A System of Rules is superior to A System of Rulers

How Did I Get To Where I Am Today?

In 2012, during a discussion about the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises in my Philosophy & Ethics degree, I became interested in Bitcoin as a decentralised peer-to-peer electronic cash system. This led me to study cryptocurrencies from the perspective of the Austrian School of Economics. I dove deep into all sorts of ideas, models and blockchains, but understood that overall, Bitcoin is paramount for me. This is how my journey into the world of cryptocurrency began.

Three years later, in 2015, while completing an MSc in Financial Economics at the University of Glasgow, I wrote my master’s thesis on the potential of Bitcoin. The work focussed on how Bitcoin can help to “bank the unbanked”, citizens in underdeveloped regions currently excluded from the existing financial system and its potential for the remittance market. I focused on Austrian Economics and Bitcoin as a catalyst for liberty and financial inclusion. You can download my Master Thesis “Bitcoin: Study of a Monetary Alternative: It’s Value and Applications” here.

Before starting my Masters in 2015, I blogged and worked in the music industry while studying and developed an interest in the technology behind decentralised file sharing networks. These sites, like Limewire and Napster, led to the destruction of the traditional music industry. They distributed content, namely MP3 files, via decentralised file sharing services, which is a revelation that made me fully understand the technological innovation that Bitcoin offered. If MP3s replaced the CD-ROM, bitcoin could replace fiat money.

Fast forward to after my graduation, I spent the next years of my life from 2015 to 2020 working in Real Estate and Venture Capital. In March 2020, at the beginning of the Corona “pandemic”, I decided to fully focus on Bitcoin. A System of Rules serves as an extension of my thesis from 2015 and seeks to help you make sense of why Bitcoin has the potential to create a fairer society with a more just distribution of wealth.

Continue reading: The need for a monetary alternative: Intro

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