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Vitalik Buterin is the creator of Ethereum, but he's also a true Bitcoin maximalist. In this episode, Vitalik tells his story as a bitcoiner, explains why he built Ethereum, and makes use of his knowledge to predict the future of the two networks. Time stamps: Introducing Vitalik (00:01:00) Vitalik's Early Involvement with Bitcoin (00:02:22) Writing for Bitcoin Weekly (00:03:01) Bitcoin's Early Fees and Transaction Model (00:06:45) Evolving Understanding of Bitcoin (00:09:15) Bitcoin Cash and the Scaling Debate (00:10:25) Dark Wallet Project (00:14:06) Coinjoin and Privacy Innovations (00:16:41) Colored Coins and Bitcoin 2.0 (00:21:05) Transition to Ethereum Development (00:21:58) Current Layer Two Innovations (00:24:11) Scaling and Privacy Innovations (00:25:55) Ethereum's Early Criticism (00:27:05) EVM's Role in Smart Contracts (00:28:11) Challenges of Parallelization (00:29:23) Sandboxing and Security (00:30:24) Future Scaling Ideas (00:34:49) Ethereum vs NXT vs Counterparty vs Omni/Mastercoin (00:35:37) Lessons from Ethereum's Success (00:37:07) The DAO Hack and Community Resilience (00:43:16) Ethereum's Network Effect (00:45:43) Ethereum's Ecosystem Resilience (00:49:35) Decentralization vs. Scalability (00:50:41) Critique of Ethereum Killers (00:51:21) Layer One and Layer Two Dynamics (00:52:53) SideShift (00:53:21) How Vitalik Cancelled Craig Wright (00:54:51) Current Characters in Bitcoin (00:58:03) Daniel Kravisz's Views on Craig Wright (00:59:04) Manipulative Tactics in Dating Advice (01:00:34) NoOnes: Marketplace for Global South (01:01:19) Bitcoin.com News Evolution (01:02:40) Bitcoin Magazine is Now Pro Trump (01:04:37) Libertarian Shifts in Crypto (01:05:03) Ethereum Domain Name Registrations (01:06:09) Layer Two Scaling Decision (01:08:08) Hardware Requirements for Ethereum Node (01:10:45) Philosophical Questions on Scaling (01:12:01) The Dystopia Scenario (01:13:03) Importance of Full Nodes (01:14:24) Technological Innovations (01:15:27) Running Full Nodes in Ethereum (01:16:30) Privacy and RPC Trust (01:17:28) Adapting Ethereum to New Cryptography (01:19:53) Scaling Debate in Ethereum (01:22:04) Respect for Ethereum's Approach (01:23:15) Zcash and Ethereum Collaboration (01:25:00) Challenges for Zcash (01:27:04) Impact of Developer Actions (01:28:01) Scaling Solutions in Bitcoin and Ethereum (01:30:43) Defining Rollups vs. Sidechains (01:31:40) Security Implications of Drivechains (01:34:03) Transition to Proof of Stake (01:36:19) ZK Coins and Shielded Client Side Validation (01:37:53) Thoughts on TheStandard.io (01:40:03) Backing Up Coins and Holding Keys (01:42:11) Evolution of Multi-Sig Technology (01:46:43) Privacy (01:48:14) Concerns About Centralized Data Collection (01:51:10) Impact of Snowden Revelations (01:53:35) Privacy as a Key Aspect of Decentralization (01:55:49) Ethereum's Cypherpunk Roots (01:57:07) Feedback from Cypherpunks on Ethereum (02:00:42) The Inspiration Behind DAOs (02:02:07) AI and DAOs (02:02:40) Vitalik's Public Image and Price Pressure (02:02:55) Media Attention and Its Impact (02:03:43) Decentralization and Attention (02:04:03) Price Influence and Market Dynamics (02:04:59) Focus on Ethereum's Values (02:06:01) Historical Use Cases of Ethereum (02:08:28) Next Bull Market Narrative (02:09:38) DeFi Ecosystem as a Proven Use Case (02:09:45) Political Instability and Financial Security (02:12:05) Polymarket, Prediction Markets and Mainstream Adoption (02:12:20) Zero Knowledge Proofs and Privacy (02:14:20) Roger Ver (02:15:23) Principles of Freedom and Privacy (02:22:57) Critique of Blockstream's Liquid (02:24:00) Bitcoin's Role in Decentralization (02:26:15) Transition to RISC-V (02:27:37) Adoption of RISC-V (02:28:36) Redesigning Ethereum in A Time Travel Scenario (02:31:30) Challenges in Ethereum's Development (02:32:45) Ethereum and Bitcoin Relationship (02:37:02) Complementarity of Bitcoin and Ethereum (02:38:40) Does Vitalik Still Use Bitcoin? (02:41:21) Lightning Network (02:42:06) Standardization of LN Invoies (02:43:20) Privacy Concerns with Bitcoin (02:45:42) Running Lightning Nodes (02:46:52) Home-Based Bitcoin Solutions (02:48:12) Tribalism in Crypto Communities (02:48:53) Ethereum's Evolution and Ideals (02:50:06) Collaboration Between Bitcoin and Ethereum (02:51:10) Diverse Blockchain Future (02:51:45) Is Vitalik a Bitcoin Maximalist? (02:52:59) Community Values and Challenges (02:53:45) Cultural Dynamics in Cryptocurrencies (02:56:05) Layer Two Solutions for Bitcoin (02:59:31) Vitalik's Online Presence (03:00:25) Closing Remarks and Future Guests (03:01:36)
In this episode, Stephan Livera speaks with Matyas Kuchar about the evolving landscape of Bitcoin, particularly focusing on the BTC Prague conference and the changing demographics of Bitcoin enthusiasts. They discuss the shift in sentiment towards Bitcoin, the importance of education in fostering self-sovereignty, and the role of corporate strategies in Bitcoin treasury management. The conversation also touches on the Czech Republic's unique position in the Bitcoin ecosystem and the upcoming BTC Prague conference, which aims to unite the Bitcoin community and promote individual empowerment.Takeaways
Ben Arc is the creator of LNBits: a modular Lightning network wallet which, after 5 years of development, has just launched version 1. To celebrate this remarkable milestone, ”the CEO of Nostr” joins the show to talk about everything interesting in Bitcoin.
// GUEST //Coinbits: https://coinbits.app/breedloveX: https://x.com/contrarymoWebsite: https://davebirnbaum.com/ // SPONSORS //The Farm at Okefenokee: https://okefarm.com/iCoin: https://icointechnology.com/breedloveHeart and Soil Supplements (use discount code BREEDLOVE): https://heartandsoil.co/In Wolf's Clothing: https://wolfnyc.com/Blockware Solutions: https://mining.blockwaresolutions.com/breedloveOn Ramp: https://onrampbitcoin.com/?grsf=breedloveMindlab Pro: https://www.mindlabpro.com/breedloveCoinbits: https://coinbits.app/breedlove // PRODUCTS I ENDORSE //Protect your mobile phone from SIM swap attacks: https://www.efani.com/breedloveNoble Protein (discount code BREEDLOVE for 15% off): https://nobleorigins.com/Lineage Provisions (use discount code BREEDLOVE): https://lineageprovisions.com/?ref=breedlove_22Colorado Craft Beef (use discount code BREEDLOVE): https://coloradocraftbeef.com/ // SUBSCRIBE TO THE CLIPS CHANNEL //https://www.youtube.com/@robertbreedloveclips2996/videos // OUTLINE //0:00 - WiM Trailer1:37 - Privacy: The Most Important Technical Problem for Bitcoin6:49 - Tradeoffs in Privacy and Auditability8:33 - L1 vs L2 Bitcoin Payments15:24 - The Absurdity of Fiat19:59 - The Farm at Okefenokee21:18 - iCoin Technology22:47 - Coinjoin and Bitcoin Privacy29:57 - Tradeoffs in Speed and Finality34:53 - You are the Product on the Internet39:15 - LLM, Coordination, Bitcoin46:37 - Heart and Soil Supplements47:37 - Helping Lightning Startups with In Wolf's Clothing48:29 - Encrypted LLM Communication, Defining Intelligence50:48 - Bitcoin and Joint Stock57:38 - Bitcoin is Physical Bits and Bites1:04:41 - Michael Saylor: Is Bitcoin Energy?1:07:52 - Mine Bitcoin with Blockware Solutions1:09:14 - OnRamp Bitcoin Custody1:11:11 - Money: Trust and Coordination in Trade1:14:49 - The Subjectivity of Value and Time Preference1:22:01 - Covid: How the States Abuses Your Compassion1:41:02 - Bitcoin and The Sovereign Individual Thesis1:46:39 - Mind Lab Pro Supplements1:47:49 - Buy Bitcoin with Coinbits1:49:15 - Bitcoin and Human/AI Action1:51:04 - Bitcoin and AI Coordination2:01:45 - Will We Become Interplanetary?2:04:41 - Is Cyberspace the New Frontier?2:09:10 - What is Constructed Value?2:18:14 - What will Drive Bitcoin's Adoption?2:24:35 - Coinbits Roundups2:31:47 - Closing Thoughts2:35:25 - How to Connect with Dave Birnbaum // PODCAST //Podcast Website: https://whatismoneypodcast.com/Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-what-is-money-show/id1541404400Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/25LPvm8EewBGyfQQ1abIsERSS Feed: https://feeds.simplecast.com/MLdpYXYI // SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL //Bitcoin: 3D1gfxKZKMtfWaD1bkwiR6JsDzu6e9bZQ7Sats via Strike: https://strike.me/breedlove22Dollars via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/RBreedloveDollars via Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/Robert-Breedlove-2
In recent years, Bitcoin has undergone a major culture shift which promotes stagnation, complacency & simping to politicians over maximizing the utility of the money. Eric Voskuil & John Carvalho join the show to remind everyone what the mission really is. State of Bitcoin - [00:01:17] Bitcoin Maximalism - [00:01:32] Bitcoin as a Ponzi Scheme - [00:02:27] Transaction Fees - [00:04:57] History of Bitcoin Tokens (Omni, Counterparty, Mastercoin) Definition of Tokens - [00:08:01] Custodial Problems with Tokens - [00:09:12] Bitcoin and Fiat Money - [00:11:09] Why Bitcoiners Talk About Money - [00:15:49] Stateless Money - [00:17:44] Austrian Economics and Bitcoin - [00:21:01] Monetary Inflation vs. Price Inflation - [00:26:01] Cantillon Effect - [00:29:00] Dollar Inflation and Gold - [00:33:59] Misunderstandings in the Bitcoin Community - [00:41:42] Bitcoin Semantics - [00:43:21] Bitcoin Divisibility - [01:00:13] Bitcoin Deflation - [01:03:41] Maxi Price and One Coin Assumption - [01:07:43] Competition Between Monies - [01:13:42] Scaling Bitcoin - [01:22:41] Bitcoin for the Unbanked - [01:26:14] Maximizing Throughput - [01:36:11] Right to Fork - [01:45:45] Running Old Bitcoin Versions - [01:51:35] Bitcoin as Money vs. Credit - [01:56:26] Settlement in Bitcoin - [02:07:45] Peer-to-Peer Credit Systems - [02:14:47] Fractional Reserve Banking - [02:26:32] Bitkit Wallet and Spending vs. Saving - [02:36:13] Block size increases and Bitcoin adoption - [03:00:00] Scaling Bitcoin and transaction validation - [03:01:00] Bitcoin overflowing into Litecoin and quantum resistance - [03:02:00] Pruning historical data and exchange price - [03:03:00] Lightning system complexity and Bitcoin's value proposition - [03:05:00] Bitcoin as an investment and speculation - [03:07:00] Optimizing Bitcoin throughput and developer motivations - [03:09:00] Scaling Bitcoin and speculation - [03:11:00] Shitcoins, scams, and Bitcoin's security model - [03:13:00] Litecoin's extension blocks and Mimblewimble - [03:15:00] Bitcoin's security and the legitimacy of altcoins - [03:17:00] Shitcoins and Bitcoin's essential aspects - [03:19:00] Majority hash power censorship and attacks - [03:21:00] Bitcoin speculation and market dynamics - [03:23:00] Michael Saylor's Bitcoin strategy and MicroStrategy's history - [03:26:00] Saylor's Bitcoin investment and market manipulation - [03:29:00] Saylor's stock sales and Bitcoin's future - [03:31:00] Blockstream's accomplishments and the Chia project - [03:33:00] Blockstream's influence and SegWit - [03:35:00] Adam Back's influence and Blockstream's hype - [03:37:00] Bitcoin Core's power and the need for competition - [03:39:00] Initial block download performance and Bitcoin Core's architecture - [03:41:00] UTXO store and Bitcoin Core's performance - [03:43:00] Parallelism in Bitcoin Core and assumed UTXO - [03:45:00] Initial block download time and Bitcoin Core's scalability - [03:47:00] Monoculture in Bitcoin development and IBD performance - [03:49:00] UTXO cache and shutdown time - [03:51:00] Trust assumptions in Bitcoin Core and UTXO commitments - [03:53:00] Bitcoin Core's halting problem and theoretical download limits - [03:55:00] Sponsorships: Sideshift, LayerTwo Labs, Ciurea - [03:57:00] Drivechains and ZK rollups - [04:02:00] ZK rollups and liquidity on Ethereum - [04:04:00] Drivechains and altcoins - [04:06:00] Scaling Bitcoin and cultural taboos - [04:08:00] Engineer-driven change and Monero's approach - [04:10:00] Confidential transactionsL Zano & DarkFi - [04:12:00] Fungibility and Bitcoin's metadata - [04:14:00] Privacy, metadata, and state surveillance - [04:16:00] Privacy, taint, and Bitcoin mixing - [04:18:00] Bitcoin mixing and plausible deniability - [04:20:00] Mining and company registration - [04:22:00] Block reward and hash power - [04:24:00] Privacy and mixing - [04:26:00] Privacy in the Bitcoin whitepaper and zero-knowledge proofs - [04:28:00] Dark Wallet and John Dillon - [04:30:00] Dark Wallet and Li Bitcoin - [04:32:00] Amir Taaki's projects and software development - [04:34:00] Dark Wallet funding and developer costs - [04:36:00] Libbitcoin's code size and developer salaries - [04:38:00] John Dillon and Greg Maxwell - [04:40:00] Opportunistic encryption and BIPs 151/152 - [04:42:00] Dandelion and privacy - [04:44:00] BIP 37 and Bloom filters - [04:46:00] Consensus cleanup and the Time Warp bug - [04:48:00] Merkle tree malleability and 64-byte transactions - [04:50:00] 64-byte transactions and SPV wallets - [04:52:00] Coinbase transactions and malleability - [04:54:00] Invalid block hashes and DoS vectors - [04:56:00] Core bug and ban list overflow - [04:58:00] Storing hashes of invalid blocks - [05:00:00] DoS vectors and invalid blocks - [05:02:00] Malleated Merkle trees and 64-byte transactions - [05:04:00] 64-byte transactions and Merkle tree malleability - [05:06:00] Null points and malleated blocks - [05:08:00] Redundant checks and the inflation soft fork - [05:10:00] Op code separator and code complexity - [05:12:00] Transaction order in a block - [05:14:00] Forward references in blocks - [05:16:00] Coinbase transaction rules - [05:18:00] Time Warp bug and Litecoin support - [05:20:00] Quadratic op roll bug - [05:22:00] Stack implementation and op roll - [05:24:00] Templatized stack and op roll optimization - [05:26:00] Non-standard transactions and direct submission to miners - [05:28:00] Mempool policy and DoS - [05:30:00] Monoculture and competing implementations - [05:32:00] Consensus cleanup and Berkeley DB - [05:34:00] Code vs. consensus - [05:36:00] Bitcoin Knots and Luke-jr - [05:38:00] 300 kilobyte node and Luke-jr's views - [05:40:00] Bitcoin Knots and performance - [05:42:00] Bitcoin Knots and censorship - [05:44:00] Censorship and miner incentives - [05:46:00] Censorship and hash power - [05:48:00] Soft forks and censorship - [05:50:00] Ordinals and covenants - [05:52:00] RBF and zero-confirmation transactions - [05:54:00] Double spending and merchant risk - [05:56:00] First-seen mempool policy and RBF - [05:58:00] Low-value transactions and RBF - [06:00:00] Computational cost of actions - [06:00:15] Building infrastructure and system disruption - [06:00:20] Threat actors and economic disruption - [06:00:26] Double spending detection and system control - [06:00:29] Safety and manageability of zero comp transactions - [06:00:41] Security of zero comp transactions - [06:00:51] RBF (Replace-by-fee) and its relevance - [06:01:06] Bitcoin's mempool and transaction handling - [06:01:25] Mempool overflow and resource management - [06:02:08] Transaction storage and mining - [06:02:45] Miners' incentives and fee maximization - [06:03:07] Mempool policy and DOS protection - [06:03:41] Transaction validation and block context - [06:04:11] Fee limits and DOS protection - [06:05:13] Transaction sets, graph processing, and fee maximization - [06:06:24] Mining empty blocks and hash rate - [06:07:34] Replace-by-fee (RBF) and its purpose - [06:08:07] Infrastructure and RBF - [06:09:14] Transaction pool and conflict resolution - [06:09:44] Disk space, fees, and DOS protection - [06:11:06] Fee rates and DOS protection - [06:12:22] Opt-in RBF and mempool full RBF - [06:13:45] Intent flagging in transactions - [06:14:45] Miners obeying user intent and system value - [06:17:06] Socialized gain and individual expense - [06:18:17] Service reliability and profitability - [06:19:06] First-seen mempool policy - [06:19:37] Mempool policy and implementation - [06:20:06] User perspective on transaction priority - [06:21:14] Mempool conflicts and double spending - [06:22:10] CPFP (Child Pays for Parent) - [06:22:24] Mempool management and fee rates - [06:24:30] Mempool complexity and Peter Wuille's work - [06:25:54] Memory and disk resource management - [06:27:37] First-seen policy and miner profitability - [06:29:25] Miners' preference for first-seen - [06:30:04] Computational cost and fee optimization - [06:31:10] Security, Cypherpunk mentality, and the state - [06:35:25] Bitcoin's security model and censorship resistance - [06:41:02] State censorship and fee increases - [06:43:00] State's incentive to censor - [06:46:15] Lightning Network and regulation - [06:48:41] NGU (Number Go Up) and deference to the state - [06:51:10] Reasons for discussing Bitcoin's security model - [06:53:25] Bitcoin's potential subversion and resilience - [06:55:50] Lightning Network subsidies and scaling - [06:57:36] Mining protocols and security - [07:02:02] Braidpool and centralized mining - [07:04:44] Compact blocks and latency reduction - [07:07:23] Orphan rates and mining centralization - [07:08:16] Privacy and threat environments - [07:08:40] Social graphs, reputation, and identity - [07:10:23] Social scalability and Bitcoin - [07:12:36] Individual empowerment and anonymity - [07:16:48] Trust in society and the role of the state - [07:18:01] Payment methods and trust - [07:20:15] Credit reporting agencies and regulation - [07:22:17] Hardware wallets and self-custody - [07:23:46] Security vulnerabilities in Ledger - [07:27:14] Disclosure of secrets on Ledger devices - [07:36:27] Compromised machines and hardware wallets - [07:42:00] Methods for transferring signed transactions - [07:48:25] Threat scenarios and hardware wallet security - [07:50:47] Hardware wallet usage and personal comfort - [07:56:40] Coldcard wallets and user experience - [08:02:23] Security issues in the VX project - [08:03:25] Seed generation and hardware randomness - [08:12:05] Mastering Bitcoin and random number generation - [08:17:41]
