"Privacy is at the root of Lightning which is a requirement for a retail payment network to succeed. It builds on Bitcoin which does not optimize for privacy⁵ but transparency and robustness." - Nicolas Burtey & Chris Hunter As excellent piece today from the Galoy Money team that compares the current world of retail payment infrastructure with the incredible potential of a similarly architected, but fundamentally more open, permissionless, private, and censorship resistant payments system bu...
Jul 27, 2020•1 hr 8 min
Today's Guy's Take is a response to the Bill Bert podcast with Anthony Pompliano! What did Pomp miss? What did he get wrong? Lets do something a little different with this episode, and feel free to check out the video by finding it on YouTube with links and other things provided in the shownotes. Let me know what you think, and don't forget to subscribe! Watch Episode 20 of the Bill Bert Podcast on youtube below: https://youtu.be/UbMaPYX52go Start your long term, auto purchase, super simple Bitc...
Jul 23, 2020•1 hr 13 min
"This risk is probably best countered by offering enough time to upgrade. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees on how much time is enough; some think forced signaling could start within a year, others believe it should take several years." - Aaron Van Wirdum Taproot is here! Now just how the hell do we decide to do the upgrade? Aaron Van Wirdum brings us another great piece at Bitcoin Magazine on the varied discussions on how to implement a Bitcoin soft fork in the post-SegWit days. Do we have PTS...
Jul 21, 2020•56 min
“Trusted third parties are security holes” isn’t just a slogan; it’s a concept that millions of people will have intuitively grasped for the first time yesterday." - Nic Carter I'm sure you've heard about the insane social media takeover by a hacker looking to make a little Bitcoin by now. Nic Carter writes an op-ed on Coindesk breaking down his take on the event and how it calls attention to the huge problems of centralization on the web and social media, and what the possible solutions might l...
Jul 17, 2020•33 min
"Bitcoin’s capped supply is one of its most well-known features, and it is regularly cited as a hedge against inflation caused by government money printing. Most people don’t know that Bitcoin has another attribute that acts as a hedge against a far larger risk." - Nick Neuman Today we read a short article on BitcoinMagazine that shines light an incredible benefit of the Bitcoin system that isn't so widely understood. It isn't simply an independent monetary policy, its an independent monetary *s...
Jul 14, 2020•27 min
• DeFi • Prices & Markets • Bitcoin & the global power struggle • Political insanity • Apolitical? Super-Political? Omni-Political? • Hard Money Film • Lightning Attacks • Minimum wage & tons more! Another awesome episode with the Raleigh crew digging into so many topics on Bitcoin & and the state of the world. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bitcoinaudible/message
Jul 13, 2020•2 hr 23 min
" This rationale also completely demolishes the “blockchain not Bitcoin” mantra as the Schelling point is purely based on bitcoin the money, not blockchain the technology." - Willem Van Den Bergh Why do communication protocols tend towards monopoly? What is it in the nature of networks that lends dominance in a single medium, in the way VHS killed the very existence of BetaMax, how Blu-ray pushed HD-DVD into obscurity? What can Schelling Points, the Lindy Effects, and what we know about networks...
Jul 10, 2020•1 hr 21 min
"Rearden heard Bertram Scudder, outside the group, say to a girl who made some sound of indignation, “Don’t let him disturb you. You know, money is the root of all evil – and he’s the typical product of money.” Rearden did not think that Francisco could have heard it, but he saw Francisco turning to them with a gravely courteous smile..." - Ayn Rand Reading the famous speech by character Francisco D'Anconia in the novel "Atlas Shrugged" on the root of all money. This one had a profound effect on...
Jul 08, 2020•20 min
“When we stop conceiving of central banking as an economics story, and start to see it as a crime story, we are beginning to get the true picture.” - Robert Breedlove The epic conclusion of Breedlove ’s “Masters and Slaves of money,” and the inevitable Guy’s Rant further exploring just how poisonous the corruption of our money is on the sustainability and moral fabric of society. Click the crap out of the applause button on the medium article below, and don’t forget the many links for exploring ...
Jul 07, 2020•47 min
"Money is a tool for trading human time. Central banks, the modern-era masters of money, wield this tool as a weapon to steal time and inflict wealth inequality." - Robert Breedlove Breedlove brings us another excellent write up, this time on the nature of monetary masters and the power dynamic they embody. Exploring the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the monetary origins of the decline of Western Africa, the logos, and the free speech of human value and time, "Masters & Slaves of Money" is a b...
