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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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Uber’s CEO has revealed the company’s interest in stablecoins as a solution to reduce the costs of cross-border payments.

The multinational transport giant is currently in an exploratory phase regarding the integration of stablecoins into its global payment systems. The disclosure came during a speech by CEO Dara Khosrowshahi at the Bloomberg Tech conference in San Francisco.

“We’re still in the study phase, I’d say, but stablecoin is one of the, for me, more interesting instantiations of crypto that has a practical benefit other than crypto as a store of value.” Khosrowshahi stated.

The Uber CEO explained how stablecoins could represent a cost-effective alternative to traditional payment systems for international transactions. According to Khosrowshahi, these digital currencies could significantly reduce the company’s operational expenses by eliminating high fees and delays typically associated with conventional bank transfers.

Implementing stablecoins could streamline Uber’s global payment operations, with particularly significant benefits in markets burdened by high remittance costs or unstable local currencies — enabling faster and more reliable payments to the company’s business partners. However, Uber has yet to specify which stablecoins or blockchain networks it might adopt, nor has it provided a precise timeline for implementation.

Uber’s interest in stablecoins comes as the legislative landscape continues to evolve. The U.S. Congress is currently reviewing two major legislative proposals: the GENIUS Act and the STABLE Act, both aimed at establishing a clear regulatory framework for dollar-pegged digital currencies. These bills focus on reserve standards and anti-money laundering requirements but have yet to be finalized.

The post Uber eyes stablecoins to optimize international payments appeared first on Atlas21.

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Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Life Insurer, Meanwhile, Becomes First Company to Publish Audited Financials Denominated in Bitcoin

Meanwhile Insurance Bitcoin (Bermuda) Limited (“Meanwhile”) announced it has become the first company in the world to release externally audited financial statements denominated entirely in Bitcoin. According to the announcement, the company reported 220.4 BTC in assets and 25.29 BTC in net income for 2024, a 300% year over year increase.

Today marks a global first & historic event for us, along with the public release of our 2024 audited financial statements, covering our 1st year of sales.

As the 1st company in the world to have Bitcoin-denominated financial statements externally audited, we are excited to…

— meanwhile | Bitcoin Life Insurance (@meanwhilelife) June 5, 2025

“We’ve just made history as the first company in the world to have Bitcoin-denominated financial statements externally audited,” said Zac Townsend, CEO of Meanwhile. “This is an important, foundational step in reimagining the financial system based on a single, global, decentralized standard outside the control of any one government.” 

The financial statements were audited by Harris & Trotter LLP and its digital asset division ht.digital. Meanwhile’s financials also comply with Bermuda’s Insurance Act 1978, noting that their BTC denominated financials were approved and comply with official guidelines. The firm, fully licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), operates entirely in BTC and is prohibited from liquidating Bitcoin assets except through policyholder claims, positioning it as a long term holder. 

“As the first regulated Bitcoin life insurance company, we view the BTC held by Meanwhile as inherently long-term in nature—primarily held to support the Company’s insurance liabilities over decades,” Townsend added. “This makes it significantly ‘stickier’ and resistant to market pressures compared to the BTC held by other companies as part of their treasury management strategies.” 

Meanwhile’s 2024 financials also revealed 23.02 BTC in net premiums and 4.35 BTC in investment income, showing that its model not only preserves Bitcoin, but earns it. The company’s reserves (also held in BTC) were reviewed and approved by Willis Towers Watson (WTW). 

Meanwhile also offers a Bitcoin Whole Life insurance product that allows policyholders to save, borrow, and build legacy wealth—entirely in BTC, and has plans to expand globally in 2025.

“We are incredibly proud of today’s news as it underscores how Meanwhile is at the forefront of the next phase of the convergence between Bitcoin and institutional financial markets,” said Tia Beckmann, CFO of Meanwhile. “Now having generated net income in BTC, we have demonstrated that we are earning it through a sustainable insurance business model designed for the long term.” 

This post Bitcoin Life Insurer, Meanwhile, Becomes First Company to Publish Audited Financials Denominated in Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

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Picture this: you’re trying to buy coffee with Bitcoin, but instead of waiting 10 minutes for blockchain confirmation and paying $5 in fees, your transaction completes instantly for a fraction of a penny.

That’s the promise of the Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s most ambitious scaling solution.

But here’s the thing that most people don’t realize – the entire system only works because of an intricate web of technical standards that most users never see.

These standards, known as BOLTs (Basis of Lightning Technology), are the invisible foundation that makes Lightning’s magic possible. Without them, we’d have a fragmented mess of incompatible systems rather than the seamless payment network that’s processing millions of transactions today.

The Protocol Puzzle: Why Lightning Needed Standards

When Lightning Network was first conceived in 2015, it faced a classic chicken-and-egg problem. Multiple development teams were working on implementations – Lightning Labs with LND, Blockstream with c-lightning, and ACINQ with Eclair – but they all had slightly different ideas about how things should work. Without coordination, these would have become isolated islands of functionality.

Think about the early days of instant messaging, when AOL Instant Messenger users couldn’t talk to Yahoo Messenger users. That’s exactly what Lightning developers wanted to avoid. The solution was BOLT – a comprehensive set of technical specifications that would ensure any Lightning implementation could talk to any other, regardless of who built it.

The first BOLT specifications emerged in 2016, but they weren’t just academic exercises. These documents had to solve real engineering challenges: How do you route payments through a network of payment channels? How do you ensure privacy when every transaction could potentially be monitored? How do you handle the inevitable network failures and channel closures?

Inside the BOLT Specifications: A Technical Breakdown

The BOLT specifications read like a blueprint for building a parallel financial system. Each document tackles a specific piece of the Lightning puzzle, and together they create something remarkably sophisticated.

BOLT #1 establishes the foundation – the basic message formats and communication rules that every Lightning node must understand. It’s like defining the grammar of a new language that computers use to talk about money. This specification covers everything from how nodes identify themselves to the basic structure of Lightning messages.

BOLT #2 gets into the nitty-gritty of channel management, the heart of Lightning’s functionality. Payment channels are essentially shared cryptocurrency wallets between two parties, and managing them securely requires incredibly precise coordination. This specification defines exactly how nodes negotiate channel parameters, handle updates, and gracefully close channels when needed. One wrong step here, and funds could be lost forever.

The routing problem gets its due attention in BOLT #4, which implements something called “onion routing” – the same privacy technique used by Tor. When you send a Lightning payment, each node in the path only knows the previous and next hop, never the full route. The sender wraps the payment instructions in multiple layers of encryption, like nested Russian dolls, with each node peeling off one layer to reveal just enough information to forward the payment.

BOLT #7 tackles network discovery – how nodes find each other in the first place. Unlike traditional payment networks with centralized directories, Lightning is completely peer-to-peer. Nodes gossip about available channels and routing fees, creating a constantly updating map of the network that every participant shares.

Perhaps the most user-facing specification is BOLT #11, which standardizes Lightning invoices. Those QR codes you scan to make Lightning payments? They’re not just random data – they’re precisely formatted requests that include payment amounts, destination information, and routing hints, all encoded in a way that any Lightning wallet can understand.

But BOLT #11 is just the beginning of Lightning’s invoice evolution. BOLT #12 represents the next generation of Lightning payments with “offers” – a revolutionary approach that makes Lightning payments as easy as traditional online shopping.

The User Experience Revolution: BOLT #11 and the Invoice Problem

To understand why BOLT #11 was so crucial, you need to appreciate just how clunky early Lightning payments were. Before standardized invoices, sending a Lightning payment required manually entering node public keys, payment hashes, and routing information – a process so error-prone that one wrong character could send your Bitcoin into the digital void.

BOLT #11 changed everything by creating a standardized invoice format that packs all necessary payment information into a single, human-readable string. These invoices use a clever encoding scheme called Bech32 (the same format used for modern Bitcoin addresses) that includes built-in error detection. If you accidentally change a character when copying an invoice, your wallet will immediately know something’s wrong.

But the real genius of BOLT #11 lies in its flexibility. Lightning invoices can include optional routing hints that help wallets find paths to the recipient, even if they’re not well-connected to the broader network. They can specify exact amounts or leave them open for the sender to choose. They can include expiration times, descriptions of what’s being purchased, and even fallback Bitcoin addresses for when Lightning payments fail.

The specification also solved a crucial privacy problem. Early Lightning implementations often revealed too much information about recipients in their invoices. BOLT #11 carefully balances the need for routing information with privacy protection, ensuring that invoices contain just enough data to enable payments without exposing unnecessary details about the recipient’s node or channels.

The Next Evolution: BOLT #12 and the Promise of Offers

While BOLT #11 invoices solved the immediate usability problem, they still had significant limitations that became apparent as Lightning adoption grew. Traditional invoices are single-use, expire relatively quickly, and require the recipient to generate a new one for each payment. Try to explain to your grandmother why she needs to create a new QR code every time someone wants to send her money, and you’ll quickly understand the problem.

BOLT #12, currently being implemented across Lightning software, introduces “offers” – a completely new approach to requesting Lightning payments that works more like traditional payment systems. Instead of creating single-use invoices, merchants and individuals can create reusable offers that work like persistent payment addresses.

The technical innovation behind offers is fascinating. When someone wants to pay an offer, their wallet first contacts the recipient’s node and requests a fresh invoice specifically for that payment. This happens automatically and invisibly to the user, but it solves several critical problems that plagued BOLT #11 invoices.

First, offers enable recurring payments. A subscription service can create a single offer that customers’ wallets can automatically pay monthly, weekly, or on any schedule. The recipient generates a fresh invoice for each payment, maintaining security while enabling the convenience of automated billing.

Second, offers dramatically improve privacy. Because each payment uses a freshly generated invoice, it’s much harder for external observers to correlate multiple payments to the same recipient. Someone monitoring the Lightning network might see that Alice paid 50,000 satoshis to some node, but they can’t easily determine if this was her first payment to that merchant or her hundredth.

The specification also introduces “offer chains” – a way to create offers that can be paid multiple times with different amounts. A coffee shop could create a single offer that customers can pay for any amount, with their wallets automatically calculating tips or adjusting for different menu items.

Behind the Scenes: The Technical Complexity of Simple Payments

What makes BOLT #12 particularly impressive is how it maintains simplicity for users while handling incredible complexity behind the scenes. When your wallet processes an offer, it’s actually engaging in a sophisticated cryptographic dance with the recipient’s node.

The process starts when you scan an offer QR code. Your wallet extracts the recipient’s node information and initiates a connection using the encrypted transport protocol defined in BOLT #8. It then sends a specially formatted request for an invoice, including details about how much you want to pay and any additional information required by the offer.

The recipient’s node validates your request, generates a fresh BOLT #11 invoice specifically for your payment, and sends it back to your wallet. Your wallet then processes this invoice and completes the payment using the standard Lightning routing protocols. The entire process typically takes a few seconds, but it involves multiple round-trips between nodes and several cryptographic operations.

This two-step process – request invoice, then pay invoice – might seem unnecessarily complex, but it elegantly solves problems that plagued earlier Lightning payment systems. It prevents invoice reuse attacks, enables advanced privacy features, and allows for much more flexible payment scenarios.

The Merchant Revolution: From Invoices to Commerce

The evolution from BOLT #11

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Paris, France – June 6, 2025 — Bitcoin payment gateway startup Flash, just announced a new partnership with the “Bitcoin Only Brewery”, marking the first-ever beverage company to leverage Lightning payments.

Flash enables Bitcoin Only Brewery to offer its “BOB” beer with, no-KYC (Know Your Customer) delivery across Europe, priced at 19,500 sats (~$18) for the 4-pack, shipping included.

The cans feature colorful Bitcoin artwork while the contents promise a hazy pale ale: “Each 33cl can contains a smooth, creamy mouthfeel, hazy appearance and refreshing Pale Ale at 5% ABV,” reads the product description.

Pierre Corbin, Co-Founder of Flash, commented:

“Currently, bitcoin is used more as a store of value but usage for payments is picking up. Thanks to new innovation on Lightning, bitcoin is ready to go mainstream for e-commerce sales.”

Flash, launched its 2.0 version in March 2025 with the goal to provide the easiest bitcoin payment gateway for businesses worldwide. The platform is non-custodial and can enable both digital and physical shops to accept bitcoin by connecting their own wallets to Flash.

By leveraging the scalability of the Lightning Network, Flash ensures instant, low-cost transactions, addressing on-chain Bitcoin bottlenecks like high fees and long wait times.

For businesses interested in adopting Bitcoin payments, Flash offers a straightforward onboarding process, low fees, and robust support for both digital and physical goods. To learn more, visit paywithflash.com.

Media Contact:
Pierre Corbin
Co-Founder, Flash
Email: press@paywithflash.com
Website: paywithflash.com

About Flash

Flash is the easiest Bitcoin payment gateway for businesses to accept payments. Supporting both digital and physical enterprises, Flash leverages the Lightning Network to enable fast, low-cost Bitcoin transactions. Launched in its 2.0 version in March 2025, Flash is at the forefront of driving Bitcoin adoption in e-commerce.

About Bitcoin Only Brewery

Bitcoin Only Brewery (@Drink_B0B) is a pioneering beverage company dedicated to the Bitcoin ethos, offering high-quality beers payable exclusively in Bitcoin. With a commitment to personal privacy, the brewery delivers across Europe with no-KYC requirements.

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Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin vs Stablecoins: Bitcoin is an Unreplicable Lifeline in Authoritarian Regimes

Eight years ago, I wrote a book about pitching technology. The core lesson was simple: To convince skeptics, you must show your solution’s value isn’t just better — it’s uniquely better. Years later, as I began advocating for Bitcoin’s role in humanitarian crises, this lesson resurfaced with urgency. Skeptical friends asked “Can’t stablecoins do the same?”, “What’s so unique about Bitcoin?”

The answer lies not in theory, but in the protest rallies of Abuja, the blackouts of Caracas and the underground schools that girls secretly attend in Kabul — places where 1.7 billion unbanked, 250 million battling high inflation or hyperinflation and 2.3 billion under authoritarian rule fight to survive. These stories rarely breach Western media algorithms, which act as a shadow-ban of the developing world, favoring headlines about ETFs over existential financial struggles. 

It doesn’t take too deep a look into these parts of the world to discover that Bitcoin is not only vital but uniquely vital in a way stablecoins and other altcoins do not and cannot replicate. Let’s look at three nations that are adopting Bitcoin over stablecoins and why.

Nigeria: Where Sovereignty Outweighs Stability

Context: 223 million people, 95 million live on less than $1.90 a day. 23.71% inflation (April 2025), 18.3-20 million children not in school. Only 30% have access to safe drinking water. 

In 2024, Nigeria faced severe economic and political upheaval, with the local currency naira crashing to a record 1,643 per dollar by August — down from 460 in early 2023. This not only eroded savings and purchasing power, it eroded trust in the government and led to widespread protests over soaring inflation and fuel costs. These protests were triggered by widespread anger at government economic mismanagement and policies that failed to halt the economic slide. 

On occasion a stable currency, the naira’s collapse left families and businesses struggling to afford imports into a dollar-dependent economy. Public frustration intensified and with it, political instability. This volatile climate of currency devaluation, restricted financial access and social unrest set the stage for Nigerians to turn to alternative financial systems like cryptocurrencies, seeking solutions to safeguard their wealth amid a crumbling economic framework.

But the government wasn’t about to make that easy for its citizens. Nigeria’s government restricted stablecoin. “Illicit flows,” aka money laundering, was often used as the government’s official reason for anti-stablecoin actions. More likely the Nigerian government took action because they viewed stablecoins as undermining its monetary policy by enabling unregulated capital flows and currency substitution, reducing its central bank’s control over money supply and exchange rates. 

No doubt, bitcoin can be seen as undermining monetary policy in some similar ways, the difference being, Nigeria’s government was not able to curtail bitcoin’s usage as effectively due to its decentralized nature. 

The specific actions Nigeria’s government took came in three forms:

• Banking Restrictions and U.S. dollar supply shortages had the effect of limiting fiat on-ramps/off-ramps for stablecoins like USDT, which required KYC-compliant exchanges. P2P bitcoin trading soared after the restrictions, as users bypassed banking controls using private wallets and DEXs.
• Regulatory Crackdowns: Nigeria’s government took specific legal action to sue unlicensed USDT traders. Nigerian authorities then launched a broader attack, accusing crypto-trading platform Binance of “exploitation, devaluation of the naira and money laundering.”
• Premiums and Volatility: Regulatory pressures and FX shortages likely inflated premiums, making them less practical than bitcoin, which operates without centralized dependencies.

All three measures — banking restrictions, regulatory crackdowns and premiums/volatility — impacted bitcoin a lot less than it impacted stablecoins. Stablecoins’ reliance on centralized issuers, banking rails and KYC-compliant exchanges made them vulnerable to government actions, as we saw when USDT trading was disrupted. By contrast, Bitcoin’s decentralized, permissionless nature enabled Nigerians to bypass restrictions via P2P platforms and private wallets, sustaining its adoption.

Afghanistan: How Bitcoin Was a Financial Lifeline After the Taliban Takeover

Context: Taliban rule, most women are unbanked, Afghanistan’s currency devalued 50% between 2021 and 2022. Eighty-five percent live on less than $1 a day, 80% of school-aged Afghan girls and young women are out of school. 

When the Taliban seized control in August 2021, Afghanistan’s banking system collapsed under sanctions, leaving citizens — especially women — with few options. Traditional remittance networks like Hawala charged exorbitant fees (5-20%), while frozen central bank reserves made dollar access nearly impossible. In this vacuum, bitcoin emerged as a critical tool for survival. In 2021, Bitcoin Magazine previously reported how women were safeguarding Bitcoin seed phrases as a last line of financial defense. After the Taliban banned crypto in 2022, peer-to-peer bitcoin trading persisted underground.

