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This podcast episode explores the connection between the band Phish and Bitcoin. The hosts, self-proclaimed Phish fans with extensive show attendance, discuss lyrical themes and historical events related to Phish, arguing these subtly hint at Bitcoin's core concepts. They analyze Phish's "Gamehendge" storyline, comparing its themes of scarce resources and centralized power to Bitcoin's decentralized nature and scarcity. The episode also touches upon the band's use of white tape for early promotion, drawing parallels to Bitcoin's white paper. Finally, the hosts posit that Phish's fan base, built on decentralized communication methods like tape trading, is uniquely positioned to understand Bitcoin's value proposition.
Fundamentals
X: @Fundamentals21m
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Blog post:
https://risk-fundamentals.ghost.io/phish-and-bitcoin-a-continuum-of-genius-network-effects-and-unintentional-foreshadowing/
Jason
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In this episode of "Reanalyze Fish," we dive into the fascinating connections between the band Phish and Bitcoin. We begin with a candid note from the host, addressing a minor error in the previous discussion about the "white tape" and its contents. The episode explores the podcast's theme, which is a playful nod to the comedy podcast "Analyze Fish," and aims to document the intriguing links between Phish's music and Bitcoin. The hosts discuss the concept of "type 1" and "type 2" jams in Phish's music, drawing parallels to the structured and improvisational aspects of podcasting. They delve into the significance of Phish's New Year's performances and the unique musical experiences they offer, including a memorable discussion about the "bathtub gin" and "ruby waves" jams. A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to exploring the thematic connections between Phish's lyrics and Bitcoin's principles. The hosts discuss the story of Gamehenge, a rock opera by Phish, and its parallels to Bitcoin's decentralized nature. They highlight the importance of scarcity and decentralization, drawing analogies between the "helping friendly book" in Gamehenge and Bitcoin's unconfiscatable nature. The episode also touches on the historical significance of Phish's Halloween shows and their connection to the Bitcoin white paper's release date. The hosts reflect on the impact of decentralization in both the Phish community and the broader world, emphasizing the transformative potential of Bitcoin as a tool for reclaiming time and sovereignty. Listeners are encouraged to explore the deep connections between Phish's music and Bitcoin's revolutionary technology, as the hosts share their insights and personal experiences from attending numerous Phish shows. The episode concludes with a thought-provoking discussion on the role of decentralization in media and the importance of independent thinking.

[00:00:03] Unknown:

Hey, everybody. This is fundamentals.   Introducing this   particular   podcast with a note because,   I kind of screwed up a little bit in this episode, and I wanted to address it upfront.   We got something wrong. We talked about the white tape. Spoiler alert. You talk about the white tape   as far as fish goes.   And   you know I mistakenly   refer to it as having contained game henge. And that's   obviously not the case.   And it was until I was reviewing it that I realized the error. So I'm addressing it with you guys now.   Hope you all enjoyed it. I really liked it. And,   hope you guys have a listen. Let us know what you think.  

Thank you.   So it's very exciting to keep this going.   This is probably the most fun podcast in my that I get to do.   What's up, Jason?  

[00:01:13] Unknown:

What's up? And this is my only podcast that I get to do.  

[00:01:18] Unknown:

Yeah. So   we are doing this is what what is this?   This is called Reanalyze Fish,   which is a play on a podcast called Analyze Fish, which is a very inside baseball reference to   a comedy podcast that existed in the early   20 tens   that,   it's called Analyze Fish, but it was about,   it was about one man's quest   to be a tour guide through the cosmos and try to orange pill somebody or try try to fish pill somebody. Rainbow pill. Rainbow pill. Yeah. Yeah. Who just wasn't who knew knew better that it was funnier   to not get it.   So this is reanalyzed fish. But what we're doing here   is   documenting   and   really asserting   this idea that fish and Bitcoin are connected.  

I will assert that so I've been you know, written 2 long blog posts about it,   and we're gonna just kinda get into it. The way like, so I've we title I titled episode 1,   Soundcheck, because I think the way I I wanna see this read when someone comes to it, I want it to look like a set list   or a show list,   and I think soundtrack was apropos for our intro.   Probably could've called it probably could've named Golgi apparatus as one of the songs in the set list,   but,   could've done Soundcheck Arrow into Golgi, which no one's ever seen before.   You know, we talked about our just, I guess, our fish creds just so people understand what who the fuck we are.  

And,   you know, I think what we're gonna do is focus on the written material that I've done as this is gonna be the first the first set will be very type 1.   Right? What we want to do is show our chops.   You know? Like,   I listened to, I was you know, I've been really up and down with the New Year's run for the last   week or so, you know, last couple of weeks and change. And, finally got to 12/28. I don't know what took me so long. Right?   There was a poor heart in that first set, and I always laugh when I hear it because Trey can't play it. He doesn't even try to do any of the guitar parts. I remember trying to learn it on guitar and, like, when I could do one little thing, I was so excited. It's so hard.   But, like, that's type 1. You know? We're gonna show our chops.  

And the chops of I mean, when I say they're chops, the chops of, like, these connections between fish and Bitcoin are just absolutely like sledgehammers. These aren't even subtle in my opinion.   And,   that's the case at least that I know I'm gonna make. Right?   I don't even believe this stuff is subtle. I think that the Golgi apparatus, you might that might be the most subtle one we ever cover, and I didn't think that was too subtle. Right?   You know, so that's that. So sorry.  

[00:04:17] Unknown:

I didn't know any of the lyrics, so it was all good.  

[00:04:22] Unknown:

You know? So we're gonna try to really show a tight, type one   you know, you can get a stash in a type in a nice set one, you know, a pretty awesome stash or, you know,   a tube.   You know? You can   you can get a lot of really good, you know, I always said I was a set one guy. I was reevaluating whether or not I should have said that because I know, like, 99%   of Fish Fans, but I think I'm a loser for, like, who that's like, it's like liking the prequels and saying you're a Star Wars fan or something like that. But  

[00:04:52] Unknown:

Hey, listen.   So in stark contrast, like, I a lot of fans probably think I'm a loser because I don't I didn't have the lyrics to Golgi apparatus. You know?   But I'm a huge   type 2. I come for the, you know, the jam vehicles as they're called.   That's why I show up primarily, and I I enjoy the rest of it as well. But,  

[00:05:11] Unknown:

I don't think I can see Yeah. I love a good type too. Don't get me wrong. Like Oh, a 100%. I'm sure I'm I'm sure that's that's true. It's just like leaning.   You have to go to a I mean, I feel like you gotta go to a lot of shows to get   some really good action.   And,   you know well, just one thing since we're talking about the New Year's run, I thought was really interesting.   The bathtub gin and the ruby waves,   was that the 29th?  

