@ 5f078e90:b2bacaa3

Gecky story - just a test

In a sun-dappled jungle, Zippy the gecko darted across a broad leaf, his emerald scales glinting. Chasing a juicy cricket, he leaped, only to slip into a pitcher plant’s slippery trap. With sticky toes, Zippy clung to the edge, heart racing. A curious frog peered in, offering a vine. Grateful, Zippy climbed out, sharing his cricket with his new friend. Under the moon’s glow, they danced on the leaves, tales of their adventure echoing through the jungle night.

Character count: 408

This was just a test. Ignore it.

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• Coinswap is a decentralized protocol for private, trustless cryptocurrency swaps. It allows participants to securely swap digital assets without intermediaries, using advanced cryptographic techniques and atomic swaps to ensure privacy and security.
• This release introduces major improvements to the protocol's efficiency, security, and usability, including custom in-memory UTXO indexes, more advanced coin-selection algorithms, fidelity bond management and more.
• The update also improves user experience with full Mac support, faster Tor connections, enhanced UI/UX, a unified API, and improved protocol documentation.

"The Project is under active beta development and open for contributions and beta testing. The Coinswap market place is live in testnet4. Bug fixes and feature requests are very much welcome."

• Manuals and demo docs are available here.

What's new

• Core protocol and performance improvements:
  • Custom in-memory UTXO indexes. Frequent Core RPC calls, which caused significant delays, have been eliminated by implementing custom in-memory UTXO indexes. These indexes are also saved to disk, leading to faster wallet synchronization.
  • Coin selection. Advanced coin-selection algorithms, like those in Bitcoin Core, have been incorporated, enhancing the efficiency of creating different types of transactions.
  • Fidelity management. Maker servers now automate tasks such as checking bond expiries, redemption, and recreation for Fidelity Bonds, reducing the user's management responsibilities.
  • Taker liveness. The WaitingFundingConfirmation message has been added to keep swap connections between Takers and Makers, assisting with variable block confirmation delays.

• User experience and compatibility:

  • Mac compatibility. The crate and apps now fully support Mac.
  • Tor operations are streamlined for faster, more resilient connections. Tor addresses are now consistently linked to the wallet seed, maintaining the same onion address through system reboots.
  • The UI/UX improvements enhance the display of balances, UTXOs, offer data, fidelity bonds, and system logs. These updates make the apps more enjoyable and provide clearer coin swap logs during the swap process.

• API design improvements. Transaction creation routines have been streamlined to use a single common API, which reduces technical debt and eliminates redundant code.

• Protocol spec documentation now details how Coinswap breaks the transaction graph and improves privacy through routed swaps and amount splitting, and includes diagrams for clarity.

Source: Coinswap Protocol specification.

Announcement
GitHub Repo
Protocol Spec

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• The latest firmware updates for COLDCARD devices introduce two major features: COLDCARD Co-sign (CCC) and Key Teleport between two COLDCARD Q devices using QR codes and/or NFC with a website.

What's new

• COLDCARD Co-Sign: When CCC is enabled, a second seed called the Spending Policy Key (Key C) is added to the device. This seed works with the device's Main Seed and one or more additional XPUBs (Backup Keys) to form 2-of-N multisig wallets.
  • The spending policy functions like a hardware security module (HSM), enforcing rules such as magnitude and velocity limits, address whitelisting, and 2FA authentication to protect funds while maintaining flexibility and control, and is enforced each time the Spending Policy Key is used for signing.
  • When spending conditions are met, the COLDCARD signs the partially signed bitcoin transaction (PSBT) with the Main Seed and Spending Policy Key for fund access. Once configured, the Spending Policy Key is required to view or change the policy, and violations are denied without explanation.

"You can override the spending policy at any time by signing with either a Backup Key and the Main Seed or two Backup Keys, depending on the number of keys (N) in the multisig."

• A step-by-step guide for setting up CCC is available here.

• Key Teleport for Q devices allows users to securely transfer sensitive data such as seed phrases (words, xprv), secure notes and passwords, and PSBTs for multisig. It uses QR codes or NFC, along with a helper website, to ensure reliable transmission, keeping your sensitive data protected throughout the process.

  • For more technical details, see the protocol spec.

"After you sign a multisig PSBT, you have option to “Key Teleport” the PSBT file to any one of the other signers in the wallet. We already have a shared pubkey with them, so the process is simple and does not require any action on their part in advance. Plus, starting in this firmware release, COLDCARD can finalize multisig transactions, so the last signer can publish the signed transaction via PushTX (NFC tap) to get it on the blockchain directly."

• Multisig transactions are finalized when sufficiently signed. It streamlines the use of PushTX with multisig wallets.
• Signing artifacts re-export to various media. Users are now provided with the capability to export signing products, like transactions or PSBTs, to alternative media rather than the original source. For example, if a PSBT is received through a QR code, it can be signed and saved onto an SD card if needed.
• Multisig export files are signed now. Public keys are encoded as P2PKH address for all multisg signature exports. Learn more about it here.
• NFC export usability upgrade: NFC keeps exporting until CANCEL/X is pressed.
• Added Bitcoin Safe option to Export Wallet.
• 10% performance improvement in USB upload speed for large files.
• Q: Always choose the biggest possible display size for QR.

Fixes

• Do not allow change Main PIN to same value already used as Trick PIN, even if Trick PIN is hidden.
• Fix stuck progress bar under Receiving... after a USB communications failure.
• Showing derivation path in Address Explorer for root key (m) showed double slash (//).
• Can restore developer backup with custom password other than 12 words format.
• Virtual Disk auto mode ignores already signed PSBTs (with “-signed” in file name).
• Virtual Disk auto mode stuck on “Reading…” screen sometimes.
• Finalization of foreign inputs from partial signatures. Thanks Christian Uebber!
• Temporary seed from COLDCARD backup failed to load stored multisig wallets.
• Destroy Seed also removes all Trick PINs from SE2.
• Lock Down Seed requires pressing confirm key (4) to execute.
• Q only: Only BBQr is allowed to export Coldcard, Core, and pretty descriptor.

Blog Post / Archive
GitHub Repo
CCC Guide
Key Teleport site

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Good morning (good night?)! The No Bullshit Bitcoin news feed is now available on Moody's Dashboard! A huge shoutout to sir Clark Moody for integrating our feed.

Headlines

• Spiral welcomes Ben Carman. The developer will work on the LDK server and a new SDK designed to simplify the onboarding process for new self-custodial Bitcoin users.

• The Bitcoin Dev Kit Foundation announced new corporate members for 2025, including AnchorWatch, CleanSpark, and Proton Foundation. The annual dues from these corporate members fund the small team of open-source developers responsible for maintaining the core BDK libraries and related free and open-source software (FOSS) projects.
• Strategy increases Bitcoin holdings to 538,200 BTC. In the latest purchase, the company has spent more than $555M to buy 6,556 coins through proceeds of two at-the-market stock offering programs.
• Spar supermarket experiments with Bitcoin payments in Zug, Switzerland. The store has introduced a new payment method powered by the Lightning Network. The implementation was facilitated by DFX Swiss, a service that supports seamless conversions between bitcoin and legacy currencies.

• The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) wants to contain 'crypto' risks. A report titled "Cryptocurrencies and Decentralised Finance: Functions and Financial Stability Implications" calls for expanding research into "how new forms of central bank money, capital controls, and taxation policies can counter the risks of widespread crypto adoption while still fostering technological innovation."
• "Global Implications of Scam Centres, Underground Banking, and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia." According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, criminal organizations from East and Southeast Asia are swiftly extending their global reach. These groups are moving beyond traditional scams and trafficking, creating sophisticated online networks that include unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges, encrypted communication platforms, and stablecoins, fueling a massive fraud economy on an industrial scale.
• Slovenia is considering a 25% capital gains tax on Bitcoin profits for individuals. The Ministry of Finance has proposed legislation to impose this tax on gains from cryptocurrency transactions, though exchanging one cryptocurrency for another would remain exempt. At present, individual 'crypto' traders in Slovenia are not taxed.
• Circle, BitGo, Coinbase, and Paxos plan to apply for U.S. bank charters or licenses. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, major crypto companies are planning to apply for U.S. bank charters or licenses. These firms are pursuing limited licenses that would permit them to issue stablecoins, as the U.S. Congress deliberates on legislation mandating licensing for stablecoin issuers.

"Established banks, like Bank of America, are hoping to amend the current drafts of [stablecoin] legislation in such a way that nonbanks are more heavily restricted from issuing stablecoins," people familiar with the matter told The Block.

• Charles Schwab to launch spot Bitcoin trading by 2026. The financial investment firm, managing over $10 trillion in assets, has revealed plans to introduce spot Bitcoin trading for its clients within the next year.

Use the tools

• Bitcoin Safe v1.2.3 expands QR SignMessage compatibility for all QR-UR-compatible hardware signers (SpecterDIY, KeyStone, Passport, Jade; already supported COLDCARD Q). It also adds the ability to import wallets via QR, ensuring compatibility with Keystone's latest firmware (2.0.6), alongside other improvements.
• Minibits v0.2.2-beta, an ecash wallet for Android devices, packages many changes to align the project with the planned iOS app release. New features and improvements include the ability to lock ecash to a receiver's pubkey, faster confirmations of ecash minting and payments thanks to WebSockets, UI-related fixes, and more.
• Zeus v0.11.0-alpha1 introduces Cashu wallets tied to embedded LND wallets. Navigate to Settings > Ecash to enable it. Other wallet types can still sweep funds from Cashu tokens. Zeus Pay now supports Cashu address types in Zaplocker, Cashu, and NWC modes.
• LNDg v1.10.0, an advanced web interface designed for analyzing Lightning Network Daemon (LND) data and automating node management tasks, introduces performance improvements, adds a new metrics page for unprofitable and stuck channels, and displays warnings for batch openings. The Profit and Loss Chart has been updated to include on-chain costs. Advanced settings have been added for users who would like their channel database size to be read remotely (the default remains local). Additionally, the AutoFees tool now uses aggregated pubkey metrics for multiple channels with the same peer.
• Nunchuk Desktop v1.9.45 release brings the latest bug fixes and improvements.
• Blockstream Green iOS v4.1.8 has renamed L-BTC to LBTC, and improves translations of notifications, login time, and background payments.
• Blockstream Green Android v4.1.8 has added language preference in App Settings and enables an Android data backup option for disaster recovery. Additionally, it fixes issues with Jade entry point PIN timeout and Trezor passphrase input.
• Torq v2.2.2, an advanced Lightning node management software designed to handle large nodes with over 1000 channels, fixes bugs that caused channel balance to not be updated in some cases and channel "peer total local balance" not getting updated.
• Stack Wallet v2.1.12, a multicoin wallet by Cypher Stack, fixes an issue with Xelis introduced in the latest release for Windows.
• ESP-Miner-NerdQAxePlus v1.0.29.1, a forked version from the NerdAxe miner that was modified for use on the NerdQAxe+, is now available.
• Zark enables sending sats to an npub using Bark.

• Erk is a novel variation of the Ark protocol that completely removes the need for user interactivity in rounds, addressing one of Ark's key limitations: the requirement for users to come online before their VTXOs expire.
• Aegis v0.1.1 is now available. It is a Nostr event signer app for iOS devices.
• Nostash is a NIP-07 Nostr signing extension for Safari. It is a fork of Nostore and is maintained by Terry Yiu. Available on iOS TestFlight.
• Amber v3.2.8, a Nostr event signer for Android, delivers the latest fixes and improvements.
• Nostur v1.20.0, a Nostr client for iOS, adds

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Headlines

• Twenty One Capital is set to launch with over 42,000 BTC in its treasury. This new Bitcoin-native firm, backed by Tether and SoftBank, is planned to go public via a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners and will be led by Jack Mallers, co-founder and CEO of Strike. According to a report by the Financial Times, the company aims to replicate the model of Michael Saylor with his company, MicroStrategy.
• Florida's SB 868 proposes a backdoor into encrypted platforms. The bill and its House companion have both passed through their respective committees and are headed to a full vote. If enacted, SB 868 would require social media companies to decrypt teens' private messages, ban disappearing messages, allow unrestricted parental access to private messages, and likely eliminate encryption for all minors altogether.
• Paul Atkins has officially assumed the role of the 34th Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This is a return to the agency for Atkins, who previously served as an SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008 under the George W. Bush administration. He has committed to advancing the SEC’s mission of fostering capital formation, safeguarding investors, and ensuring fair and efficient markets.
• Solosatoshi.com has sold over 10,000 open-source miners, adding more than 10 PH of hashpower to the Bitcoin network.

"Thank you, Bitaxe community. OSMU developers, your brilliance built this. Supporters, your belief drives us. Customers, your trust powers 10,000+ miners and 10PH globally. Together, we’re decentralizing Bitcoin’s future. Last but certainly not least, thank you@skot9000 for not only creating a freedom tool, but instilling the idea into thousands of people, that Bitcoin mining can be for everyone again," said the firm on X.

• OCEAN's DATUM has found 100 blocks. "Over 65% of OCEAN’s miners are using DATUM, and that number is growing every day. This means block template construction is making its way back into the hands of the miners, which is not only the most profitable for miners on OCEAN but also one of the best things for Bitcoin," stated the mining pool.

Source: orangesurf

• Arch Labs has secured $13 million to develop "ArchVM" and integrate smart-contract functionality with Bitcoin. The funding round, valuing the company at $200 million, was led by Pantera Capital, as announced on Tuesday.
• Tesla still holds nearly $1 billion in bitcoin. According to the automaker's latest earnings report, the firm reported digital asset holdings worth $951 million as of March 31.
• The European Central Bank is pushing for amendments to the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets legislation (MiCA), just months after its implementation. According to Politico's report on Tuesday, the ECB is concerned that U.S. support for cryptocurrency, particularly stablecoins, could cause economic harm to the 27-nation bloc.
• TABConf 2025 is scheduled to take place from October 13-16, 2025. This prominent technical Bitcoin conference is dedicated to community building, education, and developer support, and it is set to return in October. Get your tickets here.
• Kaduna Lightning Development Bootcamp. From May 14th to 17th, the Bitcoin Lightning Developer Bootcamp will take place in Kaduna, Nigeria. Thisevent offers four dynamic days of coding, learning, and networking. Organized by Africa Free Routing and supported by Btrust, Tether, and African Bitcoiners, this bootcamp is designed as a gateway for African developers eager to advance their skills in Bitcoin and Lightning development. Apply here.

Source: African Bitcoiners.

Use the tools

• Core Lightning (CLN) v25.02.2 as been released to fix a broken Docker image. The issue was caused by an SQLite version that did not support an advanced query.
• Blitz wallet v0.4.4-beta introduces several updates and improvements, including the prevention of duplicate ecash payments, fixes for background ecash invoice handling, the ability for users to send payments to BOLT12 invoices from their Liquid balance, support for Blink QR codes, a lowered minimum amount for Lightning-to-Liquid payments to 100 sats, the option to initiate a node sync via a swipe gesture on the wallet's home screen, and the introduction of opt-in or opt-out functionality for newly implemented crash analytics via settings.
• Utreexo v0.5.0, a hash-based dynamic accumulator, is now available.
• Specter v2.1.1 is now available on StartOS. "This update brings compatibility with Bitcoin Core v28 and incorporates several upstream improvements," said developer Alex71btc.
• ESP-Miner (AxeOS) v2.7.0b1 is now available for testing.
• NodeGuard v0.16.1, a treasury management solution for Lightning nodes, has been released.
• The latest stacker.news updates include prompts to add a receiving wallet when posting or making comments (for new users), an option to randomize poll choices, improved URL search, and a few other enhancements. A bug fix for territories created after 9/19/24 has been implemented to reward 70% of their revenue to owners instead of 50%.

Other stuff

• The April edition of the 256 Foundation's newsletter is now available. It includes the latest mining news, Bitcoin network health updates, project developments, and a tutorial on how to update FutureBit's Apollo 1 to the Apollo 2 software.
• Siggy47 has posted a comprehensive RoboSats guide on stacker.news.
• Learn how to run your own Nostr relay using Citrine and Cloudflare Tunnels by following this step-by-step guide by Dhalism.
• Max Guise has written a Bitkey roadmap update for April 2025.

• PlebLab has uploaded a video on how to build a Rust wallet with LDK Node by Ben Carman.

• Do you want more? Subscribe and get No Bullshit GM report straight to your mailbox and No Bullshit Bitcoin on Nostr.

• Feedback or tips? Drop it here.
• #FREESAMOURAI

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• Version 1.3 of Bitcoin Safe introduces a redesigned interactive chart, quick receive feature, updated icons, a mempool preview window, support for Child Pays For Parent (CPFP) and testnet4, preconfigured testnet demo wallets, as well as various bug fixes and improvements.

• Upcoming updates for Bitcoin Safe include Compact Block Filters.

"Compact Block Filters increase the network privacy dramatically, since you're not asking an electrum server to give you your transactions. They are a little slower than electrum servers. For a savings wallet like Bitcoin Safe this should be OK," writes the project's developer Andreas Griffin.

• Learn more about the current and upcoming features of Bitcoin Safe wallet here.

What's new in v1.3

• Redesign of Chart, Quick Receive, Icons, and Mempool Preview (by @design-rrr).
• Interactive chart. Clicking on it now jumps to transaction, and selected transactions are now highlighted.

• Speed up transactions with Child Pays For Parent (CPFP).
• BDK 1.2 (upgraded from 0.32).
• Testnet4 support.
• Preconfigured Testnet demo wallets.
• Cluster unconfirmed transactions so that parents/children are next to each other.
• Customizable columns for all tables (optional view: Txid, Address index, and more)
• Bug fixes and other improvements.

Announcement / Archive
Blog Post / Archive
GitHub Repo
Website

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Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

News

• Spiral welcomes Ben Carman. The developer will work on the LDK server and a new SDK designed to simplify the onboarding process for new self-custodial Bitcoin users.
• Spiral renews support for Dan Gould and Joschisan. The organization has renewed support for Dan Gould, who is developing the Payjoin Dev Kit (PDK), and Joschisan, a Fedimint developer focused on simplifying federations.
• The Bitcoin Dev Kit Foundation announced new corporate members for 2025, including AnchorWatch, CleanSpark, and Proton Foundation. The annual dues from these corporate members fund the small team of open-source developers responsible for maintaining the core BDK libraries and related free and open-source software (FOSS) projects.
• The European Central Bank is pushing for amendments to the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets legislation (MiCA), just months after its implementation. According to Politico's report on Tuesday, the ECB is concerned that U.S. support for cryptocurrency, particularly stablecoins, could cause economic harm to the 27-nation bloc.
• Slovenia is considering a 25% capital gains tax on Bitcoin profits for individuals. The Ministry of Finance has proposed legislation to impose this tax on gains from cryptocurrency transactions, though exchanging one cryptocurrency for another would remain exempt. At present, individual 'crypto' traders in Slovenia are not taxed.
• The Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Bill 2025 introduced in Kenya. The new legislation aims to establish a comprehensive legal framework for licensing, regulating, and supervising virtual asset service providers (VASPs), with strict penalties for non-compliant entities.
• Circle, BitGo, Coinbase, and Paxos plan to apply for U.S. bank charters or licenses. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, major crypto companies are planning to apply for U.S. bank charters or licenses. These firms are pursuing limited licenses that would permit them to issue stablecoins, as the U.S. Congress deliberates on legislation mandating licensing for stablecoin issuers.

"Established banks, like Bank of America, are hoping to amend the current drafts of [stablecoin] legislation in such a way that nonbanks are more heavily restricted from issuing stablecoins," people familiar with the matter told The Block.

• Paul Atkins has officially assumed the role of the 34th Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This is a return to the agency for Atkins, who previously served as an SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008 under the George W. Bush administration. He has committed to advancing the SEC’s mission of fostering capital formation, safeguarding investors, and ensuring fair and efficient markets.
• Federal Reserve retracts guidance discouraging banks from engaging in 'crypto.' The U.S. Federal Reserve withdrew guidance that discouraged banks from crypto and stablecoin activities, as announced by its Board of Governors on Thursday. This includes rescinding a 2022 supervisory letter requiring prior notification of crypto activities and 2023 stablecoin requirements.

"As a result, the Board will no longer expect banks to provide notification and will instead monitor banks' crypto-asset activities through the normal supervisory process," reads the FED statement.

• Russian government to launch a cryptocurrency exchange. The country's Ministry of Finance and Central Bank announced plans to establish a trading platform for "highly qualified investors" that "will legalize crypto assets and bring crypto operations out of the shadows."
• Twenty One Capital is set to launch with over 42,000 BTC in its treasury. This new Bitcoin-native firm, backed by Tether and SoftBank, is planned to go public via a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners and will be led by Jack Mallers, co-founder and CEO of Strike. According to a report by the Financial Times, the company aims to replicate the model of Michael Saylor with his company, MicroStrategy.
• Strategy increases Bitcoin holdings to 538,200 BTC. In the latest purchase, the company has spent more than $555M to buy 6,556 coins through proceeds of two at-the-market stock offering programs.
• Metaplanet buys another 145 BTC. The Tokyo-listed company has purchased an additional 145 BTC for $13.6 million. Their total bitcoin holdings now stand at 5,000 coins, worth around $428.1 million.
• Semler Scientific has increased its bitcoin holdings to 3,303 BTC. The company acquired an additional 111 BTC at an average price of $90,124. The purchase was funded through proceeds from an at-the-market offering and cash reserves, as stated in a press release.
• Tesla still holds nearly $1 billion in bitcoin. According to the automaker's latest earnings report, the firm reported digital asset holdings worth $951 million as of March 31.
• Spar supermarket experiments with Bitcoin payments in Zug, Switzerland. The store has introduced a new payment method powered by the Lightning Network. The implementation was facilitated by DFX Swiss, a service that supports seamless conversions between bitcoin and legacy currencies.

• Charles Schwab to launch spot Bitcoin trading by 2026. The financial investment firm, managing over $10 trillion in assets, has revealed plans to introduce spot Bitcoin trading for its clients within the next year.
• Arch Labs has secured $13 million to develop "ArchVM" and integrate smart-contract functionality with Bitcoin. The funding round, valuing the company at $200 million, was led by Pantera Capital, as announced on Tuesday.
• Citrea deployed its Clementine Bridge on the Bitcoin testnet. The bridge utilizes the BitVM2 programming language to inherit validity from Bitcoin, allegedly providing "the safest and most trust-minimized way to use BTC in decentralized finance."
• UAE-based Islamic bank ruya launches Shari’ah-compliant bitcoin investing. The bank has become the world’s first Islamic bank to provide direct access to virtual asset investments, including Bitcoin, via its mobile app, per Bitcoin Magazine.
• Solosatoshi.com has sold over 10,000 open-source miners, adding more than 10 PH of hashpower to the Bitcoin network.

"Thank you, Bitaxe community. OSMU developers, your brilliance built this. Supporters, your belief drives us. Customers, your trust powers 10,000+ miners and 10PH globally. Together, we’re decentralizing Bitcoin’s future. Last but certainly not least, thank you@skot9000 for not only creating a freedom tool, but instilling the idea into thousands of people, that Bitcoin mining can be for everyone again," said the firm on X.

• OCEAN's DATUM has found 100 blocks. "Over 65% of OCEAN’s miners are using DATUM, and that number is growing every day. This means block template construction is making its way back into the hands of the miners, which is not only the most profitable

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Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

This update brings key enhancements for clarity and usability:

• Recent Blocks View: Added to the Send tab and inspired by Mempool's visualization, it displays the last 2 blocks and the estimated next block to help choose fee rates.
• Camera System Overhaul: Features a new library for higher resolution detection and mouse-scroll zoom support when available.
• Vector-Based Images: All app images are now vectorized and theme-aware, enhancing contrast, especially in dark mode.
• Tor & P2A Updates: Upgraded internal Tor and improved support for pay-to-anchor (P2A) outputs.
• Linux Package Rename: For Linux users, Sparrow has been renamed to sparrowwallet (or sparrowserver); in some cases, the original sparrow package may need manual removal.
• Additional updates include showing total payments in multi-payment transaction diagrams, better handling of long labels, and other UI enhancements.

• Sparrow v2.2.1 is a bug fix release that addresses missing UUID issue when starting Tor on recent macOS versions, icons for external sources in Settings and Recent Blocks view, repackaged .deb installs to use older gzip instead of zstd compression, and removed display of median fee rate where fee rates source is set to Server.

Learn how to get started with Sparrow wallet:

Release notes (v2.2.0)

• Added Recent Blocks view to Send tab.
• Converted all bitmapped images to theme aware SVG format for all wallet models and dialogs.
• Support send and display of pay to anchor (P2A) outputs.
• Renamed sparrow package to sparrowwallet and sparrowserver on Linux.
• Switched camera library to openpnp-capture.
• Support FHD (1920 x 1080) and UHD4k (3840 x 2160) capture resolutions.
• Support camera zoom with mouse scroll where possible.
• In the Download Verifier, prefer verifying the dropped file over the default file where the file is not in the manifest.
• Show a warning (with an option to disable the check) when importing a wallet with a derivation path matching another script type.
• In Cormorant, avoid calling the listwalletdir RPC on initialization due to a potentially slow response on Windows.
• Avoid server address resolution for public servers.
• Assume server address is non local for resolution failures where a proxy is configured.
• Added a tooltip to indicate truncated labels in table cells.
• Dynamically truncate input and output labels in the tree on a transaction tab, and add tooltips if necessary.
• Improved tooltips for wallet tabs and transaction diagrams with long labels.
• Show the address where available on input and output tooltips in transaction tab tree.
• Show the total amount sent in payments in the transaction diagram when constructing multiple payment transactions.
• Reset preferred table column widths on adjustment to improve handling after window resizing.
• Added accessible text to improve screen reader navigation on seed entry.
• Made Wallet Summary table grow horizontally with dialog sizing.
• Reduced tooltip show delay to 200ms.
• Show transaction diagram fee percentage as less than 0.01% rather than 0.00%.
• Optimized and reduced Electrum server RPC calls.
• Upgraded Bouncy Castle, PGPainless and Logback libraries.
• Upgraded internal Tor to v0.4.8.16.
• Bug fix: Fixed issue with random ordering of keystore origins on labels import.
• Bug fix: Fixed non-zero account script type detection when signing a message on Trezor devices.
• Bug fix: Fixed issue parsing remote Coldcard xpub encoded on a different network.
• Bug fix: Fixed inclusion of fees on wallet label exports.
• Bug fix: Increase Trezor device libusb timeout.

Linux users: Note that the sparrow package has been renamed to sparrowwallet or sparrowserver, and in some cases you may need to manually uninstall the original sparrow package. Look in the /opt folder to ensure you have the new name, and the original is removed.

What's new in v2.2.1

• Updated Tor library to fix missing UUID issue when starting Tor on recent macOS versions.
• Repackaged .deb installs to use older gzip instead of zstd compression.
• Removed display of median fee rate where fee rates source is set to Server.
• Added icons for external sources in Settings and Recent Blocks view
• Bug fix: Fixed issue in Recent Blocks view when switching fee rates source
• Bug fix: Fixed NPE on null fee returned from server

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo

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• The latest firmware updates for COLDCARD devices introduce two major features: COLDCARD Co-sign (CCC) and Key Teleport between two COLDCARD Q devices using QR codes and/or NFC with a website.

What's new

• COLDCARD Co-Sign: When CCC is enabled, a second seed called the Spending Policy Key (Key C) is added to the device. This seed works with the device's Main Seed and one or more additional XPUBs (Backup Keys) to form 2-of-N multisig wallets.
  • The spending policy functions like a hardware security module (HSM), enforcing rules such as magnitude and velocity limits, address whitelisting, and 2FA authentication to protect funds while maintaining flexibility and control, and is enforced each time the Spending Policy Key is used for signing.
  • When spending conditions are met, the COLDCARD signs the partially signed bitcoin transaction (PSBT) with the Main Seed and Spending Policy Key for fund access. Once configured, the Spending Policy Key is required to view or change the policy, and violations are denied without explanation.

"You can override the spending policy at any time by signing with either a Backup Key and the Main Seed or two Backup Keys, depending on the number of keys (N) in the multisig."

• A step-by-step guide for setting up CCC is available here.

• Key Teleport for Q devices allows users to securely transfer sensitive data such as seed phrases (words, xprv), secure notes and passwords, and PSBTs for multisig. It uses QR codes or NFC, along with a helper website, to ensure reliable transmission, keeping your sensitive data protected throughout the process.

  • For more technical details, see the protocol spec.

"After you sign a multisig PSBT, you have option to “Key Teleport” the PSBT file to any one of the other signers in the wallet. We already have a shared pubkey with them, so the process is simple and does not require any action on their part in advance. Plus, starting in this firmware release, COLDCARD can finalize multisig transactions, so the last signer can publish the signed transaction via PushTX (NFC tap) to get it on the blockchain directly."

• Multisig transactions are finalized when sufficiently signed. It streamlines the use of PushTX with multisig wallets.
• Signing artifacts re-export to various media. Users are now provided with the capability to export signing products, like transactions or PSBTs, to alternative media rather than the original source. For example, if a PSBT is received through a QR code, it can be signed and saved onto an SD card if needed.
• Multisig export files are signed now. Public keys are encoded as P2PKH address for all multisg signature exports. Learn more about it here.
• NFC export usability upgrade: NFC keeps exporting until CANCEL/X is pressed.
• Added Bitcoin Safe option to Export Wallet.
• 10% performance improvement in USB upload speed for large files.
• Q: Always choose the biggest possible display size for QR.

Fixes

• Do not allow change Main PIN to same value already used as Trick PIN, even if Trick PIN is hidden.
• Fix stuck progress bar under Receiving... after a USB communications failure.
• Showing derivation path in Address Explorer for root key (m) showed double slash (//).
• Can restore developer backup with custom password other than 12 words format.
• Virtual Disk auto mode ignores already signed PSBTs (with “-signed” in file name).
• Virtual Disk auto mode stuck on “Reading…” screen sometimes.
• Finalization of foreign inputs from partial signatures. Thanks Christian Uebber!
• Temporary seed from COLDCARD backup failed to load stored multisig wallets.
• Destroy Seed also removes all Trick PINs from SE2.
• Lock Down Seed requires pressing confirm key (4) to execute.
• Q only: Only BBQr is allowed to export Coldcard, Core, and pretty descriptor.

Blog Post / Archive
GitHub Repo
CCC Guide
Key Teleport site

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• RoboSats v0.7.7-alpha is now available!

NOTE: "This version of clients is not compatible with older versions of coordinators. Coordinators must upgrade first, make sure you don't upgrade your client while this is marked as pre-release."

• This version brings a new and improved coordinators view with reviews signed both by the robot and the coordinator, adds market price sources in coordinator profiles, shows a correct warning for canceling non-taken orders after a payment attempt, adds Uzbek sum currency, and includes package library updates for coordinators.

Source: RoboSats.

• siggy47 is writing daily RoboSats activity reviews on stacker.news. Check them out here.
• Stay up-to-date with RoboSats on Nostr.

What's new

• New coordinators view (see the picture above).
• Available coordinator reviews signed by both the robot and the coordinator.
• Coordinators now display market price sources in their profiles.

Source: RoboSats.

• Fix for wrong message on cancel button when taking an order. Users are now warned if they try to cancel a non taken order after a payment attempt.
• Uzbek sum currency now available.
• For coordinators: library updates.
• Add docker frontend (#1861).
• Add order review token (#1869).
• Add UZS migration (#1875).
• Fixed tests review (#1878).
• Nostr pubkey for Robot (#1887).

New contributors

• @hexlorn made their first contribution in #1858.
• @umk0m1qk made their first contribution in #1864.

Full Changelog: v0.7.6-alpha...v0.7.7-alpha

GitHub Repo

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• Version 1.3 of Bitcoin Safe introduces a redesigned interactive chart, quick receive feature, updated icons, a mempool preview window, support for Child Pays For Parent (CPFP) and testnet4, preconfigured testnet demo wallets, as well as various bug fixes and improvements.

• Upcoming updates for Bitcoin Safe include Compact Block Filters.

"Compact Block Filters increase the network privacy dramatically, since you're not asking an electrum server to give you your transactions. They are a little slower than electrum servers. For a savings wallet like Bitcoin Safe this should be OK," writes the project's developer Andreas Griffin.

• Learn more about the current and upcoming features of Bitcoin Safe wallet here.

What's new in v1.3

• Redesign of Chart, Quick Receive, Icons, and Mempool Preview (by @design-rrr).
• Interactive chart. Clicking on it now jumps to transaction, and selected transactions are now highlighted.

• Speed up transactions with Child Pays For Parent (CPFP).
• BDK 1.2 (upgraded from 0.32).
• Testnet4 support.
• Preconfigured Testnet demo wallets.
• Cluster unconfirmed transactions so that parents/children are next to each other.
• Customizable columns for all tables (optional view: Txid, Address index, and more)
• Bug fixes and other improvements.

Announcement / Archive
Blog Post / Archive
GitHub Repo
Website

@ 6be5cc06:5259daf0

A posição do libertário que rejeita o cristianismo padece de sérias incoerências lógicas, históricas e filosóficas. Ao renegar as bases espirituais e culturais que tornaram possível o próprio ideal libertário, tal posição demonstra ser, ao mesmo tempo, autofágica e irracional. É o caso de alguém que se gloria dos frutos de uma árvore que corta pela raiz.

---

I. Fundamento histórico: a civilização da liberdade é cristã

Não foi o secularismo moderno, nem o paganismo antigo, que ergueram as instituições que protegem a dignidade da pessoa humana e os limites ao poder. Desde os primeiros séculos, a Igreja resistiu ao culto estatal romano, afirmando a soberania de Deus sobre os Césares — "Mais importa obedecer a Deus que aos homens" (Atos 5,29).

Foi o cristianismo que:

• Fundou universidades livres, onde o saber era buscado sob o primado da verdade;

• Defendeu a lei natural como fundamento do direito — uma doutrina que protege o indivíduo contra tiranias;

• Resgatou e aprofundou o conceito de pessoa, dotada de razão e livre-arbítrio, imagem de Deus, e, portanto, inalienavelmente digna e responsável.

Em momentos-chave da história, como nas disputas entre papado e império, nas resistências contra absolutismos, e na fundação do direito internacional por Francisco de Vitoria e a Escola de Salamanca, foi o cristianismo quem freou o poder estatal em nome de princípios superiores. A tradição cristã foi frequentemente o principal obstáculo à tirania, não seu aliado.

Negar isso é amputar a própria genealogia da liberdade ocidental.

Uma das chaves do cristianismo para a construção dessa civilização da liberdade foi a exaltação do individualismo. Ao afirmar que o ser humano é feito à imagem de Deus e que sua salvação é uma escolha pessoal, o cristianismo colocou o indivíduo no centro da moralidade e da liberdade. Diferente dos gregos, cuja ética era voltada para a polis e a cidade-estado, o cristianismo reafirma a suprema importância do indivíduo, com sua capacidade de escolha moral, responsabilidade pessoal e dignidade intrínseca. Esse princípio, mais do que qualquer outra religião, foi o alicerce do desenvolvimento da liberdade individual e da autonomia, valores que sustentam a civilização ocidental.

A ética grega, na melhor das hipóteses, descreve a ordem natural — mas não consegue justificar por que essa ordem deveria obrigar a vontade humana. Um Logos impessoal não tem autoridade moral. Uma ordem cósmica sem um Legislador é apenas um dado de fato, não uma norma vinculante. A vontade pode rebelar-se contra o telos — e sem um Deus justo, que ordena a natureza à perfeição, não há razão última para não o fazer.

A cultura grega teve uma influência indiscutível sobre o desenvolvimento da civilização ocidental, mas o cristianismo não só absorveu o que havia de bom na cultura grega, como também elevou e completou esses aspectos. O cristianismo, ao afirmar que todos os homens são feitos à imagem e semelhança de Deus e têm dignidade intrínseca, levou a uma noção de igualdade moral e liberdade que transcende as limitações da pólis grega.

---

II. Falsa dicotomia: fé e liberdade não são opostas

Com frequência equiparam a religião à coerção e à obediência cega. Mas isso é um equívoco: o cristianismo não se impõe pela força, mas apela à consciência. O próprio Deus, em sua relação com a criatura racional, respeita sua liberdade. Como ensina a Escritura:

"Se alguém quiser vir após mim..." (Mt 16,24);
"Eis que estou à porta e bato. Se alguém ouvir a minha voz e abrir a porta, entrarei em sua casa e cearei com ele." (Ap 3,20);
"Assim falai, e assim procedei, como devendo ser julgados pela lei da liberdade." (Tiago 2,12).

A adesão à fé deve ser livre, voluntária e racional, pois sem liberdade não há verdadeiro mérito, nem amor genuíno. Isso é mais compatível com o princípio de não agressão do que qualquer utopia secular. Ora, o núcleo do evangelho é voluntarista: salvação pessoal, conversão interior, caridade.

Ninguém deve ser forçado, contra sua vontade, a abraçar a fé, pois o ato de fé é por sua natureza voluntário (Dignitatis Humanae; CDC, cân. 748,2)

Se algum Estado usa da força para impor o cristianismo, afirmar que o cristianismo causou as coerções é tão equivocado quanto dizer que a propriedade privada causa o comunismo; é uma inversão da realidade, pois o comunismo surge precisamente da violação da propriedade. Portanto, a fé forçada é inválida em si mesma, pois viola a natureza do ato de crer, que deve ser livre.

---

III. Fundamento moral: sem transcendência, o libertarianismo flutua no vácuo

O libertário anticristão busca defender princípios objetivos — como a inviolabilidade do indivíduo e a ilegitimidade da agressão — sem um fundamento transcendente que lhes dê validade universal. Por que a agressão é errada? Por que alguém tem direito à vida, à liberdade, à propriedade? Sem uma explicação transcendental, as respostas para tais perguntas se tornam apenas opiniões ou convenções, não obrigações morais vinculantes. Se a moralidade é puramente humana, então os direitos podem ser modificados ou ignorados conforme a vontade da sociedade. O conceito de direitos naturais, tão caro ao libertarianismo, precisa de um solo metafísico que justifique sua universalidade e imutabilidade. Caso contrário, eles podem ser tratados apenas como acordos utilitários temporários ou preferências culturais, sem qualquer obrigatoriedade para todos os seres humanos em todas as circunstâncias.

Pensadores libertários seculares, como Ayn Rand e Murray Rothbard, tentaram ancorar os direitos naturais na razão humana ou na natureza do homem. Rand baseia sua ética no egoísmo racional, enquanto Rothbard apela à lei natural. Embora essas abordagens busquem objetividade, elas carecem de uma resposta definitiva para por que a razão ou a natureza humana obrigam moralmente todos os indivíduos. Sem um fundamento transcendente, suas concepções permanecem vulneráveis a interpretações subjetivas ou a cálculos utilitários.

Aqui, o cristianismo oferece uma explicação sólida e transcendental que fundamenta os direitos naturais. A visão cristã de que o ser humano foi criado à imagem e semelhança de Deus confere à pessoa uma dignidade intrínseca, imutável e universal. Essa dignidade não depende de fatores externos, como consenso social ou poder político, mas é uma característica inerente ao ser humano pela sua criação divina. A partir dessa perspectiva teológica, torna-se possível afirmar com base sólida que os direitos naturais são dados por Deus e, portanto, são universais e vinculantes.

O cristianismo também é a base de um sistema moral que distingue claramente justiça de legalidade. O Estado pode criar leis, mas isso não significa que essas leis sejam justas. A justiça, sob a ótica cristã, é uma expressão da ordem moral objetiva, algo que transcende as leis humanas e é definido pela vontade divina. Por isso, o libertarianismo cristão vê a agressão como uma violação de uma ordem moral objetiva, e não apenas uma violação de uma convenção social ou de um acordo utilitário.

Se a moralidade e os direitos naturais não forem fundamentados em um Logos criador e legislador, o que acontece é que o conceito de direito natural degenera para algo mais frágil, como um simples acordo utilitário. Nesse cenário, os direitos do indivíduo se tornam algo acordado entre os membros de uma sociedade, em vez de princípios imutáveis e universais. Os direitos podem ser negociados, alterados ou ignorados conforme o interesse do momento.

---

IV. Fundamento científico: a racionalidade moderna é filha da fé cristã

A ciência moderna só foi possível no contexto cultural cristão. Nenhuma outra civilização — nem a grega, nem a islâmica, nem a chinesa — produziu o método científico como o Ocidente cristão o fez.

Isso se deve a quatro premissas teológicas:

1. Criação racional: O mundo é ordenado por um Deus racional.

2. Distinção entre Criador e criatura: A natureza não é divina e pode ser estudada sem sacrilégio.

3. Valor do trabalho e da observação empírica, herdado do monaquismo.

4. Autonomia institucional, presente nas universidades medievais.

A doutrina cristã da Criação ex nihilo ensina que o mundo foi criado por um Deus racional, sábio e pessoal. Portanto, o cosmos é ordenado, possui leis, e pode ser compreendido pela razão humana — que é imagem do Criador. Isso contrasta fortemente com as cosmovisões panteístas ou mitológicas, onde o mundo é cíclico, arbitrário ou habitado por forças caprichosas.

Sem essa fé no Logos criador, não há razão para crer que a natureza tenha uma ordem inteligível universal e constante, que pode ser descoberta por observação e dedução. A ciência moderna só é possível porque, antes de investigar a natureza, pressupôs-se que ela era investigável — e isso foi uma herança direta do pensamento cristão.

Homens como Bacon, Newton, Kepler e Galileu viam na ciência um modo de glorificar o Criador. O ateísmo cientificista é, portanto, parasitário da teologia cristã, pois toma seus frutos e rejeita suas raízes. A ciência moderna nasceu como filha legítima da fé cristã. E os que hoje a usam contra sua mãe, ou são ingratos, ou ignorantes.

---

V. O cristianismo como barreira à revolução cultural

O cristianismo é a barreira mais sólida contra a infiltração revolucionária. A chamada "marcha gramsciana", que visa corroer os fundamentos morais da sociedade para subjugar o indivíduo ao coletivo, encontra sua resistência mais firme nos princípios cristãos. A fé cristã, ao proclamar a existência de uma verdade objetiva, de uma lei moral imutável e de uma dignidade humana que transcende o Estado e o consenso social, imuniza a civilização contra o relativismo e o igualitarismo nivelador do marxismo cultural.

Além disso, o cristianismo é uma tradição milenar, profundamente enraizada no cotidiano das pessoas, não sendo uma novidade a ser imposta ou implementada, mas uma força presente há séculos, que permeia a estrutura social, moral e cultural da sociedade. Sua presença constante nas comunidades, desde os tempos mais antigos, oferece uma resistência robusta contra qualquer tentativa de subverter a ordem natural e moral estabelecida.

Não por acaso, tanto Karl Marx quanto Antonio Gramsci identificaram no cristianismo o principal obstáculo à realização de seus projetos revolucionários. Marx chamou a religião de "ópio do povo" porque sabia que uma alma ancorada em Deus não se submete facilmente ao poder terreno; Gramsci, mais sutil, propôs a destruição da cultura cristã como pré-condição para o triunfo do socialismo. Sem essa âncora transcendente, a sociedade torna-se presa fácil das engenharias sociais que pretendem redefinir arbitrariamente o homem, a família e a liberdade.