Why Bitcoin Outperformed Stablecoins in Crisis
Stablecoins, reliant on centralized issuers and dollar-backed banking rails, faltered under Afghanistan’s unique constraints. U.S. sanctions froze $7 billion in central bank funds, which cut off the dollar liquidity needed for stablecoins like USDT. While Forbes India noted isolated cases of stablecoin use for salaries, most Afghans found them unusable. Meanwhile, sanctions blocked fiat conversions and the Taliban’s November 2021 foreign currency ban further restricted access. Bitcoin, by contrast, once again thrived precisely because of its decentralized design: no intermediaries to freeze transactions, no KYC to expose users and a global network that resisted shutdowns. Where stablecoins were hobbled by their ties to traditional finance, Bitcoin enabled direct, pseudonymous transfers.

Venezuela: Scarcity Trumps “Stability”

Context: The Venezuelan bolívar has lost 99.99% value since 2018; 76% of Venezuelans live on $1.90/day. Over 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2014 due to economic collapse and political instability. Over 10% of children under five in Venezuela suffer from stunting due to chronic malnutrition.

Carlos, a Caracas mechanic, measures his life in bolívars — or rather, the absence of them. Since 2018, Venezuela’s currency has shed 99.99% of its value, Carlos explains, Carlos is an example of many Venezuelans who used bitcoin, not stablecoins, to preserve wealth as the bolívar continued to lose value. The government introduced strict capital controls into the market so that even if you somehow manage to earn USD, you can’t get the money transferred to your bank account.

Bitcoin provides a financial lifeline for people like Carlos, unlike stablecoins that are pegged to a USD that itself lost 18% in purchasing power since 2020.

That’s right: People like Carlos, schooled in the hard knocks of currency hyper-debasement, realized earlier than many in the West that stablecoins are not really stable. 

Stablecoins by their name present the appearance of being a safe harbor, becau

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Bitcoin Magazine

Palantir Is Violating Its Own Principles by Avoiding a Bitcoin Treasury

Palantir exists to see what others miss.

It was founded to solve problems most institutions can’t even name—defending sovereignty, navigating adversarial environments, and building systems designed to endure when others fail. Its software doesn’t just process data; it helps governments and institutions anticipate instability before it strikes.

But for all its strategic foresight, Palantir has yet to adopt a Bitcoin treasury strategy—a move that would bring its capital posture in line with its mission.

With more than $2.1 billion in cash, minimal debt, and few reinvestments, Palantir has the resources to lead—but no capital signal that matches its stated principles. In a world increasingly defined by currency debasement, centralized overreach, and geopolitical fragmentation, sitting on fiat is not neutrality. It’s a contradiction.

Palantir without a Bitcoin treasury isn’t just incomplete—it’s incoherent.

A Company Built for Strategic Foresight Should Not Be Saving in a Failing System

Over the last four years, Palantir has grown steadily:

• $1.09B → $1.54B → $1.91B → $2.23B in annual revenue
• Over $700M in free cash flow
• Just ~$239M in debt
• $2.1B in cash and equivalents

It’s a fortress balance sheet. But a fortress built on fiat is only as strong as the system it rests on.

Palantir has made no meaningful acquisitions, issued no dividends, and offers no capital return strategy beyond heavy stock-based compensation. This isn’t capital discipline—it’s strategic inertia. The company builds wartime software but saves like a peacetime conglomerate.

A Bitcoin Treasury Would Align Palantir’s Capital With Its Conviction

Palantir’s mission is to defend sovereignty and build for adversarial conditions. Bitcoin is the only monetary asset designed to do the same.

• Non-sovereign: Bitcoin is not issued or controlled by any state.
• Resilient: It has survived censorship attempts, geopolitical attacks, and financial panics.
• Transparent: It is auditable, predictable, and trustless—everything the fiat system is not.
• Aligned: Bitcoin reflects the same values Palantir claims—autonomy, resilience, and long-range thinking.

If Palantir allocated even half of its cash reserves (~$1.05B), it could acquire 10,000+ BTC. That would place it among the top 10 corporate Bitcoin holders, alongside Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), Tesla, and Coinbase.

But this isn’t about optics. It’s about aligning capital with purpose.

Palantir Without a Bitcoin Treasury Violates Its Own Principles

Palantir outlines a clear ethical and design philosophy for its software. But those same principles expose a contradiction on its balance sheet.

Let’s break it down:

“Systems should incorporate principles of privacy by design.”

➤ Bitcoin is privacy by design. It enables global value transfer without third-party surveillance or control.
➤ Fiat is surveillance by design. Centralized systems track, censor, and report user behavior by default.

By holding fiat, Palantir passively supports a financial architecture it claims to resist. A Bitcoin treasury would align its capital with its engineering ethics.

“Systems must facilitate accountability and oversight.”

➤ Bitcoin is radically transparent—anyone can audit supply, transactions, and ownership logic.
➤ Fiat operates in shadows—driven by opaque policy, insider bailouts, and political discretion.

Palantir demands accountability in data infrastructure—its capital reserves should meet the same standard.

“We strive to contextualize major world problems.”

➤ The instability of fiat currency and global debt markets is a foundational context.
➤ Bitcoin is not a bet—it’s a contextual response to structural monetary decay.

If Palantir exists to anticipate future risk, it should reflect that awareness on its balance sheet.

This Isn’t a Pivot. It’s Alignment.

Adopting a Bitcoin treasury wouldn’t mark a shift in Palantir’s mission—it would reinforce it.

This isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about applying the same principles that define Palantir’s software—resilience, sovereignty, and long-term thinking—to its balance sheet. Bitcoin reflects those values more directly than any fiat currency can.

Palantir helps its clients prepare for instability. It secures borders, systems, and decision-making frameworks under pressure. But it hasn’t secured its own monetary foundation.

That’s a strategic gap.
That’s a contradiction.
And it’s one the company can resolve—decisively.

The Call to Action

Palantir’s shareholders believe in its conviction. They understand the company is not here to follow. It exists to build first, move first, and signal first.

They are not looking for fiat-era conservatism repackaged as capital discipline. They want strategy that matches the scale of the mission. They want to see the company allocate capital with the same clarity it brings to battlefield intelligence and national infrastructure.

Palantir has the foresight, the liquidity, and the philosophical grounding to act. What it needs is the will to align its reserves with its reason for existing.

A Bitcoin treasury would do more than protect value—it would prove Palantir means what it says.

It’s time to move from rhetoric to action.
It’s time to adopt a Bitcoin treasury strategy.

Disclaimer: This content was written on behalf of Bitcoin For Corporations. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Bitcoin For Corporations. This article is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be interpreted as an invitation or solicitation to acquire, purchase, or subscribe for securities.

This post Palantir Is Violating Its Own Principles by Avoiding a Bitcoin Treasury first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Nick Ward.

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Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Life Insurer, Meanwhile, Becomes First Company to Publish Audited Financials Denominated in Bitcoin

Meanwhile Insurance Bitcoin (Bermuda) Limited (“Meanwhile”) announced it has become the first company in the world to release externally audited financial statements denominated entirely in Bitcoin. According to the announcement, the company reported 220.4 BTC in assets and 25.29 BTC in net income for 2024, a 300% year over year increase.

Today marks a global first & historic event for us, along with the public release of our 2024 audited financial statements, covering our 1st year of sales.

As the 1st company in the world to have Bitcoin-denominated financial statements externally audited, we are excited to…

— meanwhile | Bitcoin Life Insurance (@meanwhilelife) June 5, 2025

“We’ve just made history as the first company in the world to have Bitcoin-denominated financial statements externally audited,” said Zac Townsend, CEO of Meanwhile. “This is an important, foundational step in reimagining the financial system based on a single, global, decentralized standard outside the control of any one government.” 

The financial statements were audited by Harris & Trotter LLP and its digital asset division ht.digital. Meanwhile’s financials also comply with Bermuda’s Insurance Act 1978, noting that their BTC denominated financials were approved and comply with official guidelines. The firm, fully licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), operates entirely in BTC and is prohibited from liquidating Bitcoin assets except through policyholder claims, positioning it as a long term holder. 

“As the first regulated Bitcoin life insurance company, we view the BTC held by Meanwhile as inherently long-term in nature—primarily held to support the Company’s insurance liabilities over decades,” Townsend added. “This makes it significantly ‘stickier’ and resistant to market pressures compared to the BTC held by other companies as part of their treasury management strategies.” 

Meanwhile’s 2024 financials also revealed 23.02 BTC in net premiums and 4.35 BTC in investment income, showing that its model not only preserves Bitcoin, but earns it. The company’s reserves (also held in BTC) were reviewed and approved by Willis Towers Watson (WTW). 

Meanwhile also offers a Bitcoin Whole Life insurance product that allows policyholders to save, borrow, and build legacy wealth—entirely in BTC, and has plans to expand globally in 2025.

“We are incredibly proud of today’s news as it underscores how Meanwhile is at the forefront of the next phase of the convergence between Bitcoin and institutional financial markets,” said Tia Beckmann, CFO of Meanwhile. “Now having generated net income in BTC, we have demonstrated that we are earning it through a sustainable insurance business model designed for the long term.” 

This post Bitcoin Life Insurer, Meanwhile, Becomes First Company to Publish Audited Financials Denominated in Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

@ a296b972:e5a7a2e8

Nur für‘s Protokoll. Hiermit erkläre ich, Georg Ohrweh, im tatsächlich vorhandenen vollen Besitz meiner geistigen Kräfte, dass Herr Lauterbach, gleich welche Position er in Zukunft noch bekleiden sollte, für mich nicht zuständig ist. Basta.

Ein Erguss dieses verhaltensoriginellen Über-alles-Bescheidwissers:

„Wir kommen jetzt in eine Phase hinein, wo der Ausnahmezustand die Normalität sein wird. Wir werden ab jetzt immer im Ausnahmezustand sein. Der Klimawandel wird zwangsläufig mehr Pandemien bringen.“

Wie kann es sein, dass solch eine Ausnahme-Gestalt, die schon rein äußerlich die Phantasie zu Vergleichen anregt, sich leider auch genauso verhält, wie die Gestalten, die in diesen Phantasien vorkommen, ungebremst auf der Panik-Klaviatur kakophonische Klänge erzeugen darf? Obwohl ein wenig Wahrheit ist auch enthalten: Wir sind tatsächlich immer im Ausnahmezustand, im Ausnahmezustand des fortgeschrittenen Wahnsinns.

Wie kann es sein, dass dieser Haaaarvardist seinen persönlich empfundenen Ausnahmezustand zum Allgemeingut erklären kann? Welche Verknüpfungs-Phantasien hat er sonst noch studiert? Er ist ja auch noch Vorsitzender im Raumfahrtausschuss. Was kommt als Nächstes? Eine Klima-Pandemie, verursacht durch außerirdische Viren, die die Temperaturen beeinflussen können? Im aktuellen Zeitgeist gibt es nichts, was nicht gedacht wird. Wem die besseren Absurditäten einfallen, der gewinnt. Man muss sich schon den gegebenen Denkstrukturen etwas anpassen, aber sich auch ein wenig Mühe geben.

Nach dem Wechsel der ehemaligen Außen-Dings zur UN (mit dem Ziel, aus den Vereinten Nationen die Feministischen Nationen zu gestalten) und des ehemaligen Wirtschafts-Dings in den Außenausschuss und als Gastdozent in Kalifornien (Thema: Wirtschaftsvernichtung unter Einbeziehung des gespannten Verhältnisses unter Geschwistern aufgrund ärmlicher Verhältnisse, am Beispiel des Märchens von Hänsel und Gretel) , jetzt auch noch der ehemalige Chef-Panikmacher zur WHO.

…und der Wahnsinn wurde hinausgetragen in die Welt, und es wurde dunkel, und es ward Nacht, und es wurde helle, und es ward Tag, der Wind blies oder auch nicht (was macht der Wind eigentlich, wenn er nicht weht?), und es ward Winter, und es wurde kälter, und es wurde wärmer, und es ward Sommer. Es regnete nicht mehr, die Wolken schwitzten. Und Putin verhinderte (wer auch sonst), dass das Eis in der Antarktis abnahm.

Wiederholte Bodentemperaturen in der Toskana von 50 Grad Celsius. Zu erwartende Wassertemperaturen während Ferragosto an der italienischen Adria von durchschnittlich 100 Grad Celsius. An Stellen mit wenig Strömung stiegen schon die ersten Kochblasen auf. Doch dann kam der durch Lachs gestählte, salzlose Super-Karl und rettete mit einem durch die WHO diktierten Klima-Logdown die gesamte Menschheit. Wer besser, als er konnte wissen, dass ein Klima-Logdown weitgehend nebenwirkungsfrei ist.

Was für ein Segen, dass Karl der Große, der uns so siegreich durch die Corona-Schlacht geführt hat, jetzt auch gegen das Klima in den Krieg zieht.

Wer kennt das nicht, Tage der Qual, in denen man zugeben muss: Ich hab‘ heute so schlimm Klima.

Viele Klimaexperten, die weltweit in der Qualitätspropaganda zitiert werden, zeichnen sich besonders dadurch aus, dass sie mit einer maximalen Abweichung von einem Grad Celsius ein Thermometer fehlerfrei ablesen können. Diese Ungenauigkeit wird der Erdverkochungsexperte sicher als erstes beheben.

In einer aufopfernden Studie während eines Urlaubs in 2023, in der um die damalige Zeit erstmals eisfreien Toskana, hat er den von ihm ausgetüftelten Klimaschutzplan ins Rheinische übersetzt. Titel: „Schützen Sie sisch, und, äh, andere!“ Weiter konnte er erforschen, dass die Bodentemperatur nicht immer mit der Temperatur des Erdkerns übereinstimmen muss.

Durch seine unermüdlichen Studien, können Hitzetote in Zukunft besser zugeordnet werden. Man weiß dann, ob jemand an hohen oder mit hohen Temperaturen gestorben ist. Der asymptomatische Klimawandel kann so in Zukunft viel besser bewertet werden. Man hat aus geringfügigen Fehlern gelernt und die Methoden erheblich verbessert.

Eine präzise Vorhersage der Jahreszeiten, vor allem die des Sommers, wird bald ebenfalls möglich sein. Es kann jetzt vor jahreszeitbedingten, teilweise sogar täglich schwankenden Temperaturveränderungen rechtzeitig gewarnt werden. Im Herbst können Heizempfehlungen für die ahnungslose Bevölkerung herausgegeben werden. Frieren war gestern, wissen wann es kalt wird, ist heute. Es wird an Farben geforscht, die noch roter sein sollen, als die, die jetzt in den Wetterkarten bei 21 Grad bereits verwendet werden.

Eine allgemeine Heizpflicht soll es europaweit zunächst nicht geben.

Weiter soll die Lichteinstrahlung der Sonne noch präziser bestimmt werden, damit den Europäern, in Ergänzung zur mitteleuropäischen Sommerzeit, jetzt auch noch genau mitgeteilt werden kann, wann es Tag und wann es Nacht ist.

Das Hinausschauen aus dem Fenster, zum Beispiel, ob es schon dunkel draußen ist, erübrigt sich. Die Tageszeit, in Ergänzung zur herkömmlichen Uhrzeit, wird demnächst automatisch mit dem Klima-Pass übermittelt werden. Zu Anfang natürlich erst einmal freiwillig.

Durch die persönliche ID können dann auch schnell und unkompliziert Sonderprämien überwiesen werden, sofern man sich klimakonform verhalten hat, damit man sich rechtzeitig vor Winterbeginn eine warme Jacke oder einen Mantel kaufen kann. Das Sparen von Bargeld auf eine bevorstehende größere Anschaffung von Winterkleidung wird somit überflüssig.

Ob es am Ende nun um Hitze oder Kälte geht, spielt eigentlich gar keine Rolle, denn wie wussten schon die Ahnen zu berichten: Was gut für die Kälte ist, ist auch gut für die Wärme.

Westliche Mächte unternehmen immer wieder Versuche, eskalierend auf den Ukraine-Konflikt einzuwirken, damit man atombetriebene Heizpilze aufstellen kann, an denen sich die Europäer im Winter auch im Freien wärmen können.

Wie praktisch, dass man nicht nur Gesundheit und Klima, sondern auch Klima und Krieg miteinander verbinden kann. Alles so, oder so ähnlich möglicherweise nachzulesen im genialen Hitzeschutzplan á la Lauterbach.

Besonders Deutschland braucht nicht nur lauterbachsche Hitzeschutzräume, nein es braucht atomsichere Hitzeschutzbunker, so schlägt man gleich zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe.

Für die, die es sich leisten können, hier ein Vorschlag. Der K2000:

https://www.swr.de/swr1/rp/programm/loriot-mini-luftschutzbunker-zum-preis-einer-waschmaschine-100.html

Für die weniger gut Betuchten reicht auch ein kühles Kellerloch, das man idealerweise im Februar beziehen und nicht vor November wieder verlassen sollte, so die Empfehlung auch von führenden Klima-Forschern, die es ja wissen müssen. Von Dezember bis Januar empfiehlt sich ein Besuch auf den Bahamas, besonders dann, wenn man eine leichte Erkältung verspürt.

Nur Verschwörungstheoretiker behaupten, dass die eigenartigen Anschlussverwendungen der Extrem-Kapazitäten, zu denen Lauterbach ohne Zweifel dazugehört, wie dicke rote Pfeile wirken, die auf Institutionen und Organisationen zeigen, um die man unter allen Umständen einen großen Bogen machen sollte, weil sie möglicherweise nichts Gutes im Schilde führen. Minimal sollen sie angeblich Unsinn verbreiten, maximal sollen sie gehörigen Schaden anrichten.

Man muss sich nur ein paar Gedanken machen, schon kann man feststellen, wie alles mit allem zusammenhängt.

“Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben.”

