With barely a month to go until the inaugural LightningCon at the beautiful beaches of Da Nang, (the first larger Bitcoin conference in Vietnam in over three years!), we are looking to shine the spotlight on some of the speakers looking to share their knowledge and insights with the attendees from Vietnam and the wider South-East Asian region.
Jimmy Song has been one of the most public Bitcoin proponents and educators in recent years, tackling the topic of Bitcoin in-depth from a very wide area of angles (technology & code, economics & ethics).
He is the author of a range of Bitcoin Books, which provide the reader with background knowledge which will help the reader to uncover barely known details in the race down the Bitcoin rabbithole.
Q1: For many years you’ve been at the forefront educating about Bitcoin, holding seminars, producing newsletters and podcasts – and released in 2019 with Programming Bitcoin one of the standard lectures for everyone looking to get serious with a programming career with Bitcoin at its core.
What sparked your initial passion and gives you the energy to dedicate yourself to such a degree to the cause of Bitcoin?
Jimmy Song:
Though I am passionate about bringing humanity a better base layer for civilization, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that money didn’t play a big role. I initially started my seminars because there was a demand for it in the market. There weren’t enough developers that knew what they were doing and I was well positioned to provide something to help them. And I’ve made good money doing those seminars. Doing that, for me has been the ideal scenario. It’s a win for me since I make money, a win for my students since they get skills they want to get, a win for companies since they have more people that they want to hire, a win for Bitcoin because there are more people that know what they’re doing.
Q2: At the height of the beginning of the end game for the current fiat monetary regime, the book “Thank God for Bitcoin” which you co-authored with the Bitcoin Bible Group (Robert Breedlove, Lyle Pratt et. al.) was published.
Growing up in a “modern”, “liberal” and “secular” society many of us were raised in the belief that “religion” and “God” is just something for backwards and “uneducated rubes”.
We see now the result by evil reigning in these parts of the world mostly unchallenged – what our ancestors warned us about, it once more becomes true.
When did you find to God – and at what point in your Bitcoin journey did you make the connection between the purity and honesty of Bitcoin and the teachings of the bible we have been endowed with.
Jimmy Song: I became a Christian when I was 9, so it far predates my even knowing about Bitcoin. For me, the thing that triggered the connection was getting out of the fiat system. That was honestly the big trigger for me to really examine the connection between money and God. It’s no secret that Jesus talked about money more than anything else, but until I really was able to see them outside the context of the fiat world, I didn’t really understand the connection. The fiat world, that is, having a corporate job, a mortgage, and everything else intimately intertwines you with money. Until you’re free from that, this is not obvious and it’s hard to read scriptures clearly. So for me, that connection really only came after I quit my last fiat job (2017) and went into Bitcoin full time. I had some great co-authors that studied that connection between money and God and we were able to do a bible study and then write the book. It’s one of the most surprising and rewarding things I’ve had the pleasure of doing in Bitcoin.
Q3: Your latest book, “Bitcoin and the American Dream”, is about the hope and exit valve Bitcoin provides to a generation whose dreams and aspirations are getting crushed at the tailend of the current fiat monetary experiment.
Do you think a peaceful separation and rebirth is possible – or will it come to an open clash between the stakeholders of the old system and the revolting slave class which is looking for a way to opt out of their preallocated destiny?
Jimmy Song: I’m optimistic that some sort of peaceful transition can occur. At least that’s what we’re advocating for in the book, to give policymakers a reason to support human freedom. The other road, the one of greater restrictions, more tyranny and authoritarianism is a recipe for disaster. We wrote the book hoping to appeal to the interests of the people in government, specifically how Bitcoin affects their voters. We hope this establishes Bitcoin and allows it to flourish. But I don’t know the future, so I can’t say for certain that some destructive transition won’t occur, but I am hopeful.
Q4: What drove your decision to join the inaugural LightningCon Da Nang and what is your general outlook for South East Asia in general and Vietnam in particular?
Jimmy Song: Very practically, I’m traveling this year with my family and I was going to be in the region anyway. Also, it’s great to meet and hang out with Bitcoiners wherever I go. The region has a lot of history and I hope to learn more about it when I visit. One of the major events in history, the ending of the gold standard by Nixon in 1971 was indirectly caused by the war that took place in Vietnam. Evil spurred on more evil. I hope to learn a bit more about the destructiveness of fiat money on the grounds where it really was obvious.
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If the topic of the relation between Bitcoin as Sound Money and the teachings of the Bible is of interest to you; Jimmy is co-organizing a two-day-conference ahead of the annual Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami – you can buy your tickets here.
The mission of the conference is summarized as:
“We are confident that this conference will provide a transformative experience, where attendees will gain new perspectives and connect with like-minded individuals on a mission to honor God through better money.”
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If you are looking to get in touch with Jimmy – you can reach Jimmy via Vida Live