---

Conclusão

O libertário anticristão, consciente ou não, nega as fundações mesmas do edifício que habita. Ao rejeitar o cristianismo, cava o abismo sob os próprios pés, privando o ideal libertário de sua base moral, cultural e racional. Ele defende a ética voluntária, a liberdade individual e a ordem espontânea, mas sem o solo metafísico e histórico que torna esses princípios inteligíveis e possíveis. É um erro tentar preservar a liberdade em termos absolutos sem reconhecer as raízes cristãs que a sustentam, pois o cristianismo é a única tradição que a legitima e a viabiliza.

Negar o cristianismo é racionalmente insustentável. A liberdade, como a conhecemos, é filha da fé cristã, que oferece a base moral e metafísica que torna a liberdade tanto desejável quanto possível. Mesmo que ateu, o libertário que ama a liberdade deveria, no mínimo, respeitar — e, idealmente, redescobrir — essas raízes cristãs. Pois sem fé, restam apenas o niilismo e o relativismo, que, eventualmente, desaguam na servidão.

Como nos ensina a tradição: Ubi fides ibi libertas — onde há fé, há liberdade.

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

This update brings key enhancements for clarity and usability:

• Recent Blocks View: Added to the Send tab and inspired by Mempool's visualization, it displays the last 2 blocks and the estimated next block to help choose fee rates.
• Camera System Overhaul: Features a new library for higher resolution detection and mouse-scroll zoom support when available.
• Vector-Based Images: All app images are now vectorized and theme-aware, enhancing contrast, especially in dark mode.
• Tor & P2A Updates: Upgraded internal Tor and improved support for pay-to-anchor (P2A) outputs.
• Linux Package Rename: For Linux users, Sparrow has been renamed to sparrowwallet (or sparrowserver); in some cases, the original sparrow package may need manual removal.
• Additional updates include showing total payments in multi-payment transaction diagrams, better handling of long labels, and other UI enhancements.

• Sparrow v2.2.1 is a bug fix release that addresses missing UUID issue when starting Tor on recent macOS versions, icons for external sources in Settings and Recent Blocks view, repackaged .deb installs to use older gzip instead of zstd compression, and removed display of median fee rate where fee rates source is set to Server.

Learn how to get started with Sparrow wallet:

Release notes (v2.2.0)

• Added Recent Blocks view to Send tab.
• Converted all bitmapped images to theme aware SVG format for all wallet models and dialogs.
• Support send and display of pay to anchor (P2A) outputs.
• Renamed sparrow package to sparrowwallet and sparrowserver on Linux.
• Switched camera library to openpnp-capture.
• Support FHD (1920 x 1080) and UHD4k (3840 x 2160) capture resolutions.
• Support camera zoom with mouse scroll where possible.
• In the Download Verifier, prefer verifying the dropped file over the default file where the file is not in the manifest.
• Show a warning (with an option to disable the check) when importing a wallet with a derivation path matching another script type.
• In Cormorant, avoid calling the listwalletdir RPC on initialization due to a potentially slow response on Windows.
• Avoid server address resolution for public servers.
• Assume server address is non local for resolution failures where a proxy is configured.
• Added a tooltip to indicate truncated labels in table cells.
• Dynamically truncate input and output labels in the tree on a transaction tab, and add tooltips if necessary.
• Improved tooltips for wallet tabs and transaction diagrams with long labels.
• Show the address where available on input and output tooltips in transaction tab tree.
• Show the total amount sent in payments in the transaction diagram when constructing multiple payment transactions.
• Reset preferred table column widths on adjustment to improve handling after window resizing.
• Added accessible text to improve screen reader navigation on seed entry.
• Made Wallet Summary table grow horizontally with dialog sizing.
• Reduced tooltip show delay to 200ms.
• Show transaction diagram fee percentage as less than 0.01% rather than 0.00%.
• Optimized and reduced Electrum server RPC calls.
• Upgraded Bouncy Castle, PGPainless and Logback libraries.
• Upgraded internal Tor to v0.4.8.16.
• Bug fix: Fixed issue with random ordering of keystore origins on labels import.
• Bug fix: Fixed non-zero account script type detection when signing a message on Trezor devices.
• Bug fix: Fixed issue parsing remote Coldcard xpub encoded on a different network.
• Bug fix: Fixed inclusion of fees on wallet label exports.
• Bug fix: Increase Trezor device libusb timeout.

Linux users: Note that the sparrow package has been renamed to sparrowwallet or sparrowserver, and in some cases you may need to manually uninstall the original sparrow package. Look in the /opt folder to ensure you have the new name, and the original is removed.

What's new in v2.2.1

• Updated Tor library to fix missing UUID issue when starting Tor on recent macOS versions.
• Repackaged .deb installs to use older gzip instead of zstd compression.
• Removed display of median fee rate where fee rates source is set to Server.
• Added icons for external sources in Settings and Recent Blocks view
• Bug fix: Fixed issue in Recent Blocks view when switching fee rates source
• Bug fix: Fixed NPE on null fee returned from server

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo

@ 84b0c46a:417782f5

MAKIMONO

Simple Long Form Content Editor (NIP-23)

機能

• nostr:npub1sjcvg64knxkrt6ev52rywzu9uzqakgy8ehhk8yezxmpewsthst6sw3jqcw や、 nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzq4jsz7zew5j7jr4pdfxh483nwq9vyw9ph6wm706sjwrzj2we58nqqyxhwumn8ghj77tpvf6jumt9qys8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtt2wqhxummnw3ezuamfwfjkgmn9wshx5uqpr4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnhd9ex2erwv46zu6nsqyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqqsgcn99jyn5tevxz5zxsrkd7h0sx8fwnqztula423xh83j9wau7cms3vg9c7 のようにnostr:要素を挿入できる （メニューのNアイコンから挿入またはnostr:note～～のように手動で入力）

• :monoice:のようにカスタム絵文字を挿入できる(メニューの🙂アイコンから)

:monopaca_kao:

:kubipaca_karada:

• 新規記事作成と、既存記事の修正ができる

やることやったこと

• [x] nostr:を投稿するときにtagにいれる

• [x] 画像をアップロードできるようにする（NIP-96） できる

• [x] 投稿しましたログとかをトースト的なやつでだすようにする
• [ ] レイアウトを整える
• [ ] あとなんか

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

In the heart of East Africa, where M-Pesa reigns supreme and innovation pulses through bustling markets, a quiet revolution is brewing—one that could redefine how millions interact with money.

Enter Bitika, the Kenyan startup turning bitcoin’s complexity into a three-step dance, merging the lightning speed of sats with the trusted rhythm of mobile money.

At the helm is a founder whose “aha” moment came not in a boardroom, but at his kitchen table, watching his father grapple with the gap between understanding bitcoin and actually using it.

Bitika was born from that friction—a bridge between M-Pesa’s ubiquity and bitcoin’s borderless promise, wrapped in a name as playful as the Swahili slang that inspired it.

But this isn’t just a story about simplifying transactions. It’s about liquidity battles, regulatory tightropes, and a vision to turn Bitika into the invisible rails powering Africa’s Bitcoin future.

Building on Bitcoin

• Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into bitcoin/fintech, and what keeps you passionate about this space?

I first came across bitcoin in 2020, but like many at that time, I didn’t fully grasp what it really was. It sounded too complicated, probably with the heavy terminologies. Over time, I kept digging deeper and became more curious.

I started digging into finance and how money works and realised this was what I needed to understand bitcoin’s objectives. I realized that bitcoin wasn’t just a new type of money—it was a breakthrough in how we think about freedom, ownership, and global finance.

What keeps me passionate is how bitcoin can empower people—especially in Africa—to take control of their wealth, without relying on unstable systems or middlemen.

• What pivotal moment or experience inspired you to create Bitika? Was there a specific gap in Kenya’s financial ecosystem that sparked the idea?

Yes, this idea was actually born right in my own home. I’ve always been an advocate for bitcoin, sharing it with friends, family, and even strangers. My dad and I had countless conversations about it. Eventually, he understood the concept. But when he asked, “How do I even buy bitcoin?” or “Can you just buy it for me?” and after taking him through binance—that hit me.

If someone I’d educated still found the buying process difficult, how many others were feeling the same way? That was the lightbulb moment. I saw a clear gap: the process of buying bitcoin was too technical for the average Kenyan. That’s the problem Bitika set out to solve.

• How did you identify the synergy between bitcoin and M-Pesa as a solution for accessibility?

M-Pesa is at the center of daily life in Kenya. Everyone uses it—from buying groceries to paying rent. Instead of forcing people to learn new tools, I decided to meet them where they already are. That synergy between M-Pesa and bitcoin felt natural. It’s about bridging what people already trust with something powerful and new.

• Share the story behind the name “Bitika” – does it hold a cultural or symbolic meaning?

Funny enough, Bitika isn’t a deeply planned name. It came while I was thinking about bitcoin and the type of transformation it brings to individuals. In Swahili, we often add “-ka” to words for flair—like “bambika” from “bamba.”

So, I just coined Bitika as a playful and catchy way to reflect something bitcoin-related, but also uniquely local. I stuck with it because thinking of an ideal brand name is the toughest challenge for me.

• Walk us through the user journey – how does buying bitcoin via M-Pesa in “3 simple steps” work under the hood?

It’s beautifully simple.

1. The user enters the amount they want to spend in KES—starting from as little as 50 KES (about $0.30).

2. They input their Lightning wallet address.

3. They enter their M-Pesa number, which triggers an STK push (payment prompt) on their phone. Once confirmed—pap!—they receive bitcoin almost instantly.

Under the hood, we fetch the live BTC price, validate wallet addresses, check available liquidity, process the mobile payment, and send sats via the Lightning Network—all streamlined into a smooth experience for the user.

• Who’s Bitika’s primary audience? Are you focusing on unbanked populations, tech enthusiasts, or both?

Both. Bitika is designed for everyday people—especially the unbanked and underbanked who are excluded from traditional finance. But we also attract bitcoiners who just want a faster, easier way to buy sats. What unites them is the desire for a seamless and low-barrier bitcoin experience.

Community and Overcoming Challenges

• What challenges has Bitika faced navigating Kenya’s bitcoin regulations, and how do you build trust with regulators?

Regulation is still evolving here. Parliament has drafted bills, but none have been passed into law yet. We’re currently in a revision phase where policymakers are trying to strike a balance between encouraging innovation and protecting the public.

We focus on transparency and open dialogue—we believe that building trust with regulators starts with showing how bitcoin can serve the public good.

• What was the toughest obstacle in building Bitika, and how did you overcome it?

Liquidity. Since we don’t have deep capital reserves, we often run into situations where we have to pause operations often to manually restock our bitcoin supply. It’s frustrating—for us and for users. We’re working on automating this process and securing funding to maintain consistent liquidity so users can access bitcoin at any time, without disruption.

This remains our most critical issue—and the primary reason we’re seeking support.

• Are you eyeing new African markets? What’s next for Bitika’s product?

Absolutely. The long-term vision is to expand Bitika into other African countries facing similar financial challenges. But first, we want to turn Bitika into a developer-first tool—infrastructure that others can build on. Imagine local apps, savings products, or financial tools built using Bitika’s simple bitcoin rails. That’s where we’re heading. 

• What would you tell other African entrepreneurs aiming to disrupt traditional finance?

Disrupting finance sounds exciting—but the reality is messy. People fear what they don’t understand. That’s why simplicity is everything. Build tools that hide the complexity, and focus on making the user’s life easier. Most importantly, stay rooted in local context—solve problems people actually face.

What’s Next?

• What’s your message to Kenyans hesitant to try bitcoin, and to enthusiasts watching Bitika?

To my fellow Kenyans: bitcoin isn’t just an investment—it’s a sovereign tool. It’s money you truly own. Start small, learn, and ask questions.

To the bitcoin community: Bitika is proof that bitcoin is working in Africa. Let’s keep pushing. Let’s build tools that matter.

• How can the bitcoin community, both locally and globally, support Bitika’s mission?

We’re currently fundraising on Geyser. Support—whether it’s financial, technical, or simply sharing our story—goes a long way. Every sat you contribute helps us stay live, grow our liquidity, and continue building a tool that brings bitcoin closer to the everyday person in Africa.

Support here: https://geyser.fund/project/bitika

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

Custodial Lightning wallets allow users to transact without managing private keys or channel liquidity. The provider handles technical complexities, but this convenience comes with critical trade-offs:

• You don’t control your keys: The custodian holds your bitcoin.
• Centralized points of failure: Servers can be hacked or shut down.
• Surveillance risks: Providers track transaction metadata.

Key Risks of Custodial Lightning Wallets

*1. Hacks and Exit Scams*

Custodians centralize large amounts of bitcoin, attracting hackers:

• Nearly $2.2 billion worth of funds were stolen from hacks in 2024.
• Lightning custodians suffered breaches, losing user funds.

Unlike non-custodial wallets, victims have no recourse since they don’t hold keys.

*2. Censorship and Account Freezes*

Custodians comply with regulators, risking fund seizures:

• Strike (a custodial Lightning app) froze accounts of users in sanctioned regions.
• A U.K. court in 2020 ordered Bitfinex to freeze bitcoin worth $860,000 after the exchange and blockchain sleuthing firm Chainalysis traced the funds to a ransomware payment.

*3. Privacy Erosion*

Custodians log user activity, exposing sensitive data:

• Transaction amounts, receiver addresses, and IPs are recorded.

*4. Service Downtime*

Centralized infrastructure risks outages.

*5. Inflation of Lightning Network Centralization*

Custodians dominate liquidity, weakening network resilience:

• At the moment, 10% of the nodes on Lightning control 80% of the liquidity.
• This centralization contradicts bitcoin’s decentralized ethos.

How to Switch to Self-Custodial Lightning Wallets

Migrating from custodial services is straightforward:

*1. Choose a Non-Custodial Wallet*

Opt for wallets that let you control keys and channels:

• Flash: The self-custodial tool that lets you own your keys, control your coins, and transact instantly.
• Breez Wallet : Non-custodial, POS integrations.
• Core Lightning : Advanced, for self-hosted node operators.

*2. Transfer Funds Securely*

• Withdraw funds from your custodial wallet to a bitcoin on-chain address.
• Send bitcoin to your non-custodial Lightning wallet.

*3. Set Up Channel Backups*

Use tools like Static Channel Backups (SCB) to recover channels if needed.

*4. Best Practices*

• Enable Tor: Mask your IP (e.g., Breez’s built-in Tor support).
• Verify Receiving Addresses: Avoid phishing scams.
• Regularly Rebalance Channels: Use tools like Lightning Pool for liquidity.

Why Self-Custodial Lightning Matters

• Self-custody: Control your keys and funds.
• Censorship resistance: No third party can block transactions.
• Network health: Decentralized liquidity strengthens Lightning.

Self-custodial wallets now rival custodial ease.

Custodial Lightning wallets sacrifice security for convenience, putting users at risk of hacks, surveillance, and frozen funds. As bitcoin adoption grows, so does the urgency to embrace self-custodial solutions.

Take action today:

1. Withdraw custodial funds to a hardware wallet.
2. Migrate to a self-custodial Lightning wallet.
3. Educate others on the risks of custodial control.

The Lightning Network’s potential hinges on decentralization—don’t let custodians become its Achilles’ heel.

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

• This version introduces the Soroban P2P network, enabling Dojo to relay transactions to the Bitcoin network and share others' transactions to break the heuristic linking relaying nodes to transaction creators.

• Additionally, Dojo admins can now manage API keys in DMT with labels, status, and expiration, ideal for community Dojo providers like Dojobay. New API endpoints, including "/services" exposing Explorer, Soroban, and Indexer, have been added to aid wallet developers.
• Other maintenance updates include Bitcoin Core, Tor, Fulcrum, Node.js, plus an updated ban-knots script to disconnect inbound Knots nodes.

"I want to thank all the contributors. This again shows the power of true Free Software. I also want to thank everyone who donated to help Dojo development going. I truly appreciate it," said Still Dojo Coder.

What's new

• Soroban P2P network. For MyDojo (Docker setup) users, Soroban will be automatically installed as part of their Dojo. This integration allows Dojo to utilize the Soroban P2P network for various upcoming features and applications.
• PandoTx. PandoTx serves as a transaction transport layer. When your wallet sends a transaction to Dojo, it is relayed to a random Soroban node, which then forwards it to the Bitcoin network. It also enables your Soroban node to receive and relay transactions from others to the Bitcoin network and is designed to disrupt the assumption that a node relaying a transaction is closely linked to the person who initiated it.
  • Pushing transactions through Soroban can be deactivated by setting NODE_PANDOTX_PUSH=off in docker-node.conf.
  • Processing incoming transactions from Soroban network can be deactivated by setting NODE_PANDOTX_PROCESS=off in docker-node.conf.
• API key management has been introduced to address the growing number of people offering their Dojos to the community. Dojo admins can now access a new API management tab in their DMT, where they can create unlimited API keys, assign labels for easy identification, and set expiration dates for each key. This allows admins to avoid sharing their main API key and instead distribute specific keys to selected parties.
• New API endpoints. Several new API endpoints have been added to help API consumers develop features on Dojo more efficiently:
  • New:
    • /latest-block - returns data about latest block
    • /txout/:txid/:index - returns unspent output data
    • /support/services - returns info about services that Dojo exposes
  • Updated:
    • /tx/:txid - endpoint has been updated to return raw transaction with parameter ?rawHex=1
  • The new /support/services endpoint replaces the deprecated explorer field in the Dojo pairing payload. Although still present, API consumers should use this endpoint for explorer and other pairing data.

Other changes

• Updated ban script to disconnect inbound Knots nodes.
• Updated Fulcrum to v1.12.0.
• Regenerate Fulcrum certificate if expired.
• Check if transaction already exists in pushTx.
• Bump BTC-RPC Explorer.
• Bump Tor to v0.4.8.16, bump Snowflake.
• Updated Bitcoin Core to v29.0.
• Removed unnecessary middleware.
• Fixed DB update mechanism, added api_keys table.
• Add an option to use blocksdir config for bitcoin blocks directory.
• Removed deprecated configuration.
• Updated Node.js dependencies.
• Reconfigured container dependencies.
• Fix Snowflake git URL.
• Fix log path for testnet4.
• Use prebuilt addrindexrs binaries.
• Add instructions to migrate blockchain/fulcrum.
• Added pull policies.

#FREESAMOURAI

Learn how to set up and use your own Bitcoin privacy node with Dojo here.

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

What is KYC/AML?

• The acronym stands for Know Your Customer / Anti Money Laundering.
• In practice it stands for the surveillance measures companies are often compelled to take against their customers by financial regulators.
• Methods differ but often include: Passport Scans, Driver License Uploads, Social Security Numbers, Home Address, Phone Number, Face Scans.
• Bitcoin companies will also store all withdrawal and deposit addresses which can then be used to track bitcoin transactions on the bitcoin block chain.
• This data is then stored and shared. Regulations often require companies to hold this information for a set number of years but in practice users should assume this data will be held indefinitely. Data is often stored insecurely, which results in frequent hacks and leaks.  
• KYC/AML data collection puts all honest users at risk of theft, extortion, and persecution while being ineffective at stopping crime. Criminals often use counterfeit, bought, or stolen credentials to get around the requirements. Criminals can buy "verified" accounts for as little as $200. Furthermore, billions of people are excluded from financial services as a result of KYC/AML requirements.

During the early days of bitcoin most services did not require this sensitive user data, but as adoption increased so did the surveillance measures. At this point, most large bitcoin companies are collecting and storing massive lists of bitcoiners, our sensitive personal information, and our transaction history.

Lists of Bitcoiners

KYC/AML policies are a direct attack on bitcoiners. Lists of bitcoiners and our transaction history will inevitably be used against us.

Once you are on a list with your bitcoin transaction history that record will always exist. Generally speaking, tracking bitcoin is based on probability analysis of ownership change. Surveillance firms use various heuristics to determine if you are sending bitcoin to yourself or if ownership is actually changing hands.  You can obtain better privacy going forward by using collaborative transactions such as coinjoin to break this probability analysis.

Fortunately, you can buy bitcoin without providing intimate personal information. Tools such as peach, hodlhodl, robosats, azteco and bisq help; mining is also a solid option: anyone can plug a miner into power and internet and earn bitcoin by mining privately.

You can also earn bitcoin by providing goods and/or services that can be purchased with bitcoin. Long term, circular economies will mitigate this threat: most people will not buy bitcoin - they will earn bitcoin - most people will not sell bitcoin - they will spend bitcoin.

There is no such thing as KYC or No KYC bitcoin, there are bitcoiners on lists and those that are not on lists.

---

If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ 84b0c46a:417782f5

nostrリンクテスト

web+nostrリンクテスト

x-ukagaka-linkテスト

x-ukagaka-linkテスト2

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ハイパーテスト

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

The upcoming Bitcoin 2025 conference, scheduled from May 27–29 at the Venetian Conference Center in Las Vegas, is set to make history with an official attempt to break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® title for the most Bitcoin point-of-sale transactions in an eight-hour period.

Organized by BTC Inc, the event will showcase Bitcoin’s evolution from a digital capital asset to a practical medium of exchange, leveraging the latest advancements in payment technology.

Tap-to-Pay with Lightning-Ready Bolt Cards

To facilitate this record-setting attempt, 4,000 Lightning-ready Bolt Cards will be distributed to conference attendees.

pic.twitter.com/Iy7P361u6u

— Uncle Rockstar Developer (@r0ckstardev) May 15, 2025

These NFC-enabled cards allow users to make instant, contactless Bitcoin payments at vendor booths throughout the expo-no apps or QR codes required, just a simple tap. 

The cards are available in four collectible designs, each featuring a prominent figure in Bitcoin’s history: Senator Cynthia Lummis, Michael Saylor, Satoshi Nakamoto, and Jack Dorsey. 

Each attendee will receive a randomly assigned card, making them both functional and collectible souvenirs.

Senator Lummis: A Playful Provocation

Notably, one of the card designs features Senator Cynthia Lummis with laser eyes-a playful nod to her reputation as a leading Bitcoin advocate in US politics. 

While Lummis is known for her legislative efforts to promote Bitcoin integration, she has publicly stated she prefers to “spend dollars and save Bitcoin,” viewing BTC as a long-term store of value rather than a daily currency. 

The choice to feature her on the Bolt Card, could be suggested by Rockstar Dev of the BTC Pay Server Foundation, perhaps a lighthearted way to highlight the ongoing debate about Bitcoin’s role in everyday payments.

Nothing cracks me up quite like a senator that wants the US to buy millions of Bitcoin use dollars to buy a beer at a Bitcoin bar.

This is how unserious some of you are. pic.twitter.com/jftIEggmip

— Magoo PhD (@HodlMagoo) April 4, 2025

How Bolt Cards and the Lightning Network Work

Bolt Cards are physical cards equipped with NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, similar to contactless credit or debit cards. When linked to a compatible Lightning wallet, they enable users to make Bitcoin payments over the Lightning Network by simply tapping the card at a point-of-sale terminal. 

The Lightning Network is a second-layer protocol built on top of Bitcoin, designed to facilitate instant, low-cost transactions ideal for everyday purchases. 

This integration aims to make Bitcoin as easy to use as traditional payment methods, eliminating the need for QR code scanning or mobile apps.

A Showcase for Bitcoin’s Real-World Usability

With over 30,000 attendees, 300 exhibitors, and 500 speakers expected, the Bitcoin 2025 conference is poised to be the largest Bitcoin event of the year-and potentially the most transactional. 

The event will feature on-site activations such as the Official Bitcoin Magazine Store, where all merchandise will be available at a 21% discount for those paying with Bitcoin via the Lightning Network-a nod to Bitcoin’s 21 million coin supply limit.

By deeply integrating Lightning payments into the conference experience, organizers hope to demonstrate Bitcoin’s readiness for mainstream commerce and set a new benchmark for its practical use as a currency.

Conclusion

The Guinness World Record attempt at Bitcoin 2025 is more than a publicity stunt-it’s a bold demonstration of Bitcoin’s technological maturity and its potential to function as a modern, everyday payment method.

Whether or not the record is set, the event will serve as a milestone in the ongoing journey to make Bitcoin a truly global, user-friendly currency

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

When Sergei talks about bitcoin, he doesn’t sound like someone chasing profits or followers. He sounds like someone about to build a monastery in the ruins.

While the mainstream world chases headlines and hype, Sergei shows up in local meetups from Sacramento to Cleveland, mentors curious minds, and shares what he knows is true – hoping that, with the right spark, someone will light their own way forward.

We interviewed Sergei to trace his steps: where he started, what keeps him going, and why teaching bitcoin is far more than explaining how to set up a node – it’s about reaching the right minds before the noise consumes them. So we began where most journeys start: at the beginning.

First Steps

• So, where did it all begin for you and what made you stay curious?

I first heard about bitcoin from a friend’s book recommendation, American Kingpin, the book about Silk Road (online drug marketplace). He is still not a true bitcoiner, although I helped him secure private keys with some bitcoin.

I was really busy at the time – focused on my school curriculum, running a 7-bedroom Airbnb, and working for a standardized test prep company. Bitcoin seemed too technical for me to explore, and the pace of my work left no time for it.

After graduating, while pursuing more training, I started playing around with stocks and maximizing my savings. Passive income seemed like the path to early retirement, as per the promise of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early). I mostly followed the mainstream news and my mentor’s advice – he liked preferred stocks at the time.

I had some Coinbase IOUs and remember sending bitcoin within the Coinbase ledger to a couple friends. I also recall the 2018 crash; I actually saw the legendary price spike live but couldn’t benefit because my funds were stuck amidst the frenzy. I withdrew from that investment completely for some time. Thankfully, my mentor advised to keep en eye on bitcoin.

Around late 2019, I started DCA-ing cautiously. Additionally, my friend and I were discussing famous billionaires, and how there was no curriculum for becoming a billionaire. So, I typed “billionaires” into my podcast app, and landed on We Study Billionaires podcast.

That’s where I kept hearing Preston Pysh mention bitcoin, before splitting into his own podcast series, Bitcoin Fundamentals. I didn’t understand most of the terminology of stocks, bonds, etc, yet I kept listening and trying to absorb it thru repetition. Today, I realize all that financial talk was mostly noise.

When people ask me for a technical explanation of fiat, I say: it’s all made up, just like the fiat price of bitcoin! Starting in 2020, during the so-called pandemic, I dove deeper. I religiously read Bitcoin Magazine, scrolled thru Bitcoin Twitter, and joined Simply Bitcoin Telegram group back when DarthCoin was an admin.

DarthCoin was my favorite bitcoiner – experienced, knowledgeable, and unapologetic. Watching him shift from rage to kindness, from passion to despair, gave me a glimpse at what a true educator’s journey would look like.

The struggle isn’t about adoption at scale anymore. It’s about reaching the few who are willing to study, take risks, and stay out of fiat traps. The vast majority won’t follow that example – not yet at least… if I start telling others the requirements for true freedom and prosperity, they would certainly say “Hell no!”

• At what point did you start teaching others, and why?

After college, I helped teach at a standardized test preparation company, and mentored some students one-on-one. I even tried working at a kindergarten briefly, but left quickly; Babysitting is not teaching.

What I discovered is that those who will succeed don’t really need my help – they would succeed with or without me, because they already have the inner drive.

Once you realize your people are perishing for lack of knowledge, the only rational thing to do is help raise their level of knowledge and understanding. That’s the Great Work.

I sometimes imagine myself as a political prisoner. If that were to happen, I’d probably start teaching fellow prisoners, doctors, janitors, even guards. In a way we already live in an open-air prison, So what else is there to do but teach, organize, and conspire to dismantle the Matrix?

Building on Bitcoin

• You hosted some in-person meetups in Sacramento. What did you learn from those?

My first presentation was on MultiSig storage with SeedSigner, and submarine swaps through Boltz.exchange.

I realized quickly that I had overestimated the group’s technical background. Even the meetup organizer, a financial advisor, asked, “How is anyone supposed to follow these steps?” I responded that reading was required… He decided that Unchained is an easier way.

At a crypto meetup, I gave a much simpler talk, outlining how bitcoin will save the world, based on a DarthCoin’s guide. Only one person stuck around to ask questions – a man who seemed a little out there, and did not really seem to get the message beyond the strength of cryptographic security of bitcoin.

Again, I overestimated the audience’s readiness. That forced me to rethink my strategy. People are extremely early and reluctant to study.

• Now in Ohio, you hold sessions via the Orange Pill App. What’s changed?

My new motto is: educate the educators. The corollary is: don’t orange-pill stupid normies (as DarthCoin puts it).

I’ve shifted to small, technical sessions in order to raise a few solid guardians of this esoteric knowledge who really get it and can carry it forward.

The youngest attendee at one of my sessions is a newborn baby – he mostly sleeps, but maybe he still absorbs some of the educational vibes.

• How do local groups like Sactown and Cleveland Bitcoiners influence your work?

Every meetup reflects its local culture. Sacramento and Bay Area Bitcoiners, for example, do camping trips – once we camped through a desert storm, shielding our burgers from sand while others went to shoot guns.

Cleveland Bitcoiners are different. They amass large gatherings. They recently threw a 100k party. They do a bit more community outreach. Some are curious about the esoteric topics such as jurisdiction, spirituality, and healthful living.

I have no permanent allegiance to any state, race, or group. I go where I can teach and learn. I anticipate that in my next phase, I’ll meet Bitcoiners so advanced that I’ll have to give up my fiat job and focus full-time on serious projects where real health and wealth are on the line.

Hopefully, I’ll be ready. I believe the universe always challenges you exactly to your limit – no less, no more.

• What do people struggle with the most when it comes to technical education?

The biggest struggle isn’t technical – it’s a lack of deep curiosity. People ask “how” and “what” – how do I set up a node, what should one do with the lightning channels? But very few ask “why?”

Why does on-chain bitcoin not contribute to the circular economy? Why is it essential to run Lightning? Why did humanity fall into mental enslavement in the first place?

I’d rather teach two-year-olds who constantly ask “why” than adults who ask how to flip a profit. What worries me most is that most two-year-olds will grow up asking state-funded AI bots for answers and live according to its recommendations.

• One Cleveland Bitcoiner shows up at gold bug meetups. How valuable is face-to-face education?

I don’t think the older generation is going to reverse the current human condition. Most of them have been under mind control for too long, and they just don’t have the attention span to study and change their ways.

They’re better off stacking gold and helping fund their grandkids’ education. If I were to focus on a demographic, I’d go for teenagers – high school age – because by college, the indoctrination is usually too strong, and they’re chasing fiat mastery.

As for the gold bug meetup? Perhaps one day I will show up with a ukulele to sing some bitcoin-themed songs. Seniors love such entertainment.

• How do you choose what to focus on in your sessions, especially for different types of learners?

I don’t come in with a rigid agenda. I’ve collected a massive library of resources over the years and never stopped reading. My browser tab and folder count are exploding.

At the meetup, people share questions or topics they’re curious about, then I take that home, do my homework, and bring back a session based on those themes. I give them the key takeaways, plus where to dive deeper.

Most people won’t – or can’t – study the way I do, and I expect attendees to put in the work. I suspect that it’s more important to reach those who want to learn but don’t know how, the so-called nescient (not knowing), rather than the ignorant.

There are way too many ignorant bitcoiners, so my mission is to find those who are curious what’s beyond the facade of fake reality and superficial promises.

That naturally means that fewer people show up, and that’s fine. I’m not here for the crowds; I’m here to educate the educators. One bitcoiner who came decided to branch off into self-custody sessions and that’s awesome. Personally, I’m much more focused on Lightning.

I want to see broader adoption of tools like auth, sign-message, NWC, and LSPs. Next month, I’m going deep into eCash solutions, because let’s face it – most newcomers won’t be able to afford their own UTXO or open a lightning channel; additionally, it has to be fun and easy for them to transact sats, otherwise they won’t do it. Additionally, they’ll need to rely on

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

Star Wars is often viewed as a myth of rebellion, freedom, and resistance to tyranny. The iconography—scrappy rebels, totalitarian stormtroopers, lone smugglers—suggests a deep anti-authoritarian ethos. Yet, beneath the surface, the narrative arc of Star Wars consistently affirms the necessity, even sanctity, of central authority. This blog entry introduces the question: Is Star Wars fundamentally a celebration of statism?

---

Rebellion as Restoration, Not Revolution

The Rebel Alliance’s mission is not to dismantle centralized power, but to restore the Galactic Republic—a bureaucratic, centrally governed institution. Characters like Mon Mothma and Bail Organa are high-ranking senators, not populist revolutionaries. The goal is to remove the corrupt Empire and reinstall a previous central authority, presumed to be just.

• Rebels are loyalists to a prior state structure.
• Power is not questioned, only who wields it.

---

Jedi as Centralized Moral Elites

The Jedi, often idealized as protectors of peace, are unelected, extra-legal enforcers of moral and military order. Their authority stems from esoteric metaphysical abilities rather than democratic legitimacy.

• They answer only to their internal Council.
• They are deployed by the Senate, but act independently of civil law.
• Their collapse is depicted as tragic not because they were unaccountable, but because they were betrayed.

This positions them as a theocratic elite, not spiritual anarchists.

---

Chaos and the Frontier: The Case of the Cantina

The Mos Eisley cantina, often viewed as a symbol of frontier freedom, reveals something darker. It is: - Lawless - Violent - Culturally fragmented

Conflict resolution occurs through murder, not mediation. Obi-Wan slices off a limb; Han shoots first—both without legal consequence. There is no evidence of property rights, dispute resolution, or voluntary order.

This is not libertarian pluralism—it’s moral entropy. The message: without centralized governance, barbarism reigns.

---

The Mythic Arc: Restoration of the Just State

Every trilogy in the saga returns to a single theme: the fall and redemption of legitimate authority.

1. Prequels: Republic collapses into tyranny.
2. Originals: Rebels fight to restore legitimate order.
3. Sequels: Weak governance leads to resurgence of authoritarianism; heroes must reestablish moral centralism.

The story is not anti-state—it’s anti-bad state. The solution is never decentralization; it’s the return of the right ruler or order.

---

Conclusion: The Hidden Statism of a Rebel Myth

Star Wars wears the costume of rebellion, but tells the story of centralized salvation. It: - Validates elite moral authority (Jedi) - Romanticizes restoration of fallen governments (Republic) - Portrays decentralized zones as corrupt and savage (outer rim worlds)

It is not an anarchist parable, nor a libertarian fable. It is a statist mythology, clothed in the spectacle of rebellion. Its core message is not that power should be abolished, but that power belongs to the virtuous few.

---

Question to Consider:
If the Star Wars universe consistently affirms the need for centralized moral and political authority, should we continue to see it as a myth of freedom? Or is it time to recognize it as a narrative of benevolent empire?

@ 83279ad2:bd49240d

a

@ 7d33ba57:1b82db35

Lingen (Ems) is a peaceful town in Lower Saxony, near the Dutch border, known for its historic old town, green surroundings, and relaxed pace of life. It may not be on the typical tourist radar, but it offers a taste of small-town Germany with plenty of charm and local culture.

🏘️ What to See and Do in Lingen

🏛️ Old Town & Market Square

• Stroll through the historic town center, where you’ll find half-timbered houses, cozy cafés, and the lovely St. Boniface Church
• The Rathaus (Town Hall) and its square are perfect for a slow coffee or people-watching

🚲 Nature & Outdoor Activities

• The region around Lingen is great for cycling and walking, especially along the Ems River
• Explore the Emsland countryside, filled with forests, meadows, and quiet villages
• Visit the nearby Emsland Moormuseum to learn about local peatland history

🎓 Student Vibes

• Thanks to the presence of a university, Lingen has a young and vibrant side, with cultural events and small live music scenes

🍺 Local Food & Drink

• Try regional dishes like Grünkohl (kale with sausage in winter) and Schnitzel in a local tavern
• Enjoy a drink at a beer garden or riverside café, especially in warmer months

🚆 Getting There

• Well connected by train, especially to Osnabrück, Münster, and the Dutch city of Enschede
• Great stop on a northern Germany road or rail trip

Lingen is ideal for travelers looking for peaceful towns, regional culture, and access to beautiful natural areas. It’s a place where you can slow down, bike along a river, and enjoy the local way of life.

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

• This version introduces the Soroban P2P network, enabling Dojo to relay transactions to the Bitcoin network and share others' transactions to break the heuristic linking relaying nodes to transaction creators.

• Additionally, Dojo admins can now manage API keys in DMT with labels, status, and expiration, ideal for community Dojo providers like Dojobay. New API endpoints, including "/services" exposing Explorer, Soroban, and Indexer, have been added to aid wallet developers.
• Other maintenance updates include Bitcoin Core, Tor, Fulcrum, Node.js, plus an updated ban-knots script to disconnect inbound Knots nodes.

"I want to thank all the contributors. This again shows the power of true Free Software. I also want to thank everyone who donated to help Dojo development going. I truly appreciate it," said Still Dojo Coder.

What's new

• Soroban P2P network. For MyDojo (Docker setup) users, Soroban will be automatically installed as part of their Dojo. This integration allows Dojo to utilize the Soroban P2P network for various upcoming features and applications.
• PandoTx. PandoTx serves as a transaction transport layer. When your wallet sends a transaction to Dojo, it is relayed to a random Soroban node, which then forwards it to the Bitcoin network. It also enables your Soroban node to receive and relay transactions from others to the Bitcoin network and is designed to disrupt the assumption that a node relaying a transaction is closely linked to the person who initiated it.
  • Pushing transactions through Soroban can be deactivated by setting NODE_PANDOTX_PUSH=off in docker-node.conf.
  • Processing incoming transactions from Soroban network can be deactivated by setting NODE_PANDOTX_PROCESS=off in docker-node.conf.
• API key management has been introduced to address the growing number of people offering their Dojos to the community. Dojo admins can now access a new API management tab in their DMT, where they can create unlimited API keys, assign labels for easy identification, and set expiration dates for each key. This allows admins to avoid sharing their main API key and instead distribute specific keys to selected parties.
• New API endpoints. Several new API endpoints have been added to help API consumers develop features on Dojo more efficiently:
  • New:
    • /latest-block - returns data about latest block
    • /txout/:txid/:index - returns unspent output data
    • /support/services - returns info about services that Dojo exposes
  • Updated:
    • /tx/:txid - endpoint has been updated to return raw transaction with parameter ?rawHex=1
  • The new /support/services endpoint replaces the deprecated explorer field in the Dojo pairing payload. Although still present, API consumers should use this endpoint for explorer and other pairing data.

Other changes

• Updated ban script to disconnect inbound Knots nodes.
• Updated Fulcrum to v1.12.0.
• Regenerate Fulcrum certificate if expired.
• Check if transaction already exists in pushTx.
• Bump BTC-RPC Explorer.
• Bump Tor to v0.4.8.16, bump Snowflake.
• Updated Bitcoin Core to v29.0.
• Removed unnecessary middleware.
• Fixed DB update mechanism, added api_keys table.
• Add an option to use blocksdir config for bitcoin blocks directory.
• Removed deprecated configuration.
• Updated Node.js dependencies.
• Reconfigured container dependencies.
• Fix Snowflake git URL.
• Fix log path for testnet4.
• Use prebuilt addrindexrs binaries.
• Add instructions to migrate blockchain/fulcrum.
• Added pull policies.

#FREESAMOURAI

Learn how to set up and use your own Bitcoin privacy node with Dojo here.

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

The Pakistani government embraces Bitcoin, following the example set by the United States.

Pakistan has officially announced the creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve. The announcement was made during the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, marking a significant shift from the government’s previous stance against digital assets.

During the event, Bilal Bin Saqib, head of the Pakistani Crypto Council, shared the country’s decision:

“Today, I announce the Pakistani government is setting up its own government-led Bitcoin Strategic Reserve, and we want to thank the United States of America again because we were inspired by them.”

Bin Saqib then added:

“This wallet, the national Bitcoin wallet, is not for speculation. We will be holding these bitcoins and we will never, ever sell them.”

It remains unclear how the bitcoins will be acquired, whether through direct purchases or other means.

Pakistan’s shift in approach toward digital assets traces back to last February, when the government first explored the idea of creating a National Crypto Council. This body was designed to oversee the development of a comprehensive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and to attract foreign investment in the sector.

The Council’s proposed initiatives included projects such as utilizing surplus energy for Bitcoin mining, building high-performance data centers, and accumulating Bitcoin for the national treasury.

Just a few days ago, the Council officially allocated 2,000 megawatts of surplus energy to support mining operations and AI data centers.

Moreover, Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of Binance, was appointed as an advisor to the Council in April, offering expertise on crypto regulations, blockchain infrastructure, and the adoption of digital assets.

To further consolidate this new approach, the Pakistani Ministry of Finance has commissioned the creation of the Digital Asset Authority, an agency dedicated to supervising digital asset regulations and issuing licenses for crypto service providers operating within the country.

The post Pakistan announces the creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve appeared first on Atlas21.

@ d3d74124:a4eb7b1d

language is a funny thing. the English grammar is one of the most, if the not THE most complicated grammars to learn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Language_Aptitude_Battery\ DLAB. it's the test you take to see if you have a gift for language learning.

in my exploration of languages, first Chinese Mandarin, then software languages, context is king (Jesus is King). the surrounding context is different every where you go.

physical space context. we can't be two places at once. nostr allows for many languages, because you can provide your own digital context. our physical perspective give us a field of view. NOSTR clients give us a field of view into digital context.

math is a language.

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bitcoin will be called a lot of things.

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wizardry

some elections results are anchored in time. using bitcoin. what else should be? legal documents seem obvious. other cryptographic proofs.

zero knowledge proofs. something about curve trees.

Find your local BitDevs.

Shenandoah Bitcoin Club

pondering a Veteran's Day live music event in Frederick County, VA. who would show up to a lunch and learn with hardware wallets in testnet4 mode? to try shit out? local only, but you should do it where you are too if you're not local.

mining

getting better? Bitmain announces a "decentralized mining pool" but I doubt we'll see open source code if history follows. 256Foundation getting to business. working prototypes for the Ember One using USB and python are out there for those that know where to look. i am very bullish on mujina. very bullish. fun coinbase tricks happening too with CTV+CSFS.

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p.s. written on primal's new article publishing UI.

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

Bitcoin FilmFest (BFF25) returns to Warsaw for its third edition, blending independent cinema—from feature films and commercials to AI-driven experimental visuals—with education and entertainment.

Hundreds of attendees from around the world will gather for three days of screenings, discussions, workshops, and networking at the iconic Kinoteka Cinema (PKiN), the same venue that hosted the festival’s first two editions in March 2023 and April 2024.

This year’s festival, themed “Beyond the Frame,” introduces new dimensions to its program, including an extra day on May 22 to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day, the first real-world bitcoin transaction, with what promises to be one of Europe’s largest commemorations of this milestone.

BFF25 bridges independent film, culture, and technology, with a bold focus on decentralized storytelling and creative expression. As a community-driven cultural experience with a slightly rebellious spirit, Bitcoin FilmFest goes beyond movies, yet cinema remains at its heart.

Here’s a sneak peek at the lineup, specially curated for movie buffs:

Generative Cinema –  A special slot with exclusive shorts and a thematic debate on the intersection of AI and filmmaking. Featured titles include, for example: BREAK FREE, SATOSHI: THE CREATION OF BITCOIN, STRANGE CURRENCIES, and BITCOIN IS THE MYCELIUM OF MONEY,  exploring financial independence, traps of the fiat system, and a better future built on sound money.

