Jeff Berwick
{{Short description|Canadian entrepreneur (born 1970)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jeff Berwick
| image = Jeff_Berwick_black_background.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Self-portrait photograph, 2012
| birth_name = Jeffrey David Berwick
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|11|24|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| occupation = Entrepreneur, Activist
| nationality = Canadian, Dominican
| spouse = Kena Moreno
}}
Jeffrey David Berwick (born November 24, 1970) is a Canadian-Dominican entrepreneur, libertarian and anarcho-capitalist activist.
Berwick founded Stockhouse.com in 1994. In the late 1990s, the company expanded into eight countries and had 250 employees and a market cap of $240 million, during the tech bubble. He sold the company in 2002 for an 'undisclosed' amount.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Jeff Berwick {{!}} Cambridge House International |url=https://cambridgehouse.com/u/2178/jeff-berwick |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=Jeff Berwick {{!}} Cambridge House International |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Jeff Berwick: I Took My Advice & Sold My Cryptos to Buy Gold - Palisades Gold Radio |url=https://palisadesradio.ca/jeff-berwick-i-took-my-advice-sold-my-cryptos-to-buy-gold/ |access-date=2024-10-25 |language=en}}
Berwick later was an investor in bitcoin, appearing publicly on Fox News and other mainstream press outlets to discuss the digital currency.{{Cite web|title = Stockhouse About Us|url = http://www.stockhouse.com/corporate/about-us|website = Stockhouse|publisher = |accessdate = 2016-06-20|language = en}}{{Cite web|title = Bitcoin Crash Coming|url = http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/2302645969001/bitcoin-crash-coming/?playlist_id=937116503001#sp=show-clips|website = Fox News|publisher = |accessdate = 2016-06-20|language = en}} He also appeared on Bloomberg to discuss Bitcoin.{{Cite web|title = Jeff Berwick Appears on Bloomberg|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAwQMCcKRKs|website = Fox News|publisher = |accessdate = 2016-06-20|language = en}} In 2013, Berwick launched the world's first Bitcoin ATM in Cyprus.{{Cite web |last=Stuckey |first=Daniel |date=2013-04-03 |title=Jeff Berwick, the Founder of Bitcoin ATM, Says His Machine Is the Real Deal |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/jeff-berwick-the-founder-of-bitcoin-atm-says-his-machine-is-real/ |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=VICE |language=en-US}}
In 2016, Berwick acquired Dominican Republic citizenship.{{Cite web |url=https://dollarvigilante.com/blog/2016/08/25/left-canada-became-citizen-dominican-republic.html |title=Why I Left Canada and Became a Citizen of the Dominican Republic | the Dollar Vigilante |access-date=2017-09-08 |archive-date=2018-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119085355/https://dollarvigilante.com/blog/2016/08/25/left-canada-became-citizen-dominican-republic.html |url-status=dead }}
Career
In 2009, he founded The Dollar Vigilante, an anarcho-capitalist blog focusing on gold, silver, mining stocks, Bitcoin and offshore banking.{{cite news|url=http://www.newson6.com/story/12811665/financial-crisis-gives-rise-to-new-class-of-market-participant-the-dollar-vigilante?clienttype=printable|title=Financial Crisis Gives Rise To New Class of Market Participant|date=July 15, 2009|work=Pr News Wire|url-status=bot: unknown|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630233913/http://www.newson6.com/story/12811665/financial-crisis-gives-rise-to-new-class-of-market-participant-the-dollar-vigilante?clienttype=printable|archivedate=June 30, 2016}}
Berwick was host of Anarchast, an interview-style anarcho-capitalist podcast founded in 2012.{{Cite web|title = Anarchast YouTube Channel|url = https://www.youtube.com/user/TheAnarchast/videos?sort=da&flow=grid&view=0|website = YouTube|accessdate = 2016-06-20}}
In 2013, Berwick announced his plans to co-found the world's first bitcoin ATM in Cyprus.{{Cite web|title = This Story About A Bitcoin ATM Coming To Cyprus Is Almost Certainly Nonsense|url = http://www.businessinsider.com/bogus-cyprus-atm-story-2013-3|website = Business Insider|accessdate = 2015-10-30}}{{Cite web|title = The World's First Bitcoin ATM May End Up in Cash-Strapped Cyprus|url = https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-worlds-first-bitcoin-atm-to-dispense-cyprus-bills/|website = Motherboard|access-date = 2015-10-30|language = en|url-status = bot: unknown|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151129122355/https://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-worlds-first-bitcoin-atm-to-dispense-cyprus-bills|archive-date = 2015-11-29}}{{Cite web|title = Bitcoin ATMs coming soon|url = https://money.cnn.com/2013/04/04/investing/bitcoin-atms/index.html|website = CNNMoney|accessdate = 2015-10-30|first = Maureen|last = Farrell| date=4 April 2013 }} Business Insider called the plans "bogus" and "almost certainly nonsense."
In 2013, Berwick promoted Galt's Gulch Chile project,{{cite news|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/02/libertarian-expat-communities-chile|title=Libertarians Plan to Sit Out the Coming Collapse of America…in Chile|first=Steven|last=Bodzin|date=March–April 2014|work=MotherJones}} a libertarian enclave in the Curacaví region of Chile that did not come to fruition as envisioned.{{Cite web|title = Atlas Mugged: How a Libertarian Paradise in Chile Fell Apart|url = https://www.vice.com/en/article/atlas-mugged-922-v21n10/|website = VICE|access-date = 2015-10-30|language = en-us}} He was also part of an attempt to start a free-trade zone in Honduras.
In 2015, Berwick started Anarchapulco, an annual anarcho-capitalist conference held in Acapulco, Mexico.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wired.com/story/anarchy-bitcoin-and-murder-in-mexico/|title=Anarchy, Bitcoin, and Murder in Acapulco|last=Guthrie|first=Amy|date=2019-03-01|magazine=Wired|access-date=2019-03-03|issn=1059-1028}}
Media coverage
In 2022 HBO released an original six-part television documentary series entitled The Anarchists. The series is based on six years of video collected by Todd Schramke, and focuses on Berwick, his beliefs, and several of his adherents, including Nathan and Lisa Freeman and a couple known as John Galton and Lily Forester.[https://www.wired.com/story/the-anarchists-hbo-docuseries-finale-anarchapulco/ "The story behind the wrenching finale of The Anarchists", Wired]
Personal life
In July 2005, Berwick's catamaran, caught in a 50 knot squall, was driven into the rocks and sank. Berwick and his partner survived by holding onto a broken surfboard.{{cite news|url=https://www.latitude38.com/LectronicLat/2005/0705/Jul01/July1.html|title=Catamaran That Sank In El Salvador May Not Have Been Lost At Sea|date=July 2005|work=Latitude 38}}
References
External links
- [http://anarchast.com/ Anarchast] – Berwick's video podcast with discussions on anarchist-related issues.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berwick, Jeff}}
Category:Businesspeople from Edmonton
Category:Canadian businesspeople
Category:Canadian economics writers
Category:Canadian finance and investment writers
Category:Canadian libertarians
Category:Canadian emigrants to Mexico