Ryan Long on the Bitcoin Cult & Why He Wants to Forget He Owns BTC | Bitcoin Backstage

**Isabella Santos** (0:00)
Is Bitcoin a cult?

**Ryan Long** (0:01)
I mean, yeah, for sure, right? Here would be the definition of a cult, probably, is that there's nothing that could change your mind. It doesn't mean you're always wrong if you're in a cult, but you can be right and still unwilling to change, even if you were wrong. Some might say the central banking system's a cult.

**Isabella Santos** (0:19)
True.
We're here with Ryan Long, the comedian who's gonna teach us some jokes about Bitcoin. How are you doing, Ryan?

**Ryan Long** (0:30)
Good. How are we doing?

**Isabella Santos** (0:31)
Before we dive in, what do you do in your brain, or would you tell yourself to not give a?

**Ryan Long** (0:38)
I don't think that's correct that I don't care.

**Isabella Santos** (0:41)
No, not like not care, but I'm saying you're wrong.

**Ryan Long** (0:44)
There's certain times, I'll tell you one thing. When I was young, I used to do the craziest kind of on the street comedy, messing with people and getting kicked out of stores and malls and like I used to do like kind of crazy stuff. And then now, as like an adult, I feel, I don't know if embarrassed is the right word. I just feel like the dynamics off. So certain things, it does make me feel weird where you're like, if you're like kind of messing with someone that has like a normal job, like too much and you're kind of like a successful comedian, it feels like weird. So I feel like anxious about it. And so I don't do some of the things that I could do when I was 20 So I definitely used to give less of a shit.

**Isabella Santos** (1:24)
Have you seen the evolution of comedy sort of like change?

**Ryan Long** (1:27)
Yeah, it's always. I mean, right now, the evolution of comedy right now, so forever it went through different evolutions, started in America and now the evolution of comedy is you ask people their job and then you post that online. That's mostly what comedy is.
It's kind of like if you went to a party and you ask, well, what do you do for a living? That's mostly what comedy is. So that's how you practice. You kind of go to like a party and you ask, what do you, oh, that's crazy, how long have you guys been together? Oh, nice, that's mostly what comedy is.

**Isabella Santos** (1:56)
Yeah, now I just can't even say anything online. It's two questions maybe.

**Ryan Long** (1:58)
What's your job? How long have you guys been together?
If you can do that, you have 90 percent of comedy right now mastered.

**Isabella Santos** (2:06)
All right, those are some good pro tips. When are I in since you got announced as a Bitcoin conference speaker? Bitcoin has been pumped.
Is there any coincidence?

**Ryan Long** (2:17)
Well, I said when we were negotiating the contracts, I said, listen, I don't think you know what this is going to do for the Bitcoin culture for the coin. Basically, putting us, I don't want to say it's like Satoshi then us, but we're close. Maybe like Satoshi, Saylor, Long, I would say in terms of people that have had a positive effect on the Bitcoin culture.

**Isabella Santos** (2:36)
Speaking of the Bitcoin culture, is Bitcoin a cult? Would you say or like?

**Ryan Long** (2:41)
Yes. I mean, yeah, for sure, right?

**Isabella Santos** (2:44)
We have culty vibes, you know?

**Ryan Long** (2:46)
You know, all orange. Here would be the definition of a cult, probably, is that there's nothing that could change your mind. So I think that there's people here that under no circumstance would they ever change their general philosophy on Bitcoin, and that would probably be what makes a cult. It doesn't mean you're always wrong if you're in a cult, but you can be right and still unwilling to change even if you were wrong.

**Isabella Santos** (3:12)
So you think they don't have that much of an open mind?

**Ryan Long** (3:15)
What do you think?
You're obviously a Bitcoin person. What information would have to come out that you would be like, actually Bitcoin is probably not a good place for me to put my money?

**Isabella Santos** (3:25)
Well.

**Ryan Long** (3:25)
Or would it just be that it tanked so much?

**Isabella Santos** (3:28)
What would change my mind if all of a sudden the Bitcoin core developers try to, I don't know, instead of 21 million coins, there will be 100 million coins. If that happens, then I'd be like, hey, Bobby, come on, we've been lied to.