Upcoming Productions Preview – A bit over an hour-long block of unreleased pilots and works-in-progress. Attendees will get exclusive first looks at projects like FINDING HOME (a travel-meets-personal-journey series), PARALLEL SPACES (a story about alternative communities), and THE LEGEND OF LANDI (a mysterious narrative).

Freedom-Focused Ads & Campaigns – Unique screenings of video commercials, animations, and visual projects, culminating in “The PoWies” (Proof of Work-ies)—the first ever awards show honoring the best Bitcoin-only awareness campaigns.

To get an idea of what might come up at the event, here, you can preview 6 selected ads combined into two 2 videos:

• Unique Bitcoin-Video Ads: Part One
• Unique Bitcoin-Video Ads: Part Two

Open Pitch Competition – A chance for filmmakers to present fresh ideas and unfinished projects to an audience of a dedicated jury, movie fans and potential collaborators. This competitive block isn’t just entertaining—it’s a real opportunity for creators to secure funding and partnerships.

Golden Rabbit Awards: A lively gala honoring films from the festival’s Official Selection, with awards in categories like Best Feature, Best Story, Best Short, and Audience Choice.

BFF25 Main Screenings

Sample titles from BFF25’s Official Selection:

REVOLUCIÓN BITCOIN – A documentary by Juan Pablo, making its first screening outside the Spanish-speaking world in Warsaw this May. Three years of important work, 80 powerful minutes to experience. The film explores Bitcoin’s impact across Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, and Spain through around 40 diverse perspectives. Screening in Spanish with English subtitles, followed by a Q&A with the director.

UNBANKABLE – Luke Willms’ directorial debut, drawing from his multicultural roots and his father’s pioneering HIV/AIDS research. An investigative documentary based on Luke’s journeys through seven African countries, diving into financial experiments and innovations—from mobile money and digital lending to Bitcoin—raising smart questions and offering potential lessons for the West. Its May appearance at BFF25 marks its largest European event to date, following festival screenings and nominations across multiple continents over the past year.

HOTEL BITCOIN – A Spanish comedy directed by Manuel Sanabria and Carlos “Pocho” Villaverde. Four friends, 4,000 bitcoins , and one laptop spark a chaotic adventure of parties, love, crime, and a dash of madness. Exploring sound money, value, and relationships through a twisting plot. The film premiered at the Tarazona and Moncayo Comedy Film Festival in August 2024. Its Warsaw screening at BFF25 (in Spanish with English subtitles) marks its first public showing outside the Spanish-speaking world.

Check out trailers for this year’s BFF25 and past editions on YouTube.

Tickets & Info:

• Detailed program and tickets are available at bitcoinfilmfest.com/bff25.
• Stay updated via the festival’s official channels (links provided on the website).
• Use ‘LN-NEWS’ to get 10% of tickets

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

Starting January 1, 2026, the United Kingdom will impose some of the world’s most stringent reporting requirements on cryptocurrency firms.

All platforms operating in or serving UK customers-domestic and foreign alike-must collect and disclose extensive personal and transactional data for every user, including individuals, companies, trusts, and charities. 

This regulatory drive marks the UK’s formal adoption of the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), a global initiative designed to bring crypto oversight in line with traditional banking and to curb tax evasion in the rapidly expanding digital asset sector.

What Will Be Reported?

Crypto firms must gather and submit the following for each transaction:

• User’s full legal name, home address, and taxpayer identification number
• Detailed data on every trade or transfer: type of cryptocurrency, amount, and nature of the transaction
• Identifying information for corporate, trust, and charitable clients

The obligation extends to all digital asset activities, including crypto-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat trades, and applies to both UK residents and non-residents using UK-based platforms. The first annual reports covering 2026 activity are due by May 31, 2027.

Enforcement and Penalties

Non-compliance will carry stiff financial penalties, with fines of up to £300 per user account for inaccurate or missing data-a potentially enormous liability for large exchanges. The UK government has urged crypto firms to begin collecting this information immediately to ensure operational readiness.

Regulatory Context and Market Impact

This move is part of a broader UK strategy to position itself as a global fintech hub while clamping down on fraud and illicit finance. UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has championed these measures, stating, “Britain is open for business – but closed to fraud, abuse, and instability”. The regulatory expansion comes amid a surge in crypto adoption: the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority reported that 12% of UK adults owned crypto in 2024, up from just 4% in 2021.

Enormous Risks for Consumers: Lessons from the Coinbase Data Breach

While the new framework aims to enhance transparency and protect consumers, it also dramatically increases the volume of sensitive personal data held by crypto firms-raising the stakes for cybersecurity.

The risks are underscored by the recent high-profile breach at Coinbase, one of the world’s largest exchanges.

In May 2025, Coinbase disclosed that cybercriminals, aided by bribed offshore contractors, accessed and exfiltrated customer data including names, addresses, government IDs, and partial bank details. 

The attackers then used this information for sophisticated phishing campaigns, successfully deceiving some customers into surrendering account credentials and funds.

“While private encryption keys remained secure, sufficient customer information was exposed to enable sophisticated phishing attacks by criminals posing as Coinbase personnel.”

Coinbase now faces up to $400 million in compensation costs and has pledged to reimburse affected users, but the incident highlights the systemic vulnerability created when large troves of personal data are centralized-even if passwords and private keys are not directly compromised. The breach also triggered a notable drop in Coinbase’s share price and prompted a $20 million bounty for information leading to the attackers’ capture.

The Bottom Line

The UK’s forthcoming crypto reporting regime represents a landmark in financial regulation, promising greater transparency and tax compliance. However, as the Coinbase episode demonstrates, the aggregation of sensitive user data at scale poses a significant cybersecurity risk.

As regulators push for more oversight, the challenge will be ensuring that consumer protection does not become a double-edged sword-exposing users to new threats even as it seeks to shield them from old ones.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Ed Suman, a 67-year-old retired artist who helped create large sculptures like Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog, reportedly lost his entire life savings — over $2M in digital assets — in a sophisticated scam.

The incident is believed to be tied to the major data breach at Coinbase, one of the world’s largest digital asset exchanges.

Suman’s story is part of a bigger wave of attacks on digital asset holders using stolen personal info, and has triggered lawsuits, regulatory concerns and questions about digital security in the Bitcoin space.

In March 2025, Suman got a text message about suspicious activity on his Coinbase account. After Suman reported he was unaware of any unauthorized activity regarding his account, he got a call from a man who introduced himself as Brett Miller from Coinbase Security.

The guy sounded legit — he knew Suman’s setup, including that he used a Trezor Model One hardware wallet, a device meant to keep bitcoin and other digital assets offline and safe.

Suman told Bloomberg the guy knew everything, including the exact amount of digital assets he had.

The attacker persuaded Suman that his Trezor One hardware wallet and its funds were at risk and walked him through a “security procedure” that involved entering his seed phrase into a website that looked exactly like Coinbase, in order to “link his wallet to Coinbase”.

Nine days later, another guy called and repeated the process, saying the first one didn’t work.

And then, all of Suman’s digital assets — 17.5 bitcoin and 225 ether — were gone. At the time, bitcoin was around $103,000 and ether around $2,500, so the stolen stash was worth over $2 million.

Suman turned to digital assets after retiring from a decades-long art career. He stored his assets in cold storage to avoid the risks of online exchanges. He thought he did everything right.

Suman’s attackers didn’t pick his name out of a hat.

It looks like his personal info may have been leaked in the major breach at Coinbase. The company confirmed on May 15 that some of its customer service reps in India were bribed to access internal systems and steal customer data.

The stolen data included names, phone numbers, email addresses, balances and partial Social Security numbers.

According to Coinbase’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the breach may have started as early as January and affected nearly 1% of the company’s active monthly users — tens of thousands of people.

Hackers demanded $20M from Coinbase to keep the breach quiet but the company refused to pay. Coinbase says it fired the compromised agents and is setting aside $180M to $400M to reimburse affected users.

But so far, Suman hasn’t been told if he’ll be reimbursed.

Since the breach was disclosed, Coinbase has been hit with at least six lawsuits.

The lawsuits claim the company failed to protect user data and handled the aftermath poorly. One lawsuit filed in New York federal court on May 16 says Coinbase’s response was “inadequate, fragmented, and delayed.”

“Users were not promptly or fully informed of the compromise,” the complaint states, “and Coinbase did not immediately take meaningful steps to mitigate further harm.”

Some lawsuits are seeking damages, others are asking Coinbase to purge user data and improve its security. Coinbase has not commented on the lawsuits but pointed reporters to a blog post about its response.

Suman’s case is a cautionary tale across the Bitcoin world. He used a hardware wallet (considered the gold standard of Bitcoin security) and was still tricked through social engineering. Even the strongest security is useless if you don’t understand how Bitcoin works.

It’s never too early for Bitcoiners to start learning more about Bitcoin, especially on how to keep their stash safe. And the first lesson is “never ever share your seed phrase with anyone”.

Related: Bitcoin Hardware Wallet Hacks: What You Need to Know

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

What is KYC/AML?

• The acronym stands for Know Your Customer / Anti Money Laundering.
• In practice it stands for the surveillance measures companies are often compelled to take against their customers by financial regulators.
• Methods differ but often include: Passport Scans, Driver License Uploads, Social Security Numbers, Home Address, Phone Number, Face Scans.
• Bitcoin companies will also store all withdrawal and deposit addresses which can then be used to track bitcoin transactions on the bitcoin block chain.
• This data is then stored and shared. Regulations often require companies to hold this information for a set number of years but in practice users should assume this data will be held indefinitely. Data is often stored insecurely, which results in frequent hacks and leaks.  
• KYC/AML data collection puts all honest users at risk of theft, extortion, and persecution while being ineffective at stopping crime. Criminals often use counterfeit, bought, or stolen credentials to get around the requirements. Criminals can buy "verified" accounts for as little as $200. Furthermore, billions of people are excluded from financial services as a result of KYC/AML requirements.

During the early days of bitcoin most services did not require this sensitive user data, but as adoption increased so did the surveillance measures. At this point, most large bitcoin companies are collecting and storing massive lists of bitcoiners, our sensitive personal information, and our transaction history.

Lists of Bitcoiners

KYC/AML policies are a direct attack on bitcoiners. Lists of bitcoiners and our transaction history will inevitably be used against us.

Once you are on a list with your bitcoin transaction history that record will always exist. Generally speaking, tracking bitcoin is based on probability analysis of ownership change. Surveillance firms use various heuristics to determine if you are sending bitcoin to yourself or if ownership is actually changing hands.  You can obtain better privacy going forward by using collaborative transactions such as coinjoin to break this probability analysis.

Fortunately, you can buy bitcoin without providing intimate personal information. Tools such as peach, hodlhodl, robosats, azteco and bisq help; mining is also a solid option: anyone can plug a miner into power and internet and earn bitcoin by mining privately.

You can also earn bitcoin by providing goods and/or services that can be purchased with bitcoin. Long term, circular economies will mitigate this threat: most people will not buy bitcoin - they will earn bitcoin - most people will not sell bitcoin - they will spend bitcoin.

There is no such thing as KYC or No KYC bitcoin, there are bitcoiners on lists and those that are not on lists.

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If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ c1e6505c:02b3157e

I recently acquired a new lens:

1959 Leica Summaron F2.8 35mm LTM.

1959 Leica Summaron 35mm f2.8 LTM mounted on my Fujifilm Xpro2 with LTM adapter made by Urth.

Technically, it was a trade. I helped a fellow Bitcoiner set up their Sparrow Wallet, Nostr stuff, and troubleshoot a few wallet issues, and in return, they gave me the lens.

It all started at a local Bitcoin meetup I went to about a week ago - my second time attending. I recognized a few faces from last time, but also saw some new ones. These meetups are refreshing - it’s rare to speak a common language about something like Bitcoin or Nostr. Most people still don’t get it. But they will.

Technology moves forward. Networks grow. Old cells die off.

During the meetup, someone noticed I had my Leica M262 with me and struck up a conversation. Said they had some old Leica lenses and gear at home, and wanted to show me.

Bitcoin and photography in one conversation? I’m down.

A day or so later, they sent me a photo of one of the lenses: a vintage Summaron LTM 35mm f/2.8 from 1959. I’d never seen or heard of one before. They asked if I could help them set up Sparrow and a Bitcoin node. In exchange, they’d give me the lens. Sounded like a good deal to me. Helping plebs with their setups feels like a duty anyway. I said, of course.

They invited me over - a pretty trusting move, which I appreciated. They had some great Bitcoin memorabilia: Fred Krueger’s The Big Bitcoin Book (even if the guy’s turned full shitcoiner), and some FTX sunglasses from Bitcoin 2022. Probably future collector’s items, lol.

We headed upstairs to work on setting up Sparrow Wallet on their Windows machine. I verified the software download first (which you should always do), then helped them create a new wallet using their Ledger Flex. They also had an older Ledger Nano X. The Flex setup was easy, but the Nano X gave us trouble. It turns out Ledger allows multiple wallets for the same asset, which can show up differently depending on how they’re configured. In Sparrow, only one wallet showed—none of the others.

I believe it had to do with the derivation path from the Ledger. If anyone knows a fix, let me know.

After a few hours of troubleshooting, I told them I couldn’t really recommend Ledger. The UX is a mess. They’d already heard similar things from other plebs too.

I suggested switching to the Blockstream Jade. It’s a solid Bitcoin-only device from a trustworthy team. That’s what you want in a hardware wallet.

But back to the lens…

Since it’s an LTM (Leica Thread Mount), I couldn’t mount it directly on my M262. Luckily, I remembered I had an Urth adapter that fits my Fujifilm X-Pro2. I don’t use the X-Pro2 much these days—it’s mostly been sidelined by the M262 - but this was the perfect excuse to bring it out again.

To test the lens, I shot everything wide open at f/2.8. Nothing crazy fast, but it’s the best way to see a lens’s character. And this one definitely has character. There’s a subtle softness and a kind of motion blur effect around the edges when wide open. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but the more I shot, the more I liked it. It reminds me of Winogrand’s work in Winogrand Color - those messy, shifting edges that make the frame feel alive. It also helps soften the digital-ness of the camera sensor.

The focus throw is short and snappy - much tighter than my Summicron V3 35mm f/2. I really like how fast it is to use. The closest focusing distance is about 3.5 feet, so it’s not ideal for close-ups. And with the Urth adapter on the X-Pro2, the focal length ends up closer to 40mm.

The only thing that threw me off was the infinity lock. When the focus hits infinity, it physically locks - you have to press a small tab to unlock it. I’ve seen others complain about it, so I guess it’s just one of those old lens quirks. I’m getting used to it.

All the photos here were taken around where I live in South Carolina. Some during bike rides to the river for a swim, others while walking through the marshlands.

I try to make work wherever I am. You should be able to.

It’s about the light, the rhythm, the play - and having the motivation to actually go out and shoot.

Lens rating: 7.9/10

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I mainly shoot with a Leica M262, and edit in Lightroom + Dehancer

Use “PictureRoom” for 10% off Dehancer Film

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for taking the time to view my work - consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Also, please contact me if you would like to purchase any of my prints.

Follow me on Nostr:

npub1c8n9qhqzm2x3kzjm84kmdcvm96ezmn257r5xxphv3gsnjq4nz4lqelne96

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

This article was originally published on aier.org

Even after eleven years experience, and a per Bitcoin price of nearly $20,000, the incredulous are still with us. I understand why. Bitcoin is not like other traditional financial assets.

Even describing it as an asset is misleading. It is not the same as a stock, as a payment system, or a money. It has features of all these but it is not identical to them.

What Bitcoin is depends on its use as a means of storing and porting value, which in turn rests of secure titles to ownership of a scarce good. Those without experience in the sector look at all of this and get frustrated that understanding why it is valuable is not so easy to grasp. 

In this article, I’m updating an analysis I wrote six years ago. It still holds up. For those who don’t want to slog through the entire article, my thesis is that Bitcoin’s value obtains from its underlying technology, which is an open-source ledger that keeps track of ownership rights and permits the transfer of these rights. Bitcoin managed to bundle its unit of account with a payment system that lives on the ledger. That’s its innovation and why it obtained a value and that value continues to rise. 

Consider the criticism offered by traditional gold advocates, who have, for decades, pushed the idea that sound money must be backed by something real, hard, and independently valuable. Bitcoin doesn’t qualify, right? Maybe it does. 

Bitcoin first emerged as a possible competitor to national, government-managed money in 2009. Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper was released October 31, 2008. The structure and language of this paper sent the message: This currency is for computer technicians, not economists nor political pundits. The paper’s circulation was limited; novices who read it were mystified. 

But the lack of interest didn’t stop history from moving forward. Two months later, those who were paying attention saw the emergence of the “Genesis Block,” the first group of bitcoins generated through Nakamoto’s concept of a distributed ledger that lived on any computer node in the world that wanted to host it.

Here we are all these years later and a single bitcoin trades at $18,500. The currency is held and accepted by many thousands of institutions, both online and offline. Its payment system is very popular in poor countries without vast banking infrastructures but also in developed countries. And major institutions—including the Federal Reserve, the OECD, the World Bank, and major investment houses—are paying respectful attention and weaving blockchain technology into their operations.

Enthusiasts, who are found in every country, say that its exchange value will soar even more in the future because its supply is strictly limited and it provides a system vastly superior to government money. Bitcoin is transferred between individuals without a third party. It is relatively low-cost to exchange. It has a predictable supply. It is durable, fungible, and divisible: all crucial features of money. It creates a monetary system that doesn’t depend on trust and identity, much less on central banks and government. It is a new system for the digital age.

Hard lessons for hard money

To those educated in the “hard money” tradition, the whole idea has been a serious challenge. Speaking for myself, I had been reading about bitcoin for two years before I came anywhere close to understanding it. There was just something about the whole idea that bugged me. You can’t make money out of nothing, much less out of computer code. Why does it have value then? There must be something amiss. This is not how we expected money to be reformed.

There’s the problem: our expectations. We should have been paying closer attention to Ludwig von Mises’ theory of money’s origins—not to what we think he wrote, but to what he actually did write. 

In 1912, Mises released The Theory of Money and Credit. It was a huge hit in Europe when it came out in German, and it was translated into English. While covering every aspect of money, his core contribution was in tracing the value and price of money—and not just money itself—to its origins. That is, he explained how money gets its price in terms of the goods and services it obtains. He later called this process the “regression theorem,” and as it turns out, bitcoin satisfies the conditions of the theorem.

Mises’ teacher, Carl Menger, demonstrated that money itself originates from the market—not from the State and not from social contract. It emerges gradually as monetary entrepreneurs seek out an ideal form of commodity for indirect exchange. Instead of merely bartering with each other, people acquire a good not to consume, but to trade. That good becomes money, the most marketable commodity.

But Mises added that the value of money traces backward in time to its value as a bartered commodity. Mises said that this is the only way money can have value.

The theory of the value of money as such can trace back the objective exchange value of money only to that point where it ceases to be the value of money and becomes merely the value of a commodity…. If in this way we continually go farther and farther back we must eventually arrive at a point where we no longer find any component in the objective exchange value of money that arises from valuations based on the function of money as a common medium of exchange; where the value of money is nothing other than the value of an object that is useful in some other way than as money…. Before it was usual to acquire goods in the market, not for personal consumption, but simply in order to exchange them again for the goods that were really wanted, each individual commodity was only accredited with that value given by the subjective valuations based on its direct utility.

Mises’ explanation solved a major problem that had long mystified economists. It is a narrative of conjectural history, and yet it makes perfect sense. Would salt have become money had it otherwise been completely useless? Would beaver pelts have obtained monetary value had they not been useful for clothing? Would silver or gold have had money value if they had no value as commodities first? The answer in all cases of monetary history is clearly no. The initial value of money, before it becomes widely traded as money, originates in its direct utility. It’s an explanation that is demonstrated through historical reconstruction. That’s Mises’ regression theorem.

Bitcoin’s Use Value

At first glance, bitcoin would seem to be an exception. You can’t use a bitcoin for anything other than money. It can’t be worn as jewelry. You can’t make a machine out of it. You can’t eat it or even decorate with it. Its value is only realized as a unit that facilitates indirect exchange. And yet, bitcoin already is money. It’s used every day. You can see the exchanges in real time. It’s not a myth. It’s the real deal.

It might seem like we have to choose. Is Mises wrong? Maybe we have to toss out his whole theory. Or maybe his point was purely historical and doesn’t apply in the future of a digital age. Or maybe his regression theorem is proof that bitcoin is just an empty mania with no staying power, because it can’t be reduced to its value as a useful commodity.

And yet, you don’t have to resort to complicated monetary theory in order to understand the sense of alarm surrounding bitcoin. Many people, as I did, just have a feeling of uneasiness about a money that has no basis in anything physical. Sure, you can print out a bitcoin on a piece of paper, but having a paper with a QR code or a public key is not enough to relieve that sense of unease.

How can we resolve this problem? In my own mind, I toyed with the issue for more than a year. It puzzled me. I wondered if Mises’ insight applied only in a pre-digital age. I followed the speculations online that the value of bitcoin would be zero but for the national currencies into which it is converted. Perhaps the demand for bitcoin overcame the demands of Mises’ scenario because of a desperate need for something other than the dollar.

As time passed—and I read the work of Konrad Graf, Peter Surda, and Daniel Krawisz—finally the resolution came. Bitcoin is both a payment system and a money. The payment system is the source of value, while the accounting unit merely expresses that value in terms of price. The unity of money and payment is its most unusual feature, and the one that most commentators have had trouble wrapping their heads around.

We are all used to thinking of currency as separate from payment systems. This thinking is a reflection of the technological limitations of history. There is the dollar and there are credit cards. There is the euro and there is PayPal. There is the yen and there are wire services. In each case, money transfer relies on third-party service providers. In order to use them, you need to establish what is called a “trust relationship” with them, which is to say that the institution arranging the deal has to believe that you are going to pay.

This wedge between money and payment has always been with us, except for the case of physical proximity.

If I give you a dollar for your pizza slice, there is no third party. But payment systems, third parties, and trust relationships become necessary once you leave geographic proximity. That’s when companies like Visa and institutions like banks become indispensable. They are the application that makes the monetary software do what you want it to do.

The hitch is that

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

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"Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age. Privacy is not secrecy.  A private matter is something one doesn't want the whole world to know, but a secret matter is something one doesn't want anybody to know. Privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world." - Eric Hughes, A Cypherpunk's Manifesto, 1993

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Privacy is essential to freedom. Without privacy, individuals are unable to make choices free from surveillance and control. Lack of privacy leads to loss of autonomy. When individuals are constantly monitored it limits our ability to express ourselves and take risks. Any decisions we make can result in negative repercussions from those who surveil us. Without the freedom to make choices, individuals cannot truly be free.

Freedom is essential to acquiring and preserving wealth. When individuals are not free to make choices, restrictions and limitations prevent us from economic opportunities. If we are somehow able to acquire wealth in such an environment, lack of freedom can result in direct asset seizure by governments or other malicious entities. At scale, when freedom is compromised, it leads to widespread economic stagnation and poverty. Protecting freedom is essential to economic prosperity.

The connection between privacy, freedom, and wealth is critical. Without privacy, individuals lose the freedom to make choices free from surveillance and control. While lack of freedom prevents individuals from pursuing economic opportunities and makes wealth preservation nearly impossible. No Privacy? No Freedom. No Freedom? No Wealth.

Rights are not granted. They are taken and defended. Rights are often misunderstood as permission to do something by those holding power. However, if someone can give you something, they can inherently take it from you at will. People throughout history have necessarily fought for basic rights, including privacy and freedom. These rights were not given by those in power, but rather demanded and won through struggle. Even after these rights are won, they must be continually defended to ensure that they are not taken away. Rights are not granted - they are earned through struggle and defended through sacrifice.

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@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Bank run on every crypto bank then bank run on every "real" bank.

— ODELL (@ODELL) December 14, 2022

Good morning.

It looks like PacWest will fail today. It will be both the fifth largest bank failure in US history and the sixth major bank to fail this year. It will likely get purchased by one of the big four banks in a government orchestrated sale.  

March 8th - Silvergate Bank
March 10th - Silicon Valley Bank
March 12th - Signature Bank
March 19th - Credit Suisse
May 1st - First Republic Bank
May 4th - PacWest Bank?

PacWest is the first of many small regional banks that will go under this year. Most will get bought by the big four in gov orchestrated sales. This has been the playbook since 2008. Follow the incentives. Massive consolidation across the banking industry. PacWest gonna be a drop in the bucket compared to what comes next.

First, a hastened government led bank consolidation, then a public/private partnership with the remaining large banks to launch a surveilled and controlled digital currency network. We will be told it is more convenient. We will be told it is safer. We will be told it will prevent future bank runs. All of that is marketing bullshit. The goal is greater control of money. The ability to choose how we spend it and how we save it. If you control the money - you control the people that use it.

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@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

When Sergei talks about bitcoin, he doesn’t sound like someone chasing profits or followers. He sounds like someone about to build a monastery in the ruins.

While the mainstream world chases headlines and hype, Sergei shows up in local meetups from Sacramento to Cleveland, mentors curious minds, and shares what he knows is true – hoping that, with the right spark, someone will light their own way forward.

We interviewed Sergei to trace his steps: where he started, what keeps him going, and why teaching bitcoin is far more than explaining how to set up a node – it’s about reaching the right minds before the noise consumes them. So we began where most journeys start: at the beginning.

First Steps

• So, where did it all begin for you and what made you stay curious?

I first heard about bitcoin from a friend’s book recommendation, American Kingpin, the book about Silk Road (online drug marketplace). He is still not a true bitcoiner, although I helped him secure private keys with some bitcoin.

I was really busy at the time – focused on my school curriculum, running a 7-bedroom Airbnb, and working for a standardized test prep company. Bitcoin seemed too technical for me to explore, and the pace of my work left no time for it.

After graduating, while pursuing more training, I started playing around with stocks and maximizing my savings. Passive income seemed like the path to early retirement, as per the promise of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early). I mostly followed the mainstream news and my mentor’s advice – he liked preferred stocks at the time.

I had some Coinbase IOUs and remember sending bitcoin within the Coinbase ledger to a couple friends. I also recall the 2018 crash; I actually saw the legendary price spike live but couldn’t benefit because my funds were stuck amidst the frenzy. I withdrew from that investment completely for some time. Thankfully, my mentor advised to keep en eye on bitcoin.

Around late 2019, I started DCA-ing cautiously. Additionally, my friend and I were discussing famous billionaires, and how there was no curriculum for becoming a billionaire. So, I typed “billionaires” into my podcast app, and landed on We Study Billionaires podcast.

That’s where I kept hearing Preston Pysh mention bitcoin, before splitting into his own podcast series, Bitcoin Fundamentals. I didn’t understand most of the terminology of stocks, bonds, etc, yet I kept listening and trying to absorb it thru repetition. Today, I realize all that financial talk was mostly noise.

When people ask me for a technical explanation of fiat, I say: it’s all made up, just like the fiat price of bitcoin! Starting in 2020, during the so-called pandemic, I dove deeper. I religiously read Bitcoin Magazine, scrolled thru Bitcoin Twitter, and joined Simply Bitcoin Telegram group back when DarthCoin was an admin.

DarthCoin was my favorite bitcoiner – experienced, knowledgeable, and unapologetic. Watching him shift from rage to kindness, from passion to despair, gave me a glimpse at what a true educator’s journey would look like.

The struggle isn’t about adoption at scale anymore. It’s about reaching the few who are willing to study, take risks, and stay out of fiat traps. The vast majority won’t follow that example – not yet at least… if I start telling others the requirements for true freedom and prosperity, they would certainly say “Hell no!”

• At what point did you start teaching others, and why?

After college, I helped teach at a standardized test preparation company, and mentored some students one-on-one. I even tried working at a kindergarten briefly, but left quickly; Babysitting is not teaching.

What I discovered is that those who will succeed don’t really need my help – they would succeed with or without me, because they already have the inner drive.

Once you realize your people are perishing for lack of knowledge, the only rational thing to do is help raise their level of knowledge and understanding. That’s the Great Work.

I sometimes imagine myself as a political prisoner. If that were to happen, I’d probably start teaching fellow prisoners, doctors, janitors, even guards. In a way we already live in an open-air prison, So what else is there to do but teach, organize, and conspire to dismantle the Matrix?

Building on Bitcoin

• You hosted some in-person meetups in Sacramento. What did you learn from those?

My first presentation was on MultiSig storage with SeedSigner, and submarine swaps through Boltz.exchange.

I realized quickly that I had overestimated the group’s technical background. Even the meetup organizer, a financial advisor, asked, “How is anyone supposed to follow these steps?” I responded that reading was required… He decided that Unchained is an easier way.

At a crypto meetup, I gave a much simpler talk, outlining how bitcoin will save the world, based on a DarthCoin’s guide. Only one person stuck around to ask questions – a man who seemed a little out there, and did not really seem to get the message beyond the strength of cryptographic security of bitcoin.

Again, I overestimated the audience’s readiness. That forced me to rethink my strategy. People are extremely early and reluctant to study.

• Now in Ohio, you hold sessions via the Orange Pill App. What’s changed?

My new motto is: educate the educators. The corollary is: don’t orange-pill stupid normies (as DarthCoin puts it).

I’ve shifted to small, technical sessions in order to raise a few solid guardians of this esoteric knowledge who really get it and can carry it forward.

The youngest attendee at one of my sessions is a newborn baby – he mostly sleeps, but maybe he still absorbs some of the educational vibes.

• How do local groups like Sactown and Cleveland Bitcoiners influence your work?

Every meetup reflects its local culture. Sacramento and Bay Area Bitcoiners, for example, do camping trips – once we camped through a desert storm, shielding our burgers from sand while others went to shoot guns.

Cleveland Bitcoiners are different. They amass large gatherings. They recently threw a 100k party. They do a bit more community outreach. Some are curious about the esoteric topics such as jurisdiction, spirituality, and healthful living.

I have no permanent allegiance to any state, race, or group. I go where I can teach and learn. I anticipate that in my next phase, I’ll meet Bitcoiners so advanced that I’ll have to give up my fiat job and focus full-time on serious projects where real health and wealth are on the line.

Hopefully, I’ll be ready. I believe the universe always challenges you exactly to your limit – no less, no more.

• What do people struggle with the most when it comes to technical education?

The biggest struggle isn’t technical – it’s a lack of deep curiosity. People ask “how” and “what” – how do I set up a node, what should one do with the lightning channels? But very few ask “why?”

Why does on-chain bitcoin not contribute to the circular economy? Why is it essential to run Lightning? Why did humanity fall into mental enslavement in the first place?

I’d rather teach two-year-olds who constantly ask “why” than adults who ask how to flip a profit. What worries me most is that most two-year-olds will grow up asking state-funded AI bots for answers and live according to its recommendations.

• One Cleveland Bitcoiner shows up at gold bug meetups. How valuable is face-to-face education?

I don’t think the older generation is going to reverse the current human condition. Most of them have been under mind control for too long, and they just don’t have the attention span to study and change their ways.

They’re better off stacking gold and helping fund their grandkids’ education. If I were to focus on a demographic, I’d go for teenagers – high school age – because by college, the indoctrination is usually too strong, and they’re chasing fiat mastery.

As for the gold bug meetup? Perhaps one day I will show up with a ukulele to sing some bitcoin-themed songs. Seniors love such entertainment.

• How do you choose what to focus on in your sessions, especially for different types of learners?

I don’t come in with a rigid agenda. I’ve collected a massive library of resources over the years and never stopped reading. My browser tab and folder count are exploding.

At the meetup, people share questions or topics they’re curious about, then I take that home, do my homework, and bring back a session based on those themes. I give them the key takeaways, plus where to dive deeper.

Most people won’t – or can’t – study the way I do, and I expect attendees to put in the work. I suspect that it’s more important to reach those who want to learn but don’t know how, the so-called nescient (not knowing), rather than the ignorant.

There are way too many ignorant bitcoiners, so my mission is to find those who are curious what’s beyond the facade of fake reality and superficial promises.

That naturally means that fewer people show up, and that’s fine. I’m not here for the crowds; I’m here to educate the educators. One bitcoiner who came decided to branch off into self-custody sessions and that’s awesome. Personally, I’m much more focused on Lightning.

I want to see broader adoption of tools like auth, sign-message, NWC, and LSPs. Next month, I’m going deep into eCash solutions, because let’s face it – most newcomers won’t be able to afford their own UTXO or open a lightning channel; additionally, it has to be fun and easy for them to transact sats, otherwise they won’t do it. Additionally, they’ll need to rely on

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• RoboSats v0.7.7-alpha is now available!

NOTE: "This version of clients is not compatible with older versions of coordinators. Coordinators must upgrade first, make sure you don't upgrade your client while this is marked as pre-release."

• This version brings a new and improved coordinators view with reviews signed both by the robot and the coordinator, adds market price sources in coordinator profiles, shows a correct warning for canceling non-taken orders after a payment attempt, adds Uzbek sum currency, and includes package library updates for coordinators.

Source: RoboSats.

• siggy47 is writing daily RoboSats activity reviews on stacker.news. Check them out here.
• Stay up-to-date with RoboSats on Nostr.

What's new

• New coordinators view (see the picture above).
• Available coordinator reviews signed by both the robot and the coordinator.
• Coordinators now display market price sources in their profiles.

Source: RoboSats.

• Fix for wrong message on cancel button when taking an order. Users are now warned if they try to cancel a non taken order after a payment attempt.
• Uzbek sum currency now available.
• For coordinators: library updates.
• Add docker frontend (#1861).
• Add order review token (#1869).
• Add UZS migration (#1875).
• Fixed tests review (#1878).
• Nostr pubkey for Robot (#1887).

New contributors

• @hexlorn made their first contribution in #1858.
• @umk0m1qk made their first contribution in #1864.

Full Changelog: v0.7.6-alpha...v0.7.7-alpha

GitHub Repo

@ 005bc4de:ef11e1a2

BIP-2,100,000,000,000,000,000

So, you're telling me...

• 21 million bitcoins is out, and...
• 2.1 quadrillion sats is in, except that...
• sats are out, so...
• 2.1 quadrillion bitcoins is in, except that...
• there are actually millisats, but...
• millisats are out, so...
• millibitcoins are in, so now...
• there are 2.1 quintillion millibitcoins, except that...
• millibitcoins are the basic base unit of bitcoin, so...
• millibitcoins are out, and now...
• 2.1 quintillion bitcoins are in

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

People forget Bear Stearns failed March 2008 - months of denial followed before the public realized how bad the situation was under the surface.

Similar happening now but much larger scale. They did not fix fundamental issues after 2008 - everything is more fragile.

The Fed preemptively bailed out every bank with their BTFP program and First Republic Bank still failed. The second largest bank failure in history.

There will be more failures. There will be more bailouts. Depositors will be "protected" by socializing losses across everyone.

Our President and mainstream financial pundits are currently pretending the banking crisis is over while most banks remain insolvent. There are going to be many more bank failures as this ponzi system unravels.

Unlike 2008, we have the ability to opt out of these broken and corrupt institutions by using bitcoin. Bitcoin held in self custody is unique in its lack of counterparty risk - you do not have to trust a bank or other centralized entity to hold it for you. Bitcoin is also incredibly difficult to change by design since it is not controlled by an individual, company, or government - the supply of dollars will inevitably be inflated to bailout these failing banks but bitcoin supply will remain unchanged. I do not need to convince you that bitcoin provides value - these next few years will convince millions.

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@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Block Announces Bitcoin Business Stack, Makes Historic Lightning Payments Push at Bitcoin 2025 

Bitcoin isn’t just something to hold anymore—it’s something to live on. That was the core message delivered by Miles Suter, Bitcoin Product Lead at Block Inc., during his keynote at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference today. Standing at the intersection of innovation and ideology, Suter laid out a vision where Bitcoin isn’t just a store of value—but the internet’s native currency.

“Bitcoin is at a crossroads—on one hand it’s never been stronger: a trillion in market cap, millions of holders, and even talk of nation-state adoption,” Suter said. “We use Bitcoin to hold, to hedge, to opt out, but we rarely use it to live. At Block Inc., we believe that has to change.”

Suter officially announced that Block is rolling out Bitcoin payment capability for merchants using Square POS, allowing them to accept bitcoin directly in-store. The move comes as part of a broader initiative Block calls the full bitcoin for business stack—covering acquiring, managing, reporting, accounting, converting, lending, and taxes. 

“This is what makes Bitcoin an everyday currency for everyone,” he emphasized. “We believe hard-working entrepreneurs deserve access to the full power of bitcoin.” 

To prove the vision in action, Block helped power a Guinness World Record attempt for the most Lightning payments in a day, hosted live at the conference. The goal: prove that Lightning payments aren’t just functional—they’re scalable, fast, and real.

Block’s commitment isn’t new. In 2020, the company put bitcoin on its balance sheet. In 2021, it co-founded the Bitcoin Clean Energy Initiative to fight the “boiling oceans” narrative. In 2022, Cash App became one of the first major platforms on Lightning. In 2023, it launched on-chain payments with Square. And in 2024, it helped defeat Craig Wright in court, “standing up for Satoshi.”

“These aren’t just headlines—they’re a pattern,” Suter said. “We’ve made it more accessible, more secure. Now we’re focused on making it usable every day.”

Cash App already ranks among the top bitcoin on-ramps in the U.S., accounting for nearly 10% of on-chain block space at any time. In 2024, Lightning usage grew 7x. “Block runs one of the top Lightning nodes globally. And here’s what’s wild—it’s working,” he said. 

Block is now taking 10% of all profits from Bitcoin and adding it back to its balance sheet, and over 1,700 merchants are automatically converting part of their daily sales to Bitcoin.

“If Bitcoin just becomes digital gold, we failed the mission,” Suter said. “Bitcoin payments validate Bitcoin. They make it real. Bitcoin is money.” 

This post Block Announces Bitcoin Business Stack, Makes Historic Lightning Payments Push at Bitcoin 2025  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

What is KYC/AML?

• The acronym stands for Know Your Customer / Anti Money Laundering.
• In practice it stands for the surveillance measures companies are often compelled to take against their customers by financial regulators.
• Methods differ but often include: Passport Scans, Driver License Uploads, Social Security Numbers, Home Address, Phone Number, Face Scans.
• Bitcoin companies will also store all withdrawal and deposit addresses which can then be used to track bitcoin transactions on the bitcoin block chain.
• This data is then stored and shared. Regulations often require companies to hold this information for a set number of years but in practice users should assume this data will be held indefinitely. Data is often stored insecurely, which results in frequent hacks and leaks.  
• KYC/AML data collection puts all honest users at risk of theft, extortion, and persecution while being ineffective at stopping crime. Criminals often use counterfeit, bought, or stolen credentials to get around the requirements. Criminals can buy "verified" accounts for as little as $200. Furthermore, billions of people are excluded from financial services as a result of KYC/AML requirements.

During the early days of bitcoin most services did not require this sensitive user data, but as adoption increased so did the surveillance measures. At this point, most large bitcoin companies are collecting and storing massive lists of bitcoiners, our sensitive personal information, and our transaction history.

Lists of Bitcoiners

KYC/AML policies are a direct attack on bitcoiners. Lists of bitcoiners and our transaction history will inevitably be used against us.

Once you are on a list with your bitcoin transaction history that record will always exist. Generally speaking, tracking bitcoin is based on probability analysis of ownership change. Surveillance firms use various heuristics to determine if you are sending bitcoin to yourself or if ownership is actually changing hands.  You can obtain better privacy going forward by using collaborative transactions such as coinjoin to break this probability analysis.

Fortunately, you can buy bitcoin without providing intimate personal information. Tools such as peach, hodlhodl, robosats, azteco and bisq help; mining is also a solid option: anyone can plug a miner into power and internet and earn bitcoin by mining privately.

You can also earn bitcoin by providing goods and/or services that can be purchased with bitcoin. Long term, circular economies will mitigate this threat: most people will not buy bitcoin - they will earn bitcoin - most people will not sell bitcoin - they will spend bitcoin.

There is no such thing as KYC or No KYC bitcoin, there are bitcoiners on lists and those that are not on lists.

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@ 866e0139:6a9334e5

Autor: Anna Nagel. (Bild: Lukas Karl). Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben. Sie finden alle Texte der Friedenstaube und weitere Texte zum Thema Frieden hier. Die neuesten Pareto-Artikel finden Sie auch in unserem Telegram-Kanal.

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Die neuesten Artikel der Friedenstaube gibt es jetzt auch im eigenen Friedenstaube-Telegram-Kanal.

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Wem in seinem Leben Schmerz zugefügt wurde, wer sich ungerecht behandelt fühlt oder wachen Auges in der Welt umschaut, kommt wahrscheinlich irgendwann mit der Frage in Berührung, wie das alles noch einmal «gut» werden kann. Wie kann die Welt sich mit sich selbst versöhnen? Und wie kann ich es selbst schaffen, mich mit ihr und den Menschen, die schlimme Taten vollbringen, wieder in harmonischer Akzeptanz zu verbinden? Kann und will ich gewisse Gräueltaten verzeihen oder gibt es das «Unverzeihliche»? Und selbst wenn ich wollte, wie könnte mir das gelingen?

Perspektivwechsel

Wenn wir an dem Zorn über begangenes Unrecht festhalten, schauen wir in der Regel aus immer derselben Perspektive auf das Geschehen. Mal um Mal erzürnen und empören wir uns darüber, erzählen uns und anderen stets die gleiche Geschichte, die uns allerdings – ebenfalls ein ums andere Mal – wieder selbst verletzt. Das Destruktive holt uns so ständig wieder ein; wir sehen und fühlen das unschuldige Kind und empfinden Verachtung für die Täter.

Die Perspektive zu wechseln lädt uns dazu ein, das Geschehen aus anderen Blickwinkeln zu betrachten und unser Bewusstsein von der schmerzlichen Wiederholung zu lösen. Wir können einmal weit rauszoomen und einen spirituellen Blickwinkel einnehmen, beispielsweise aus Sicht des All-ein-Bewusstseins, das sich in unzählige Seelen teilt, von denen wiederum Milliarden derzeit auf der Erde inkarniert sind. Dieses eine Bewusstsein möchte jede auch nur mögliche Erfahrung machen und durch die Trennung – die Erschaffung der Dualität – kann es sich selbst aus diesen Milliarden Persönlichkeiten heraus erfahren, um zu lernen. Während dieser scheinbaren Trennung vergessen wir, dass wir alle eins sind, dass wir alle aus demselben «Stoff» gemacht sind und nach diesem Spiel hier auf Erden unsere Erinnerung zurückerlangen und unsere Erfahrungen zurück geben in die eine «Quelle».

Unser aller Reise geht letztlich darum, hier auf der Erde aus diesem Zustand des Vergessens zu erwachen. Um dies zu erreichen und all diese Erfahrungen machen zu können und uns auch unter widrigsten Umständen an unsere wahre Essenz, an die Liebe, erinnern können, braucht es auch Akteure, die die Dunkelheit verkörpern – denn nur so haben wir die Wahl, ob wir uns von ihr einnehmen lassen oder uns für die Liebe und das Mitgefühl entscheiden. Der Täter sowie das Opfer sind dabei stets Aspekte unserer selbst – im Innen wie im Außen – und jeder einzelne verändert die Welt, indem er Liebe und Mitgefühl oder Hass und Verachtung wählt.

