OpenBazaar founder Brian Hoffman talks about leaving his elite government job to grow a startup but covers some fascinating ground as well as: How he took the good ideas and good tech of Silk Road and DarkMarket to create OpenBazaar, how far ahead government technology is than we know, what it’s like to go from privilege to understanding the wider world, how building large, peer-to-peer networks tends to skew toward centralization, how government agencies are at odds over crypto, with some using it to catch crooks and others in clandestine operations, the rollout of OpenBazaar’s app Haven, the importance and moving forward on better cryptography for crypto, how Brian’s in-laws experience of the Iranian revolution changed his worldview, how taking yourself too seriously can backfire, and what it was like for Brian’s boss to see his name in Wired magazine before he did. -----This episode of Untold Stories is sponsored by eToro, the smartest crypto trading platform, and one of the largest in the world. Join myself and 11 million other traders and create an account at eToro.com and build your crypto portfolio the smart way. -----This episode of Untold Stories is sponsored by Scott Offord, a broker of ASIC mining gear and the creator of CryptoMining. You can find him on twitter @offordscott. If you're interested in reading the full episode transcription, visit the BlockWorks Group blog. -----If you enjoyed this conversation, share it with your colleagues & friends, rate, review, and subscribe.This podcast is presented by BlockWorks Group. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at: https://www.blockworksgroup.io