Brian Morgenstern, Head of Public Policy of Riot Platforms joins me to talk about the latest attack on Bitcoin miners: Is Bitcoin mining a partisan issue? The EIA “Survey” Falsehoods on grid stability and emissions False Emergency What to do about it Links: X: @MorgensternNJ Thread https://twitter.com/MorgensternNJ/status/1754634147232977246 X: @TXblockchain_ Sen. Lummis declares the survey to be ‘absurd’ Joint statement by the Chamber of Digital Commerce & Texas Blockchain Council opposing ...
Feb 22, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 552
Ben Carman of Mutiny Wallet rejoins me on the show to talk about what’s coming next for Bitcoin. We talk about scaling Bitcoin and contrast the different mindsets, discuss different soft fork proposals and directions Bitcoin could go. We also talk about what impact covenants will have and the latest with Mutiny Wallet. Bitcoin’s biggest challenges Taxonomy of Bitcoin development culture Soft forks and covenants What ‘counts’ as a Bitcoin L2? What are the big benefits of covenants? Mutiny Wallet ...
Feb 19, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 551
Do the lies about Bitcoin frustrate you? Join us in this episode as we discuss the ways to dispel and debunk some of the most egregious false climate narratives on Bitcoin with Daniel Batten, Managing Partner at CH4 Capital. We discuss: The biggest bitcoin climate myths Dishonest portrayal in the media “Per transaction” fake methodology Where Cambridge CCAF is wrong Bitcoin’s PoW and ‘ideological intransigence’ ESMA submission How Bitcoiners can help Links: X: @DSBatten Articles: https://batcoin...
Feb 16, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 550
We talk about monetary maximalism, and whether everything is good for bitcoin with Christian Keroles of HRF. We discuss: Monetary maximalism: descriptive or prescriptive Bitcoin Spam Antifragility What bitcoiners are getting wrong on personal finance How 2023 played out with “ordinals” Not being used to winning Links: X: @ck_SNARKs Site: HRF.org Site: https://cbdctracker.hrf.org/home Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mempool.space Stephan Livera links: Follow me on X: @...
Feb 13, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 549
We’re trying something a little different this episode! While at Bitcoin Oasis 2024 in Dubai I captured some short interviews with some speakers at the conference. We covered a wide range of topics ranging from Bitcoin Spam, to nation state adoption and honestly grappling with bitcoin user adoption trade offs. The speakers interviewed are: Alejandro De La Torre of Demand Mining Luke Dashjr of Ocean Mining Prince Philip of Serbia, from JAN3 Pete Rizzo of Bitcoin Magazine Giacomo Zucco of Plan B N...
Feb 10, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 548
Mike Peterson from Bitcoin Beach El Zonte, El Salvador rejoins me on the show to give listeners some updates from El Salvador. Having a reduced crime rate and improved investment and tourism into the country has driven big changes! We talk: How things look a few years on from the Bitcoin Law Life on the ground in El Salvador How easy it is to move El Salvador $1M Citizenship Program Dealing with on chain fees Custodial vs Self Custodial and pragmatism ‘Circular Economies’ and insights from his n...
Feb 06, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 547
Get an overview of lightning wallets in this episode with Anita Posch. Anita walks through what she found in testing self custodial lightning wallets under conditions of poor internet connectivity. We also talk about themes that came up at the recent Adopting Bitcoin Cape Town South Africa. On the ground insights Results of the self custodial wallet test Which LN apps came out best? The situation with fees Where the test might not be suitable How things may change with a Liquid or Fedimint appro...
Feb 02, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 546
What does Life Insurance look like when it’s all priced and done in Bitcoin? Zac Townsend (CEO and co-founder of Meanwhile) joins me on the show to talk about it. We discuss: Life insurance as a model Term or Whole life Bitcoin denomination Is it the next Celsius or BlockFi? Does it work under a deflationary Private credit fund Links: X: @ztownsend X: @meanwhilelife Site: meanwhile.bm Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mempool.space nomadcapitalist.com/apply Stephan Live...
Jan 30, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 545
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 #npub1art8cs66ffvnqns5zs5qa9fwlctmusj5lj38j94...
Jan 26, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 544
Sébastien Gouspillou is a French Bitcoin miner, entrepreneur, and speaker. He is the CEO of BBGS (Big Block Green Services) and he joins me to talk about Bitcoin mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Oman and elsewhere around the world: Bitcoin mining in the DRC Bitcoin mining in Oman Using various forms of energy Working in different environments Narrative shifts in Bitcoin Mining and Proof of Work Links: X: @SebGouspillou Site: bbgsmining.com Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite...