Eine etwas rationalere Herangehensweise wäre, zu schauen, was dazu führt, dass ein Mensch sich derart unmenschlich verhalten kann; also der Zugang über die Psychologie. Hier werden wir uns bewusst, dass jeder Täter auch einmal ein Kind war. Symbolisch sogar das Kind, mit dem wir jetzt im Beispiel mitfühlen und das wir gleichzeitig heute als erwachsenen Täter verachten. Natürlich kann man hier einwenden, dass nicht jedes Opfer zum Täter wird, aber man kann ebenso anerkennen, dass uns bei dieser Haltung das größte Stück fehlt; und zwar die Geschichte desjenigen, die Jahre dazwischen, sowie jeder einzelne Reiz und jedes Detail der Umstände.

Wie viel Schmerz und Leid muss ein Mensch erfahren, bis er unmenschlich wird? Mit Einbezug aller Umstände und Faktoren, der psychischen Schutzmechanismen traumatischer Erfahrungen sowie fehlender Ausbildung sozialer und empathischer Fähigkeiten auch im neuronalen Bereich kann man auch auf diesem Wege Verständnis erlangen. Sichtbar wird hierdurch auch, dass emotionaler Schmerz über Generationen weitergegeben wird und es schwer ersichtlich ist, wo denn die eigentliche Ursache liegt. Auch hier wird erkennbar, dass nur jeder bei sich anfangen kann und Verantwortung für seine Heilung – und damit gleichzeitig die anderer – übernehmen müsste, anstatt auf die Suche nach dem oder der «Schuldigen» zu gehen.

Was bedarf eigentlich der Vergebung?

Wenn es uns schwerfällt zu vergeben, also Groll und Verachtung loszulassen und Mitgefühl zu empfinden, ist es ebenfalls hilfreich, einmal hinzuschauen, worum es genau geht. Wenn es uns selbst betrifft, handelt es sich in der Regel um Schmerz, der uns willentlich, manchmal auch unbewusst, zugefügt wurde und den wir (noch) nicht loslassen können, weil er noch nicht verheilt ist. Darauf gehe ich später noch einmal ein. Oft geht es aber auch um uns unbekannte Menschen, von deren Verbrechen wir Kenntnis haben und deren Ungeheuerlichkeit uns aus der Fassung bringt. Es geht um Taten, die wir nicht nachvollziehen können, weder rational noch emotional. Wir meinen, selbst wenn jemand nicht spürte, was er anderen antut, so müsse er es doch wenigstens besser wissen. Das ist das, was uns Menschen ausmacht, mit anderen mitzufühlen und sie zu verstehen. Doch anscheinend gibt es Menschen, deren Persönlichkeit oder auch Psyche dazu absolut nicht in der Lage sind. Die keinen moralischen Kompass besitzen und keinerlei soziales Empfinden, denn sonst könnten sie bestimmte Taten nicht ausführen. Möglicherweise dissoziieren sie sich selbst so stark, dass diese für sie eine Normalität darstellen, sie diese entschuldigen beziehungsweise vor sich selbst rechtfertigen oder im extremen Fall keine Erinnerung mehr daran haben.

Uns erscheinen die fehlende Empathie sowie das fehlende Verständnis so fremd, dass wir es nicht nachvollziehen können. Uns fehlt die Nachvollziehbarkeit der Nichtnachvollziehbarkeit des Erlebens des anderen, und wir erachten diesen dadurch als unmenschlich. Denn menschlich wären doch eben diese Fähigkeiten wie Mitgefühl, Güte, Reflexion, Warmherzigkeit, Verständnis und Liebe. Zugleich erzeugen wir hier aber einen Konflikt, wenn wir sagen: «Da diese Menschen sich so unmenschlich verhalten, soll ihnen kein Mitgefühl und keine Vergebung entgegengebracht werden, sollen auch sie nicht menschlich behandelt werden», wodurch wir uns allerdings selbst unserer Menschlichkeit berauben.

«Aber der Täter hatte doch die freie Wahl, er hätte doch anders entscheiden können!» Ja, möglicherweise schon, aber jetzt haben wir die Wahl. Und wir haben viel leichtere Voraussetzungen dafür, menschlich zu handeln, weil wir gesunden Zugang zu unserer Empathie, Moral und unserer Ratio haben.

Hätte der Täter es geschafft, seinen Tätern zu verzeihen, würde er die Destruktivität, die er ab einem gewissen Zeitpunkt nicht mehr in sich tragen oder verdrängen konnte, nicht an anderen ausagieren. Es ist ihm nicht gelungen, vielleicht sogar weil etwas in ihm es für unmöglich hielt, Unmenschliches, das ihm zugefügt wurde, zu verzeihen. Aber uns kann es gelingen, diesen Kreislauf zu durchbrechen und uns nicht in ihn hineinziehen zu lassen; wir können dem «Dunklen» den Nährboden entziehen.

Manchmal nehmen wir an, würden wir das Unbeschreibliche verzeihen, bedeutete dies, dass wir es tolerieren oder gar gutheißen. Dem ist nicht so. Analog dazu habe ich manches Mal die Angst gehabt, würde ich aufhören, um meinen Freund zu trauern, bedeute dies, dass ich ihn nicht mehr vermisse. Auch das ist nicht richtig. Ich heile lediglich das, was mir Schmerzen zufügt, bis am Ende nur noch die Liebe bleibt. Und wenn wir verzeihen, ist es kein Gutheißen der Taten, es bedeutet ein Loslassen dessen, was uns damit verstrickt und das Destruktive nährt.

Mitgefühl beginnt bei uns selbst

«Daß ich dem Hungrigen zu essen gebe, dem vergebe, der mich beleidigt, und meinen Feind liebe- das sind große Tugenden. Was aber, wenn ich nun entdecken sollte, daß der armselige Bettler und der unverschämteste Beleidiger alle in mir selber sind und ich bedürftig bin, Empfänger meiner eigenen Wohltaten zu sein? Daß ich der Feind bin, den ich lieben muß - was dann?» – C. G. Jung

Mit diesem Zitat beginnt Dan Millman das Kapitel «Das Gesetz des Mitgefühls» in seinem Buch «Die universellen Lebensgesetze des friedvollen Kriegers». Die weise Frau lehrt dem Wanderer das Gesetz des Mitgefühls und erklärt, es sei «eine liebevolle Aufforderung, über unsere begrenzte Sichtweise hinauszuwachsen», auch wenn die Last dieser Aufgabe zuweilen sehr schwer wiegen könne. Genau deshalb müsse man daran denken, dass sie bei uns selbst beginnt und wir «geduldig» und «sanft» mit uns, unseren Gefühlen und Gedanken sein sollten.

Um dem – noch skeptischen – Wanderer zu veranschaulichen, wie wir Mitgefühl auch mit unseren Gegnern empfinden können, bat sie ihn, sich an eine Auseinandersetzung zu erinnern, in der er zornig, neidisch oder eifersüchtig war und sich diese Gefühle noch einmal zu vergegenwärtigen. Als er das tat, den Schmerz und die Wut wieder spürte, sagte sie zu ihm: «Und nun stell dir vor, daß der Mensch, mit dem du dich streitest, mitten in eurer erregten Auseinandersetzung plötzlich nach seinem Herzen faßt, einen Schrei ausstößt und zu deinen Füßen tot zu Boden sinkt.» Der Wanderer erschrak und auf Nachfrage der weisen Frau stellte er fest, dass er nun keinerlei Schmerz oder Wut mehr empfand. Sogleich aber kam ihm der Gedanke: «Aber – aber was wäre, wenn ich mich über den Tod dieses Menschen freuen würde? Wenn ich ihm nicht verzeihen könnte?», worauf die weise Frau antwortete: «Dann verzeih dir wenigstens selber deine Unversöhnlichkeit. Und in dieser Vergebung wirst du das Mitgefühl finden, das deinen Schmerz heilt, als Mensch in dieser Welt zu leben.»

Weiter erinnert uns die weise Frau daran, dass wir alle, während wir hier auf der Erde sind, Träume, Hoffnungen und Enttäuschungen haben; und dass diese, sowie letztlich der Tod, uns alle verbinden.

Es ist ein Prozess

Dan Millman sagt hier in Gestalt der Weisen Frau, dass Mitgefühl bei uns selbst beginnt und diesen Aspekt möchte ich noch einmal hervorheben. Es kann nämlich passieren, dass wir uns in einer oberflächlichen Vergebung wieder finden, weil wir meinen, es sei richtig und moralisch, anderen zu verzeihen, ohne aber die tieferen Schichten dabei zu fühlen. Das ist dann leider nichts anderes, als Verdrängung. Gerade wenn wir selbst Opfer von Ungerechtigkeit, physischer oder mentaler Gewalt wurden, ist es unerlässlich den Heilungsweg in Gänze zu durchschreiten, und in den Wachstumsprozess zu verwandeln, der uns Mitgefühl und Weisheit lehrt. Und dazu gehören die Wut auf das Begangene, die Verzweiflung, die Ungerechtigkeit und Ohnmacht zu fühlen, uns auf «unsere Seite» zu stellen und Partei für uns selbst zu ergreifen, bevor es ernstlich möglich wird, zu verzeihen. Zunächst fühlen wir mit uns selbst den Schmerz und befreien die Gefühle, die wir uns möglicherweise nie trauten zu fühlen, all die Wut und den Groll. Erst später kann dann aus dem Inneren heraus das weitere Erkennen stattfinden und Heilung und Vergebung geschehen.

Vergebung findet im Herzen statt

Die hier in diesem Text von mir aufgeführten Perspektiven sind nur zwei, drei kleine Beispiele für Sichtweisen, die man einnehmen könnte, um zu neuen Einsichten zu gelangen. Sie sollen niemanden von irgendetwas überzeugen, sondern als Anregung dienen. Denn letztlich geht es darum, Vergebung in sich selbst zu finden. Vergebung ist also etwas, das aus dem Inneren heraus entsteht; ein Ergebnis eines tiefen Verständnisses und Fühlens, ja eines Erkennens. Auf dieser Reise gehen wir unterschiedliche Blickwinkel und Versionen ab, bis wir im Herzen ankommen, es sich öffnet und wir plötzlich «klar» sehen. Daraufhin breitet sich Wärme im Körper aus, Liebe durchströmt uns, begleitet möglicherweise von einem Gefühl leiser Euphorie, möglicherweise auch einem leichten Schmerz und Tränen – sowohl ein paar der Traurigkeit als auch welchen der Dankbarkeit. Das Loslassen und die Befreiung sind spürbar und nur für jeden persönlich erfahrbar, der sich auf diesen Weg begibt und seine individuelle Ansicht findet, die ihn befreit und erlöst.

Meiner Meinung nach bedeutet also Vergebung eine Öffnung des Herzens, ein Erkennen und ein Hineinwachsen in die Perspektive der Liebe. Sie ist nicht auf rationaler Ebene zu finden; die rationale Ebene kann nur dabei helfen, den Weg zum Mitgefühl zu beschreiten, denn:

«Man sieht nur mit dem Herzen gut. Das Wesentliche ist für die Augen unsichtbar.»

– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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Anna Nagel veröffentlicht auf ihrem Blog „Heimwärts“ seit Jahren zu den Themen Heilung, Bewusstsein, kollektives Erwachen, Gefühle, Spiritualität, Psyche, Kundalini und Philosophie.

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@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Bank run on every crypto bank then bank run on every "real" bank.

— ODELL (@ODELL) December 14, 2022

Good morning.

It looks like PacWest will fail today. It will be both the fifth largest bank failure in US history and the sixth major bank to fail this year. It will likely get purchased by one of the big four banks in a government orchestrated sale.  

March 8th - Silvergate Bank
March 10th - Silicon Valley Bank
March 12th - Signature Bank
March 19th - Credit Suisse
May 1st - First Republic Bank
May 4th - PacWest Bank?

PacWest is the first of many small regional banks that will go under this year. Most will get bought by the big four in gov orchestrated sales. This has been the playbook since 2008. Follow the incentives. Massive consolidation across the banking industry. PacWest gonna be a drop in the bucket compared to what comes next.

First, a hastened government led bank consolidation, then a public/private partnership with the remaining large banks to launch a surveilled and controlled digital currency network. We will be told it is more convenient. We will be told it is safer. We will be told it will prevent future bank runs. All of that is marketing bullshit. The goal is greater control of money. The ability to choose how we spend it and how we save it. If you control the money - you control the people that use it.

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If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Bank run on every crypto bank then bank run on every "real" bank.

— ODELL (@ODELL) December 14, 2022

The four main banks of bitcoin and “crypto” are Signature, Prime Trust, Silvergate, and Silicon Valley Bank. Prime Trust does not custody funds themselves but rather maintains deposit accounts at BMO Harris Bank, Cross River, Lexicon Bank, MVB Bank, and Signature Bank. Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank have already stopped withdrawals. More banks will go down before the chaos stops. None of them have sufficient reserves to meet withdrawals.

Bitcoin gives us all the ability to opt out of a system that has massive layers of counterparty risk built in, years of cheap money and broken incentives have layered risk on top of risk throughout the entire global economy. If you thought the FTX bank run was painful to watch, I have bad news for you: every major bank in the world is fractional reserve. Bitcoin held in self custody is unique in its lack of counterparty risk, as global market chaos unwinds this will become much more obvious.

The rules of bitcoin are extremely hard to change by design. Anyone can access the network directly without a trusted third party by using their own node. Owning more bitcoin does not give you more control over the network with all participants on equal footing.

Bitcoin is:
- money that is not controlled by a company or government
- money that can be spent or saved without permission
- money that is provably scarce and should increase in purchasing power with adoption

Bitcoin is money without trust. Whether you are a nation state, corporation, or an individual, you can use bitcoin to spend or save without permission. Social media will accelerate the already deteriorating trust in our institutions and as this trust continues to crumble the value of trust minimized money will become obvious. As adoption increases so should the purchasing power of bitcoin.

A quick note on "stablecoins," such as USDC - it is important to remember that they rely on trusted custodians. They have the same risk as funds held directly in bank accounts with additional counterparty risk on top. The trusted custodians can be pressured by gov, exit scam, or caught up in fraud. Funds can and will be frozen at will. This is a distinctly different trust model than bitcoin, which is a native bearer token that does not rely on any centralized entity or custodian.

Most bitcoin exchanges have exposure to these failing banks. Expect more chaos and confusion as this all unwinds. Withdraw any bitcoin to your own wallet ASAP.

Simple Self Custody Guide: https://werunbtc.com/muun
More Secure Cold Storage Guide: https://werunbtc.com/coldcard

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If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

The former seems to have found solid product market fit. Expect significant volume, adoption, and usage going forward.

The latter's future remains to be seen. Dependence on Tor, which has had massive reliability issues, and lack of strong privacy guarantees put it at risk.

— ODELL (@ODELL) October 27, 2022

The Basics

• Lightning is a protocol that enables cheap and fast native bitcoin transactions.
• At the core of the protocol is the ability for bitcoin users to create a payment channel with another user.
• These payment channels enable users to make many bitcoin transactions between each other with only two on-chain bitcoin transactions: the channel open transaction and the channel close transaction.
• Essentially lightning is a protocol for interoperable batched bitcoin transactions.
• It is expected that on chain bitcoin transaction fees will increase with adoption and the ability to easily batch transactions will save users significant money.
• As these lightning transactions are processed, liquidity flows from one side of a channel to the other side, on chain transactions are signed by both parties but not broadcasted to update this balance.
• Lightning is designed to be trust minimized, either party in a payment channel can close the channel at any time and their bitcoin will be settled on chain without trusting the other party.

There is no 'Lightning Network'

• Many people refer to the aggregate of all lightning channels as 'The Lightning Network' but this is a false premise.
• There are many lightning channels between many different users and funds can flow across interconnected channels as long as there is a route through peers.
• If a lightning transaction requires multiple hops it will flow through multiple interconnected channels, adjusting the balance of all channels along the route, and paying lightning transaction fees that are set by each node on the route.

Example: You have a channel with Bob. Bob has a channel with Charlie. You can pay Charlie through your channel with Bob and Bob's channel with User C.

• As a result, it is not guaranteed that every lightning user can pay every other lightning user, they must have a route of interconnected channels between sender and receiver.

Lightning in Practice

• Lightning has already found product market fit and usage as an interconnected payment protocol between large professional custodians.
• They are able to easily manage channels and liquidity between each other without trust using this interoperable protocol.
• Lightning payments between large custodians are fast and easy. End users do not have to run their own node or manage their channels and liquidity. These payments rarely fail due to professional management of custodial nodes.
• The tradeoff is one inherent to custodians and other trusted third parties. Custodial wallets can steal funds and compromise user privacy.

Sovereign Lightning

• Trusted third parties are security holes.
• Users must run their own node and manage their own channels in order to use lightning without trusting a third party. This remains the single largest friction point for sovereign lightning usage: the mental burden of actively running a lightning node and associated liquidity management.
• Bitcoin development prioritizes node accessibility so cost to self host your own node is low but if a node is run at home or office, Tor or a VPN is recommended to mask your IP address: otherwise it is visible to the entire network and represents a privacy risk.
• This privacy risk is heightened due to the potential for certain governments to go after sovereign lightning users and compel them to shutdown their nodes. If their IP Address is exposed they are easier to target.
• Fortunately the tools to run and manage nodes continue to get easier but it is important to understand that this will always be a friction point when compared to custodial services.

The Potential Fracture of Lightning

• Any lightning user can choose which users are allowed to open channels with them.
• One potential is that professional custodians only peer with other professional custodians.
• We already see nodes like those run by CashApp only have channels open with other regulated counterparties. This could be due to performance goals, liability reduction, or regulatory pressure.

• Fortunately some of their peers are connected to non-regulated parties so payments to and from sovereign lightning users are still successfully processed by CashApp but this may not always be the case going forward.

Summary

• Many people refer to the aggregate of all lightning channels as 'The Lightning Network' but this is a false premise. There is no singular 'Lightning Network' but rather many payment channels between distinct peers, some connected with each other and some not.
• Lightning as an interoperable payment protocol between professional custodians seems to have found solid product market fit. Expect significant volume, adoption, and usage going forward.
• Lightning as a robust sovereign payment protocol has yet to be battle tested. Heavy reliance on Tor, which has had massive reliability issues, the friction of active liquidity management, significant on chain fee burden for small amounts, interactivity constraints on mobile, and lack of strong privacy guarantees put it at risk.

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If you have never used lightning before, use this guide to get started on your phone.

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If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ d360efec:14907b5f

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

The new website is finally live! I put in a lot of hard work over the past months on it. I'm proud to say that it's out now and it looks pretty cool, at least to me!

Why rewrite it all?

The old kycnot.me site was built using Python with Flask about two years ago. Since then, I've gained a lot more experience with Golang and coding in general. Trying to update that old codebase, which had a lot of design flaws, would have been a bad idea. It would have been like building on an unstable foundation.

That's why I made the decision to rewrite the entire application. Initially, I chose to use SvelteKit with JavaScript. I did manage to create a stable site that looked similar to the new one, but it required Jav aScript to work. As I kept coding, I started feeling like I was repeating "the Python mistake". I was writing the app in a language I wasn't very familiar with (just like when I was learning Python at that mom ent), and I wasn't happy with the code. It felt like spaghetti code all the time.

So, I made a complete U-turn and started over, this time using Golang. While I'm not as proficient in Golang as I am in Python now, I find it to be a very enjoyable language to code with. Most aof my recent pr ojects have been written in Golang, and I'm getting the hang of it. I tried to make the best decisions I could and structure the code as well as possible. Of course, there's still room for improvement, which I'll address in future updates.

Now I have a more maintainable website that can scale much better. It uses a real database instead of a JSON file like the old site, and I can add many more features. Since I chose to go with Golang, I mad e the "tradeoff" of not using JavaScript at all, so all the rendering load falls on the server. But I believe it's a tradeoff that's worth it.

What's new

• UI/UX - I've designed a new logo and color palette for kycnot.me. I think it looks pretty cool and cypherpunk. I am not a graphic designer, but I think I did a decent work and I put a lot of thinking on it to make it pleasant!
• Point system - The new point system provides more detailed information about the listings, and can be expanded to cover additional features across all services. Anyone can request a new point!
• ToS Scrapper: I've implemented a powerful automated terms-of-service scrapper that collects all the ToS pages from the listings. It saves you from the hassle of reading the ToS by listing the lines that are suspiciously related to KYC/AML practices. This is still in development and it will improve for sure, but it works pretty fine right now!
• Search bar - The new search bar allows you to easily filter services. It performs a full-text search on the Title, Description, Category, and Tags of all the services. Looking for VPN services? Just search for "vpn"!
• Transparency - To be more transparent, all discussions about services now take place publicly on GitLab. I won't be answering any e-mails (an auto-reply will prompt to write to the corresponding Gitlab issue). This ensures that all service-related matters are publicly accessible and recorded. Additionally, there's a real-time audits page that displays database changes.
• Listing Requests - I have upgraded the request system. The new form allows you to directly request services or points without any extra steps. In the future, I plan to enable requests for specific changes to parts of the website.
• Lightweight and fast - The new site is lighter and faster than its predecessor!
• Tor and I2P - At last! kycnot.me is now officially on Tor and I2P!

How?

This rewrite has been a labor of love, in the end, I've been working on this for more than 3 months now. I don't have a team, so I work by myself on my free time, but I find great joy in helping people on their private journey with cryptocurrencies. Making it easier for individuals to use cryptocurrencies without KYC is a goal I am proud of!

If you appreciate my work, you can support me through the methods listed here. Alternatively, feel free to send me an email with a kind message!

Technical details

All the code is written in Golang, the website makes use of the chi router for the routing part. I also make use of BigCache for caching database requests. There is 0 JavaScript, so all the rendering load falls on the server, this means it needed to be efficient enough to not drawn with a few users since the old site was reporting about 2M requests per month on average (note that this are not unique users).

The database is running with mariadb, using gorm as the ORM. This is more than enough for this project. I started working with an sqlite database, but I ended up migrating to mariadb since it works better with JSON.

The scraper is using chromedp combined with a series of keywords, regex and other logic. It runs every 24h and scraps all the services. You can find the scraper code here.

The frontend is written using Golang Templates for the HTML, and TailwindCSS plus DaisyUI for the CSS classes framework. I also use some plain CSS, but it's minimal.

The requests forms is the only part of the project that requires JavaScript to be enabled. It is needed for parsing some from fields that are a bit complex and for the "captcha", which is a simple Proof of Work that runs on your browser, destinated to avoid spam. For this, I use mCaptcha.

@ 58537364:705b4b85

ถ้าอยากแล้วไม่หลง มันก็อยากด้วยปัญญา ความอยากอย่างนี้ท่านเรียกว่า เป็นบารมีของตน แต่ไม่ใช่ทุกคนนะที่มีปัญญา

บางคนไม่อยากจะให้มันอยาก เพราะเข้าใจว่า การมาปฏิบัติก็เพื่อระงับความอยาก ความจริงน่ะ ถ้าหากว่าไม่มีความอยาก ก็ไม่มีข้อปฏิบัติ ไม่รู้ว่าจะทำอะไร ลองพิจารณาดูก็ได้

ทุกคน แม้องค์พระพุทธเจ้าของเราก็ตาม ที่ท่านออกมาปฏิบัติ ก็เพื่อจะให้บรรเทากิเลสทั้งหลายนั้น

แต่ว่ามันต้องอยากทำ อยากปฏิบัติ อยากให้มันสงบ และก็ไม่อยากให้มันวุ่นวาย ทั้งสองอย่างนี้ มันเป็นอุปสรรคทั้งนั้น ถ้าเราไม่มีปัญญา ไม่มีความฉลาดในการกระทำอย่างนั้น เพราะว่ามันปนกันอยู่ อยากทั้งสองอย่างนี้มันมีราคาเท่า ๆ กัน

อยากจะพ้นทุกข์มันเป็นกิเลส สำหรับคนไม่มีปัญญา อยากด้วยความโง่ ไม่อยากมันก็เป็นกิเลส เพราะไม่อยากอันนั้นมันประกอบด้วยความโง่เหมือนกัน คือทั้งอยาก ไม่อยาก ปัญญาก็ไม่มี ทั้งสองอย่างนี้ มันเป็นกามสุขัลลิกานุโยโค กับอัตตกิลมถานุโยโค ซึ่งพระพุทธองค์ของเรา ขณะที่พระองค์กำลังทรงปฏิบัติอยู่นั้น ท่านก็หลงใหลในอย่างนี้ ไม่รู้ว่าจะทำอย่างไร ท่านหาอุบายหลายประการ กว่าจะพบของสองสิ่งนี้

ทุกวันนี้เราทั้งหลายก็เหมือนกัน ทุกสิ่งทั้งสองอย่างนี้มันกวนอยู่ เราจึงเข้าสู่ทางไม่ได้ก็เพราะอันนี้ ความเป็นจริงนี้ทุกคนที่มาปฏิบัติ ก็เป็นปุถุชนมาทั้งนั้น ปุถุชนก็เต็มไปด้วยความอยาก ความอยากที่ไม่มีปัญญา อยากด้วยความหลง ไม่อยากมันก็มีโทษเหมือนกัน “ไม่อยาก” มันก็เป็นตัณหา “อยาก” มันก็เป็นตัณหาอีกเหมือนกัน

ทีนี้ นักปฏิบัติยังไม่รู้เรื่องว่า จะเอายังไงกัน เดินไปข้างหน้าก็ไม่ถูก เดินกลับไปข้างหลังก็ไม่ถูก จะหยุดก็หยุดไม่ได้เพราะมันยังอยากอยู่ มันยังหลงอยู่ มีแต่ความอยาก แต่ปัญญาไม่มี มันอยากด้วยความหลง มันก็เป็นตัณหา ถึงแม้ไม่อยาก มันก็เป็นความหลง มันก็เป็นตัณหาเหมือนกันเพราะอะไร? เพราะมันขาดปัญญา

ความเป็นจริงนั้น ธรรมะมันอยู่ตรงนั้นแหละ ตรงความอยากกับความไม่อยากนั่นแหละ แต่เราไม่มีปัญญา ก็พยายามไม่ให้อยากบ้าง เดี๋ยวก็อยากบ้าง อยากให้เป็นอย่างนั้น ไม่อยากให้เป็นอย่างนี้ ความจริงทั้งสองอย่างนี้ หรือทั้งคู่นี้มันตัวเดียวกันทั้งนั้น ไม่ใช่คนละตัว แต่เราไม่รู้เรื่องของมัน

พระพุทธเจ้าของเรา และสาวกทั้งหลายของพระองค์นั้นท่านก็อยากเหมือนกัน แต่ “อยาก” ของท่านนั้น เป็นเพียงอาการของจิตเฉย ๆ หรือ “ไม่อยาก” ของท่าน ก็เป็นเพียงอาการของจิตเฉย ๆ อีกเหมือนกัน มันวูบเดียวเท่านั้น ก็หายไปแล้ว

ดังนั้น ความอยากหรือไม่อยากนี้ มันมีอยู่ตลอดเวลาแต่สำหรับผู้มีปัญญานั้น “อยาก” ก็ไม่มีอุปาทาน “ไม่อยาก” ก็ไม่มีอุปาทาน เป็น “สักแต่ว่า” อยากหรือไม่อยากเท่านั้น ถ้าพูดตามความจริงแล้ว มันก็เป็นแต่ "อาการของจิต" อาการของจิตมันเป็นของมันอย่างนั้นเอง ถ้าเรามาตะครุบมันอยู่ใกล้ ๆ นี่มันก็เห็นชัด

ดังนั้นจึงว่า การพิจารณานั้น ไม่ใช่รู้ไปที่อื่น มันรู้ตรงนี้แหละ เหมือนชาวประมงที่ออกไปทอดแหนั่นแหละ ทอดแหออกไปถูกปลาตัวใหญ่ เจ้าของผู้ทอดแหจะคิดอย่างไร? ก็กลัว กลัวปลาจะออกจากแหไปเสีย เมื่อเป็นเช่นนั้น ใจมันก็ดิ้นรนขึ้นระวังมาก บังคับมาก ตะครุบไปตะครุบมาอยู่นั่นแหละ ประเดี๋ยวปลามันก็ออกจากแหไปเสีย เพราะไปตะครุบมันแรงเกินไป

อย่างนั้นโบราณท่านพูดถึงเรื่องอันนี้ ท่านว่าค่อย ๆ ทำมัน แต่อย่าไปห่างจากมัน นี่คือปฏิปทาของเรา ค่อย ๆ คลำมันไปเรื่อย ๆ อย่างนั้นแหละ

อย่าปล่อยมัน หรือไม่อยากรู้มัน ต้องรู้ ต้องรู้เรื่องของมัน พยายามทำมันไปเรื่อย ๆ ให้เป็นปฏิปทา ขี้เกียจเราก็ทำไม่ขี้เกียจเราก็ทำ เรียกว่าการทำการปฏิบัติ ต้องทำไปเรื่อยๆอย่างนี้

ถ้าหากว่าเราขยัน ขยันเพราะความเชื่อ มันมีศรัทธาแต่ปัญญาไม่มี ถ้าเป็นอย่างนี้ ขยันไป ๆ แล้วมันก็ไม่เกิดผลอะไรขึ้นมากมาย ขยันไปนาน ๆ เข้า แต่มันไม่ถูกทาง มันก็ไม่สงบระงับ ทีนี้ก็จะเกิดความคิดว่า เรานี้บุญน้อยหรือวาสนาน้อย หรือคิดไปว่ามนุษย์ในโลกนี้คงทำไม่ได้หรอก แล้วก็เลยหยุดเลิกทำเลิกปฏิบัติ

ถ้าเกิดความคิดอย่างนี้เมื่อใด ขอให้ระวังให้มาก ให้มีขันติ ความอดทน ให้ทำไปเรื่อย ๆ เหมือนกับเราจับปลาตัวใหญ่ ก็ให้ค่อย ๆ คลำมันไปเรื่อย ๆ ปลามันก็จะไม่ดิ้นแรงค่อย ๆทำไปเรื่อย ๆ ไม่หยุด ไม่ช้าปลาก็จะหมดกำลัง มันก็จับง่าย จับให้ถนัดมือเลย ถ้าเรารีบจนเกินไป ปลามันก็จะหนีดิ้นออกจากแหเท่านั้น

ดังนั้น การปฏิบัตินี้ ถ้าเราพิจารณาตามพื้นเหตุของเรา เช่นว่า เราไม่มีความรู้ในปริยัติ ไม่มีความรู้ในอะไรอื่น ที่จะให้การปฏิบัติมันเกิดผลขึ้น ก็ดูความรู้ที่เป็นพื้นเพเดิมของเรานั่นแหละอันนั้นก็คือ “ธรรมชาติของจิต” นี่เอง มันมีของมันอยู่แล้ว เราจะไปเรียนรู้มัน มันก็มีอยู่ หรือเราจะไม่ไปเรียนรู้มัน มันก็มีอยู่

อย่างที่ท่านพูดว่า พระพุทธเจ้าจะบังเกิดขึ้นก็ตาม หรือไม่บังเกิดขึ้นก็ตาม ธรรมะก็คงมีอยู่อย่างนั้น มันเป็นของมันอยู่อย่างนั้น ไม่พลิกแพลงไปไหน มันเป็นสัจจธรรม

เราไม่เข้าใจสัจจธรรม ก็ไม่รู้ว่าสัจจธรรมเป็นอย่างไร นี้เรียกว่า การพิจารณาในความรู้ของผู้ปฏิบัติที่ไม่มีพื้นปริยัติ

ขอให้ดูจิต พยายามอ่านจิตของเจ้าของ พยายามพูดกับจิตของเจ้าของ มันจึงจะรู้เรื่องของจิต ค่อย ๆ ทำไป ถ้ายังไม่ถึงที่ของมัน มันก็ไปอยู่อย่างนั้น

ครูบาอาจารย์บางท่านบอกว่า ทำไปเรื่อย ๆ อย่าหยุด บางทีเรามาคิด “เออ ทำไปเรื่อย ๆ ถ้าไม่รู้เรื่องของมัน ถ้าทำไม่ถูกที่มัน มันจะรู้อะไร” อย่างนี้เป็นต้น ก็ต้องไปเรื่อย ๆ ก่อน แล้วมันก็จะเกิดความรู้สึกนึกคิดขึ้นในสิ่งที่เราพากเพียรทำนั้น

มันเหมือนกันกับบุรุษที่ไปสีไฟ ได้ฟังท่านบอกว่า เอาไม้ไผ่สองอันมาสีกันเข้าไปเถอะ แล้วจะมีไฟเกิดขึ้น บุรุษนั้นก็จับไม้ไผ่เข้าสองอัน สีกันเข้า แต่ใจร้อน สีไปได้หน่อย ก็อยากให้มันเป็นไฟ ใจก็เร่งอยู่เรื่อย ให้เป็นไฟเร็วๆ แต่ไฟก็ไม่เกิดสักที บุรุษนั้นก็เกิดความขี้เกียจ แล้วก็หยุดพัก แล้วจึงลองสีอีกนิด แล้วก็หยุดพัก ความร้อนที่พอมีอยู่บ้าง ก็หายไปล่ะซิ เพราะความร้อนมันไม่ติดต่อกัน

ถ้าทำไปเรื่อยๆอย่างนี้ เหนื่อยก็หยุด มีแต่เหนื่อยอย่างเดียวก็พอได้ แต่มีขี้เกียจปนเข้าด้วย เลยไปกันใหญ่ แล้วบุรุษนั้นก็หาว่าไฟไม่มี ไม่เอาไฟ ก็ทิ้ง เลิก ไม่สีอีก แล้วก็ไปเที่ยวประกาศว่า ไฟไม่มี ทำอย่างนี้ไม่ได้ ไม่มีไฟหรอก เขาได้ลองทำแล้ว

ก็จริงเหมือนกันที่ได้ทำแล้ว แต่ทำยังไม่ถึงจุดของมันคือความร้อนยังไม่สมดุลกัน ไฟมันก็เกิดขึ้นไม่ได้ ทั้งที่ความจริงไฟมันก็มีอยู่ อย่างนี้ก็เกิดความท้อแท้ขึ้นในใจของผู้ปฏิบัตินั้น ก็ละอันนี้ไปทำอันโน้นเรื่อยไป อันนี้ฉันใดก็ฉันนั้น

การปฏิบัตินั้น ปฏิบัติทางกายทางใจทั้งสองอย่าง มันต้องพร้อมกัน เพราะอะไร? เพราะพื้นเพมันเป็นคนมีกิเลสทั้งนั้น พระพุทธเจ้าก่อนที่จะเป็นพระพุทธเจ้า ท่านก็มีกิเลสแต่ท่านมีปัญญามากหลาย พระอรหันต์ก็เหมือนกัน เมื่อยังเป็นปุถุชนอยู่ ก็เหมือนกับเรา

เมื่อความอยากเกิดขึ้นมา เราก็ไม่รู้จัก เมื่อความไม่อยากเกิดขึ้นมา เราก็ไม่รู้จัก บางทีก็ร้อนใจ บางทีก็ดีใจ ถ้าใจเราไม่อยาก ก็ดีใจแบบหนึ่ง และวุ่นวายอีกแบบหนึ่ง ถ้าใจเราอยาก มันก็วุ่นวายอย่างหนึ่ง และดีใจอย่างหนึ่ง มันประสมประเสกันอยู่อย่างนี้

อันนี้คือปฏิปทาของผู้ปฏิบัติเรา

[อ่านใจธรรมชาติ] หลวงปู่ชา สุภัทโท หนังสือ หมวด: โพธิญาณ

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Nostr is an open communication protocol that can be used to send messages across a distributed set of relays in a censorship resistant and robust way.

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If you missed my nostr introduction post you can find it here. My nostr account can be found here.

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We are nearly at the point that if something interesting is posted on a centralized social platform it will usually be posted by someone to nostr.

We are nearly at the point that if something interesting is posted exclusively to nostr it is cross posted by someone to various centralized social platforms.

We are nearly at the point that you can recommend a cross platform app that users can install and easily onboard without additional guides or resources.

As companies continue to build walls around their centralized platforms nostr posts will be the easiest to cross reference and verify - as companies continue to censor their users nostr is the best censorship resistant alternative - gradually then suddenly nostr will become the standard. 🫡

Current Nostr Stats

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@ 83279ad2:bd49240d

a

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Well Integrates Nostr BTC Purchases via DMs

Bitcoin Well Inc. (TSXV: BTCW; OTCQB: BCNWF) has launched an integration with Nostr, allowing US customers to buy bitcoin directly through direct messages on the decentralized social protocol, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine.

Users can link their Nostr identifier (npub) to their Bitcoin Well account and purchase bitcoin by sending specific commands via direct message. The transactions draw from the user’s Cash Balance and send the purchased bitcoin to their existing Lightning Wallet for security.

Nostr is a decentralized social media protocol which is censorship resistant and runs on a network of relays, rather than centralized servers. This means that the users have full control over their message servers. It also adds a layer of protection for the customer’s privacy.

The integration simplifies the process of buying bitcoin by allowing users to make purchases directly through a social platform they already use. As a censorship-resistant protocol, Nostr ensures Bitcoin Well and its customers have full control, avoiding restrictions and potential censorship.

“This is a great achievement for our team!” said founder and CEO of Bitcoin Well Adam O’Brien. “We are deeply committed to make buying bitcoin directly to self custody better than using a custodial exchange. This is a huge step in the right direction. We are meeting bitcoiners where they are and allowing them to buy bitcoin safely.”

Users can link their npub to their Bitcoin Well account to enable bitcoin purchases via direct message. Commands like /buy $21.00 or /stack 69000 sats initiate a transaction, which is confirmed by sending /confirm. The purchase uses funds from the user’s Bitcoin Well Cash Balance, and bitcoin is delivered over the Lightning Network to a pre-registered wallet address.

This post Bitcoin Well Integrates Nostr BTC Purchases via DMs first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

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"Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age. Privacy is not secrecy.  A private matter is something one doesn't want the whole world to know, but a secret matter is something one doesn't want anybody to know. Privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world." - Eric Hughes, A Cypherpunk's Manifesto, 1993

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Privacy is essential to freedom. Without privacy, individuals are unable to make choices free from surveillance and control. Lack of privacy leads to loss of autonomy. When individuals are constantly monitored it limits our ability to express ourselves and take risks. Any decisions we make can result in negative repercussions from those who surveil us. Without the freedom to make choices, individuals cannot truly be free.

Freedom is essential to acquiring and preserving wealth. When individuals are not free to make choices, restrictions and limitations prevent us from economic opportunities. If we are somehow able to acquire wealth in such an environment, lack of freedom can result in direct asset seizure by governments or other malicious entities. At scale, when freedom is compromised, it leads to widespread economic stagnation and poverty. Protecting freedom is essential to economic prosperity.

The connection between privacy, freedom, and wealth is critical. Without privacy, individuals lose the freedom to make choices free from surveillance and control. While lack of freedom prevents individuals from pursuing economic opportunities and makes wealth preservation nearly impossible. No Privacy? No Freedom. No Freedom? No Wealth.

Rights are not granted. They are taken and defended. Rights are often misunderstood as permission to do something by those holding power. However, if someone can give you something, they can inherently take it from you at will. People throughout history have necessarily fought for basic rights, including privacy and freedom. These rights were not given by those in power, but rather demanded and won through struggle. Even after these rights are won, they must be continually defended to ensure that they are not taken away. Rights are not granted - they are earned through struggle and defended through sacrifice.

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@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

The newly proposed RESTRICT ACT - is being advertised as a TikTok Ban, but is much broader than that, carries a $1M Fine and up to 20 years in prison️! It is unconstitutional and would create massive legal restrictions on the open source movement and free speech throughout the internet.

The Bill was proposed by: Senator Warner, Senator Thune, Senator Baldwin, Senator Fischer, Senator Manchin, Senator Moran, Senator Bennet, Senator Sullivan, Senator Gillibrand, Senator Collins, Senator Heinrich, and Senator Romney. It has broad support across Senators of both parties.

Corrupt politicians will not protect us. They are part of the problem. We must build, support, and learn how to use censorship resistant tools in order to defend our natural rights.

The RESTRICT Act, introduced by Senators Warner and Thune, aims to block or disrupt transactions and financial holdings involving foreign adversaries that pose risks to national security. Although the primary targets of this legislation are companies like Tik-Tok, the language of the bill could potentially be used to block or disrupt cryptocurrency transactions and, in extreme cases, block Americans’ access to open source tools or protocols like Bitcoin.

The Act creates a redundant regime paralleling OFAC without clear justification, it significantly limits the ability for injured parties to challenge actions raising due process concerns, and unlike OFAC it lacks any carve-out for protected speech. COINCENTER ON THE RESTRICT ACT

Full Text of Bill

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@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

People forget Bear Stearns failed March 2008 - months of denial followed before the public realized how bad the situation was under the surface.

Similar happening now but much larger scale. They did not fix fundamental issues after 2008 - everything is more fragile.

The Fed preemptively bailed out every bank with their BTFP program and First Republic Bank still failed. The second largest bank failure in history.

There will be more failures. There will be more bailouts. Depositors will be "protected" by socializing losses across everyone.

Our President and mainstream financial pundits are currently pretending the banking crisis is over while most banks remain insolvent. There are going to be many more bank failures as this ponzi system unravels.

Unlike 2008, we have the ability to opt out of these broken and corrupt institutions by using bitcoin. Bitcoin held in self custody is unique in its lack of counterparty risk - you do not have to trust a bank or other centralized entity to hold it for you. Bitcoin is also incredibly difficult to change by design since it is not controlled by an individual, company, or government - the supply of dollars will inevitably be inflated to bailout these failing banks but bitcoin supply will remain unchanged. I do not need to convince you that bitcoin provides value - these next few years will convince millions.

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@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

Bitcoin enthusiasts frequently and correctly remark how much value it adds to Bitcoin not to have a face, a leader, or a central authority behind it. This particularity means there isn't a single person to exert control over, or a single human point of failure who could become corrupt or harmful to the project.

Because of this, it is said that no other coin can be equally valuable as Bitcoin in terms of decentralization and trustworthiness. Bitcoin is unique not just for being first, but also because of how the events behind its inception developed. This implies that, from Bitcoin onwards, any coin created would have been created by someone, consequently having an authority behind it. For this and some other reasons, some people refer to Bitcoin as "The Immaculate Conception".

While other coins may have their own unique features and advantages, they may not be able to replicate Bitcoin's community-driven nature. However, one other cryptocurrency shares a similar story of mystery behind its creation: Monero.

History of Monero

Bytecoin and CryptoNote

In March 2014, a Bitcointalk thread titled "Bytecoin. Secure, private, untraceable since 2012" was initiated by a user under the nickname "DStrange"^1^. DStrange presented Bytecoin (BCN) as a unique cryptocurrency, in operation since July 2012. Unlike Bitcoin, it employed a new algorithm known as CryptoNote.

DStrange apparently stumbled upon the Bytecoin website by chance while mining a dying bitcoin fork, and decided to create a thread on Bitcointalk^1^. This sparked curiosity among some users, who wondered how could Bytecoin remain unnoticed since its alleged launch in 2012 until then^2^.

Some time after, a user brought up the "CryptoNote v2.0" whitepaper for the first time, underlining its innovative features^4^. Authored by the pseudonymous Nicolas van Saberhagen in October 2013, the CryptoNote v2 whitepaper^5^ highlighted the traceability and privacy problems in Bitcoin. Saberhagen argued that these flaws could not be quickly fixed, suggesting it would be more efficient to start a new project rather than trying to patch the original^5^, an statement simmilar to the one from Satoshi Nakamoto^6^.

