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On this episode of “Bitcoin Bottom Line,” host CJ Wilson was joined by a veteran and contributor to Bitcoin Magazine Mike Hobart. Wilson and Hobart share similar backgrounds in the fields of exercise, physiology and kinesiology. Hobart’s journey began in 2013 when he joined the military. He paid homage to Viktor Frankl’s book “Man’s Search For Meaning” for opening up in search of purpose after being in a dark place. He studied exercise science in school, which allows him to write articles on a wide variety of topics.
Hobart’s curiosity about bitcoin sparked during his deployment to the Middle East in the spring of 2017. It was his first time receiving a salary, which led him to research the theory of investing. One of the best-known theories is, “You have to put your money where the market is going to go before the market goes there.” After seeing bitcoin quadruple in four months, he decided to invest. He studied the market for hours every day while deployed.
Hobart has done extensive research on bitcoin’s energy consumption and believes it is important to correct the misinformation that is being spread. He wrote an article on Microsoft’s energy consumption and discovered that each Microsoft employee used about 4,000 homes of energy per year.
Wilson said, “I would say bitcoin is morally justified in producing very high value in exchange for energy consumption.”
Another popular topic in the Bitcoin community is regenerative agriculture. Wilson asked Hobart why he thinks America needs regenerative agriculture and if there’s anything Bitcoiners haven’t considered before. Hobart deployed with many farmers and was surprised to find out how many of them traded bitcoins overseas. One thing he wasn’t aware of was what the fertilizers actually do to the soil. Fertilizers deplete the nutrients in our soil and now our food has about 12.5% of the nutrient density of the food our grandparents ate. He thinks farmers need bitcoin for their financial security. He went on to say, “If farmers don’t have a financial vehicle with which to continue producing food, then we don’t have food.”
After working with many farmers, Wilson observed that “farmers have a very low time preference. If they plant a tree, they have to wait six or seven years for that tree to bear fruit. It’s a real investment and a time horizon that people don’t understand… When farmers get into bitcoin, they think, “How can I pass this on to my kids?”
Farming is similar to trading with leverage.
Wilson concluded the episode by saying that public perception is focused on who started Bitcoin, not who is in Bitcoin now. Bitcoin is something different for everyone, with a wide range of options.