Jul 06, 2020•1 hr 3 min
"The system is rigged." - Jimmy Song How does out monetary system work and what does it even mean for the government and central bank to have printed trillions of dollars to hand out to everyone, as if we could all just print our way to infinite riches? Is that possible? Does that even make sense? Or is there a better and more fair monetary system at our disposal that reveals the injustices of the current system, and presents a grain of hope for our future? Bitcoin: A Declaration of Monetary Ind...
Jul 03, 2020•41 min
"Mempools are the centerpiece of the entire Bitcoin economy. And they are totally underrated." - Zane Pocock Today we dig into a unique mental framework of the Bitcoin mempool and how to understand its significance and the fascinating role it plays in the global bidding war for Bitcoin block space. A work by first time author Zane Pocock at MempoolReview.com , Guy reads "Bitcoin's Town Square" & expands on exactly how he views the open information market working tirelessly to find the right ...
Jul 03, 2020•38 min
"Distorting supply only serves to distort a currency’s ability to perform its job of storing and communicating value; it can’t make a currency more valuable or secure." - Phil Geiger Digging back into the Unchained Capital Blog we find a fascinating framing of the problem of Bitcoin's security at the end of the block subsidy era, where costs will be paid directly by those making transactions. Will the network be secure, or will we need more inflation, breaking the ultimate value of the system it...
Jul 01, 2020•59 min
" #Bitcoin as protocol has huge potential: it's like the TCP layer, but no one has built the HTTP layer yet." - Elizabeth Stark Today we read an article from earlier this year on the massive advances we have seen in Lightning since its inception, and the awesome potential it has for the future. Written by Elizabeth Stark , co-founder of Lightning Labs, and followed by a long rant about all of the tools I’ve been using and the amazing things that are made possible with them! Entering the Decade o...
Jun 30, 2020•44 min
"Guy Swann returns to the show to discuss Bitcoin scaling, privacy, lightning, state chains, institutional solutions, owning your keys, and much more." Pseu and I go down the rabbit hole of Bitcoin's future and what the road there may look like in this episode of his show, "A Boy Named Pseu." If you haven't checked out his podcast yet, it's a great one to explore on the principles of liberty and deep dives into all sort of conversations around Bitcoin. It's definitely one not to miss! https://po...
Jun 26, 2020•1 hr 38 min
"Incentives have driven exchanges to become casinos, and they’re doing exactly what you’d expect unregulated casinos to do. This is no place you ever want to send anyone." - Rusty Russell A sobering and important reminder of the dangers that exchanges have come to pose for people new to the Bitcoin space. Rusty Russell writes a concise piece breaking down the incentives of the exchange market and the increasing risks they pose in hooking people with the promise they can buy Bitcoin, and trapping...
Jun 25, 2020•38 min
“Years before the U.S. government’s assault on free speech escalated into the indictment against the WikiLeaks founder, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin recognized the potential fate that would befall the world’s first global Fourth Estate. “ - Nozomi Hayase Another excellent write up from Nozomi Hayase & Bitcoin Magazine, on the plight of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange & the injustice of his extradition. It is an astonishing thing to see how many world changing systems, technologies,...
Jun 24, 2020•50 min
" the adoption of a superior form of money has tremendous multiplicative benefits to wealth creation for all members of a society ." - Vijay Boyapati Rebooting one of the most essential Bitcoin works out there. If you are either new to Bitcoin, or if you have simply not listened or read this one in some time, there is no better time than now to listen to Vijay Boyapati’s excellent work, “The Bullish Case for Bitcoin.” Drop some applause and check out the original below with links to numerous oth...
Jun 22, 2020•1 hr 20 min
"We have JCR Licklider to thank for the first articulation of the Internet, which he dubbed the “ Intergalactic Computer Network ” in 1962" - Roy Sheinfeld If we look at the history of the most influential network in the world, the mother of them all, the internet; what might it be able to tell us about Bitcoin and Lightning? What might it be able to inform us about where we are going in the future of this ecosystem? And can it assist in helping us to find a direction for the enormous amount of ...
Jun 19, 2020•39 min
"While Bitcoin can control the number of users inside the network, it has no control over the number of users accessing the network through custodial banks. The growth of this banking layer is outside of the protocol’s control and could grow into a systemic risk for Bitcoin." - Hasu A very interesting thought experiment from returning author Hasu , on the potential risks of a Bitcoin future without a trustless means of transacting. If most Bitcoin traded is a custodial IOU, could Bitcoin fall vi...