The life of Michael Parenti is truly extraordinary, as he witnessed two significant cultural movements that changed the word. Growing up in Malibu, he went to school with the likes of Sean Penn and Charlie Sheen, met a young Madonna before she was an international star, hung out in Bob Dylan's house, and saw live acts like Nirvana and Red Hot Chilli Peppers long before MTV made them famous. As an internet entrepreneur, he became involved with the Bitcoin Foundation and also saw the early days of Ethereum. He attended hundreds of events, spoke with some of the people who are completely unapproachable today, and found himself in the middle of something magical, naive, and revolutionary. In this episode, we talk about the backstage politics that Michael Parenti witnessed and what it was like to believe in the cyhpherpunk dream more than a decade ago. Time stamps: Intro (00:00:48) Why Michael Is Exiled (00:01:54) Mainstream Adoption (00:02:11) Price Manipulation? (00:07:02) Debate on Bitcoin's Future (00:10:03) Ethereum as a Layer for Bitcoin (00:11:22) Bitcoin's Limitations (00:14:30) Government Surveillance and Compliance (00:16:21) Michael's Personal Experience with the Government (00:19:22) Reality of Government Power (00:21:21) Citrea (00:22:44) Room Mates at Pizza Day (00:24:34) Networking at Paralelni Polis (00:26:02) Ethereum as a Sidechain with WBTC (00:28:16) Bitcoin Foundation Experiences (00:32:06) Concerns Over Bitcoin's Direction (00:35:17) New York Agreement (00:37:28) Lightning Network & Disappointment (00:41:10) Bitcoin's Value and Community (00:45:13) Layer Two Labs and Bitcoin Maximalism (00:47:23) Challenges of Rootstock (00:52:17) Blockstream & Fear of Change (00:54:23) Incentives and Bitcoin's Stagnation (00:57:31) Self-Custody Challenges (01:00:38) Satoshi's Naivety (01:05:19) Zcash Is Satoshi's Vision (01:07:28) Historical Context of Bitcoin (01:12:10) Mt. Gox and Early Exchanges (01:14:55) Vitalik Buterin's Contributions (01:16:36) Toxicity in Bitcoin Development (01:18:35) Legal Uncertainty in Bitcoin (01:22:00) Ethereum's Development Model (01:24:19) Bitcoin's Future and Upgrades (01:29:09) SideShift (01:30:35) NoOnes (01:32:28) Dysfunction of Bitcoin Communities (01:34:06) Bitcoin Foundation: The Good, The Bad, The Corruption (01:35:36) Social Media's Role in Bitcoin's Evolution (02:01:10) Wikileaks and Bitcoin Intersection (02:02:09) Early Bitcoin Community Dynamics (02:04:20) Cypherpunks Mailing List Involvement (02:05:03) Wikileaks and Decentralized Media (02:06:45) Bitcoin as a Response to Financial Blockades (02:12:34) Transition to Bitcoin Foundation (02:15:55) Reflections on Bitcoin's Growth (02:18:08) Community Dynamics Across Cryptocurrencies (02:20:42) Samson Mow (02:23:28) Inflation and Daily Costs (02:27:00) Crisis of Conscience (02:28:56) Leaving Paralelni Polis and Event Fatigue (02:29:49) Celebrity Encounters in Malibu (02:30:36) Transition from Bitcoin to Ethereum (02:39:02) Music Journalism, Television & Editing (02:43:24) Crypto's Emergence (02:48:54) The Evolution of Crypto Communities (02:52:27) Government and Capital Accumulation (02:53:28) Bitcoin's Role in the Future (02:56:58) Critique of Stablecoins (03:02:37) The Need for Multiple Cryptocurrencies (03:03:57) The Absurdity of Bitcoin Narratives (03:05:02) The Toxicity of Crypto Tribes (03:09:25) Disillusionment with Cryptocurrency (03:20:43) The Future of Bitcoin (03:24:05) The Death of the American Empire, Climate Change & Economic Realities (03:25:19) Disruption and Change (03:31:05) Discussion on Realpolitik (03:34:00) Julian Assange's Impact (03:34:56) Podconf (03:36:10) Future of Bitcoin Forks (03:38:10) Redistribution of Satoshi's Coins (03:39:53) Privacy Magazine (03:43:17) Is Peter Todd Satoshi Nakamoto? (03:43:50) Identifying Satoshi (03:46:22) Early Bitcoin Experience (04:03:09) MultiBit Wallet (04:04:41) Advice to Younger Self (04:05:25) Bitcoin Foundation Today (04:06:00) Memes and Education (04:12:24) Influence on Ethereum Community (04:15:50) Regrets About NFTs (04:18:09) Personal Aspirations vs. Wealth (04:23:18) Trust Fund Kids in Los Angeles (04:24:50) Nabila Yacht DJing (04:27:51) Classic Cars vs. Luxury Vehicles (04:28:49) Selling Family Heirlooms (04:34:07) Being Neighbors with Mick Fleetwood and Chris Carter (04:34:40) Disinterest in AI (04:36:43) Focus on Privacy Tech (04:39:39) Concerns About Universal Basic Income (04:41:55) Geopolitical Implications of Technology (04:44:23) Fascination with Physics (04:51:00) Optimism for the Future & Aging (04:54:00) Cultural Nostalgia (04:58:00) Opportunities in the Internet Age (05:05:05) Historical Perspective on Human Advancement & Optimism (05:10:20) Current State of Layer Two Solutions (05:16:30) Concerns about Bitcoin's Transaction Fees (05:19:27) Future of Decentralized Exchanges (05:22:39) Incentives for Bitcoin Holders (05:24:49) Bringing Use Cases to Bitcoin (05:27:17) Impact of Other Blockchains on Bitcoin (05:29:43) Gold vs. Bitcoin Narrative (05:31:16) Physical Gold Demand (05:34:00) Lexus or Supra? (05:36:37) Bitcoin Flipping Gold? (05:37:30) Privacy Conference Planning (05:44:02) Live Viewership Metrics (06:09:09) Bob Dylan (06:12:45) Tom Petty Anecdote (06:19:09) Nirvana in Vienna (06:26:37) Desert Sessions (06:28:17) Early ZZ Top Albums (06:29:06) Stevie Ray Vaughan (06:31:11) Chess Records and Iconic Artists (06:31:44) Meeting Little Richard (06:32:50) Video Production Beginnings (06:32:50) Gary Busey's Music (06:35:04) Malibu Music Scene (06:36:23) The Doors Film Project (06:37:42) Meeting Robin Williams in Acting Class (06:41:00) Oingo Boingo and Danny Elfman (06:43:17) Decline of Western Civilization (06:45:52) Managing the Surf Punks (06:46:16) Fear and Punk Scene (06:47:09) Ramones Concert Experience (06:50:27) Talking Heads and Ramones (06:51:03) David Bowie's Influence (06:52:40) A Teenage Adventure with Led Zeppelin (06:54:07) David Lee Roth in Hollywood (07:04:39) Pink Floyd Tour Experience (07:10:47) Record-Breaking Podcast (07:12:02) First Big Concert Experience (07:14:47) Introduction to Hip Hop (07:17:08) Family's Music Background (07:22:21) Meeting Donald Fagen of Steely Dan (07:26:38) David Bowie Records (07:30:46) Critique of Modern Music (07:38:13) Music Journalism Experience (07:41:19) Bitcoin Takeover Podcast Theme Song (07:41:59) Girlfriend's Comment (07:43:11) Regret Over 1965 Fender Twin Reverb (07:43:28) Mesa Boogie Story (07:44:31) Promotions (07:49:24) Proof of Work Summit (07:50:05) Difficult Questions at Conferences (08:00:06) Experience in Music Journalism (08:01:29) Cultural Judgment and Values (08:02:00) Observations on Events (08:02:35) Podcast Purpose (08:03:02) American Exceptionalism (08:03:52) Interpersonal Interactions (08:04:06) Personal Growth and Change (08:04:40) Tribalism and Online Culture (08:05:04) Decentralization and Freedom (08:06:56) Critique of Monero Community (08:08:00) Record Podcast Duration (08:09:44)
Venice.ai (VVV) ist der KI-Coin der Stunde - mit explosivem Launch und massivem Airdrop. Was ist dran am Hype?
Bitcoin ist nicht für den Staat gemacht, sagt Austrian Economist Hubertus Hofkirchner. Aber um zurück zu den Cypherpunk-Wurzeln zu kehren, brauche es etwas, das viele Bitcoiner ablehnen: Eine Kreditgeldschicht, die das Wirtschaften erleichtert.Hol dir JETZT 21% Rabatt für 6 Monate bei COINFINITY mit dem Code
In Unione Europea è entrato in vigore il MICA, Intesa Sanpaolo acquista Bitcoin, Meta li valuta per la liquidità dell'azienda: a pochi giorni dall'insediamento di Donald Trump cosa sta succedendo allo status di Bitcoin in Occidente?Inoltre vi sveliamo l'esistenza del tesoro nascosto, festeggiamo il vincitore del Finney Freedom Prize e raccontiamo il lato scuro del mining in Etiopia.It's showtime!
ICYMI (there were problems with the site mid-week), check out my forecasts for 2025, always one of my more popular pieces of the year.He has invented an entirely new digital system of money with the potential to change the world as we know it. He has watched it grow to a market cap of over two trillion dollars, with as many as 100 million users worldwide, including actual nations, and the US President promising a strategic bitcoin reserve in his 2024 election campaign. He has half the internet nosing about and trying to figure out who he is. His own coins are worth about $100 billion, making him one of the richest people on earth.Yet he has managed to stay completely unknown and anonymous. It is almost unbelievable.Never mind Big Foot, the Mary Rose or the Loch Ness Monster, the mystery of ‘Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?' is perhaps the greatest mystery the world has ever known - or not known.There have been thousands of investigative attempts, articles, blog posts and discussion groups involving probably millions of man hours dedicated to pinning down this man, with names bandied about from Elon Musk to little known computer scientists. They have all failed. Satoshi's identity is as bulletproof as his code.For my 2014 book, Bitcoin: the Future of Money?, from which today's piece is taken, I ventured on the same doomed journey. I spent many months poring over the 80,000 words Satoshi wrote in the three years he was active online, looking for clues. What unusual words did he use? Does he make any spelling mistakes? Does he have any quirky grammatical habits? I analysed it in such detail I can tell you where he places brackets, how he uses hyphens, even how many spaces he uses after a full stop and how that changed – all in the hope of finding idiosyncrasies that appear in the writing of other Cypherpunks - clues which might lead me to him.Profiling a genius – some broad brushstrokes‘I've had the good fortune to know many brilliant people over the course of my life, so I recognize the signs.' Hal FinneySatoshi reached such high levels of expertise in so many different fields that many believe he can't possibly be one person. He is a polymath. It is not just the breadth and depth of his knowledge, but, more importantly, its specificity that makes him unique.In order to first conceive a new system of electronic cash, one would have to have thought extensively about the nature of money and its history. Money is a subject that has found more interest in the last few years with the emergence of bitcoin, the 2000s bull market in gold, the financial crisis and the growth of libertarianism, but, in 2007–8, when bitcoin was conceived and first introduced, books and academic papers on the subject were few and far between. The subject did not have broad appeal.How many of those who cared actually had the ability to design a system like this? It is one thing declaring what needs to be done; it is another putting it into practice.Satoshi must have had expertise in computer coding, mathematics, databases, accounting, peer-to-peer systems, digital ownership, law, smart contracts, cryptography and monetary history.He had to have had experience in academia. The act of submitting a white paper, its presentation, the impeccable referencing – it all denotes academia, even government.It's also easy to infer from the way bitcoin was launched that Satoshi had experience in open-source tech start-ups.The resilience of the code suggests he had computer hacking experience. Moreover, his ability to keep his identity hidden, despite the fact that half the internet is trying to figure out who he is, suggests significant practical experience in staying anonymous. It also means he has the trust of those who know him, if anyone did, to keep his secret.Then there's the matter of his prose. It is consistent and of such a high standard it seems he must have had experience as a writer – perhaps he was a blogger, an academic or an author. He was also quite humble and dismissive of his ability in this regard. ‘I'm better with code than with words', he said.It's clear from his posts that he had the awareness to see shortcomings in his system, and the patience not to try to do too much too quickly. He had the foresight to perceive problems before they arose and the meticulousness to prepare for them. He appears to have remained calm and measured in the face of difficulty, but also of his own success. He treated those two imposters just the same. Signs of arrogance are hard to find.Then there's the way that bitcoin was introduced to the world. PR, like economics, is not an exact science. Sometimes something gains traction, sometimes it doesn't – and there's no explaining why. Bitcoin has been a PR masterstroke. The coverage it has received has been enormous. It gets more publicity than gold, which is the oldest form of money there is. Satoshi cannot take all of the credit for this, but he has to take some of it. He understood when to make his ideas known, at what point to release his creation into the open-source world and he had the self-efacement to let go of it for others to develop. He promoted his idea with huge under-statement – but the scheduled creation of bitcoins meant there would be no shortage of bitcoin-holders to do the promoting for him.So we can add an understanding of both PR and psychology to his list of qualities. His knowledge of how people on the internet, in the open source world and in large institutions work, allowed him to progress his creation.Finally, he has a certain honesty. Despite Bitcoin's similarities to a pyramid or Ponzi scheme, he never pumped-and- dumped his creation. Tempting though it must have been, he never sold the bitcoins he mined. That also suggests he already had money.There are not many people like this.From mathematics to computer programming to economics and monetary history to politics to PR and psychology to cryptography to business acumen and vision to plain old written English – in all of these fields he excelled. To cap it all, he's probably good-looking too.It's early in history to be drawing this sort of comparison, I know, but there are many parallels between Satoshi and Isaac Newton. Newton was a brilliant scientist and mathematician, of course, and an alchemist. But he was also Master of the Royal Mint. He redesigned England's monetary system, putting us onto the gold standard on which Britain's colossal progress during the next 200 years was built.If you haven't already, take a look at my buddy Charlie Morris's monthly gold report, Atlas Pulse. It is, in my view, the best gold newsletter out there, and, best of all, it's free. Sign up here.First instinctMany believe that Satoshi was Hal Finney, the veteran programmer, who invented reusable proof of works, one of the models on which bitcoin was based. This was my first instinct. Often such “first instincts”, for reasons I cannot begin to explain, prove correct. When Satoshi first announced bitcoin on the cryptography mailing list, nobody replied. The message was ignored for two days. In the short-attention-span land of the web, two days is a long time to wait for some feedback on something you've spent 18 months working on. Two days is a long time to wait when you might have nailed something Cypherpunks had been dreaming about for 20 years.The first reply came from Finney. Was he replying to himself in order to generate some interest and discussion – to bump his thread? Replying to your own posts, known as ‘sock-puppeting', is not uncommon. Let us pursue this line of thinking a little further.Finney was born in 1956 – in that same two-year golden window as so many computer-scientist geniuses that would change the world (from Bill Gates to Tim Berners-Lee to Steve Jobs) were born – and spent his life working on cryptographic systems. He was number two to Phil Zimmerman, the pioneer in the field, for many years at the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) Corporation, where they developed the most widely used email encryption software in the world.Such were his beliefs in privacy, freedom, and Cypherpunk, Finney was known to spend many nights writing and developing code for free, just because he believed in the work.In 1993, he published the paper, ‘Detecting Double-Spending'. Solving the double-spending problem (ensuring the same money cannot be used twice) was, of course, the key problem with digital cash. It was what Satoshi was so excited about when he proposed Bitcoin. In 2004, Finney developed the ‘reusable proof-of-work' (RPOW) system, which coders regarded as a brilliant step forward – but his system never saw any economic use until b itcoin.Finney is one of the few people to have the background and expertise to have developed bitcoin – but he is also an obvious person to take an immediate interest.In his very first reply to Satoshi's announcement, he wrote:“As an amusing thought experiment, imagine that Bitcoin is successful and becomes the dominant payment system in use throughout the world. Then the total value of the currency should be equal to the total value of all the wealth in the world. Current estimates of total worldwide household wealth that I have found range from $100 trillion to $300 trillion. With 20 million coins, that gives each coin a value of about $10 million.”The comment shows extraordinary insight. Many now see this “amusing thought experiment” as inevitable. But could it also be somebody trying to get others excited? Very possibly.(By the way, ‘thought experiment' is an expression Satoshi himself uses – though it is not uncommon in coding circles).Of the many names touted as Satoshi, Finney's writing style is one of the few that match. The major difference is Satoshi used British spelling and Finney does not. There is a similar calm, understated tone, similar use of language, similar punctuation habits: two spaces after a full stop. In stylometrics tests carried out by John Noecker Jr., chief scientific officer at text analysis experts Juola & Associates, Finney consistently scored high. (However, veteran cypherpunk blogger, Nick Szabo, scored higher). Then I noticed both Finney and Satoshi had ‘@gmx.com' email addresses. (GMX is a free email provider based in Germany. Many Germans use GMX, while Americans and British tend to gravitate towards Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo. Today they would probably gravitate towards P rotonmail). Was this just coincidence – or was it a clue?Why did Satoshi disappear?In December 2010, Satoshi made his final post and then disappeared from the internet.Why?Perhaps to protect his anonymity in the face of rising interest from the media and, more significantly, the authorities: to protect his own safety as the WikiLeaks panic began to erupt. (After Wikileaks was shut out of the financial system, many began sending it bitcoin. The effect, ironically, was thus to make it an extraordinarily wealthy organisation).But there is also the possibility that he disappeared because he was ill.In 2009, Finney was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – the same disease from which Stephen Hawking suffered. It is, for the most part, fatal and claims its victims within two to five years. ‘My symptoms were mild at first,' he says, ‘and I continued to work, but fatigue and voice problems forced me to retire in early 2011. Since then the disease has continued its inexorable progression.' Finney, eventually died in August 2014.In March 2013 he said, ‘Today, I am essentially paralyzed. I am fed through a tube, and my breathing is assisted through another tube. I operate the computer using a commercial eye-tracker system. It also has a speech synthesizer, so this is my voice now. I spend all day in my power wheelchair. I worked up an interface using an Arduino so that I can adjust my wheelchair's position using my eyes. It has been an adjustment, but my life is not too bad. I can still read, listen to music, and watch TV and movies. I recently discovered that I can even write code. It's very slow, probably 50 times slower than I was before. But I still love programming and it gives me goals.'Could a terrible illness be the reason Satoshi withdrew?Finney was one of the first to mine bitcoins. What did he do with them?I mined several blocks over the next days. But I turned it off because it made my computer run hot, and the fan noise bothered me. In retrospect, I wish I had kept it up longer, but on the other hand, I was extraordinarily lucky to be there at the beginning. It's one of those glass half full, half empty things.The next I heard of Bitcoin was late 2010, when I was surprised to find that it was not only still going, bitcoins actually had monetary value. I dusted off my old wallet, and was relieved to discover that my bitcoins were still there. As the price climbed up to real money, I transferred the coins into an offline wallet, where hopefully they'll be worth something to my heirs. Those discussions about inheriting your bitcoins are of more than academic interest. My bitcoins are stored in our safe deposit box, and my son and daughter are tech-savvy. I think they're safe enough. I'm comfortable with my legacy.Finney sold many of his bitcoins in order to pay for medical care, many at around $100. Satoshi never moved his.If you are buying gold to protect yourself in these uncertain times, I recommend The Pure Gold Company. Pricing is competitive, quality of service is high. They deliver to the UK, the US, Canada and Europe or you can store your gold with them. More here.We are all SatoshiFinney was a key player in the development of Bitcoin, no doubt. He was one of the first to ask real questions. He managed to understand from the start the inner workings of the Bitcoin protocol and its potential. He explored the weaknesses in the Bitcoin code – one of them is even named 'the Finney Attack'. He had many exchanges with Satoshi on the Bitcoin forums as they progressed the code and developed new versions. He asked question after question. But these very exchanges show there were two people talking. On January 10th, 2009, for example, Finney publicly complained to Satoshi that Bitcoin had crashed when he tried to receive a transaction. If it was his own code, and he was transacting with himself, he would surely have quietly fixed it himself.Moreover, coders all agree that Finney's coding style – and the style of the comments written in the code – is different from Satoshi's. Also, Finney preferred to code in the language C, whereas Bitcoin is coded in C++. This is something Finney himself confirms: 'I've done some changes to the Bitcoin code, and my style is completely different from Satoshi's. I program in C, which is compatible with C++, but I don't understand the tricks that Satoshi used.'Shortly before the publication of this book, the Forbes journalist Andy Greenberg published an interview with Hal Finney. Finney was now too ill to even speak – he could only raise his eyebrows to say yes. His son showed Greenberg fifteen email exchanges between Satoshi and Finney from January 2009. They mainly focused on bugs Finney had found in the code, to which Satoshi replied with fixes - and notes of thanks. Greenberg was also shown Finney's bitcoin wallet – with the transfers between Satoshi and Finney made back in 2009. As Greenberg notes, the wallet evidence and the Gmail timestamps in the emails would have been hard to forge. To cap it all, there is the fact that in 2009, at precisely the same moment Satoshi sent time-stamped e-mails, Finney, a keen runner, was photographed in the middle of a ten-mile race. Nobody, not even Satoshi Nakamoto, can be in two places at once.Bitcoin could not have happened without the work of Finney.If Satoshi Nakamoto was several people, Finney might have been one of them. But if Satoshi is an individual, Hal Finney was not him. This is an extract from my 2014 book, Bitcoin: the Future of Money? I hear the audiobook's excellent. ;)If you missed them (there were problems with the site midweek), check out my forecasts for 2025. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe
ICYMI (there were problems with the site mid-week), check out my forecasts for 2025, always one of my more popular pieces of the year.He has invented an entirely new digital system of money with the potential to change the world as we know it. He has watched it grow to a market cap of over two trillion dollars, with as many as 100 million users worldwide, including actual nations, and the US President promising a strategic bitcoin reserve in his 2024 election campaign. He has half the internet nosing about and trying to figure out who he is. His own coins are worth about $100 billion, making him one of the richest people on earth.Yet he has managed to stay completely unknown and anonymous. It is almost unbelievable.Never mind Big Foot, the Mary Rose or the Loch Ness Monster, the mystery of ‘Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?' is perhaps the greatest mystery the world has ever known - or not known.There have been thousands of investigative attempts, articles, blog posts and discussion groups involving probably millions of man hours dedicated to pinning down this man, with names bandied about from Elon Musk to little known computer scientists. They have all failed. Satoshi's identity is as bulletproof as his code.For my 2014 book, Bitcoin: the Future of Money?, from which today's piece is taken, I ventured on the same doomed journey. I spent many months poring over the 80,000 words Satoshi wrote in the three years he was active online, looking for clues. What unusual words did he use? Does he make any spelling mistakes? Does he have any quirky grammatical habits? I analysed it in such detail I can tell you where he places brackets, how he uses hyphens, even how many spaces he uses after a full stop and how that changed – all in the hope of finding idiosyncrasies that appear in the writing of other Cypherpunks - clues which might lead me to him.Profiling a genius – some broad brushstrokes‘I've had the good fortune to know many brilliant people over the course of my life, so I recognize the signs.' Hal FinneySatoshi reached such high levels of expertise in so many different fields that many believe he can't possibly be one person. He is a polymath. It is not just the breadth and depth of his knowledge, but, more importantly, its specificity that makes him unique.In order to first conceive a new system of electronic cash, one would have to have thought extensively about the nature of money and its history. Money is a subject that has found more interest in the last few years with the emergence of bitcoin, the 2000s bull market in gold, the financial crisis and the growth of libertarianism, but, in 2007–8, when bitcoin was conceived and first introduced, books and academic papers on the subject were few and far between. The subject did not have broad appeal.How many of those who cared actually had the ability to design a system like this? It is one thing declaring what needs to be done; it is another putting it into practice.Satoshi must have had expertise in computer coding, mathematics, databases, accounting, peer-to-peer systems, digital ownership, law, smart contracts, cryptography and monetary history.He had to have had experience in academia. The act of submitting a white paper, its presentation, the impeccable referencing – it all denotes academia, even government.It's also easy to infer from the way bitcoin was launched that Satoshi had experience in open-source tech start-ups.The resilience of the code suggests he had computer hacking experience. Moreover, his ability to keep his identity hidden, despite the fact that half the internet is trying to figure out who he is, suggests significant practical experience in staying anonymous. It also means he has the trust of those who know him, if anyone did, to keep his secret.Then there's the matter of his prose. It is consistent and of such a high standard it seems he must have had experience as a writer – perhaps he was a blogger, an academic or an author. He was also quite humble and dismissive of his ability in this regard. ‘I'm better with code than with words', he said.It's clear from his posts that he had the awareness to see shortcomings in his system, and the patience not to try to do too much too quickly. He had the foresight to perceive problems before they arose and the meticulousness to prepare for them. He appears to have remained calm and measured in the face of difficulty, but also of his own success. He treated those two imposters just the same. Signs of arrogance are hard to find.Then there's the way that bitcoin was introduced to the world. PR, like economics, is not an exact science. Sometimes something gains traction, sometimes it doesn't – and there's no explaining why. Bitcoin has been a PR masterstroke. The coverage it has received has been enormous. It gets more publicity than gold, which is the oldest form of money there is. Satoshi cannot take all of the credit for this, but he has to take some of it. He understood when to make his ideas known, at what point to release his creation into the open-source world and he had the self-efacement to let go of it for others to develop. He promoted his idea with huge under-statement – but the scheduled creation of bitcoins meant there would be no shortage of bitcoin-holders to do the promoting for him.So we can add an understanding of both PR and psychology to his list of qualities. His knowledge of how people on the internet, in the open source world and in large institutions work, allowed him to progress his creation.Finally, he has a certain honesty. Despite Bitcoin's similarities to a pyramid or Ponzi scheme, he never pumped-and- dumped his creation. Tempting though it must have been, he never sold the bitcoins he mined. That also suggests he already had money.There are not many people like this.From mathematics to computer programming to economics and monetary history to politics to PR and psychology to cryptography to business acumen and vision to plain old written English – in all of these fields he excelled. To cap it all, he's probably good-looking too.It's early in history to be drawing this sort of comparison, I know, but there are many parallels between Satoshi and Isaac Newton. Newton was a brilliant scientist and mathematician, of course, and an alchemist. But he was also Master of the Royal Mint. He redesigned England's monetary system, putting us onto the gold standard on which Britain's colossal progress during the next 200 years was built.If you haven't already, take a look at my buddy Charlie Morris's monthly gold report, Atlas Pulse. It is, in my view, the best gold newsletter out there, and, best of all, it's free. Sign up here.First instinctMany believe that Satoshi was Hal Finney, the veteran programmer, who invented reusable proof of works, one of the models on which bitcoin was based. This was my first instinct. Often such “first instincts”, for reasons I cannot begin to explain, prove correct. When Satoshi first announced bitcoin on the cryptography mailing list, nobody replied. The message was ignored for two days. In the short-attention-span land of the web, two days is a long time to wait for some feedback on something you've spent 18 months working on. Two days is a long time to wait when you might have nailed something Cypherpunks had been dreaming about for 20 years.The first reply came from Finney. Was he replying to himself in order to generate some interest and discussion – to bump his thread? Replying to your own posts, known as ‘sock-puppeting', is not uncommon. Let us pursue this line of thinking a little further.Finney was born in 1956 – in that same two-year golden window as so many computer-scientist geniuses that would change the world (from Bill Gates to Tim Berners-Lee to Steve Jobs) were born – and spent his life working on cryptographic systems. He was number two to Phil Zimmerman, the pioneer in the field, for many years at the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) Corporation, where they developed the most widely used email encryption software in the world.Such were his beliefs in privacy, freedom, and Cypherpunk, Finney was known to spend many nights writing and developing code for free, just because he believed in the work.In 1993, he published the paper, ‘Detecting Double-Spending'. Solving the double-spending problem (ensuring the same money cannot be used twice) was, of course, the key problem with digital cash. It was what Satoshi was so excited about when he proposed Bitcoin. In 2004, Finney developed the ‘reusable proof-of-work' (RPOW) system, which coders regarded as a brilliant step forward – but his system never saw any economic use until b itcoin.Finney is one of the few people to have the background and expertise to have developed bitcoin – but he is also an obvious person to take an immediate interest.In his very first reply to Satoshi's announcement, he wrote:“As an amusing thought experiment, imagine that Bitcoin is successful and becomes the dominant payment system in use throughout the world. Then the total value of the currency should be equal to the total value of all the wealth in the world. Current estimates of total worldwide household wealth that I have found range from $100 trillion to $300 trillion. With 20 million coins, that gives each coin a value of about $10 million.”The comment shows extraordinary insight. Many now see this “amusing thought experiment” as inevitable. But could it also be somebody trying to get others excited? Very possibly.(By the way, ‘thought experiment' is an expression Satoshi himself uses – though it is not uncommon in coding circles).Of the many names touted as Satoshi, Finney's writing style is one of the few that match. The major difference is Satoshi used British spelling and Finney does not. There is a similar calm, understated tone, similar use of language, similar punctuation habits: two spaces after a full stop. In stylometrics tests carried out by John Noecker Jr., chief scientific officer at text analysis experts Juola & Associates, Finney consistently scored high. (However, veteran cypherpunk blogger, Nick Szabo, scored higher). Then I noticed both Finney and Satoshi had ‘@gmx.com' email addresses. (GMX is a free email provider based in Germany. Many Germans use GMX, while Americans and British tend to gravitate towards Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo. Today they would probably gravitate towards P rotonmail). Was this just coincidence – or was it a clue?Why did Satoshi disappear?In December 2010, Satoshi made his final post and then disappeared from the internet.Why?Perhaps to protect his anonymity in the face of rising interest from the media and, more significantly, the authorities: to protect his own safety as the WikiLeaks panic began to erupt. (After Wikileaks was shut out of the financial system, many began sending it bitcoin. The effect, ironically, was thus to make it an extraordinarily wealthy organisation).But there is also the possibility that he disappeared because he was ill.In 2009, Finney was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease – amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – the same disease from which Stephen Hawking suffered. It is, for the most part, fatal and claims its victims within two to five years. ‘My symptoms were mild at first,' he says, ‘and I continued to work, but fatigue and voice problems forced me to retire in early 2011. Since then the disease has continued its inexorable progression.' Finney, eventually died in August 2014.In March 2013 he said, ‘Today, I am essentially paralyzed. I am fed through a tube, and my breathing is assisted through another tube. I operate the computer using a commercial eye-tracker system. It also has a speech synthesizer, so this is my voice now. I spend all day in my power wheelchair. I worked up an interface using an Arduino so that I can adjust my wheelchair's position using my eyes. It has been an adjustment, but my life is not too bad. I can still read, listen to music, and watch TV and movies. I recently discovered that I can even write code. It's very slow, probably 50 times slower than I was before. But I still love programming and it gives me goals.'Could a terrible illness be the reason Satoshi withdrew?Finney was one of the first to mine bitcoins. What did he do with them?I mined several blocks over the next days. But I turned it off because it made my computer run hot, and the fan noise bothered me. In retrospect, I wish I had kept it up longer, but on the other hand, I was extraordinarily lucky to be there at the beginning. It's one of those glass half full, half empty things.The next I heard of Bitcoin was late 2010, when I was surprised to find that it was not only still going, bitcoins actually had monetary value. I dusted off my old wallet, and was relieved to discover that my bitcoins were still there. As the price climbed up to real money, I transferred the coins into an offline wallet, where hopefully they'll be worth something to my heirs. Those discussions about inheriting your bitcoins are of more than academic interest. My bitcoins are stored in our safe deposit box, and my son and daughter are tech-savvy. I think they're safe enough. I'm comfortable with my legacy.Finney sold many of his bitcoins in order to pay for medical care, many at around $100. Satoshi never moved his.If you are buying gold to protect yourself in these uncertain times, I recommend The Pure Gold Company. Pricing is competitive, quality of service is high. They deliver to the UK, the US, Canada and Europe or you can store your gold with them. More here.We are all SatoshiFinney was a key player in the development of Bitcoin, no doubt. He was one of the first to ask real questions. He managed to understand from the start the inner workings of the Bitcoin protocol and its potential. He explored the weaknesses in the Bitcoin code – one of them is even named 'the Finney Attack'. He had many exchanges with Satoshi on the Bitcoin forums as they progressed the code and developed new versions. He asked question after question. But these very exchanges show there were two people talking. On January 10th, 2009, for example, Finney publicly complained to Satoshi that Bitcoin had crashed when he tried to receive a transaction. If it was his own code, and he was transacting with himself, he would surely have quietly fixed it himself.Moreover, coders all agree that Finney's coding style – and the style of the comments written in the code – is different from Satoshi's. Also, Finney preferred to code in the language C, whereas Bitcoin is coded in C++. This is something Finney himself confirms: 'I've done some changes to the Bitcoin code, and my style is completely different from Satoshi's. I program in C, which is compatible with C++, but I don't understand the tricks that Satoshi used.'Shortly before the publication of this book, the Forbes journalist Andy Greenberg published an interview with Hal Finney. Finney was now too ill to even speak – he could only raise his eyebrows to say yes. His son showed Greenberg fifteen email exchanges between Satoshi and Finney from January 2009. They mainly focused on bugs Finney had found in the code, to which Satoshi replied with fixes - and notes of thanks. Greenberg was also shown Finney's bitcoin wallet – with the transfers between Satoshi and Finney made back in 2009. As Greenberg notes, the wallet evidence and the Gmail timestamps in the emails would have been hard to forge. To cap it all, there is the fact that in 2009, at precisely the same moment Satoshi sent time-stamped e-mails, Finney, a keen runner, was photographed in the middle of a ten-mile race. Nobody, not even Satoshi Nakamoto, can be in two places at once.Bitcoin could not have happened without the work of Finney.If Satoshi Nakamoto was several people, Finney might have been one of them. But if Satoshi is an individual, Hal Finney was not him. This is an extract from my 2014 book, Bitcoin: the Future of Money? I hear the audiobook's excellent. ;)If you missed them (there were problems with the site midweek), check out my forecasts for 2025. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe
Sebastian Bürgel, vice president of technology at Gnosis and founder of Hopr, shares his cypherpunk perspective on the state of Ethereum, privacy and Web3 as we kick off 2025. He also explains why Gnosis attracts so many ideologically motivated builders and how Hopr plans to mix up the VPN space with mixnets.(00:00) Introduction to The Agenda podcast and this week's episode(01:49) What is Gnosis Chain?(03:38) Gnosis wants to empower individuals(09:53) Cypherpunk perspective in 2025(14:17) Role of privacy in blockchain and Web3(19:20) Why Sebastian thinks Ethereum is broken and how to fix it(22:53) Hyperfinancialization of crypto: How far is too far?(29:00) Hopr and “transport-level privacy”(32:37) Hopr mixnet vs. traditional VPNs(41:39) Do DApps need to be reconsidered?(48:05) How will Hopr work with law enforcement?(52:45) Advice for regular people and blockchain builders(56:24) Where to follow Sebastian, Gnosis and HoprThe Agenda is brought to you by Cointelegraph and hosted/produced by Ray Salmond and Jonathan DeYoung, with post-production by Elena Volkova (Hatch Up). Follow Cointelegraph on X (Twitter) at @Cointelegraph, Jonathan at @maddopemadic and Ray at @HorusHughes. Jonathan is also on Instagram at @maddopemadic, and he made the music for the podcast — hear more at madic.art.Follow Sebastian on X at @SCBuergel.Check out Cointelegraph at cointelegraph.com.If you like what you heard, rate us and leave a review!The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast are its participants' alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph. This podcast (and any related content) is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, nor should it be taken as such. Everyone must do their own research and make their own decisions. The podcast's participants may or may not own any of the assets mentioned.
In this record-breaking episode, whose running time exceeds 7 hours, Amir Taaki immerses us in his vast knowledge of arts & science. He covers everything from Bitcoin development to building DarkFi, plus his fascination with math & dinosaurs.