* *

(Bild von pixabay)

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Mapping Bitcoin’s Bull Cycle Potential

Bitcoin’s Market Value to Realized Value, or MVRV ratio, remains one of the most reliable on-chain indicators for identifying local and macro tops and bottoms across every BTC cycle. By isolating data across different investor cohorts and adapting historical benchmarks to modern market conditions, we can generate more accurate insights into where Bitcoin may be headed next.

The Bitcoin MVRV Ratio

The MVRV Ratio compares Bitcoin’s market price to its realized price, essentially the average cost basis for all coins in the network. As of writing, BTC trades around $105,000 while the realized price floats near $47,000, putting the raw MVRV at 2.26. The Z-Score version of MVRV standardizes this ratio based on historical volatility, enabling clearer comparisons across different market cycles.

Figure 1: Historically, the MVRV Ratio and the MVRV Z-Score have accurately identified cycle peaks and bottoms. View Live Chart

Short-Term Holders

Short-term holders, defined as those holding Bitcoin for 155 days or less, currently have a realized price near $97,000. This metric often acts as dynamic support in bull markets and resistance in bear markets. Notably, when the Short Term Holder MVRV hits 1.33, local tops have historically occurred, as seen several times in both the 2017 and 2021 cycles. So far in the current cycle, this threshold has already been touched four times, each followed by modest retracements.

Figure 2: Short Term Holder MVRV reaching 1.33 in more recent cycles has aligned with local tops. View Live Chart

Long-Term Holders

Long-term holders, who’ve held BTC for more than 155 days, currently have an average cost basis of just $33,500, putting their MVRV at 3.11. Historically, Long Term Holder MVRV values have reached as high as 12 during major peaks. That said, we’re observing a trend of diminishing multiples each cycle.

Figure 3: Achieving a Long Term Holder MVRV value of 8 could extrapolate to a BTC price in excess of $300,000. View Live Chart

A key resistance band now sits between 7.5 and 8.5, a zone that has defined bull tops and pre-bear retracements in every cycle since 2011. If the current growth of the realized price ($40/day) continues for another 140–150 days, matching previous cycle lengths, we could see it reach somewhere in the region of $40,000. A peak MVRV of 8 would imply a price near $320,000.

A Smarter Market Compass

Unlike static all-time metrics, the 2-Year Rolling MVRV Z-Score adapts to evolving market dynamics. By recalculating average extremes over a rolling window, it smooths out Bitcoin’s natural volatility decay as it matures. Historically, this version has signaled overbought conditions when reaching levels above 3, and prime accumulation zones when dipping below -1. Currently sitting under 1, this metric suggests that substantial upside remains.

Figure 4: The current 2-Year Rolling MVRV Z-Score suggests more positive price action ahead. View Live Chart

Timing & Targets

A view of the BTC Growth Since Cycle Lows chart illustrates that BTC is now approximately 925 days removed from its last major cycle low. Historical comparisons to previous bull markets suggest we may be around 140 to 150 days away from a potential top, with both the 2017 and 2021 peaks occurring around 1,060 to 1,070 days after their respective lows. While not deterministic, this alignment reinforces the broader picture of where we are in the cycle. If realized price trends and MVRV thresholds continue on current trajectories, late Q3 to early Q4 2025 may bring final euphoric moves.

Figure 5: Will the current cycle continue to exhibit growth patterns similar to those of the previous two cycles? View Live Chart

Conclusion

The MVRV ratio and its derivatives remain essential tools for analyzing Bitcoin market behavior, providing clear markers for both accumulation and distribution. Whether observing short-term holders hovering near local top thresholds, long-term holders nearing historically significant resistance zones, or adaptive metrics like the 2-Year Rolling MVRV Z-Score signaling plenty of runway left, these data points should be used in confluence.

No single metric should be relied upon to predict tops or bottoms in isolation, but taken together, they offer a powerful lens through which to interpret the macro trend. As the market matures and volatility declines, adaptive metrics will become even more crucial in staying ahead of the curve.

For more deep-dive research, technical indicators, real-time market alerts, and access to a growing community of analysts, visit BitcoinMagazinePro.com.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.

This post Mapping Bitcoin’s Bull Cycle Potential first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Matt Crosby.

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Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Layer 2: Ark

Ark is a novel off-chain transaction batching mechanism originally proposed by Burak, a young Turkish developer. There are currently two implementations being built, one by Ark Labs, and the other by Second, neither of which Burak is involved with. 

The original proposal for Ark was much more complicated, and involved some design goals more focused around privacy than the implementations currently being built. It was also originally envisioned to require CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (CTV) in order to be built. 

The protocol depends on a central coordinating server in order to function properly, but despite that is able to provide the same functionality and security guarantees that the Lightning Network does. As long as a user stays online during the required time period, at all times (unless they choose to trust the operator for short periods of time) every user is capable at any time of unilaterally exiting the Ark system at any time and taking back full unilateral control of their funds onchain. 

Unlike Lightning, Ark does not require users to have pre-allocated liquidity assigned to them in order to receive funds. An Ark user can simply onboard to a wallet and receive funds immediately with no liquidity pre-allocation at all. 

Let’s walk through the different constituent pieces of Ark.

The Ark Tree

Coins held on Ark are called Virtual UTXOs (vUTXOs). These are simply pre-signed transactions that guarantee the creation of a real UTXO under the unilateral control of a user once submitted onchain, but are otherwise held offchain. 

Every user’s vUTXOs are nested inside a tree of pre-signed transactions, or a “batch.” Ark works by having the coordinator server, or Ark Service Provider (ASP), facilitate the coordination between users necessary to create a batch. Whenever users are receiving funds, onboarding to Ark, or offboarding, it is necessary to construct a transaction and the associated transaction tree to create a new batch. 

The tree is constructed to take the single root UTXO confirmed onchain, locked with an n-of-n multisig including all users holding vUTXOs in the tree as well as the ASP, and slowly split into more and more UTXOs until eventually reaching the leaves, which are each users vUTXO. Each vUTXO is guaranteed using a script that has to be signed by a 2-of-2 multisig, one key held by the user, and the other by the ASP, or just the user after a timelock. 

Each time the tree splits, vUTXOs are created onchain, but so are more internal UTXOs that have yet to actually split into vUTXOs. Each of these internal UTXOs is locked with an n-of-n multisig composed of the ASP, and all users who have a vUTXO further down the tree. During the batch creation process, users start at their respective vUTXOs, and go through a signing process all the way back down the root of the tree. This guarantees that the root will never be signed before each user’s claim to a vUTXO is, ensuring they always have unilateral access in a worst case scenario to their funds. 

Each batch also has an expiry time (which will make sense in the next section). This expiry spend path, which exists as an alternate spending condition for the root UTXO onchain as well as every internal UTXO, allows the ASP to unilaterally spend all funds by itself. 

Transactions, Preconfirmation, and Connector Inputs

When it comes to transacting on Ark, there are two possible mechanisms that are possible, both with their own costs and implications in terms of security model. There are out-of-round transfers, or preconfirmed transactions, and there are in-round transfers, or actually confirmed transactions. 

To conduct an out-of-round transfer is a very simple process. If one user (Alice) wants to pay another (Bob), they simply contact the ASP and have them co-sign a transaction spending the vUTXO to Bob. Bob is then given that pre-signed transaction, as well as all the other ones preceding it back to the batch root onchain. Bob is now capable of unilaterally exiting the Ark with this transaction, but, he must trust the ASP not to collude with Alice to doublespend it. These out-of-round transactions can even be chained multiple times before finally confirming them. 

To finalize an Ark transaction, users have to engage in a “batch swap.” Users cannot actually trustlessly confirm a transfer within a single batch, they have to atomically swap a vUTXO in an existing batch with a fresh vUTXO created in a new batch. This is done using the ASP as a facilitator of the swap, and with the aid of what is called a “connector input.”

When a user goes to finalize an Ark transaction with a batch swap, they relinquish control of the vUTXO to the ASP. This could be problematic, what is to stop the ASP from simply keeping it and not giving them a confirmed vUTXO in a new batch? The connector input. 

When a new batch is created, a second output is created in the transaction that is confirmed on chain instantiating a new tree composed of connector UTXOs. When Bob goes to sign over a forfeit transaction to the ASP to conduct the batch swap, the transaction includes as an input one of the connector UTXOs from the new batch. 

This creates an atomic guarantee. Bob’s confirmed vUTXO is included in a batch in the same transaction the connector input is created in that is necessary for his forfeit transaction to be valid. If that batch is never created onchain, i.e. Bob never actually receives the new confirmed vUTXO, then the forfeit transaction he signed for the ASP will never be valid and confirmable onchain.

Liquidity Dynamics and Blockspace

All of the liquidity necessary to create new batches in order to facilitate transfers between users is provided by the ASP. They are required to have enough liquidity to create new batches for users until old ones have expired and the ASP can unilaterally sweep them to reclaim old liquidity previously locked up to create vUTXOs for users. 

This is the core of the liquidity dynamic at the center of the Ark protocol. While in one sense this is a massive efficiency win, not requiring liquidity providers to assess users and essentially guess which ones will actually receive large volumes of payments before they can receive any funds, in another it is an efficiency loss as the ASP must have enough liquidity to continue creating new batches for users for however long they configure the expiry time to be and they can start reclaiming allocated liquidity. 

This can be mitigated to a decent degree by how often an ASP offers to create new batches to finalize pending transactions. In the event of an ASP attempting to create new batches in real time as transactions are coming in, the liquidity requirements would be exorbitantly high. However, an ASP can lower the frequency at which they create new batches and drastically lower their liquidity requirements. 

This dynamic also has implications for blockspace use. Unlike Lightning, which can provide strong confirmation guarantees entirely offchain, in order for an Ark transaction to have an equivalent trustless degree of finality a new batch has to be created onchain. This means that unlike Lightning, where transaction volume does not reflect itself onchain, the velocity of Ark transactions inherently requires a proportional amount of blockspace use, albeit in a very compressed and efficient manner. This creates a theoretical upper limit of how many Ark batches can be created during any given time interval (although Ark trees can be smaller or larger depending on this dynamic). 

Wrapping Up

Ark presents in many ways an almost opposite set of tradeoffs to the Lightning Network. It is a massive blockspace efficiency improvement for offchain transactions, and does away with the problem of liquidity allocation on the Lightning Network, but it does have a much closer tied throughput limit that is correlated with the blockchains throughput limit. 

This dynamic of almost opposite tradeoffs makes it a very complementary system to the Lightning Network. It can also interoperate with it, i.e. vUTXOs can be swapped atomically in transactions entering or exiting the Lightning Network. 

Ultimately how it fits into the broader Bitcoin ecosystem is yet to be seen, but it is an undoubtedly valuable protocol stack that will find some functional niche, even if it is different than originally intended.

This post Bitcoin Layer 2: Ark first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Shinobi.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the company behind Truth Social and other Trump-branded digital platforms, is planning to raise $2.5 billion to build one of the largest bitcoin treasuries among public companies.

The deal involves the sale of approximately $1.5 billion in common stock and $1.0 billion in convertible senior secured notes.

According to the company, the offering is expected to close by the end of May, pending standard closing conditions.

Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media, said the investment in bitcoin is a big part of the company’s long-term plan.

“We view Bitcoin as an apex instrument of financial freedom,” Nunes said.

“This investment will help defend our Company against harassment and discrimination by financial institutions, which plague many Americans and U.S. firms.”

He added that the bitcoin treasury will be used to create new synergies across the company’s platforms including Truth Social, Truth+, and the upcoming financial tech brand Truth.Fi.

“It’s a big step forward in the company’s plans to evolve into a holding company by acquiring additional profit-generating, crown jewel assets consistent with America First principles,” Nunes said.

The $2.5 billion raise will come from about 50 institutional investors. The $1 billion in convertible notes will have 0% interest and be convertible into shares at a 35% premium.

TMTG’s current liquid assets, including cash and short-term investments, are $759 million as of the end of the first quarter of 2025. With this new funding, the company’s liquid assets will be over $3 billion.

Custody of the bitcoin treasury will be handled by Crypto.com and Anchorage Digital. They will manage and store the digital assets.

Earlier this week The Financial Times reported Trump Media was planning to raise $3 billion for digital assets acquisitions.

The article said the funds would be used to buy bitcoin and other digital assets, and an announcement could come before a major related event in Las Vegas.

Related: Bitcoin 2025 Conference Kicks off in Las Vegas Today

Trump Media denied the FT report. In a statement, the company said, “Apparently the Financial Times has dumb writers listening to even dumber sources.”

There was no further comment. However, the official $2.5 billion figure, which was announced shortly after by Trump Media through a press release, aligns with its actual filing and investor communication.

Trump Media’s official announcement

This comes at a time when the Trump family and political allies are showing renewed interest in Bitcoin.

President Donald Trump who is now back in office since the 2025 election, has said he wants to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world.”

Trump Media is also working on retail bitcoin investment products including ETFs aligned with America First policies.

These products will make bitcoin more accessible to retail investors and support pro-Trump financial initiatives.

But not everyone is happy.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren recently expressed concerns about Trump Media’s Bitcoin plans. She asked U.S. regulators to clarify their oversight of digital-asset ETFs, warning of investor risk.

Industry insiders are comparing Trump Media’s plans to Strategy (MSTR) which has built a multi-billion dollar bitcoin treasury over the last year. They used stock and bond sales to fund their bitcoin purchases.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Know Labs, Inc. Announces Adopting a Bitcoin Treasury Strategy, Starting with 1,000 Bitcoin

Know Labs, Inc. (NYSE American: KNW) announced entering into an agreement with Goldeneye 1995 LLC and the Ripple Chief Risk Officer Greg Kidd to acquire a controlling interest in the Company. Following the completion of the transaction, Mr. Kidd will become Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company and Founder Ron Erickson will become Vice Chairman of the Board.

JUST IN: Know Labs, Inc. announces its adopting a Bitcoin Treasury Strategy and holds 1,000 Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/NSn2xFZYx0

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) June 6, 2025

Under the agreement, the Buyer will acquire shares of Know Labs’ common stock by dividing the total value of 1,000 Bitcoin and a cash amount, designated to pay down existing debt, redeem outstanding preferred equity, and provide additional working capital. For every share purchased it will be priced at $0.335. The Bitcoin will serve as a central element of the Company’s treasury strategy, giving investors the exposure to Bitcoin.

“I’m thrilled to deploy a Bitcoin treasury strategy with the support of a forward-looking organization like Know Labs at a time when market and regulatory conditions are particularly favorable,” said Mr. Kidd. “We believe this approach will generate sustainable growth and long-term shareholder value.”

Once Bitcoin becomes the primary asset on the Company’s balance sheet, management will adopt the multiple of net asset value (mNAV) metric to assess the premium investors place on the Company’s market value relative to its Bitcoin assets. Based on a market cap of $128 million and a Bitcoin price of $105,000, the estimated entry mNAV multiple is 1.22x, with Bitcoin accounting for approximately 82% of the total market capitalization at closing.

“Partnering with Greg Kidd marks a pivotal next chapter for Know Labs,” commented Mr. Erickson. “We look forward to continuing our research in non-invasive medical technology. Greg’s visionary leadership positions Know Labs for a bold future.”

The adoption of Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset has dramatically increased over the course of the last year, expanding globally. To date, there are 225 companies and other entities with Bitcoin in their balance sheets. 

Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX), a leading Nordic cryptocurrency exchange and digital asset platform, announced on June 2 that it has added Bitcoin to its balance sheet, marking a national milestone as the first publicly listed company in Norway to hold Bitcoin as part of its treasury strategy.

“NBX will not sell this Bitcoin or go short in any form,” stated the company. “With reference to the latest POA notice with LDA capital, NBX will also use proceeds to buy additional Bitcoin.”

This post Know Labs, Inc. Announces Adopting a Bitcoin Treasury Strategy, Starting with 1,000 Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 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.

---

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

---

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

@ a296b972:e5a7a2e8

Nur für‘s Protokoll. Hiermit erkläre ich, Georg Ohrweh, im tatsächlich vorhandenen vollen Besitz meiner geistigen Kräfte, dass Herr Lauterbach, gleich welche Position er in Zukunft noch bekleiden sollte, für mich nicht zuständig ist. Basta.

Ein Erguss dieses verhaltensoriginellen Über-alles-Bescheidwissers:

„Wir kommen jetzt in eine Phase hinein, wo der Ausnahmezustand die Normalität sein wird. Wir werden ab jetzt immer im Ausnahmezustand sein. Der Klimawandel wird zwangsläufig mehr Pandemien bringen.“

Wie kann es sein, dass solch eine Ausnahme-Gestalt, die schon rein äußerlich die Phantasie zu Vergleichen anregt, sich leider auch genauso verhält, wie die Gestalten, die in diesen Phantasien vorkommen, ungebremst auf der Panik-Klaviatur kakophonische Klänge erzeugen darf? Obwohl ein wenig Wahrheit ist auch enthalten: Wir sind tatsächlich immer im Ausnahmezustand, im Ausnahmezustand des fortgeschrittenen Wahnsinns.

Wie kann es sein, dass dieser Haaaarvardist seinen persönlich empfundenen Ausnahmezustand zum Allgemeingut erklären kann? Welche Verknüpfungs-Phantasien hat er sonst noch studiert? Er ist ja auch noch Vorsitzender im Raumfahrtausschuss. Was kommt als Nächstes? Eine Klima-Pandemie, verursacht durch außerirdische Viren, die die Temperaturen beeinflussen können? Im aktuellen Zeitgeist gibt es nichts, was nicht gedacht wird. Wem die besseren Absurditäten einfallen, der gewinnt. Man muss sich schon den gegebenen Denkstrukturen etwas anpassen, aber sich auch ein wenig Mühe geben.