Jun 19, 2020•40 min
"ION will decentralize the way that messages and application data is encrypted and exchanged." - ION Announcement With the help of Casa and a number of other partners, Microsoft finally releases the beta of their new decentralized ID system, anchored to the Bitcoin mainnet. A potential solution to security and privacy in our increasingly digital future. By Peter Chawaga , and published at the amazing resource that is Bitcoin Magazine , we read and discuss "ION, Microsoft’s Decentralized Identity...
Jun 17, 2020•42 min
“What doesn’t kill the legacy monetary system only makes it weaker. What doesn’t kill bitcoin only makes it stronger. “ - Parker Lewis If you were hoping for another installment of the incredible Gradually, then Suddenly Series by Parker Lewis, then the wait is over. From the Unchained Capital Blog, today’s read is the 15th installment, “Bitcoin is Antifragile.” Link to the original and the Unchained Capital Blog for tons of other great writings: https://unchained-capital.com/blog/bitcoin-is-ant...
Jun 15, 2020•1 hr 31 min
“At the moment, the Bitcoin network is improving but is far from as usable and private as it needs to be with authoritarianism and surveillance on the rise in many countries,” - Alex Gladstein Another great piece by Aaron Van Wirdum made available at BitcoinMagazine.com, today it was announced that the Human Rights Foundation, a great force for liberty and privacy across the globe, has turned its focus toward directly funding Bitcoin privacy projects thanks to a generous gift from an anonymous d...
Jun 10, 2020•38 min
A follow-up to yesterday's incredible read from The Nakamoto Institute by Ian Grigg, The 7 Layers of Financial Cryptography. Today we dig into what the reality of financial cryptographic systems as they have been developed & secured through Bitcoin. What philosophy and mentality informed it all, and where did it differ from Ian's vision, and where was he able to see what would come about? Mentioned in the show for further exploration: Bittorrent Lessons Part 1 - https://anchor.fm/thecryptoco...
Jun 10, 2020•58 min
"Financial Cryptography is substantially complex, requiring skills drawn from diverse and incompatible, or at least, unfriendly, disciplines. Caught between Central Banking and Cryptography, or between accountants and programmers, there is a grave danger that efforts to construct Financial Cryptography systems will simplify or omit critical disciplines." - Ian Grigg Another blast from the past of 1998, written by Ian Grigg, made available at the NakamotoInstitute.org . An awesome attempt at look...
Jun 08, 2020•46 min
Joined the guys over at POV Crpyto to talk about the nature of stability and prices. Does price stability even exist, is it something to strive for, or is it the antithesis to a stable economy? Had an awesome convo with CK & David, I think you guys will enjoy it. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bitcoinaudible/message
Jun 05, 2020•42 min
"Users can now create a transaction without a signature in the Bitcoin Core GUI using the partially signed bitcoin transaction (PSBT) format" - Aaron Van Wirdum A great piece by Aaron & the Bitcoin Magazine team, detailing the new release of the Bitcoin reference client that explains multiple great improvements, simplifications, cleanup of the codebase, & hardening of client security. Removing the unnecessary, and building out new standards, another great release showing the promising di...
Jun 03, 2020•25 min
"As it turns out, we had money, we just weren't allowed to take it out of the country. When we left the Soviet Union we were allowed to exchange our rubles for dollars at the official rate (not the real rate)... so they gave us $100 worth and sent us on our way." - Yan Pritzker Bitcoin isn't simply an application that can be used for finance. Less a technological breakthrough & more a monetary revolution. Today we chat with the exceptional author of "Inventing Bitcoin," CTO and co-founder of...
Jun 01, 2020•1 hr 2 min
"VCs are a group of people demonized in the Bitcoin industry for not understanding Bitcoin’s value proposition. Well, how do you expect a VC to value Bitcoin if they’re only used to valuing startups?" - Hass McCook A really fun article, followed by a walk down Bitcoin memory lane with Guy, giving a fresh analogy (you know how I love those) of Bitcoin as a startup moving through funding rounds. Where are we in the maturing cycle, and what will the focus of this and future eras be? Looking at Bitc...
May 30, 2020•46 min
“ authority, not truth makes legitimacy... it is truth, not authority that makes legitimacy with Bitcoin.” - Erik Cason Today we dive into a fascinating piece at cryptosovereignty.org by Erik Cason diving into the very concept of sovereignty, and how Bitcoin, in comparison to the legacy system, is not merely revolutionary, but messianic. Truth, not authority, is the only source of legitimacy. Check out the original article with tons of other stuff to explore at the link below: https://cryptosove...
May 28, 2020•40 min