Jan 21, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 543
It seems that the EU is constantly coming out with bad new regulations that will impact Bitcoiners and Bitcoin miners. Joining me today is Lyudmyla Kozlovska and Bota Jardemalie from the Open Dialogue Foundation - Bitcoin and human rights advocates. We talk about: EU bureaucracy and ECB threat to Bitcoin Why engage with these people at all? Attacks on Bitcoin’s Proof of Work Threat to self custody and sovereignty - AML Bitcoin as bank of last resort How you can help with testimonials Links: PoW ...
Jan 17, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 542
Given the recent discussion on covenants, you might be curious about what actual covenant use cases look like. Joining me today is Steven Roose to help explain covenant uses and TXHASH as well as various objections: Case for Covenants Why TXHASH Scope of changes Covenants.info Covenant use cases Ark Commercial viability Links: X: @stevenroose3 Site: C ovenants.info TXHASH ML post: https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2022-January/019813.html Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) Co...
Jan 14, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 541
On the eve of Bitcoin ETFs being approved, is Bitcoin entering a new era? Tuur Demeester, long time bitcoin advocate, writer and speaker rejoins me on the show to discuss his thoughts: This new era for Bitcoin ETF approval and what it means Capture risks are low Psychology of a market cycle and HODLers “Hate buying” Bitcoin Bitcoin Life Insurance Why every company needs a Bitcoin strategy Future of Bitcoin use Note this show was recorded Jan 10th 2024 8pm Dubai (11am Eastern time), just prior to...
Jan 11, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 540
Have you heard about Dubai but been wondering about what it’s like there? Lara Eggiman joins me to talk about Dubai, the UAE and the new bitcoin-only conference launching here, Bitcoin Oasis. We discuss: Dubai lifestyle Common misconceptions Tips for people who want to set up in Dubai Why the UAE is well placed for Bitcoin adoption Bitcoin Oasis Bitcoin Association Links: X: @SwissAlice1 Site: Bitcoin-oasis.com Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mempool.space Stephan Liv...
Jan 10, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 539
In this conversation, Natalie Smolenski discusses the intersection of Bitcoin, anthropology, and political economy. She explores the debate on the origin of money and the clash between anthropologists and economists. Smolenski argues that money is a social technology that can take different forms based on trust and use cases. She examines the limitations of fiat currency and the importance of trust in debt settlement. Smolenski also discusses the rise of Bitcoin as a competing institution to tra...
Jan 08, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 538
Not everybody understands that blockchains themselves don’t scale. And this may create some tricky implications if we want to onboard large numbers of people to Bitcoin. This is why some of the discussion nowadays is about soft forks and covenants. Brandon Black rejoins me to talk about some of his ideas on how many people can use Bitcoin with current tech, and how covenants such as CTV (Check Template Verify) could help improve this. We discuss: How many people can use Bitcoin Why not build L3?...
Dec 31, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 537
Elizabeth Warren has come out with a new anti Bitcoin bill. Joining me is VP of Research at Riot Platforms, Pierre Rochard. We talk about: What’s in the bill Policy objectives “Unhosted wallets” FATF Ordinals Tx Fees Third school of thought on long term fees Links: X: @BitcoinPierre Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mempool.space Stephan Livera links: Follow me on X: @stephanlivera Subscribe to the podcast...
Dec 25, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 535
What are the key principles underlying Bitcoin? How should we think about changes to Bitcoin? Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman and Founder of MicroStrategy rejoins me on the show to discuss: Bitcoin Protocols Bitcoin Principles Bitcoin Dynamics Bitcoin Politics Bitcoin Philosophy Links: X: @saylor Prior Episode: SLP213 Michael Saylor – Bitcoin Dematerializes Money Prior Episode: SLP213 Michael Saylor – Bitcoin Dematerializes Money Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mem...
Dec 22, 2023•2 hr 50 min•Season 1Ep. 356
Should Bitcoiners consider Small Business? What are some of the important considerations here? Bobby Shell of Voltage and Imprint Digital joins me on the show to talk about his experiences in SMB and why Bitcoiners should also think about it. Why do SMB Earning more and making an impact His experiences with digital and physical businesses Why not just stack sats? The latest at Voltage Links: Twitter/X: @iBobbyShell Linked: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-shell-iv/ Youtube: @ibobbyshell Website...
Dec 18, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 534
Drivechain is a proposal from 2015 which has had a lot of community debate recently. Joining us today to debate this are Paul Sztorc (CEO of Layer Two Labs) and Peter Todd. We discuss a range of points: Drivechain and miner centralisation Whether you can delegate running a node Legal risks Fees and Blocksize limits Links: Earlier episode with Shinobi: Will Drivechain Centralise Bitcoin? With Shinobi X: @peterktodd Peter Todd’s post: Drivechains: A Detailed Analysis Peter’s Site: petertodd.org X:...