[00:05:38] Unknown:

I think it was the 29th. Yep.  

[00:05:40] Unknown:

Yeah. I mean, like so the way that's the way the bathtub gin ended could have gone like, in another time, I feel like that could have been a 45 minute bathtub gin, but because it was so they got into something so interesting and dark, but then   they decided to lean then on their reliable jam vehicle, Ruby. This isn't supposed to be a fish podcast. I just want to say I found that interesting.   They go into Ruby waves instead of, and I feel like it's it reminded me of   the summer the end of the summer tour in 2019   when they did this. They were looking for a lift off with Mercury   and then went to Ruby waves. It was like a 40 some odd minute route the Alpine Valley.  



[00:06:17] Unknown:

Yep.  

[00:06:18] Unknown:

We don't have a lot to say about type 2 stuff later on, but I think it's like Jason and I wanna get our our type 1 first set chops down   Yeah. And be good at like, right now, you can already tell. The way I podcast is the way Trey, like, play guitar up until about 1994. You know? Just machine gun Trey,   not really doing the listening exercises.   Right? Type 2 wasn't even a a term.   Right? And   so we have to do this. What's that?  

[00:06:46] Unknown:

That was something the fans came up with.  

[00:06:49] Unknown:

Yes. Internet age, like, probably didn't come up until mid 3 point o.   Right?   So but you and I are gonna get our type 1 legs under us.   Right? We're gonna do we're gonna get our 1 point o legs under us.   We're probably not gonna have a drug problem   and the 2 point you know, we're probably not gonna go through that because we're already   50 years old.  

[00:07:13] Unknown:

Yeah. But, The ship has sailed, unfortunately.  

[00:07:16] Unknown:

But what we're gonna hopefully, what we're gonna do is   figure out you know, get good at this. We get good at interacting with each other that we end up   going off of the written material   and really going off into some type 2 jams on this   podcast.  

[00:07:33] Unknown:

I like it.  

[00:07:35] Unknown:

Right? So with that,  

[00:07:36] Unknown:

I'm gonna I'm gonna go back. I do wanna assert I do wanna assert one thing because I know I think you mentioned your show count and, like, you I think you mentioned on the first episode, like, that's the second question you ask a fan of   a fan band. Like, how many shows? So I've been to a little over a 150   even though I don't know the lyrics to Golgi, but that just to give the audience a little bit a little bit of reference,   of where I'm coming from experience wise.  

[00:08:00] Unknown:

It's, like, almost twice as many shows as I've been to in   not half the time, but definitely less time. You've   you've got you have   made the most you've you've made much more of your time than I have. Right. It's because I I, I was single for longer than you.  

[00:08:18] Unknown:

Was was able to do that.  

[00:08:21] Unknown:

Yeah.   One of these days, we'd maybe delve into, like, what it you know,   what is going on right now with me that I haven't gone to show in 2 years? But,   you know, it's like do you listen to New Year's run total tour de force? You know? Like,   I'll I final again, this is I'm not talking about Bitcoin at all, but, like, I listened to the,   I hate calling it the gag, but, like, basically, the New Year's   song, the Pillow Jets. I saw it on YouTube, and I thought it was, like,   really good, but something was off about it for me. Yeah. I listened to it on Live Fish, and I was like, oh my god.   Like, any thought I had that this was you know, like, it it's pretty incredible.  

Like, it's absolutely   it's absolutely unreal.   It's like they invented another genre of music. And then to me, I actually was thinking that it's maybe the best   New Year's   it's maybe the best New Year's thing musically   that   I can think of that they've done. You know? Like, pop like, I was thinking about it like that. I've been to a lot of New Year's shows.   But, like, the new most people   just kinda chalk up New Year's as big party, and they don't really think about it as you're gonna get a great show or something special musically.   And, you know, that you look at the 29th   30th, it usually is the shows.  

This one, like,   forget the show. Like, for the New Year's the New Year's, for lack of a better term, gag.   Maybe we gotta come up with a gag on our show here just also to parallel this. But, like, it was unbelievable. Like, I don't think I ever felt that way about a new about, like, a New Year's,  

[00:10:02] Unknown:

gag performance before. Right. I mean, I think I mentioned to you, we were texting about it once we once you had once you had seen it because Phish put it up on their on their YouTube their primary YouTube account.   And   I think I mentioned   it blew me away in the same sense. I happened to be at Vegas when they did,   the Casvox   box. Oh, man. You were there. Incredible. I was there for that, but I was by myself. I was sitting in the stands by myself. I had a friend in the building, but some on the floor, I believe. And And I remember they just put a huge smile. I just I could see what they I could see what was happening. Nobody knew what was going on.   For the Bitcoiners out there, they basically made up a a Scandinavian band. They even created a website link. So if people googled it, there was something there. But they they they invented a a make believe band from   Scandinavia that did some recording in the, I guess, late eighties and early nineties, allegedly.  

And   it was great. They all came out dressed in full white. All their instruments were white. It was just a spectacle, and   it was so creative. And this New Year's gag was the closest thing to that,   which is why I think, you know, fundamentals is having that kind of opinion that it is just so so unique and so innovative as it relates to other things they've done.  

[00:11:19] Unknown:

Yes. And since you went there, right, maybe what I'll do I'm actually now gonna I am listening. And this isn't I'm not gonna say this is a type 2 move or anything, but I'm going to, I think,   lean into what you're doing here because my second blog post   so I have 2 blog posts really about this subject matter.   The second one is called say it to me satoshi,   where the satoshi is spelled out like the Santos.   Right?   And,   you know, part of it is,   you know, it's really meant to   connect   a couple of big   ideas,   which I really do think like, I think you have to   I think you have to kind of see the evidence and accept the hypothesis before   making some of these leaps that I mentioned. However, I think it's relevant that   so a, you know, Halloween   happens to be a big day for fish and we know that. Fish community Halloween is maybe the   it's it may be the one. Right?  