"This was one of my early objections to Bitcoin is that "Well, everything gets hacked eventually", right? Everything has some security flaw, so we're still looking for the security flaw, but we'll eventually find the security flaw in Bitcoin.But I didn't have that heuristic but for the fact that Bitcoin is secured at the edges, right? It's secured by each user's public/private key pair. That's such a revolution, and it needs to reach the rest of computing." ~ Future Paul A new set of tools and networks have slowly been realized over recent years. Soon there will be a breaking point in realizing use cases and capabilities that we've been building toward for decades. with bitcoin, lightning, Nostr, pear, and so many dev kits, libraries, and various projects all working together.Today we explore the world of possibilities, the lessons of the past, and the way we get there with FuturePaul. Guest Links Future Paul on X (Link: https://x.com/futurepaul) Harbor (Link: https://harbor.cash) Host Links Guy on Nostr (Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) Guy on X (Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) Bitcoin Audible on X (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! Fold: The best way to buy, use, and earn #Bitcoin on everything you do! Sats back on your debit card, gift cards, auto-buys, round-ups, you name it. Fold is the true bitcoiner's banking. Get 20K sats for FREE using referral code bitcoinaudible.com/fold Ready for best-in-class self custody? Get 5% off the COLDCARD with code BITCOINAUDIBLE (Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Trying to BUY BITCOIN?
// SOCIAL //Breedlove X: https://x.com/Breedlove22WiM? X: https://x.com/WhatisMoneyShowSubstack: https://breedlove22.substack.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breedlove_22/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@breedlove22Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breedlove22/All My Current Work: https://linktr.ee/robertbreedlove // SPONSORS //The Farm at Okefenokee: https://okefarm.com/Heart and Soil Supplements (use discount code BREEDLOVE): https://heartandsoil.co/In Wolf's Clothing: https://wolfnyc.com/Mindlab Pro: https://www.mindlabpro.com/breedloveEmerge Dynamics: https://emergedynamics.com/breedlove // PRODUCTS I ENDORSE //Protect your mobile phone from SIM swap attacks: https://www.efani.com/breedloveNoble Protein (discount code BREEDLOVE for 15% off): https://nobleorigins.com/Lineage Provisions (use discount code BREEDLOVE): https://lineageprovisions.com/?ref=breedlove_22Colorado Craft Beef (use discount code BREEDLOVE): https://coloradocraftbeef.com/ // SUBSCRIBE TO THE CLIPS CHANNEL //https://www.youtube.com/@robertbreedloveclips2996/videos // OUTLINE //0:00 - WiM Intro1:06 - What is Money?6:39 - Bitcoin 10111:02 - Money: The Most Sought After Monopolistic Power of Man16:37 - Money as Energy21:38 - The Farm at Okefenokee22:47 - Heart and Soil Supplements23:47 - Helping Lightning Startups with In Wolf's Clothing24:39 - Donald Trump's Election and Bitcoin26:22 - Fiat Money and Fiat Food31:51 - Why does Bitcoin Matter?38:43 - How will Bitcoin Change the World?47:33 - Mind Lab Pro48:42 - Emerge Dynamics49:45 - Bitcoin, Not Shitcoin54:23 - Satoshi Nakamoto and the Cypherpunks58:40 - CBDC's vs Bitcoin1:01:24 - Bitcoin Self-Custody1:04:42 - 300k Bitcoin?1:07:55 - Robert's Health Journey // PODCAST //Podcast Website: https://whatismoneypodcast.com/Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-what-is-money-show/id1541404400Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/25LPvm8EewBGyfQQ1abIsERSS Feed: https://feeds.simplecast.com/MLdpYXYI // SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL //Bitcoin: 3D1gfxKZKMtfWaD1bkwiR6JsDzu6e9bZQ7Sats via Strike: https://strike.me/breedlove22Dollars via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/RBreedloveDollars via Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/Robert-Breedlove-2
In der heutigen Folge geht es wieder um Privatsphäre. Chris spricht mit Max Hillebrand darüber, dass Mobiltelefone Metadaten mögen. Zusätzlich gibt es eine deutschsprachige Lesung des “A Cypherpunk's Manifesto” von Eric Hughes, Hughes, Hughes … Von und mit: [[Chris]]Produziert und geschnitten: ChrisHier könnt ihr uns eine Spende über Lightning da lassen: ⚡️nodesignal@getalby.comWenn euch unsere Arbeit gefällt, könnt ihr unsere Folgen auch auf Podcasting 2.0 Plattformen, wie Fountain, PodcastGuru, Castamatic, Breez oder Podverse hören und uns so eine kleine Aufmerksamkeit da lassen. Danke an alle, die die Bitcoin Community mit ihren Spenden unterstützen! Mit diesen Spenden wird unter anderem unser Bounty Programm verwirklicht, in dem ihr euch für die Mitarbeit an einem Projekt eine Belohnung sichern könnt.Für Feedback und weitergehenden Diskussionen kommt gerne in die Telegramgruppe von Nodesignal und bewertet uns bei Spotify und Apple Podcasts. Folgt uns auch gerne bei Nostr:npub1n0devk3h2l3rx6vmt24a3lz4hsxp7j8rn3x44jkx6daj7j8jzc0q2u02cy und Twitter.Blockzeit: 876493 A Cypherpunk's Manifesto (Eric Hughes, 1993) https://www.activism.net/cypherpunk/manifesto.html übersetzt von Chris_SHA256 Kontakt Max: nostr: npub1klkk3vrzme455yh9rl2jshq7rc8dpegj3ndf82c3ks2sk40dxt7qulx3vtmail: max@towardsliberty.comgithub: @maxhillebrandMusik (used with permission/open license): The long ascent - Cooper CannellEast West - John PatitucciTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:00:22) Das Cypherpunk Manifest Lesung(00:09:00) Intro Folge Chris(00:13:55) V4V(00:14:46) Begrüßung Max(00:15:25) Warum Beschäftigung mit Privacy?(00:16:52) Privacy macht Spaß(00:18:20) Warum sind Mobiltelefone bezüglich Privacy relevant?(00:20:50) Wer trackt einen auf dem Smartphone?(00:24:25) Was sind Meta-Daten?(00:27:30) Wo werden auf dem Mobiltelefon Meta-Daten erhoben?(00:31:48) Wie erfolgt das Tracking über das Telefonnetz?(00:36:49) Wie erfolgt das Tracking über das mobile Betriebssystem?(00:43:13) Wie erfolgt das Tracking in Apps?(00:50:10) Was rät Max, wenn man mit mehr Privacy starten möchte?(00:54:07) Max Einschätzung zu einem Zitat...(00:59:14) Max Schlussworte(01:00:26) Focus on the signal, signal, signal
The Cypherpunk movement is a socio-political movement advocating for the widespread use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies as a means to effect social and political change. Rooted in libertarian philosophy, cypherpunks believe in decentralization, individual autonomy, and freedom from centralized authority. Their impact on society is undeniable, from influencing the development of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to mainstreaming encryption in everyday technologies like secure messaging apps.History:While cryptography was largely confined to military and intelligence agencies until the 1970s, the publication of the Data Encryption Standard (DES) and the first publicly available work on public-key cryptography brought it into the public sphere. David Chaum's 1985 paper, "Security without Identification: Transaction Systems to Make Big Brother Obsolete," further laid the groundwork for Cypherpunk ideas.The term "cypherpunk" emerged in the late 1980s, and the movement gained momentum with the establishment of the "Cypherpunks" electronic mailing list in 1992. The list, described as "a very active forum," hosted discussions on a range of topics, including mathematics, cryptography, computer science, political and philosophical discussions, personal arguments, and even spam.Key Principles:The Cypherpunk ethos is captured in Eric Hughes' 1993 "A Cypherpunk's Manifesto":"Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age...We cannot expect governments, corporations, or other large, faceless organizations to grant us privacy… We must defend our own privacy if we expect to have any. … Cypherpunks write code. We know that someone has to write software to defend privacy, and … we're going to write it."LEARN MORE ABOUT MVMT/Web3 Unpackedhttps://linktr.ee/mvmt.mediahttps://mvmt.media#cypherpunks #cypherpunk #richpasqua #richardpasqua #Web3 #data #privacy #learnweb3 #analytics #dataanalytics #gaming #NFT #Helicka, #userengagement #blockchain #marketingstrategy #datamarketing #web3gaming #ai #community #investment #userexperience #monetization #gamedevelopment #gaming #onchainanalytics #onchain #web3unpacked
Dr. Anthony Jefferies is co-author of the book "Decrypting Money: A Comprehensive Introduction to Bitcoin", which gives an excellent technical overview of Bitcoin and includes a foreword by world chess champion and chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, Garry Kasparov. We talk about Anthony's background in automotive R&D and how a system's design approach translates over into Bitcoin Thinking. We also explore the interesting interplay between the different participants in the Bitcoin network: Cypherpunks, libertarians, and speculators, and how together push pull of these groups leads to Bitcoin becoming more antifragile. --- Links: Decrypting Money: A Comprehensive Introduction to Bitcoin - https://amzn.to/41jVhQ0 Anthony Jefferies on X - https://x.com/Jefferies000 --- Support my work: Support TTOV - https://www.thetransformationofvalue.com/support --- Connect: X - https://x.com/TTOVpodcast Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/codyellingham Nostr - https://njump.me/npub1uth29ygt090fe640skhc8l34d9s7xlwj4frxs2esezt7n6d64nwsqcmmmu YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@ttovpodcast --- Credits: The Transformation of Value is produced by Cody Ellingham Show music by Simon James French - https://www.simonjamesfrench.com/ ---
Jeff Garzik, an OG Bitcoin developer and the co-founder of Hemi Network, sits down to share his earliest Bitcoin memories and explain why layer-2 protocols are the future of BTC mass adoption. He also shares his thoughts on the balance between crypto's cypherpunk roots and institutional adoption, as well as the importance of open-source technologies.(00:00) Introduction to The Agenda podcast and this week's episode(01:48) Jeff's intro to Bitcoin and early memories(11:20) Mass adoption and the role of Bitcoin layer 2s(15:48) Breaking down the Hemi blockchain(25:29) What is superfinality?(29:51) Balancing Bitcoin's cypherpunk roots with mass adoption(38:24) Open-source technology vs. Big Tech(46:36) DeFi under a crypto-friendly Trump administrationThe Agenda is brought to you by Cointelegraph and hosted/produced by Ray Salmond and Jonathan DeYoung, with post-production by Elena Volkova (Hatch Up). Follow Cointelegraph on X (Twitter) at @Cointelegraph, Jonathan at @maddopemadic and Ray at @HorusHughes. Jonathan is also on Instagram at @maddopemadic, and he made the music for the podcast — hear more at madic.art.Follow Jeff Garzik on X at @jgarzik.Check out Cointelegraph at cointelegraph.com.If you like what you heard, rate us and leave a review!The views, thoughts and opinions expressed in this podcast are its participants' alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph. This podcast (and any related content) is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, nor should it be taken as such. Everyone must do their own research and make their own decisions. The podcast's participants may or may not own any of the assets mentioned.
In this episode, Austin chats with Yannik Schrade (Arcium) about the current state of zero knowledge technology. The conversation delves into various aspects of zero knowledge proofs, secure multi-party computation (MPC), and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE). Yannick explains the historical development of these technologies, their applications, and how they differentiate from traditional encryption methods. The discussion also covers challenges in the field, such as computation complexity and the need for hardware acceleration. Yannick introduces Arcium's approach to confidential computing, emphasizing developer accessibility and practical implementation in DeFi and DePIN. The conversation also explores the potential future of these technologies, including the integration of AI and the vision of a global supercomputer for confidential computations.DISCLAIMER The content herein is provided for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, options, futures, or other derivatives related to securities in any jurisdiction, nor should not be relied upon as advice to buy, sell or hold any of the foregoing. This content is intended to be general in nature and is not specific to you, the user or anyone else. You should not make any decision, financial, investment, trading or otherwise, based on any of the information presented without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with a professional advisor. Solana Foundation Foundation and its agents, advisors, council members, officers and employees (the “Foundation Parties”) make no representation or warranties, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy of the information herein and expressly disclaims any and all liability that may be based on such information or any errors or omissions therein. The Foundation Parties shall have no liability whatsoever, under contract, tort, trust or otherwise, to any person arising from or related to the content or any use of the information contained herein by you or any of your representatives. All opinions expressed herein are the speakers' own personal opinions and do not reflect the opinions of any entities.
Any donation is greatly appreciated! 47e6GvjL4in5Zy5vVHMb9PQtGXQAcFvWSCQn2fuwDYZoZRk3oFjefr51WBNDGG9EjF1YDavg7pwGDFSAVWC5K42CBcLLv5U OR DONATE HERE: https://www.monerotalk.live/donate TODAY'S SHOW: Douglas Tuman interviews Juan Galt, a seasoned crypto journalist and early adopter known for his work with Bitcoin Magazine and his extensive knowledge of privacy technologies. The conversation explores the evolution of Monero and Bitcoin, privacy versus transparency in blockchain, and the challenges each project faces in scaling, adoption, and maintaining decentralization. With lively debates on Monero's unique role as digital cash, Bitcoin's path as digital gold, and the ideological values driving both communities, this episode provides deep insights into the philosophies shaping today's cryptocurrency landscape. Juan and Doug bring a thoughtful analysis of Bitcoin maximalism and Monero's cypherpunk ethos, reflecting on the different yet overlapping missions these two cryptocurrencies serve. TIMESTAMPS: Coming soon! LINKS: Purchase Cafe & tip the farmers w/ XMR! https://gratuitas.org/ Purchase a plug & play Monero node at https://moneronodo.com SPONSORS: Cakewallet.com, the first open-source Monero wallet for iOS. You can even exchange between XMR, BTC, LTC & more in the app! Monero.com by Cake Wallet - ONLY Monero wallet (https://monero.com/) StealthEX, an instant exchange. Go to (https://stealthex.io) to instantly exchange between Monero and 450 plus assets, w/o having to create an account or register & with no limits. WEBSITE: https://www.monerotopia.com CONTACT: monerotalk@protonmail.com ODYSEE: https://odysee.com/@MoneroTalk:8 TWITTER: https://twitter.com/monerotalk FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/MoneroTalk HOST: https://twitter.com/douglastuman INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/monerotalk TELEGRAM: https://t.me/monerotopia MATRIX: https://matrix.to/#/%23monerotopia%3Amonero.social MASTODON: @Monerotalk@mastodon.social MONERO.TOWN: https://monero.town/u/monerotalk
Today we discuss the Cypherpunks, The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto, B-money, and the Monero whitepaper (or rather the CryptoNote white paper). All of this is in the spirit of privacy and decentralized methods of exchange for not just money, but everything. The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto by Tim May: https://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.805/articles/crypto/cypherpunks/may-crypto-manifesto.html CryptoNote white paper by Nicolas Van Saberhagen: https://github.com/monero-project/research-lab/blob/master/whitepaper/whitepaper.pdf B-money by Wei Dai: http://www.weidai.com/bmoney.txt Cypherpunk email archive: https://mailing-list-archive.cryptoanarchy.wiki/ We have an email and would love to hear from you, if you're so compelled: plausibledeniabilityamx@gmail.com Disclaimer: All opinions are our own, respectively, and don't represent any institution we may or may not be a part of, respectively.
"We the Cypherpunks are dedicated to building anonymous systems. We are defending our privacy with cryptography, with anonymous mail forwarding systems, with digital signatures, and with electronic money. Cypherpunks write code. We know that someone has to write software to defend privacy, and since we can't get privacy unless we all do, we're going to write it. We publish our code so that our fellow Cypherpunks may practice and play with it. Our code is free for all to use, worldwide. We don't much care if you don't approve of the software we write. We know that software can't be destroyed and that a widely dispersed system can't be shut down. Cypherpunks deplore regulations on cryptography, for encryption is fundamentally a private act."A Cypherpunk's Manifesto, by Eric Hughes. Read out loud by Walker. Read it for yourself: https://www.activism.net/cypherpunk/manifesto.htmlIf you enjoy THE Bitcoin Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following:Subscribe to THE Bitcoin Podcast (and leave a review) on Fountain | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify | HIGHLIGHTER | EVERYWHERE ELSEFollow me (Walker) on Twitter Personal (@WalkerAmerica) | Twitter Podcast (@TitcoinPodcast) | Nostr Personal (walker) | Nostr Podcast (Titcoin)*****THE Bitcoin Podcast Partners -- use promo code WALKER for...> bitbox.swiss/walker -- 5% off the Bitcoin-only Bitbox02 hardware wallet.> EFANI: Protect yourself from SIM swap attacks – go to https://www.efani.com/walker and it'll automatically apply the promo code WALKER getting you $99 OFF.> Cloaked Wireless: 25% OFF eSIM or physical SIM cards and protect yourself from SIM swap attacks.
