Bitcoin hangout with Max Keiser: The Napster of currency

Like the internet, bitcoin is a force of nature which governments control at their own peril. This time around on the Keiser Hangout, our panel answers your questions about the premier crypto-currency, silver’s silver lining and the future of China.

From P2P music-sharing to bit torrents flooding web traffic, the web has brought about decentralization while governments engage in a losing battle to monopolize financial power.

Joined by Jan Skoyles, market analyst for bullion broker The Real Asset Co. and Simon Rose of Save Our Savers, Keiser breaks down why bitcoin is like the new Napster (Hint: What does the music copyright industry and the US Fed have in common?)

Bitcoin “reminds me of when Napster started to go to war with the copyright cartel…and now we’ve got a currency going about the same path, using the same technology and this time they’re going after the Federal Reserve Banking system,” Keiser says.

“This is very interesting to me on a social level.”

Despite the social aspects of the crypto-currency, the government wants to shut it down but can’t. Max’s co-presenter Stacy Herbert says that if you are looking for an analogy for axing bitcoin, you don’t need to look any further than bit torrents.

“The authorities of course don’t like bit torrents, but you can get any single movie, any single television show right now on Pirate Bay, which they are unable to shut down,” Herbert says.

“If they can’t shut down these bit torrents, here’s the thing: they’re peer-to-peer, they’re crypto, and it’s a lot of money. I think it’s the equivalent of like when [ex-Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak tried to turn off the internet in Egypt. It only lasted a few days, before all his thug buddies who ran corporations and business demanded that it had to be turned back on because their businesses collapsed.”

And while governments fear it, the banking industry has been forced to acknowledge bitcoin out of one side of their mouths while laughing it off out the other. But the fact that they’re talking shows that it’s working, especially if you’re looking to hedge against artificial manipulation of gold and silver.

Speaking of those precious metals, gold and silver have been on a wild ride over the last several months. While China snatches up the former to fuel its superpower status bid, the latter is facing a correction which will soon come to an end.

For more of the wide-ranging discussion on the Keiser Hangout – including why we should peg the minimum wage to the money supply, why another housing collapse is inevitable in the UK, and much, much more – watch the full video here.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.