Like, there's 4 majors in tennis, but Wimbledon is, like, the one that's the one. Right?   Halloween, definitely a major, might be Wimbledon. Right?   Now Halloween is also a big day in the Bitcoin community. It's a big, big holiday because it's the day the white paper was released.   Right?   And   the white paper was released on on 10/31/08.   Right?   Mhmm. And when Fish started the Halloween tradition on 10/3/194  

[00:12:54] Unknown:

Was o nine. Right? Wasn't it?  

[00:12:57] Unknown:

What?   3109?   No. We were we were proud of it was January. Already. Right? January January 09 was the mind block. My bad. Good. Yeah. So o so o eight was Satoshi release of the white paper. Right?   And, you know, amid, like, literally that was literate like, people forget that   in 10/31/08   was our it was basically days from Lehman,   AIG, all that. Okay? So, like,   wild times. Right? So but 10/31/08,   white paper,   fish, 10:3   one ninety four, white album.   Mhmm. K? Love that. And I don't right? Okay. So okay. Good little coincidence. It's a fun little coincidence. Right?   But, see, I I remember so vividly 10 so October of 94 really is when   a lot of us, myself included,   really figured out the Internet   and   figured out we could follow this band   around with the Internet. And   I really don't think there was ever a more hyped, exciting   thing ever after the fact that got done than Phish doing the White Album on Halloween.  



[00:14:13] Unknown:

Mhmm.  

[00:14:15] Unknown:

I would say   before   I would say   prior to Jerry dying,   right,   I would say this was the most significant,   like, day to day change in the energy of the fan base.  

[00:14:29] Unknown:

K.  

[00:14:30] Unknown:

Makes sense. And, you know, think about what it created. Right? So, like, it created   most people, actually normies, who don't know anything about Phish or anything like that, they think they're a cover band. They think they're a band that plays albums. Right.   So they're they became they became known for this tradition.   Right?   So we kick this off. You know, Phish kicks it off through the Beatles' wide album. So bold, so, you know,   just just incredible, an incredible performance.  

[00:15:01] Unknown:

Yep.  

[00:15:02] Unknown:

Everybody should look it up. And, also, like, some of, like, the best versions in the mid nineties of some of their songs at the time, particularly, it's it may be like the peak of   Trey as  

[00:15:14] Unknown:

a shredder. As a virtuoso.  

[00:15:16] Unknown:

Yep. You know, as a shred guitar player. Yeah. Exactly. Like, it almost doesn't get better. It's it's there is video, and the sound is very good, but it's hilarious because Trey   has this kinda Cousin It haircut.   He's got a sweatshirt whose neck has clearly been stretched to the gills.   You know, he really looks like he just, you know, got out of bed   sleeping in that sweatshirt wearing kind of John Fetterman basketball shorts.   It's it's pretty like,   it's kinda funny and it really it probably goes to why   Phish,   you know, being so musically great that they were never got any   like, they never got any commercial success, I think, because they looked so fucking goofy.  

Right. And they they didn't care about their appearance   at all,   and they didn't they shouldn't have ever had to.   Yeah. So,   definitely check out the 10/3/194   show. Check it out on YouTube.   It's like some of the really some of the best musical work, but also the so The White   Album is   significant, but at the same time,   Phish did a white album. Right? Phish did their own white album. Right?   The the first   thing Phish created was called the white tape. And so, you know, is there this connection   just in the world with, like, white paper wants you to introduce you to an idea and explain a topic?   You know, what   what was the year of the white tape? I don't know. I probably would get if I had to guess, I'd say, like, 1985,   something like that. 1985, 1986.  

They they spent all the money, I guess, they had produced this white tape   and had friends distributed to every radio station concert promoter they could, and that's how   that's how their name got out at the time.   Right? Yeah.  

[00:17:10] Unknown:

I think that's interesting. I mean, this the the the because the white paper white paper isn't just used in Bitcoin. White paper I mean, I'm like Yeah. I do engineering in the medical space when   when surgeons   are do research, when people on the medical   health care business do research and wanna prove that a certain technique's   better than another and they do a, you know, hopefully a double blind study or   control group of some sort, Those are called white papers too.   And I I assume that's why the Bitcoin white paper is called that, but I I just wonder what the origin of   white paper because it had to be after the Beatles' white album. You know? It I don't think I don't I doubt it. I think white papers just universally means  

[00:17:51] Unknown:

this it's this is like   a an objective, almost like a police report   Mhmm. Supposed to essentially explain,   defend a thesis.   Right?   To explain something, you know, that's hard to explain, maybe try to put it in layman more layman's terms.   Right. It became I think it got co opted   by,   marketing.   Right?   Mhmm. Long before shit coins, I think white papers now you know, it's kinda like, you know, there was a time where white papers were thought to be factual and   communicating something honest, and then,   you know,   marketing   perverted that, and there's a lot of white papers loaded with lies. Right?  



[00:18:37] Unknown:

Yep.  

[00:18:38] Unknown:

We have to escape from this prison of lies.   And, you know, the Bitcoin white paper is verifiable,   and it also doesn't say anything. It's not it's not, like, only 9 pages long.   So, like, it actually takes longer to listen to the Halloween show   than it does to read the Bitcoin white paper.   Right?  

[00:19:01] Unknown:

Right.  

[00:19:03] Unknown:

But the but they had but but Fish had this white tape. They called it the white tape. Okay?   Before, I guess, before we talk about the white tape because it had a the white tape had a name or at least it had a,   you know I think it did have a name. You know? It was it was based on,   you know, Trey's thesis at Goddard. Correct.   Essentially, it was Gamehenge. Right? It was the Gamehenge saga, and I think it was literally called The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday.  

[00:19:33] Unknown:

Correct. That was that's my that's my take. So if you were a tape collector,  

[00:19:39] Unknown:

you've you you've only seen a set list with at the acronym   TMWSIY.   Right? And usually and with arrows,   like a big sandwich. Right?   It's probably one of my favorite,   you know, one of my favorite Phish songs. Mhmm. Isn't the man it's, you know, beautiful,   and, you know, they will then use maybe put that into something like Avino Volcano,   you know, which   is very much contrasts   big contrast, big dissonant contrast to that, and then they go back and play it again to end it,   which they also did on that Alpine Valley in that Alpine Valley show   in 2019.  