This week Jarrad Hope spoke to Jameson Lopp to discuss his decade-long effort to promote self-custody in Bitcoin by lowering technical barriers for users, emphasizing the fight against human nature's preference for convenience over security. Lopp traces his journey into Bitcoin and Cypherpunk ideology, highlighting the appeal of cryptography in creating open and fair systems resistant to manipulation. Both Lopp and Hope explore various technological solutions and the challenges inherent in privacy and decentralization, such as the pitfalls of centralization in legacy protocols and the need for vigilant, iterative improvements in Bitcoin. Finally, Lopp underscores the importance of evolving Bitcoin's base protocol to foster more innovation at the second layer, while maintaining the decentralized ethos of the network. JOIN THE COMMUNITY Logos Twitter Logos Discord
"It would be wrong to think of Cypherpunks as a formal group. It's more a gathering of those who share a predilection for codes, a passion for privacy, and the gumption to do something about it. Anyone who decides to spread personal crypto or its gospel is a traveler in the territory of Cypherpunk." — Steven Levy Today we journey back to 1993 to explore a seminal article on the cypherpunk movement and the battle for digital privacy. How have the concerns raised three decades ago evolved in our modern digital landscape? What progress has been made, and what challenges remain? Join us as we examine the roots of the crypto revolution and its implications for our future, asking: Are we any closer to achieving the cypherpunks' vision of a privacy-preserving and sovereign digital world? Check out the original article at Crypto Rebels (Link: https://tinyurl.com/5bxfrp7v)Guest Links Steven Levy on Twitter (Link: https://x.com/StevenLevy) Steven Levy Website (Link: https://www.stevenlevy.com/) Host Links Guy on Nostr (Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) Guy on X (Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) Bitcoin Audible on X (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! Get 10% off the COLDCARD with code BITCOINAUDIBLE (Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Swan: The best way to buy, learn, and earn #Bitcoin (Link: https://swanbitcoin.com) "When making public policy decisions about new technologies for the Government, I think one should ask oneself which technologies would best strengthen the hand of a police state. Then, do not allow the Government to deploy those technologies." — Phil Zimmermann
Gary is an average developer who spends a lot of time experimenting with freedom tech and digging into the primitives that make it all work.Jon is the developer of the Coracle Nostr client and an OpenSats grantee. He is focused on discovering what a healthy social network would look like, and helping nostr make that vision a reality. Find Jon on Nostr at npub1jlrs53pkdfjnts29kveljul2sm0actt6n8dxrrzqcersttvcuv3qdjynqn , on twitter @hodlbod and on Coracle.social.The Thank For Nostr Podcast is a TGFB Media production. TGFB Media exists to educate and equip Christians to understand Bitcoin and use it for the glory of God and the good of people everywhere.Join Jon and Jordan at the Thank God For Bitcoin Conference 2024 in Nashville, TN July 24-25. Get 20% off Thank God for Bitcoin conference tickets with with code TGFN. But tickets here: https://tgfb.com/conference/
We talk about Julian Assange's plea deal, the "censorship pyramid," encryption as resistance, an NSA patent Assange found in 1999, Hillary Clinton's Russian Wikileaks, the CIA being able to hack into Apple and Android cellphones and Samsung TVs, the 2011 meeting between then Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Assange, and more. TW: Cenk Uygur's voice at 7:30 ish. Photo: Julian AssangeAssange's 2006 Blog Post: https://cryptome.org/iq-org/IQ.ORG.htmIndependent Article on the NSA Patent Assange Found: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/network-this-is-just-between-us-and-the-spies-1126316.htmlGuardian Article on Assange hacking MILNET in 1991: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jan/30/julian-assange-wikileaks-profileVideo of US Airstrike on Afghanistan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaqY12VHFv4&ab_channel=AlJazeeraEnglishRecording of Conversation between Eric Schmidt & Julian Assange: https://web.archive.org/web/20130915053137/http://wlstorage.net/file/cms/assange-schmidt.mp3Full Text of When Google Met Wikileaks: https://archive.org/details/whengooglemetwik0000assa
This week, Max and Colborn welcome the remarkable cloud artist and crypto art historian, Martin Lukas Ostachowski (MLO) to the podcast to plumb through the past for the values that crypto art holds dear, if there are any. Join us as we go back to the cypherpunks, through the creation of Bitcoin, back and forth through many years of crypto art to see what crypto art values, when those values were traded away, how data scientists and AI models might provide new hope for unearthing crypto art's actual history. Read "Crypto Art - A Decentralized View" by Massimo Franceschet, Giovanni Colavizza, Tai Smith, Blake Finucane, Martin Lukas Ostachowski, Sergio Scalet, Jonathan Perkins, James Morgan, and Sebastian Hernandez here: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1906.03263
(NOTAS Y ENLACES DEL CAPÍTULO AQUÍ: https://www.jaimerodriguezdesantiago.com/kaizen/201-descentralizacion-iii-la-guerras-cripto-antes-de-bitcoin/)«Gobiernos del Mundo Industrial, cansados gigantes de carne y acero, vengo del Ciberespacio, el nuevo hogar de la Mente. En nombre del futuro, os pido a vosotros del pasado que nos dejéis en paz. No sois bienvenidos entre nosotros. No tenéis soberanía alguna sobre el lugar donde nos reunimosNo hemos elegido ningún gobierno, ni es probable que lo hagamos, así que me dirijo a vosotros sin más autoridad que aquella con la que la libertad siempre habla. Declaro el espacio social global que estamos construyendo independiente por naturaleza de las tiranías que estáis buscando imponernos. No tenéis ningún derecho moral a gobernarnos, ni disponéis de métodos para forzarnos a cumplir vuestra ley que tengamos razón para temer.Los gobiernos derivan sus lícitos poderes del consentimiento de los que son gobernados. No habéis pedido ni recibido el nuestro. No os hemos invitado. No nos conocéis, ni conocéis nuestro mundo. El Ciberespacio no se halla dentro de vuestras fronteras. No penséis que podéis construirlo, como si fuera una obra pública. No podéis. Es un acto natural que crece de nuestras acciones colectivas.No os habéis unido a nuestras reuniones, ni creasteis la riqueza de nuestros mercados. No conocéis nuestra cultura, nuestra ética, o los códigos no escritos que ya proporcionan a nuestra sociedad más orden que el que podría obtenerse por cualquiera de vuestras imposiciones.Proclamáis que hay problemas entre nosotros que vosotros necesitáis resolver. Usáis esto como una excusa para invadir nuestros límites. Muchos de estos problemas no existen. Donde haya auténticos conflictos, donde haya errores, los identificaremos y resolveremos por nuestros propios medios. Estamos creando nuestro propio Contrato Social. Esta autoridad se creará según las condiciones de nuestro mundo, no del vuestro. Nuestro mundo es diferente.»Así empezaba un texto mítico de la contracultura digital de los años 90: la declaración de independencia del ciberespacio, escrita por John Perry Barlow en 1996. Si escuchaste el capítulo que dediqué a la cultura hacker recordarás que muchos de sus valores me parecía que eran especialmente relevantes en el mundo que tenemos hoy y, sobre todo, en el que tendremos mañana. También te decía que, ahora que con todo el movimiento crypto se habla tanto de descentralización, yo veía en esas conversaciones mucho del idealismo de aquella cultura hacker de los 80 y 90. Y no es casualidad. En el origen de mucho de todo esto estaban, claro está, hackers. Precisamente investigando esos orígenes, y uniendo las piezas de mi propia memoria, me encontré con una historia que creo que es digna de ser contada. No ya por lo interesante que pueda parecerme, sino por el debate que encierra sobre nuestros derechos como ciudadanos. Y a esa historia y a ese debate, vamos a dedicar el capítulo de hoy. ¡Ya están abiertas las inscripciones para la 2ª edición del programa de desarrollo directivo y liderazgo que dirijo en Tramontana! ¿Te interesa? Toda la info aquí: https://www.tramontana.net/desarrollo-directivo-liderazgo¿Te gusta kaizen? Apoya el podcast uniéndote a la Comunidad y accede a contenidos y ventajas exclusivas: https://www.jaimerodriguezdesantiago.com/comunidad-kaizen/
Crypsi is the representative of an art collective which expresses its anti-establishment ideas through physical paintings & collages, as well as digitally tokenized ideas. In this episode, he explains why memes are art & why memecoins matter.
In this episode of the Back to the People Podcast, host Nicole Shanahan sits down with Gabriel Shipton, the brother of Julian Assange, to delve into the ongoing incarceration of the WikiLeaks founder. We explore the impact of Julian's work on freedom of the press and the implications for a free and open internet.
Continua l'attacco frontale a bitcoin del dipartimento di giustizia americano e Wasabi Wallet chiude definitivamente il suo servizio di coinjoin. Ma bitcoin è come l'Idra e, recisa una testa, ne spuntano altre dieci.Inoltre: Microstrategy lancia Orange, il servizio di identità digitale basato sugli ordinals, gli studenti della Ohio University fischiano in massa quando bitcoin viene nominato durante il discorso di apertura della cerimonia di laurea, che cos'è l'address poisoning e come si combatte.It's showtime!
- Samourai Wallet Founders Arrested & Charged with Money Laundering, Unlicensed Money Transmitting Offenses https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/samourai-wallet-founders-arrested-and-charged-with-money-laundering/ - How to Migrate Samourai Wallet & Implications for Whirlpool Users https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/how-to-recover-samourai-wallet-and-implications-for-different-types-of-users/ - EU Parliament Adopts New Financial Surveillance Rules for Service Providers https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/eu-adopts-new-financial-surveillance-aml-rules/ - Biden Signs Reauthorization of Expanded FISA 702 Warrantless Surveillance Program After It Passes Senate https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/biden-signs-fisa-702-warrantless-surveillance-program-after-it-passes-senate/ - Five New Editors Added to Oversee Bitcoin Improvement Proposals https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/five-new-editors-added-to-bitcoin-improvement-proposals/ - Strike Launches Services in Europe https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/strike-launches-in-europe/ - Primal Introduces Top Zaps to All of Its Nostr Clients https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/primal-introduces-top-zaps-to-all-of-its-nostr-clients/ - Block Announces 3nm Bitcoin Mining Chip & Development of Full Bitcoin Mining System https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/block-announces-3nm-bitcoin-mining-chip-development-of-full-bitcoin-mining-system/ - OpenSats Receives $1M Donation From The Reynolds Foundation https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/opensats-receives-1m-from-reynolds-foundation/ - Blossom Drive: Store & Retrieve Data on Public Servers Using sha256 Universal ID https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/blossom-intro/ - PayPal Proposes Scheme To Selectively Mine With ESG Compliant Miners https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/paypal-proposes-scheme-to-selectively-mine-with-esg-compliant-miners/ - AntPool & Bitmain Acting as 'a Pool of Pools' - Report https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/bitmain-antpool-pool-of-pools-report/ 3:41 - Cypherpunk manifesto 9:35 - Samourai arrests 18:54 - Dashboard 20:39 - EU fin surveillance 22:07 - Revisiting Antpool 46:20 - Revisiting FISA surveillance 50:41 - Big zaps 52:51 - BIP editors 55:22 - Strike Europe 58:53 - CD hats 1:00:32 - Primal top zaps 1:06:17 - Boosts 1:14:21 - Block 3nm 1:16:50 - OpenSats $1M donation 1:18:51 - Blossom 1:24:38 - PayPal ESG mining 1:29:02 - FBI warns against non-kyc Shoutout to our sponsors: Unchained Capital https://unchained.com/concierge/ Coinkite https://coinkite.com/ TFTC Merch is Available: Shop Now https://merch.tftc.io/ Join the TFTC Movement: Main YT Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TFTC21/videos Clips YT Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUQcW3jxfQfEUS8kqR5pJtQ Website https://tftc.io/ Twitter https://twitter.com/tftc21 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tftc.io/ Follow Marty Bent: Twitter https://twitter.com/martybent Newsletter https://tftc.io/martys-bent/ Podcast https://tftc.io/podcasts/ Follow Odell: Twitter https://twitter.com/ODELL Newsletter https://tftc.io/the-sat-standard/ Podcast https://citadeldispatch.com/
"What are we actually about? It's to an extent an open question. It's not like the Cypherpunks knew at all. It's part of our job to continue to try and figure it out. In a way we've been given this Arthurian sword or something. This very powerful thing. And so it's like, what are we going to do with it? I think that's a big part of our homework." ~ Tuur Demeester Tuur Demeester joins us to day as we dig into Bitcoin's past halvings and market cycles and how they compare to today. With 12 years of perspective, where are we in reference to the larger trends and what may lie ahead in the coming future? Tuur is deeply knowledgeable on the macro landscape and in seeing how the pieces of the puzzle fit together, explains the differences that allow us to know that Bitcoin's destiny will not end up like gold's, and a worthy note, he is also incredibly bullish. The world is changing, and Bitcoin is changing it. Don't miss this excellent conversation with Tuur Demeester Links to check out: The Bitcoin Reformation - by Tuur Demeester (Link: https://tinyurl.com/yc6n8scc) CryptoQuikRead_243 - Bitcoin in Heavy Accumulation (Link: https://tinyurl.com/avna4j89) How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3f2u2rev) Strong Towns Website by Charles Marohn (Link: https://www.strongtowns.org/) Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber (Link: https://t.ly/dejM2) The Unsettling of America by Wendell Berry (Link: https://tinyurl.com/ymzrk7z8) The Capital Strip Mine by Allen Farrington (Link: https://tinyurl.com/m48ueuzk) Guest Links Tuur Demeester on X (Link: https://tinyurl.com/5dk93w6m) Host Links Guy on Nostr (Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) Guy on X (Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann/) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) Bitcoin Audible on X (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) Check out our awesome sponsors! Get 10% off the COLDCARD with code BITCOINAUDIBLE (Link: bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Swan: The best way to buy, learn, and earn #Bitcoin (Link: https://swanbitcoin.com) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bitcoinaudible/message
Join us in a discussion with Adam Back, a trailblazer in the world of cryptography and the evolution of blockchain technology. In this episode of Digital Currents, Adam delves into his early days of creating Hashcash, his interaction with Bitcoin's mysterious founder(s), under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto, and the inception of his brainchild, Blockstream. We explore the transformation of Hashcash from an anti-spam tool to a key aspect of cryptocurrency mining and discuss the future of Bitcoin and blockchain against the backdrop of emerging technologies like quantum computing. Adam also shares his insights on the vital role of sidechains, the potential of the Liquid Network, and his vision for securing digital freedom and privacy in an increasingly connected world. To learn more, visit us on the web at https://www.morgancreekcap.com/morgan-creek-digital/. To speak to a member of our team or sign up for other content, please email mcdigital@morgancreekcap.com
"What are we actually about? It's to an extent an open question. It's not like the Cypherpunks knew at all. It's part of our job to continue to try and figure it out. In a way we've been given this Arthurian sword or something. This very powerful thing. And so it's like, what are we going to do with it? I think that's a big part of our homework." ~ Tuur Demeester Tuur Demeester joins us to day as we dig into Bitcoin's past halvings and market cycles and how they compare to today. With 12 years of perspective, where are we in reference to the larger trends and what may lie ahead in the coming future? Tuur is deeply knowledgeable on the macro landscape and in seeing how the pieces of the puzzle fit together, explains the differences that allow us to know that Bitcoin's destiny will not end up like gold's, and a worthy note, he is also incredibly bullish. The world is changing, and Bitcoin is changing it. Don't miss this excellent conversation with Tuur Demeester Links to check out: The Bitcoin Reformation - by Tuur Demeester (Link: https://tinyurl.com/yc6n8scc) CryptoQuikRead_243 - Bitcoin in Heavy Accumulation (Link: https://tinyurl.com/avna4j89) How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3f2u2rev) Strong Towns Website by Charles Marohn (Link: https://www.strongtowns.org/) Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber (Link: https://t.ly/dejM2) The Unsettling of America by Wendell Berry (Link: https://tinyurl.com/ymzrk7z8) The Capital Strip Mine by Allen Farrington (Link: https://tinyurl.com/m48ueuzk) Guest Links Tuur Demeester on X (Link: https://tinyurl.com/5dk93w6m) Host Links Guy on Nostr (Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) Guy on X (Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann/) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) Bitcoin Audible on X (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) Check out our awesome sponsors! Get 10% off the COLDCARD with code BITCOINAUDIBLE (Link: bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Swan: The best way to buy, learn, and earn #Bitcoin (Link: https://swanbitcoin.com) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bitcoinaudible/message
DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY OF THE BITCOIN-FOR-BUSINESS QUICK START GUIDE This free, 27-page resource includes:Six ways ANY business can benefit from BitcoinSome of the best Bitcoin-only businesses to partner withKey Bitcoin concepts for people getting startedCo-founder of Cloaked Services, CEO of Cloaked Wireless. Old school Bitcoiner and Cypherpunk. CONNECT WITH JEREMY@cloakedwireless on Twitter Jeremy's Website CONNECT WITH JOSH@joshuafriedeman on Twitter @joshuafriedeman on LinkedIn @joshuafriedeman on VIDA @joshuafriedeman on Youtube COMMUNITY Connect with KC Bitcoiners on Twitter @KcBitcoiners or their websiteFind a local Bitcoin Meetup near you with Oshi! SHOW PARTNERSCloaked Wireless: Get 25% off your first month with code BIZBIT2024 Mentioned in this episode:Velas Commerce: Biz Tech Meets BitcoinDOWNLOAD YOUR COPY OF THE BITCOIN-FOR-BUSINESS QUICK START GUIDELyncster: Secure Your Future with BitcoinFountain App | Earn bitcoin for listening to podcastsInvest in Bitcoin Companies w/Lightning Ventures
88MWhce9wToCCENbRgfZ6X54Dx8HF4bYY79YkYN9nXeqCDmykzXuq48HWe6k9eZDkA4iYpLbTsvpXPnAGCALHTTMLUp8cWi OR DONATE HERE: https://www.monerotalk.live/donate TODAY'S SHOW: Douglas Tuman interviews Blake Lovewell a researcher, writer, and privacy advocate. The two discuss topics related to privacy, censorship resistance, decentralization, Bitcoin, Monero and the cypherpunk ideology. Blake covers his background researching macroeconomics, politics and technology. They examine increasing censorship attempts towards Monero, including recent exchange de-listings, as signs of success. Timestamps: (00:00:00) Introductions and Backgrounds (00:05:14) Evolving Perspectives on Cryptocurrency (00:13:39) Surveillance Capabilities and Societal Control (00:26:34) Responses to Increasing Attacks on Monero (00:38:51) Importance of Financial Privacy & Censorship Resistance (01:10:14) Closing Remarks LINKS: http://www.blakelovewell.com SPONSORS: Cakewallet.com, the first open-source Monero wallet for iOS. You can even exchange between XMR, BTC, LTC & more in the app! Monero.com by Cake Wallet - ONLY Monero wallet (https://monero.com/) StealthEX, an instant exchange. Go to (https://stealthex.io) to instantly exchange between Monero and 450 plus assets, w/o having to create an account or register & with no limits. WEBSITE: https://www.monerotopia.com CONTACT: Monerotalk@protonmail.com ODYSEE: https://odysee.com/@MoneroTalk:8 TWITTER: https://twitter.com/monerotalk FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/MoneroTalk/ HOST: https://twitter.com/douglastuman INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/monerotalk/ TELEGRAM: https://t.me/monerotopia MATRIX: https://matrix.to/#/%23monerotopia%3Amonero.social MASTEDON: @Monerotalk@mastodon.social MONERO.TOWN: https://monero.town/u/monerotalk