Checking with Saberhagen's digital signature, the release date of the whitepaper seemed correct, which would mean that Cryptonote (v1) was created in 2012^7^, although there's an important detail: "Signing time is from the clock on the signer's computer" ^9^.

Moreover, the whitepaper v1 contains a footnote link to a Bitcointalk post dated May 5, 2013^10^, making it impossible for the whitepaper to have been signed and released on December 12, 2012.

As the narrative developed, users discovered that a significant 80% portion of Bytecoin had been pre-mined^11^ and blockchain dates seemed to be faked to make it look like it had been operating since 2012, leading to controversy surrounding the project.

The origins of CryptoNote and Bytecoin remain mysterious, leaving suspicions of a possible scam attempt, although the whitepaper had a good amount of work and thought on it.

The fork

In April 2014, the Bitcointalk user thankful_for_today, who had also participated in the Bytecoin thread^12^, announced plans to launch a Bytecoin fork named Bitmonero^13^.

The primary motivation behind this fork was "Because there is a number of technical and marketing issues I wanted to do differently. And also because I like ideas and technology and I want it to succeed"^14^. This time Bitmonero did things different from Bytecoin: there was no premine or instamine, and no portion of the block reward went to development.

However, thankful_for_today proposed controversial changes that the community disagreed with. Johnny Mnemonic relates the events surrounding Bitmonero and thankful_for_today in a Bitcointalk comment^15^:

When thankful_for_today launched BitMonero [...] he ignored everything that was discussed and just did what he wanted. The block reward was considerably steeper than what everyone was expecting. He also moved forward with 1-minute block times despite everyone's concerns about the increase of orphan blocks. He also didn't address the tail emission concern that should've (in my opinion) been in the code at launch time. Basically, he messed everything up. Then, he disappeared.

After disappearing for a while, thankful_for_today returned to find that the community had taken over the project. Johnny Mnemonic continues:

I, and others, started working on new forks that were closer to what everyone else was hoping for. [...] it was decided that the BitMonero project should just be taken over. There were like 9 or 10 interested parties at the time if my memory is correct. We voted on IRC to drop the "bit" from BitMonero and move forward with the project. Thankful_for_today suddenly resurfaced, and wasn't happy to learn the community had assumed control of the coin. He attempted to maintain his own fork (still calling it "BitMonero") for a while, but that quickly fell into obscurity.

The unfolding of these events show us the roots of Monero. Much like Satoshi Nakamoto, the creators behind CryptoNote/Bytecoin and thankful_for_today remain a mystery^17^, having disappeared without a trace. This enigma only adds to Monero's value.

Since community took over development, believing in the project's potential and its ability to be guided in a better direction, Monero was given one of Bitcoin's most important qualities: a leaderless nature. With no single face or entity directing its path, Monero is safe from potential corruption or harm from a "central authority".

The community continued developing Monero until today. Since then, Monero has undergone a lot of technological improvements, migrations and achievements such as RingCT and RandomX. It also has developed its own Community Crowdfundinc System, conferences such as MoneroKon and Monerotopia are taking place every year, and has a very active community around it.

Monero continues to develop with goals of privacy and security first, ease of use and efficiency second. ^16^

This stands as a testament to the power of a dedicated community operating without a central figure of authority. This decentralized approach aligns with the original ethos of cryptocurrency, making Monero a prime example of community-driven innovation. For this, I thank all the people involved in Monero, that lead it to where it is today.

If you find any information that seems incorrect, unclear or any missing important events, please contact me and I will make the necessary changes.

Sources of interest

• https://forum.getmonero.org/20/general-discussion/211/history-of-monero
• https://monero.stackexchange.com/questions/852/what-is-the-origin-of-monero-and-its-relationship-to-bytecoin
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monero
• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=583449.0
• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=563821.0
• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=233561
• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=512747.0
• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=740112.0
• https://monero.stackexchange.com/a/1024
• https://inspec2t-project.eu/cryptocurrency-with-a-focus-on-anonymity-these-facts-are-known-about-monero/
• https://medium.com/coin-story/coin-perspective-13-riccardo-spagni-69ef82907bd1
• https://www.getmonero.org/resources/about/
• https://www.wired.com/2017/01/monero-drug-dealers-cryptocurrency-choice-fire/
• https://www.monero.how/why-monero-vs-bitcoin
• https://old.reddit.com/r/Monero/comments/u8e5yr/satoshi_nakamoto_talked_about_privacy_features/

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• The latest firmware updates for COLDCARD devices introduce two major features: COLDCARD Co-sign (CCC) and Key Teleport between two COLDCARD Q devices using QR codes and/or NFC with a website.

What's new

• COLDCARD Co-Sign: When CCC is enabled, a second seed called the Spending Policy Key (Key C) is added to the device. This seed works with the device's Main Seed and one or more additional XPUBs (Backup Keys) to form 2-of-N multisig wallets.
  • The spending policy functions like a hardware security module (HSM), enforcing rules such as magnitude and velocity limits, address whitelisting, and 2FA authentication to protect funds while maintaining flexibility and control, and is enforced each time the Spending Policy Key is used for signing.
  • When spending conditions are met, the COLDCARD signs the partially signed bitcoin transaction (PSBT) with the Main Seed and Spending Policy Key for fund access. Once configured, the Spending Policy Key is required to view or change the policy, and violations are denied without explanation.

"You can override the spending policy at any time by signing with either a Backup Key and the Main Seed or two Backup Keys, depending on the number of keys (N) in the multisig."

• A step-by-step guide for setting up CCC is available here.

• Key Teleport for Q devices allows users to securely transfer sensitive data such as seed phrases (words, xprv), secure notes and passwords, and PSBTs for multisig. It uses QR codes or NFC, along with a helper website, to ensure reliable transmission, keeping your sensitive data protected throughout the process.

  • For more technical details, see the protocol spec.

"After you sign a multisig PSBT, you have option to “Key Teleport” the PSBT file to any one of the other signers in the wallet. We already have a shared pubkey with them, so the process is simple and does not require any action on their part in advance. Plus, starting in this firmware release, COLDCARD can finalize multisig transactions, so the last signer can publish the signed transaction via PushTX (NFC tap) to get it on the blockchain directly."

• Multisig transactions are finalized when sufficiently signed. It streamlines the use of PushTX with multisig wallets.
• Signing artifacts re-export to various media. Users are now provided with the capability to export signing products, like transactions or PSBTs, to alternative media rather than the original source. For example, if a PSBT is received through a QR code, it can be signed and saved onto an SD card if needed.
• Multisig export files are signed now. Public keys are encoded as P2PKH address for all multisg signature exports. Learn more about it here.
• NFC export usability upgrade: NFC keeps exporting until CANCEL/X is pressed.
• Added Bitcoin Safe option to Export Wallet.
• 10% performance improvement in USB upload speed for large files.
• Q: Always choose the biggest possible display size for QR.

Fixes

• Do not allow change Main PIN to same value already used as Trick PIN, even if Trick PIN is hidden.
• Fix stuck progress bar under Receiving... after a USB communications failure.
• Showing derivation path in Address Explorer for root key (m) showed double slash (//).
• Can restore developer backup with custom password other than 12 words format.
• Virtual Disk auto mode ignores already signed PSBTs (with “-signed” in file name).
• Virtual Disk auto mode stuck on “Reading…” screen sometimes.
• Finalization of foreign inputs from partial signatures. Thanks Christian Uebber!
• Temporary seed from COLDCARD backup failed to load stored multisig wallets.
• Destroy Seed also removes all Trick PINs from SE2.
• Lock Down Seed requires pressing confirm key (4) to execute.
• Q only: Only BBQr is allowed to export Coldcard, Core, and pretty descriptor.

Blog Post / Archive
GitHub Repo
CCC Guide
Key Teleport site

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• RoboSats v0.7.7-alpha is now available!

NOTE: "This version of clients is not compatible with older versions of coordinators. Coordinators must upgrade first, make sure you don't upgrade your client while this is marked as pre-release."

• This version brings a new and improved coordinators view with reviews signed both by the robot and the coordinator, adds market price sources in coordinator profiles, shows a correct warning for canceling non-taken orders after a payment attempt, adds Uzbek sum currency, and includes package library updates for coordinators.

Source: RoboSats.

• siggy47 is writing daily RoboSats activity reviews on stacker.news. Check them out here.
• Stay up-to-date with RoboSats on Nostr.

What's new

• New coordinators view (see the picture above).
• Available coordinator reviews signed by both the robot and the coordinator.
• Coordinators now display market price sources in their profiles.

Source: RoboSats.

• Fix for wrong message on cancel button when taking an order. Users are now warned if they try to cancel a non taken order after a payment attempt.
• Uzbek sum currency now available.
• For coordinators: library updates.
• Add docker frontend (#1861).
• Add order review token (#1869).
• Add UZS migration (#1875).
• Fixed tests review (#1878).
• Nostr pubkey for Robot (#1887).

New contributors

• @hexlorn made their first contribution in #1858.
• @umk0m1qk made their first contribution in #1864.

Full Changelog: v0.7.6-alpha...v0.7.7-alpha

GitHub Repo

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

@matt_odell don't you even dare not ask about nostr!

— Kukks (Andrew Camilleri) (@MrKukks) May 18, 2021

Nostr first hit my radar spring 2021: created by fellow bitcoiner and friend, fiatjaf, and released to the world as free open source software. I was fortunate to be able to host a conversation with him on Citadel Dispatch in those early days, capturing that moment in history forever. Since then, the protocol has seen explosive viral organic growth as individuals around the world have contributed their time and energy to build out the protocol and the surrounding ecosystem due to the clear need for better communication tools.

nostr is to twitter as bitcoin is to paypal

As an intro to nostr, let us start with a metaphor:

twitter is paypal - a centralized platform plagued by censorship but has the benefit of established network effects

nostr is bitcoin - an open protocol that is censorship resistant and robust but requires an organic adoption phase

Nostr is an open communication protocol that can be used to send messages across a distributed set of relays in a censorship resistant and robust way.
 - Anyone can run a relay.
 - Anyone can interact with the protocol.
 - Relays can choose which messages they want to relay.
 - Users are identified by a simple public private key pair that they can generate themselves.

Nostr is often compared to twitter since there are nostr clients that emulate twitter functionality and user interface but that is merely one application of the protocol. Nostr is so much more than a mere twitter competitor. Nostr clients and relays can transmit a wide variety of data and clients can choose how to display that information to users. The result is a revolution in communication with implications that are difficult for any of us to truly comprehend.

Similar to bitcoin, nostr is an open and permissionless protocol. No person, company, or government controls it. Anyone can iterate and build on top of nostr without permission. Together, bitcoin and nostr are incredibly complementary freedom tech tools: censorship resistant, permissionless, robust, and interoperable - money and speech protected by code and incentives, not laws.

As censorship throughout the world continues to escalate, freedom tech provides hope for individuals around the world who refuse to accept the status quo. This movement will succeed on the shoulders of those who choose to stand up and contribute. We will build our own path. A brighter path.

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My Nostr Public Key: npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx

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If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

Starting January 1, 2026, the United Kingdom will impose some of the world’s most stringent reporting requirements on cryptocurrency firms.

All platforms operating in or serving UK customers-domestic and foreign alike-must collect and disclose extensive personal and transactional data for every user, including individuals, companies, trusts, and charities. 

This regulatory drive marks the UK’s formal adoption of the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), a global initiative designed to bring crypto oversight in line with traditional banking and to curb tax evasion in the rapidly expanding digital asset sector.

What Will Be Reported?

Crypto firms must gather and submit the following for each transaction:

• User’s full legal name, home address, and taxpayer identification number
• Detailed data on every trade or transfer: type of cryptocurrency, amount, and nature of the transaction
• Identifying information for corporate, trust, and charitable clients

The obligation extends to all digital asset activities, including crypto-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat trades, and applies to both UK residents and non-residents using UK-based platforms. The first annual reports covering 2026 activity are due by May 31, 2027.

Enforcement and Penalties

Non-compliance will carry stiff financial penalties, with fines of up to £300 per user account for inaccurate or missing data-a potentially enormous liability for large exchanges. The UK government has urged crypto firms to begin collecting this information immediately to ensure operational readiness.

Regulatory Context and Market Impact

This move is part of a broader UK strategy to position itself as a global fintech hub while clamping down on fraud and illicit finance. UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has championed these measures, stating, “Britain is open for business – but closed to fraud, abuse, and instability”. The regulatory expansion comes amid a surge in crypto adoption: the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority reported that 12% of UK adults owned crypto in 2024, up from just 4% in 2021.

Enormous Risks for Consumers: Lessons from the Coinbase Data Breach

While the new framework aims to enhance transparency and protect consumers, it also dramatically increases the volume of sensitive personal data held by crypto firms-raising the stakes for cybersecurity.

The risks are underscored by the recent high-profile breach at Coinbase, one of the world’s largest exchanges.

In May 2025, Coinbase disclosed that cybercriminals, aided by bribed offshore contractors, accessed and exfiltrated customer data including names, addresses, government IDs, and partial bank details. 

The attackers then used this information for sophisticated phishing campaigns, successfully deceiving some customers into surrendering account credentials and funds.

“While private encryption keys remained secure, sufficient customer information was exposed to enable sophisticated phishing attacks by criminals posing as Coinbase personnel.”

Coinbase now faces up to $400 million in compensation costs and has pledged to reimburse affected users, but the incident highlights the systemic vulnerability created when large troves of personal data are centralized-even if passwords and private keys are not directly compromised. The breach also triggered a notable drop in Coinbase’s share price and prompted a $20 million bounty for information leading to the attackers’ capture.

The Bottom Line

The UK’s forthcoming crypto reporting regime represents a landmark in financial regulation, promising greater transparency and tax compliance. However, as the Coinbase episode demonstrates, the aggregation of sensitive user data at scale poses a significant cybersecurity risk.

As regulators push for more oversight, the challenge will be ensuring that consumer protection does not become a double-edged sword-exposing users to new threats even as it seeks to shield them from old ones.

@ ece127e2:745bab9c

vamos a ver que tal

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*lo bueno es que si entro en https://makimono.lumilumi.app/ a la nota y agrego contenido , como éste ...quiero ver si lo añade o hace una nueva nota ?? *

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

People forget Bear Stearns failed March 2008 - months of denial followed before the public realized how bad the situation was under the surface.

Similar happening now but much larger scale. They did not fix fundamental issues after 2008 - everything is more fragile.

The Fed preemptively bailed out every bank with their BTFP program and First Republic Bank still failed. The second largest bank failure in history.

There will be more failures. There will be more bailouts. Depositors will be "protected" by socializing losses across everyone.

Our President and mainstream financial pundits are currently pretending the banking crisis is over while most banks remain insolvent. There are going to be many more bank failures as this ponzi system unravels.

Unlike 2008, we have the ability to opt out of these broken and corrupt institutions by using bitcoin. Bitcoin held in self custody is unique in its lack of counterparty risk - you do not have to trust a bank or other centralized entity to hold it for you. Bitcoin is also incredibly difficult to change by design since it is not controlled by an individual, company, or government - the supply of dollars will inevitably be inflated to bailout these failing banks but bitcoin supply will remain unchanged. I do not need to convince you that bitcoin provides value - these next few years will convince millions.

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If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

“The future is there... staring back at us. Trying to make sense of the fiction we will have become.” — William Gibson.

This month is the 4th anniversary of kycnot.me. Thank you for being here.

Fifteen years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer electronic cash system: a decentralized currency free from government and institutional control. Nakamoto's whitepaper showed a vision for a financial system based on trustless transactions, secured by cryptography. Some time forward and KYC (Know Your Customer), AML (Anti-Money Laundering), and CTF (Counter-Terrorism Financing) regulations started to come into play.

What a paradox: to engage with a system designed for decentralization, privacy, and independence, we are forced to give away our personal details. Using Bitcoin in the economy requires revealing your identity, not just to the party you interact with, but also to third parties who must track and report the interaction. You are forced to give sensitive data to entities you don't, can't, and shouldn't trust. Information can never be kept 100% safe; there's always a risk. Information is power, who knows about you has control over you.

Information asymmetry creates imbalances of power. When entities have detailed knowledge about individuals, they can manipulate, influence, or exploit this information to their advantage. The accumulation of personal data by corporations and governments enables extensive surveillances.

Such practices, moreover, exclude individuals from traditional economic systems if their documentation doesn't meet arbitrary standards, reinforcing a dystopian divide. Small businesses are similarly burdened by the costs of implementing these regulations, hindering free market competition^1:

How will they keep this information safe? Why do they need my identity? Why do they force businesses to enforce such regulations? It's always for your safety, to protect you from the "bad". Your life is perpetually in danger: terrorists, money launderers, villains... so the government steps in to save us.

‟Hush now, baby, baby, don't you cry Mamma's gonna make all of your nightmares come true Mamma's gonna put all of her fears into you Mamma's gonna keep you right here, under her wing She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing Mamma's gonna keep baby cosy and warm” — Mother, Pink Floyd

We must resist any attack on our privacy and freedom. To do this, we must collaborate.

If you have a service, refuse to ask for KYC; find a way. Accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Monero. Commit to circular economies. Remove the need to go through the FIAT system. People need fiat money to use most services, but we can change that.

If you're a user, donate to and prefer using services that accept such currencies. Encourage your friends to accept cryptocurrencies as well. Boycott FIAT system to the greatest extent you possibly can.

This may sound utopian, but it can be achieved. This movement can't be stopped. Go kick the hornet's nest.

“We must defend our own privacy if we expect to have any. We must come together and create systems which allow anonymous transactions to take place. People have been defending their own privacy for centuries with whispers, darkness, envelopes, closed doors, secret handshakes, and couriers. The technologies of the past did not allow for strong privacy, but electronic technologies do.” — Eric Hughes, A Cypherpunk's Manifesto

The anniversary

Four years ago, I began exploring ways to use crypto without KYC. I bookmarked a few favorite services and thought sharing them to the world might be useful. That was the first version of kycnot.me — a simple list of about 15 services. Since then, I've added services, rewritten it three times, and improved it to what it is now.

kycnot.me has remained 100% independent and 100% open source^2 all these years. I've received offers to buy the site, all of which I have declined and will continue to decline. It has been DDoS attacked many times, but we made it through. I have also rewritten the whole site almost once per year (three times in four years).

The code and scoring algorithm are open source (contributions are welcome) and I can't arbitrarly change a service's score without adding or removing attributes, making any arbitrary alterations obvious if they were fake. You can even see the score summary for any service's score.

I'm a one-person team, dedicating my free time to this project. I hope to keep doing so for many more years. Again, thank you for being part of this.

@ da8b7de1:c0164aee

Nemzetközi nukleáris energetikai hírek

Új amerikai kis moduláris reaktor engedélykérelem

A Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) benyújtotta az Egyesült Államok Nukleáris Szabályozó Hatóságához (NRC) az engedélykérelmet egy GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy BWRX-300 kis moduláris reaktor (SMR) megépítésére a Clinch River telephelyen. Ez jelentős lépés az új, fejlett nukleáris technológiák bevezetésében az Egyesült Államokban, és jól mutatja, hogy az SMR-ek egyre fontosabb, rugalmas és skálázható tisztaenergia-megoldássá válnak[world-nuclear-news.org].

Amerikai elnöki rendeletek a nukleáris bővítés felgyorsítására

Donald Trump amerikai elnök négy elnöki rendeletet írt alá, amelyek célja a reaktorengedélyezési folyamatok gyorsítása, a hazai urántermelés növelése és a fejlett nukleáris technológiák bevezetésének felgyorsítása. Az új irányelvek ambiciózus célokat tűznek ki, például az amerikai nukleáris kapacitás megnégyszerezését 2050-re, az NRC számára az engedélyezési idő 18 hónapra csökkentését, valamint szövetségi területek kijelölését új nukleáris létesítmények számára. Ezeket a rendeleteket az „amerikai nukleáris reneszánsz” alapjának szánják, különös hangsúlyt fektetve az AI-ipar energiaigényeinek kielégítésére és a hazai gyártás újjáélesztésére[nucnet.org].

Iparági optimizmus és globális befektetési trendek

Az iparági vezetők egészséges és optimista kilátásokról számolnak be a nukleáris energia terén, kiemelve olyan aktív projekteket, mint a TerraPower Wyomingban, az X-energy és a Dow együttműködése, valamint a Westinghouse tevékenysége Lengyelországban. Különösen nagy az érdeklődés a magánbefektetések iránt a magas dúsítású, alacsony dúsítású urán (HALEU) előállítása terén, illetve annak lehetősége iránt, hogy a Világbank elkezdjen nukleáris projekteket finanszírozni, ami szélesebb körű nemzetközi befektetéseket is elindíthat[ans.org].

Nemzetközi fejlemények és ellátási lánc felkészültsége

Számos ország halad előre a nukleáris fejlesztésekkel: - Kína tíz új reaktort hagyott jóvá. - India szabályozó hatósága engedélyezte egy új, négyblokkos telephely létesítését Rádzsasztánban. - Belgium konzultációt indított egy innovatív, ólom-hűtésű kis moduláris reaktor terveiről. - Brazília várhatóan Oroszországgal közösen fejleszt SMR-projektet. - Csehország új nukleáris szerződéseket köt, a külső politikai nyomás ellenére is.

A globális nukleáris ellátási láncot arra ösztönzik, hogy készüljön fel a gyors növekedésre, kiemelve a helyi és nemzetközi együttműködés fontosságát a növekvő igények kielégítésére[world-nuclear-news.org].

Úszó atomerőművek és tengeri innovációk

Az úszó atomerőművek továbbra is az innováció középpontjában állnak: - Oroszország Akademik Lomonosov nevű úszó atomerőműve elérte az első milliárd kilowattóra termelést. - Az Egyesült Királyságban a Core Power egy amerikai központú tengeri nukleáris programot fejleszt, melynek célja úszó reaktorok telepítése amerikai kikötőkben a 2030-as évek közepére. - A dán Seaborg Technologies (új nevén Saltfoss Energy) kompakt olvadt só reaktor technológián dolgozik, amelyet szintén a 2030-as évekre terveznek bevezetni. - A Westinghouse és a Core Power együttműködik egy úszó atomerőmű fejlesztésén az eVinci mikroreaktorral[world-nuclear-news.org].

Érintettek bevonása és társadalmi bizalom

A Nemzetközi Atomenergia-ügynökség (IAEA) kiemeli az érintettek bevonásának fontosságát a nukleáris energia jövője szempontjából. Folyamatban lévő konferenciáján olyan témákat tárgyalnak, mint a nukleáris energia szerepe az ipari dekarbonizációban, a nyilvános meghallgatások értéke a projektek átláthatósága érdekében, valamint a társadalmi bizalom és a szabályozói megfelelés legjobb gyakorlatai, különösen az új technológiák, például az SMR-ek bevezetése során[iaea.org].

---

Források: - world-nuclear-news.org - nucnet.org - iaea.org - ans.org

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Bank run on every crypto bank then bank run on every "real" bank.

— ODELL (@ODELL) December 14, 2022

Good morning.

It looks like PacWest will fail today. It will be both the fifth largest bank failure in US history and the sixth major bank to fail this year. It will likely get purchased by one of the big four banks in a government orchestrated sale.  

March 8th - Silvergate Bank
March 10th - Silicon Valley Bank
March 12th - Signature Bank
March 19th - Credit Suisse
May 1st - First Republic Bank
May 4th - PacWest Bank?

PacWest is the first of many small regional banks that will go under this year. Most will get bought by the big four in gov orchestrated sales. This has been the playbook since 2008. Follow the incentives. Massive consolidation across the banking industry. PacWest gonna be a drop in the bucket compared to what comes next.

First, a hastened government led bank consolidation, then a public/private partnership with the remaining large banks to launch a surveilled and controlled digital currency network. We will be told it is more convenient. We will be told it is safer. We will be told it will prevent future bank runs. All of that is marketing bullshit. The goal is greater control of money. The ability to choose how we spend it and how we save it. If you control the money - you control the people that use it.

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If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

There must be a limit to how much data is transferred across the bitcoin network in order to keep the ability to run and use your own node accessible. A node is required to interact with the global bitcoin network - if you do not use your own node then you must trust someone else's node. If nodes become inaccessible to run then the network will centralize around the remaining entities that operate them - threatening the censorship resistance at the core of bitcoin's value prop. The bitcoin protocol uses three main mechanisms to keep node operation costs low - a fixed limit on the amount of data in each block, an automatic difficulty adjustment that regulates how many blocks are produced based on current mining hash rate, and a robust dynamic transaction fee market.

Bitcoin transaction fees limit network abuse by making usage expensive. There is a cost to every transaction, set by a dynamic free market based on demand for scarce block space. It is an incredibly robust way to prevent spam without relying on centralized entities that can be corrupted or pressured.

After the 2017 bitcoin fee spike we had six years of relative quiet to build tools that would be robust in a sustained high fee market. Fortunately our tools are significantly better now but many still need improvement. Most of the pain points we see today will be mitigated.

The reality is we were never going to be fully prepared - pressure is needed to show the pain points and provide strong incentives to mitigate them.

It will be incredibly interesting to watch how projects adapt under pressure. Optimistic we see great innovation here.

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_If you are willing to wait for your transaction to confirm you can pay significantly lower fees. Learn best practices for reducing your fee burden here.

My guide for running and using your own bitcoin node can be found here._

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If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ 502ab02a:a2860397

เรามาดู แลคเชอร์ประวัติศาสตร์ ที่พลิกโลกแห่งการเกษตรและอาหารของมนุษย์ชาติกันครับ เรามาดูความแยบยลที่สามารถจูงใจคนมากมายให้เห็นถึงข้อดีของเนื้อจากแลบ เขาทำได้ยังไง เรามาศึกษาการสื่อสารกันครับ

เรื่องมันเริ่มจากการประชุม World Economic Forum ปี 2015 ที่ศาสตราจารย์ Mark Post นักเภสัชวิทยาชาวดัตช์ ที่เรารู้จักกันไปแล้ว ซึ่งตอนนั้นเป็นศาสตราจารย์ด้านสรีรวิทยาของหลอดเลือดอยู่ที่ Maastricht University และเป็นผู้ร่วมก่อตั้งบริษัท Mosa Meat ได้ลุกขึ้นมาเล่าเรื่อง "เนื้อเพาะเลี้ยง" หรือ cultured meat ให้คนทั้งห้องฟัง

สิ่งที่เขาพูดมันไม่ใช่แค่นวัตกรรมใหม่ แต่คือคำเตือนที่จริงจัง ว่าถ้ามนุษย์ยังผลิตเนื้อสัตว์แบบเดิม เรากำลังวิ่งเข้าใกล้ปัญหาใหญ่ที่รออยู่ข้างหน้า

ศาสตราจารย์ Post เล่าไว้ได้น่าสนใจมาก เขาบอกว่าแค่จะได้แฮมเบอร์เกอร์ 1 ชิ้นขนาดหนึ่งในสี่ปอนด์ เราต้องใช้เมล็ดธัญพืช 7 ปอนด์ ใช้น้ำจืด 50 แกลลอน และพื้นที่ดินอีก 70 ตารางฟุต นั่นแปลว่าเรากำลังเปลี่ยนของดีในธรรมชาติ ข้าว น้ำ ดิน ไปเป็นของที่กินหมดใน 10 นาที แล้วหิวใหม่ได้ในอีกครึ่งชั่วโมง

เหตุผลก็เพราะวัวมันไม่ได้แปลงโปรตีนพืชมาเป็นเนื้อได้มีประสิทธิภาพนัก พูดอีกแบบคือ มันเปลืองเกินไป

ตอนนี้พื้นที่เพาะปลูกของโลกกว่า 70% ถูกใช้ไปในการผลิตเนื้อสัตว์ คิดดูสิว่าถ้าเราหาทางที่ดีกว่านี้ได้ เราจะมีพื้นที่ว่างกลับคืนมาแค่ไหน

แถมวัวไม่ใช่แค่กินเก่งนะ ยังปล่อยก๊าซเก่งด้วย โดยเฉพาะมีเทนที่ทำให้โลกร้อนพอๆ กับอุตสาหกรรมการขนส่งเลยทีเดียว ศาสตราจารย์ Post เล่าว่า ทุกครั้งที่เขาเห็นวัวยืนเคี้ยวหญ้า เขาไม่ได้เห็นแค่วัว...แต่เห็นเมฆก๊าซมีเทนลอยมาด้วย

และที่น่าคิดคือ เมื่อรายได้ของคนในอินเดียหรือจีนสูงขึ้น พวกเขาจะกินเนื้อเพิ่มตามรายได้ ซึ่งสถิติบอกว่าภายในปี 2050 ความต้องการเนื้อสัตว์จะเพิ่มขึ้นเป็น สองเท่า จากปัจจุบัน

แต่ศาสตราจารย์ก็ไม่ได้มองว่าเนื้อเป็นปีศาจ เขาบอกว่า มนุษย์ถูกสร้างมาให้รักเนื้อ เนื้อคือสิ่งที่มาพร้อมวิวัฒนาการ เราได้พลังงานจากมัน สมองเราใหญ่ขึ้นเพราะมัน และกลายเป็นมนุษย์เพราะมัน

แม้จะมีคนอีกกว่าสองพันล้านที่เป็นมังสวิรัติ ส่วนใหญ่อาจเพราะไม่มีทางเลือก แต่อย่างน้อยพวกเขาก็อยู่รอดได้ แต่ก็ปฏิเสธไม่ได้ว่า คนที่เคยล่า เคยกินเนื้อ จะรู้สึกตื่นเต้นทุกครั้งที่ได้แบ่งเนื้อกันบนโต๊ะ

ศาสตราจารย์ Post เองก็ยังชอบกินเนื้อ แต่เขาอยากได้เนื้อที่ได้มาจากทางเลือกที่ดีกว่า ไม่ใช่ทางที่พาโลกเข้า ICU

เนื้อเพาะเลี้ยงเริ่มจากหลักการง่ายๆ ที่เรารู้มาตั้งแต่ช่วงปี 2000 ว่า ในกล้ามเนื้อของสัตว์มี สเต็มเซลล์ รอคอยจะซ่อมแซมเนื้อเยื่อหากมันได้รับบาดเจ็บ

แค่เอาชิ้นกล้ามเนื้อเล็กๆ จากวัว ขนาดแค่ 1 ซม. x 1 มม. มาแยกสเต็มเซลล์ออกมาเลี้ยงให้ขยายตัว

เฮียว่าอันนี้น่าทึ่งมาก เพราะจากตัวอย่างเล็กๆ ชิ้นเดียว สามารถผลิตเนื้อวัวได้ถึง 10,000 กิโลกรัม เลยนะ!

แปลว่าเราสามารถลดจำนวนวัวทั้งโลกจากครึ่งพันล้านตัว เหลือแค่ประมาณ 30,000 ตัวได้เลย

และถ้าให้เซลล์กล้ามเนื้อพวกนี้อยู่ในสภาพแวดล้อมที่เหมาะสม มันก็จะเริ่มสร้างกล้ามเนื้อขึ้นมาเอง โดยเฉพาะถ้าเรากระตุ้นให้มันรู้สึกเหมือนกำลัง “ออกกำลัง” อยู่ เช่น ใส่แรงตึงเข้าไป

ทีมนักวิจัยของเขาเลี้ยงเซลล์เหล่านี้ให้เติบโตในรูปวงแหวนคล้ายโดนัท ครบ 3 สัปดาห์ กล้ามเนื้อจะเริ่มหดตัว สร้างความตึง และกลายเป็นเนื้อกล้ามเนื้อแบบเต็มตัวที่ดูไม่ต่างจากกล้ามเนื้อในสเต็กจริงๆ เลย

ปี 2013 ทีมของ Mark Post ผลิตเส้นใยกล้ามเนื้อจำนวน 10,000 เส้น เอามาทำแฮมเบอร์เกอร์ และนำไปเปิดตัวในงานแถลงข่าวที่ลอนดอน เป็นเหมือนการโชว์ทำอาหารผสมกับเปิดงานวิจัย

จุดประสงค์คือจะพิสูจน์ให้โลกเห็นว่า “เฮ้ย! สิ่งนี้ไม่ใช่แค่ไอเดียลอยๆ แต่มันทำได้จริง และจำเป็นต้องทำจริงๆ เพราะเรากำลังจะเจอวิกฤต”

ราคาแฮมเบอร์เกอร์ตอนนั้นคือ 250,000 ยูโร

มีเชฟผู้กล้าปรุง และอาสาสมัครสองคนลองชิม พวกเขาบอกว่า “ก็โอเคในฐานะเบอร์เกอร์ราคาเท่านี้ แต่ก็อยากได้รสเข้มกว่านี้หน่อย” เพราะยังไม่มีไขมัน เลยรสจืดไปหน่อย

แต่ที่สำคัญคือ พวกเขายืนยันว่า “มันคือเนื้อจริงๆ” ทั้งเนื้อสัมผัสและโครงสร้าง

แค่มีต้นแบบยังไม่พอ เพราะจะทำให้ขายได้จริง ต้องผ่านด่านสำคัญ เนื้อต้องผลิตได้โดยใช้ทรัพยากรน้อยกว่าการเลี้ยงวัวจริง การประเมินเบื้องต้นจาก University of Oxford พบว่า เนื้อเพาะเลี้ยงใช้พื้นที่น้อยลง 90% น้ำลดลง 90% พลังงานลดลง 60–70%

ทุกอย่างที่ใช้ในการเลี้ยงเซลล์ต้องมีจำนวนมากพอหรือหมุนเวียนใช้ได้ ที่น่าหนักใจคือ การเลี้ยงเซลล์ต้องใช้ “ซีรั่มจากลูกวัว” ซึ่งได้มาจากเลือดวัว ถ้าลดจำนวนวัว เราก็ไม่มีซีรั่ม แต่ตอนนี้มีงานพัฒนาไปเยอะแล้ว กำลังหาวิธีทำเซลล์กล้ามเนื้อโดยไม่ต้องพึ่งซีรั่มจากสัตว์

ไม่ใช่แค่โปรตีน แต่ต้องเป็น "เนื้อ" ในทุกความรู้สึก นักวิจัยพยายามปรับสภาพแวดล้อมการเพาะเลี้ยง เช่น ความเข้มข้นของออกซิเจน เพื่อให้เซลล์แสดงโปรตีนสำคัญ เช่น myoglobin ที่ทำให้เนื้อมีสีและรสชาติเหมือนเนื้อจริง

การยอมรับของผู้บริโภคเป็นอีกด่านสำคัญที่เนื้อเพาะเลี้ยงต้องข้ามผ่านให้ได้ ไม่ใช่แค่เรื่องรสชาติหรือคุณค่าทางโภชนาการเท่านั้น แต่ยังเป็นเรื่องของ "ใจ" ที่ต้องเปิดรับสิ่งใหม่ที่ไม่คุ้นเคย ศาสตราจารย์ Post เล่าว่า ในการสำรวจผู้บริโภคในอังกฤษและเนเธอร์แลนด์ พบว่ามีคนไม่น้อยที่ยินดีจะลองกินเนื้อเพาะเลี้ยง ถึง 52% ของชาวดัตช์ และ 60% ของชาวอังกฤษเลยทีเดียว

เขาเปรียบเทียบว่า จริงๆ แล้ว คนเรายอมกินฮอทดอกโดยไม่รู้ด้วยซ้ำว่าทำมาจากอะไร หรือผ่านอะไรมาบ้าง ขอแค่มัน "อร่อย ถูก และดูปลอดภัย" ก็เพียงพอแล้วสำหรับคนส่วนใหญ่ ดังนั้นเนื้อเพาะเลี้ยงจึงไม่ต่างกันมากนัก ขอเพียงให้คนรู้สึกว่า “กินแล้วไม่ตาย” และ “ไม่ได้แปลกจนใจฝ่อ” เท่านั้นแหละ วันหนึ่งมันก็จะกลายเป็นของธรรมดาในตู้เย็นเหมือนกับโยเกิร์ตหรือไส้กรอกนั่นเอง

ในด้านของราคา แม้จะยังไม่ถูกเท่าไส้กรอกในซูเปอร์ แต่ก็ลดลงมาไกลจากจุดเริ่มต้นแบบสุดๆ จากชิ้นต้นแบบราคา 250,000 ดอลลาร์ในปี 2013 ตอนนี้ต้นทุนลดลงมาเหลือประมาณ 65 ดอลลาร์ต่อกิโลกรัม (ยังไม่รวมเทคโนโลยีล้ำหน้าอื่นๆ ที่กำลังพัฒนาอยู่) ซึ่งก็ถือว่าอยู่ในระดับเดียวกับเนื้อวากิวหรือสเต๊กเกรดพรีเมียมเลยทีเดียว เป้าหมายคือทำให้ถูกลงอีก และผลิตได้ในระดับอุตสาหกรรมให้เพียงพอกับคนทั้งโลก ไม่ใช่ของฟุ่มเฟือยสำหรับคนรวยเท่านั้น

แต่วิสัยทัศน์ที่น่าสนใจจริงๆ คือ ภาพของอนาคตที่ศาสตราจารย์ Post วาดไว้ เขาเชื่อว่าเทคโนโลยีนี้เรียบง่ายพอที่จะขยายไปสู่ครัวเรือนหรือชุมชนเล็กๆ ได้ วันหนึ่งเราอาจได้เห็นการเพาะเลี้ยงเซลล์จากหมูที่เลี้ยงอยู่ข้างบ้าน แล้วเอาไปปั่นเป็นหมูสับแบบสดใหม่ ไม่ต้องฆ่าสัตว์ ไม่ต้องส่งโรงงาน ไม่ต้องตัดต่อพันธุกรรม แค่นั่งรอเหมือนหมักแป้งเปรี้ยว แล้วได้เนื้อสดๆ มาใส่ต้มจืด

และนั่นแหละคือ "การเปลี่ยนกรอบคิดเรื่องเนื้อสัตว์" แบบพลิกฝ่ามือ

มันจะไม่ใช่เรื่องการฆ่าอีกต่อไป ไม่ใช่เรื่องของฟาร์มกลิ่นฉี่ หรือสายพานโรงฆ่าสัตว์ มันจะเป็น "ผลิตภัณฑ์ใหม่" ที่เราสร้างได้ ควบคุมได้ และปรับแต่งได้ เช่น เพิ่มโอเมก้า 3 ในเซลล์ไขมันให้สูงขึ้น หรือทำให้เนื้อไม่มีคอเลสเตอรอลเลยก็ยังได้

แม้ศาสตราจารย์ Post จะเน้นเรื่องความมั่นคงทางอาหารและผลกระทบต่อสิ่งแวดล้อมเป็นหลัก แต่เขาก็ยอมรับว่า สำหรับคนกินทั่วๆ ไป ประเด็นที่ "ไม่มีสัตว์ต้องเจ็บปวด" จะกลายเป็นจุดขายที่สำคัญในใจของผู้บริโภค

เขาเชื่อว่า เมื่อวันนั้นมาถึง วันที่เรายืนอยู่หน้าตู้แช่ในซูเปอร์ แล้วเห็นผลิตภัณฑ์สองชิ้นวางข้างกัน — หนึ่งคือเนื้อวัวที่มาจากฟาร์ม และอีกหนึ่งคือเนื้อเพาะเลี้ยงที่ไม่เคยมีวัวต้องร้องไห้แม้แต่นิดเดียว — การตัดสินใจอาจจะไม่ง่าย แต่ "จะมีคนจำนวนมากขึ้นเรื่อยๆ ที่เลือกแบบไม่ต้องฆ่า"

เพราะสุดท้าย เราไม่ได้แค่กินเนื้อ… เรากำลังกิน “ความเชื่อ” ลงไปด้วย #pirateketo #กูต้องรู้มั๊ย #ม้วนหางสิลูก #siamstr

ใครสนใจดูคลิปก็กดตรงนี้ได้ครับ https://youtu.be/1lI9AwxKfTY?si=6CDBUl2yGBoHWc-P

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

There must be a limit to how much data is transferred across the bitcoin network in order to keep the ability to run and use your own node accessible. A node is required to interact with the global bitcoin network - if you do not use your own node then you must trust someone else's node. If nodes become inaccessible to run then the network will centralize around the remaining entities that operate them - threatening the censorship resistance at the core of bitcoin's value prop. The bitcoin protocol uses three main mechanisms to keep node operation costs low - a fixed limit on the amount of data in each block, an automatic difficulty adjustment that regulates how many blocks are produced based on current mining hash rate, and a robust dynamic transaction fee market.

Bitcoin transaction fees limit network abuse by making usage expensive. There is a cost to every transaction, set by a dynamic free market based on demand for scarce block space. It is an incredibly robust way to prevent spam without relying on centralized entities that can be corrupted or pressured.

After the 2017 bitcoin fee spike we had six years of relative quiet to build tools that would be robust in a sustained high fee market. Fortunately our tools are significantly better now but many still need improvement. Most of the pain points we see today will be mitigated.

The reality is we were never going to be fully prepared - pressure is needed to show the pain points and provide strong incentives to mitigate them.

It will be incredibly interesting to watch how projects adapt under pressure. Optimistic we see great innovation here.

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_If you are willing to wait for your transaction to confirm you can pay significantly lower fees. Learn best practices for reducing your fee burden here.

