What does it mean to treat Bitcoin as perfected private property? Allen Farrington joins me to explore why Bitcoin is the new Venice, how sound money enables capital accumulation, and why Bitcoin represents perfected private property. We also dive into early-stage investing, analyzing Bitcoin-native startups, the misallocation of institutional capital, the opportunity cost of fiat, and what it means to live by the Bushido of Bitcoin.
Allen Farrington is a writer and investor. He co-wrote “Bitcoin Is Venice” and “Only The Strong Survive”, and is a co-founder of Axiom, a bitcoin-focused venture firm.
X: @allenf32
Nostr: npub1sfhflz2msx45rfzjyf5tyj0x35pv4qtq3hh4v2jf8nhrtl79cavsl2ymqt
TIMESTAMPS:
0:29 – Why is Bitcoin Venice?
8:31 – Bitcoin’s Governance Protocol
16:20 – “Go West, Young Man”
21:07 – Capital, Sound Money, and Capital Accumulation
30:57 – Bitcoin as Perfected Private Property
32:06 – Bitcoin Isn’t New
36:29 – The First Principles of Early-Stage Investing
42:59 – How to Evaluate Bitcoin Startups
51:35 – Institutionalized Capital Misallocation
1:00:24 – Understanding Opportunity Cost in Bitcoin Terms
1:01:49 – The Bushido of Bitcoin: A Code for Builders
1:06:19 – How Easy is it to Raise VC Funds Today?
1:14:12 – Ask a Man What He Owns
1:23:20 – How to Connect with Allen
Alan Farrington on Bitcoin, Capital, Venice, and the Fiat-Venture Complex:
In this densely layered episode, Jake interviews author and investor Alan Farrington to unpack Bitcoin is Venice—an essay-turned-book that explores the philosophical, historical, and economic parallels between early Renaissance Venice and Bitcoin. Alan clarifies the title as strategic clickbait, rooted in metaphor rather than literal analysis. He draws rich analogies between Venice’s defensibility, commercial flourishing, and capital accumulation with Bitcoin’s resistance to attack, censorship, and its potential to enable productive enterprise over militarized politics.
Governance structures in Venice—opaque, Byzantine, and resistant to change—mirror Bitcoin’s decentralized and conservative protocol evolution through rough consensus. The discussion traces Bitcoin’s cultural narrative alongside historical inflection points like the Reformation, the U.S. frontier, and the Medici’s civilizational capital deployment. Capital, Farrington emphasizes, is simply tools—stored potential energy deferred for future productivity. This leads to a deep dive into property rights, Hernando de Soto’s theories, and the distortion of capital allocation under fiat systems.
Alan also outlines Axiom’s investment thesis: investing in equity of Bitcoin-native businesses that align with Bitcoin’s long-term monetization and value accrual. The fund’s approach treats Bitcoin as the cost of capital, selecting founders who exhibit resource discipline, resilience, and long-term mission alignment—rejecting tokenomics and fiat incentives.