So you had that Mercury   blast off Ruby Waves, but you also had t   the man who stepped into yesterday.   Same show.  

[00:20:32] Unknown:

Going into Avina Wakena, which is a Yeah. Traditional   Hebrew song. Correct?  

[00:20:38] Unknown:

Yes.   Which Very Mediterranean,   very you know, and very dissonant for what the man who said to me yesterday is. Yeah.   Maybe that's how we close. Maybe we close this with that. It'd be cool. But,   any anyhow. Right? So   I'm gonna this is now the first pointing out of what I think is just a big, big theme   in Fish's lyrics and what, like, you know, what kinda tips me off that like, it may not even be Cypher   punk signal. It may not even be just   cryptography   freedom   signal.   There's Bitcoin   specific signal   in the song with these themes of going backward in time.   There will be an entire episode about the album Joy,   which was released right after Bitcoin was launched   and brought them back from permanent hiatus.  

Mhmm. But after 5 years, they came back, followed Bitcoin's launch with and that's that album begins with a song called backwards down the number line.   There are many there are many examples of songs where they use this imagery   of going back in time.   And   to anyone listening who   is a just a fish fan who's never thought about Bitcoin,   right,   It's probably worth   a minute to talk about why   these why this like, what does Bitcoin have to do with,   like,   going backwards in time? Like, that kinda sounds stupid   on the surface. Right?  

[00:22:19] Unknown:

Sure.  

[00:22:23] Unknown:

You know, do you wanna get that one started? And we can we can try we can now we can riff here.  

[00:22:29] Unknown:

Yeah. Sure. I mean, I I think that's a great a great,   kind of pass to go down,   because   the original everyone knows what blockchain is or even people that aren't into Bitcoin   probably have heard the term, oh, I'm not into Bitcoin. I'm into blockchain technology, which we can cover at some point. But it's it was actually originally called a time chain.   Leave the I believe the white paper doesn't doesn't have the word blockchain in it at all.   So,   so that's kind of interesting to and worth pointing out that that   Bitcoin and,   you know, actually had to create its own its own sense of time because it's it's code.  

And,   the way the blocks are formulated and the amount of time that the the system adjusts to try to try to create a kind of steady state of approximately 10 minutes for each block, and that gives enough time that once that block is solved for consensus to be reached through the entire network and for it to percolate,   and then the next block gets worked on.   So I think time's an interesting thing to,   kinda explore.  

[00:23:35] Unknown:

Yeah. I think I mean, Bitcoin specifically,   you know well, for 1, how blocks get created,   you know, it's,   like, the reason why Bitcoin is scarce and how they get created is that   it's designed to go every 10 minutes.   Right?   And   you know, so it gets harder and that's the basically, the more people try to make, the harder it gets to maintain these 10 minute block times. Right?   But the big idea here,   right, and this is again mostly directed at fish fans who have no idea why the hell they're still listening to this.   The big idea is that when you have a money   now that's scarce,   right,   Or even forget a money. Right? You have a come up a commodity or   some force on earth that's scarce, that's truly scarce. And and and what Bitcoin is is is is truly scarce.  

K. Right? Meaning,   you know, there'll never be more than 21,000,000   coins   and,   that kind of thing. And maybe I shouldn't take for granted that people don't understand that. But Right.   So what bit Bitcoin is an absolutely scarce   we'll call it an asset.   Right?   It's a scarce   commodity,   is also a money.   And when you have   and that contrast, by the way, it's the world's never had it before. Okay. Right? Exactly. I wanted to point that out. That's a 0 to 1 innovation. Never The world the world's never had  

[00:25:14] Unknown:

wrap their heads around what that means.  

[00:25:16] Unknown:

Yeah. So when   now the world has had semi kinda like semi scarce   assets like gold. That's what semi scarce, meaning, like, you know,   if they if people work really hard, they can make 3% more every year,   which is semi scarce. You know? Like, it it   it's pretty hard.   In the last century, we've had   about the easiest money you can get. People can print it. And,   there are many songs we will go into on this podcast   about money printing   and what we call the Cantillon   effect. And what what the Cantillon effect means is the people that   print the money   are they get to enjoy it the most. Right? They get the it's like back in, if you guys used to trade tapes. Right? You wanted to have you wanted to be the taper.  

Right? And you wanted 1st generation,   you know, and,   you know,   preferably digital because they don't have big loss. But, you know, the analog tapes, you know, 1st generation, 2nd generation was okay.   By the time you got 3rd, 4th gen, it was kinda gross. Right? You know, a lot of hissing   and a lot of,   just bad really bad quality, and that's kinda how the money is.   So when   the government prints money or the banks print money,   they enjoy it.   They get to do what they want with it. By the time   regular people get it,   you know,   milk costs $10 a gallon.  



[00:26:46] Unknown:

Right. So  

[00:26:47] Unknown:

the this idea, the Cantillon effect is very is basically, what happens is you're losing time because you have to now you know, you now have to work.   You know? So even so   if this this thing called inflation, if is even if it's growing 2, 3% a year, you have to work 2, 3% more every year just to keep up and maintain your purchasing power. Right?   If they print 40% of the money, like they did in 2021,   you know, you you can kinda everyone can see what happens. You can go back the last 3 years and look at what happened to price of everything. Right? And everybody can you know, this isn't controversial that you now everyone has to work more   to get the same thing. Right? Unless you're one of the unless you are on the money printer. Right? You have to work more to get the same thing. So, like, it's a time suck.  

Right? What Bitcoin allows you to do because Bitcoin protects that purchasing power. Right?   And so   it preserves your time and has you maintain your time. And because we live in a we live in what's I would a lot of people call the speculative time. Right? Mhmm. Which is, you know, very few people understand   Bitcoin's value, so you get a big speculative   benefit.   You know, if you measure it every 4 years, it's   absurd and preposterous   how well how much it appreciates in perceived value relative to US dollars.   You know, that'll continue until people under until people   far and wide understand it. So you protect your purchasing power.  

You, you know, you get some speculative gains.   You you   know? Therefore,   you can actually,   you know, you can con you you're more sovereign and more in control of your own time.   Right?   Right. And so that that then   really just leads back to this idea of,   you know, you buy Bitcoin. And buying Bitcoin encompasses a a couple of concepts as well. It means you you're productive and you have savings. Right?   You can, you know, you provide value to people in such a way that you actually have disposable  

[00:29:03] Unknown:

Mhmm.  