My guide for running and using your own bitcoin node can be found here._

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If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ 5391098c:74403a0e

Você trabalha 5 meses do ano somente para pagar impostos. Ou seja, 42% da sua renda serve para bancar serviços públicos de péssima qualidade. Mesmo que você tivesse a liberdade de usar esses 42% da sua renda para contratar serviços privados de qualidade (saúde, segurança e ensino), ainda assim você seria um escravo porque você recebe dinheiro em troca do seu trabalho, e o dinheiro perde cerca de 10% do valor a cada ano. Em outras palavras todo seu dinheiro que sobra depois de comprar comida, vestuário e moradia perde 100% do valor a cada 10 anos. Isso acontece porque o Estado imprime dinheiro do nada e joga na economia de propósito para gerar INFLAÇÃO e manter todos nós escravizados. Você pode deixar seu dinheiro investido em qualquer aplicação que imaginar e ainda assim nunca terá uma rentabilidade superior a inflação real. No final, acaba perdendo tudo do mesmo jeito. Caso você se ache esperto por investir o que sobra da sua renda em bens duráveis como imóveis ou veículos, sabia que esses bens também não são seus, porque se deixar de pagar os impostos desses bens (iptu, itr, ipva) você também perde tudo. Além disso, o custo de manutenção desses bens deve ser levado em consideração na conta das novas dívidas que você assumiu. No caso dos imóveis urbanos é impossível alugá-lo por mais de 0,38% do seu valor mensalmente. Em outras palavras, a cada ano você recebe menos de 5% do que investiu, tem que pagar o custo de manutenção, mais impostos e a valorização do bem nunca será superior a inflação real, também fazendo você perder quase tudo em cerca de 15 anos. A situação é ainda pior com os imóveis rurais e veículos, basta fazer as contas. Caso o dinheiro que você receba em troca do seu trabalho seja suficiente apenas para comprar comida, vestuário e moradia, você já sabe que é um escravo né?… Precisamos entender que a escravidão não acabou, apenas foi democratizada. Hoje a escravidão é financeira, nós somos os castiços e os donos do dinheiro são o senhorio. Os donos do dinheiro são os Globalistas e os Estados seus fantoches. O esquema é simples: fazer todo mundo trabalhar em troca de algo que perde 100% do valor a cada 10 anos, ou seja o dinheiro. Se você pudesse trabalhar em troca de algo que aumentasse de valor acima da inflação real a cada 10 anos você finalmente conquistaria sua liberdade financeira e deixaria de ser escravo. Pois bem, isso já é possível, e não se trata de ouro ou imóveis e sim sobre o Bitcoin, que sobe de valor mais de 100% a cada 10 anos, com a vantagem de ser inconfiscável e de fácil transferência para seus herdeiros quando você morrer, através de uma simples transação LockTime feita em vida. Portanto, mesmo que você não tenha dinheiro para comprar Bitcoin, passar a aceitar Bitcoin em troca de seus produtos e serviços é a única forma de se libertar da escravidão financeira. A carta de alforria financeira proporcionada pelo Bitcoin não é imediata, pois a velocidade da sua libertação depende do quanto você está disposto a aprender sobre o assunto. Eu estou aqui para te ajudar, caso queira. No futuro o Bitcoin estará tão presente na sua vida quanto o pix e o cartão de crédito, você querendo ou não. Assim como o cartão de crédito foi a evolução do cheque pós-datado e o pix a evolução do cartão, o Bitcoin e outras criptomoedas serão a evolução de todos esses meios de pagamento. O que te ofereço é a oportunidade de abolição da sua escravatura antes dos demais escravos acordarem para a realidade, afinal a história sempre se repete: desde o ano de 1300 a.c. a escravidão era defendida pelos próprios escravos, que mais cedo ou mais tarde, foram libertados por Moisés em êxodo 11 da Bíblia Sagrada e hoje o povo de israel se tornou a nação mais rica do mundo. A mesma história se repetiu na Roma Antiga: com o pão e circo. Da mesma forma todo esse império escravocrata ruiu porque mais cedo ou mais tarde os escravos se revoltam, bastam as coisas piorarem bastante. O atual regime de escravidão teve início com a queda do padrão-ouro para impressão do dinheiro no ano de 1944. A escravidão apenas ficou mais sofisticada, pois em vez de pagar os escravos com cerveja como no Egito Antigo ou com pão e circo como na Roma Antiga, passou-se a pagar os escravos com dinheiro sem lastro, ou seja dinheiro inventado, criado do nada, sem qualquer representação com a riqueza real da economia. Mesmo sendo a escravidão atual mais sofisticada, que deixou de ser física para ser financeira, o que torna a mentira mais bem contada, mais cedo ou mais tarde os escravos modernos irão acordar, basta as coisas piorarem mais ou perceberem que todos os bens e serviços do mundo não representam nem 1% de todo o dinheiro que impresso sem lastro. Em outras palavras, se os donos de todo o dinheiro do mundo resolvessem utilizá-lo para comprar tudo o que existe à venda, o preço do quilo do café subiria para R$ 297.306,00 e o preço médio dos imóveis subiria para um número tão grande que sequer caberia nesta folha de papel. Hoje, o dinheiro não vale nada, seus donos sabem disso e optam por entregar o dinheiro aos poucos para os escravos em troca do seu trabalho, para manter o atual regime o máximo de tempo possível. Mesmo assim, o atual regime de escravidão financeira está com os dias contados e depende de você se posicionar antes do efeito manada. Nunca é tarde para entrar no Bitcoin, mesmo ele tendo uma quantidade de emissão limitada, seu valor subirá infinitamente. A menor unidade do Bitcoin é o satoshi, cuja abreviação é sats. Diferente do centavo, cada sat vale um centésimo milionésimo de bitcoin. Hoje (25/05/25), cada unidade de Bitcoin equivale a setecentos mil reais. Logo, cada R$ 0,01 equivale à 0,007 sats. Lembrando que o centavo é um real dividido por cem e o sat é um bitcoin dividido por cem milhões, por isso ainda não existe a paridade entre 1 centavo de real e 1 sat. Essa paridade será alcançada quando um Bitcoin passar a valer um milhão de reais. Com a velocidade que nosso dinheiro está perdendo valor isso não irá demorar muito. Utilizando dados econômicos avançados, prevejo que cada unidade de Bitcoin passará a valer hum milhão de reais até o ano de 2029, assim equiparando 1 sat para cada R$ 0,01. Nesse momento, certamente muitos empresários, comerciantes e profissionais liberais passarão a aceitar o Bitcoin como forma de pagamento pelos seus produtos e serviços, assim como o cheque foi substituído pelo cartão de crédito e o cartão pelo pix. Sabendo disso, você pode entrar na onda de transição no futuro junto com a manada e perder essa alta valorização, ou passar a aceitar Bitcoin agora pelos seus produtos e serviços, assinando assim, a própria carta de alforria da sua escravidão financeira. É importante dizer que os próprios globalistas e governos estão trocando dinheiro por Bitcoin como nunca na história e mesmo que eles adquiram todos os bitcoins disponíveis, ainda assim não será mais possível manter seu regime de escravidão financeira funcionando porque a emissão de Bitcoin é limitada, sendo impossível criar Bitcoin sem lastro, como é feito com o dinheiro hoje. Com o presente artigo, te ofereço a oportunidade de conquistar seus primeiros sats agora, de forma segura e independente, sem precisar de corretoras, bancos, intermediários ou terceiros, basta você querer pois toda a informação necessária está disponível na internet gratuitamente. Se ainda assim você quiser continuar sendo escravo financeiro, depois não adiantar se arrepender quando as janelas de oportunidade se fecharem, o Drex for implantado, papel moeda restringido e sua vida piorar bastante. Importante mencionar que a Lei Brasileira ainda permite a movimentação de até R$ 30.000,00 em Bitcoin por mês sem a necessidade de declaração à Receita Federal e que esse direito pode deixar de existir a qualquer momento, e que quando o Drex for implantado você perderá diversos outros direitos, dentre ele a liberdade de gastar seu dinheiro como quiser e o sigilo. Ofereço ainda, a oportunidade de você baixar uma carteira de Bitcoin gratuita e segura no seu aparelho de celular que funciona de forma semelhante a um banco digital como Nubank e Pagseguro por exemplo, para poder começar à receber Bitcoin pelos seus produtos e serviços agora, de forma fácil e gratuita. Utilizando o qrcode abaixo você ainda ganha alguns sats de graça, promoção válida até o dia 29/05/25 e patrocinada pela Corretora Blink de El Salvador, onde o Bitcoin já é moeda oficial do país, basta acessar o link e instalar o aplicativo: https://get.blink.sv/btcvale

Aviso: disponibilizei o link da carteira de Bitcoin da Corretora Blink apenas como exemplo de como é fácil aceitar Bitcoin como forma de pagamento pelos seus produtos e serviços. Não recomento depender de qualquer corretora para guardar seus valores em Bitcoin. A melhor forma de fazer isso é mantendo dois computadores ou notebook em casa, um conectado à internet com memória em disco disponível de 1 terabyte ou mais para armazenar e visualizar suas transações e outro computador ou notebook desconectado da internet para armazenar suas senhas e chaves privadas para assinar as transações via pendrive. Somente assim você estará 100% livre e seguro. Importante ainda fazer backup em vários CDs com criptografia do seu computador ou notebook que assina as transações, assim também ficando 100% livre e seguro para restaurar sua carteira em qualquer outro computador caso necessário. Todas as instruções de como fazer isso já estão disponíveis gratuitamente na internet. Caso deseje contratar uma consultoria pessoal que inclui aulas particulares por vídeo conferência, onde você aprenderá:

→ Tudo o que precisa saber sobre Bitcoin e demais criptomoedas; → Sistema operacional Linux; → Como instalar sua carteira de Bitcoin em dois computadores para assinaturas air gapped; → Se manter 100% livre e seguro. → Com carga horária à combinar conforme sua disponibilidade.

O custo do investimento pelo meu serviço individual para esse tipo de consultoria é de 204.000 sats (R$ 1.543,46 na cotação atual) valor válido até 31/07/25, interessados entrar em contato por aqui ou através da Matrix: @davipinheiro:matrix.org https://davipinheiro.com/voce-e-escravo-e-nem-sabe-eu-vou-te-provar-agora/

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Human Rights Foundation Donates 800 Million Satoshis To 22 Worldwide Bitcoin And Freedom Projects

Today, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) announced its most recent round of Bitcoin Development Fund grants, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine.

800 million satoshis (8 BTC) currently worth over $874,000 at the time of writing, is being granted across 22 different projects around the world focusing on open-source development, educational initiatives, Bitcoin mining decentralization, and privacy tools for human rights advocates living under authoritarian regimes. The main areas of focus for these grants center around Latin America, Africa, and Asia

While the HRF did not disclose how much money each project is receiving specifically, the following 22 projects are the recipients of today’s round of grants worth 8 BTC, or 800 billion satoshis, in total:

Mostro

In authoritarian regimes, centralized exchanges enforce strict identity verification and frequently freeze user accounts. In these environments, Mostro, a peer-to-peer exchange built on the decentralized nostr protocol, provides a private and censorship-resistant way to access Bitcoin. It enables human rights defenders and ordinary citizens to transact freely. With HRF support, developer Catrya will improve Mostro’s usability to better serve dissidents seeking financial freedom.

SudaBit

As war and hyperinflation devastate Sudan, traditional banks and remittance systems have collapsed. Millions of Sudanese are left without reliable ways to save, send, or receive money. SudaBit, under development by Sudan Hodl, is the country’s first private Bitcoin on- and off-ramp, providing a critical financial lifeline where few options remain. With HRF support, SudaBit will allow everyday Sudanese to access permissionless, self-custodial Bitcoin directly from their local currency while at the same time building a vital financial infrastructure amid a humanitarian and monetary crisis.

Stringer News

Authoritarian regimes silence independent media to control public narratives and suppress dissent. Stringer News, an open media platform founded by war reporter and author Anjan Sundaram, uses Bitcoin and nostr to help reporters and human rights defenders publish without fear of censorship. By bypassing traditional publishing gatekeepers, it ensures critical reporting reaches global audiences — even from the depths of autocratic regimes. With HRF support, Stringer News is amplifying the voices of frontline journalists and protecting the flow of truth under dictatorship.

Prices Today

As Vladimir Putin wages war against Ukraine, it hides the economic pain at home. Prices Today is a project launched by the Anti-Corruption Foundation that tracks rising prices across essential goods and services in the country and publishes the data on an open, accessible website. The project helps Russians see through state propaganda and confront the hidden financial toll of Putin’s war. With this grant, Prices Today will expand its tools and research to expose the true cost of war and challenge the Kremlin’s narrative.

Instamouse for Bitcoin and Lightning

Contributing to Bitcoin’s codebase may require specialized tools and complex setup — barriers for developers in resource-limited environments. Instamouse, created by software developer Bryan Bishop (kanzure), is breaking down those barriers with a browser-based environment for open-source Bitcoin development. By reducing hardware requirements and simplifying access, it opens the door to a more inclusive environment that allows more people around the world to contribute to Bitcoin. With this grant, Instamouse will help keep Bitcoin’s development truly permissionless. 

Seedsigner

Most commercial hardware wallets can be expensive, proprietary, and traceable. This poses barriers to self-custody for dissidents in weak economies or surveillant regimes. Seedsigner is a fully customizable, DIY Bitcoin hardware wallet that anyone can build using affordable, off-the-shelf components. It offers dissidents a discreet, low-cost way to secure their Bitcoin. HRF funding for lead developer Keith Mukai will expand language support across Europe, Asia, and beyond, as well as ongoing feature development and mentoring of new contributors. 

Spacebear’s Contributions to Payjoin

Bitcoin enables human rights defenders to receive unstoppable payments. But making those payments private is the next critical step. Payjoin is a technique that lets senders and receivers batch Bitcoin transactions, breaking common chain analysis heuristics and improving default privacy. This is vital for activists in surveillance states who urgently need financial privacy without drawing attention. With HRF support, developer spacebear is advancing Payjoin to make privacy the default on Bitcoin and protect civil societies under tyranny.

Padawan Wallet

When authoritarian regimes devalue currencies or impose capital controls, people often turn to Bitcoin. But without experience, many struggle to use it safely. Padawan Wallet, a free, open-source mobile app by developer thunderbiscuit, helps bridge that gap. It uses Bitcoin test network coins to simulate real payments in a risk-free environment. It lets users practice making transactions, secure their wallets, and explore saving without risking real funds. With HRF support, Padawan will launch on iOS, expanding access to safe, hands-on Bitcoin learning for millions facing financial uncertainty.

Brink

Without ongoing support for Bitcoin development and its contributors, the network risks slower innovation, greater centralization, and long-term security challenges. Brink, a nonprofit organization led by Executive Director Mike Schmidt, addresses this by funding and mentoring open-source developers working on Bitcoin’s software infrastructure. Through grants and fellowships, Brink helps keep the protocol secure, decentralized, and freely accessible. With this grant, Brink will further strengthen the foundation that makes Bitcoin a tool for financial freedom.

Coin Center

As dictators increasingly treat code as a crime, open-source developers face sanctions, lawsuits, and mounting legal threats. Coin Center, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization led by Director of Research Peter Van Valkenburgh, defends the right to build and use open digital asset networks like Bitcoin. It advances policy analysis, supports strategic litigation, and educates lawmakers to protect freedom-preserving technologies. With HRF support, Coin Center will continue shaping a global legal environment where vital tools can be built for human rights defenders at risk.

Bitcoin Design Foundation

Poor user experience is a major barrier to Bitcoin adoption. Inconsistent wallet experiences and steep learning curves can deter new users, especially in high-risk environments. The Bitcoin Design Foundation is a nonprofit founded by UI designers Christoph Ono, Mogashni Naidoo, and Daniel Nordh that addresses this by funding open-source design, UX research, and community initiatives to make Bitcoin products more intuitive. With HRF support, the foundation will expand its grant and education programs to keep usability a priority and ensure Bitcoin remains open to all. 

EmberOne

Bitcoin mining is dominated by a few companies producing closed, proprietary hardware — threatening the network’s resilience and accessibility. The 256 Foundation is a nonprofit working to change that. Building on the open-source Bitaxe project, EmberOne produces modular, open-source mining hardware that is simple, affordable, and open to anyone — especially those living under repressive regimes. With HRF support, EmberOne will lower entry barriers and help disrupt the proprietary ecosystem, making Bitcoin mining more accessible for those in closed societies.

2025 FROST Developer Support

For nonprofits operating under authoritarian rule, securing Bitcoin is critical for survival. If private keys (which control access to bitcoin) are compromised, funds can be seized and movements dismantled. Blockchain Commons is a nonprofit supporting the development of FROST (Flexible Round-Optimized Schnorr Threshold Signature), a protocol that strengthens multisignature wallets (bitcoin wallets with multiple private keys) by making them more secure, private, and flexible for shared custody. With this grant, Blockchain Commons will help build critical infrastructure to keep civil society groups operational and financially resilient under dictatorships. 

Ecash UX Improvement Project

Ecash enables

@ c1e6505c:02b3157e

I spent Memorial Day swimming in the local river - something I try to do at least four times a week. It’s the best form of exercise imo, but it’s more than that. Swimming against the tide, feeling the water move around me... there’s something about it that keeps me grounded. Nature at her peak.

Today I brought my X-Pro2 with the 1959 Leica Summaron 35mm f/2.8. I'm still testing the lens wide open to get a feel for its character. My subject this time: the light playing on the ripples and waves.

While I was shooting, a kid randomly ran up to me and started telling me something about what he got for his dad while fishing, or something - I didn’t quite hear him - and then he asked what I was looking at. I told him, “The ripples. The way the light is refracting.” I had him sit exactly where I was so he could see it too.

He lit up. You could tell no one had ever pointed something like that out to him before. In that moment, I felt like maybe I was able to plant a little seed - a new way of seeing.

This is what I was looking at.

@ a19caaa8:88985eaf

インターネット、だいすき！

---

レスバって？

• たのしさ（ちゃぴにきく）

ちがい

• タイプもきく？それはダルい？

さけるには

• ちゃぴにきく

“思い遣る”のと“邪推する”のは違う

• でもそう捉えたんだから仕方ないじゃん（自分の気持ちも大事にする）（バランス）（またあ？）
• 「意見単体」として見ているか、「そのひとから発された言葉」として見ているかの違い？

• 自分の理想をひとに押し付けない

• それはそれとして、社会に疲れて深く潜りにきて、同じように深いとこに居るひとと手を振り合ったり、そのあり方を見て吸収したりしたいのに、バトルに巻き込まれるの、不憫すぎる

• インスタくんはえらいなあ、「このひとにストーリーズを表示しない」ができて
• 自分はそんなつもり無くても、始まってしまった以上、責任がある気がしてしまって、相手がどうして欲しいかを考え始めてしまい、消耗する
• 社会じゃん
• EなのにEしづらい環境のひとたちの捌け口になる必要は無い
• 海は広い

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Nostr is an open communication protocol that can be used to send messages across a distributed set of relays in a censorship resistant and robust way.

---

If you missed my nostr introduction post you can find it here. My nostr account can be found here.

---

We are nearly at the point that if something interesting is posted on a centralized social platform it will usually be posted by someone to nostr.

We are nearly at the point that if something interesting is posted exclusively to nostr it is cross posted by someone to various centralized social platforms.

We are nearly at the point that you can recommend a cross platform app that users can install and easily onboard without additional guides or resources.

As companies continue to build walls around their centralized platforms nostr posts will be the easiest to cross reference and verify - as companies continue to censor their users nostr is the best censorship resistant alternative - gradually then suddenly nostr will become the standard. 🫡

Current Nostr Stats

---

If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ 048ecb14:7c28ac78

I recently set up a Raspberry Pi camera server that's so minimal and straightforward, I thought it was worth sharing. This isn't one of those over-engineered solutions with fancy features - it's just a basic, reliable camera feed accessible from any browser on my local network.

The Goal

I wanted something that: 1. Starts automatically when the Pi boots up 2. Captures images at regular intervals 3. Shows the latest image in a simple web page accessible from any device 4. Doesn't require complex setup or dependencies 5. Uses minimal resources on my old Raspberry Pi

The Hardware

Nothing fancy here: - Raspberry Pi 2B (yes, the ancient one from 2015!) - Raspberry Pi Camera Module (standard version) - Power supply - That's it!

The Result

The interface is minimal but does the job. It shows the latest image and auto-refreshes every couple of seconds.

How to Get Set Up

Getting this running on your own Pi is super simple:

1. Make sure your camera module is connected and enabled bash sudo raspi-config # Navigate to Interface Options > Camera and enable it

2. Install the only dependency, ImageMagick (for rotation) bash sudo apt update sudo apt install imagemagick

3. Clone the repository, and navigate to the implementation's directory bash git clone https://github.com/rewolf/RpiCameraViewer cd simple

4. Start the camera server bash ./start_camera_server.sh

5. Access the feed from any device on your network http://your-pi-ip-address:8080

That's it! No complex configuration, no fancy dependencies.

For more details consider reading the README

To make it start automatically on boot:

Add the following, with your specific installation path ```bash crontab -e

Add this line:

@reboot cd /path/to/RpiCameraViewer/simple && ./start_camera_server.sh ```

Configuration

There's not much configuration, but you can tweak few variables at the top of the capture.sh file to modify width, height, rotation, quality, etc:

bash QUALITY=90 WIDTH=720 HEIGHT=1280 ROTATION=90 # Set to 0 to disable rotation

How It Works

The solution is very basic:

1. A bash script (capture.sh) captures photos every few seconds by running libcamera-still and sending a SIGUSR1 interrupt to signal it to capture a snapshot
2. The snapshot is rotated as needed with ImageMagick and saved with timestamps
3. A symbolic link is updated to point to the latest image
4. A minimal Python HTTP server serves a basic webpage showing the current image (the symlink), rendered to an HTML canvas

Note it does expose that directory to the whole LAN on :8080.

---

Give it a try if you need something like that quickly.

I have a plan to make a better implementation planned at some point, but for now this will do.

@ 5391098c:74403a0e

Você trabalha 5 meses do ano somente para pagar impostos. Ou seja, 42% da sua renda serve para bancar serviços públicos de péssima qualidade. Mesmo que você tivesse a liberdade de usar esses 42% da sua renda para contratar serviços privados de qualidade (saúde, segurança e ensino), ainda assim você seria um escravo porque você recebe dinheiro em troca do seu trabalho, e o dinheiro perde cerca de 10% do valor a cada ano. Em outras palavras todo seu dinheiro que sobra depois de comprar comida, vestuário e moradia perde 100% do valor a cada 10 anos. Isso acontece porque o Estado imprime dinheiro do nada e joga na economia de propósito para gerar INFLAÇÃO e manter todos nós escravizados. Você pode deixar seu dinheiro investido em qualquer aplicação que imaginar e ainda assim nunca terá uma rentabilidade superior a inflação real. No final, acaba perdendo tudo do mesmo jeito. Caso você se ache esperto por investir o que sobra da sua renda em bens duráveis como imóveis ou veículos, sabia que esses bens também não são seus, porque se deixar de pagar os impostos desses bens (iptu, itr, ipva) você também perde tudo. Além disso, o custo de manutenção desses bens deve ser levado em consideração na conta das novas dívidas que você assumiu. No caso dos imóveis urbanos é impossível alugá-lo por mais de 0,38% do seu valor mensalmente. Em outras palavras, a cada ano você recebe menos de 5% do que investiu, tem que pagar o custo de manutenção, mais impostos e a valorização do bem nunca será superior a inflação real, também fazendo você perder quase tudo em cerca de 15 anos. A situação é ainda pior com os imóveis rurais e veículos, basta fazer as contas. Caso o dinheiro que você receba em troca do seu trabalho seja suficiente apenas para comprar comida, vestuário e moradia, você já sabe que é um escravo né?… Precisamos entender que a escravidão não acabou, apenas foi democratizada. Hoje a escravidão é financeira, nós somos os castiços e os donos do dinheiro são o senhorio. Os donos do dinheiro são os Globalistas e os Estados seus fantoches. O esquema é simples: fazer todo mundo trabalhar em troca de algo que perde 100% do valor a cada 10 anos, ou seja o dinheiro. Se você pudesse trabalhar em troca de algo que aumentasse de valor acima da inflação real a cada 10 anos você finalmente conquistaria sua liberdade financeira e deixaria de ser escravo. Pois bem, isso já é possível, e não se trata de ouro ou imóveis e sim sobre o Bitcoin, que sobe de valor mais de 100% a cada 10 anos, com a vantagem de ser inconfiscável e de fácil transferência para seus herdeiros quando você morrer, através de uma simples transação LockTime feita em vida. Portanto, mesmo que você não tenha dinheiro para comprar Bitcoin, passar a aceitar Bitcoin em troca de seus produtos e serviços é a única forma de se libertar da escravidão financeira. A carta de alforria financeira proporcionada pelo Bitcoin não é imediata, pois a velocidade da sua libertação depende do quanto você está disposto a aprender sobre o assunto. Eu estou aqui para te ajudar, caso queira. No futuro o Bitcoin estará tão presente na sua vida quanto o pix e o cartão de crédito, você querendo ou não. Assim como o cartão de crédito foi a evolução do cheque pós-datado e o pix a evolução do cartão, o Bitcoin e outras criptomoedas serão a evolução de todos esses meios de pagamento. O que te ofereço é a oportunidade de abolição da sua escravatura antes dos demais escravos acordarem para a realidade, afinal a história sempre se repete: desde o ano de 1300 a.c. a escravidão era defendida pelos próprios escravos, que mais cedo ou mais tarde, foram libertados por Moisés em êxodo 11 da Bíblia Sagrada e hoje o povo de israel se tornou a nação mais rica do mundo. A mesma história se repetiu na Roma Antiga: com o pão e circo. Da mesma forma todo esse império escravocrata ruiu porque mais cedo ou mais tarde os escravos se revoltam, bastam as coisas piorarem bastante. O atual regime de escravidão teve início com a queda do padrão-ouro para impressão do dinheiro no ano de 1944. A escravidão apenas ficou mais sofisticada, pois em vez de pagar os escravos com cerveja como no Egito Antigo ou com pão e circo como na Roma Antiga, passou-se a pagar os escravos com dinheiro sem lastro, ou seja dinheiro inventado, criado do nada, sem qualquer representação com a riqueza real da economia. Mesmo sendo a escravidão atual mais sofisticada, que deixou de ser física para ser financeira, o que torna a mentira mais bem contada, mais cedo ou mais tarde os escravos modernos irão acordar, basta as coisas piorarem mais ou perceberem que todos os bens e serviços do mundo não representam nem 1% de todo o dinheiro que impresso sem lastro. Em outras palavras, se os donos de todo o dinheiro do mundo resolvessem utilizá-lo para comprar tudo o que existe à venda, o preço do quilo do café subiria para R$ 297.306,00 e o preço médio dos imóveis subiria para um número tão grande que sequer caberia nesta folha de papel. Hoje, o dinheiro não vale nada, seus donos sabem disso e optam por entregar o dinheiro aos poucos para os escravos em troca do seu trabalho, para manter o atual regime o máximo de tempo possível. Mesmo assim, o atual regime de escravidão financeira está com os dias contados e depende de você se posicionar antes do efeito manada. Nunca é tarde para entrar no Bitcoin, mesmo ele tendo uma quantidade de emissão limitada, seu valor subirá infinitamente. A menor unidade do Bitcoin é o satoshi, cuja abreviação é sats. Diferente do centavo, cada sat vale um centésimo milionésimo de bitcoin. Hoje (25/05/25), cada unidade de Bitcoin equivale a setecentos mil reais. Logo, cada R$ 0,01 equivale à 0,007 sats. Lembrando que o centavo é um real dividido por cem e o sat é um bitcoin dividido por cem milhões, por isso ainda não existe a paridade entre 1 centavo de real e 1 sat. Essa paridade será alcançada quando um Bitcoin passar a valer um milhão de reais. Com a velocidade que nosso dinheiro está perdendo valor isso não irá demorar muito. Utilizando dados econômicos avançados, prevejo que cada unidade de Bitcoin passará a valer hum milhão de reais até o ano de 2029, assim equiparando 1 sat para cada R$ 0,01. Nesse momento, certamente muitos empresários, comerciantes e profissionais liberais passarão a aceitar o Bitcoin como forma de pagamento pelos seus produtos e serviços, assim como o cheque foi substituído pelo cartão de crédito e o cartão pelo pix. Sabendo disso, você pode entrar na onda de transição no futuro junto com a manada e perder essa alta valorização, ou passar a aceitar Bitcoin agora pelos seus produtos e serviços, assinando assim, a própria carta de alforria da sua escravidão financeira. É importante dizer que os próprios globalistas e governos estão trocando dinheiro por Bitcoin como nunca na história e mesmo que eles adquiram todos os bitcoins disponíveis, ainda assim não será mais possível manter seu regime de escravidão financeira funcionando porque a emissão de Bitcoin é limitada, sendo impossível criar Bitcoin sem lastro, como é feito com o dinheiro hoje. Com o presente artigo, te ofereço a oportunidade de conquistar seus primeiros sats agora, de forma segura e independente, sem precisar de corretoras, bancos, intermediários ou terceiros, basta você querer pois toda a informação necessária está disponível na internet gratuitamente. Se ainda assim você quiser continuar sendo escravo financeiro, depois não adiantar se arrepender quando as janelas de oportunidade se fecharem, o Drex for implantado, papel moeda restringido e sua vida piorar bastante. Importante mencionar que a Lei Brasileira ainda permite a movimentação de até R$ 30.000,00 em Bitcoin por mês sem a necessidade de declaração à Receita Federal e que esse direito pode deixar de existir a qualquer momento, e que quando o Drex for implantado você perderá diversos outros direitos, dentre ele a liberdade de gastar seu dinheiro como quiser e o sigilo. Ofereço ainda, a oportunidade de você baixar uma carteira de Bitcoin gratuita e segura no seu aparelho de celular que funciona de forma semelhante a um banco digital como Nubank e Pagseguro por exemplo, para poder começar à receber Bitcoin pelos seus produtos e serviços agora, de forma fácil e gratuita. Utilizando o qrcode abaixo você ainda ganha alguns sats de graça, promoção válida até o dia 29/05/25 e patrocinada pela Corretora Blink de El Salvador, onde o Bitcoin já é moeda oficial do país, basta acessar o link e instalar o aplicativo: https://get.blink.sv/btcvale

Aviso: disponibilizei o link da carteira de Bitcoin da Corretora Blink apenas como exemplo de como é fácil aceitar Bitcoin como forma de pagamento pelos seus produtos e serviços. Não recomento depender de qualquer corretora para guardar seus valores em Bitcoin. A melhor forma de fazer isso é mantendo dois computadores ou notebook em casa, um conectado à internet com memória em disco disponível de 1 terabyte ou mais para armazenar e visualizar suas transações e outro computador ou notebook desconectado da internet para armazenar suas senhas e chaves privadas para assinar as transações via pendrive. Somente assim você estará 100% livre e seguro. Importante ainda fazer backup em vários CDs com criptografia do seu computador ou notebook que assina as transações, assim também ficando 100% livre e seguro para restaurar sua carteira em qualquer outro computador caso necessário. Todas as instruções de como fazer isso já estão disponíveis gratuitamente na internet. Caso deseje contratar uma consultoria pessoal que inclui aulas particulares por vídeo conferência, onde você aprenderá:

→ Tudo o que precisa saber sobre Bitcoin e demais criptomoedas; → Sistema operacional Linux; → Como instalar sua carteira de Bitcoin em dois computadores para assinaturas air gapped; → Se manter 100% livre e seguro. → Com carga horária à combinar conforme sua disponibilidade.

O custo do investimento pelo meu serviço individual para esse tipo de consultoria é de 204.000 sats (R$ 1.543,46 na cotação atual) valor válido até 31/07/25, interessados entrar em contato por aqui ou através da Matrix: @davipinheiro:matrix.org https://davipinheiro.com/voce-e-escravo-e-nem-sabe-eu-vou-te-provar-agora/

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

After almost 3 months of work, we've completed the redesign of kycnot.me. More modern and with many new features.

Privacy remains the foundation - everything still works with JavaScript disabled. If you enable JS, you will get some nice-to-have features like lazy loading and smoother page transitions, but nothing essential requires it.

User Accounts

We've introduced user accounts that require zero personal information:

• Secret user tokens - no email, no phone number, no personal data
• Randomly generated usernames for default privacy and fairness
• Karma system that rewards contributions and unlocks features: custom display names, profile pictures, and more.

Reviews and Community Discussions

On the previous sites, I was using third party open source tools for the comments and discussions. This time, I've built my own from scratch, fully integrated into the site, without JavaScript requirements.

Everyone can share their experiences and help others make informed decisions:

• Ratings: Comments can have a 1-5 star rating attached. You can have one rating per service and it will affect the overall user score.
• Discussions: These are normal comments, you can add them on any listed service.

Comment Moderation

I was strugling to keep up with moderation on the old site. For this, we've implemented an AI-powered moderation system that:

• Auto-approves legitimate comments instantly
• Flags suspicious content for human review
• Keeps discussions valuable by minimizing spam

The AI still can mark comments for human review, but most comments will get approved automatically by this system. The AI also makes summaries of the comments to help you understand the overall sentiment of the community.

Powerful Search & Filtering

Finding exactly what you need is now easier:

• Advanced filtering system with many parameters. You can even filter by attributes to pinpoint services with specific features.

The results are dynamic and shuffle services with identical scores for fairness.

See all listings

Listings are now added as 'Community Contributed' by default. This means that you can still find them in the search results, but they will be clearly marked as such.

Updated Scoring System

New dual-score approach provides more nuanced service evaluations:

• Privacy Score: Measures how well a service protects your personal information and data

• Trust Score: Assesses reliability, security, and overall reputation

• Combined into a weighted Overall Score for quick comparisons

• Completely transparent and open source calculation algorithm. No manual tweaking or hidden factors.

AI-Powered Terms of Service Analysis

Basically, a TLDR summary for Terms of Service:

• Automated system extracts the most important points from complex ToS documents
• Clear summaries
• Updated monthly to catch any changes

The ToS document is hashed and only will be updated if there are any changes.

Service Events and Timelines

Track the complete history of any service, on each service page you can see the timeline of events. There are two types of events:

• Automatic events: Created by the system whenever something about a service changes, like its description, supported currencies, attributes, verification status…
• Manual events: Added by admins when there’s important news, such as a service going offline, being hacked, acquired, shut down, or other major updates.

There is also a global timeline view available at /events

Notification System

Since we now have user accounts, we built a notifiaction system so you can stay informed about anything:

• Notifications for comment replies and status changes
• Watch any comment to get notified for new replies.
• Subscribe to services to monitor events and updates
• Notification customization.

Coming soon: Third-party privacy-preserving notifications integration with Telegram, Ntfy.sh, webhooks...

Service Suggestions

Anyone with an account can suggest a new service via the suggestion form. After submitting, you'll receive a tracking page where you can follow the status of your suggestion and communicate directly with admins.

All new suggestions start as "unlisted" — they won't appear in search results until reviewed. Our team checks each submission to ensure it's not spam or inappropriate. If similar services already exist, you'll be shown possible duplicates and can choose to submit your suggestion as an edit instead.

You can always check the progress of your suggestion, respond to moderator questions, and see when it goes live, everything will also be notified to your account. This process ensures high-quality listings and a collaborative approach to building the directory.

---

These are some of the main features we already have, but there are many more small changes and improvements that you will find when using the site.

What's Next?

This is just the beginning. We will be constantly working to improve KYCnot.me and add more features that help you preserve your privacy.

Remember: True financial freedom requires the right to privacy. Stay KYC-free!

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Mayor Eric Adams Announced New York City Will Issue a Bit Bond

At the 2025 Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, the Mayor of New York City Eric Adams announced that New York City will issue a Bit Bond.

Eric Adams started by connecting the American flag to Bitcoin commenting, “just as our flag still flies, Bitcoin is going to continue to fly in our country.” Later on he mentioned, “New York City is going to lead the way. We are going to be the leader because we know the power of innovation and what innovation has to offer.”

BREAKING: NYC Mayor Eric Adams plans to issue Bit Bond for New York. #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/loESV4UJYf

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 28, 2025

“These conferences are crucial and when we held our summit in New York a few weeks ago,” said Adam. “We held it with a clear focus that it is time for you no longer to go through the lawfare that you went through and had to flee our city. New York is the empire state. We don’t break empires, we build empires.”

Adams called back everyone that left New York because of their overregulation of Bitcoin and Crypto.

“Come back home you have a mayor that is the crypto mayor, is the Bitcoin mayor and I want you back in the city of New York,” stated Adam. “Where you won’t be attacked and criminalized. Let’s get rid of the Bitcoin license and allow us to free flow of Bitcoin in our city.”

Then Adam commented, “it’s time for the first time in the history of this city to have a financial instrument that is made for those who are holders of Bitcoin. I believe we need to have a Bit Bond and I am going to push and fight to get a Bit Bond in New York.”

Adams closed his speech by saying, “We are going to use Bitcoin blockchain for our birth certificates. We are going to use Bitcoin to pay off fines and taxes. We are going to allow our young people to understand what it is to be part of this industry, but we need you on the ground.”

This post Mayor Eric Adams Announced New York City Will Issue a Bit Bond first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 21810ca8:f2e8341e

Ich bin neu bei Nostr und versuche mich hier rein zu fuchsen. Kann das einer sehen? Und dann habe ich noch viele Fragen

Gibt es gute Marktplätze wie ebay oder ebay kleinanzeigen wo man stink normale dinge und kram von zuhause gegen sat verkaufen kann.

@ cc31c8fe:4b7c54fd

== January 17 2025

Out From Underneath | Prism Shores

crazy arms | pigeon pit

Humanhood | The Weather Station

== february 07 2025

Wish Defense | FACS

Sayan - Savoie | Maria Teriaeva

Nowhere Near Today | Midding

== february 14 2025

Phonetics On and On | Horsegirl

== february 21 2025

Finding Our Balance | Tsoh Tso

Machine Starts To Sing | Porridge Radio

Armageddon In A Summer Dress | Sunny Wa

== february 28 2025

you, infinite | you, infinite

On Being | Max Cooper

Billboard Heart | Deep Sea Diver

== March 21 2025

Watermelon/Peacock | Exploding Flowers

Warlord of the Weejuns | Goya Gumbani

== March 28 2025

Little Death Wishes | CocoRosie

Forever is a Feeling | Lucy Dacus

Evenfall | Sam Akpro

== April 4 2025

Tripla | Miki Berenyi Trio

Adagio | Σtella

The Fork | Oscar Jerome

== April 18 2025

Send A Prayer My Way | Julien Baker & TORRES

Superheaven | Superheaven

Thee Black Boltz | Tunde Adebimpe

from brooklyvegan

== April 25 2025

Face Down In The Garden |Tennis

Under Tangled Silence | Djrum

Viagr Aboys |Viagra Boys

Blurring Time | Bells Larsen

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Humanity's Natural State Is Chaos
Without order there is chaos. Humans competing with each other for scarce resources naturally leads to conflict until one group achieves significant power and instates a "monopoly on violence."

Power Brings Stability
Power has always been the key means to achieve stability in societies. Centralized power can be incredibly effective in addressing issues such as crime, poverty, and social unrest efficiently. Unfortunately this power is often abused and corrupted.

Centralized Power Breeds Tyranny
Centralized power often leads to tyrannical rule. When a select few individuals hold control over a society, they tend to become corrupted. Centralized power structures often lack accountability and transparency, and rely too heavily on trust.

Distributed Power Cultivates Freedom
New technology that empowers individuals provide us the ability to rebuild societies from the bottom up. Strong individuals that can defend and provide for themselves will help build strong local communities on a similar foundation. The result is power being distributed throughout society rather than held by a select few.

In the short term, relying on trust and centralized power is an easy answer to mitigating chaos, but freedom tech tools provide us the ability to build on top of much stronger distributed foundations that provide stability while also cultivating individual freedom.

The solution starts with us. Empower yourself. Empower others. A grassroots freedom tech movement scaling one person at a time.

---

If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ e9d7ed6f:f52b3346

I'd like to toss it off by thanking you my reader, friends, associates, strangers, bitcoiners, cryptonaires, economists, and critics from all walks of life for granting me this opportunity to write to you. yeah?...

Is that readable? Is there enough ink in this pen to write? Let me squash and develop a fresh script!

Okay now, that was one heck of a disaster introduction my friends.

That's not even the way Satoshi introduced his White paper back in 2008, or rather mined his first block. So dear reader, lets pretend this introduction never happened lets give it one more kick start.

Alright we are set so here we go...

Flavatos, Gateway Mall, the left ventricle of Lilongwe's heart, Malawi is where the aroma of a fresh bitcoin pizza sent waves of spattering energy, broadcasting to all nodes over the bitcoin network. Pizza crums spread over the table, folks and knives faced opposite directions, tomato sauce on the white plate had contours of pizza passage, a half baked joke & its laughter could be heard by passersby's heading inside the mall. It was chilly Saturday afternoon from outside but the soft drinks were a must to soften the well baked fragments of pizza which were being churned. All thanks to Larszlo Keyckenes. Phones where right on the table as the photographer snapped every detail of moment with his camera, trying to paint a bitcoin Monalisa, innocence was in the youthful energetic bitcoiners who filled left to right seats in pairs. Three tables were joined together making a table tennis appear short, but the waitress had to check for any empty slot to squeeze a chair in. We were twenty three with the expection of thirty but the space was just plentiful.

Flavatos was ready and set. The waitress again, with a smile of welcoming a guest whispered right besides where i was standing that the pizza is ready, but i had to HODL for a moment, we were just setting up the laptop which we would use to connect & listen to a presentation by John Miller, a distant relative and a bitcoiner we had talked of for weeks. As if am very good at analysing charts, the looks of the faces were eagerly waiting and i when i looked on my wrist i realised we didn't have much more time other than to start off, so i clapped my hands to capture everyones attention. I was excited to welcome all & really appreciate for sparing their time to come.

There was buzz in the atmosphere, all eyes glued to me as i thanked the cofounder Grant for pulling the strings, in our presence we had the cofounder of women of Satoshi Yankho who i was facing directly to my right hand side and threw me sparkle of acknowledgement, i couldn't forget & sweep under the mat, John Miller sponsor for the Bitcoin Pizza who is currently in the US & was waiting to deliver a speech on this very moment. All started off in the right order, my stomach tuned as my brain signaled the pizza image, sending tickling hunger sensation, so not to keep everyone waiting longer, i handed it over to Grant who quickly threw like free shot on the free throw line. There was genuine appreciation and he set the floor ready for John Miller to grace and unwrap the Pizza. When John took on the google meet space, we all fixed to our phones, eager to see John who was seven hours away from us, about two or three plane tickets to get where he was physically located. John delivered a twenty minute presentation that would make a fresh graduate take off his hat and really consider what they did the last four years of their university. There was a lot of knowledge on his presentation, highlighting the eminent nails to the coffin for US dollar, the chart and numbers didn't lie when he displayed how the purchasing power of the dollar has declined since 1971 post detachment from gold. He spoke with authority on why bitcoin, how Bitcoiners should continue orange pilling and detoxing all the pool of confusion of the current FIAT sytem. It was listening to wisdom of an old man, giving the torch to the young ones. The waitress had brought to the table clean white plates with some folks wrapped in a white napkin tissue that appeared so white as Satoshi's white paper. In no time the pizza was ready to bona petite, John wrapped up in a cousy style by saying, "keep stacking Sats and avoiding shitcoins. The attendees were in pairs and hands were rubbing, contemplating of how the first bite would feel. The enzymes were ready to digest. The next host, who happens to be the writer of this article had to take the floor and give short remarks to thank John, Grant and everyone. I saw the pizza being cut into slices, whilst others took sips of their favorite soft drinks, there were smiles from left to right check. The sound chewing was amplified, triggering my ear drums to some vibe. This was was a big family reunion. My signal for speaking almost went off as the aroma teased the mind, i saw the bubble from the fanta bottle float up but i was mature to handled the temper of my hunger. As the pizza halvening was going on, I reminded of how significant this moment was when Larszlo Heykens first made an offer of 10,000 BTC & how it signified use case of bitcoin as a medium of exchange and a resort of finality between two counterparts without any middleman. It surely was moment that reminded us of the free markets. Where two counterparts chose their own commodities of exchange and each left satisfied as finality of transactions. Truly those were the good old free market days. By the time i said goodbye, my counterparts had already mined half of the pizza brought. I was about to pop a question of where is my share when i saw three more full plates of pizza broadcasted & awaiting for verification. I knew i was in for a treat.

As i kept my hands, mouth and tummy busy, one surprising moment really fired me up with excitement. Grant stood up and surprised everyone by introducing his new friend from Kenya. He said they had met in Mulanje and how they came across each other was purely a barter coincidence of wants. Rather him explaining, he let our new Kenyan explorer share the fascinating story of how he wanted to send funds in Kenya but couldn't find means of transalating our local currency into the Kenyan shilling. So how could these two opposite worlds tie together? When he saw the post of bitcoin accepted here, it sparked the charge. Using Bitcoin, he was able to send funds in Kenya via bitcoin lightening wallet through Tando and Mpesa. As if we were in a cinema watching possibilities become realities, a demostration was showcased how inter transactions are done from a wallet of Satoshi lightening wallet to Tando whilst eating pizza in Malawi.

It was truly a fantastic orange day to pill and slice. See you in the next article as i continue to polish my writing skills.

Pacharo Nyirenda. Bitcoinboma An amature writer but soon to be pro writer & blogger!

