Episode 206: Non Fungible Bitcoin

Most money is fungible--in the past, one would say this was true by definition. But what happens when digital money like Bitcoin starts carrying identity, reputation, provenance, and policy with it? This episode explores that collision and why the future of commerce may depend on making money smarter without making it less useful. If money becomes non-fungible, the implications extend far beyond payments, reshaping how we think about identity, privacy, surveillance, security, and individual autonomy.

#Speakers

• Host: Mike Schwartz, Founder/CEO Gluu
• Guest: Dave Birch, Principal at 15Mb Ltd.

#Homework

• Substack Article Back to Fungibility, Again

#Takeaways

• Fungibility means interchangeability. Dollars are fungible because any $10 bill can satisfy a $10 obligation. Non-fungible assets are unique--a stolen painting is returned to the family generations later.
• Bitcoin behaves more like property than money. Dave’s core claim was that Bitcoin is not truly fungible: its provenance can matter, and that makes it closer to a unique property asset than interchangeable money.
• Digital assets may force law to recognize a new property category. Dave framed crypto assets as potentially “things in wallets”: assets controlled by possession of private keys, distinct from traditional physical property or contractual claims.
• Stablecoins may matter more than cryptocurrency itself. Dave was skeptical that cryptocurrency is necessarily the future of money, but argued that stablecoins are likely the practical starting point for new digital financial rails.