Learn the pros and cons of bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency. Bitcoin can be moved well across space and time. You can't move dollars over time due to inflation; you can't move gold over space due to weight and security concerns. Real estate, bitcoin, and gold are all scarce and take real-world resources to produce. Bitcoin is a global digital currency that's decentralized. Nick Giambruno joins us to discuss why bitcoin has value today. Since there can only be 21 million bitcoin, it cannot be debased like dollars are. By April, bitcoin will experience a halving. Rather than 900 new bitcoins brought into issuance daily, there will be 450. The SEC's recent Spot EFT approval will give more investors bitcoin access. The higher the stock-to-flow ratio, the harder the asset. What about governments shutting down bitcoin, regulating it, or taxing it to death? We discuss. Bitcoin price volatility is a problem in currency adoption. Lots of energy is used in bitcoin mining. But much of it is stranded energy. Bitcoin cannot produce income. Keith Weinhold stresses his preferred way to hold bitcoin. Timestamps: Bitcoin's value proposition (00:00:01) Keith Weinhold introduces the topic of Bitcoin's value and why it is relevant to a real estate show. Jamie Dimon's criticism of Bitcoin (00:05:27) JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon expresses his disdain for Bitcoin and blockchain technology in a heated conversation. Bitcoin's resistance to debasement (00:07:19) Keith Weinhold discusses the resistance of Bitcoin to debasement and the skepticism of governments and financial institutions towards it. The origin and value of Bitcoin (00:08:18) Nick Giambruno, an international investor, explains the history and value proposition of Bitcoin, emphasizing its decentralization and resistance to debasement. Bitcoin's hardness and production rate (00:14:21) Nick Giambruno delves into the concept of Bitcoin's hardness and its production requirements, comparing it to other assets like gold and real estate. Bitcoin's upcoming halving event (00:16:28) Nick Giambruno discusses the significance of Bitcoin's upcoming halving event, which will impact its stock-to-flow ratio and reinforce its value proposition. Bitcoin's scarcity (00:19:42) Bitcoin's limited supply and its unique scarcity attribute, compared to other commodities like gold. Upcoming halving event and Bitcoin ETF approval (00:20:53) Discussion on the significance of the upcoming halving event and the approval of a new spot for Bitcoin ETF, indicating the growing acceptance of Bitcoin. Bitcoin as a currency and value proposition (00:22:42) The value of Bitcoin as a currency for transferring value and its resistance to debasement, emphasizing the importance of self-custody of Bitcoin. Global adoption of Bitcoin (00:24:30) Comparison of Bitcoin adoption in different nations, highlighting the potential benefits for early adopters and the impact of Bitcoin on the world's financial landscape. Bitcoin's market potential and investment consideration (00:27:27) The potential market share of Bitcoin in the global economy and the consideration of Bitcoin as an investment asset. Government's ability to regulate Bitcoin (00:34:11) Discussion on the government's potential regulation and taxation of Bitcoin, emphasizing the power of economic incentives and Bitcoin's resilience to government intervention. Bitcoin's uniqueness and credibility (00:36:12) Differentiating Bitcoin from other cryptocurrencies, highlighting its credibility and resistance to change, making it the real innovation in the crypto space. Bitcoin as a Store of Value (00:37:55) Discussion on Bitcoin's role as a store of value and its comparison to gold. Bitcoin as an Emerging Form of Money (00:38:25) Explanation of Bitcoin as an emerging form of money and its distinction from established money like gold. Bitcoin's Transaction Network and the Lightning Network (00:39:37) Explanation of Bitcoin's transaction network, scalability, and the use of the Lightning Network for smaller transactions. Earning Income from Bitcoin (00:41:40) Discussion on earning income from Bitcoin through related companies, dividends, and caution regarding Bitcoin lending services. Bitcoin Exchanges and Custody (00:44:20) The importance of custodying your own Bitcoin and the risks associated with centralized Bitcoin exchanges. Connecting with the Guest (00:45:13) Information on how to connect with the guest and access a helpful Bitcoin guide. Bitcoin's Energy Use and Price Volatility (00:46:01) Insights into Bitcoin's energy use, price volatility, and the use of stranded energy sources by miners. Real Estate vs. Bitcoin (00:47:04) Comparison of real estate as a wealth builder with the merits and risks of owning gold and Bitcoin. Disclaimer and Conclusion (00:47:54) Disclaimer about the content and a conclusion to the episode. Resources mentioned: Show Page: GetRichEducation.com/488 More on Nick Giambruno: FinancialUnderground.com For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments. You get paid first: Text FAMILY to 66866 Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search “how to leave an Apple Podcasts review” Top Properties & Providers: GREmarketplace.com GRE Free Investment Coaching: GREmarketplace.com/Coach Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— text ‘GRE' to 66866 Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Keith's personal Instagram: @keithweinhold Complete episode transcript: Keith Weinhold (00:00:01) - Welcome to GRE. I'm your host, Keith Weinhold. Why does Bitcoin have any value? And why is a real estate show dedicating one episode to this topic now? The benefits and criticisms of the world's largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin today on Get Rich Education. If you like the Get Rich Education podcast, you're going to love art. Don't quit your day. Dream newsletter. No, I here I write every word of the letter myself. It wires your mind for wealth. It helps you make money in your sleep and updates you on vital real estate investing trends. It's free. Sign up egg get rich education com slash letter. It's real content that makes a real difference in your life, spiced with a dash of humor rather than living below your means, learn how to grow your means right now. You can also easily get the letter by texting gray to 66866. Text gray to 66866. Corey Coates (00:01:06) - You're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is get rich education. Keith Weinhold (00:01:22) - Work degree from Quito, Ecuador, where I am today, to the Mosquito Coast, Nicaragua, and across 188 nations worldwide. Keith Weinhold (00:01:29) - You're listening. One of the United States longest running and most less than two shows on real estate investing. I'm your host, Keith Reinhold. Yes, we're a real estate show, but with 488 episodes, it's time to focus at least one of them. Finally, on Bitcoin. We'll bring it back to US real estate next week. Now, this is for a few reasons. Today, Bitcoin is largely misunderstood. It's become so big that it's hard to ignore. And there are two recent Bitcoin events two happenings with global impact that makes now the right time to cover this. Now look, I think that it's human nature that when you learn about something new for the first time and you don't understand how it works like Bitcoin, it's sort of innate to you start criticizing it or sort of discounted in your mind, chiefly because you don't understand it. Though Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto wrote the Bitcoin paper in 2008 and the first Bitcoin was issued in 2009. And, you know, when I first heard about it sometime after that, I probably discounted it in my mind as well. Keith Weinhold (00:02:45) - And I think most people that don't understand Bitcoin, you know, they first think something like, oh come on, what is this. Just magic internet money. How does that work? How could that have any value. And I think is one matures when encountering the unknown. They inquire rather than criticize it. Look now and I'm getting really personal here, aren't I? I don't do drugs and I never have. But I don't criticize those that do drugs because it's a world that I just don't understand at all. Last year I was having dinner with a couple. They asked me what book I'm currently reading, and I told them that it's a 350 page book about Bitcoin, and the response was laughter, sort of dismissing it. And they said, well, how could anyone write that many pages about Bitcoin just completely discounting the whole thing? Well, for me, a turning point on Bitcoin is when I found highly intelligent people that understood it well and they were excited about it and they endorsed it. Now real estate has more intrinsic value than the dollar or gold or Bitcoin. Keith Weinhold (00:04:02) - Because real estate is essential to your survival. You can make arguments that the dollar, gold and Bitcoin all have questionable backing. But today enough people agree that the dollar, gold and Bitcoin all have value. People are agreeing all three gold, the dollar and Bitcoin have varying levels then of anthropogenic faith. Today you and I, we live in a digital world that's comprised of 195 world nations. Well then, shouldn't money be made of something that's digital and doesn't know any national borders? Think of Bitcoin's value proposition this way you cannot move dollars across time. That's due to inflation. You can't move gold across space that's due to weight and security. But consider this Bitcoin can be officially moved across both space and time. Its supply is absolutely fixed. At 21 million, there can never be more than 21 million bitcoin either. It's traded on the blockchain, which is basically a digital ledger, but not every intelligent or influential finance person believes in Bitcoin. Of course, not every one of them. For example, it gets a little heated here from last month. Keith Weinhold (00:05:27) - This is one of the most powerful men in the world. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. He's getting annoyed about CNBC asking him about Bitcoin just entirely too often. What do you make of the other firms the BlackRock's of the world. CNBC (00:05:42) - That that obviously and Larry Fink change his view of this obviously. And maybe he changed his view because you think he genuinely believes in Bitcoin or or believed it because he thinks that there's a marketplace for it and he wants to be part of that market. But what do you think of the there's about a dozen big financial companies, fidelity included. Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase (00:05:59) - Number one I don't care. So just please stop talking about this. And and I don't know what he would say about blockchain versus currencies to do something versus Bitcoin that does nothing. And maybe that's not different than me. But you know, this is what makes a market. People have opinions. This is the last time I'm ever in state. In my opinion. CNBC (00:06:18) - Gold really didn't do anything either. Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase (00:06:21) - Yet because it's limited in supply. Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase (00:06:23) - So it's and it's been used. Uh, so you think so, huh? I do think there's a good chance that when bitcoin when we get to that 20 million bitcoins 42 know that Satoshi is going to come on there laugh hysterically. Go quiet. All Bitcoin is going to be erased I think. How the hell do you know it's going to stop at 21? I've never met one person who told me they know for a fact they take that as it's not. CNBC (00:06:44) - It hasn't happened because by the last one will be mined in 2150. And it gets harder and harder every time there's another halving. But but, Jamie, I do like looking back over. Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase (00:06:55) - Just do what you want. I'll do what I want. Ask for gold. CNBC (00:06:57) - You can. The six characteristics that make gold valuable for 4000 years. They're all present in Bitcoin. That's all I'm saying. I love you and I don't want to. And I also don't I don't also don't want to be a you may enjoy Joe. Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase (00:07:08) - You may be right. Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase (00:07:09) - Yeah. Like I don't own gold either. So okay. That's what. CNBC (00:07:11) - I mean. CNBC (00:07:12) - Couple of quick final question. Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase (00:07:12) - I like to own things that pay me incomes, but it doesn't cost money to carry anyway. And it costs money to carry Bitcoin to. By the way. Keith Weinhold (00:07:19) - Uh, that was Jamie Diamond. Now governments and banksters like Jamie Diamond, they often dislike bitcoin because it cuts out the use of their chief product, the dollar. So governments are especially hesitant to want to promote bitcoin, a lot of them in the world. Anyway, I've got a conversation with a bitcoin expert coming up. We're going to talk about its value proposition and then the criticisms. Yes, I'm in Quito today. I was last year in Ecuador two years ago, this Colorado sized nation of 18 million people. I plan to attempt climbing to the summit of a 20,000 foot mountain later in the week. As for today, let's continue with why should Bitcoin have any value? Today's guest is the founder of the Financial Underground, and he is the editor in chief of that publication. Keith Weinhold (00:08:18) - He's a renowned international investor, and he specializes in identifying big picture geopolitical and economic trends ahead of the crowd. And you've seen him featured seemingly in everything from Forbes to the Ron Paul Liberty Report. He was a speaker at the well-known New Orleans Investment Conference as well. Hey, it's great to welcome on to gray, Nick. Jim Bruno. Nick Giambruno (00:08:41) - Hey, Keith, great to be with you. Keith Weinhold (00:08:43) - I think a lot of our listeners are real estate investors are going to be wondering now, why are you talking about Bitcoin on a real estate show? Actually, I think there are a few more commonalities here than what a lot of people think. What a real estate in Bitcoin have in common. They're both scarce, neither can be easily deluded, and they both take real world resources to produce more of. You could apply those same three attributes to gold. So real estate gold and bitcoin they have this scarcity. And really I think that's a wise investing theme. Go ahead and invest in what's scarce. Limit what's abundant and take zero cost to produce like dollars. Keith Weinhold (00:09:21) - So really that's the commonality between real estate in Bitcoin. But on a real estate show, I think we have a lot of listeners that just don't have an overall common understanding. Nick, of just what is bitcoin and why does it have any value in the first place? Nick Giambruno (00:09:37) - Well, that is a some very good observations and a very profound question. What is Bitcoin. Well, Bitcoin is a relatively new asset. However it has been decades in the making. People don't understand that Bitcoin didn't just fall out of the sky, or is some kind of accident in some mad sciences garage. This is something that has been in the the works basically since the late 70s, and it came out of the Cypherpunk movement. Now, you may have heard of these people. You may have not. The Cypherpunks are basically I find them as the good guys. They are involved in creating technologies that empower the individual and disempower the state. They are behind some of the most prominent freedom oriented technologies that you and I may take for granted, including encryption. Nick Giambruno (00:10:27) - And that's another story in and of itself. Let me just briefly get into that, because that's what puts the crypto cryptography in cryptocurrency. Cryptography is a very important field. It's basically the method of encoding information so that only the recipient can see it. And it's very important to understand that while we take for granted the average person has access to unbreakable cryptography today, that was not always the case. Cryptography has been around since the time of the ancient Greeks, and maybe even before, but it's always been a government monopoly until very recently in terms of historical standards, when cryptography was made available to the average person. That is a very profound thing, because now the average person can secure their information and secure their online life in a way that nobody can break. The US government can't break it. Chinese government can't break it, nobody can break it. And that is very important. And that laid the foundation for Bitcoin. So what is bitcoin. It's just a summit. But it is a superior alternative to central banking. Nick Giambruno (00:11:27) - And that is a very revolutionary thing. It basically does the job of what a central bank does but much much, much better and removes all of the corruption, all of the nastiness that goes along with central banking. So what we have here is a genuine, workable alternative to central banking, and we can get into the details of that. But if you want to look at it, what it is, that's what it is. And at the same time, it's a form of money that is not just resistant to debasement, it's totally resistant to debasement. You're talking about gold and real estate. Well, gold. What made gold money over thousands of years? Yes, it is scarce. However, I always like to use this example. There's a concept that's related to scarcity, but it's not that it was scarce. And the reason is, is think about platinum and palladium. There's actually scarcer than gold, like there are fewer ounces of platinum and palladium in the world than there are gold ounces. So why don't people use platinum and palladium as money? It's a very, very important point. Nick Giambruno (00:12:26) - The reason is, is because the platinum and palladium supply is not resistant to debasement. So it's scarcer, but it's not resistant to debasement. What does that mean? It means the annual supply growth of platinum and palladium are basically equal to the stockpiles. So depending on what this year or next year's annual production of platinum or palladium are going to be, it can wildly swing the market. That is not true of gold. Gold is only about 1.5% growth per year. And that's very, very consistent. What does that mean? That is a very important concept. So the gold supply only grows at about 1.5% per year. Keith Weinhold (00:13:02) - And this is basically an inflation rate. Nick Giambruno (00:13:04) - Yes it is its inflation rate. But it's very small and nobody can really change that. Think about it. There's a. It's not as if people don't want to increase the gold supply. They would love to. The way that the gold is distributed in the world, and the cost it takes to mining it puts a really hard limit on what you can produce each year. Nick Giambruno (00:13:22) - So that's what makes it a good store of value. And if something is not a good store of value, it's not going to be a good money. These are some very, very fundamental concepts I'm talking about because they also apply to Bitcoin. Keith Weinhold (00:13:35) - Then when someone asked me what Bitcoin is to give it a really short definition, I call Bitcoin a global digital currency that's decentralized. And you brought up the decentralization. That's really important. That's where I can make a peer to peer payment without having to go through an intermediary where I can send my Bitcoin directly over to Nick. There was no bank involved in that transaction, for example, the decentralization of Bitcoin. But we talk more about why Bitcoin has value. I believe you began touching on it there, Nick. Bitcoin has this hardness, which is a strange term to people because Bitcoin is digital. So can you tell us more about Bitcoin's value that comes through its hardness. Nick Giambruno (00:14:21) - Let me just touch on a quick point you made also. So simply put, the value proposition of Bitcoin is that it allows anybody, anywhere in the world to send and receive value without depending on any third party. Nick Giambruno (00:14:32) - At the same time. It's a form of money that is 100% resistant to debasement. That's its value proposition. That's a very profound thing. So going to the hardness. Yes, hardness is a concept that a lot of people get confused. Look, I love gold, I own gold, I recommend gold chain from the gold community. And I know the gold community. So I think a lot of people in the gold community get confused around this hardness now. They think it's hard, like physically hard, like abrasive metal. That's not what art means. Hard. And in terms of a hard asset, what it means is hard to produce. That's what it means. Yeah, that's what a hard asset is. It's hard to produce. And what is the opposite of that? Something that's easy to produce. Nobody would want to store their value, store their savings, store their economic energy into something that somebody else can make with no effort, almost like, you know, oh, let's put our life savings in arcade tokens or frequent flyer miles. Nick Giambruno (00:15:26) - It's ridiculous when you think of it in that way. But that is, in my humble opinion, the most important attribute of money is that it's hard to produce all the other attributes of money. Quite frankly, are meaningless if the money is not hard to produce. Because if it's not hard to produce, none of the other stuff matters. And that's the most crucial attribute of money. Keith Weinhold (00:15:45) - Yes, reinforcing why we have that investing theme of invest in something that's scarce and difficult to produce and takes real world resources to produce, much like real estate does. Much like gold with all the mining and assaying and much like Bitcoin, because to produce new Bitcoin, it takes electricity, it takes hardware and it takes software, some real world resources in order to produce Bitcoin. We talk about the production rate or the inflation rate in just a couple months. Here we're coming up on something really interesting, which is really one reason why I have you on the show talking about Bitcoin now. And that is the having event, the halving being that rate of new Bitcoin issuance is cut in half every four years. Keith Weinhold (00:16:28) - So tell us more about that and bring the stock to flow ratio into the conversation here. We're at a cusp. Nick Giambruno (00:16:34) - Of a very important moment in monetary history. Because you can quantify the hardness of an asset. It is quantifiable. It is basically the inverse of the supply growth. And there's another way of saying that, as you mentioned, the stock to flow ratio basically. In short, you got the stockpiles. That's what's available. And then you have the flow which is like the new supply. So the higher the stock to flow, the harder the asset is and the more resistant to debasement it is. And same thing when you take the the supply growth, you want a smaller supply growth. It's just the inverse of the stock to flow. So gold has always been mankind's artist money for thousands of years and gold's stock to blow ratios about I think it's around 60 which means it takes about 60 years of current production to equal current supplies. If you look at silver, it's much less than gold. Nick Giambruno (00:17:25) - And every other commodity is closer to one, which means that every year the new production basically equals the existing stockpiles. And that's not a very good attribute for something that you want to have as a store of value. Now, what is going to happen in this having that's coming up in around April of this year? You can quantify the stock that flow. I just told you how to quantify it. So right now Bitcoin and gold have about equal stock to flow ratios in about equal hardness. However a key feature of the Bitcoin protocol is that every four years the new Bitcoin supply issuance gets cut in half until around the year 2140, when it is just goes to zero. So Bitcoin is not only going to exceed gold's hardness in a few months, it's going to double it. Now that is a very interesting moment in monetary history because mankind has not had a harder money than gold I don't think. Ever. So this is all going to be very important and it's coming very soon in April. Late April I think is when it's going to happen. Nick Giambruno (00:18:28) - So a very important moment in monetary history. Keith Weinhold (00:18:31) - There is real profundity there with the stock to flow ratio of Bitcoin exceeding that of gold with the upcoming having. And if you, the listener still hung up on the stock to flow ratio, we're talking about the ratio of the existing stock, how much of this stuff already exists, whether it's real estate or gold or Bitcoin divided by the rate of new issuance. So the higher the stock to flow ratio, and as it has the greater hardness it has. And currently 900 new bitcoins per day are being produced. And the having means just what it sounds like in April that will drop to 450 new bitcoins being mined into existence each day. So really you can think of Bitcoin as