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• Coinswap is a decentralized protocol for private, trustless cryptocurrency swaps. It allows participants to securely swap digital assets without intermediaries, using advanced cryptographic techniques and atomic swaps to ensure privacy and security.
• This release introduces major improvements to the protocol's efficiency, security, and usability, including custom in-memory UTXO indexes, more advanced coin-selection algorithms, fidelity bond management and more.
• The update also improves user experience with full Mac support, faster Tor connections, enhanced UI/UX, a unified API, and improved protocol documentation.

"The Project is under active beta development and open for contributions and beta testing. The Coinswap market place is live in testnet4. Bug fixes and feature requests are very much welcome."

• Manuals and demo docs are available here.

What's new

• Core protocol and performance improvements:
  • Custom in-memory UTXO indexes. Frequent Core RPC calls, which caused significant delays, have been eliminated by implementing custom in-memory UTXO indexes. These indexes are also saved to disk, leading to faster wallet synchronization.
  • Coin selection. Advanced coin-selection algorithms, like those in Bitcoin Core, have been incorporated, enhancing the efficiency of creating different types of transactions.
  • Fidelity management. Maker servers now automate tasks such as checking bond expiries, redemption, and recreation for Fidelity Bonds, reducing the user's management responsibilities.
  • Taker liveness. The WaitingFundingConfirmation message has been added to keep swap connections between Takers and Makers, assisting with variable block confirmation delays.

• User experience and compatibility:

  • Mac compatibility. The crate and apps now fully support Mac.
  • Tor operations are streamlined for faster, more resilient connections. Tor addresses are now consistently linked to the wallet seed, maintaining the same onion address through system reboots.
  • The UI/UX improvements enhance the display of balances, UTXOs, offer data, fidelity bonds, and system logs. These updates make the apps more enjoyable and provide clearer coin swap logs during the swap process.

• API design improvements. Transaction creation routines have been streamlined to use a single common API, which reduces technical debt and eliminates redundant code.

• Protocol spec documentation now details how Coinswap breaks the transaction graph and improves privacy through routed swaps and amount splitting, and includes diagrams for clarity.

Source: Coinswap Protocol specification.

Announcement
GitHub Repo
Protocol Spec

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Good morning (good night?)! The No Bullshit Bitcoin news feed is now available on Moody's Dashboard! A huge shoutout to sir Clark Moody for integrating our feed.

Headlines

• Spiral welcomes Ben Carman. The developer will work on the LDK server and a new SDK designed to simplify the onboarding process for new self-custodial Bitcoin users.

• The Bitcoin Dev Kit Foundation announced new corporate members for 2025, including AnchorWatch, CleanSpark, and Proton Foundation. The annual dues from these corporate members fund the small team of open-source developers responsible for maintaining the core BDK libraries and related free and open-source software (FOSS) projects.
• Strategy increases Bitcoin holdings to 538,200 BTC. In the latest purchase, the company has spent more than $555M to buy 6,556 coins through proceeds of two at-the-market stock offering programs.
• Spar supermarket experiments with Bitcoin payments in Zug, Switzerland. The store has introduced a new payment method powered by the Lightning Network. The implementation was facilitated by DFX Swiss, a service that supports seamless conversions between bitcoin and legacy currencies.

• The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) wants to contain 'crypto' risks. A report titled "Cryptocurrencies and Decentralised Finance: Functions and Financial Stability Implications" calls for expanding research into "how new forms of central bank money, capital controls, and taxation policies can counter the risks of widespread crypto adoption while still fostering technological innovation."
• "Global Implications of Scam Centres, Underground Banking, and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia." According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, criminal organizations from East and Southeast Asia are swiftly extending their global reach. These groups are moving beyond traditional scams and trafficking, creating sophisticated online networks that include unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges, encrypted communication platforms, and stablecoins, fueling a massive fraud economy on an industrial scale.
• Slovenia is considering a 25% capital gains tax on Bitcoin profits for individuals. The Ministry of Finance has proposed legislation to impose this tax on gains from cryptocurrency transactions, though exchanging one cryptocurrency for another would remain exempt. At present, individual 'crypto' traders in Slovenia are not taxed.
• Circle, BitGo, Coinbase, and Paxos plan to apply for U.S. bank charters or licenses. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, major crypto companies are planning to apply for U.S. bank charters or licenses. These firms are pursuing limited licenses that would permit them to issue stablecoins, as the U.S. Congress deliberates on legislation mandating licensing for stablecoin issuers.

"Established banks, like Bank of America, are hoping to amend the current drafts of [stablecoin] legislation in such a way that nonbanks are more heavily restricted from issuing stablecoins," people familiar with the matter told The Block.

• Charles Schwab to launch spot Bitcoin trading by 2026. The financial investment firm, managing over $10 trillion in assets, has revealed plans to introduce spot Bitcoin trading for its clients within the next year.

Use the tools

• Bitcoin Safe v1.2.3 expands QR SignMessage compatibility for all QR-UR-compatible hardware signers (SpecterDIY, KeyStone, Passport, Jade; already supported COLDCARD Q). It also adds the ability to import wallets via QR, ensuring compatibility with Keystone's latest firmware (2.0.6), alongside other improvements.
• Minibits v0.2.2-beta, an ecash wallet for Android devices, packages many changes to align the project with the planned iOS app release. New features and improvements include the ability to lock ecash to a receiver's pubkey, faster confirmations of ecash minting and payments thanks to WebSockets, UI-related fixes, and more.
• Zeus v0.11.0-alpha1 introduces Cashu wallets tied to embedded LND wallets. Navigate to Settings > Ecash to enable it. Other wallet types can still sweep funds from Cashu tokens. Zeus Pay now supports Cashu address types in Zaplocker, Cashu, and NWC modes.
• LNDg v1.10.0, an advanced web interface designed for analyzing Lightning Network Daemon (LND) data and automating node management tasks, introduces performance improvements, adds a new metrics page for unprofitable and stuck channels, and displays warnings for batch openings. The Profit and Loss Chart has been updated to include on-chain costs. Advanced settings have been added for users who would like their channel database size to be read remotely (the default remains local). Additionally, the AutoFees tool now uses aggregated pubkey metrics for multiple channels with the same peer.
• Nunchuk Desktop v1.9.45 release brings the latest bug fixes and improvements.
• Blockstream Green iOS v4.1.8 has renamed L-BTC to LBTC, and improves translations of notifications, login time, and background payments.
• Blockstream Green Android v4.1.8 has added language preference in App Settings and enables an Android data backup option for disaster recovery. Additionally, it fixes issues with Jade entry point PIN timeout and Trezor passphrase input.
• Torq v2.2.2, an advanced Lightning node management software designed to handle large nodes with over 1000 channels, fixes bugs that caused channel balance to not be updated in some cases and channel "peer total local balance" not getting updated.
• Stack Wallet v2.1.12, a multicoin wallet by Cypher Stack, fixes an issue with Xelis introduced in the latest release for Windows.
• ESP-Miner-NerdQAxePlus v1.0.29.1, a forked version from the NerdAxe miner that was modified for use on the NerdQAxe+, is now available.
• Zark enables sending sats to an npub using Bark.

• Erk is a novel variation of the Ark protocol that completely removes the need for user interactivity in rounds, addressing one of Ark's key limitations: the requirement for users to come online before their VTXOs expire.
• Aegis v0.1.1 is now available. It is a Nostr event signer app for iOS devices.
• Nostash is a NIP-07 Nostr signing extension for Safari. It is a fork of Nostore and is maintained by Terry Yiu. Available on iOS TestFlight.
• Amber v3.2.8, a Nostr event signer for Android, delivers the latest fixes and improvements.
• Nostur v1.20.0, a Nostr client for iOS, adds

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

News

• Bitcoin mining centralization in 2025. According to a blog post by b10c, Bitcoin mining was at its most decentralized in May 2017, with another favorable period from 2019 to 2022. However, starting in 2023, mining has become increasingly centralized, particularly due to the influence of large pools like Foundry and the use of proxy pooling by entities such as AntPool.

Source: b10c's blog.

• OpenSats announces the eleventh wave of Nostr grants. The five projects in this wave are the mobile live-streaming app Swae, the Nostr-over-ham-radio project HAMSTR, Vertex—a Web-of-Trust (WOT) service for Nostr developers, Nostr Double Ratchet for end-to-end encrypted messaging, and the Nostr Game Engine for building games and applications integrated with the Nostr ecosystem.
• New Spiral grantee: l0rinc. In February 2024, l0rinc transitioned to full-time work on Bitcoin Core. His efforts focus on performance benchmarking and optimizations, enhancing code quality, conducting code reviews, reducing block download times, optimizing memory usage, and refactoring code.
• Project Eleven offers 1 BTC to break Bitcoin's cryptography with a quantum computer. The quantum computing research organization has introduced the Q-Day Prize, a global challenge that offers 1 BTC to the first team capable of breaking an elliptic curve cryptographic (ECC) key using Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer. The prize will be awarded to the first team to successfully accomplish this breakthrough by April 5, 2026.
• Unchained has launched the Bitcoin Legacy Project. The initiative seeks to advance the Bitcoin ecosystem through a bitcoin-native donor-advised fund platform (DAF), investments in community hubs, support for education and open-source development, and a commitment to long-term sustainability with transparent annual reporting.
  • In its first year, the program will provide support to Bitcoin hubs in Nashville, Austin, and Denver.
  • Support also includes $50,000 to the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a $150,000 commitment at the University of Austin, and up to $250,000 in research grants through the Bitcoin Scholars program.

"Unchained will match grants 1:1 made to partner organizations who support Bitcoin Core development when made through the Unchained-powered bitcoin DAF, up to 1 BTC," was stated in a blog post.

• Block launched open-source tools for Bitcoin treasury management. These include a dashboard for managing corporate bitcoin holdings and provides a real-time BTC-to-USD price quote API, released as part of the Block Open Source initiative. The company’s own instance of the bitcoin holdings dashboard is available here.

Source: block.xyz

• Bull Bitcoin expands to Mexico, enabling anyone in the country to receive pesos from anywhere in the world straight from a Bitcoin wallet. Additionally, users can now buy Bitcoin with a Mexican bank account.

"Bull Bitcoin strongly believes in Bitcoin’s economic potential in Mexico, not only for international remittances and tourism, but also for Mexican individuals and companies to reclaim their financial sovereignty and protect their wealth from inflation and the fragility of traditional financial markets," said Francis Pouliot, Founder and CEO of Bull Bitcoin.

• Corporate bitcoin holdings hit a record high in Q1 2025. According to Bitwise, public companies' adoption of Bitcoin has hit an all-time high. In Q1 2025, these firms collectively hold over 688,000 BTC, marking a 16.11% increase from the previous quarter. This amount represents 3.28% of Bitcoin's fixed 21 million supply.

Source: Bitwise.

• The Bitcoin Bond Company for institutions has launched with the aim of acquiring $1 trillion in Bitcoin over 21 years. It utilizes secure, transparent, and compliant bond-like products backed by Bitcoin.
• The U.S. Senate confirmed Paul Atkins as Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). At his confirmation hearing, Atkins emphasized the need for a clear framework for digital assets. He aims to collaborate with the CFTC and Congress to address jurisdiction and rulemaking gaps, aligning with the Trump administration's goal to position the U.S. as a leader in Bitcoin and blockchain finance.
• Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has been released from custody. Griffith, whose sentence was reduced to 56 months, is now seeking a pardon. He was initially sentenced to 63 months for allegedly violating international sanctions laws by providing technical advice on using cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to evade sanctions during a presentation titled 'Blockchains for Peace' in North Korea.
• No-KYC exchange eXch to close down under money laundering scrutiny. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency trading platform said it will cease operations on May 1. This decision follows allegations that the platform was used by North Korea's Lazarus Group for money laundering. eXch revealed it is the subject of an active "transatlantic operation" aimed at shutting down the platform and prosecuting its team for "money laundering and terrorism."
• Blockstream combats ESP32 FUD concerning Jade signers. The company stated that after reviewing the vulnerability disclosed in early March, Jade was found to be secure. Espressif Systems, the designer of the ESP32, has since clarified that the "undocumented commands" do not constitute a "backdoor."

• Bank of America is lobbying for regulations that favor banks over tech firms in stablecoin issuance. The bank's CEO Brian Moynihan is working with groups such as the American Bankers Association to advance the issuance of a fully reserved, 1:1 backed "Bank of America coin." If successful, this could limit stablecoin efforts by non-banks like Tether, Circle, and others, reports The Block.
• Tether to back OCEAN Pool with its hashrate. "As a company committed to financial freedom and open access, we see supporting decentralization in Bitcoin mining as essential to the network’s long-term integrity," said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
• Bitdeer to expand its self-mining operations to navigate tariffs. The Singapore-based mining company is advancing plans to produce machines in the U.S. while reducing its mining hardware sales. This response is in light of increasing uncertainties related to U.S. trade policy, as reported by Bloomberg.
• Tether acquires $32M in Bitdeer shares. The firm has boosted its investment in Bitdeer during a wider market sell-off, with purchases in early to mid-April amounting to about $32 million, regulatory filings reveal.
• US Bitcoin miner manufacturer Auradine has raised $153 million in a Series C funding round as it expands into AI infrastructure. The round was led by StepStone Group and included participation from Maverick Silicon, Premji Invest, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, Mayfield, MARA Holdings, GSBackers, and other existing investors. The firm raised to over $300 million since its inception in 2022.
• Voltage has partnered with BitGo to [enable](https://www.voltage.cloud/blog/bitgo-and-voltage-team-up-to-deliver-instant-bitcoin-and-stabl

@ 2b998b04:86727e47

I’ve spent years chasing the promise of freedom.\ In startups. In faith communities. In movements that claimed to be for the people.

And yet — so often, that promise felt just out of reach.\ Conditional. Corporate. Sanitized.\ A freedom with fine print.

But here —\ Here in the thick of Bitcoin 2025, on Nostr, among misfits and builders and signal-bringers —\ something is alive.

It’s not a platform.\ It’s not a marketing strategy.\ It’s not another app promising to “empower” you while locking down your data and selling you out.

It’s freedom rooted in architecture.\ Decentralization not just as a buzzword —\ but as an expression of conviction.

A kind of freedom you can feel in your body:

• When you zap someone’s words because they moved you — not because an algorithm told you to.

• When your identity is yours — keys, not credentials.

• When no one can delete your story because you control the server, or because there is no server — just the relay of your choosing.

This isn’t utopia.\ There are egos. There’s noise. There’s still posturing.\ But it’s different.\ The center of gravity has shifted.

We’re no longer begging institutions to notice us.\ We’re building outside their jurisdiction.

And for the first time in a long time,\ freedom feels close.\ Tangible.\ Joyful.\ Alive.

This isn’t just about tech.\ It’s about trust.\ It’s about choosing to show up —\ to build\ to write\ to signal\ to keep going.

Even when it’s hard.\ Even when no one claps.

Because real freedom doesn’t come from being noticed.\ It comes from being sovereign.

And that’s something no one can take from me again.

—

Written in Las Vegas, during Bitcoin 2025.\ Posted via Nostr. Vibes co-authored by ChatGPT (“Dr. C”).\ Zap: https://tinyurl.com/yuyu2b9t

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Adam Back Presents Blockstream’s Bitcoin-First Infrastructure Vision at Bitcoin 2025 

Adam Back, Co-founder and CEO of Blockstream, took the stage at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference with a clear message: Bitcoin is becoming the foundation of global finance—and Blockstream is building the infrastructure to support it. 

“So I think Bitcoin is still early,” Back began, “but more mainstream players are starting to become involved. It is starting to become the foundation of global finance.” From El Salvador’s President becoming “patient zero” to institutional adoption spreading rapidly, Back emphasized that “people in all layers of company management and politics have become orange-pilled.”

Citing Bitcoin’s accelerating growth trajectory, Back referenced Hal Finney’s prediction that Bitcoin’s addressable market could hit $200 trillion. “Today, we are a lot closer to that situation,” he noted. He alluded again that this is just the beginning for Bitcoin. 

To meet that growing demand, Back announced Blockstream’s plan to support the journey from 100 million to 1 billion users by simplifying self-custody and Bitcoin-native asset management. “We’re laser-focused on Bitcoin,” he said. “At Blockstream, we are here to provide the infrastructure to enable that.” 

In a detailed presentation, Back outlined five core pillars powering Blockstream’s strategy:

• Infrastructure Expansion: “Bitcoin is becoming the dominant financial asset and platform for global transactions. Blockstream enables and supports the infrastructure around it.”

• Unified Platform: Blockstream is developing one platform built for the Bitcoin economy—including consumer products (secure self-custody), enterprise solutions (asset transfer on Bitcoin rails), and institutional integration (custody for large-scale investment).

• The Blockstream App: Designed to streamline self-custody, the app simplifies onboarding, supports BTC, LBTC, and USDT, and offers advanced features for experienced users.

• Enterprise Tools: With custody, tokenization without smart contract risks, and SDK/API-ready infrastructure, Blockstream is pushing enterprise-grade Bitcoin use cases—from corporate finance to treasuries.

• Security and Ecosystem Design: “Secure, proven, and built to last,” Back said, referring to Blockstream’s Bitcoin-first architecture. “Security is our cornerstone, and every product connects at every layer.”

In closing, Back reaffirmed his long-term vision: “The future of finance runs on Bitcoin.” 

This post Adam Back Presents Blockstream’s Bitcoin-First Infrastructure Vision at Bitcoin 2025  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

Know Your Customer is a regulation that requires companies of all sizes to verify the identity, suitability, and risks involved with maintaining a business relationship with a customer. Such procedures fit within the broader scope of anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterrorism financing (CTF) regulations.

Banks, exchanges, online business, mail providers, domain registrars... Everyone wants to know who you are before you can even opt for their service. Your personal information is flowing around the internet in the hands of "god-knows-who" and secured by "trust-me-bro military-grade encryption". Once your account is linked to your personal (and verified) identity, tracking you is just as easy as keeping logs on all these platforms.

Rights for Illusions

KYC processes aim to combat terrorist financing, money laundering, and other illicit activities. On the surface, KYC seems like a commendable initiative. I mean, who wouldn't want to halt terrorists and criminals in their tracks?

The logic behind KYC is: "If we mandate every financial service provider to identify their users, it becomes easier to pinpoint and apprehend the malicious actors."

However, terrorists and criminals are not precisely lining up to be identified. They're crafty. They may adopt false identities or find alternative strategies to continue their operations. Far from being outwitted, many times they're several steps ahead of regulations. Realistically, KYC might deter a small fraction – let's say about 1% ^1 – of these malefactors. Yet, the cost? All of us are saddled with the inconvenient process of identification just to use a service.

Under the rhetoric of "ensuring our safety", governments and institutions enact regulations that seem more out of a dystopian novel, gradually taking away our right to privacy.

To illustrate, consider a city where the mayor has rolled out facial recognition cameras in every nook and cranny. A band of criminals, intent on robbing a local store, rolls in with a stolen car, their faces obscured by masks and their bodies cloaked in all-black clothes. Once they've committed the crime and exited the city's boundaries, they switch vehicles and clothes out of the cameras' watchful eyes. The high-tech surveillance? It didn’t manage to identify or trace them. Yet, for every law-abiding citizen who merely wants to drive through the city or do some shopping, their movements and identities are constantly logged. The irony? This invasive tracking impacts all of us, just to catch the 1% ^1 of less-than-careful criminals.

KYC? Not you.

KYC creates barriers to participation in normal economic activity, to supposedly stop criminals. ^2

KYC puts barriers between many users and businesses. One of these comes from the fact that the process often requires multiple forms of identification, proof of address, and sometimes even financial records. For individuals in areas with poor record-keeping, non-recognized legal documents, or those who are unbanked, homeless or transient, obtaining these documents can be challenging, if not impossible.

For people who are not skilled with technology or just don't have access to it, there's also a barrier since KYC procedures are mostly online, leaving them inadvertently excluded.

Another barrier goes for the casual or one-time user, where they might not see the value in undergoing a rigorous KYC process, and these requirements can deter them from using the service altogether.

It also wipes some businesses out of the equation, since for smaller businesses, the costs associated with complying with KYC norms—from the actual process of gathering and submitting documents to potential delays in operations—can be prohibitive in economical and/or technical terms.

You're not welcome

Imagine a swanky new club in town with a strict "members only" sign. You hear the music, you see the lights, and you want in. You step up, ready to join, but suddenly there's a long list of criteria you must meet. After some time, you are finally checking all the boxes. But then the club rejects your membership with no clear reason why. You just weren't accepted. Frustrating, right?

This club scenario isn't too different from the fact that KYC is being used by many businesses as a convenient gatekeeping tool. A perfect excuse based on a "legal" procedure they are obliged to.

Even some exchanges may randomly use this to freeze and block funds from users, claiming these were "flagged" by a cryptic system that inspects the transactions. You are left hostage to their arbitrary decision to let you successfully pass the KYC procedure. If you choose to sidestep their invasive process, they might just hold onto your funds indefinitely.

Your identity has been stolen

KYC data has been found to be for sale on many dark net markets^3. Exchanges may have leaks or hacks, and such leaks contain very sensitive data. We're talking about the full monty: passport or ID scans, proof of address, and even those awkward selfies where you're holding up your ID next to your face. All this data is being left to the mercy of the (mostly) "trust-me-bro" security systems of such companies. Quite scary, isn't it?

As cheap as $10 for 100 documents, with discounts applying for those who buy in bulk, the personal identities of innocent users who passed KYC procedures are for sale. ^3

In short, if you have ever passed the KYC/AML process of a crypto exchange, your privacy is at risk of being compromised, or it might even have already been compromised.

(they) Know Your Coins

You may already know that Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies have a transparent public blockchain, meaning that all data is shown unencrypted for everyone to see and recorded forever. If you link an address you own to your identity through KYC, for example, by sending an amount from a KYC exchange to it, your Bitcoin is no longer pseudonymous and can then be traced.

If, for instance, you send Bitcoin from such an identified address to another KYC'ed address (say, from a friend), everyone having access to that address-identity link information (exchanges, governments, hackers, etc.) will be able to associate that transaction and know who you are transacting with.

Conclusions

To sum up, KYC does not protect individuals; rather, it's a threat to our privacy, freedom, security and integrity. Sensible information flowing through the internet is thrown into chaos by dubious security measures. It puts borders between many potential customers and businesses, and it helps governments and companies track innocent users. That's the chaos KYC has stirred.

The criminals are using stolen identities from companies that gathered them thanks to these very same regulations that were supposed to combat them. Criminals always know how to circumvent such regulations. In the end, normal people are the most affected by these policies.

The threat that KYC poses to individuals in terms of privacy, security and freedom is not to be neglected. And if we don’t start challenging these systems and questioning their efficacy, we are just one step closer to the dystopian future that is now foreseeable.

Edited 20/03/2024 * Add reference to the 1% statement on Rights for Illusions section to an article where Chainalysis found that only 0.34% of the transaction volume with cryptocurrencies in 2023 was attributable to criminal activity ^1

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Good morning (good night?)! The No Bullshit Bitcoin news feed is now available on Moody's Dashboard! A huge shoutout to sir Clark Moody for integrating our feed.

Headlines

• Spiral welcomes Ben Carman. The developer will work on the LDK server and a new SDK designed to simplify the onboarding process for new self-custodial Bitcoin users.

• The Bitcoin Dev Kit Foundation announced new corporate members for 2025, including AnchorWatch, CleanSpark, and Proton Foundation. The annual dues from these corporate members fund the small team of open-source developers responsible for maintaining the core BDK libraries and related free and open-source software (FOSS) projects.
• Strategy increases Bitcoin holdings to 538,200 BTC. In the latest purchase, the company has spent more than $555M to buy 6,556 coins through proceeds of two at-the-market stock offering programs.
• Spar supermarket experiments with Bitcoin payments in Zug, Switzerland. The store has introduced a new payment method powered by the Lightning Network. The implementation was facilitated by DFX Swiss, a service that supports seamless conversions between bitcoin and legacy currencies.

• The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) wants to contain 'crypto' risks. A report titled "Cryptocurrencies and Decentralised Finance: Functions and Financial Stability Implications" calls for expanding research into "how new forms of central bank money, capital controls, and taxation policies can counter the risks of widespread crypto adoption while still fostering technological innovation."
• "Global Implications of Scam Centres, Underground Banking, and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia." According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, criminal organizations from East and Southeast Asia are swiftly extending their global reach. These groups are moving beyond traditional scams and trafficking, creating sophisticated online networks that include unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges, encrypted communication platforms, and stablecoins, fueling a massive fraud economy on an industrial scale.
• Slovenia is considering a 25% capital gains tax on Bitcoin profits for individuals. The Ministry of Finance has proposed legislation to impose this tax on gains from cryptocurrency transactions, though exchanging one cryptocurrency for another would remain exempt. At present, individual 'crypto' traders in Slovenia are not taxed.
• Circle, BitGo, Coinbase, and Paxos plan to apply for U.S. bank charters or licenses. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, major crypto companies are planning to apply for U.S. bank charters or licenses. These firms are pursuing limited licenses that would permit them to issue stablecoins, as the U.S. Congress deliberates on legislation mandating licensing for stablecoin issuers.

"Established banks, like Bank of America, are hoping to amend the current drafts of [stablecoin] legislation in such a way that nonbanks are more heavily restricted from issuing stablecoins," people familiar with the matter told The Block.

• Charles Schwab to launch spot Bitcoin trading by 2026. The financial investment firm, managing over $10 trillion in assets, has revealed plans to introduce spot Bitcoin trading for its clients within the next year.

Use the tools

• Bitcoin Safe v1.2.3 expands QR SignMessage compatibility for all QR-UR-compatible hardware signers (SpecterDIY, KeyStone, Passport, Jade; already supported COLDCARD Q). It also adds the ability to import wallets via QR, ensuring compatibility with Keystone's latest firmware (2.0.6), alongside other improvements.
• Minibits v0.2.2-beta, an ecash wallet for Android devices, packages many changes to align the project with the planned iOS app release. New features and improvements include the ability to lock ecash to a receiver's pubkey, faster confirmations of ecash minting and payments thanks to WebSockets, UI-related fixes, and more.
• Zeus v0.11.0-alpha1 introduces Cashu wallets tied to embedded LND wallets. Navigate to Settings > Ecash to enable it. Other wallet types can still sweep funds from Cashu tokens. Zeus Pay now supports Cashu address types in Zaplocker, Cashu, and NWC modes.
• LNDg v1.10.0, an advanced web interface designed for analyzing Lightning Network Daemon (LND) data and automating node management tasks, introduces performance improvements, adds a new metrics page for unprofitable and stuck channels, and displays warnings for batch openings. The Profit and Loss Chart has been updated to include on-chain costs. Advanced settings have been added for users who would like their channel database size to be read remotely (the default remains local). Additionally, the AutoFees tool now uses aggregated pubkey metrics for multiple channels with the same peer.
• Nunchuk Desktop v1.9.45 release brings the latest bug fixes and improvements.
• Blockstream Green iOS v4.1.8 has renamed L-BTC to LBTC, and improves translations of notifications, login time, and background payments.
• Blockstream Green Android v4.1.8 has added language preference in App Settings and enables an Android data backup option for disaster recovery. Additionally, it fixes issues with Jade entry point PIN timeout and Trezor passphrase input.
• Torq v2.2.2, an advanced Lightning node management software designed to handle large nodes with over 1000 channels, fixes bugs that caused channel balance to not be updated in some cases and channel "peer total local balance" not getting updated.
• Stack Wallet v2.1.12, a multicoin wallet by Cypher Stack, fixes an issue with Xelis introduced in the latest release for Windows.
• ESP-Miner-NerdQAxePlus v1.0.29.1, a forked version from the NerdAxe miner that was modified for use on the NerdQAxe+, is now available.
• Zark enables sending sats to an npub using Bark.

• Erk is a novel variation of the Ark protocol that completely removes the need for user interactivity in rounds, addressing one of Ark's key limitations: the requirement for users to come online before their VTXOs expire.
• Aegis v0.1.1 is now available. It is a Nostr event signer app for iOS devices.
• Nostash is a NIP-07 Nostr signing extension for Safari. It is a fork of Nostore and is maintained by Terry Yiu. Available on iOS TestFlight.
• Amber v3.2.8, a Nostr event signer for Android, delivers the latest fixes and improvements.
• Nostur v1.20.0, a Nostr client for iOS, adds

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

I often hear "bitcoin doesn't interest me, I'm not a finance person."

Ironically, the beauty of sound money is you don't have to be. In the current system you're expected to manage a diversified investment portfolio or pay someone to do it. Bitcoin will make that optional.

— ODELL (@ODELL) September 16, 2018

At first glance bitcoin often appears overwhelming to newcomers. It is incredibly easy to get bogged down in the details of how it works or different ways to use it. Enthusiasts, such as myself, often enjoy going down the deep rabbit hole of the potential of bitcoin, possible pitfalls and theoretical scenarios, power user techniques, and the developer ecosystem. If your first touch point with bitcoin is that type of content then it is only natural to be overwhelmed. While it is important that we have a thriving community of bitcoiners dedicated to these complicated tasks - the true beauty of bitcoin lies in its simplicity. Bitcoin is simply better money. It is the best money we have ever had.

Life is complicated. Life is hard. Life is full of responsibility and surprises. Bitcoin allows us to focus on our lives while relying on a money that is simple. A money that is not controlled by any individual, company, or government. A money that cannot be easily seized or blocked. A money that cannot be devalued at will by a handful of corrupt bureaucrat who live hundreds of miles from us. A money that can be easily saved and should increase in purchasing power over time without having to learn how to "build a diversified stock portfolio" or hire someone to do it for us.

Bitcoin enables all of us to focus on our lives - our friends and family - doing what we love with the short time we have on this earth. Time is scarce. Life is complicated. Bitcoin is the most simple aspect of our complicated lives. If we spend our scarce time working then we should be able to easily save that accrued value for future generations without watching the news or understanding complicated financial markets. Bitcoin makes this possible for anyone.

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Raising a human is complicated. It is hard, it requires immense personal responsibility, it requires critical thinking, but mothers figure it out, because it is worth it. Using and saving bitcoin is simple -  simply install an app on your phone. Every mother can do it. Every person can do it.

Life is complicated. Life is beautiful. Bitcoin is simple.

---

If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Headlines

• Twenty One Capital is set to launch with over 42,000 BTC in its treasury. This new Bitcoin-native firm, backed by Tether and SoftBank, is planned to go public via a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners and will be led by Jack Mallers, co-founder and CEO of Strike. According to a report by the Financial Times, the company aims to replicate the model of Michael Saylor with his company, MicroStrategy.
• Florida's SB 868 proposes a backdoor into encrypted platforms. The bill and its House companion have both passed through their respective committees and are headed to a full vote. If enacted, SB 868 would require social media companies to decrypt teens' private messages, ban disappearing messages, allow unrestricted parental access to private messages, and likely eliminate encryption for all minors altogether.
• Paul Atkins has officially assumed the role of the 34th Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This is a return to the agency for Atkins, who previously served as an SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008 under the George W. Bush administration. He has committed to advancing the SEC’s mission of fostering capital formation, safeguarding investors, and ensuring fair and efficient markets.
• Solosatoshi.com has sold over 10,000 open-source miners, adding more than 10 PH of hashpower to the Bitcoin network.

"Thank you, Bitaxe community. OSMU developers, your brilliance built this. Supporters, your belief drives us. Customers, your trust powers 10,000+ miners and 10PH globally. Together, we’re decentralizing Bitcoin’s future. Last but certainly not least, thank you@skot9000 for not only creating a freedom tool, but instilling the idea into thousands of people, that Bitcoin mining can be for everyone again," said the firm on X.

• OCEAN's DATUM has found 100 blocks. "Over 65% of OCEAN’s miners are using DATUM, and that number is growing every day. This means block template construction is making its way back into the hands of the miners, which is not only the most profitable for miners on OCEAN but also one of the best things for Bitcoin," stated the mining pool.

Source: orangesurf

• Arch Labs has secured $13 million to develop "ArchVM" and integrate smart-contract functionality with Bitcoin. The funding round, valuing the company at $200 million, was led by Pantera Capital, as announced on Tuesday.
• Tesla still holds nearly $1 billion in bitcoin. According to the automaker's latest earnings report, the firm reported digital asset holdings worth $951 million as of March 31.
• The European Central Bank is pushing for amendments to the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets legislation (MiCA), just months after its implementation. According to Politico's report on Tuesday, the ECB is concerned that U.S. support for cryptocurrency, particularly stablecoins, could cause economic harm to the 27-nation bloc.
• TABConf 2025 is scheduled to take place from October 13-16, 2025. This prominent technical Bitcoin conference is dedicated to community building, education, and developer support, and it is set to return in October. Get your tickets here.
• Kaduna Lightning Development Bootcamp. From May 14th to 17th, the Bitcoin Lightning Developer Bootcamp will take place in Kaduna, Nigeria. Thisevent offers four dynamic days of coding, learning, and networking. Organized by Africa Free Routing and supported by Btrust, Tether, and African Bitcoiners, this bootcamp is designed as a gateway for African developers eager to advance their skills in Bitcoin and Lightning development. Apply here.

Source: African Bitcoiners.

Use the tools

• Core Lightning (CLN) v25.02.2 as been released to fix a broken Docker image. The issue was caused by an SQLite version that did not support an advanced query.
• Blitz wallet v0.4.4-beta introduces several updates and improvements, including the prevention of duplicate ecash payments, fixes for background ecash invoice handling, the ability for users to send payments to BOLT12 invoices from their Liquid balance, support for Blink QR codes, a lowered minimum amount for Lightning-to-Liquid payments to 100 sats, the option to initiate a node sync via a swipe gesture on the wallet's home screen, and the introduction of opt-in or opt-out functionality for newly implemented crash analytics via settings.
• Utreexo v0.5.0, a hash-based dynamic accumulator, is now available.
• Specter v2.1.1 is now available on StartOS. "This update brings compatibility with Bitcoin Core v28 and incorporates several upstream improvements," said developer Alex71btc.
• ESP-Miner (AxeOS) v2.7.0b1 is now available for testing.
• NodeGuard v0.16.1, a treasury management solution for Lightning nodes, has been released.
• The latest stacker.news updates include prompts to add a receiving wallet when posting or making comments (for new users), an option to randomize poll choices, improved URL search, and a few other enhancements. A bug fix for territories created after 9/19/24 has been implemented to reward 70% of their revenue to owners instead of 50%.

Other stuff

• The April edition of the 256 Foundation's newsletter is now available. It includes the latest mining news, Bitcoin network health updates, project developments, and a tutorial on how to update FutureBit's Apollo 1 to the Apollo 2 software.
• Siggy47 has posted a comprehensive RoboSats guide on stacker.news.
• Learn how to run your own Nostr relay using Citrine and Cloudflare Tunnels by following this step-by-step guide by Dhalism.
• Max Guise has written a Bitkey roadmap update for April 2025.

• PlebLab has uploaded a video on how to build a Rust wallet with LDK Node by Ben Carman.

• Do you want more? Subscribe and get No Bullshit GM report straight to your mailbox and No Bullshit Bitcoin on Nostr.

• Feedback or tips? Drop it here.
• #FREESAMOURAI

Sign up for No Bullshit Bitcoin

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@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Headlines

• Spiral renews support for Dan Gould and Joschisan. The organization has renewed support for Dan Gould, who is developing the Payjoin Dev Kit (PDK), and Joschisan, a Fedimint developer focused on simplifying federations.
• Metaplanet buys another 145 BTC. The Tokyo-listed company has purchased an additional 145 BTC for $13.6 million. Their total bitcoin holdings now stand at 5,000 coins, worth around $428.1 million.
• Semler Scientific has increased its bitcoin holdings to 3,303 BTC. The company acquired an additional 111 BTC at an average price of $90,124. The purchase was funded through proceeds from an at-the-market offering and cash reserves, as stated in a press release.
• The Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Bill 2025 introduced in Kenya. The new legislation aims to establish a comprehensive legal framework for licensing, regulating, and supervising virtual asset service providers (VASPs), with strict penalties for non-compliant entities.
• Russian government to launch a cryptocurrency exchange. The country's Ministry of Finance and Central Bank announced plans to establish a trading platform for "highly qualified investors" that "will legalize crypto assets and bring crypto operations out of the shadows."
• All virtual asset service providers expect to be fully compliant with the Travel Rule by the end of 2025. A survey by financial surveillance specialist Notabene reveals that 90% of virtual asset service providers (VASPs) expect full Travel Rule compliance by mid-2025, with all aiming for compliance by year-end. The survey also shows a significant rise in VASPs blocking withdrawals until beneficiary information is confirmed, increasing from 2.9% in 2024 to 15.4% now. Additionally, about 20% of VASPs return deposits if originator data is missing.
• UN claims Bitcoin mining is a "powerful tool" for money laundering. The Rage's analysis suggests that the recent United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report on crime in South-East Asia makes little sense and hints at the potential introduction of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures at the mining level.
• Riot Platforms has obtained a $100 million credit facility from Coinbase Credit, using bitcoin as collateral for short-term funding to support its expansion. The firm's CEO, Jason Les, stated that this facility is crucial for diversifying financing sources and driving long-term stockholder value through strategic growth initiatives.
• Bitdeer raises $179M in loans and equity amid Bitcoin chip push. The Miner Mag reports that Bitdeer entered into a loan agreement with its affiliate Matrixport for up to $200 million in April, as disclosed in its annual report filed on Monday.
• Federal Reserve retracts guidance discouraging banks from engaging in 'crypto.' The U.S. Federal Reserve withdrew guidance that discouraged banks from crypto and stablecoin activities, as announced by its Board of Governors on Thursday. This includes rescinding a 2022 supervisory letter requiring prior notification of crypto activities and 2023 stablecoin requirements.

"As a result, the Board will no longer expect banks to provide notification and will instead monitor banks' crypto-asset activities through the normal supervisory process," reads the FED statement.

• UAE-based Islamic bank ruya launches Shari’ah-compliant bitcoin investing. The bank has become the world’s first Islamic bank to provide direct access to virtual asset investments, including Bitcoin, via its mobile app, per Bitcoin Magazine.
• U.S. 'crypto' scam losses amounted to $9.3B in 2024. The US The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reported $9.3 billion losses in cryptocurrency-related scams in 2024, noting a troubling trend of scams targeting older Americans, which accounted for over $2.8 billion of those losses.

Source: FBI.

• North Korean hackers establish fake companies to target 'crypto' developers. Silent Push researchers reported that hackers linked to the Lazarus Group created three shell companies, two of which are based in the U.S., with the objective of spreading malware through deceptive job interview scams aimed at individuals seeking jobs in cryptocurrency companies.
• Citrea deployed its Clementine Bridge on the Bitcoin testnet. The bridge utilizes the BitVM2 programming language to inherit validity from Bitcoin, allegedly providing "the safest and most trust-minimized way to use BTC in decentralized finance."
• Hesperides University offers a Master’s degree in Bitcoin. Bitcoin Magazine reports the launch of the first-ever Spanish-language Master’s program dedicated exclusively to Bitcoin. Starting April 28, 2025, this fully online program will equip professionals with technical, economic, legal, and philosophical skills to excel in the Bitcoin era.
• BTC in D.C. event is set to take place on September 30 - October 1 in Washington, D.C. Learn more about this initiative here.

Use the tools

• Bitcoin Keeper just got a new look. Version 2.2.0 of the mobile multisig app brought a new branding design, along with a Keeper Private tier, testnet support, ability to import and export BIP-329 labels, and the option to use a Server Key with multiple users.
  • Earlier this month the project also announced Keeper Learn service, offering clear and guided Bitcoin learning sessions for both groups and individuals.
• Keeper Desktop v0.2.2, a companion desktop app for Bitcoin Keeper mobile app, received a renewed branding update, too.

The evolution of Bitcoin Keeper logo. Source: BitHyve blog.

• Blockstream Green Desktop v2.0.25 updates GDK to v0.75.1 and fixes amount parsing issues when switching from fiat denomination to Liquid asset.
• Lightning Loop v0.31.0-beta enhances the loop listswaps command by improving the ability to filter the response.
• Lightning-kmp v1.10.0, an implementation of the Lightning Network in Kotlin, is now available.
• LND v0.19.0-beta.rc3, the latest beta release candidate of LND is now ready for testing.
• ZEUS v0.11.0-alpha2 is now available for testing, too. It's nuts.
• JoinMarket Fidelity Bond Simulator helps potential JoinMarket makers evaluate their competitive position in the market based on fidelity bonds.
• UTXOscope is a text-only Bitcoin blockchain analysis tool that visualizes price dynamics using only on-chain data. The

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Nostr is an open communication protocol that can be used to send messages across a distributed set of relays in a censorship resistant and robust way.

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If you missed my nostr introduction post you can find it here. My nostr account can be found here.

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We are nearly at the point that if something interesting is posted on a centralized social platform it will usually be posted by someone to nostr.

We are nearly at the point that if something interesting is posted exclusively to nostr it is cross posted by someone to various centralized social platforms.

We are nearly at the point that you can recommend a cross platform app that users can install and easily onboard without additional guides or resources.

As companies continue to build walls around their centralized platforms nostr posts will be the easiest to cross reference and verify - as companies continue to censor their users nostr is the best censorship resistant alternative - gradually then suddenly nostr will become the standard. 🫡

Current Nostr Stats

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If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Eric Trump Said Everybody Wants Bitcoin. Everybody is Buying Bitcoin

At the 2025 Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, the Executive Chairman & Board Member of American Bitcoin Mike Ho, the CEO of American Bitcoin Matt Prusak, the founder of Altcoin Daily Aaron Arnold, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump discussed the future of Bitcoin and their views.

Eric Trump started the panel by saying, “we are bringing Bitcoin to America and America is going to win the crypto revolution.” 

Donald continued by mentioning the $2.5 billion bitcoin treasury.

“All the announcement yesterday, True Social and TMTG committing $2.5 billion to a bitcoin treasury,” stated Trump Jr. “Then the trifecta of crypto you have is what we are doing with the world liberty and USD1 from a DeFi platform. We are very long crypto.”

Eric talked about how all the world wants Bitcoin and that most companies are having problems when buying Bitcoin because there is a lot of demand and not as much supply.
“Everybody wants Bitcoin. Everybody is buying Bitcoin,” Eric stated.

JUST IN: Eric Trump says "everyone in the world wants #Bitcoin, everybody is buying Bitcoin"

"0.1 BTC is going to be worth an absolute fortune" pic.twitter.com/0942a3dSWI

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 28, 2025

“The whole system is broken and now all of the sudden you have crypto which solves all the problems,” commented Eric. “It makes everything cheaper, it makes everything faster, it makes it safer, it makes it more transparent. It makes the whole system more functional.“

Mike Ho explained his view of the volatility of Bitcoin and how it benefits everybody.

“We see Bitcoin mining as just the foundational layer of being able to accumulate more creative Bitcoin for our shareholders at a discount to what the market can buy Bitcoin for,” commented Ho. “Then there is a value in the volatility of the stock. Usually volatility carries a negative connotation, but in here it’s the volatility that allows us to raise very low cost converts to even accelerate accumulation of Bitcoin.”

Matt Prusak mentioned how they are stacking sats and accumulating as much Bitcoin as they can.

“We are looking for ways to accumulate as much Bitcoin as fast as possible,” said Prusak. “We are stacking sats for our mining operations. We are going to stack sats for the accumulation.”

They all made predictions of Bitcoin’s end price of this year, Eric said $170,000, Trump Jr between $150,000 and $175,000 and Mike Ho over $200,000. Eric finalized with, “the next 10 years are going to be absolutely parabolical.”