[00:29:04] Unknown:

Disposable money that you live below your means and you can buy Bitcoin with it. Right?   You and then you can wait   for the price appreciation.   You just wait. Right? You just continue to live below your means   Yeah.   And   add value,   stack Bitcoin, you wait, and then at some point, you realize,   I do not need you know, like, I don't need to work as much as I do necessarily.   At least if, like, I have a job that's not very fulfilling. Right? I have a job that isn't necessarily,   you know, going working towards my personal goals.   I can actually start claiming my time back.  

Right?   Right. And that so   I make the connection that   bit owning Bitcoin is like having   you know, it's a tool to get your time back,   right,  

[00:30:02] Unknown:

without getting too esoteric. Yeah. And that's really what money is at the end of the day. It's an abstraction of of of time and energy.   And, you know, Bitcoin is is built built on time and energy, and that's why it it it makes so much sense to people that,   you know, believe in sound money, which, you know, goes back to gold. And and and one thing I'll expand on just on the gold side is,   you know, the fact that Bitcoin is absolutely scarce. There is a fixed number that will ever exist.   Some of it's lost because people did it didn't have any value in the early days. It was like a it was like a collectible at that point. But people didn't see the value.   Right. Or or   and and by the way, that's why   I think, you know, fundamentals and I agree that everything other than Bitcoin that's in crypto crypto is not   of any value. It's not innovative. It's just fiat. It's digitized fiat, essentially, and we can explain that maybe at a future episode. But   the finite the the absolute scarcity of Bitcoin, the reason why that's so,   hard to for most people to wrap their head around is because it's the first   commodity   or thing on earth really that if the value goes up, you can't   respond to that increased value. If you're a gold miner, gold's what a 27100   an ounce roughly.  

If gold goes to 10,000 an ounce   well, guess what? Everybody in the gold everyone's gonna wanna mine gold, and they'll put more machines, they'll put more energy towards   getting more gold out of the ground because it's worth more.   If that happens with Bitcoin,   there's nothing you can do to get more. It's on a fixed schedule.   We know exactly what the monetary is.  

[00:31:41] Unknown:

If yeah. If you understand the protocol, you have 2 weeks to turn your miners on before the difficulty adjustment.  

[00:31:47] Unknown:

But even then, you're only getting a 3.125   Bitcoin reward for each block. That's right. Nothing you can do nothing you can do to change that. So that is   where I think people that have been involved in Bitcoin, we understand that. We were   early to understand that.   And,   I think fish fans or people that have been in fish are primed to understand that more because   of what they have seen, like, for tape trading, and they just kinda understand network effects, I think, more than the average person.  

[00:32:19] Unknown:

Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of different kinds of money on fish tour in the Phish community.   Right? Tapes used to be like money. You know? I mean, man, I remember   when   Live Fish came about and my taper friends were it's   it wasn't   the it's just they were lamenting the fact that, you know, like, they used to be incredibly   relevant. They were the   like,   some of the most important people in the scene. Right? You go back They used to have tickets relegated to tapers. You had to request them. Right? And that was But, I mean, this is how Fish was communicating. They knew   the tapes were going out,   and they, you know,   they could communicate   to the fans,   not knowing really what the power of the Internet was. They it was tape it was the tape distribution, really, which was   the communication   forum for the band to get information out into the scene.  

And,   you know, that was very, very valuable. And these tapers had   just, like, tens of 1,000 of dollars worth of taping equipment that they were lugging to the show. And you know what? I taped a few shows.   God, I regret, like, I regret those shows because I I wanna enjoy a show.   Show. And these guys really sacrifice   their enjoyment of the show because, well, then maybe this is how they do it, but they're not, you know, they're not experiencing what I think you and I experienced during the show. Right.  

[00:33:46] Unknown:

And I remember I remember sitting adjacent to them for a couple of shows, and they're worried about their equipment. They're checking on things. You're right. They're not they can't put their all their attention towards towards the company. Well, yeah, and you gotta be checking on it because, god forbid, somebody kicks a plug out or something like that, and you then the whole thing is for nothing.  

[00:34:06] Unknown:

So,   you know, tapes were a great example, I thought, of,   of currency,   drugs,   food,   tickets.   You know, all of those things, right, were,   I think, common forms of money that were pretty scarce in general. Like, so tape we figured out we could make tape trees. And then, like, you know, this is all kinda before   BitTorrent.   Right? BitTorrent slash Napster.   You know, we had tape trees where people would say, I'm just gonna make 5 copies. You had enough people that say, I'm gonna make 5 copies of the tape, and this is how you got mass distribution.   Right?  

Something I think is interesting today is that   that you didn't see like, something that got lost from the nineties   is that you don't have certain shows   that get put out.   So, like,   you don't have, like, the Amy's farms or the even, like, the Halloween 90 fours   that,   that set Bomb Factory set to you know, these tapes there were tapes that everybody had. Right?   And   I feel like it's now just a continuous series and people hear certain shows get hyped and people look at ratings,   but you don't have those singular shows that everybody like, like, everyone's listening to.   That'll   just man, maybe that's a function of   the fact that these became infinite and ubiquitous.  

Yes. Right?  

[00:35:41] Unknown:

So   because, you know, when you once you digitize something, again, for the fish fans a little bit, when when you when things went   digital, the cost to replicate went to 0, essentially.   Data is easy to copy and easy to transmit now. When you had physical tapes,   they were scarce.   And so when you digitize something like money,   you know, which is one of the computer science problems that people working on digital digital cash, you know, e cash came before Bitcoin. There was a lot of there's 40 years of development really that led up to Bitcoin. It was really just a Bitcoin. It was really just a combination of things that existed in the computer science world that got combined in a unique way   that that it just worked.  

So   the ability to take something digital and make it scarce is   is the 0 to 1 innovation,   in a lot of ways.   To take something that has zero cost of replication, zero cost of production,   and turn it into a scarce asset, it's kind of miraculous.  