being disinflationary. It will continue to inflate until the year 2140. Like Nick described. That's when new bitcoin will cease to be mined. And until that point, the new amount the flow continues to get halved. Every four years, there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin that exist, and 19.6 million of those have already been mined. Keith Weinhold (00:19:36) - So you can get an idea of the hardness and how this helps supply the value of Bitcoin. Nick Giambruno (00:19:42) - Well, absolutely. And it's he talks about that. I think it's something like 93% of the time, supply has already been mined, and the remaining 7% are going to come online over the next 120 years or so. You might want to get some before other people figure this out. There is definitely not enough Bitcoin for every millionaire to have one bitcoin, it's far less. I think there's something maybe 50 million millionaires in the world, probably more. They can't all have a bitcoin. It's a very tight supply and we have a situation here too that is related. Because Bitcoin is the only asset, the only commodity were higher prices cannot induce more supply. If gold went to 10,000, you can be sure there are going to be more gold miners getting into the business, more economic deposits being found and and exploited and more supply eventually coming on to the market. Great point. And the same is true for every commodity. Nick Giambruno (00:20:38) - Gold is just the most resistant to that process. However, Bitcoin, no matter how high the price goes, it cannot induce the production of more Bitcoin. That's a very unique scarcity attribute that I don't think people really appreciate very much. It's certainly there. Keith Weinhold (00:20:53) - So this upcoming halving event is one reason why I'm having Nick on the show now to do our first ever Bitcoin episode in almost 500 episodes. And the other reason is the nation see of the SEC approving a new spot to Bitcoin ETF. And all that basically means is it helps give everyday investors really easy access to Bitcoin without having to set up a crypto wallet and bam, hey, your mom can become a crypto bro now. Nick Giambruno (00:21:22) - It is certainly a milestone in acceptance. I think it signifies that Bitcoin is no longer a fringe. It's here to stay. It took over ten years for the SEC to approve one of these things. I think the Winklevoss twins applied over ten years ago for the first Bitcoin ETF, so they reluctantly did it. I don't think they want it to do it. Nick Giambruno (00:21:43) - I think they lost a couple of key court cases that kind of forced their hand, but they did approve it. I frankly don't recommend the ETFs. It's not really Bitcoin because what you have is a Bitcoin IOU, several Bitcoin IOUs. So let's say you buy the Blackrock Bitcoin ETF. Will you have an IOU from your broker for the Blackrock ETF share. And the broker has an IOU from Blackrock. And then Blackrock has an IOU from Coinbase which actually holds the Bitcoin. So I always tell people look it's a spectrum. If you want to take that trade off and you're taking a trade off for convenience over a security and sovereignty, if you want to take that trade off, that's go right ahead. But be have your eyes wide open and be conscious of the trade off that you're making. I always prefer to, uh, tell people Bitcoin is unique. This is a bearer asset. People forget about bearer assets. Bearer assets are a very good thing. They give the people who hold them ownership over them. Nick Giambruno (00:22:42) - I think people who are interested in sovereignty. One thing too that's very important is that even if the Bitcoin price stays flat forever, it doesn't go up at all. It still offers people tremendous value as what we were talking about before, even if it stays flat and doesn't go up ever again, it's still offers anybody, anywhere in the world the ability to send and receive value from anybody else, anywhere in the world, and to hold money that's resistant to debasement, that's hugely valuable, even if the price doesn't go up. So and you can only get those benefits if you hold Bitcoin properly in your own bitcoin wallet, where you control the keys and only you control the keys, because that's who has ownership to this. Bitcoin is by who controls those private keys. You can just kind of think of that like the password dear Bitcoin. So that's what you want to do. If you can learn how to drive a car you can learn how to self-custody Bitcoin. Keith Weinhold (00:23:33) - I love what you did there, Nick, because what you helped us do is you helped us transition from talking about Bitcoin as an investment asset to using bitcoin as a currency, if you wish to use it to transfer value. Keith Weinhold (00:23:47) - Really, Nick, I think a lot of people in the United States, one reason that they're not that interested in Bitcoin is because our currency, our United States dollar, it sure has problems. It sure recently went through a big wave of inflation, but our currency just is not as bad as some of these worthless pieces of paper have been in the Argentine currency or in Turkey or in Iran or Haiti. So maybe Americans don't have enough of a reason to want to go ahead and get a currency that holds its value. So what are your thoughts with what people in other nations are doing, including El Salvador, with immediate legal tender versus the United States, where we have this dollar that's being debased but just not quite at the rate of most other world nations. Nick Giambruno (00:24:30) - That's a good point. I see this in my travels around the world. It may seem like an advantage for the Americans, but I think it's a disadvantage because they're going to be catch on to this last because they're going to have, oh, we've got the dollar. Nick Giambruno (00:24:43) - The dollar's great. So why do I need to look at other alternatives. And and they're going to be the last people. So you're going to have I think what you could see over this the next few years, and certainly over the longer term, is that countries like El Salvador, the countries that are experiencing the highest rates of inflation now and are thus more motivated to look at a superior form of money like Bitcoin or gold, but a lot of them are going to Bitcoin. These are going to be the countries that might fare better over the long term, because they're going to be relatively early adopters in this superior monetary technology. Nobody takes a horse and buggy from New York to California anymore. No, you don't need to because you have airplanes, you have cars, superior technologies for transportation. And likewise, we now have a superior technology for money, which is to say storing and exchanging value. That's all money is. People think it's all confusing. You need a PhD and there's all these charts and confusing jargon. Nick Giambruno (00:25:38) - Money is not confusing. It's actually intuitive and anybody in the world can understand it. It's just something that stores and exchanges value. It's really quite simple. So now we have a superior technology for storing and exchanging value. And I think people who adopt it first are going to reap the most benefits. There are a lot of Americans who have adopted it, but they have been spoiled by the fact that the dollar has been the world's reserve currency. Now, I think that's going away. That's a whole other story. I think that's the two big reasons why, you know, you shouldn't just depend on the dollar one. We can talk. This is a whole new discussion about the dollar as the world reserve currency. I think it's going away. But now despite that we also have a superior alternative with Bitcoin. So yeah, I think the people who are going to adopt this technology sooner are going to reap the most benefits. Keith Weinhold (00:26:24) - Well, Nick, in your opinion, is Bitcoin's takeover inevitable and how does that look? Nick Giambruno (00:26:30) - I don't think anything's inevitable. Nick Giambruno (00:26:32) - I think it's a good that I mean, if I thought it was inevitable, I would sell everything and buy it. I have a more diversified portfolio, but I have a strong conviction in it, very strong conviction in it. But nothing is certain. Nothing's 100%. So I never tell people, you know, and I'm not giving anybody any investment advice. I'm not a registered investment advisor or anything like that. But in any case, even if I was, I wouldn't tell anybody to go all in on anything. And that's certainly not how I manage my risk. However, I do have a very high conviction in it, and I think as it stands now, it has an excellent chance at gaining huge market share in the market for money. And people don't think of money as a market, like a real estate market or a technology market, or the market for any industry. But money is a market. It's probably the biggest market. And I think Bitcoin is you need to put it into perspective, the market cap of all the gold in the entire world is about $13.7 trillion. Nick Giambruno (00:27:27) - The market cap for all Bitcoin in the world, last I checked, is around $850 billion. So we're less than 10% of gold's market cap. It has. And that's not even including all the fiat currencies. All the fiat currencies have a much larger market cap than even gold. So Bitcoin is just a blip on people's radars. So I think it has a lot of upside from here. Keith Weinhold (00:27:46) - One important question an investor can ask themselves once they learn more about Bitcoin is, can I really afford to have absolutely none? You're listening to get reciprocation. We're talking with Nick Bruno of the Financial Underground Warren. We come back when now we've talked about the upside of Bitcoin. Let's talk about a lot of the criticisms you're listening to get rejection I'm your host Keith Weiner. Role. Under this a specific expert with income property, you need Ridge Lending Group and MLS for 256. In gray history, from beginners to veterans, they provided our listeners with more mortgages than anyone. It's where I get my own loans for single family rentals up to four Plex's. Keith Weinhold (00:28:29) - Start your pre-qualification and chat with President Charlie Ridge personally. They'll even customize a plan tailored to you for growing your portfolio. Start at Ridge Lending group.com Ridge lending group.com. You know, I'll just tell you, for the most passive part of my real estate investing, personally, I put my own dollars with Freedom Family Investments because their funds pay me a stream of regular cash flow in returns, or better than a bank savings account up to 12%. Their minimums are as low as 25 K. You don't even need to be accredited for some of them. It's all backed by real estate and that kind of love. How the tax benefit of doing this can offset capital gains and your W2 jobs income. They've always given me exactly their stated return paid on time. So it's steady income, no surprises while I'm sleeping or just doing the things I love. For a little insider tip, I've invested in their power fund to get going on that text family to 66866. Oh, and this isn't a solicitation. If you want to invest where I do, just go ahead and text family to six, 686, six. Keith Weinhold (00:29:52) - This is Richard Duncan, publisher of Macro Watch. Listen to get Rich education with Keith Winchell. And don't quit your day dream. You're listening to SOS created more financial freedom for busy people just like you than nearly any show in the world. This is jet versus cash, and I'm your host, Keith Whitehall. We're talking with the Financial Underground's Nick Bruno. We're talking about Bitcoin in a dedicated episode for the first time ever here in the history of the show. And when we had a chance to talk to Nick Bruno, you can see why we wanted to do this. But, Nick, a lot of people in the United States are concerned that the US government might do something similar to what China did and just go ahead and shut down Bitcoin and shut down cryptocurrency because Bitcoin, it basically competes with the US government's product, the dollar. So what are your thoughts when people say, oh I don't know about that. The government can just shut Bitcoin down. Nick Giambruno (00:30:53) - I'm glad you mentioned China because the communist governor of China is a very powerful governments. Nick Giambruno (00:30:58) - It's one of the most powerful and maybe arguably the most powerful government in the world. And they've tried many times to ban Bitcoin. You know how it turned out. It was a total failure because Bitcoin is basically code in its mathematics. So it's not the easiest thing to ban even if they wanted to ban it. You're trying to ban mathematics because that's all Bitcoin is. And further many Bitcoin wallets and it all works on cryptography. As and as I said, cryptography is just advanced mathematics. Many Bitcoin wallets have a way to back up your funds a 12 word phrase. So if you can memorize well words, which represents your wallet, you can potentially store billions of dollars just in your head. Now this is how are you going to ban that? You can't ban that. It's completely impractical. I always tell people, you know, look at how governments have tried to ban cannabis. Everybody has been able to buy cannabis in any city they wanted to. And then also other countries have tried to ban US dollars. Nick Giambruno (00:31:57) - Argentina tries to ban U.S. dollars, Venezuela tries to ban U.S. dollars. You know what it does? It creates nothing. But an underground market doesn't extinguish people's desire to have dollars. And I think that's what we have here. I think economic incentives are more powerful than governments. And aside from that, I don't think that's going to happen because what they approve all these ETFs, that they were just going to turn around and ban it? I don't think so. Further, you have lots of court cases. There is established federal court cases that have ruled that computer code, which Bitcoin is just computer code, is equivalent to free speech protected under the First amendment of the US Constitution. Oh yes, I understand the Constitution is not people can change it and it's malleable. But still, that complicates any government's desire to ban it. They're going to have to overturn those federal court cases. That's not going to be easy. And even if they do, how are you going to ban something that somebody can just memorize with 12 words written on a piece of paper or in their head, it's completely impractical. Nick Giambruno (00:32:58) - And then, of course, you have the example of China, which has banned Bitcoin several times. You know what? Absolutely nothing happened. But Bitcoin business is moving out of China and Bitcoin adoption among regular Chinese people going up. They can hinder businesses and large like entities that have big presences. They can hinder that certainly. But Bitcoin is global. It'll just go where it's treated best. It's like water. It'll just move to wherever it's treated best. I always say this too. So even if like the northern hemisphere disappeared, let's say there's an all out nuclear war between Russia and the US that will basically wipe out the northern hemisphere. You know what? Bitcoin won't miss a beat in the southern hemisphere. It'll still keep going in the southern hemisphere because it is decentralized and un over tens of thousands of computers around the world. And if even one of those computers survives Bitcoin lives on. So I think this is a very, very hard I wouldn't want to be trying to ban this thing because it's not practical. Keith Weinhold (00:33:56) - Other critics say, all right, if the government can't ban it, well, the government can just then allow it make it be legal, but they can regulate the heck out of it and they can tax it at really high rates. What are your thoughts there? Nick Giambruno (00:34:11) - Well, the government can do whatever it wants, but I think, yes, it can do all of those things. But I think here's the main point is that Bitcoin is we talked about economic incentives. Economic incentives are more powerful than politicians. And I think that's a truism. So as more people become holders of bitcoin aware of bitcoin, I don't think restricting bitcoin or banning bitcoin or adding regulations to Bitcoin or adding taxation to it, I don't think that's going to help anybody win an election. Is that going to help anybody win an election? I don't think so. That would be extremely politically unpopular. Yeah, that could happen. It would be bad news for the people who live in that jersey. But you know what? It's not going to kill bitcoin. Nick Giambruno (00:34:52) - It's going to just be a hindrance for the people who live under these Luddite politicians who would do such a thing. But I don't think they're going to do such a thing. They just approve the ETF. I think Bitcoin has reached escape velocity in terms of its political popularity. I don't think anybody is going to win an election by being tough on Bitcoin. Keith Weinhold (00:35:11) - A number of congresspeople hold bitcoin, Cynthia Loomis being one of the more prominent ones. And then you and I talked about the SEC spot Bitcoin ETF approval earlier. Well, that's a bit of a de facto stamp of approval on bitcoin really in a sense. And I think another criticism Nick, in my opinion this is easy to dispel. But some people will say, well, there are tens of thousands of cryptocurrencies out there. This stuff's just junk. There's something like hump coin that a prominent rapper promotes. I mean, all this stuff is just a bunch of junk. When all these cryptocurrencies come out. And I tend to think that's very different than Bitcoin. Keith Weinhold (00:35:50) - Just like if there's some new stock IPO with zero fundamentals that comes out, I mean that doesn't diminish blue chippers like Apple or Microsoft at all. So I think of Bitcoin as the first or one of the first cryptocurrencies with a finite supply. So these overnight fly by night new cryptos I don't think that's really a very good criticism of Bitcoin. Nick Giambruno (00:36:12) - No, I think this is one of the most popular misconceptions is that there is this crypto asset class and that Bitcoin is just one of 20,000 cryptocurrencies. And I think this is transparently false. It's like saying, oh, you know an increase in the pyrite supply is going to, you know, dilute the gold or something right. So it's kind of ridiculous. And the reason behind this is very simple. Bitcoin is the only one that nobody controls. Nobody can change bitcoin. It's the only one that is like that from Ethereum which is number two on down. They can be changed. A group of people can get together and change it. And in fact, Ethereum's monetary policy has been changed more often than the Federal Reserve's monetary policy. Nick Giambruno (00:36:54) - It's just instead of the FOMC getting together and deciding what we should do with the money supply, it's a group of Ethereum developers and insiders that get together and change it. And the same thing is true of every other cryptocurrency. So that's the very defining feature of Bitcoin is that nobody can change it. That's what makes it interesting. If somebody could change Bitcoin, it wouldn't be interesting. And we don't need to get into the weeds of that. But needless to say, Bitcoin is the only one where the supply has credibility. We all know the bitcoin supply is 21 million. Nobody can do anything to change that. What is the Bitcoin supply going to be in five years? I could tell you with precision what it will be in five years. I can tell you with precision what it'll be in ten years. And you tell me what the Ethereum supply is going to be in five years. Can you tell me what the supply is going to be in ten years? You tell me what any cryptocurrency aside from Bitcoin supply is going to be in five years. Nick Giambruno (00:37:41) - No you can't because it depends on how the developers are going to change it. So it's quite ridiculous to lump these two things together. They're entirely separate. Crypto is a cesspool. Quite frankly. Bitcoin is the real innovation. Keith Weinhold (00:37:55) - And immutable protocol as they call it. Nick, I think one criticism is to pull back. We all know that money is three things. It's a store of value. It's a medium of exchange and it's a unit of account. And a lot of people say, I don't think Bitcoin can be a legitimate currency because all people do is store it. So it might meet the store of value criterion of those three. But I don't know about its legitimacy as a currency. Does that matter? I mean, people kind of use gold as a store of value, but not a currency. What are your thoughts? Nick Giambruno (00:38:25) - Yes, it does matter. And it's a good question. The answer is is Bitcoin is not an established money. Take gold for example. Gold has been around for thousands of years. Nick Giambruno (00:38:34) - It is an established form of money. Bitcoin is an emerging form of money. It's a very big distinction. So I personally think the way this will go and you know people disagree. But I think just logically, if you look at it, yes, story of value comes first. Why. Because once people store their value in Bitcoin, the monetary network of people who will be willing to exchange that bitcoin for something else grows and you can't have one before the other in terms of like nobody's going to exchange bitcoin if they're not already storing bitcoin. So the more people that store bitcoin have it available to exchange it for other people, it's like a network effect, any kind of network effect. That's a monetary network effect. And that's time to build further Bitcoin related misunderstanding is you kind of view Bitcoin in a different lens than just paying for like a cup of coffee, because that's really not what it's made for. The Bitcoin network has a hard limit on the number of transactions that I can process every day in order to keep it decentralized, because if it processed everybody's coffee transaction, you would need huge data centers to run the Bitcoin software. Nick Giambruno (00:39:37) - The matter is, is that the Bitcoin software needs to be decentralized. So right now, anybody who has an average laptop, an average Raspberry Pi can run Bitcoin. That is very important for its decentralization. And if you were putting everybody's retail transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain would be impossible. You need large data centers. Now does that mean Bitcoin can't scale to become a medium of exchange? Absolutely not. You have to just think of bitcoin. What is a Bitcoin transaction represents. It represents final international settlement and clearance. So it's more akin to an international wire transfer. You wouldn't pay for a cup of coffee with from a Swiss bank account to Starbucks in New York. That's basically what you're talking about. What you do is you build layers. There are different layers that are built on top of that bedrock, which is the Bitcoin network that is immutable, unchangeable, and then you build transaction networks on top of that. So what we have with Bitcoin, the most prominent one right now is called the Lightning Network, which is another network that's built on top of Bitcoin that is really more suitable for smaller day to day coffee