Nach dem Wechsel der ehemaligen Außen-Dings zur UN (mit dem Ziel, aus den Vereinten Nationen die Feministischen Nationen zu gestalten) und des ehemaligen Wirtschafts-Dings in den Außenausschuss und als Gastdozent in Kalifornien (Thema: Wirtschaftsvernichtung unter Einbeziehung des gespannten Verhältnisses unter Geschwistern aufgrund ärmlicher Verhältnisse, am Beispiel des Märchens von Hänsel und Gretel) , jetzt auch noch der ehemalige Chef-Panikmacher zur WHO.

…und der Wahnsinn wurde hinausgetragen in die Welt, und es wurde dunkel, und es ward Nacht, und es wurde helle, und es ward Tag, der Wind blies oder auch nicht (was macht der Wind eigentlich, wenn er nicht weht?), und es ward Winter, und es wurde kälter, und es wurde wärmer, und es ward Sommer. Es regnete nicht mehr, die Wolken schwitzten. Und Putin verhinderte (wer auch sonst), dass das Eis in der Antarktis abnahm.

Wiederholte Bodentemperaturen in der Toskana von 50 Grad Celsius. Zu erwartende Wassertemperaturen während Ferragosto an der italienischen Adria von durchschnittlich 100 Grad Celsius. An Stellen mit wenig Strömung stiegen schon die ersten Kochblasen auf. Doch dann kam der durch Lachs gestählte, salzlose Super-Karl und rettete mit einem durch die WHO diktierten Klima-Logdown die gesamte Menschheit. Wer besser, als er konnte wissen, dass ein Klima-Logdown weitgehend nebenwirkungsfrei ist.

Was für ein Segen, dass Karl der Große, der uns so siegreich durch die Corona-Schlacht geführt hat, jetzt auch gegen das Klima in den Krieg zieht.

Wer kennt das nicht, Tage der Qual, in denen man zugeben muss: Ich hab‘ heute so schlimm Klima.

Viele Klimaexperten, die weltweit in der Qualitätspropaganda zitiert werden, zeichnen sich besonders dadurch aus, dass sie mit einer maximalen Abweichung von einem Grad Celsius ein Thermometer fehlerfrei ablesen können. Diese Ungenauigkeit wird der Erdverkochungsexperte sicher als erstes beheben.

In einer aufopfernden Studie während eines Urlaubs in 2023, in der um die damalige Zeit erstmals eisfreien Toskana, hat er den von ihm ausgetüftelten Klimaschutzplan ins Rheinische übersetzt. Titel: „Schützen Sie sisch, und, äh, andere!“ Weiter konnte er erforschen, dass die Bodentemperatur nicht immer mit der Temperatur des Erdkerns übereinstimmen muss.

Durch seine unermüdlichen Studien, können Hitzetote in Zukunft besser zugeordnet werden. Man weiß dann, ob jemand an hohen oder mit hohen Temperaturen gestorben ist. Der asymptomatische Klimawandel kann so in Zukunft viel besser bewertet werden. Man hat aus geringfügigen Fehlern gelernt und die Methoden erheblich verbessert.

Eine präzise Vorhersage der Jahreszeiten, vor allem die des Sommers, wird bald ebenfalls möglich sein. Es kann jetzt vor jahreszeitbedingten, teilweise sogar täglich schwankenden Temperaturveränderungen rechtzeitig gewarnt werden. Im Herbst können Heizempfehlungen für die ahnungslose Bevölkerung herausgegeben werden. Frieren war gestern, wissen wann es kalt wird, ist heute. Es wird an Farben geforscht, die noch roter sein sollen, als die, die jetzt in den Wetterkarten bei 21 Grad bereits verwendet werden.

Eine allgemeine Heizpflicht soll es europaweit zunächst nicht geben.

Weiter soll die Lichteinstrahlung der Sonne noch präziser bestimmt werden, damit den Europäern, in Ergänzung zur mitteleuropäischen Sommerzeit, jetzt auch noch genau mitgeteilt werden kann, wann es Tag und wann es Nacht ist.

Das Hinausschauen aus dem Fenster, zum Beispiel, ob es schon dunkel draußen ist, erübrigt sich. Die Tageszeit, in Ergänzung zur herkömmlichen Uhrzeit, wird demnächst automatisch mit dem Klima-Pass übermittelt werden. Zu Anfang natürlich erst einmal freiwillig.

Durch die persönliche ID können dann auch schnell und unkompliziert Sonderprämien überwiesen werden, sofern man sich klimakonform verhalten hat, damit man sich rechtzeitig vor Winterbeginn eine warme Jacke oder einen Mantel kaufen kann. Das Sparen von Bargeld auf eine bevorstehende größere Anschaffung von Winterkleidung wird somit überflüssig.

Ob es am Ende nun um Hitze oder Kälte geht, spielt eigentlich gar keine Rolle, denn wie wussten schon die Ahnen zu berichten: Was gut für die Kälte ist, ist auch gut für die Wärme.

Westliche Mächte unternehmen immer wieder Versuche, eskalierend auf den Ukraine-Konflikt einzuwirken, damit man atombetriebene Heizpilze aufstellen kann, an denen sich die Europäer im Winter auch im Freien wärmen können.

Wie praktisch, dass man nicht nur Gesundheit und Klima, sondern auch Klima und Krieg miteinander verbinden kann. Alles so, oder so ähnlich möglicherweise nachzulesen im genialen Hitzeschutzplan á la Lauterbach.

Besonders Deutschland braucht nicht nur lauterbachsche Hitzeschutzräume, nein es braucht atomsichere Hitzeschutzbunker, so schlägt man gleich zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe.

Für die, die es sich leisten können, hier ein Vorschlag. Der K2000:

https://www.swr.de/swr1/rp/programm/loriot-mini-luftschutzbunker-zum-preis-einer-waschmaschine-100.html

Für die weniger gut Betuchten reicht auch ein kühles Kellerloch, das man idealerweise im Februar beziehen und nicht vor November wieder verlassen sollte, so die Empfehlung auch von führenden Klima-Forschern, die es ja wissen müssen. Von Dezember bis Januar empfiehlt sich ein Besuch auf den Bahamas, besonders dann, wenn man eine leichte Erkältung verspürt.

Nur Verschwörungstheoretiker behaupten, dass die eigenartigen Anschlussverwendungen der Extrem-Kapazitäten, zu denen Lauterbach ohne Zweifel dazugehört, wie dicke rote Pfeile wirken, die auf Institutionen und Organisationen zeigen, um die man unter allen Umständen einen großen Bogen machen sollte, weil sie möglicherweise nichts Gutes im Schilde führen. Minimal sollen sie angeblich Unsinn verbreiten, maximal sollen sie gehörigen Schaden anrichten.

Man muss sich nur ein paar Gedanken machen, schon kann man feststellen, wie alles mit allem zusammenhängt.

“Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben.”

* *

(Bild von pixabay)

@ 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.

@ d6affa19:9110b177

If there were only one thing I had to list as the single most effective way to improve a Female Led Relationship (FLR), it would be found in the phrase “yes, Ma’am.” Whether trying to get the dynamic off the ground or keep it going during the grind of everyday life, this phrase—and the energy it evokes—encompasses so many essential elements of an FLR. In my experience, not many other things continuously breathe life into a relationship like the magic of “yes, Ma’am.”

Of course, this phrase can be modified to the Woman’s desire (“yes, Mistress,” “yes, my Queen,” “yes, Goddess” are common examples), but “yes, Ma’am” is something acceptable nearly anywhere. It’s simple, polite, somewhat discreet, and yet extremely effective and powerful. In an FLR (even in a low-protocol dynamic), the phrase is elevated from a basic formality to an invocation of trust, respect, and surrender.

The words by themselves are powerless. But when consistently expressed with the right energy and intention, it becomes a sort of miniature ritual that keeps them both anchored to the relationship. This shouldn’t be conflated with “yes, Dear,” a phrase stereotypically used when a man is merely appeasing a Woman. No, the energy here is not to appease, but to please. Because She deserves it.

To illustrate this further, let’s dig into the depth I find in these two words.

An Invocation of Structure, Trust, and Identity

“Yes, Ma’am” is so deceptively simple. It’s a verbal expression of his obedience—the bare minimum a Woman should receive in an FLR. And it keeps the framework intact in everyday life, especially when the mood is subtle or non-sexual.

In this way, “yes, Ma’am” reinforces the foundation of the FLR. Each utterance reminds them both of their positions. Each declaration quiets any confusion. Each delivery deepens the dynamic and tightens the structure.

When these words are spoken and consistently followed up with action, they demonstrate emotional maturity—that he’s moved beyond questioning whether She’s “right” and into the realm of devotion. It signals to Her that Her needs don’t have to be proven to him anymore and that Her preferences don’t need to be justified.

He’s no longer debating Her logic, making excuses, or searching for loopholes; he’s no longer resisting or self-protecting. He’s not agreeing as an equal, he’s not negotiating with Her, he’s not hedging Her demand. He is simply submitting to Her.

Just as it’s “yes, Ma’am” when She tells him to kneel, it’s also “yes, Ma’am” when She asks him to fix the sink, or dismisses a request, or even reminds him to do something he’s about to do. “Yes, Ma’am,” then act.

The Words Alone Are Not the Magic

Again, the magic of “yes, Ma’am” doesn’t reside in the words themselves, but in the intention, energy, and action behind them. The phrase itself is just a vessel. Just as a chalice, the words hold something sacred, but the sanctity resides in the wine, not the cup. The action, the delivery, and the consistency are what give the phrase its power.

If spoken with resentment, sarcasm, or with no follow-through, they mean nothing. If he speaks them but then delays, argues, or makes excuses, then his submission is inauthentic. This undermines trust and, ultimately, the relationship. But when he says “yes, Ma’am” and immediately acts on Her direction—despite being tired, flustered, aroused, or even in disagreement, then that is real submission; that is profound trust. And that is what She feels.

And that’s what he feels. It becomes a reminder of his humility and an expression of self-discipline in service to Her. Over time, it shifts his thought patterns and instincts. He may feel uncertainty, self-pity, or insecurity, but “yes, Ma’am” melts it all into clarity. Old responses like “Well, actually…” “Can’t I just…” “I thought we agreed…” “Why can’t You…” are simply replaced with “yes, Ma’am.”

Even if he’s feeling exhausted, annoyed, or needy. There are no complaints or explanations, only Her will and a choice to put aside his ego, align with Her rhythm, and re-center his purpose. This is an act of vulnerability. He is placing his emotional safety in Her hands and relying on Her to care for his well-being.

It communicates to Her:
- “I hear You.”
- “I will act on Your desires.”
- “I trust You more than I trust my resistance.”
- “I’m Yours, even now, especially now.”

And let’s not ignore the erotic undertones in this depth of surrender. A simple phrase makes his discipline audible, echoing Her power. It bears his humility, longing, eagerness, vulnerability—his contained arousal. And She knows. She hears the plea. She feels the weight—the tension—the heat—the surrendered will… Ever-present, even in the most mundane moments…

Closing Thoughts

Of course, this level of devotion takes practice and a great deal of trust. No one is perfect, so he will fail at times, but that’s what makes it so beautiful—it’s a continuously active and conscious choice. And, at first, it may sound awkward for him or forced, but with dedication and intention She will begin to hear the tone, feel the vibe, and sense the sincerity in it. This energy is what builds Her trust in him.

This phrase, or rather the mindset behind it, has improved my own relationship so, so much. While it may not fit into every experience, it’s something that I discovered was a missing piece in mine. Enough so that I felt compelled to share.

Because as a relationship goes on, things change—passions fluctuate, pain resurfaces, doubts arise, life gets busy, things get heavy—but “yes, Ma’am” remains steady and intimate. Piece by piece trust and devotion are built with thousands of quiet yeses. And regardless of the circumstances, “yes, Ma’am” gently whispers “this is still us; this is still our shared truth; this is still sacred” over and over again.

@ 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.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Wall Street is warming up to Bitcoin and getting closer and closer to it.

Cantor Fitzgerald, one of the oldest and most respected investment banks on Wall Street, has launched a $2 billion bitcoin-backed lending program.

They’ve reportedly already done their first deals, lending to two big digital asset companies: FalconX and Maple Finance.

This is a big step in connecting traditional finance to the fast-moving world of Bitcoin.

Cantor’s new service allows big investors, hedge funds and asset managers, to borrow money using bitcoin as collateral.

This is a game changer for institutions that hold bitcoin, as they can now access liquidity without having to sell their assets.

“Institutions holding bitcoin are looking to broaden their access to diverse funding sources,” said Christian Wall, co-CEO and global head of fixed income at Cantor Fitzgerald.

“And we are excited to support their liquidity needs to help them drive long term growth and success.”

The loans are not speculative or unsecured.

They are structured like traditional finance deals, backed by the borrower’s bitcoin. This reduces the risk for Cantor while giving bitcoin-holding companies new ways to grow and operate.

The first recipients of Cantor’s lending program are FalconX, a digital asset brokerage, and Maple Finance, a blockchain-based lending platform.

FalconX confirmed they secured a credit facility of over $100 million. Maple Finance also received the first tranche of their loan from Cantor.

This comes at a time when the bitcoin lending space is recovering after a tough period. Several big firms went under in 2022 and investor confidence was shaken.

Now with traditional finance on board, bitcoin-backed lending has returned. According to Galaxy Research the total size of the digital asset lending market grew to $36.5 billion in Q4 2024.

Cantor’s move into bitcoin-backed lending isn’t new. They announced their plans in July 2024 and have been building their presence in the Bitcoin space since then.

Earlier this year, they partnered with Tether, SoftBank and Bitfinex to launch Twenty One Capital, a $3.6 billion fund to buy over 42,000 bitcoin.

In May 2025 Cantor Equity Partners merged with Twenty One Capital and bought nearly $459 million worth of bitcoin.

They also own around $1.9 billion in shares of Strategy, a company that holds a lot of bitcoin. Clearly Cantor believes in bitcoin as a long-term asset.

Cantor is also a big player in the stablecoin space.

They manage U.S. Treasury reserves for Tether, the company behind the $142 billion USDT stablecoin. This adds another layer of trust and credibility to Cantor’s digital asset involvement.

To secure the bitcoin used as collateral, Cantor has partnered with digital asset custodians Anchorage Digital and Copper.co.

These companies are known for their robust security and institutional-grade infrastructure. Cantor hasn’t disclosed loan terms or interest rates but confirmed the lending will follow current regulations.

This also shows how traditional financial players are embracing DeFi.

Maple Finance for example allows undercollateralized lending using blockchain. By backing companies like Maple, Cantor is innovating while still having control and compliance.

For years, bitcoin-backed loans were only available through digital-asset-native companies like Genesis, BlockFi, and Ledn.

These loans were mostly for smaller clients and retail investors. But with Cantor’s entry, the scale and professionalism of bitcoin lending are expanding.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

‘MicroStrategy of Asia’ Metaplanet Aims To Acquire Over 210,000 BTC By the End of 2027

Metaplanet Inc. widely recognized as Japan’s leading Bitcoin treasury company, has announced a major update to its Bitcoin accumulation strategy, unveiling the “555 Million Plan” aimed at acquiring over 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027, which is equivalent to 1% of Bitcoin’s total supply.

*Metaplanet Announces Accelerated 2025-2027 Bitcoin Plan: Targeting 210,000 $BTC by 2027*

Full Presentation: https://t.co/JG28maMdfd pic.twitter.com/i9kzmjlDT8

— Metaplanet Inc. (@Metaplanet_JP) June 6, 2025

This new target marks a dramatic increase from the company’s earlier “21 Million Plan,” which aimed for just 21,000 BTC by 2026. Progress far outpaced expectations, with 8,888 BTC already secured as of June 2, prompting the strategic shift.

To fund this growth, Metaplanet has launched Asia’s largest Bitcoin-focused equity raise, aiming to secure ¥770.9 billion (approximately $5.4 billion) through the issuance of 555 million shares via moving strike warrants. This is the first structure of its kind in Japan, priced at a premium to market, made possible by the company’s high share liquidity and volatility.

At the Annual General Meeting on March 24, shareholders approved an increase in authorized shares from 161 million to 1.61 billion, following a 10-for-1 stock split effective April 1, 2025; Metaplanet has approximately 296 million authorized shares remaining. The 555 million shares being issued under the new plan will bring the company’s fully diluted shares outstanding to around 759 million.

Metaplanet’s Bitcoin yield targets and performance for 2025 have shown strong momentum, with quarterly BTC yields of 41.7% in Q3 2024, 309.8% in Q4 2024, 95.6% in Q1 2025, 66.3% in Q2 2025, and projected 35% yields for both Q3 and Q4 2025. The year-to-date BTC yield for 2025 stands at 225.4%, closing to the full year target of 232%. 

Metaplanet also announced the issuance of the 20th to 22nd Series of Stock Acquisition Rights via a third-party allotment to EVO FUND, potentially adding 555 million new shares. The initial exercise price is set at JPY 1,388 and will adjust regularly based on stock prices, with some series including a premium to protect shareholders. The exercise period runs from June 24, 2025, to June 23, 2027, with expected proceeds of approximately JPY 767.4 billion. This financing supports the “555 Million Plan” and further Bitcoin accumulation.

Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich wrote in a post on X, “thanks to all of our shareholders,” he said. “We are honored to be on this journey with you. Metaplanet is accelerating into the future — powered by Bitcoin.”

Metaplanet has launched Asia’s largest-ever equity raise dedicated to Bitcoin:
¥770.9 billion (~$5.4B) capital raise
555 million shares via moving strike warrants
First in Japan: issued at a premium to market — enabled by Metaplanet’s high volatility and deep liquidity… pic.twitter.com/UlXHneyDzo

— Simon Gerovich (@gerovich) June 6, 2025

This post ‘MicroStrategy of Asia’ Metaplanet Aims To Acquire Over 210,000 BTC By the End of 2027 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 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.

