4 Bitcoin Creators and Military Veterans to Watch in 2023
If you’re one of the many readers who bought and loved the new AmazonAMZN bitcoin bestseller, “Soft War,” then I have several bitcoin reading (and listening) recommendations for you.
As a veteran myself, it is easy for me to understand why so many military veterans are drawn to Bitcoinbitcoin. The Bitcoin community can give veterans a renewed sense of purpose and meaning, and help alleviate the anxiety that separating service members can feel after their careers inevitably end. Here are some of the most prominent veterans to follow in making the transition from military life to working in the bitcoin industry.
Jason Lowery
In addition to now being a best-selling author, Major Jason Lowery is a Department of Defense-sponsored US National Defense Fellow, Department of the Air Force Fellow, MIT System Design and Management Fellow, astronautical engineer, and active duty field grade officer in the US Space Force. He describes bitcoin as a “cyber power projection tactic for the digital age,” in an original interview with me. He claimed that the Bitcoin network is also a cyber security platform.
“While most software can only logically constrain computers, Bitcoin can physically constrain computers and impose severe physical costs,” says Lowery. “Bitcoin’s global use could therefore represent a revolutionary approach to strategic security and could dramatically reshape how modern society secures one of the most valuable resources of the digital age: information.”
From Lowery’s perspective, nation-states will soon use bitcoin in “non-lethal” forms of digital warfare. This includes, but is not limited to, using the Bitcoin network to secure “any type of information” the government finds beneficial. Whether it’s crowdfunding defense forces, as has happened in Ukraine, or hiding secret messages on the public blockchain, the ways this will manifest remains to be seen. However it plays out, Lowery says this cyber space for non-lethal digital warfare will “change the face of global conflict” as we know it.
Luckily for us, Lowery isn’t the only military expert publishing bitcoin education. If you’re looking for podcasts and newsletters, there are plenty of veterans-turned-content creators teaching newbies about bitcoin.
Preston Pysh
Preston Pysh is a West Point graduate and former Army Aviation rotary wing pilot. Preston is a best-selling author, investor and entrepreneur. He also hosts the Bitcoin Fundamentals series for the We Study Billionaires Podcast.
“In nature, there is no central authority that dictates the value of stored energy; organisms interact and thrive in a delicate balance, free from arbitrary control,” Pysh said in an interview, reflecting on why he chooses to focus only on bitcoin. He continued, “bitcoin, as a decentralized money, embodies this principle and seeks to apply it to human interaction, allowing us to conserve and exchange our work and energy in a way that is as fluid and organic as nature itself.”
“My time in the military has influenced how I approach entrepreneurship and the fascinating world of bitcoin,” Pysh replied when asked how his time in the army influenced those views. “While following orders was important, the deeper lesson lay in honing my ability to think critically in any situation.”
Pysh said the critical thinking he developed trying to influence his superiors was the same skill that led him into entrepreneurship, and eventually bitcoin.
“If you were to change the minds of your leadership, you should present compelling arguments with solid evidence, cogent reasoning and in a concise manner,” he added.
These days, Pysh’s bitcoin podcast reaches millions of listeners worldwide, and he makes a living from the emerging bitcoin-savvy creator economy. His focus is mainly macroeconomics, discussing the interplay between sovereign debt, credit markets, interest rates and equity correlations with his bitcoin thesis.
“For someone entering the realm of bitcoin, this background served me well,” Pysh said, elaborating on how his military experience influenced his bitcoin-only focus. “Seizing the game-changing nature of Bitcoin requires a deep level of critical thought and the tenacity to filter through the unbounded masses of fraudsters and noise that lie on the periphery.”
Psysh’s thesis is that bitcoin is slowly but surely becoming a globally significant macro reserve. For example, he priced major global stock indices into M2 money supply to demonstrate the effects on real returns on stocks.
“Bitcoin ensures that every transaction is transparent and secure, while providing an imperishable store of value,” says Pysh. “It fosters a global financial ecosystem that is resilient, fair and inclusive, redefining the way the world interacts with and preserves value.”
Alex Stanczyk
Alex Stanczyk is a US Navy Gulf War veteran turned CEO of Swan Bitcoins Private Client Services. He also hosts Café Bitcoin, a daily podcast with close to 100,000 monthly listeners, whose guests include many of the brightest minds in Bitcoin.
“Serving in the military was a natural path for me because I have a heart for protecting people,” Stanczyk said in an interview. “Bitcoin protects people’s freedom and time in a way that humanity has never seen,” he continued.
In his podcast episodes, Stanczyk will often refer to “getting on the mission”. When asked to elaborate, Stanczyk explained that “the mission delivers signal in a sea of noise and teaches people why there is hope because of the bright orange future of Bitcoin.”
Stanczyk advocates a bitcoin-only approach, avoiding altcoins. Both personal responsibility and self-sovereignty are recurring themes on his show.
The Cafe Bitcoin Podcast is recorded daily on Twitter Spaces, and is open to anyone to listen, or even participate by asking questions. Stanczyk highlights the Socratic method of learning at regular intervals, a method that relies on questioning and dialogue to drive critical thinking.
Café Bitcoin allows newcomers to ask questions in real time every week, with a focus on explaining concepts in clear terms for everyone to understand, making Café Bitcoin a must-listen podcast for beginners looking to learn more about bitcoin.
Alex Brammer
Alex Brammer is also a West Point graduate and served in the Army for 15 years before retiring for medical reasons in 2021. He entered the bitcoin mining industry as VP of Business Development at Luxor Technology Corporation. While Brammer does not have his own podcast, he publishes a beginner-friendly bitcoin newsletter with more than 200 subscribers.
“To build on [bitcoin], and promoting its adoption for the benefit of free peoples around the world is, to me, the most patriotic endeavor I’ve ever done,” Brammer said in an interview when asked if cryptocurrency could undermine the US dollar. “To me, to be patriotic is to live a life that defends and promotes Western liberal values.”
Since Brammer works for a bitcoin mining company, energy use and sustainability efforts are often on his mind. He said bitcoin miners are already being used to help balance electricity demand in power grids across Texas, in partnership with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Brammer added that when it comes to renewables, bitcoin mining companies like his employer can “help maintain grid reliability as renewables become a larger part” of the electric grid.
In addition to designing and building infrastructure for industrial-scale bitcoin mining, Brammer is also busy promoting innovation-friendly federal policy through his role on the board of the nonprofit Bitcoin Today Coalition. As such, Brammer was recently involved in bringing the first nuclear-powered bitcoin mining site online in Pennsylvania.
“Nuclear power is important if we want to make our energy systems responsible,” says Brammer.
In the future, he said he hopes to see more bitcoin mining with nuclear power plants in the United States, compared to mining experiments already happening abroad. Similar to how bitcoin miners already help regulate the Texas power grid, Brammer said nuclear-powered bitcoin miners could help monetize excess energy to keep small modular reactors running, despite grid demand. This will result in lower costs and more reliable energy for the end consumer.
Whether you’re looking for an expert perspective on virtual warfare, energy independence, self-sovereignty, or sustainable economics, there’s likely to be bitcoin content to answer any beginner’s question. As more veterans join the creator economy, the quality of geopolitical bitcoin content may continue to grow in popularity and profitability.
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