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Erik Townsend is unique in the investing world for his deep expertise in two seemingly disparate fields: security technology and macro investing. This rare perspective gives him extraordinary insight into the intersection of the two and how they are likely to affect global markets in the future. In his new book, Beyond Blockchain, Erik discusses these trends in great detail, covering the history of money, the rise of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency and the origin and evolution of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Moreover, he imagines a future world order, not dominated by cryptocurrency, but enabled by the technology underpinning it and advanced by powerful macro trends already at work in the markets and global politics today. In this episode, Erik discusses why cryptocurrency, backed by cypherpunks and their acolytes, is doomed to fail at its primary purpose yet digital currency, backed by sovereign nations and inspired by the innovations developed by the crypto community, is destined to succeed in its place while displacing the dollar’s global hegemony along with the massive implications of these developments for investors around the world. Below are several notes and links related to this episode.

  • Get Erik’s new book, Beyond Blockchain, at MacroVoices.com
  • Follow Erik on Twitter @ErikSTownsend
  • Sergey Glazyev on Blockchain Leadership Summit in Zurich – YouTube.com
  • EU, China and Russia in move to sidestep US sanctions on Iran – TheGuardian.com
  • Vladimir Putin Is Getting Interested in Bitcoin’s Biggest Rival – Bloomberg.com
  • China Leads Blockchain Patent Applications – FT.com
  • Russia Falls Off U.S. List of Major Holders of Treasuries – Bloomberg.com
  • China is on a massive gold buying spree – Money.CNN.com