Episode Details

“The Human Story Behind Bitcoin's Rise”

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Title: Digital Gold
Author: Nathaniel Popper
Category: Economics & Global Markets

Sam and Sophie crack open Digital Gold, and it's not the Bitcoin explainer you'd expect — it's a human drama about the dreamers and true believers who turned a mysterious white paper into a global movement.

They trace the journey from Satoshi's 2008 white paper through the blockchain's early days, meeting Hal Finney, Gavin Andresen, and the libertarian Roger Ver. Then comes Silk Road, the Winklevoss twins, the Mt. Gox collapse, and the Blocksize War that split the community in two. The central question: should Bitcoin be a people's currency or a regulated store of value?

If you're curious about Bitcoin's origins but put off by jargon, this episode makes the story a page-turner. The takeaway: Bitcoin isn't just code — it's a mirror for our hopes and fears about money, power, and trust.

Digital Gold by Nathaniel Popper. Get the full summary and 6,000+ titles in the 7 Minute Books app — read or listen in any language, with infographics, from $2.99 a month, $9.99 a year, or $19.99 lifetime at 7minutebooks.com/app.

Chapters

• 00:00 Satoshi's White Paper
• 01:21 Early Believers and the Dark Web
• 02:24 Winklevoss and the Mt. Gox Crash
• 03:27 Blocksize War and Shrem's Fall
• 04:49 Bitcoin as a Mirror

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