This post Eric Trump Said Everybody Wants Bitcoin. Everybody is Buying Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ a396e36e:ec991f1c

👤 Generation X and Bitcoin: Between Invisibility, Structural Disillusionment, and Defiance

Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980, has been largely sidelined in generational discourse. Unlike the baby boomers —symbols of stability and prosperity— or millennials and Gen Z —constant fixtures in the media and cultural spotlight— Gen X remains the least mentioned, the least studied, and often not even recognized by its own members as a distinct generation.

Today, they are in midlife —a period that, according to the U-shaped curve of happiness, is one of the most emotionally and psychologically difficult stages: deteriorating health, professional stagnation, and the dual burden of caring for both parents and children. But their condition is not just a matter of age —it’s the product of a unique convergence of economic and political failure.

Structurally, Generation X reached its crucial phase of financial consolidation during the global economic crisis of 2008 —a moment that froze wage growth and severely limited access to housing, investment opportunities, and savings. In parallel, they faced increasing labor precarization: unstable contracts, outsourcing, erosion of social protections, and the dismantling of job security. Compared to other generations, their economic mobility was minimal. Even in terms of wealth accumulation and home ownership, many Gen Xers show weaker indicators than early-born millennials at the same life stage.

At the same time, many countries —especially in Latin America and parts of Europe— turned toward alternative models to free-market systems: socialist proposals that promised redistribution, justice, and equality. But in practice, these models led to state dependency, excessive intervention, economic rigidity, and a loss of productive dynamism. The outcome was devastating: rising poverty, institutional decay, inflation, plummeting investment, growing corruption, and a widespread collapse of trust.

For a generation raised on values of effort, autonomy, and social mobility, this ideological shift brought a double betrayal —first from liberalism, which failed to deliver on its promises, and then from socialism, which entrenched poverty, dependency, and dysfunction.

And yet, while younger generations increasingly embrace state-centric proposals like universal basic income, subsidies, or nationalizations as progressive solutions, many in Gen X see these not as innovation, but as déjà vu —a recycling of failed models they’ve already lived and paid for.

It’s at this point that Bitcoin emerges as more than just a financial technology. For many Gen Xers, Bitcoin is both a symbolic and concrete response — a refuge from a system that betrayed them. It’s not just about investment. It’s about individual sovereignty. They call it “fuck you money” because it represents a total break from traditional structures: it doesn’t depend on banks, governments, political parties, or promises that never materialize.

Bitcoin is money without permission, without censorship, without planned devaluation. It’s a tool for radical autonomy. For a generation marked by skepticism, self-reliance, and disillusionment, it stands as a quiet but powerful form of resistance — a way of saying: “I don’t depend on you. I don’t believe you. I don’t need you.”

Today, while others debate new statist models or more market reforms, many Gen Xers are simply opting out. Bitcoin isn’t just an economic choice — it’s a stance. A way to reclaim the individual control the system once denied them.

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

Over the past few months, I've dedicated my time to a complete rewrite of the kycnot.me website. The technology stack remains unchanged; Golang paired with TailwindCSS. However, I've made some design choices in this iteration that I believe significantly enhance the site. Particularly to backend code.

UI Improvements

You'll notice a refreshed UI that retains the original concept but has some notable enhancements. The service list view is now more visually engaging, it displays additional information in a more aesthetically pleasing manner. Both filtering and searching functionalities have been optimized for speed and user experience.

Service pages have been also redesigned to highlight key information at the top, with the KYC Level box always accessible. The display of service attributes is now more visually intuitive.

The request form, especially the Captcha, has undergone substantial improvements. The new self-made Captcha is robust, addressing the reliability issues encountered with the previous version.

Terms of Service Summarizer

A significant upgrade is the Terms of Service summarizer/reviewer, now powered by AI (GPT-4-turbo). It efficiently condenses each service's ToS, extracting and presenting critical points, including any warnings. Summaries are updated monthly, processing over 40 ToS pages via the OpenAI API using a self-crafted and thoroughly tested prompt.

Nostr Comments

I've integrated a comment section for each service using Nostr. For guidance on using this feature, visit the dedicated how-to page.

Database

The backend database has transitioned to pocketbase, an open-source Golang backend that has been a pleasure to work with. I maintain an updated fork of the Golang SDK for pocketbase at pluja/pocketbase.

Scoring

The scoring algorithm has also been refined to be more fair. Despite I had considered its removal due to the complexity it adds (it is very difficult to design a fair scoring system), some users highlighted its value, so I kept it. The updated algorithm is available open source.

Listings

Each listing has been re-evaluated, and the ones that were no longer operational were removed. New additions are included, and the backlog of pending services will be addressed progressively, since I still have access to the old database.

API

The API now offers more comprehensive data. For more details, check here.

About Page

The About page has been restructured for brevity and clarity.

Other Changes

Extensive changes have been implemented in the server-side logic, since the whole code base was re-written from the ground up. I may discuss these in a future post, but for now, I consider the current version to be just a bit beyond beta, and additional updates are planned in the coming weeks.

@ bf47c19e:c3d2573b

Originalni tekst na bitcoin-balkan.com.

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1. Kako Cantillonov Efekat Funkcioniše
2. Kako Bitcoin Rešava Nejednakost iz Cantillonovog Efekta
3. Uloga Vlade u Cantillonovom Efektu
4. Zaštitite Sebe od Cantillonovog Efekta
5. Kako mogu da saznam više o Bitcoin-u?

Pitanje o tome zašto nam je potreban Bitcoin danas je postalo veoma uobičajeno, ali odgovori obično ostavljaju većinu ljudi zbunjenim i sa izjavama da je on, ili Ponzijeva šema ili novac za kriminalce. Ovaj zaključak nije pravičan prema načinu na koji bi Bitcoin mogao da transformiše sistemsku nepravednost i korupciju koja je usadjena u naš trenutni monetarni sistem. Jedna od ovih nejednakosti u našem današnjem sistemu rezultat je Cantillonovog Efekta, davno zaboravljene klasične teorije o tome kako raspodela novca utiče na bogatstvo pojedinca.

Cantillonov Efekat opisuje kako stvaranje novog novca donosi korist onima koji prvi dobiju novac, a na štetu onih koji su najudaljeniji od stvaranja novog novca. U današnjem monetarnom sistemu banke i korporacije su najbliže novom novcu dok je srednja klasa najudaljenija. Bitcoin to ispravlja, davanjem novih bitcoin-a samo „rudarima“ koji osiguravaju protokol – mnogo pravednija distribucija.

Cantillonov Efekat predstavlja način na koji se naplaćuje dodatni porez svima koji rade za „nepromenjenu“ platu ili drže prvenstveno dolare ili eure kao deo svog bogatstva. Ovaj porez prenosi vrednost onima koji ulažu u finansijsku imovinu ili su preferirani dobavljači vlade. Bitcoin odvaja stvaranje novog novca od politike, čineći ovu situaciju mnogo poštenijom.

Kako Cantillonov Efekat Funkcioniše

Kada se poveća ponuda neke vrste novca, ima smisla da taj novi novac treba da ode u nečije ruke – ali čije? Da li bi trebao da pada kao kiša sa neba, da ga dobije neko na lutriji, ili ga predati posebnim interesnim grupama?

U našem savremenom monetarnom sistemu, ovaj novac nije uvek zajam za primaoce, tako da nekad ne trebaju da ga vrate.

Zabluda inflacije pomalo liči na MC Escher vodopad – dobro funkcioniše na papiru, ali ne govori skoro ništa korisno o tome kako stvarni svet funkcioniše.

Međutim, ova analiza zanemaruje to kako funkcionišu tržišta. Tamo gde novi novac ide prvo i način na koji se širi kroz ekonomiju, ima veliki uticaj na stvarno bogatstvo ljudi. Zašto? Kada se poveća novčana masa, cene se ne povećavaju odmah kao odraz ove činjenice. Umesto toga, povećavaju se polako, kako tržišta reaguju na novu ukupnu ponudu novca.

Prvi entiteti i ljudi koji prime novostvoreni novac mogu da ga potroše pre nego što je tržište reagovalo na bilo koji novi novac u sistemu prilagođavanjem cena. Kada oni kupuju stvari, dobijaju ih po niskim cenama jer cene još uvek ne podržavaju činjenicu da ima više novca u opticaju.

Jednom kada se novi novc nekoliko puta okrene, cene počinju da rastu, jer se više novčanih jedinica troši na isti broj dobara i usluga. Jedna od ‘cena’ u ekonomiji je plata ili zarada – i ova cena će da poraste, baš kao i sve druge. Međutim, ova cena raste sporije, kao rezultat ulaska novog novca u sistem, nego što je recimo, cena namirnica.

Kao rezultat ove neusklađenosti u vremenu porasta cena, oni koji primaju platu, tj. zaradu moraju da plaćaju više za svoje dnevne potrebe (poput namirnica), dok neko vreme primaju istu platu. Plate se prilagođavaju sporije od cena hrane. To dovodi do pada kupovne moći ljudi koji rade za platu..

Sve ovo proističe iz toga kako novi novac ulazi u sistem. Kada bi novi novac ušao u sistem samo putem zajmova direktno od centralne banke na plate ljudi, ti ljudi bi mogli da ga potroše pre nego što cene porastu, i samim tim bilo bi im bolje.

Na to kako raspodela novca utiče na bogatstvo, ukazao je Richard Cantillon u 18. veku, koji je gledao kako se ova dinamika odvija u Engleskoj kada je vlada štampala novac u njegovo vreme.

Izvrstan momak, g. Cantillon

Kako Bitcoin Rešava Nejednakost iz Cantillonovog Efekta

Da bismo razumeli kako Bitcoin rešava nejednakost, moramo da uporedimo kako se tradicionalne valute poput dolara ili eura distribuiraju u današnje vreme u odnosu na to kako se distribuiraju novi bitcoini.

Gotovo sva tradicionalna valuta koja je stvorena do današnjeg dana, prvo je distribuirana bankama i vladama. To je zato što su glavne komercijalne banke, poput JP Morgan i Citi, zauzvrat podržane od centralnih banaka poput Federalnih rezervi. Centralne banke poseduju ‘prese za štampanje’ – što znači da u svet mogu da ‘odštampaju’ (ili dodaju digitalno) neograničenu količinu svojih tradicionalnih valuta. Takođe su postavili pravila za komercijalne banke da ih podstaknu da pozajmljuju više ili manje dolara, što proširuje i ugovara ukupnu novčanu masu.

Budući da banke i vlade prve dobijaju novi novac, one odlučuju ko je drugi po redu koji može da iskoristi pogodnosti Cantillonovog Efekta. Tu na scenu dolaze lobisti, kao i moć koju donose njihove dobre konekcije sa finansijskom elitom. Lobisti osiguravaju da njihovi interesi imaju koristi od Cantillonovog Efekta, a veoma bogati, kao i korporacije, mogu da dobiju kredite od banaka po isplativim niskim kamatnim stopama.

Stvari mogu da se prilično zabrljaju kada vlada uskoči da preuzme “kontrolu” nad potrošnjom štampanog novca. Izvor: OpenDemocracy

Bitcoin-ov sistem eliminiše moć lobista i prednosti poznavanja pravog bankara, i stavlja ljude na mnogo ravnopravnije temelje. U Bitcoin-u, svaki ‘rudar’ na mreži ima jednake šanse da zaradi nagradu za novostvorene bitcoin-e na svakih 10 minuta. Svako može da postane rudar, jednostavnim kupovanjem hardvera i njegovim uključivanjem u utičnicu – daleko manje mukotrpan posao od lobiranja kod izabranih predstavnika da bi vam dodelili ugovor sa vladom. Rudari troše puno novca na električnu energiju i opremu da bi se takmičili za nagradu, a Bitcoin sistemu pružaju preko potrebnu uslugu: bezbednost. Bez rudara, Bitcoin-ov sistem ne bi funkcionisao.

Rudarenje bitcoin-a zahteva računar i struju – to je to.

U sistemu američkog dolara vidimo da političke veze proističu iz Cantillonovog Efekta. U Bitcoin sistemu vidimo da se pružaoci usluga (rudari) plaćaju za svoje usluge novostvorenim bitcoin-ima.

Naravno, ishodi Cantillonovog Efekta bi mogli da se promene tako što će političari da promene način na koji novi novac ulazi u sistem. Međutim, ovo ne rešava osnovni problem: neko drugi ima korist na tuđi račun.

Bitcoin sistem je daleko pravedniji jer koristi Cantillonov Efekat da bi uredno nagradio one koji pružaju korisnu uslugu za sve ostale: obezbeđivanje Bitcoin mreže.

Zamislite to ovako: u dolarskom sistemu, neka osoba šarmira političare ili bankare na pravim pozicijama da bi dobila povlašćen tretman na račun svih ostalih. U Bitcoin sistemu svi plaćaju po malo, da bi zaštitili svoje bankovne račune od krađe.

Uloga Vlade u Cantillonovom Efektu

Federalne vlade širom sveta su jedne od najvećih korisnika Cantillonovog Efekta, jer su u mogućnosti da vrlo lako dobiju zajmove od centralne banke svoje države. U SAD se to radi kada američko Ministarstvo finansija proda državne obveznice banci Federalnih rezervi. Federalne rezerve daju Ministarstvu finansija gomilu novoštampanog novca, a Ministarstvo finansija da Fed-u papir na kojem piše „mi ćemo vam isplatiti dug u to i to vreme sa određenom kamatom“. Možda je malo složenije od ovoga, ali to opisuje suštinu toga.

Budući da novac koji federalna vlada dobija nije postojao pre toga, ona može da ga potroši pre nego što cene počnu da rastu zbog tog novog novca koji ulazi u opticaj. To omogućava federalnoj vladi da ga troši na socijalne programe, policiju, vojsku, vojnu opremu za naoružavanje država poput Saudijske Arabije, čak i na ‘most iz nigde ka ničemu’, a da ne mora da koristi politički nepopularnu metodu: da poveća porez da bi to platila.

Umesto da povećaju poreske prihode za pokrivanje ove potrošnje, federalne vlade koriste Cantillonov Efekat za prenos kupovne moći od plata radnika srednje klase u vladin trezor. Na taj način inflacija i Cantillonov Efekat stvaraju skriveni porez na zarade i uštede novca.

Zaštitite Sebe od Cantillonovog Efekta

Zaštita svog života od Cantillonovog Efekta je zeznuta igra koju treba odigrati. Možete da pokušate da se približite izvoru novog novca, tako što ćete se nadmetati za državne ugovore ili raditi u vrhovima finansija. Možete da pokušate da igrate na visokim nivoima u trgovanju na berzi ili ulaganju u nekretnine, ali je verovatnije da ćete bankrotirati nego što ćete da se zaštitite.

Najlakši način da zaštitite sebe od nepravedne raspodele novog novca je potpuno odbijanje tog monetarnog sistema. Samo najstarije generacije koje danas žive mogu da se sete vremena kada je novac značio nešto drugo osim papira potkrepljenog ‘punom verom i kredibilitetom’ vlade i vojske. Mi smo tako uslovljeni da novac smatramo proizvodom naše vlade, ali naša zaštita od Cantillonovog Efekta zahteva gledanje novca kroz istoriju – čak i pre samo jednog veka.

Novac je nekada značio zlato – materijal koji nijedna vlada ne može magično da stvori u većoj količini, a koji zahteva ogroman napor da se pronađe i iskopa iz zemlje. Bitcoin je vrlo sličan zlatu po tome što niko ne može magično da ga stvori, i veoma ga je teško proizvesti više ‘rudarenjem’. Međutim, Bitcoin takođe putuje brzinom interneta, omogućavajući globalnu trgovinu na način na koji zlato jednostavno ne može.

Bitcoin i zlato – slični po karakteristikama ‘normalnog novca’, različiti po prenosivosti.

Da biste se zaštitili od Cantillonovog Efekta, potrebno je što je više moguće isključiti se iz nepravednih sistema tradicionalnih valuta, čuvajući bogatstvo u pravom novcu, poput zlata ili Bitcoin-a. Ovo je najmirniji način za ukidanje starog sistema i uvođenje novog, pravednijeg sistema.

Kako mogu da saznam više o Bitcoin-u?

Film "Bitkoin: Kraj novca kakvog poznajemo"

Još uvek je rano za Bitcoin

Zašto baš Bitcoin?

Šta je to Bitcoin?

The Bitcoin Whitepaper ← objavljen 2008. godine, ovo je izložio dizajn za Bitcoin.

Ako vam se sviđa moj rad, molim vas da ga podelite sa svojim prijateljima i porodicom. Cilj mi je da svima pružim uvid u ekonomiju i kako ona utiče na njihove živote.

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

Bitcoin surpasses gold in the United States: 50 million holders and a dominant role in the global market.

According to a new report by River, for the first time in history, the number of Americans owning bitcoin has surpassed that of gold holders. The analysis reveals that approximately 50 million U.S. citizens currently own the cryptocurrency, while gold owners number 37 million. In fact, 14.3% of Americans own bitcoin, the highest percentage of holders worldwide.

Source: River

The report highlights that 40% of all Bitcoin-focused companies are based in the United States, consolidating America’s dominant position in the sector. Additionally, 40.5% of Bitcoin holders are men aged 31 to 35, followed by 35.9% of men aged 41 to 45. In contrast, only 13.4% of holders are women.

Source: River

Notably, U.S. companies hold 94.8% of all bitcoins owned by publicly traded companies worldwide. According to the report, recent regulatory changes in the U.S. have made the asset more accessible through financial products such as spot ETFs.

The document also shows that American investors increasingly view the cryptocurrency as protection against fiscal instability and inflation, appreciating its limited supply and decentralized governance model.

For River, Bitcoin offers significant practical advantages over gold in the modern digital era. Its ease of custody, cross-border transfer, and liquidity make the cryptocurrency an attractive option for both individual and institutional investors, the report suggests.

The post USA: 50 million Americans own bitcoin appeared first on Atlas21.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Will not live in a pod.
Will not eat the bugs.
Will not get the chip.
Will not get a blue check.
Will not use CBDCs.

Live Free or Die.

Why did Elon buy twitter for $44 Billion? What value does he see in it besides the greater influence that undoubtedly comes with controlling one of the largest social platforms in the world? We do not need to speculate - he made his intentions incredibly clear in his first meeting with twitter employees after his takeover - WeChat of the West.

To those that do not appreciate freedom, the value prop is clear - WeChat is incredibly powerful and successful in China.

To those that do appreciate freedom, the concern is clear - WeChat has essentially become required to live in China, has surveillance and censorship integrated at its core, and if you are banned from the app your entire livelihood is at risk. Employment, housing, payments, travel, communication, and more become extremely difficult if WeChat censors determine you have acted out of line.

The blue check is the first step in Elon's plan to bring the chinese social credit score system to the west. Users who verify their identity are rewarded with more reach and better tools than those that do not. Verified users are the main product of Elon's twitter - an extensive database of individuals and complete control of the tools he will slowly get them to rely on - it is easier to monetize cattle than free men.

If you cannot resist the temptation of the blue check in its current form you have already lost - what comes next will be much darker. If you realize the need to resist - freedom tech provides us options.

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If you found this post helpful support my work with bitcoin.

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• "Today we're launching the beta version of our multiplatform Nostr browser! Think Google Chrome but for Nostr apps. The beta is our big first step toward this vision," announced Damus.
• This version comes with the Dave Nostr AI assistant, support for zaps and the Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) wallet interface, full-text note search, GIFs and fullscreen images, multiple media uploads, user tagging, relay list and mute list support, along with a number of other improvements."

"Included in the beta is the Dave, the Nostr AI assistant (its Grok for Nostr). Dave is a new Notedeck browser app that can search and summarize notes from the network. For a full breakdown of everything new, check out our beta launch video."

What's new

• Dave Nostr AI assistant app.
• GIFs.
• Fulltext note search.
• Add full screen images, add zoom, and pan.
• Zaps! NWC/ Wallet UI.
• Introduce last note per pubkey feed (experimental).
• Allow multiple media uploads per selection.
• Major Android improvements (still WIP).
• Added notedeck app sidebar.
• User Tagging.
• Note truncation.
• Local network note broadcast, broadcast notes to other notedeck notes while you're offline.
• Mute list support (reading).
• Relay list support.
• Ctrl-enter to send notes.
• Added relay indexing (relay columns soon).
• Click hashtags to open hashtag timeline.
• Fixed timelines sometimes not updating (stale feeds).
• Fixed UI bounciness when loading profile pictures
• Fixed unselectable post replies.

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo
Website

@ bf47c19e:c3d2573b

Originalni prevod na ecd.rs

Bitcoin: Peer-to-peer sistem elektronskog novca

Satoshi Nakamoto

satoshin@gmx.com

bitcoin.org

Prevedeno na srpski sa bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf od strane ECD

Sažetak. Potpuna peer-to-peer verzija elektronskog novca omogućila bi slanje uplata putem interneta direktno od jedne strane ka drugoj bez posredovanja finansijskih institucija. Digitalni potpisi pružaju deo rešenja, ali se glavni benefiti gube ako je i dalje potrebna pouzdana treća strana za sprečavanje dvostruke potrošnje. Predlažemo rešenje problema dvostruke potrošnje korišćenjem peer-to-peer mreže. Mreža vremenski označava transakcije tako što ih hešuje u tekući lanac dokaza o radu (proof of work) temeljen na hešu, formirajući zapis koji se ne može promeniti bez ponovnog rada i objavljivanja dokaza o tom radu. Najduži lanac ne služi samo kao dokaz niza događaja, nego i kao dokaz da je taj niz događaja potvrđen od strane dela peer-to-peer mreže koja poseduju najveću zbirnu procesorsku snagu (CPU). Sve dok većinu procesorske snage kontrolišu čvorovi (nodes) koji ne sarađuju u napadu na mrežu, oni će generisati najduži lanac i nadmašiti napadače. Sama mreža zahteva minimalnu strukturu. Poruke kroz mrežu se prenose uz pretpostavku da svaki čvor čini maksimalan napor da poruku prenese u svom izvornom obliku i na optimalan način, a čvorovi mogu napustiti mrežu i ponovo joj se pridružiti po želji, prihvatajući najduži lanac dokaza o radu kao dokaz onoga što se dogodilo dok ih nije bilo.

1. Uvod

Trgovina na Internetu počela je da se oslanja skoro isključivo na finansijske institucije koje služe kao pouzdani posrednici pri obradi elektronskih plaćanja. Iako sistem radi dovoljno dobro za većinu transakcija i dalje trpi od inherentnih slabosti modela utemeljenog na poverenju.

Potpuno nepovratne transakcije zapravo nisu moguće, jer finansijske institucije ne mogu izbeći posredovanje u rešavanju eventualnih sporova. Troškovi posredovanja povećavaju troškove transakcija, ograničavaju minimalnu praktičnu veličinu transakcija i onemogućuju male, povremene transakcije jer postoji velika šteta zbog gubitka mogućnosti da se izvrše nepovratna plaćanja za nepovratne usluge. Uz mogućnost povraćaja transakcije, potreba za poverenjem raste. Trgovci moraju biti oprezni prema svojim kupcima i tražiti im više informacija nego što bi inače bilo neophodno. Određeni procenat prevara prihvaćen je kao neizbežan. Ovi troškovi i nepouzdanost plaćanja mogu se izbeći korišćenjem gotovine, ali ne postoji mehanizam za elektronsko plaćanje bez pouzdane treće strane.

Ono što je potrebno je elektronski sistem plaćanja zasnovan na kriptografskom dokazu umesto na poverenju, koji omogućava da bilo koje dve strane direktno i dobrovoljno međusobno trguju bez potrebe za posrednikom. Transakcije koje su nepovratne bi zaštitile prodavce od prevara, a escrow mehanizmi mogli bi se lako implementirati radi zaštite kupaca. U ovom dokumentu predlažemo rešenje problema dvostruke potrošnje korišćenjem peer-to-peer distribuiranog servera vremenskih oznaka (timestamp) za generisanje računarskog dokaza o hronološkom redosledu transakcija. Sistem je siguran sve dok pošteni čvorovi zajedno kontrolišu više procesorske snage procesora nego bilo koja udružena grupa napadačkih čvorova.

2. Transakcije

Elektronski novčić definišemo kao lanac digitalnih potpisa. Svaki vlasnik prenosi novčić na sledećeg digitalnim potpisivanjem heša prethodne transakcije i javnog ključa sledećeg vlasnika, dodajući ih potom na kraj novčića. Primalac transakcije može da verifikuje potpise, a time i lanac vlasništva.

Problem je naravno u tome što primalac ne može potvrditi da jedan od prethodnih vlasnika nije dva puta poslao isti novčić. Uobičajeno rešenje je uvođenje pouzdanog centralizovanog posrednika, kreatora novčića koji proverava sve transakcije. Nakon svake transakcije, novčić se mora vratiti kreatoru kako bi se izdao novi novčić i veruje se da samo za novčiće izdate direktno od kreatora možemo biti sigurni da nisu dva puta potrošeni. Problem sa ovim rešenjem je što sudbina čitavog novčanog sistema zavisi od kompanije koja kreira novčiće, jer svaka transakcija mora da prođe kroz nju, baš kao što je slučaj sa bankom.

Treba nam način da primalac bude siguran da prethodni vlasnici nisu potpisali nikakve ranije transakcije kojim bi potrošili taj novčić. Za naše potrebe, računamo transakciju koja se prva desila i ne zanimaju nas naredni pokušaji da se isti novčić ponovo pošalje. Jedini način da sa sigurnošću potvrdimo da taj novčić nije prethodno bio poslat je da imamo informacije o svim transakcijama koje su se ikada desile. U modelu baziranom na centalizovan kreatoru, taj kreator je imao informacije o svim transakcijama i odlučivao koja transakcija je prva stigla. Da bismo to postigli bez pouzdanog posrednika, transakcije moraju biti javno objavljene [1] i potreban nam je sistem u kojem učesnici mogu da se dogovore o jedinstvenoj istoriji redosleda kojim su transakcije primljene. Primaocu je potreban dokaz da se u trenutku dešavanja svake od transakcija većina čvorova složila oko toga da je baš ta transakcija bila ona koja je prva primljena.

3. Server vremenskih oznaka

Rešenje koje predlažemo počinje serverom vremenskih oznaka. Server vremenske oznake radi tako što uzima heš bloka podataka kojem će se dodeliti vremenska oznaka i objavi taj heš svima u mreži, slično kao u novinama ili kao post na Usenet mreži [2-5]. Vremenska oznaka očigledno dokazuje da su podaci morali postojati u to vreme kako bi ušli u haš. Svaka vremenska oznaka sadrži prethodnu vremensku oznaku u svom hešu, formirajući tako lanac, pri čemu svaka dodatna vremenska oznaka pojačava potvrde onih pre nje.

4. Dokaz o radu (Proof-of-Work)

Da bismo implementirali distribuirani server vremenskih oznaka na peer-to-peer principu, moraćemo da koristimo sistem dokaza o radu sličan Hashcash-u Adama Back-a [6], umesto Uneset postova ili novinskih objava. Dokaz o radu uključuje traženje vrednosti koja će, kada se hešuje, na primer pomoću SHA-256 heš funkcije, stvarati heš čiji binarni zapis započinje određenim brojem nula. Prosečna količina potrebnog rada eksponencijalno raste sa brojem potrebnih početnih nula, a može se proveriti izvršavanjem samo jedne heš fuknkcije.

Za našu mrežu vremenskih oznaka implementiramo dokaz o radu povećavajući nonce broja u bloku sve dok se ne pronađe ona vrednost nonce-a koja daje hešu bloka potreban broj početnih nula. Jednom kada se procesorska snaga utroši kako bi se zadovoljio dokaz o radu, blok se ne može izmeniti bez ponovljenog rada. Kako se kasniji blokovi vežu na taj blok, rad potreban da se on izmeni uključivao bi i ponovno obrađivanje svih blokova nakon njega.

Dokaz o radu takođe rešava problem utvrđivanja većine pri odlučivanju. Ako bi se ​​većina zasnivala na principu jednog glasa po IP adresi, mogao bi je narušiti svako ko je u stanju da glasa sa više IP adresa odjednom. Dokaz o radu u osnovi predstavlja jedan glas po jedinici procesorske snage. Većinska odluka je predstavljena najdužim lancem u čije je stvaranje zapravo investirano najviše rada prilikom dokazivanja. Ako većinu procesorske snage kontrolišu pošteni čvorovi, pošten lanac će rasti najbrže i nadmašiće sve konkurentske lance. Da bi izmenio neki od prethodnih blokova, napadač bi morao da ponovi dokaz o radu za taj blok i sve blokove nakon njega, a zatim da sustigne i nadmaši količinu rada poštenih čvorova. Kasnije ćemo pokazati da se dodavanjem novih blokova eksponencijalno smanjuje verovatnoća da će sporiji napadač uspeti da sustigne pošteni lanac.

Da bi se kompenzovalo povećanje brzine hardvera i promenljivo interesovanje ljudi za vođenje čvorova tokom vremena, težina obavljanja dokaza o radu (proof-of-work difficulty) određuje se prema prosečnom broju blokova krairanih za sat vremena. Ako se blokovi stvaraju prebrzo, težina se povećava.

5. Mreža

Koraci za vođenje mreže su sledeći:

1) Nove transakcije se prosleđuju svim čvorovima u mreži. 2) Svaki čvor prikuplja nove transakcije u blok. 3) Svaki čvor radi na pronalaženju dokaza o radu dovoljnog nivoa težine za svoj blok. 4) Kada čvor pronađe dokaz o radu, on emituje taj blok ka svim čvorovima. 5) Čvorovi prihvataju blok samo ako su sve transakcije u njemu ispravne i nisu već potrošene. 6) Čvorovi izražavaju prihvatanje bloka radeći na stvaranju sledećeg bloka u lancu, koristeći heš prihvaćenog bloka kao prethodni heš.

Čvorovi uvek smatraju da je najduži lanac ispravan i nastaviće da rade na njegovom produžavanju. Ako dva čvora istovremeno emituju različite verzije sledećeg bloka, neki čvorovi prvo mogu primiti jedan ili drugi blok. U tom slučaju svaki čvor radi na prvom koji je dobio, ali čuvaju drugu kariku lanca u slučaju da ona postane duža. Dilema će biti rešena kada se pronađe sledeći dokaz o radu i jedna karika postane duža; čvorovi koji su radili na drugoj karici lanca će se prebaciti na dužu kariku.

Emitovanje novih transakcija ne mora nužno doći do svih čvorova. Sve dok stižu do velikog broja čvorova, te transakcije će ući u blok. Slično važi i za blokove, ni oni ne moraju doći odmah do svih čvorova. Ako neki čvor propusti da primi informaciju o bloku, kada mu stigne sledeći blok,primetiće da je propustio jedan, pa će ga tražiti naknadno.

6. Podsticaj

Po pravilu, prva transakcija u bloku je posebna transakcija koja kreira novi novčić u vlasništvu kreatora bloka. Ovo daje podsticaj čvorovima da podrže mrežu i pruža način za početnu ubacivanje novčića u opticaj, budući da ne postoji centralno telo koje ih izdaje. Stalno dodavanje konstantne količine novih novčića liči na rudarenje zlata, gde rudari ulažu resurse kako bi izrudarili nove količine zlata i ubacili ih u opticaj. U našem slučaju ulaže se procesorsko vreme i električna energija.

Podsticaj se takođe može finansirati i transakcionim naknadama. Ako je iznos izlaznog dela transakcije manji od ulaznog, razliku čini naknada za transakciju koja se dodaje iznosu nagrade za kreatora bloka koji sadrži tu transakciju. Nakon što predefinisani broj novčića uđe u opticaj, podsticaj mogu u potpunosti činiti transakcione naknade, čime se sistem oslobađa inflacije.

Čvorovi su na ovaj način podstaknuti da ostanu pošteni. Ako je pohlepni napadač u stanju da angažuje više procesorske snage od svih poštenih čvorova zajedno, morao bi da bira između toga da poništi svoje izvršene transakcije i time prevari ljude ili da procesorsku snagu koristi za stvaranje novih novčića. On bi trebalo bi uvidi da je isplativije igrati po pravilima koja ga nagrađuju sa više novih novčića od svi drugi zajedno, nego da potkopava sistem i vrednost sopstvenog bogatstva.

7. Oslobađanje prostora na hard disku

Kada je dovoljno blokova dodato nakon poslednje transakcije novčića, prethodne transakcije tog novčića se mogu odbaciti kako bi se uštedeo prostor na hard disku. Kako bi se to ostvarilo bez razbijanja heša bloka, transakcije su hešovane u Merkleovo stablo (Merkle Tree) [7] [2] [5], gde je samo koren uključen u heš bloka. Stari blokovi se tada mogu sabiti uklanjanjem nepotrebnih grana drveta. Unutrašnji heševi ne moraju biti skladišteni.

Zaglavlje bloka bez transakcija bilo bi oko 80 bajtova. Ako pretpostavimo da su blokovi generisani svakih 10 minuta, 80 bajtova * 6 * 24 * 365 = 4,2 MB godišnje. Imajući u vidu činjenicu da se u 2008. godini računari uglavnom prodaju sa oko 2 GB RAM-a i Murov zakon koji predviđa trenutni rast od 1,2 GB godišnje, skladištenje ne bi trebalo da predstavlja problem čak i ako se zaglavlja bloka moraju čuvati u memoriji.

8. Pojednostavljena verifikacija plaćanja

Moguće je verifikovati plaćanja bez vođenja čitavog mrežnog čvora. Korisnik samo treba da sačuva kopiju zaglavlja blokova najdužeg lanca dokaza o radu, do koje može doći upitom ka mrežnim čvorovima dok se ne uveri da je dobio najduži lanac i dobije Merkleova granu

koja povezuje transakciju sa blokom u koji je uneta vremenska oznaka za tu transakciju. Ne može samostalno proveriti transakciju, ali povezujući je sa mestom u lancu može videti da je prihvaćena od strane čvora mreže i da su na njen blok dodati naknadni blokovi što dalje potvrđuje da ju je mreža prihvatila.

Kao takva, verifikacija je pouzdana sve dok pošteni čvorovi kontrolišu mrežu, ali je ranjiva ako napadač nadjača ostatak mreže. Čvorovi mreže mogu sami proveriti transakcije, ali napadačeve lažne transakcije mogu zavarati one koji koriste pojednostavljenu metodu verifikacije transakcija sve dok je on u stanju da nadjačava ostatak mreže. Jedna od strategija zaštite bila bi prihvatanje upozorenja čvorova mreže kada otkriju nevažeći blok, pri čemu bi korisnikov softver morao da preuzme ceo blok i sporne transakcije kako bi potvrdio nepravilnost. Biznisi koji primaju česte uplate će verovatno želeti da pokrenu i vode sopstvene čvorove radi brže verifikacije i potrebe da im sigurnost ne zavisi od drugih.

9. Kombinovanje i deljenje vrednosti

Iako bi bilo moguće pojedinačno rukovati novčićima, bilo bi nezgrapno kreirati zasebnu transakciju za svaki cent u toj transferu. Da biste dozvolili podelu i kombinovanje vrednosti, transakcije sadrže više ulaza i izlaza. Obično će postojati ili jedan ulaz iz veće prethodne transakcije ili više unosa koji kombinuju manje iznose, a najviše dva izlaza: jedan za samo plaćanje, a jedan koji vraća kusur, ako ga ima, nazad pošiljaocu.

Treba napomenuti da situacija u kojoj transakcija zavisi od nekoliko drugih transakcija, a te transakcije zavise od još mnogo više, ovde nije problem. Nikada ne postoji potreba za izdvajanjem istorije pojedinačne transakcije.

10. Privatnost

Tradicionalni bankarski model postiže odgovarajući nivo privatnosti ograničavanjem pristupa informacijama na strane uključene u transakciju i posrednika. Neophodnost javnog objavljivanja svih transakcija isključuje mogućnost primene pomenutog modela, ali privatnost se i dalje može zadržati na drugi način: čuvanjem javnih ključeva (public keys) anonimnim. Javnost može videti da neko šalje iznos nekom drugom, ali bez informacija koje povezuju transakciju sa bilo kim. Ovo je slično količini informacija koje objavljuju berze, gde se vreme i veličina pojedinačnih trgovina čine javnim, ali bez navođenja ko su stranke uključene u tu trgovinu.

Kao dodatni zaštitni zid, preporučljivo je koristiti novi par ključeva za svaku transakciju, kako ne bi bili povezane sa zajedničkim vlasnikom. Neka povezivanja su i dalje neizbežna kod transakcija sa više ulaza, koje nužno otkrivaju da su njihovi ulazi bili u vlasništvu istog vlasnika. Rizik je taj da bi se otkrivanjem vlasnik ključa mogle otkriti i ostale transakcije koje su pripadale tom vlasniku.

11. Proračuni

Razmatramo scenario u kome napadač pokušava da generiše alternativni lanac brže od poštenog lanca. Čak i ako se to postigne, to ne omogućuje proizvoljne promene u sistemu, poput stvaranje vrednosti ni iz čega ili uzimanje novca koji nikada nije pripadao napadaču. Pošteni čvorovi neće prihvatiti nevažeće transakcije kao uplatu i nikada neće prihvatiti blok koji ih sadrži. Napadač može samo pokušati da promeni jednu od svojih transakcija kako bi vratio novac koji je nedavno potrošio.

Trka između poštenog lanca i lanca napadača može se predstaviti kao binomska distribucija slučajne diskretne varijable (Binomial Random Walk). Uspešni ishod je da se pošten lanac produži za jedan blok, povećavajući svoje vođstvo za +1, a neuspešni ishod je da se napadačev lanac produži za jedan blok, smanjujući zaostatak za -1.

Verovatnoću da napadač nadoknadi određeni deficit možemo izraziti kroz problem kockareve propasti (Gambler’s Ruin Problem). Pretpostavimo da kockar sa neograničenim iznosom novca počinje sa zaostatkom i igra potencijalno beskonačan broj ponovljenih igara u pokušaju da nadoknadi zaostatak. Možemo izračunati verovatnoću za nadoknađivanje zaostatka ili da će napadač stići pošten lanac, na sledeći način [8]:

p= verovatnoća da pošten čvor pronađe sledeći blok q= verovatnoća da napadač pronađe sledeći blok qz= verovatnoća da će napadač ikada dostići z blokova zaostatka

S obzirom na našu pretpostavku da je p > q, verovatnoća pada eksponencijalno kako se povećava broj blokova koje napadač mora da nadoknadi. Sa šansama protiv njega, ako mu se u početku ne posreći, njegove šanse postaju manje i manje sa povećanjem zaostatka.

Sada razmatramo koliko primalac nove transakcije treba da čeka pre nego što postane

dovoljno siguran da pošiljalac ne može promeniti transakciju. Pretpostavljamo da je pošiljalac napadač koji želi da natera primaoca da veruje da mu je platio, a zatim nakon nekog vremena tu transakciju preusmeri ka sebi. Primalac će primetiti kada se to dogodi, ali pošiljalac se nada da će tad već biti prekasno.

Primalac generiše novi par ključeva i daje javni ključ pošiljaocu neposredno pre potpisivanja transakcije. Ovo sprečava pošiljaoca da unapred pripremi lanac blokova radeći na njemu neprekidno dok mu se ne posreći da stekne dovoljnu prednost i u tom trenutku izvrši transakciju. Kada se transakcija pošalje, nepošteni pošiljalac počinje tajno da radi na paralelnom lancu koji sadrži alternativnu verziju njegove transakcije.

Primalac čeka dok transakcija ne bude dodata u blok, i dok z blokova nije dodato nakon tog bloka. On ne zna tačno koliko je napadač napredovao, ali pod pretpostavkom da su pošteni blokovi kreirani očekivanom dinamikom, potencijalni napredak napadača će biti prikazan kao Poasonova distribucija sa očekivanom vrednošću:

Kako bismo izračunali verovatnoću da napadač ipak može da nadoknadi zaostatak, množimo gustinu verovatnoće za svaki nivo napretka koji je mogao da ostvari sa verovatnoćom da od tog trenutka može da potpuno nadoknadi zaostatak:

Preuređujemo formulu kako bismo izbegli sabiranje beskonačnog broja sabiraka zbog repa distribucije:

I konvertujemo u programski kod u programskom jeziku C…

Kroz par primera, vidimo da verovatnoća opada eksponencijalno sa porastom z.

Rešavanje za P < 0.1%…

12. Zaključak

Predložili smo sistem za elektronske transakcije bez oslanjanja na poverenje. Počeli smo sa uobičajenim šablonom i novčićima nastalim iz digitalnih potpisa, koji pruža snažnu kontrolu nad vlasništvom, ali je nepotpun bez načina da se spreči dvostruka potrošnja. Kako bismo ovo rešili, predložili smo peer-to-peer mrežu koja koristi dokaz o radu za čuvanje javne istorije transakcija čija izmena napadačima brzo postaje računski nepraktična ako pošteni čvorovi kontrolišu većinu procesorske snage. Mreža je robusna u svojoj nestrukturiranoj jednostavnosti. Svi čvorovi rade istovremeno uz malo koordinacije. Ne treba ih identifikovati, jer se poruke ne usmeravaju na jedno određeno mesto nego samo trebaju biti prenete uz maksimalan napor od strane čvorova da se taj prenos odradi na predviđen način. Čvorovi mogu da napuste i ponovo se pridruže mreži po želji, prihvatajući lanac dokaza o radu kao dokaz onoga što se dogodilo dok ih nije bilo. Oni glasaju svojom procesorskom snagom, izražavajući svoje prihvatanje validnih blokova time što pokušavaju da ih nadgrade novim blokovima i odbacuju nevažeće blokove odbijanjem ih nadgrađuju. Sva potrebna pravila i podsticaji mogu se nametnuti ovim mehanizmom postizanja konsenzusa.

Reference:

[1] W. Dai, „b-money,“ weidai.com/bmoney.txt, 1998.

[2] H. Massias, X.S. Avila, and J.-J. Quisquater, „Design of a secure timestamping service with minimal trust requirements,“ In 20th Symposium on Information Theory in the Benelux, May 1999.

[3] S. Haber, W.S. Stornetta, „How to time-stamp a digital document,“ In Journal of Cryptology, vol 3, no 2, pages 99-111, 1991.

[4] D. Bayer, S. Haber, W.S. Stornetta, „Improving the efficiency and reliability of digital time-stamping,“ In Sequences II: Methods in Communication, Security and Computer Science, pages 329-334, 1993.

[5] S. Haber, W.S. Stornetta, „Secure names for bit-strings,“ In Proceedings of the 4th ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security, pages 28-35, April 1997.

[6] A. Back, „Hashcash – a denial of service counter-measure,“ hashcash.org/papers/hashcash.pdf, 2002.

[7] R.C. Merkle, „Protocols for public key cryptosystems,“ In Proc. 1980 Symposium on Security and Privacy, IEEE Computer Society, pages 122-133, April 1980.

[8] W. Feller, „An introduction to probability theory and its applications,“ 1957.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Influencers would have you believe there is an ongoing binance bank run but bitcoin wallet data says otherwise.

- binance wallets are near all time highs
- bitfinex wallets are also trending up
- gemini and coinbase are being hit with massive withdrawals though

You should not trust custodians, they can rug you without warning. It is incredibly important you learn how to hold bitcoin yourself, but also consider not blindly trusting influencers with a ref link to shill you.

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