transactions. Nick Giambruno (00:40:43) - You can actually send about 1/32 of a penny over lightning. So you can do all sorts of micro-transactions. Very interesting. So that's akin to, you know, like a credit card or a credit card is kind of like a layer two network that's built on top of central banks, which do international clearing and settling, and credit cards are built on top of that. And you can think of the same kind of solutions that are going to be built on Bitcoin. You're going to have different layers for different applications. And in terms of these medium of exchange and transaction network in Bitcoin it's the Lightning Network. And it's very exciting to use. Keith Weinhold (00:41:19) - Yeah the Lightning Network it's been around for a while. It's been getting more adoption to help promote payments through Bitcoin. Being a real estate investing show here, oftentimes our listeners are interested in buying a property that will produce income from a tenant that's in that property. Can Bitcoin produce income? Nick Giambruno (00:41:40) - Bitcoin itself cannot produce income because it's just simply money. It's simply an asset in the same sense that gold doesn't produce income. Nick Giambruno (00:41:47) - If you want to earn income from Bitcoin, invest in Bitcoin related companies and Bitcoin related businesses that pay dividends. There are some and there is going to be many more. There are Bitcoin mining companies. These are companies I specialize in covering. In my financial research. They're relatively new. They don't pay dividends yet, but there are several that are looking to establish dividends. You can also lend your bitcoin I mean that's not bitcoin giving you a yield. That's you earning a yield from lending your bitcoin. I would caution you because there's been a lot of these kinds of bitcoin lending services that have gone bankrupt. BlockFi Celsius I'd be. And so whenever I hear about Bitcoin yields I caution people to be not just vigilant, be double vigilant of how you would normally be because there's been so many scams in this area and bad companies that have gone bankrupt. Taking advantage of people looking to earn a yield on their bitcoin. It's really a nascent industry. And you know what? Look at Bitcoin's compounded annual growth rate over any period of time for years. Nick Giambruno (00:42:50) - You don't need a yield. It's going up if the trends continue. And I always tell people if you're going to invest in Bitcoin, have at least a four year time horizon, because that's a long time horizon. But the reason is, is because that gives you through one halving cycle, these having cycles go every four years. It's almost impossible. There's maybe a couple of instances, a couple of days where the bitcoin price wasn't higher than it was four years ago. So I always tell people have a four year time horizon when you're dealing with Bitcoin. And when you look at the returns, that could be possible. And I think the pastor. Returns. Past performance doesn't guarantee anything in the future, but I think that being said, we can expect this cycle to be similar to the other cycles. When you see that kind of potential, it should really make you not interested in these yield products. Keith Weinhold (00:43:39) - You mentioned a couple of bankrupt crypto exchanges there, BlockFi and Celsius. I got caught up in some of that. Keith Weinhold (00:43:48) - Now I keep all of mine on a hard wallet because really what these exchanges do is they're centralize something that's supposed to be decentralized like Bitcoin, and it gives Bitcoin a really bad name. Nick, I had some people reach out to me when FTX imploded and people said, this proves that Bitcoin is a scam. And I had to gently explain to people, whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Just because Wells Fargo or Chase fails. We didn't say the dollar failed. It wasn't a failure in Bitcoin. It was a failure in these exchanges. Nick Giambruno (00:44:20) - Oh, yes. This has been going on for a long time. And before FTX, there's Mt. Gox. There's a lot of these things. So I think the underlying lesson here in all of these examples is that don't trust third parties. And with Bitcoin you don't need to trust their authorities because if you can learn to custody your own Bitcoin, you are totally responsible, totally in control of your destiny. You don't have to worry about one of these bitcoin companies going bankrupt because you hold it and only you hold it. Nick Giambruno (00:44:48) - And I think that's what makes it special. Keith Weinhold (00:44:51) - This has been a great chat and I think a really good Bitcoin 101 for a person that still doesn't understand very much about it. And you help people understand Bitcoin, you do an awful lot of other things, including informing people about global trends and macroeconomics. So if someone wants to connect with you and learn more from you, what's the best way for them to do that? Nick Giambruno (00:45:13) - The best place is Financial Underground Comm. I have a really helpful Bitcoin guide that shows people how to use it in the most sovereign and the most private ways possible, and I keep that guide up to date with the current best practices, because these things change very frequently. Like what is the best wallet, what is the best hardware wallet, and so forth. So I keep this guide alive with the best current practices. I think that would be a big help for people. Could definitely save them many, many hours of time by simply just identifying today's best practices. So I think that would be very helpful. Nick Giambruno (00:45:45) - You can find all that at Financial underground.com. Keith Weinhold (00:45:49) - Nick Bruno has been super informative. Thanks so much for coming on to the show. Nick Giambruno (00:45:54) - Thank you Keith, great to be with you. Keith Weinhold (00:46:01) - Another Bitcoin criticism is its energy use. Oh, look at all the electricity that mining consumes. What a waste. But the more you learn, you find that Bitcoin miners, they often use stranded energy sources that might not get used otherwise. In fact, miners have an economic incentive to use stranded and low cost energy. Volatility in Bitcoin's price has been a real problem if you want to use it as a currency. The price for one Bitcoin peaked at almost $70,000 in late 2021, and just a year later it was under 16 K, and now the price has swelled up a lot again from that recent low. In any case, if you choose to own Bitcoin or any other crypto, please store it on a cold wallet for security. It's a small device. It's about three times the size of a thumb drive. It looks like a thumb drive, and there is a learning curve that you have to meet in order to use one. Keith Weinhold (00:47:04) - I don't own much gold or bitcoin, just a little. They both have their merits and risks like we've discussed. I'm a real estate guy. Even most gold and bitcoin proponents that I've talked with seem to agree with me that real estate is the proven wealth builder. I'm not sure if we'll ever devote another episode to Bitcoin here. I hope that today's episode at least equipped you to ask better questions, in case you want to know more about it. Today's episode had a more international than usual feel. Bitcoin has no boundaries. I'm in Ecuador and our guest Nick joined us from Argentina today. I'll be back in the US next week when I have some really important real estate trends to tell you about. Until then, I'm Keith Reinhold. Don't quit your daydream. Speaker 7 (00:47:54) - Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own. Information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. Speaker 7 (00:48:09) - The host is operating on behalf of get Rich education LLC exclusively. Keith Weinhold (00:48:22) - The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth building. Get rich education.com.
I talked to Aaron van WIrdum about his new book "The Genesis Book" which covers both the economic and technological origins of Bitcoin going back all the way back to Hayek and Stallman.
Marty sits down with Aaron van Wirdum to discuss his new book The Genesis Book. Aaron on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AaronvanW The Genesis Book: http://thegenesisbook.com/ 0:00 - Intro6:32 - Storytime with Marty13:00 - Genesis book16:15 - Where does Bitcoin's history begin?19:43 - Cypherpunk history27:50 - Who are the OGs?31:05 - Precursor projects and culture35:53 - Hashcash, BitGold, B-Money43:11 - Demand for privacy tech52:18 - Whitepaper and genesis block1:00:06 - Cypherpunks today1:03:52 - Timing and Chaum1:09:51 - Free banking, extropians, AI1:20:01 - Pitching the book Shoutout to our sponsors: River Unchained CrowdHealth Bitcoin Talent Co Sote TFTC Merch is Available: Shop Now Join the TFTC Movement: Main YT Channel Clips YT Channel Website Twitter Instagram Follow Marty Bent: Twitter Newsletter Podcast
Aaron van Wirdum rejoins me to talk about his exploration of how Bitcoin came to be. We talk about his new book, The Genesis Book. In this book, Aaron explores some of the technologies, and philosophies that led to the creation of Bitcoin. We discuss: What he learned in making this book Hayek and the Austrians Extropians Cryptography and the Cypherpunks Libertarians Precursor tech to Bitcoin Links: X: @AaronvanW Site: http://thegenesisbook.com/ Nostr #npub1art8cs66ffvnqns5zs5qa9fwlctmusj5lj38j94lv0ulw0j54wjqhpm0w5 Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mempool.space https://nomadcapitalist.com/live/ Stephan Livera links: Follow me on X: @stephanlivera Subscribe to the podcast Subscribe to Stephan Livera Substack newsletter Timestamp/Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 01:07 - Motivation for Writing the Book 04:05 - Bitcoin's Origins and Evolution 08:21 - The Influence of Hayek and Austrian Economics 18:54 - The Connection Between FOSS and Bitcoin 25:49 - The Extropians and Their Vision 30:47 - The Cypherpunks and Their Ideology 32:28 - Swan.com 33:52 - Mempool.space 35:00 - Coinkite.com 39:30 - The Rise and Fall of DigiCash 51:20 - The Crypto Wars and Government Regulation 56:26 - Pre-cursor Electronic Cash Projects 01:01:20 - Satoshi's Clever Insight 01:03:00 - Closing thoughts
Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week kicks off with a crucial question: Are the latest trends in crypto ETFs signaling a major shift in the investment landscape? We delve into the market's nuanced response to these ETFs and what it means for investors. How important is client diversity for Ethereum's stability and future growth? The squad engages in a lively debate on this topic. With the advent of Proto-Danksharding, how might Ethereum's scalability be impacted, and what are the implications for the blockchain ecosystem? We further examine the user experience across blockchain platforms, particularly comparing Solana and Ethereum in terms of their user interfaces and transaction dynamics. Looking to the future, what breakthroughs and challenges can we anticipate in blockchain technology? Join us for an in-depth exploration of these key questions and their profound impact on the world of cryptocurrency. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights:
Aaron van Wirdum is a veteran Bitcoin journalist who has been writing for Bitcoin Magazine since 2014. On January 3rd 2024, after nearly five years of working on this project, he launched The Genesis Book: a reflection on the history before Bitcoin.
"Since 2017, bitcoin has been Stone Ridge's treasury reserve asset because of my extreme aversion to risk. We run net short USD – which is fancy way of saying we net borrow fiat - to pay bills and make investments. We save in bitcoin. It would be impossible to overstate the corporate advantages of being on the Bitcoin Standard. Since 2017, we've doubled our franchises to ten, more than 10x'd our trading profits, and delivered 25% annualized ROE for our shareholders. Our firm compensation, rent, and total expenses are up 89%, 119%, and 69%, respectively, in fiat, and down 36%, 26%, and 43%, respectively, in bitcoin." ~ Ross Stevens Today we dive into the Stone Ridge Investor Letter for 2023, sharing wisdom on staying grounded and grateful, exploring long term investment perspectives, and dropping bombs regarding the foolishness of being on the fiat standard, and the incredible advantage of having a bitcoin treasury. This is a great read, not to be missed. A shout to Ross Stevens for the incredible work he is doing. Check out the original article at Stone Ridge 2023 Investor Letter (Link: http://tinyurl.com/j4serp6v) References Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones (Audible Audio Edition): James Clear, James Clear, Penguin Audio: Audible Books & Originals (Link: https://a.co/d/9RjwN0r) CryptoQuikRead_163 - A Cypherpunk's Manifesto [Eric Hughes] (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/tOjGsxzRKlYyH7XOi79a) Wolf Bitcoin Accelerator in NYC - Leadership (Link: https://wolfnyc.com/leadership) Host Links Guy on Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/yc376bff) Guy on X (Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Bitcoin Audible on X (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) Check out our awesome sponsors! Get 9% off the COLDCARD with code BITCOINAUDIBLE (Link: bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Swan: The best way to buy, learn, and earn #Bitcoin (Link: https://swanbitcoin.com) “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~ Albert Einstein --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bitcoinaudible/message
Fran Finney is the widow of the legendary Hal Finney, who received the first Bitcoin transaction. In this interview, we discuss her husband's impact, their life together, and his battle with ALS. We also talk about the importance of Bitcoin, the challenges Hal and her faced due to harassment, and the concept of cryopreservation. The conversation also touches on the significance of fundraising for ALS research and how the Bitcoin community can contribute to this cause. - - - - Hal Finney was not only the first person to receive a Bitcoin transaction (Satoshi sent him 10 Bitcoins in January 2009 as a test), he was also the first person after Satoshi to download and run Bitcoin software. Hal came across the Bitcoin whitepaper through a Cypherpunks mailing list. As a champion of personal privacy, he saw the potential for Bitcoin to provide for censorship-resistant transactions. Driven by his concerns about government overreach in the digital age, Hal became a pioneer in the world of cryptography, gaining recognition for his part in the development of PGP. He was also part of a band of cypherpunks trying to develop a new form of money providing personal sovereignty. Hal co-authored the first paper detailing the concept of reusable cryptographic proofs of work, which would later be adapted in Bitcoin. Hal famously walked away from Bitcoin for a full year. During that time he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Despite the debilitating nature of the disease, Finney continued to work tirelessly on Bitcoin's development until his passing on August 28, 2014. His untimely death left behind a legacy of innovation and a lasting impact on the foundation of the digital currency landscape. Despite his personal struggles, Hal Finney's intellect and relentless pursuit of knowledge cemented his place as a legendary figure in the world of cryptography and Bitcoin. In this podcast, I talk to Fran Finney, who is tirelessly committed to honouring his memory by raising funds for ALS victims and advocating for increased understanding of the disease. - ALS Golden West Running Bitcoin Challenge Join the WBD Team - ALS Golden West Running Bitcoin Challenge Show notes: https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/running-bitcoin-with-fran-finney This episode's sponsors: Iris Energy - Bitcoin Mining. Done Sustainably Bitcasino - The Future of Gaming is here Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet Wasabi Wallet - Privacy by default Unchained - Secure your bitcoin with confidence OrangePillApp - Stack Friends Who Stack Sats SwanBitcoin - Invest in Bitcoin with Swan
“I think it would be incredible if the bitcoin community was the community that made the difference with ALS…that was able to actually change things so that it doesn't afflict people and end people's lives in such a horrible way, the way it did for Hal.”— Fran FinneyFran Finney is the widow of the legendary Hal Finney, who received the first Bitcoin transaction. In this interview, we discuss her husband's impact, their life together, and his battle with ALS. We also talk about the importance of Bitcoin, the challenges Hal and her faced due to harassment, and the concept of cryopreservation. The conversation also touches on the significance of fundraising for ALS research and how the Bitcoin community can contribute to this cause. - - - - Hal Finney was not only the first person to receive a Bitcoin transaction (Satoshi sent him 10 Bitcoins in January 2009 as a test), he was also the first person after Satoshi to download and run Bitcoin software. Hal came across the Bitcoin whitepaper through a Cypherpunks mailing list. As a champion of personal privacy, he saw the potential for Bitcoin to provide for censorship-resistant transactions. Driven by his concerns about government overreach in the digital age, Hal became a pioneer in the world of cryptography, gaining recognition for his part in the development of PGP. He was also part of a band of cypherpunks trying to develop a new form of money providing personal sovereignty. Hal co-authored the first paper detailing the concept of reusable cryptographic proofs of work, which would later be adapted in Bitcoin.Hal famously walked away from Bitcoin for a full year. During that time he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Despite the debilitating nature of the disease, Finney continued to work tirelessly on Bitcoin's development until his passing on August 28, 2014. His untimely death left behind a legacy of innovation and a lasting impact on the foundation of the digital currency landscape. Despite his personal struggles, Hal Finney's intellect and relentless pursuit of knowledge cemented his place as a legendary figure in the world of cryptography and Bitcoin. In this podcast, I talk to Fran Finney, who is tirelessly committed to honouring his memory by raising funds for ALS victims and advocating for increased understanding of the disease. runningbitcoin.ustinyurl.com/wbd-running-bitcoin- - - - This episode's sponsors:Iris Energy - Bitcoin Mining. Done Sustainably Bitcasino - The Future of Gaming is hereLedger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware walletWasabi Wallet - Privacy by defaultUnchained - Secure your bitcoin with confidenceOrange Pill App - Stack friends who stack satsSwan Bitcoin - Invest in Bitcoin with Swan-----WBD754 - Show Notes-----If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following:Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contributeMake a tip:Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2SQR Codes: BitcoinIf you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank youSubscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS FeedLeave a review on iTunesShare the show and episodes with your friends and familySubscribe to the newsletter on my websiteFollow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTubeIf you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.
Stella talks about her experience working on Julian Assange's legal team, her introduction to new technologies including Bitcoin, and the current surveillance state that has emerged since the rise of the open internet. JOIN THE COMMUNITYLogos X (Formerly Twitter)Logos DiscordLogos Press Engine RESOURCES: Stella Assange X (Formerly Twitter)Free Assange Emergency Toolkit Jarrad Hope X (Formerly Twitter) TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introductions - Stella's background, Apartheid, politics, the arts, Julian Assange legal team 6:35 Motivations of joining and studying law and politics – Idealism, justice, society 10:35 Growing up in the coming of age of the internet – Wikileaks, Iraq War Logs, new journalism 12:30 Jarrad's inspirations – International Subversives Magazine, Cypherpunk Mailing lists, more 14:00 The US prosecution against Julian Assange – a political test, and failure of the justice system 18:20 Information asymmetry, Edward Snowden, and the movement towards open information 20:15 Wikileaks grew out of a culture in which the government should be open 25:50 Jarrad's journey into civil libertarianism and building Logos 29:00 Carrying on the torch of Ethereum – building censorship resistant cyber states31:20 Stella's introduction to crypto by Julian – 2011 meeting with Google about Bitcoin 34:35 Bitcoin is the real Occupy Wall Street – How cryptography can make a real world impact 37:00 Preserving reality as the tools to manipulate it become more powerful 39:55 Social media censorship and Wikileaks adoption of BTC 42:00 Arab Spring, Wikileaks utility in Tunisia, Egypt and around the world 45:15 Crypto and the need for alternative system, communities, and modes of organising 50:30 A dangerous, post-state system and surveillance capitalism 54:50 Underlying causes for a shift in behavior and the “War on Terror” 59:00 What does Julian Assange case mean for journalism, activism, liberties, and human rights 1:12:40 An update on Julian Assange's precarious legal situation 1:20:10 Free Speech, activism, and the course the world has taken since Julian's imprisonment.
Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy's unfinished crypto mandate shows the hollowness of crypto as a political concern.Today's episode is sponsored by CME Group.Today's featured story is by Daniel Kuhn, titled: Vote if You Want, but Remember ‘Cypherpunks Write Code'? Vote if You Want, but Remember 'Cypherpunks Write Code'We are using a Wondercraft AI voice for this episode.-From our sponsors:CME Group Cryptocurrency futures and options provide market-leading liquidity for bitcoin andether trading. These cash-settled contracts give full exposure to crypto performance without thehassle of holding the physical position. No digital wallet? No problem. Trade nearly 24/7 in atransparent, CFTC-regulated market. Visit cmegroup.com/crypto to learn more.Disclaimer | This communication is not directed to investors located in any particular jurisdiction and is notintended to be accessed by recipients based in jurisdictions in which distribution is notpermitted. The information herein should not be considered investment advice or the results ofactual market experience. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance.Trading derivatives products involves the risk of loss. Please consider carefully whether futuresor options are appropriate to your financial situation-This episode was hosted by Noelle Acheson. “Markets Daily” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Michele Musso. All original music by Doc Blust and Colin Mealey. This episode used Wondercraft Voice AI.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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