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

@ 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

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Bitcoin Magazine

Gemini Files Draft With The SEC For Proposed IPO

Today, Gemini Space Station, Inc. announced that it has confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its Class A common stock. Details such as the number of shares and the price range have not been disclosed. The IPO will proceed after the SEC’s review and is subject to market conditions.

JUST IN: @Gemini has confidentially filed for an IPO with the @SECGov.

Details on share count and pricing TBD.

Launch date will depend on SEC review and market conditions.

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) June 6, 2025

“Any offers, solicitations or offers to buy, or any sales of securities will be made in accordance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,” stated the press release. “This announcement is being issued in accordance with Rule 135 under the Securities Act.”

Gemini’s move comes during a period of growing activity in both the public markets and the digital asset space. Just yesterday, Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. (Nasdaq, NYSE Texas: DJT) also filed a Form S-1 with the SEC for its upcoming Truth Social Bitcoin ETF.

“Truth Social Bitcoin ETF, B.T. is a Nevada business trust that issues beneficial interests in its net assets,” stated the Form S-1. “The assets of the Trust consist primarily of bitcoin held by a custodian on behalf of the Trust. The Trust seeks to reflect generally the performance of the price of bitcoin.”

Momentum around Bitcoin and broader crypto policy was also evident last week at the 2025 Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas. There, Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss joined White House A.I. & Crypto Czar David Sacks to discuss how the government should manage Bitcoin, as well as recent developments in federal policy.

“Orange is the new gold,” said Cameron. “So, Bitcoin is Gold 2.0, and that’s been true since day one. So, at $100,000 Bitcoin, that’s exciting, but if you take 21 million and do the above ground market price of gold. Really, it should be a million dollars a coin—easily,”

They talked about some of the recent policy changes that have been good for crypto include rolling back the IRS digital asset broker rule and SAB 121, which had stopped banks from holding Bitcoin. The Department of Justice also stopped its regulation by prosecution approach, which takes a lot of pressure off digital asset firms.

“It’s hard to imagine a President. Any other President being able to do any fraction of this or accomplish that or any administration and we have just over 100 days,” said Tyler. “So, It’s pretty amazing that we still have a lot of time left.” Later on, he ended the panel saying, “To the Moon!”

This post Gemini Files Draft With The SEC For Proposed IPO first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 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

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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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Bitcoin Magazine

TakeOver Successfully Hosts Second Annual BitGala Celebrating Bitcoin in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NV, May 26, 2025 – TakeOver, Magic Eden, Spark, and Stacks successfully hosted their second annual BitGala on May 26th at the Wynn in Las Vegas. The celebration brought together over 200 Bitcoin industry leaders and community members for an evening dedicated to celebrating Bitcoin. 

The BitGala was designed as a curated gathering focused on inspiring continued development, education, and adoption while reflecting on the strides Bitcoin has made toward a future of open, decentralized money. The event successfully brought together key leaders, creating meaningful opportunities for collaboration and strategic partnerships within the Bitcoin space. 

“BitGala celebrates our partnership with Spark, marketing a major leap forward for Bitcoin DeFi,” said Elizabeth Olson, Head of Marketing for Bitcoin at Magic Eden. “As the #1 Bitcoin app, Magic Eden has spent the past few years pushing Bitcoin L1 to its limits, always with the goal of making Bitcoin more usable, fast, and fun without compromising its core ethos. We believe Spark has the potential to unlock a new era of building on Bitcoin, and we’re thrilled to be leading that charge together.” 

“The BitGala was a stunning celebration of Bitcoin culture where luxury meets the cypherpunk spirit. We’re proving that Bitcoin isn’t just a protocol, it’s a movement connecting freedom-minded people from art, fashion, finance, and more. To us, it was a pure signal that people are starting to see what Stacks has been building all along: a future where Bitcoin isn’t just held, but used for apps, defi, and real ownership.” – Rena Shah, COO of Stacks. 

Set against the backdrop of the Sphere, the evening brought together innovators, investors, and community leaders for a night dedicated to celebrating Bitcoin’s growth and the people driving its future. 

The program opened with a welcome reception, followed by gourmet hors d’oeuvres and vibrant conversations. A keynote and honors segment recognized those making meaningful strides in Bitcoin adoption and development. Guests were then invited to explore a premium tequila tasting experience curated by Reach, and indulge in interactive gourmet chef stations. 

“Our team has been fortunate to be part of the Bitcoin community since 2016, so we’re thrilled to see all the progress on display almost 10 years later at Bitcoin 2025. The energy in the room at BitGala was electric—from conversations sparking new partnerships to shared reflections on what’s next for Bitcoin—it was a powerful reminder of why we’re all here: to build an open, decentralized financial system that empowers everyone.” noted Kelley Weaver, Founder and CEO, Melrose PR and Founder, Bitwire. 

This unforgettable gathering—hosted in partnership with leading organizations including Magic Eden, Spark, and Stacks—was more than a celebration. It was a call to continue pushing forward innovation, education, and adoption in

the Bitcoin ecosystem. BitGala was made possible through the generous support of key sponsors and partners who share Takeover’s commitment to fostering connections in the web3 space. 

“We’re focused on making Bitcoin more useful for everyone, and events like this remind us that we’re not alone in that mission. It was inspiring to connect with others who share the vision of a more open, decentralized financial future powered by Bitcoin.” – Spark Team 

Presenting Sponsors: 

• Magic Eden – The largest NFT marketplace and Runes platform. 
• Spark – The fastest, cheapest, most UX-friendly way to build financial apps and launch assets on Bitcoin.
• Stacks – A Bitcoin L2 enabling smart contracts & apps with Bitcoin as secure base layer. 

Supporting Partners: 

• Reach Ventures – a gaming-focused VC firm that actively invests in both early-stage and demo-ready game studios.
• Arch Network – a Bitcoin-native platform for building decentralized apps and smart contracts directly on Bitcoin. 
• Melrose PR – An onchain communications firm that has been focused on the crypto industry exclusively for almost a decade. 
• Bitwire – The modern newswire reimagined for today’s communications professionals. 

The collaborative support from these organizations was instrumental in delivering a memorable event for all attendees. 

Actor and comedian T.J. Miller was also a speaker at the event: “The bitcoin conference 2025 was incredible for so many reasons. It was such a joyful journey to be with so many like-minded people (all of whom have been laughed at) who share the same values: freedom, community, hope, and getting rich- the highpoint was the BitGala. I bought incredibly large expensive shoes for the specific purpose of showing up to the gala non-verbally saying bitcoin destroying Fiat, well that’s big shoes to fill… and we’ll fill ‘em. I can’t wait to return next year. I will wear more orange.” 

About TakeOver 

TakeOver is the experiential agency at the forefront of culture and innovation in the crypto space, known for curating powerful moments that educate, connect, and inspire. With a global Bitcoin Dinner Series and their annual flagship event, BitGala, they’ve become a cornerstone of community-building in Web3. Last year, they made headlines with a dramatic takeover of Nashville’s Parthenon—setting the bar for what crypto gatherings can be. 

About Magic Eden 

Magic Eden is the easiest platform to trade all digital assets onchain. As the #1 Bitcoin app and largest NFT marketplace, we provide a seamless trading experience to everyone. Magic Eden’s acquisition of Slingshot has expanded their capabilities to offer frictionless trading of over 5,000,000 tokens across all major chains. Magic Eden’s expanded product suite includes a cross-chain wallet, powerful trading tools, and the ability to mint, collect, and seamlessly trade NFTs and tokens.

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Disclaimer: This is a sponsored press release. Readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence before acting on any information presented in this article.

This post TakeOver Successfully Hosts Second Annual BitGala Celebrating Bitcoin in Las Vegas first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by TakeOver.

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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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Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin 2025 Las Vegas: Here’s What Went Down 

My name is Jenna Montgomery, and maybe you’ve read some of my news articles here before, or seen me on the Bitcoin Magazine TikTok. But today, I wanted to switch it up and give you an inside look at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas through my eyes as an intern, hired just one month before the conference, having little knowledge about Bitcoin beforehand and never attending an event like this before. 

I’m writing this to give you a real, raw reflection of what I experienced over the course of the three day event, and why I believe you should absolutely attend the next Bitcoin conference. I want you all to know what goes down, what to expect, and to know how impactful I think this event really is. Bitcoin 2025 made a lasting impact on me and my life, and it just feels right to tell you why, so yours can maybe be changed too.

I got off the plane, threw my suitcase in my hotel room, and went to go and see the convention center as all of the finishing touches around the venue were being added. I remember thinking how big, beautiful, and fun the expo hall was—and where I would soon meet so many new people, make so many friends, and shake hands with people that I looked up to and admired. 

I will never forget walking in and seeing the main conference stage, The Nakamoto Stage, for the first time. Seeing that giant room with a symphony and endless rows of chairs, soon to be filled with thousands of passionate Bitcoiners, really put in perspective to me how Bitcoin 2025 wasn’t just a conference, it felt like something bigger. I realized it’s an actual community and a place of countless opportunities. 

The conference is essentially split up into 3 days: Industry Day, General Admission Day 1, and General Admission Day 2. Industry Day was mainly tailored towards professionals, investors, founders, and others focused on Bitcoin businesses. The general admission days were tailored more towards the casual Bitcoiner, and those were the days that I really felt the energy just exploding around the convention center.

INDUSTRY DAY 

Walking into the expo hall early in the morning on Industry Day, I was overwhelmed when I saw all of the vendors and companies setting up their tables, booths, stages, and even a rock climbing wall (thank you CleanSpark). It seemed as if the expo hall went for miles and miles, and featured a long orange carpet that made an intricate path through the venue that led you to each and every booth.

While fiat fails, Bitcoin prevails. pic.twitter.com/EV190PUqdT

— Valentina Gomez (@ValentinaForUSA) May 27, 2025

I remember being in total awe as I looked up at the ceiling and saw a huge UFO in the middle of the expo hall, with two Bitcoin themed Cybertrucks just off to the side of it, with lots of other interesting booths including one with a talking robot.

DAY ONE pic.twitter.com/KHXP6q8RCp

— Gemini (@Gemini) May 27, 2025

As I followed the long orange carpet around the venue, I looked over my shoulder and saw a huge blow-up of a Bitcoin Puppet in the art exhibit, featuring all kinds of other cool Bitcoin art. Some of these pieces of art were worth well over one bitcoin—which was mindblowing to me considering that is more than $100,000. Every good revolution has good art, and seeing all the talented artists pouring their hearts into their work helped me believe that Bitcoin is the future. 

Now, it was time to get to work at where I would spend the majority of my time over the next few days. My coworkers and I were stationed up right in front of the Bitcoin Magazine news desk next to the AV (audio-visual) team, where I had a perfect view of everything. Here, I spent all day every day writing news articles for Bitcoin Magazine based on the speeches, keynotes, and other panels happening on the Nakamoto stage, as well as filming TikTok’s around the expo hall with attendees.

Working in front of the news desk was one of my favorite things about the conference. Everyone who spoke on it live had an electrifying personality that kept me locked into every conversation, especially one of the hosts Pete Rizzo. After every talk on the Nakamoto Stage ended, the live stream would pan over to the news desk where they would break down what happened, providing viewers with expert analysis. This was something extremely very fun to watch live and experience the production of it all first hand.

The talks on Industry Day kicked off to such a great start with Dan Edwards from Steak ‘n Shake, who recently became the first major fast food chain in America to begin accepting Bitcoin Lightning payments. So I was very excited to hear about Edwards’ speech and to visit Steak ‘n Shake’s incredible booth, which also featured a group of fun, dancing cows. 

Steak ‘n Shake COWS HAVE NO CHILL pic.twitter.com/8UkmPhWf9T

— The Bitcoin Conference (@TheBitcoinConf) May 28, 2025

While speaking on stage, Edwards revealed that, “Bitcoin is faster than credit cards, and when customers choose to pay in Bitcoin, we’re saving 50% in processing fees.” Just think about that for a second — saving a whole 50% on each transaction? This really opened my eyes to the benefits of accepting Bitcoin as payment and why it could mean to merchants who adopt it.

Based on everything I heard in that speech, I think Steak ‘n Shake may be the first to start a new trend of other big companies accepting Bitcoin. If they recognized the benefits of Bitcoin, it’s only a matter of time before other franchises do as well.

JUST IN: Fast food giant Steak 'n Shake announced they're saving 50% in processing fees accepting Bitcoin payments

'#Bitcoin is faster than credit cards' pic.twitter.com/bxApgBL6El

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 27, 2025

Another big highlight from this day was hearing Senator Cynthia Lummis confirm that President Donald Trump supports her Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act. There were so many statements made during the conference that I will get to later on that point to the fact that the United States is pro-Bitcoin and we’re going to be the world leader in it. Senator Marsha Blackburn also added to this, stating, “Many of our allies follow what we do. If we lead, others will follow. This is vital to our economic future.” 

JUST IN: Senator Cynthia Lummis said US military generals are "big supporters" of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve for economic power. pic.twitter.com/2RPMV3tbdA

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 27, 2025

At this point in

@ 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.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the company behind Truth Social and other Trump-branded digital platforms, is planning to raise $2.5 billion to build one of the largest bitcoin treasuries among public companies.

The deal involves the sale of approximately $1.5 billion in common stock and $1.0 billion in convertible senior secured notes.

According to the company, the offering is expected to close by the end of May, pending standard closing conditions.

Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media, said the investment in bitcoin is a big part of the company’s long-term plan.

“We view Bitcoin as an apex instrument of financial freedom,” Nunes said.

“This investment will help defend our Company against harassment and discrimination by financial institutions, which plague many Americans and U.S. firms.”

He added that the bitcoin treasury will be used to create new synergies across the company’s platforms including Truth Social, Truth+, and the upcoming financial tech brand Truth.Fi.

“It’s a big step forward in the company’s plans to evolve into a holding company by acquiring additional profit-generating, crown jewel assets consistent with America First principles,” Nunes said.

The $2.5 billion raise will come from about 50 institutional investors. The $1 billion in convertible notes will have 0% interest and be convertible into shares at a 35% premium.

TMTG’s current liquid assets, including cash and short-term investments, are $759 million as of the end of the first quarter of 2025. With this new funding, the company’s liquid assets will be over $3 billion.

Custody of the bitcoin treasury will be handled by Crypto.com and Anchorage Digital. They will manage and store the digital assets.

Earlier this week The Financial Times reported Trump Media was planning to raise $3 billion for digital assets acquisitions.

The article said the funds would be used to buy bitcoin and other digital assets, and an announcement could come before a major related event in Las Vegas.

Related: Bitcoin 2025 Conference Kicks off in Las Vegas Today

Trump Media denied the FT report. In a statement, the company said, “Apparently the Financial Times has dumb writers listening to even dumber sources.”

There was no further comment. However, the official $2.5 billion figure, which was announced shortly after by Trump Media through a press release, aligns with its actual filing and investor communication.

Trump Media’s official announcement

This comes at a time when the Trump family and political allies are showing renewed interest in Bitcoin.

President Donald Trump who is now back in office since the 2025 election, has said he wants to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world.”

Trump Media is also working on retail bitcoin investment products including ETFs aligned with America First policies.

These products will make bitcoin more accessible to retail investors and support pro-Trump financial initiatives.

But not everyone is happy.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren recently expressed concerns about Trump Media’s Bitcoin plans. She asked U.S. regulators to clarify their oversight of digital-asset ETFs, warning of investor risk.

Industry insiders are comparing Trump Media’s plans to Strategy (MSTR) which has built a multi-billion dollar bitcoin treasury over the last year. They used stock and bond sales to fund their bitcoin purchases.

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

@ 5a12b41e:bd35aedf

Nach der Auftaktkonferenz letztes Jahr in Frankfurt am Main (siehe Blogbeitrag) ging es am 13. und 14. Mai 2025 nach Jena, genauer: Zur Imaginata, einem ehemaligen Umspannwerk. Unter dem Motto Back to basics kamen Projekte der OER-Strategie sowie alle Interessierten für offene Bildung zusammen, um gemeinsam in den Blick zu nehmen, welche Rollen und Aufgaben OER und OEP angesichts drängender bildungspolitischer und gesellschaftlicher Herausforderungen leisten können. Neben der Vorstellung des Status Quos der Projekte gab es auch die Möglichkeit zur Vernetzung und zum Austausch. Wir von FOERBICO waren mit dabei, in diesem Blogbeitrag erhaltet ihr unsere Einblicke zur Konferenz!

Pre-Workshop: Was sind eigentlich Open Educational Practices?

Offene Bildungspraktiken fördern – das haben wir uns als OE_COM-Projekte auf die Fahne geschrieben, aber wie erklären wir das im Austausch mit verschiedenen Communities? Für viele sind Open Educational Parctices (OEP) eine BlackBox, manche haben eine vages Bild und andere eine konkrete Vorstellung. Mit dem Ziel ein gemeinsames Grundverständnis zu OEP zu entwickeln und dieses in Form eines Arbeitspapiers als Handreichung auch für andere zugänglich zu machen, hat sich eine Arbeitsgruppe einiger OE_COM-Projekte zusammengefunden und versucht auf einen gemeinsamen Nenner zu kommen.

In Kleingruppen haben wir über folgende Aussagen nachgedacht:

1: OEP geht über die reine Bereitstellung hinaus …

2: OEP ist etwas anderes als Frontalunterricht …

3: Eine Praktik, die ich mit OER tun kann …

4: OEP sind in keinem Fall …

Wie geht es weiter?

Bei einem nächsten Online-Treffen sollen die Ergebnisse des Workshops weiter diskutiert werden:

📅 7. Juli 2025, 14-15 Uhr

🔗 https://unibox.uni-rostock.de/getlink/fiS9pCpDmDVmXgddsBBo9K/OE_com%20Arbeitspapier%20OEP.docx

Alle, die Lust haben an einem Arbeitspapier weiterzuarbeiten sind herzlich eingeladen!

