"(Inflation) is the most important political issue in existence"

If you're only going to listen to one episode of the CoinJournal podcast, I would make it this one (in my extremely biased opinion).  I sat down with Michael Kong, the CEO of Fantom, one of the biggest cryptocurrencies around. But Michael is a deep thinker and understands the world has bigger problems right now, from the cost of living crisis to the spiralling debt and the crippling inequality gap. 

The podcast essentially took two parts, and the timestamps are below accordingly. The first half is mostly centred on Fantom, blockchain technology, comparisons of cryptocurrency's growth to the Internet, "standing on the shoulders of Ethereum" and DeFi. Super interesting stuff for any crypto junkies.

The second half then turns macro, which is obviously turning everybody's lives upside right now. We took a deep dive into why Michael believes inflation is the most important political issue right now, how money printing during the pandemic stole from the poor to give to the rich, why it's so hard to live in cities like Sydney (where Michael is from) and Dublin (where I'm from), and why politicians have an incentive to cause inflation. 

Michael spoke candidly and with passion, and it was refreshing to hear him talk about the real reasons he got into cryptocurrency, and what he hopes the future holds, and routes to protect oneself in this environment. 

This was my favourite podcast episode yet, so I hope you enjoy it as much I did. 

• "If they can pass the debt to future voters, then they can win the votes of current voters. So the incentive of the government is to create inflation because it lowers the cost of borrowing."
• "You have to protect yourself in this inflationary environment. But if you’re already super rich and you already own all these assets, then you win by default". 
• "In 2020, Forbes reported that the increase in wealth for the Forbes (richest) 400 went up the highest in 2020 than in any year since they started recording. The reason it went up the highest rate is because they printed money” 
• “What is the incentive for a politician? The incentive for a politician is to gain power and stay in power….how are they going to try and get votes? By spending a whole bunch of money without taking money from the taxpayer…they pass the book down the road”.

• 0:00 Preview
• 2:52 What is Fantom?
• 8:55 Fantom's Consensus Mechanism & Tradeoffs
• 12:32 Comparisons to Ethereum
• 17:06 Cryptocurrency vs the Internet
• 20:00 Standing on the Shoulders of Ethereum
• 25:17 DeFi
• 27:44 Bear Market
• 32:20 Money Printing, And How Bad is the Economy?
• 37:23 Inequality and the Problems Inflation Causes
• 38:12 Inflation is the Most Important Political Issue
• 46:20 Inequality & Politics
• 48:58 Next Bull Cycle
• 52:45 Debt Crisis

• Fantom are best followed on Twitter @FantomFDN
• For the open jobs Michael mentions at the end of the podcast, visit their site here -> fantom.foundation/careers/
• Fantom Website -> fantom.foundation
• Read my more in-depth article on the podcast over on CoinJournal here -> coinjournal.net/news/interview-michael-kong-ceo-of-fantom-just-gets-it/