Dec 15, 2023•1 hr 39 min•Season 1Ep. 533
Now many of us are familiar with the idea of using steel backups for our bitcoin private keys, but what about in the case of multi signature? And what about using machine engraving? Dax and E from the SeedHammer project join me to talk: Why they are interested in this problem Passphrase vs multi sig Descriptor backup on steel Seed Hammer walk through Cost Attack vectors Changing standards Where the project is going next Links: X: @SeedHammer Site: S eedhammer.com Github: https://github.com/seedh...
Dec 12, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 532
How many people can use Bitcoin and Lightning today? Severin Buhler from Synonym joins me to talk about the LSP spec as well as lightning development. We talk about how the new LSP spec will enable more wallet builders, and more user choice, as well as smoothing the process for LSPs to compete: What is an LSP A marketplace of LSPs Competition between jurisdictions Wallet of Satoshi news How many people can use lightning? LSP business models LSPS1 and 2 JIT Channels Asynchronous payments Blocktan...
Dec 05, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 531
There are various Bitcoin ‘circular economies’ but we talk with Fernando Motolese about how he started Bitcoin Beach Brazil, as well as his efforts in creating a new merchant POS terminal device, Bitcoinize. We discuss: How Bitcoin Beach Brazil started Onboarding merchants Bolt card Tech stack Tourists and Locals experience Bitcoinize device HODL vs Spend Fundraising Links: Fernando Motolese X: @MotoleseOficial Bitcoinize site: bitcoinize.com Bitcoinize POS on X: @BitcoinizePOS Bitcoin Beach BR ...
Dec 03, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 530
Free Private Cities are an exciting attempt at a new model for private governance. I’ve previously spoken with leaders in this movement such as Titus Gebel and Peter Young. Today I’m speaking with the founder of Ciudad Morazan, another free private city in Honduras. This one is a little different to the others you may have heard of, as this one is more focused on ‘blue collar’ workers, families, and businesses. We talk about the free private cities model and how it is being applied differently h...
Dec 01, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 529
Has Bitcoin’s Mining ecosystem become centralised? What can be done about it? Bitcoin Mechanic from Ocean joins me to talk: Hashers vs Miners Different pool payout methods Stratum v2 Block withholding attacks What Ocean is doing about it Fees Lightning payouts Links: X: @GrassFedBitcoin Site: ocean.xyz/event X: @ocean_mining Article: Are Mining Pools Becoming a Problem? Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mempool.space Stephan Livera links: Follow me on X @stephanlivera S...
Nov 29, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 528
Many Bitcoiners have seen or shared around the images that show Labour Compensation (wages and other benefits) diverging from Labour Productivity since 1971, particularly from sites such as wtfhappenedin1971.com. Rejoining me today is Gene Epstein to break down why this chart is flawed! We also talk about broader issues around CPI, whether inflation is over or undercounted, and cost of living pressures that so many people are facing today. The conclusions will surprise you!We talk: Labour Compen...
Nov 20, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 527
How do you prevent loss of your coins? What are some critical steps that are commonly missed? NVK and I discuss a recent case of a HODLer losing 25 BTC, as well as talk about updates in Bitcoin security. Links: X: @ NVK Nostr: npub1az9xj85cmxv8e9j9y80lvqp97crsqdu2fpu3srwthd99qfu9qsgstam8y8 Site: Coinkite.com Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mempool.space Stephan Livera links: Follow me on X @stephanlivera Subscribe to the podcast...
Nov 19, 2023•55 min•Season 1Ep. 526
When you need to send a Bitcoin transaction, you need Bitcoin blockspace. But blockspace is scarce! CEO of Barefoot Mining, Bob Burnett and I chat about this, and what you can do about it. Blockspace scarcity and explanation What you can do about it UTXO management Different types of miner Miner’s Trilemma Arguments against public company mining Mining NOT being a leverage play on Bitcoin Public vs private miners Gateway going public Core Scientific bankruptcy Mining decentralisation Links: X: @...
Nov 14, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 525
Is there a demographic collapse coming? What could or should be done about it? Is there any connection with Bitcoiner culture? Malcolm Collins has a background in VC and Private Equity, and he is a co-founder of The Pronatalist Foundation. He has spent a lot of time speaking about this problem and has some great insights to share: Population Projections The Urban Monoculture Pronatalist aims Childless demographics What caused this What governments have tried Where Bitcoiner culture could change ...
Nov 09, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 524
Are we entering a new Bitcoin bull cycle? Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, rejoins me on the show to talk about a variety of things: SBF found guilty Bitcoin bull cycle Block size wars Blockstream Greenlight Blockstream BASIC note Blockstream Green Links: Site: Blockstream.com Blockstream BASIC Note X: @adam3us Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mempool.space Stephan Livera links: Follow me on X @stephanlivera Subscribe to the podcast Relevant Episodes: SLP521 Support Bitc...
Nov 04, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 523