Keynote: „OER in Zeiten der Disruption: Why Ideas Do Not Float Freely“ von Prof. Dr. Daniel Otto, Europäische Hochschule für Innovation und Perspektive

Ausgehend aus allgemeinen gesellschaftlichen Entwicklungen seit den 1990ern hält Otto fest, dass wir in Zeiten von Disruption leben. Von den sogenannten Sicherheiten der frühen 1990er Jahre wie Fukuyama es unter dem Schlagwort „Ende der Geschichte“ titelte, ist heute nicht viel übrig geblieben. Er arbeitet heraus, warum Menschen sich trotz dieser Unsicherheiten in Communities engagieren. Entscheidend für das Engagement und den Zusammenhalt von OER-Communities ist die affektive Komponente. Denn wenn aus dem Engagement Verbundenheit entsteht, dann bildet sich dies nicht nur in der Struktur ab, sondern verbindet die Mitglieder untereinander.

OER trifft auf KI – Widerspruch oder Potenzial? Otto setzte auch wichtige Impulse in der Debatte von OER und KI. Er problematisierte, dass OER und generative KI unterschiedlicher kaum sein könnten: Offenheit vs. Proprietät, Kollaboration vs. Black Box. Ist KI also das Ende von OER? Nicht unbedingt. Bildung entsteht durch Reibung, nicht durch Perfektion. Oder wie Biesta (2003) sagt:

Education always involves an interruption - of what we do not yet know, of what we have not planned, of what we cannot control.

Wissen und Informationen leicht zugänglich zu machen, ist nicht mit Bildung gleichzusetzen. Denn Bildung erfordert eine kritische Auseinandersetzung und Übung mit dem zu erlernenden Stoff.

Kompetenzdebatte: Kurzlebige Skills vs. nachhaltige Haltungen Otto kam auch auf die Kompetenzdebatte mit Blick auf zukünftige Herausforderungen zu sprechen. Die Diskussion um „zukünftige Kompetenzen“ greift seiner Ansicht nach oft zu kurz. Was heute wichtig scheint – etwa Prompting – kann morgen schon überholt sein. In der OER-Kultur hingegen zählen Kompetenzen, die Technik überdauern: Offenheit, Kritikfähigkeit, Nachhaltigkeit. Früher fragte man: Ist ein offenes Lehrbuch besser als ein geschlossenes? Solche Vergleiche greifen zu kurz. Es ist nicht das Medium allein, das Bildung verbessert, sondern die pädagogische Gestaltung. Im aktuellen Diskurs sind wir stark auf die Frage der Überprüfung und Bewertung fokussiert. Die Frage ist: Was folgt daraus? Was in dieser Diskussion untergeht, ist der Lernprozess sowie Möglichkeitsräume, die beispielsweise Open Textbooks für Lehrende und Lernende eröffnet.

OER ist die Antwort – aber was war die Frage? Zuletzt betonte Otto noch, dass nicht der Austausch von Materialien OER stark mache, sondern die damit verbundene Haltung: Vertrauen, Partizipation und Offenheit. Offenheit in der Bildung ist kein Tool, sondern eine Praxis. Nach Giddens (1986) brauche es sowohl Akteure mit Gestaltungswillen als auch Strukturen, die Wandel ermöglichen. Veränderung beginnt an beiden Enden. OER und OEP sind demnach kein fertiges Modell, sondern ein kultureller Prozess. Offenheit, Irritation und gemeinsames Handeln sind dabei keine Nebenprodukte, sondern Kern der Idee. Ob mit oder ohne KI – das Fundament bleibt: Bildung braucht Haltung.

Workshop: Synergien schaffen, Gemeinschaft stärken - Der Community-HUB als Innovationsraum nachhaltiger Zusammenarbeit

Anschließend ging es in Workshopphasen, auch wir vom FOERBICO-Team waren mit einem Workshop zum Community-Hub vertreten. Dort wurden die 16 Teilnehmenden dazu eingeladen, an der Idee eines Community-Hubs mitzugestalten. Der Arbeitsauftrag lautete, einen möglichst idealen Ort Austausch, Kollaboration und Netzwerk zu entwickeln und möglichst plastisch zu gestalten. Hierfür teilten sich die Teilnehmenden in vier Kleingruppen auf und entwickelten mit Lego Education Sets unterschiedliche Orte mit vielen Eigenschaften, die ein Community-Hub unbedingt aufweisen sollte. Unter anderem gingen sie der Frage nach: Wie können verschiedene Communities und Netzwerkakteure erfolgreich vernetzt werden? Im FOERBICO-Projekt zielen wir eine „Community of Communities“ an – ein zentraler Ort für Kollaboration, Begegnung und Austausch. Unsere ersten Schritte auf dem Weg zum Community-Hub findet ihr hier.

Die spannenden Ergebnisse aus den Gruppen wollen wir euch hier genauer vorstellen:

Gruppenergebnisse

Neben den eindrücklichen plastischen Ergebnissen, hielten die Teilnehmenden die Ergebnisse ihrer Arbeit in Schlagworten auf Moderationskarten fest, um sie in einem anschließenden Galery-Walk den anderen Teilnehmenden zu präsentieren.

Tisch 1

In dieser Gruppe unterschieden die Teilnehemenden zwischen analogen Treffen, digitalen Treffen und Aspekte, die für beide gelten sollten. In diesem Hub hat jede:r einen unterschiedlichen Verantwortungsbereich, dieser kann aber fluide wechseln. Die Teilnehmenden sind miteinander verbunden, was durch die Kette symbolisiert wird. Ein Hub sollte zudem den Raum bieten, um gemeinsam zu experimentieren (siehe die zwei Figuren am unteren rechten Rand des Hubs). Im analogen sollte gutes Essen, stabiles WLAN, schöne Räumlichkeiten vorhabenden sein, eine niedrigschwellige Anmeldung sowie generell Barrierefreiheit und diverse Gruppen sind ebenfalls wünschenswert. Sowohl im digitalen als auch im analogen Raum sollte man sich wohlfühlen, einen offenen und einfachen Zugang haben. Zudem braucht es Sichtbarkeit, eine Moderation und ein gemeinsames Interesse und Ziel. Außerdem geht es nicht ohne ein Commitment und es braucht Ressourcen – vor allem zeitlich und monetär. Auch wichtig: Man darf auch etwas kaputt machen! Der offene und einfache Zugang wird durch das große Tor dargestellt. Zusätzlich ist auch eine transparente Einsicht in allem wichtig. Im digitalen Raum braucht möglichst offene Tools mit einer einfachen Handhabung. Auch die Bereitschaft, sich in die Karten schauen zu lassen gilt als Grundvoraussetzung. Das hat die Gruppe anhand des Sichtglases dargestellt, durch das gesehen werden kann, wie die Menschen/Community im Hub gemeinsam arbeiten können.

Tisch 2

Auch hier wurde ein digitaler und analoger Raum vorgeschlagen, die sich aufeinander zu bewegen. Der Hub sollte ein Raum sollte explorativ sein, indem auch die Barrieren klein gemacht und ein barrierefreier Zugang ermöglicht werden. OER wurden hier als zarte Pflänzchen dargestellt, um die man sich gemeinsam kümmert, damit sie wachsen. Es muss jedoch auch Menschen geben, die den Hut aufhaben. Außerdem braucht es feste Termine für Treffen und einen strukturieren Rahmen, den der Hub bieten sollte. Neben der Funktion muss auch die Ästhetik des virtuellen Raums in Betracht gezogen werden. Dieser bedarf auch der Pflege. Ein Hub kann eine Roadmap zur Orientierung bieten. Es sollte auch zusammengearbeitet werden und Wissen aus dem Elfenbeiturm herausgeholt werden und hierarchisches Denken sollte dort bleiben. Ein Hub bedarf eine Infrastruktur und Werkzeuge der Zusammenarbeit und muss sich selbst als einen dynamischen Prozess verstehen. Zugleich muss in einem Hub die auf Aktualität geachtet werden. Eine Reinigungsfunktion sollte möglich sein, damit 'Müll' aussortiert werden kann.

Tisch 3

Ein Hub kann als eigene Bildungsinsel mit anderen Bildungsinseln verbunden und vernetzt sein. Zum Datenaustausch bedarf es transparente 'Drehscheiben'. Damit man einsehen kann, was wie auf welcher Basis geschieht. Innerhalb eines Hubs können verschiedene Rollen mit spezifischen Verantwortlichkeiten vergeben werden, darunter beispielsweise eine Technikverantwortlicher, eine Expertin für Finanzierung (unter Einbeziehung der Mitgestaltung durch die Community), eine für digitale Infrastruktur zuständige Person mit einem weitreichenden Netzwerk sowie eine übergeordnete Instanz zur Beobachtung und Steuerung, etwa durch das zuständige Bundesministerium. Der Hub dient darüber hinaus als Plattform für den Austausch zwischen den beteiligten Communities und ermöglicht eine partizipative Aufteilung von Zuständigkeiten.

Tisch 4

Hier wurde der Hub als möglichst offener, niederschwelliger Raum konzipiert, der den Erstkontakt erleichtert und den Austausch sowie die Entwicklung von Ideen fördert. Der Zugang zu diesem Raum sollte vielfältig gestaltet sein, um unterschiedliche Akteursgruppen einzubinden und partizipative Prozesse zu ermöglichen.

Prinzip „KISS – Keep it Smart and Simple“: Innerhalb der vierten Gruppe wurde die grundlegende Frage diskutiert, ob die Einrichtung eines Hubs überhaupt notwendig ist. Bisher wurden entsprechende Strukturen nicht entwickelt, möglicherweise weil kein unmittelbarer Bedarf bestand. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde in Erwägung gezogen, ob bestehende Infrastrukturen und Netzwerke nicht effizienter genutzt werden könnten. Zu dieser Fragestellung konnte bislang jedoch keine abschließende Position innerhalb der Gruppe gefunden werden.

Fazit

Die Auswertung der Ergebnisse der Teilnehmenden verdeutlicht den Bedarf an einem zentralen Hub als Knotenpunkt für OER. Ein solcher Community-Hub soll als Infrastruktur dienen, um bestehende Communities, Repositorien und Suchmaschinen miteinander zu vernetzen, Expertise zu bündeln, Projekte zu koordinieren und offene Bildungsressourcen zugänglich zu machen. Dabei wird besonderer Wert auf eine klare Zielgruppenorientierung sowie auf die Integration synchroner und asynchroner Austauschformate gelegt, um eine nachhaltige und wirkungsvolle Vernetzung zu gewährleisten.

Insgesamt stellt die Konferenz für die Beteiligten eine wertvolle Gelegenheit zum fachlichen Austausch und zur Netzwerkbildung dar. Aus den Workshops, Vorträgen und Gesprächen konnten wir vom FOERBICO-Team zahlreiche praxisrelevante Impulse für unsere zukünftige Arbeit mitnehmen.

@ 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.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

CANNES, FRANCE – May 2025 — Bitcoin mining made its mark at the world’s most prestigious film gathering this year as Puerto Rican director and producer Alana Mediavilla introduced her feature documentary Dirty Coin: The Bitcoin Mining Documentary at the Marché du Film during the Cannes Film Festival.

The film puts bitcoin mining at the center of a rising global conversation about energy, technology, and economic freedom.

Dirty Coin is the first feature-length documentary to explore bitcoin mining through immersive, on-the-ground case studies.

From rural towns in the United States to hydro-powered sites in Latin America and the Congo, the film follows miners and communities navigating what may be one of the most misunderstood technologies of our time.

The result is a human-centered look at how bitcoin mining is transforming local economies and energy infrastructure in real ways.

To mark its Cannes debut, Mediavilla and her team hosted a packed industry event that brought together leaders from both film and finance.

Dirty Coin debut ceremony at the Marché du Film

Sponsors Celestial Management, Sangha Renewables, Nordblock, and Paystand.org supported the program, which featured panels on mining, energy use, and decentralized infrastructure.

Attendees had the rare opportunity to engage directly with pioneers in the space. A special session in French led by Seb Gouspillou spotlighted mining efforts in the Congo’s Virunga region.

Dirty Coin builds on Mediavilla’s award-winning short film Stranded, which won over 20 international prizes, including Best Short Documentary at Cannes in 2024.

That success helped lay the foundation for the feature and positioned Mediavilla as one of the boldest new voices in global documentary filmmaking.

Alana Mediavilla speaks at the Marché du Film — Cannes Film Festival

“If we’ve found an industry that can unlock stranded energy and turn it into real power for people—especially in regions with energy poverty—why wouldn’t we look into it?” says Mediavilla. “Our privilege blinds us.

“The same thing we criticize could be the very thing that lifts the developing world to our standard of living. Ignoring that potential is a failure of imagination.”

Much like the decentralized network it explores, Dirty Coin is spreading globally through grassroots momentum.

Local leaders are hosting independent screenings around the world, from Roatán and Berlin to São Paulo and Madrid. Upcoming events include Toronto and Zurich, with more cities joining each month.

Mediavilla, who previously worked in creative leadership roles in the U.S. — including as a producer at Google — returned to Puerto Rico to found Campo Libre, a studio focused on high-caliber, globally relevant storytelling from the Caribbean.

She was also accepted into the Cannes Producers Network, a selective program open only to producers with box office releases in the past four years.

Mediavilla qualified after independently releasing Dirty Coin in theaters across Puerto Rico. Her participation in the network gave her direct access to meetings, insights, and connections with the most active distributors and producers working today.

The film’s next public screening will take place at the Anthem Film Festival in Palm Springs on Saturday, June 14 at 2 PM. Additional screenings and market appearances are planned throughout the year at Bitcoin events and international film platforms.

Dirty Coin at the Cannes Film Festival

Watch the Trailer + Access Press Materials

📂 EPK
🎬 Screener
🌍 Host a Screening

Follow the Movement

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dirty_coin_official/
Twitter: https://x.com/DirtyCoinDoc
Website: www.dirtycointhemovie.com

@ 81022b27:2b8d0644

I’ve always gravitated to ideas and topics that are not quite mainstream:

Well, like CHIROPRACTIC.

But even in chiropractic school, I went fringe. I heard about one of the technique clubs (Toftness) that showed you how you could detect a subluxation by just rubbing your thumb over a piece of plexiglass.

We were discussing that in a group, and most of my friends were saying:

“What a load of shit!”

And that made my ears perk up.

So I started going to the club meetings.

I walk in, and there’s a guy face down on a chiropractic table while another guy was holding what looked like some sort of cyberpunk lens. He started rubbing it and worked it down the guy's spine.

He pointed out areas that were subluxated:

“Here.”

And going further down:

“Here.”

And:

“Here.”

Wow.

Then he “adjusted” by touching the spine with his index finger.

My mind was blown.

So you mean I didn’t have to be adjusted the way Harvey Fish did?

Dr. Fish was a great guy and would adjust students for, I think, $10. You’d go in, wait to see if he had any “real patients.” In between patients, he would adjust the students. He was heavy-handed and sure as hell able to move a bone.

So now I’m intrigued and curious. I studied and practiced any chance I had. I had different friends that I studied different things with.

(Except for Dyslexic Dave - nobody wanted to study with that guy. Our group did once, and we all failed a test. His dyslexia was so powerful, it overcame all of us.)

I’d study all the weird stuff with my friend Victoria, and then we would go get our network chiropractic adjustment from Dr. Michael Scimeca.

I found out that it wasn’t the Toftness lens that had the super-powers. Instead, it was because when your hand detected a change in energy over the spinal segments, there's a “galvanic response” similar to that of a polygraph lie detector test. So it made the skin on my hand “sweat,” and that made the plexiglass squeak and stick.

So it wasn’t the equipment. It was me.

After a while, I realized that I could feel a warmth on my chest right before the lens squeaked. So, I ditched the lens and started working on people where I “felt” the subluxations were located.

Seemed to work well - I always double-checked my “regular” chiropractic findings with what I felt. We studied for exams, then practiced technique on each other.

One time at a seminar, the instructor demonstrated what to do and asked for volunteers - one to be the patient and the other to be the doctor. I watched this guy struggling with his patient. It looked like he had flippers instead of hands; the whole interaction was super awkward.

All of a sudden, I started feeling uncomfortable and just blurted out:

“For God’s sake, leave him alone! Can’t you tell he is super annoyed and angry?”

Oops.

The instructor said, “Yes, maybe we should take a break.”

The guy that was the patient came up to me and asked, “How did you know?”

“I don’t know, I just felt it,” I said.

After that I started trying to see if I could feel what others were feeling. So when I was bored in a class, I’d go down the rows and try to feel what the my fellow students felt and quickly move on.

Going down the row: nothing, nothing nothing. This guy is pissed off, next one: nothing, nothing, Ow! She has a headache.

Dammit! Now I have a headache!

So that turned into a problem: When I worked on someone that had pain or other symptoms, I would take those on for myself. And the person I worked on would leave feeling great.

My friend Juanita did what is called an "attunement," and I became a Reiki Master.

Reiki masters are supposed to move energy around, but I was afraid I’d pick up too much of someone’s vibe and it would make me uncomfortable.

Plus, I can’t be doing energy work if I’m a chiropractor now.

So I kept all that checked and on the "down low"; sometimes I would get a "feeling" about a client while I was working on them. Surprisingly, it was always correct and it helped my client to make progress.

At some point, I started feeling that I needed to be true to myself, and if I had these abilities and I was able to use them to help the people that came to see me, then that's what I was going to do.

I've embraced this side of my work. If my clients need some emotional work, that’s what we work on, if they need some energy work, then they get it.

I suppose some people don’t want a chiropractor that’s metaphysical, but really-that’s how it all started. There are plenty of “evidence-based” chiropractors out there that can’t adjust their way out of a paper bag.