[00:36:43] Unknown:

Yeah. Absolutely.   So we have the we have this white tape,   and it's called the man who steps into yesterday.   And,   you know, the one thing I'll mention is,   the question I had this question of, did they use money in GameHenge?   And there is an answer. Anyone who read my essay knows.   There's one lyric, one song in ACDC bag that starts,   mister Palmer's concern with a $1,000 question.   So we'd have to assume   that even GameHang was dollarized.   Okay?   But,   I think that so the question is, do we wanna get into this now, which what is   what I have here really spelled out in the essay is   this I this connection with Ikyulys   and Satoshi.  



[00:37:36] Unknown:

Okay.  

[00:37:37] Unknown:

Okay. Where so, like,   I kinda get into the story of Gamehenge. Right? Very idyllic.   It's like a big idyllic land. Right? They were Fish wrote this   rock opera   called Gamehenge,   and they've   played it now 6 times. It's all asterisk, the 6th one. But,   most recently, it was last year, New Year's. Yep. But they played it officially as, like, sets and shows 6, 5 5 times and then last year on New Year's.   And it   this was based on Trey's   Trey Anastasia's   senior thesis at Goddard College.   So it's about a group of common plebs called the lizards.   Okay?  

And, the lizards lived in peace according to the teachings of a sacred text   written by someone who is assumed to exist,   right,   who is also great and knowledgeable.   And,   his name   was Iclus,   and he represented their god. Okay?   Right? And   the lizards lived in peace for many millennia until a traveler named Wilson arrived and observed that he could enslave them by taking custody of the only copy   of their scarce   helping friendly book for himself.   Right?   So   now   I know what you guys are thinking.   You had that helping friendly book was a scarce asset. Right? And yet it was be able to be used   you know, if you can take it from somebody, you can enslave,   you know, you can enslave the people. Right?  

But what they really needed was these what they needed was decentralized   helping friendly book. You don't create a single point of failure   in anything that you're, like, super,   you   know,   that that are necessities.   Right? So the money itself, you wanna be scarce. Okay? And then I think the ways to transmit the money, you want totally decentralized, and that's really what Bitcoin figured out, you know, is that that balance. Right?   So   Wilson   takes the helping friendly book.   A group of revolutionaries   overthrew him only to continue the cycle of tyranny themselves.   Okay. Right?  

Any thoughts so far?  

[00:40:04] Unknown:

Sounds like Argentina   over the past past 100 years, but   I love I I love the connections that you've drawn that again, I I do my best to come into the   coming into this podcast   trying to be,   I'm not doing research. I'm not reading your content. Like, I wanna come in kinda fresh. Yeah. Because, you know, because we're gonna improvise just like just like a Gotta have be a little bit little improvised. Right? So,   I just I put a big smile on my face, but if you wanna continue, it's it's just it's good. Yeah. So the man who stepped into yesterday was actually a man,  

[00:40:42] Unknown:

and he was a retired war veteran from our world named colonel Forbin.   K?   And he found his way into Gamehenge through a portal   that appeared while he was lamenting the mediocrity of his own life.   He befriended the lizards, fell in love, joined the revolution,   and after mister Palmer's death,   who mister Palmer was Wilson's accountant,   who died in the, at the hands of the ACDC bag. And after mister Palmer's death, that was like the last straw. Okay? And he decided he was gonna go and seek out Iclus.   Okay?   So he climbs the legendary mountain where Iclus was thought to have once lived.   And during his climb, the mountain crumbles   and transforms   into the physical manifestation of Iclus'   face.  

And he tells colonel Forbin   that he would have the helping friendly book delivered to him.   Crazy stuff. Right? Crazy stuff. Now Ikylios also foreshadowed the futility of the gesture,   warning forebend of the power the book would have to whoever possessed it. See?   And it's like I think that's a good analogy to the power of money printing.   See, I think whoever holds the power of money printing will abuse it.   And, you know,   we're not gonna kill Trey for not being an Austrian economist and figuring this all out. Right? He was Trey just channeled   what he observed very deep in my opinion, very deeply. Right? So he in Trey's in Trey's idea of this world, the cycle just   cycle just continues. And, you know, lo and behold, one of the revolutionaries ended up taking custody of the book himself and began a new cycle of tyranny over the lizards.  

Not your helping friendly book,   not your game henge.  

[00:42:35] Unknown:

Good stuff.  

[00:42:37] Unknown:

So,   you know, I think that's   a very short nutshell   of,   you know, the story of Game Engine. This may be   you know, there are songs that I think have some interesting lyrics, but, I mean, I think it's the overall theme of   the futility   the futility of the revolution.   Right? Yeah. Particularly when you   when you maintain   Go ahead. No. I was just saying, when you maintain the single point of failure,   right,   and this is what I think, typically, this is like what western society is going through right now, again, trying to figure out. Right? We know it's futile, but   meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Whoever has the power is gonna abuse it.  

Everybody understands this. Nobody really knows what to do about it except for, like,   you know,   a 1000000 Bitcoiners in the world or something like that. You know? Right. Right. Small group of us. But yeah. I mean,  

[00:43:38] Unknown:

you said,   when it's centralized,   a single point of failure,   another way to say that for the audience is   as long as there is the ability   or small group of human beings have control over the money.   And   it's really I think goes back to, like, you could have like like, the United States of America, our constitution was written with, and it was addressing this issue. Right? I mean, a lot of what is written in the constitution that is is addressing the fact that once governments have   more power than the,   you know, than the citizens, that things that that things get out of whack.   And,   essentially, you know, what we know is money printing, what what causes inflation or why inflation is a thing is because   the government essentially wants to spend more than it has.  

And some events that that that,   kinda started this off. Well, you know, the world wars. You have to fund the war, and the society was kind of on board with it. Right? You know, everyone was kinda rallied, but at the end of the day, they had to inflate the money supply or debase the money to fund the war.   So you're borrowing from your future.   And once it's almost like a a drug in a sense, I think, for people in power,   and you do hear people, you know, equate that, like, people are thirsty for power, like, there's a hunger, like a like a visceral kind of desire once you have power to   to either   you know use it or or or or grow it or increase your power.  

And once you realize that you can you know, just add a little bit of money to the supply and and to fund something and then you kinda get a taste of that, and then, you know, the next crisis happens and, you know, World War 2 and,   we went off the gold standard 1971,   which we can, you know, we can touch on where now   now now our money wasn't backed by anything that had any kind of real scarcity.   And over time,   human beings,   given the opportunity   to   create money out of you know, without without doing work, without creating value,   it it just it just grows and grows and grows up into the point where the where the, you know, the currency actually fails. And and there's a lot of examples of this in other countries. Like, Venezuela is a great example. We're not taught of these things. So, like, we're not you know, it never hits our knowledge system. They're very common hyperinflations.  



