Or listen on your favorite podcast app

Apple Podcasts  /  Google Podcasts / Spotify

—

Our modern-day system of banking wasn’t always based on fiat currency controlled by the Federal Reserve. In fact, for most of U.S. history, there hasn’t been a central bank. It wasn’t until 1913 that the Federal Reserve was created and the dollar was no longer backed by gold or silver, thereby allowing for inflation. Cryptocurrency is changing the way we generate, store and transfer money. And for the first time ever, the idea of a centralized banking and financial system is slowly fading into the past.

Erik Voorhees is the founder and CEO of ShapeShift, a company that allows the seamless transformation of cryptocurrency assets. In simpler terms, ShapeShift allows you to turn cryptocurrency like Bitcoin into another form of crypto, like Ether.

Through his work with ShapeShift, Erik has gained a unique perspective on how the worlds of traditional and crypto finance interact and, more often than not, clash. His company has often faced criticism from both the media and mainstream financial institutions.

In this interview, Chad and Erik sit down to discuss how ShapeShift is working to decentralize the financial and banking system. They also talk about how cryptocurrency and other digital currencies can be used to fight inflation and the crypto trends Erik’s excited about for the future.

Quotes

14:03 – “What was so magical about bitcoin for me when I first learned about it, was that it finally provided sovereignty over one’s own money with a clear inflation schedule that is set from the beginning that cannot be debased by any group of people.”

18:30 – “This concept of trust is really critical to understanding why blockchains are useful.”

19:17 – “What crypto and blockchains allow is to actually trust on a mathematical level where there is no human subjectivity to it. You don’t have to trust the intentions of anyone, you can just understand that math and computers have demonstrated provability.”