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On this episode of “Bitcoin Bottom Line,” hosts Steven McClurg and C.J. Wilson were joined by Josh Olszewics from Valkyrie and special guest and congressional candidate Taylor Burke.
Burke grew up on a fifth-generation cattle farm in Missouri. After graduating as a first-generation college student, he joined the United States Navy more than 15 years ago and he is now a lieutenant commander in the Reserves.
Burke started hearing about Bitcoin around five years ago and has since been a proponent for the innovation of blockchain technology and Bitcoin in particular.
McClurg related his similar experience, explaining how his grandparents never used banks, always kept cash, and therefore he also grew up with a mistrust of banks.
“We don’t need some big institution to take care of our finances for us,” he said. “We want that independence, because we don’t trust them to have our best interest at heart.”
He continued, “Bitcoin is the ability to be independent from these macro factors that don’t have the little guy at heart.”
He went on to describe how it allows immigrants to keep more of their hard-earned wealth for themselves through remittances, and Wilson explained how people are using Bitcoin as a savings technology, and not as a get-rich-quick scheme.
“The way people hold bitcoin today reinforces the idea that it’s about independence. You can make a lot of money, but if you truly believe in bitcoin, you’re holding it.” Burke said.
McClurg explained, “There’s either hard-earned money, or it’s found money. When you’ve actually had to work for the money, you understand that value. In Russia, a lot of people have worked very hard for the money that’s sitting in their banks, and now all of a sudden they can’t access it anymore. Do you trust that money belongs to you, or has any value any more?”
Burke shared, “Bitcoin represents a concept of freedom that people who suffer from decisions far beyond their control really shouldn’t have to, because they can access something like bitcoin now to protect themselves and their families.”
When asked if Missouri has the chance to be a Bitcoin state, Burke explained how it has a few young legislators to create policies in a way where Bitcoin can be a part of their state lifestyle. He went on to explain what that looks like.
The group also discussed inflation, technology in the agricultural sector, generational wealth, values and more.