[00:46:07] Unknown:

I would just refer people to Weimar Republic.   Even Venezuela, it's hard it's, like, not relatable. Right? But like, you know, it's like, oh, because there's   some primitive South American country. Yeah. Probably very And Germany is probably the best example that people use. Yeah. People don't relate to Zimbabwe,   you know, but there's so many.   There's just so many. And   Weimar Republic's a   great example,   and,  

[00:46:33] Unknown:

you know, I think that's all And the Roman Empire is another one that everyone kind of points to where they were clipping the edges of of of gold coins or or, like, melting them down and adding  

[00:46:43] Unknown:

adding more, you know Yeah. So they bled it. They bled it for   a long, long time. And so it took a long time.   So we're gonna get to the real punch line here.   Right? Because,   we haven't   made the connection yet with Satoshi.   Right?   So,   the inventor, founder of Bitcoin, named Satoshi Nakamoto,   maybe a person, maybe a group of people,   We do not know. Right?   We kinda don't care anymore. Don't care. However, what we do know   is that he is not hiding in the topography of a mountain.   Okay?   He is gone for good.   His code   and his post to Bitcoin talk forum   and his coins are all that's left of him.  

That and the message that he encoded in the genesis block,   which is, says the times chant chancellor the times, Jan 32,009,   Chancellor   on the brink of second bailout for banks.   And this little piece that I'm about to get into is my favorite maybe one of the favorite things I've ever thought of in this   space, and it's just, like, it's too good to ignore.   And this is, like, where I start this is the kind of stuff that started making me   transform from this being a fun joke to, like, no. Actually, this act this this too much to ignore.   Okay?  

So with that, I'm gonna I'm gonna now   bring this bring this home here. Okay? So what does it Satoshi   have to do with Ikyulys? He's gone. Right? And I think that's the favor he probably did for us.   Since 2011,   it's been up to the plebs to figure it out without Satoshi. Right? Perhaps knowing that Ikyulys was nearby is what kept the lizards from ever figuring out how to transcend the need for a book that can be confiscated.   Satoshi gave Plebs unconfiscatable   money and the gift of disappearing.   In 2010,   okay,   a year after Fish's return and the creation of Bitcoin's genesis block, the band Genesis,   not the block, right, the band we all know and love, Genesis, right,   was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  

The induction marked the only time Fish would participate in the ceremony   as Trey gave the induction speech   and the band got to play 2 songs,   watcher of the skies   Mhmm. And no reply at all.   Read into this all what you will,   but this happened as Satoshi was mere months away from making his last post on Bitcoin talk and disappearing for good, and there would soon be no reply at all.  

[00:49:33] Unknown:

So great.   I never thought I mean, I was I was in the thick of it,   of of, you know, that just so the audience knows, when Fish broke up from 04 to 09, that gave a lot of people like me I'd been to maybe   10 shows, 12, 12 shows before they broke up.   I went deep into their catalog because there was nothing else to do.   Yeah. And I had, like, an older guy I worked with who was a huge Genesis fan, he's, like, probably   60 in his early sixties now.   But Genesis was a huge and he also was a big   Littlefeet fan, which is another band that   that album that Fish covered for Halloween,   a different Halloween.  



[00:50:15] Unknown:

Yeah. But how many years was Fish rumored to be doing Genesis   with double nickels on no. No. What what's the Yeah. Right?  

[00:50:24] Unknown:

No. The one that Watcher the Skies is on, that's,   I don't know. I sorry. I don't I don't I'd have to I'd have to look that up what the name of the album is.   It was the rumor every freaking year that Fish would do this album. Right? Yeah. Which is early Genesis, for those who don't know, was very progressive, very sci fi, very, very futuristic.   You know, modern Genesis   was was different. Let me just put it that way. When Peter Gabriel left.  

[00:50:52] Unknown:

Yeah. The post Peter Gabriel genesis. Yeah. So you so, you know, it's funny that   digging you dig into Fish's catalog. I took a break. I mean, I Trey was putting out new material, so which he always was.   Like,   it's so wild. Trey puts out new material. Like, it's   it's just effortless.   You know?   But, I was getting into other bands pretty hard too during the hiatus.  

[00:51:17] Unknown:

You had to. Yeah. Yeah. If you like music and It felt like that was the big opportunity finally to  

[00:51:23] Unknown:

branch out.   Mhmm.   So,   anyway,  

[00:51:28] Unknown:

you were saying? But yes. So yeah. So this older older guy when,   they were getting inducted, it was kind of news. Like, everyone knew they were they were performing going into that. And I know I watched it live   and played and played at least,   to watch for the skies   for my for this friend of mine that I worked with, and he was he was pretty impressed. And I kinda got him   he would always ask me about fish from that point forward.  

[00:51:52] Unknown:

I mean, is Ikyulys not the watcher of the skies?   Right?  

[00:51:56] Unknown:

It it's I've it's  

[00:51:58] Unknown:

I love the Or for the famous mockingbird. Right? I mean, it's like I would think about Igulis and the famous and so for the Bitcoiners who god bless you if you're even sticking with this. But, like,   the way,   so colonel yep. The story went, colonel Foreman climbed the mountain,   told the Ickolas, wah wah wah. The   this Wilson stole the book. Wilson Ickolas is like,   yeah. I guess I've I've seen your type before.   I'll go get your stupid book. And he sends the famous mockingbird   to fly into Wilson's castle, retrieve the book,   and then,   basically, it's rinse repeat again because, again, one of the revolutionaries named by the name of Aaron Wolf,   who is the most hateful   he's the one in the song Wilson, he's the one screaming, I lay this hate on you.  

Right?   And he's the one who steals the book again and becomes the next Wilson.  

[00:52:54] Unknown:

Right.  

[00:52:55] Unknown:

But   Ikyulys   slash the famous mockingbird,   that's Watcher of the Skies.  

