Wall Street & First Principles: Two Paths to Understanding Bitcoin
Hey Friends! ⚡️
This week on Bitcoin for Millennials, I’ve got two conversations that couldn’t be more different — and yet they point to the same truth: Bitcoin only makes sense when you strip away noise and go back to first principles.
One is with Anil Patel, creator of some of the most widely shared educational Bitcoin material on the internet. The other is with Vijay Selvam, an Ivy League–trained Wall Street lawyer who lived through the 2008 bailouts and eventually wrote The Principles of Bitcoin.
Together, they show how Bitcoin is best understood: through clear concepts and lived experience.
10 Bitcoin Concepts That Separate Beginners from Pros (with Anil Patel)
Anil didn’t set out to be a Bitcoin educator. He just wanted a way to explain it to friends and family. What started as simple diagrams became some of the most recognizable visuals in the Bitcoin space.
We break down the 10 mental models that make Bitcoin “click”:
Absolute scarcity (21 million forever)
Proof-of-work as truth
Separation of money and state
Self-custody as true ownership
Inflation as theft
…and more.
“The visuals aren’t to convince — they’re to clarify. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.”
This episode is a masterclass in explaining Bitcoin simply and memorably.
Ex-Wall St. Lawyer: “These 4 Principles Make Bitcoin Unstoppable” (with Vijay Selvam)
Vijay lived through the 2008 financial crisis drafting bailout deals inside a top law firm. He saw moral hazard up close — governments rewarding bad actors while punishing savers.
That experience led him to gold… until stagnant returns pushed him to study Bitcoin. The result was his book The Principles of Bitcoin, a comprehensive guide to Bitcoin’s technology, economics, politics, and philosophy.
The turning point? Four fundamentals:
Absolute scarcity
Unconfiscatability
Permissionless, censorship resistance
Decentralized consensus
“My Ivy League education told me Bitcoin was a scam. First-principles thinking told me it was the most important invention of our time.”
This conversation is part personal journey, part framework for why Bitcoin is a once-in-history breakthrough.
My reflection on these conversations
Whether it’s Anil Patel’s visuals or Vijay Selvam’s first-principles breakdown, both episodes show the same thing:
Bitcoin isn’t complicated once you clear away the narratives.
It’s simple, inevitable, and deeply human.
Enjoy the episodes! And let me know what you think?
Bram Kanstein
𝕏 @bramk
📺 youtube.com/@bramk
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