William Magnuson is an associate professor at Texas A&M Law School. His book Blockchain Democracy: Technology, Law and the Rule of the Crowd gives an incredible overview of cryptocurrencies through the lens of legal scholarship. In this episode we discuss the political and economic philosophies of decentralization and the history of the Cypherpunks and digital cash. We also dig into the nuances of theories of crime, social norms, and anonymity, the challenges in applying existing legal frameworks to new technologies, and the effect of cryptocurrencies on the legal system.