If the power goes off, they couldn’t use their lasers or whatever machine the Chiropractic Physiotherapy Industrial Complex wants you to buy now.

While I appreciate all the fancy parties they throw for us at continuing education seminars, they are infiltrating the chiropractic schools and now we are pumping out new chiropractors that only think they will be successful if they have the latest and greatest shiny machine.

I’ve studied a bunch of different things, I’ve found what works for me and refined it.

I tell my clients :

“I’m a better chiropractor today than I was yesterday, and I was pretty good back then!”

So I guess my next step is teaching some of this information and hoping to pass it on before my time here is up.

And you know what? I will love every damn minute of it!

There's nothing quite like sharing the weird, the wonderful, and the downright strange ways we can help people heal.

So, let's get to it—I've got a lot of sharing and teaching to do—it's going to be exciting!

@ 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

@ 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.

---

My Nostr Public Key: npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx

---

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

@ 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

@ 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.

---

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

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

Hosted at the iconic Palace of Culture and Science—a prominent symbol of the communist era—the Bitcoin FilmFest offers a vibrant celebration of film through the lens of bitcoin. The venue itself provides a striking contrast to the festival’s focus, highlighting bitcoin’s core identity as a currency embodying independence from traditional financial and political systems.

𝐅𝐢𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬.
Warsaw, Day Zero at #BFF25 (European Bitcoin Pizza Day) with @roger__9000, MadMunky and the @2140_wtf squad pic.twitter.com/9ogVvWRReA

— Bitcoin FilmFest (@bitcoinfilmfest) May 28, 2025

This venue represents an era when the state tightly controlled the economy and financial systems. The juxtaposition of this historical site with an event dedicated to bitcoin is striking and thought-provoking.

The event features a diverse array of activities, including engaging panel discussions, screenings of both feature-length and short films, workshops and lively parties. Each component designed to explore the multifaceted world of bitcoin and its implications for society, offering attendees a blend of entertainment and education.

The films showcase innovative narratives and insights into bitcoin’s landscape, while the panels facilitate thought-provoking discussions among industry experts and filmmakers.

Networking is a significant aspect of the festival, with an exceptionally open and friendly atmosphere that foster connections among participants. Participants from all over Europe gather to engage with like-minded individuals who share a passion for BTC and its implications for the future.

The open exchanges of ideas foster a sense of community, allowing attendees to forge new connections, collaborate on projects, and discuss the potential of blockchain technology implemented in bitcoin.

The organization of the festival is extraordinary, ensuring a smooth flow of information and an expertly structured schedule filled from morning until evening. Attendees appreciate the meticulous planning that allowed them to maximize their experience. Additionally, thoughtful touches such as gifts from sponsors and well-chosen locations for various events contribute to the overall positive atmosphere of the festival.

Overall, the Bitcoin FilmFest not only highlights the artistic expression surrounding bitcoin but also serves as a vital platform for dialogue—about financial freedom, the future of money, and individual sovereignty in a shifting world.

The event successfully bridges the gap between a historical symbol of control and a movement that celebrates freedom, innovation, and collaboration in the digital age, highlighting the importance of independence in financial systems while fostering a collaborative environment for innovation and growth.

Next year’s event is slated for June 5-7 2026. For further updates check: https://bitcoinfilmfest.com/

@ 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

---

"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

---

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.

---

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

@ 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.

---

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

@ 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

@ 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

@ 81022b27:2b8d0644

I have a family practice where I see pretty much everything, from infants to the elderly, athletes to people with disabilities.

When someone gets good results, they always want their loved ones to benefit in the same way.

Husbands tell their wives, wives bring in their husbands...

I even had a guy bring both his wife and his girlfriend! On different days, of course.

So, sometimes we notice a little bit of drama here and there. When one of our couples divorces, someone usually gets custody of the chiropractor.

It's rare that I keep seeing both parties.

It's probably for the best, because there was this one time when a guy showed up with his new "friend" while the ex’s best friend was in the waiting area.

Well, it was like an episode of the "Jerry Springer Show" that day.

Let's get to the story:

This one guy I’d been working on started coming in more frequently, complaining of more pain, more aches, more everything.

I've been doing this for a while now, so I told him that when I see this, it's one of two things:

Either you are physically doing something to aggravate the issue,

Or you are under emotional stress.

He told me that he and his wife were having problems, and there was lots of drama.

Of course, I kept working on him. Sometimes I did some emotional work, but with men, I have to be very business-like when dealing with emotions because we don't like to deal with them.

Time passed, and they finally divorced.

He still comes in regularly, and I've noticed he has less pain and fewer issues. His visits are more like "wellness visits"; he seems in better spirits.

I thought I'd never see the ex-wife again, but she showed up today, and when I checked her, she's doing better than ever!

It got me thinking... these people are way better off divorced! They're not in constant fight-or-flight mode; I'm sure they are happier or will be. It's a positive all the way around.

I've been divorced twice. That's not something I'm proud of. I see both those divorces as failures.

I was 23 when I got married the first time. We were both super young and unprepared. We struggled for four years, and then she wanted out.

Not that I blame her; I was unhappy with myself, and my frustration and unhappiness bled into the relationship.

My second marriage lasted a lot longer than the first. After all we were older, ended up having 2 kids and I really, really tried.

I was just terrified of losing my girls. I even recall saying that I was willing to be miserable and unhappy just “for the kids”

The truth is once we separated, I probably spent more “quality time” with my daughters than I had before.

But here’s the thing in both marriages I would have willingly given up the chance to be happier with a clean end to the relationship in order to give it another shot.

At some point you just run out of shots.

I see elderly couples out at restaurants and they hardly say anything to each other. Is it because they know each other so well that they don’t need to speak, or is one of them silently praying the other one will drop dead so they will finally have a chance at happiness?

What I’m trying to say here is:

Maybe there is no hope for that relationship that you are giving CPR

Maybe it’s time to move on.

Live Long and Prosper. 🖖

@ 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

@ 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.

---

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

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

Hosted at the iconic Palace of Culture and Science—a prominent symbol of the communist era—the Bitcoin FilmFest offers a vibrant celebration of film through the lens of bitcoin. The venue itself provides a striking contrast to the festival’s focus, highlighting bitcoin’s core identity as a currency embodying independence from traditional financial and political systems.

𝐅𝐢𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬.
Warsaw, Day Zero at #BFF25 (European Bitcoin Pizza Day) with @roger__9000, MadMunky and the @2140_wtf squad pic.twitter.com/9ogVvWRReA

— Bitcoin FilmFest (@bitcoinfilmfest) May 28, 2025

This venue represents an era when the state tightly controlled the economy and financial systems. The juxtaposition of this historical site with an event dedicated to bitcoin is striking and thought-provoking.

The event features a diverse array of activities, including engaging panel discussions, screenings of both feature-length and short films, workshops and lively parties. Each component designed to explore the multifaceted world of bitcoin and its implications for society, offering attendees a blend of entertainment and education.

The films showcase innovative narratives and insights into bitcoin’s landscape, while the panels facilitate thought-provoking discussions among industry experts and filmmakers.

Networking is a significant aspect of the festival, with an exceptionally open and friendly atmosphere that foster connections among participants. Participants from all over Europe gather to engage with like-minded individuals who share a passion for BTC and its implications for the future.

The open exchanges of ideas foster a sense of community, allowing attendees to forge new connections, collaborate on projects, and discuss the potential of blockchain technology implemented in bitcoin.

The organization of the festival is extraordinary, ensuring a smooth flow of information and an expertly structured schedule filled from morning until evening. Attendees appreciate the meticulous planning that allowed them to maximize their experience. Additionally, thoughtful touches such as gifts from sponsors and well-chosen locations for various events contribute to the overall positive atmosphere of the festival.

Overall, the Bitcoin FilmFest not only highlights the artistic expression surrounding bitcoin but also serves as a vital platform for dialogue—about financial freedom, the future of money, and individual sovereignty in a shifting world.

The event successfully bridges the gap between a historical symbol of control and a movement that celebrates freedom, innovation, and collaboration in the digital age, highlighting the importance of independence in financial systems while fostering a collaborative environment for innovation and growth.

Next year’s event is slated for June 5-7 2026. For further updates check: https://bitcoinfilmfest.com/

@ 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

@ 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

@ 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

---

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.

---

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

@ 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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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

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.

---

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

@ 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.

---

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

@ 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.

@ 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.

---

_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._

---

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

@ 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

@ c11cf5f8:4928464d

Howdy stackers! Here we are again with our monthly Magnificent Seven, the summary giving you a hit of what you missed in the ~AGORA territory.

First thing first. let's check our top performing post Ads!

---

Top-Performing Ads

This month, the most engaging ones are:

• 01 Bitcoin Magazine Launches V3 Limited Edition Bitcoin Crocs by @RideandSmile, no description, nor images provided. The title speak for the product itself. 31 sats \ 8 comments \ 15 May

• 02 Happy Pizza Day Jerky Offer (10k sats sale 5/22 ONLY) by @beejay, celebrating Bitcoin Pizza Day with a delicious offer for a handmade product. Offer is over but it still available on her online shop and IRL at next Twin Cities Outdoor Agora Market https://stacker.news/items/972209/r/AG 103 sats \ 3 comments \ 22 May

• 03 Lard Tallow lotion by @byzantine, sharing with us one of his preferred online shops that accept sats. Here other two: a Regenerative Farm in TX https://stacker.news/items/983695/r/AG and an artisanal lite roast coffee maker https://stacker.news/items/983668/r/AG 62 sats \ 4 comments \ 20 May

• 04 Bitaxe Gamma 601 for sale by @PictureRoom selling P2P, have you shipped it yet? 121 sats \ 12 comments \ 15 May

• 05 Built An Invisible Book Stage by @kr, he did well creating some expectations for this unique and durable product earlier https://stacker.news/items/903946/r/AG 124 sats \ 4 comments \ 21 May

• 06 "₿lack Market Money" T-Shirts by T&F by @BitcoinErrorLog, that had opened his online store with plenty of incredible products, including an Anti-Surveillance clothing line https://stacker.news/items/994555/r/AG stuff never seen before! 51 sats \ 3 comments \ 24 May

• 07 [SELL] Heatpunk 002 Tee by @thebullishbitcoiner, reviving the second edition of a t-shirt dedicated to home solo miners! 79 sats \ 1 comment \ 28 May

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In case you missed

Here some interesting post, opening conversations and free speech about markets and business on the bitcoin circular economy:

• https://stacker.news/items/992449/r/AG - @Kontext is selling his beloved 2012 Jaguar XF 3.0 V6 Petrol [5M sats], great deal if paid in sats! Have you sold her?
• https://stacker.news/items/987241/r/AG - @RideandSmile shared the Freedom Issue: Letter From the Editor introducing a BM special edition
• https://stacker.news/items/999229/r/AG - @Solomonsatoshi was looking for Green Coffee Beans for DIY home roasting. Will @michaelbinary provide you some?
• https://stacker.news/items/992790/r/AG - @Rayo also introduce the P.A.Z.NIA Radio Network: 52 Hours of Liberation! An interesting livestream for all those interested in freedom.
• https://stacker.news/items/995163/r/AG welcome to @lunin, opening up on SN with Take it step by step and it will work! as part of a promising series: Founder's Thoughts. Here the second post https://stacker.news/items/999867/r/AG Startup according to Mozart

---

Hey sellers! Try Auctions

A quick reminder that now you can setup auctions here in the AGORA too! Learn how. The other feature released last month was the introduction of Shopfronts on SN. Check our SN Merch and SN Zine examples. Thank you all! Let's keep these trades coming and grow the P2P Bitcoin circular economy!

---

Active Professional Services accepting Bitcoin in the AGORA

Let us know if we miss any, here below the most memorable ones: - https://stacker.news/items/900208/r/AG - @unschooled offering Language Tutoring - https://stacker.news/items/813013/r/AG - @gpvansat's [OFFER][Graphic Design] From the paste editions (It's important to keep these offers available) - https://stacker.news/items/775383/r/AG - @TinstrMedia - Color Grading (Styling) Your Pictures as a Service - https://stacker.news/items/773557/r/AG - @MamaHodl, MATHS TUTOR 50K SATS/hour English global - https://stacker.news/items/684163/r/AG - @BTCLNAT's OFFER HEALTH COUNSELING [5K SAT/ consultation - https://stacker.news/items/689268/r/AG - @mathswithtess [SELL] MATHS TUTOR ONILINE, 90k sats per hour. Global but English only.

Let me know if I'm missing other stackers offering services around here!

---

Lost & Found in SN' Wild West Web

Stay with me, we're not done yet! I found plenty of other deals, offers and business related conversations in other territories too...

• BITCOIN... always fucking with my head... by @thecommoner (highly recommended read!)
• The Strange Moral Relativism of "Free Trade" by @Undisciplined (another highly recommended read!)
• What makes society thrive? by @aljaz
• Drop or proxy shipping services that take sats? by @lv99slacker
• Custom Bitcoin Nodes by @anon
• 23 Bitcoin Merch Shops That Sell Shirts For Sats by @hyperfree
• How to create an e-commerce website? by @Bitcoiner1
• Can You Outperform an Apple Tree? by @kr
• B2B Businesses in Bitcoin by @telcobert

Oh boy! Such exciting month! Now our latest weekly appointments:

🏷️ Spending Sunday

(LIVE TODAY) Share your most recent Bitcoin purchases of just check what other stackers are buying with their sats! Today's one open at https://stacker.news/items/1000477/r/AG

All series available here:

🤝 Sellers & Business Club

(UPCOMING EVERY TUESDAY) Here https://stacker.news/items/998773/r/AG wanted to introduce this new series, dedicated to our most active sellers^1. A room to talk about growing business and sales. You will join?

📢 Thursday Talks: What have you sold for Bitcoin this week?

It is losing a bit of momentum, but it will still be opening every week for anyone interested to share sales tips, deals and offers around the Wild West Web! Latest one here https://stacker.news/items/997767/r/AG

Thanks all for reading until here, now... 🫡 Closing remarks as usual. See ya!

---

Create your Ads now!

Looking to start something new? Hit one of the links below to free your mind:

• 💬 TOPIC for conversation,
• [⚖️ SELL] anything! or,
• if you're looking for something, hit the [🛒 BUY]!
• [🧑‍💻 HIRE] any bitcoiner skill or stuff from bitcoiners
• [🖇 OFFER] any product or service and stack more sats
• [🧑‍⚖️ AUCTION] to let stackers decide a fair price for your item
• [🤝 SWAP] if you're looking to exchange anything with anything else
• [🆓 FREE] your space, make a gift!
• Start your own [SHOPFRONT] or simply...
• [⭐ REVIEW] any bitcoin product or LN service you recently bought or subscribed to.

---

Or contact @AGORA team on nostr DM, and we can help you publish a personalized post.

. #nostr #bitcoin #stuff4sats #sell #buy #plebchain #grownostr #asknostr #market #business

https://stacker.news/items/1000715

@ 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.

---

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

@ 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.

@ 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.

@ 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.

---

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

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Key Takeaways

Michael Goldstein, aka Bitstein, presents a sweeping philosophical and economic case for going “all in” on Bitcoin, arguing that unlike fiat, which distorts capital formation and fuels short-term thinking, Bitcoin fosters low time preference, meaningful saving, and long-term societal flourishing. At the heart of his thesis is “hodling for good”—a triple-layered idea encompassing permanence, purpose, and the pursuit of higher values like truth, beauty, and legacy. Drawing on thinkers like Aristotle, Hoppe, and Josef Pieper, Goldstein redefines leisure as contemplation, a vital practice in aligning capital with one’s deepest ideals. He urges Bitcoiners to think beyond mere wealth accumulation and consider how their sats can fund enduring institutions, art, and architecture that reflect a moral vision of the future.

Best Quotes

“Let BlackRock buy the houses, and you keep the sats.”

“We're not hodling just for the sake of hodling. There is a purpose to it.”

“Fiat money shortens your time horizon… you can never rest.”

“Savings precedes capital accumulation. You can’t build unless you’ve saved.”

“You're increasing the marginal value of everyone else’s Bitcoin.”

“True leisure is contemplation—the pursuit of the highest good.”

“What is Bitcoin for if not to make the conditions for magnificent acts of creation possible?”

“Bitcoin itself will last forever. Your stack might not. What will outlast your coins?”

“Only a whale can be magnificent.”

“The market will sell you all the crack you want. It’s up to you to demand beauty.”

