the office say that to open an Immutable code is what is going to bring Us salvation so you put a lot of Hope in This concept of an open immutable code On which the financial system of the World will be based it is open immutable Code is also a product of humans and Therefore it's also prone to failures And so don't you think that relying Entirely Basing the entire Financial system on This open immutable code that also Creates a centralized point of failure Because as soon as this code just fails Then the everything else crumbles and Don't you think that a government as an As a safe net that will act if the code Fails it's still preferable than just Having the the code there Well there's not one code right like Define crypto is not one code base Um that would be that would be dangerous That would be centralized if there was Just like If all the D5 code for some reason was In like one code repo and and acted in In one way but that's not how it works It's it's decentralized you know there Are thousands of projects Um tens hundreds of thousands of Developers writing these things uh

Challenging each other all the time it's Highly adaptive Um and it gets it gets resolved so These things aren't perfect obviously There have been big bugs there will be More in the future but the difference With with a market and with open source Code is that the bugs can be seen ahead Of time And once fixed you know you get closer And closer to like mathematical truth And the and a principle of engineering So like When people are building you know towers And buildings Um they don't generally fall down it's Because Humans have learned the engineering Principles of how to build tall large Buildings in a very safe way And uh that that's an it's an open System right like the The Um The Dynamics of how architecture Works In engineering is not some closed secret Knowledge everyone can use it and build On it and it's adapted with humans over Time now we can do that with money like These open source Financial protocols Allow us to engineer money And people will make mistakes but we can Get better and better over time and that Competition among these projects is is

Really where the the safety and the Security comes from okay I think that Was a great note to close our Conversation uh Eric it was super Interesting to talk to you actually I'm Happy that you came to our Channel it Was a long time since you were here last Time and yeah hopefully we can talk Again very soon yeah thanks so much it's Been a good conversation