Bitstocks podcast: The evolution of Bitcoin with TAAL CEO Stefan Matthews

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Stefan Matthews was around before Bitcoin was called Bitcoin, and on the latest episode of the Bitstocks podcast, Matthews shared his journey into Bitcoin and his relationship with Dr. Craig S. Wright with the audience.

The newest episode of the Bitstocks Podcast is almost here 🚀@btchudson speaks with a highly influential figure in the evolution of Bitcoin, Stefan Matthews, CEO of @TaalBlockchain
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The first part will be released at 5 PM (BST) on the @Bitstocks Media YouTube channel. 📺⁠
⁠ pic.twitter.com/eR0rFSqnyl

— Bitstocks (@Bitstocks_) June 17, 2021

Matthews is the CEO of TAAL Distributed Information Technologies Inc. (CSE:TAAL | FWB:9SQ1 | OTC: TAALF); beyond that, he was also one of the first individuals to have a look at the Bitcoin whitepaper—before the world, including Matthews, even knew they were looking at the Bitcoin whitepaper.

“He came into my office one day and handed me a USB stick and said to me, ‘Mate, on this USB stick is a document I want you to read.’ I put it into my laptop at the time and dragged it onto my desktop and gave him the stick back, there was only one file on it that I can recall,” Matthews said. “He wanted me to read it there and then on the spot—I didn’t; I obviously had more important things to do at the time, but I did print it and I had it on my desk. The next time he came into my office he saw it laying on my desk and he said, ‘Oh you’ve read my whitepaper.’”

“He was constantly trying to get me involved in concepts around electronic cash, E-cash, digital gold, gold-backed electronic cash, all sorts of things during a six- or seven-month period from early 2008 to third quarter of 2008. He wanted me to get involved in this project and I told him I’m not interested, I actually said to him at the time, ‘Mate this is the greatest load of rubbish I have ever seen, it will never amount to anything,’” Matthews said.

At the moment, nobody seeing the documents that Dr. Wright had would have known that the papers he was showing them would amount to be what we call Bitcoin today. But as time went on, the Bitcoin whitepaper was eventually published and began to pick up traction, and groups of hardcore software developers began working on the technology.

Matthews went on to share his perspective on the evolution of Bitcoin. He talked about what it was like to be so close to the action while knowing the creator of the system, how his relationship with Dr. Wright evolved over the years, and how and why Matthews introduced Dr. Wright to Calvin Ayre as time went on.

“I never thought in my lifetime that I would see something that I would classify as classic disruption and innovation like blockchain and Bitcoin,” said Matthews.

“I thought the internet was probably it, and then the explosion in mobile telephones and mobile network technology was probably it, but those things are important because they add a foundation piece to what we see with blockchain and bitcoin. But I think history will tell us what Craig invented will probably be far more impactful on people’s lives.”

To learn more about Matthews journey into Bitcoin, his relationship with Dr. Craig S. Wright and Calvin Ayre, and Bitcoin’s evolution from a document that Dr. Wright kept on a USB stick to a technology that has since launched and changed the world, you are going to want to watch Bitstocks podcast episode 49 part one, The Creation & Early Days of Bitcoin with Stefan Matthews—and look out for part 2 of the episode, which will be released on June 24 at 5 p.m. BST.