How Bitcoin got to where things are today: The Bitcoin Bridge chats with Eli Afram

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What’s it been like to cover Bitcoin news and personalities over the years? This week’s episode of The Bitcoin Bridge has a lot of reminiscing in it with guest Eli Afram, Bitcoin Association Ambassador for Australia and long-time commentator on Bitcoin issues. Hear some nuggets about how all its sagas unfolded from two people who were often there to see it.

Eli has been part of what he calls “the Big Blocker Movement” for many years, and he shares some thoughts on how it happened, and why it all happened the way it did. He talks about the roles played by several people along the way, including Dr. Craig Wright, unwriter, and even Roger Ver, in shaping his views on Bitcoin and blockchain issues.

Cheers to Eli Afram for the great conversation we just had, coming up next on #TheBitcoinBridge 🍻

Bitcoin stories, hard forks, and all that. Could have kept it going for hours!https://t.co/xhZp4RIwho pic.twitter.com/NEO2Siutuy

— Jon Southurst 🚂 @1259 (@BitcoinSVtrain) May 7, 2021

That’s not all Eli does though. He’s also involved with Amleh Gold and its tokenized gold assets, b-vote (now evolved into AnonSurvey) and he remains a regular contributor at CoinGeek with editorials ranging from why Ethereum can’t scale and patent battles to stablecoins and why Satoshi Nakamoto is still alive and well, and working on BSV.

We also talk a little about what it would take for on-chain voting to work, using some of the issues he’s encountered with b-vote and AnonSurvey. It’s one of those topics that always hovers in the background of Bitcoin and blockchain, but it will take a lot more than just workable technology to make it a reality. In a way, a cultural shift is necessary first, so Eli runs through some of the things he’s seen, and offers some opinions on how projects such as those could break into the market.

Australia itself has produced many interesting Bitcoin projects and thinkers, and many of them remain today in the BSV camp. There could be several reasons for this. Eli talks about why the BCH/BSV split was “a tragedy,” and how ideals and people all played a part in giving us the situation we have today. Overall it’s a more frank and casual discussion than we usually have on The Bitcoin Bridge, and it’s interesting to see how people who’ve been around for years can remain passionate about something, when it would be so easy to be cynical or jaded about it. Watch the whole interview to hear all the details, you’re bound to hear something you didn’t know before!

The Bitcoin Bridge comes out every Monday on Streamanity; remember to subscribe to the CoinGeek channel so you don’t miss an episode.