[00:53:02] Unknown:

Mhmm. Right?   Yeah. That's good. No. I I I love the connections.   And, you know, going back to the,   the book, the fact that there was only one book, right, that was the that was the scarce that would that that's what created all the problems essentially, right, that when whoever possessed the book had all the power.   Yes. And even the most righteous people, once they got the book, they were they ended up feeling that power, and it kinda corrupted them.  

[00:53:29] Unknown:

Also, they were stupid people. Like, so, like and that's the line in the lizards. The lizards were a race of people practically extinct for doing things smart people don't do. So Right. Right. Trey basically told us right away. The so the lizards were utterly stupid, too stupid to ever correct this,   you know,   correct this single book problem.   So it's even more,   like, it's even more tempting   for somebody who gets that power.   It's very hard to resist. Right? Everything's right there for you. You got your book. You got your stupid people are too stupid to figure out,   you know, until it's too late what's wrong.  

You know? And then   a possum gets run over   on on the street. Right?  

[00:54:14] Unknown:

Yeah. And and I you know, people opine,   you know, pundits in Bitcoin,   especially some of the older older folks that   I think have a lot of a lot of credibility,   to a lot of people,   equate Bitcoin to the printing press.   Saying it's that it's that it's gonna be that big of a impact on human flourishing.   And the printing press, for anybody that doesn't know why that was such a big deal,   is the Catholic church   used to basically   control all of the Bibles.   And   the only way to get the gospel was to go in go to church,   or to have a relationship with the with the priest there.  

And when the printing press was invented,   it the first the first book printed on it was the bible. Like, at least that's how the story goes as far as we un we as far as we understand it. Don't trust verify.   But   that decentralized   the bible,   essentially.   So it kinda just tie everything together. That's why Bitcoin's important.  

[00:55:21] Unknown:

Absolutely. It's it's that big of a deal. And I've you know, just an example I've given for a long time was,   you know, before the printing press,   the Torah   was   replicated,   you know,   quite   I don't know what the word is, but the there were many, many, many copies of the Torah, and it was not it was, like,   excruciatingly,   you know, by hand,   on scrolls,   on parchment, but yet   it pretty much is the only reason that   they you know, it's the only reason that they survived   for this long   in a diaspora   was that you just couldn't go into every basement   in the world   and destroy it. Right?  

The person the printing press really put this on steroids. Right?   The printing press also worked   on money too. So Mhmm. You had you know,   you basically   create   the ability to decentralize,   you know, the human agency, but   it also   it's it's because you you're able, you know, you're able to create something that's scarce.   You created something we never had before. That's why it's like it takes the printing press away   because it got abused.   Right?  

[00:56:43] Unknown:

Right. Mhmm.   And, you know, decentralization is a word that we throw around a lot and take probably take for granted fundamentals is   what that means. The reason why does, you know, decentralization is it it's now starting to people wanna decentralize,   you know, media, like the news, and then you're seeing that in podcast where, like, now you don't have to go to the New York Times anymore to get your news. And the reason why that's good is because you don't have not only do you not have central points of failure, but then you don't have central points of control that can get co opted or have incentives misaligned because they're worried about their advertisers   or whatever   you might wanna you might wanna think of that could, you know,   lend someone to, have some bias.  

So decentralization   kinda takes the,   the temptation to,   to maybe not be forthcoming   or to be corrupt or or to corrupt the information,   away because you have all these other points that'll basically   fact check and call you out and and, you know, you won't get away with it, basically.  

[00:57:45] Unknown:

Yeah. And I think it's always been that way in the fish community for   at least in my eyes. It all started for me on IRC, rec music, fish, Usenet. Right? It started in   on message boards.   You know, we never talked about fantasy tour. I wasn't really on it big and but,   you know, now I guess you have read it and read it. But there's no shortage of ways for people to talk about fish,   and it is always been very decentralized.   I mean, I think fish fans   maybe   were smarter than the lizards,   right, in terms of not allowing   I think the only centralization   they really accept is things that come from the band.  

You know? Right.  

[00:58:33] Unknown:

And even then, the band the band doesn't never has abused their abused their platform.   They've never   Except for one time. That one time with, John. You talking about John?  

[00:58:46] Unknown:

No. I'm talking about when, Trey kicked his ex ex out of the venue because he was annoyed by   him, writing the timing writing the times out on all the songs.   He was annoyed with him with his clipboard checking his watch after every song   and he booted him.  

[00:59:03] Unknown:

I've never heard that story. That's great.   Yeah. But, you know, they've you know, like,   you know, a lot of bands will, like, give political takes since the band's never done that. Yeah. I know. I get that. You gotta give them some props If they've never I mean, they really tried to avoid it. They tried hard  

[00:59:19] Unknown:

to avoid it, which is really remarkable in a 41 year career. Nobody   with a platform   does that. And you know what? I mean,   if we wanna get nitpicky, yeah, I do think they   got tangled up a little bit in the last 4 years, but   not I don't I don't think they think that. I don't think they think they are you know what I mean? I don't think they were trying to. I think it's hard for anyone. I think anyone on autopilot is what was gonna get caught up on one side or the other of the things that happened in the last 4 years. Yeah. So I agree. The band has always taken its responsibility   serious.  

But you know what? I'll just say as a human being myself, I got caught up on unintentional sides of things as well. And it wasn't until   I did the Bitcoin deep dive and this is again people who don't understand Bitcoin are gonna think I'm talking like an idiot. But, like, once I   once Bitcoin impacted my life, it gave me a lot of clarity on what I was participating in.   And   it just,   there were things I was participating in and participating   in politically that I realized I didn't wanna be, and I didn't even realize it was happening.  

[01:00:36] Unknown:

Sure. You know?  

[01:00:38] Unknown:

And it's just something that when you're not,   you know, when you're not so plugged into the knowledge system because you're not dependent on them for you to get your livelihood. Right? You get more independent.   And to be honest, this is my hope for   Phish, the band, the fans, who I care I do care about   Yep. Because I think the fans are critical to fit you know, we don't get   you don't get what I call   the you know, one of the best of anything,   you know, one of the best performances under New Year's Eve. You don't get that without   the Conficious connection to the fans.  

Exactly. So and I just want I want it all to level up. And I think the way we level up is we actually have to figure out   what the hell we've been doing for the last 40 years,   possibly   inadvertently,   and,   you know, start   searching for that truth.  

[01:01:34] Unknown:

Well said.