Conclusion

This episode is a call to reimagine Bitcoin as more than a financial revolution—it’s a blueprint for civilizational renewal. Michael Goldstein reframes hodling as an act of moral stewardship, urging Bitcoiners to lower their time preference, build lasting institutions, and pursue truth, beauty, and legacy—not to escape the world, but to rebuild it on sound foundations.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Michael’s BBB presentation Hodl for Good
07:27 - Austrian principles on capital
15:40 - Fiat distorts the economic process
23:34 - Bitkey
24:29 - Hodl for Good triple entendre
29:52 - Bitcoin benefits everyone
39:05 - Unchained
40:14 - Leisure theory of value
52:15 - Heightening life
1:15:48 - Breaking from the chase makes room for magnificence
1:32:32 - Nakamoto Institute’s mission

Transcript

(00:00) Fiat money is by its nature a disturbance. If money is being continually produced, especially at an uncertain rate, these uh policies are really just redistribution of wealth. Most are looking for number to go up post hyper bitcoinization. The rate of growth of bitcoin would be more reflective of the growth of the economy as a whole.
(00:23) Ultimately, capital requires knowledge because it requires knowing there is something that you can add to the structures of production to lengthen it in some way that will take time but allow you to have more in the future than you would today. Let Black Rockck buy the houses and you keep the sats, not the other way around.
(00:41) You wait until later for Larry Frink to try to sell you a [Music] mansion. And we're live just like that. Just like that. 3:30 on a Friday, Memorial Day weekend. It's a good good good way to end the week and start the holiday weekend. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you for having me here. Thank you for coming. I wore this hat specifically because I think it's I think it's very apppropo uh to the conversation we're going to have which is I hope an extension of the presentation you gave at Bitblock Boom Huddle for good. You were working on
(01:24) that for many weeks leading up to uh the conference and explaining how you were structuring it. I think it's a very important topic to discuss now as the Bitcoin price is hitting new all-time highs and people are trying to understand what am I doing with Bitcoin? Like you have you have the different sort of factions within Bitcoin.
(01:47) Uh get on a Bitcoin standard, get on zero, spend as much Bitcoin as possible. You have the sailors of the world are saying buy Bitcoin, never sell, die with your Bitcoin. And I think you do a really good job in that presentation. And I just think your understanding overall of Bitcoin is incredible to put everything into context. It's not either or.
(02:07) It really depends on what you want to accomplish. Yeah, it's definitely there there is no actual one-sizefits-all um for I mean nearly anything in this world. So um yeah, I mean first of all I mean there was it was the first conference talk I had given in maybe five years. I think the one prior to that uh was um bit block boom 2019 which was my meme talk which uh has uh become infamous and notorious.
(02:43) So uh there was also a lot of like high expectations uh you know rockstar dev uh has has treated that you know uh that that talk with a lot of reference. a lot of people have enjoyed it and he was expecting this one to be, you know, the greatest one ever, which is a little bit of a little bit of a uh a burden to live up to those kinds of standards.
(03:08) Um, but you know, because I don't give a lot of talks. Um, you know, I I I like to uh try to bring ideas that might even be ideas that are common. So, something like hodling, we all talk about it constantly. uh but try to bring it from a little bit of a different angle and try to give um a little bit of uh new light to it.
(03:31) I alsove I've I've always enjoyed kind of coming at things from a third angle. Um whenever there's, you know, there's there's all these little debates that we have in in Bitcoin and sometimes it's nice to try to uh step out of it and look at it a little more uh kind of objectively and find ways of understanding it that incorporate the truths of of all of them.
(03:58) uh you know cuz I think we should always be kind of as much as possible after ultimate truth. Um so with this one um yeah I was kind of finding that that sort of golden mean. So uh um yeah and I actually I think about that a lot is uh you know Aristotle has his his concept of the golden mean. So it's like any any virtue is sort of between two vices um because you can you can always you can always take something too far.
(04:27) So you're you're always trying to find that right balance. Um so someone who is uh courageous you know uh one of the vices uh on one side is being basically reckless. I I can't remember what word he would use. Uh but effectively being reckless and just wanting to put yourself in danger for no other reason than just you know the thrill of it.
(04:50) Um and then on the other side you would just have cowardice which is like you're unwilling to put yourself um at any risk at any time. Um, and courage is right there in the middle where it's understanding when is the right time uh to put your put yourself, you know, in in the face of danger um and take it on. And so um in some sense this this was kind of me uh in in some ways like I'm obviously a partisan of hodling.
(05:20) Um, I've for, you know, a long time now talked about the, um, why huddling is good, why people do it, why we should expect it. Um, but still trying to find that that sort of golden mean of like yes, huddle, but also what are we hodling for? And it's not we're we're not hodddling just merely for the sake of hodddling.
(05:45) There there is a a purpose to it. And we should think about that. And that would also help us think more about um what are the benefits of of spending, when should we spend, why should we spend, what should we spend on um to actually give light to that sort of side of the debate. Um so that was that was what I was kind of trying to trying to get into.
(06:09) Um, as well as also just uh at the same time despite all the talk of hodling, there's always this perennial uh there's always this perennial dislike of hodlers because we're treated as uh as if um we're just free riding the network or we're just greedy or you know any of these things. And I wanted to show how uh huddling does serve a real economic purpose.
(06:36) Um, and it does benefit the individual, but it also does uh it it has actual real social um benefits as well beyond merely the individual. Um, so I wanted to give that sort of defense of hodling as well to look at it from um a a broader position than just merely I'm trying to get rich. Um uh because even the person who uh that is all they want to do um just like you know your your pure number grow up go up moonboy even that behavior has positive ramifications on on the economy.
(07:14) And while we might look at them and have uh judgments about their particular choices for them as an individual, we shouldn't discount that uh their actions are having positive positive effects for the rest of the economy. Yeah. So, let's dive into that just not even in the context of Bitcoin because I think you did a great job of this in the presentation.
(07:36) just you've done a good job of this consistently throughout the years that I've known you. Just from like a first principles Austrian economics perspective, what is the idea around capital accumulation, low time preference and deployment of that capital like what what like getting getting into like the nitty-gritty and then applying it to Bitcoin? Yeah, it's it's a big question and um in many ways I mean I I even I barely scratched the surface.
(08:05) uh I I can't claim to have read uh all the volumes of Bombber works, you know, capital and interest and and stuff like that. Um but I think there's some some sort of basic concepts that we can look at that we can uh draw a lot out. Um the first uh I guess let's write that. So repeat so like capital time preference. Yeah. Well, I guess getting more broad like why sav

@ 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.

@ 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

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Life Insurer, Meanwhile, Becomes First Company to Publish Audited Financials Denominated in Bitcoin

Meanwhile Insurance Bitcoin (Bermuda) Limited (“Meanwhile”) announced it has become the first company in the world to release externally audited financial statements denominated entirely in Bitcoin. According to the announcement, the company reported 220.4 BTC in assets and 25.29 BTC in net income for 2024, a 300% year over year increase.

Today marks a global first & historic event for us, along with the public release of our 2024 audited financial statements, covering our 1st year of sales.

As the 1st company in the world to have Bitcoin-denominated financial statements externally audited, we are excited to…

— meanwhile | Bitcoin Life Insurance (@meanwhilelife) June 5, 2025

“We’ve just made history as the first company in the world to have Bitcoin-denominated financial statements externally audited,” said Zac Townsend, CEO of Meanwhile. “This is an important, foundational step in reimagining the financial system based on a single, global, decentralized standard outside the control of any one government.” 

The financial statements were audited by Harris & Trotter LLP and its digital asset division ht.digital. Meanwhile’s financials also comply with Bermuda’s Insurance Act 1978, noting that their BTC denominated financials were approved and comply with official guidelines. The firm, fully licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), operates entirely in BTC and is prohibited from liquidating Bitcoin assets except through policyholder claims, positioning it as a long term holder. 

“As the first regulated Bitcoin life insurance company, we view the BTC held by Meanwhile as inherently long-term in nature—primarily held to support the Company’s insurance liabilities over decades,” Townsend added. “This makes it significantly ‘stickier’ and resistant to market pressures compared to the BTC held by other companies as part of their treasury management strategies.” 

Meanwhile’s 2024 financials also revealed 23.02 BTC in net premiums and 4.35 BTC in investment income, showing that its model not only preserves Bitcoin, but earns it. The company’s reserves (also held in BTC) were reviewed and approved by Willis Towers Watson (WTW). 

Meanwhile also offers a Bitcoin Whole Life insurance product that allows policyholders to save, borrow, and build legacy wealth—entirely in BTC, and has plans to expand globally in 2025.

“We are incredibly proud of today’s news as it underscores how Meanwhile is at the forefront of the next phase of the convergence between Bitcoin and institutional financial markets,” said Tia Beckmann, CFO of Meanwhile. “Now having generated net income in BTC, we have demonstrated that we are earning it through a sustainable insurance business model designed for the long term.” 

This post Bitcoin Life Insurer, Meanwhile, Becomes First Company to Publish Audited Financials Denominated in Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Key Takeaways

Michael Goldstein, aka Bitstein, presents a sweeping philosophical and economic case for going “all in” on Bitcoin, arguing that unlike fiat, which distorts capital formation and fuels short-term thinking, Bitcoin fosters low time preference, meaningful saving, and long-term societal flourishing. At the heart of his thesis is “hodling for good”—a triple-layered idea encompassing permanence, purpose, and the pursuit of higher values like truth, beauty, and legacy. Drawing on thinkers like Aristotle, Hoppe, and Josef Pieper, Goldstein redefines leisure as contemplation, a vital practice in aligning capital with one’s deepest ideals. He urges Bitcoiners to think beyond mere wealth accumulation and consider how their sats can fund enduring institutions, art, and architecture that reflect a moral vision of the future.

Best Quotes

“Let BlackRock buy the houses, and you keep the sats.”

“We're not hodling just for the sake of hodling. There is a purpose to it.”

“Fiat money shortens your time horizon… you can never rest.”

“Savings precedes capital accumulation. You can’t build unless you’ve saved.”

“You're increasing the marginal value of everyone else’s Bitcoin.”

“True leisure is contemplation—the pursuit of the highest good.”

“What is Bitcoin for if not to make the conditions for magnificent acts of creation possible?”

“Bitcoin itself will last forever. Your stack might not. What will outlast your coins?”

“Only a whale can be magnificent.”

“The market will sell you all the crack you want. It’s up to you to demand beauty.”

Conclusion

This episode is a call to reimagine Bitcoin as more than a financial revolution—it’s a blueprint for civilizational renewal. Michael Goldstein reframes hodling as an act of moral stewardship, urging Bitcoiners to lower their time preference, build lasting institutions, and pursue truth, beauty, and legacy—not to escape the world, but to rebuild it on sound foundations.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Michael’s BBB presentation Hodl for Good
07:27 - Austrian principles on capital
15:40 - Fiat distorts the economic process
23:34 - Bitkey
24:29 - Hodl for Good triple entendre
29:52 - Bitcoin benefits everyone
39:05 - Unchained
40:14 - Leisure theory of value
52:15 - Heightening life
1:15:48 - Breaking from the chase makes room for magnificence
1:32:32 - Nakamoto Institute’s mission

Transcript

(00:00) Fiat money is by its nature a disturbance. If money is being continually produced, especially at an uncertain rate, these uh policies are really just redistribution of wealth. Most are looking for number to go up post hyper bitcoinization. The rate of growth of bitcoin would be more reflective of the growth of the economy as a whole.
(00:23) Ultimately, capital requires knowledge because it requires knowing there is something that you can add to the structures of production to lengthen it in some way that will take time but allow you to have more in the future than you would today. Let Black Rockck buy the houses and you keep the sats, not the other way around.
(00:41) You wait until later for Larry Frink to try to sell you a [Music] mansion. And we're live just like that. Just like that. 3:30 on a Friday, Memorial Day weekend. It's a good good good way to end the week and start the holiday weekend. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you for having me here. Thank you for coming. I wore this hat specifically because I think it's I think it's very apppropo uh to the conversation we're going to have which is I hope an extension of the presentation you gave at Bitblock Boom Huddle for good. You were working on
(01:24) that for many weeks leading up to uh the conference and explaining how you were structuring it. I think it's a very important topic to discuss now as the Bitcoin price is hitting new all-time highs and people are trying to understand what am I doing with Bitcoin? Like you have you have the different sort of factions within Bitcoin.
(01:47) Uh get on a Bitcoin standard, get on zero, spend as much Bitcoin as possible. You have the sailors of the world are saying buy Bitcoin, never sell, die with your Bitcoin. And I think you do a really good job in that presentation. And I just think your understanding overall of Bitcoin is incredible to put everything into context. It's not either or.
(02:07) It really depends on what you want to accomplish. Yeah, it's definitely there there is no actual one-sizefits-all um for I mean nearly anything in this world. So um yeah, I mean first of all I mean there was it was the first conference talk I had given in maybe five years. I think the one prior to that uh was um bit block boom 2019 which was my meme talk which uh has uh become infamous and notorious.
(02:43) So uh there was also a lot of like high expectations uh you know rockstar dev uh has has treated that you know uh that that talk with a lot of reference. a lot of people have enjoyed it and he was expecting this one to be, you know, the greatest one ever, which is a little bit of a little bit of a uh a burden to live up to those kinds of standards.
(03:08) Um, but you know, because I don't give a lot of talks. Um, you know, I I I like to uh try to bring ideas that might even be ideas that are common. So, something like hodling, we all talk about it constantly. uh but try to bring it from a little bit of a different angle and try to give um a little bit of uh new light to it.
(03:31) I alsove I've I've always enjoyed kind of coming at things from a third angle. Um whenever there's, you know, there's there's all these little debates that we have in in Bitcoin and sometimes it's nice to try to uh step out of it and look at it a little more uh kind of objectively and find ways of understanding it that incorporate the truths of of all of them.
(03:58) uh you know cuz I think we should always be kind of as much as possible after ultimate truth. Um so with this one um yeah I was kind of finding that that sort of golden mean. So uh um yeah and I actually I think about that a lot is uh you know Aristotle has his his concept of the golden mean. So it's like any any virtue is sort of between two vices um because you can you can always you can always take something too far.
(04:27) So you're you're always trying to find that right balance. Um so someone who is uh courageous you know uh one of the vices uh on one side is being basically reckless. I I can't remember what word he would use. Uh but effectively being reckless and just wanting to put yourself in danger for no other reason than just you know the thrill of it.
(04:50) Um and then on the other side you would just have cowardice which is like you're unwilling to put yourself um at any risk at any time. Um, and courage is right there in the middle where it's understanding when is the right time uh to put your put yourself, you know, in in the face of danger um and take it on. And so um in some sense this this was kind of me uh in in some ways like I'm obviously a partisan of hodling.
(05:20) Um, I've for, you know, a long time now talked about the, um, why huddling is good, why people do it, why we should expect it. Um, but still trying to find that that sort of golden mean of like yes, huddle, but also what are we hodling for? And it's not we're we're not hodddling just merely for the sake of hodddling.
(05:45) There there is a a purpose to it. And we should think about that. And that would also help us think more about um what are the benefits of of spending, when should we spend, why should we spend, what should we spend on um to actually give light to that sort of side of the debate. Um so that was that was what I was kind of trying to trying to get into.
(06:09) Um, as well as also just uh at the same time despite all the talk of hodling, there's always this perennial uh there's always this perennial dislike of hodlers because we're treated as uh as if um we're just free riding the network or we're just greedy or you know any of these things. And I wanted to show how uh huddling does serve a real economic purpose.
(06:36) Um, and it does benefit the individual, but it also does uh it it has actual real social um benefits as well beyond merely the individual. Um, so I wanted to give that sort of defense of hodling as well to look at it from um a a broader position than just merely I'm trying to get rich. Um uh because even the person who uh that is all they want to do um just like you know your your pure number grow up go up moonboy even that behavior has positive ramifications on on the economy.
(07:14) And while we might look at them and have uh judgments about their particular choices for them as an individual, we shouldn't discount that uh their actions are having positive positive effects for the rest of the economy. Yeah. So, let's dive into that just not even in the context of Bitcoin because I think you did a great job of this in the presentation.
(07:36) just you've done a good job of this consistently throughout the years that I've known you. Just from like a first principles Austrian economics perspective, what is the idea around capital accumulation, low time preference and deployment of that capital like what what like getting getting into like the nitty-gritty and then applying it to Bitcoin? Yeah, it's it's a big question and um in many ways I mean I I even I barely scratched the surface.
(08:05) uh I I can't claim to have read uh all the volumes of Bombber works, you know, capital and interest and and stuff like that. Um but I think there's some some sort of basic concepts that we can look at that we can uh draw a lot out. Um the first uh I guess let's write that. So repeat so like capital time preference. Yeah. Well, I guess getting more broad like why sav

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the company behind Truth Social and other Trump-branded digital platforms, is planning to raise $2.5 billion to build one of the largest bitcoin treasuries among public companies.

The deal involves the sale of approximately $1.5 billion in common stock and $1.0 billion in convertible senior secured notes.

According to the company, the offering is expected to close by the end of May, pending standard closing conditions.

Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media, said the investment in bitcoin is a big part of the company’s long-term plan.

“We view Bitcoin as an apex instrument of financial freedom,” Nunes said.

“This investment will help defend our Company against harassment and discrimination by financial institutions, which plague many Americans and U.S. firms.”

He added that the bitcoin treasury will be used to create new synergies across the company’s platforms including Truth Social, Truth+, and the upcoming financial tech brand Truth.Fi.

“It’s a big step forward in the company’s plans to evolve into a holding company by acquiring additional profit-generating, crown jewel assets consistent with America First principles,” Nunes said.

The $2.5 billion raise will come from about 50 institutional investors. The $1 billion in convertible notes will have 0% interest and be convertible into shares at a 35% premium.

TMTG’s current liquid assets, including cash and short-term investments, are $759 million as of the end of the first quarter of 2025. With this new funding, the company’s liquid assets will be over $3 billion.

Custody of the bitcoin treasury will be handled by Crypto.com and Anchorage Digital. They will manage and store the digital assets.

Earlier this week The Financial Times reported Trump Media was planning to raise $3 billion for digital assets acquisitions.

The article said the funds would be used to buy bitcoin and other digital assets, and an announcement could come before a major related event in Las Vegas.

Related: Bitcoin 2025 Conference Kicks off in Las Vegas Today

Trump Media denied the FT report. In a statement, the company said, “Apparently the Financial Times has dumb writers listening to even dumber sources.”

There was no further comment. However, the official $2.5 billion figure, which was announced shortly after by Trump Media through a press release, aligns with its actual filing and investor communication.

Trump Media’s official announcement

This comes at a time when the Trump family and political allies are showing renewed interest in Bitcoin.

President Donald Trump who is now back in office since the 2025 election, has said he wants to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world.”

Trump Media is also working on retail bitcoin investment products including ETFs aligned with America First policies.

These products will make bitcoin more accessible to retail investors and support pro-Trump financial initiatives.

But not everyone is happy.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren recently expressed concerns about Trump Media’s Bitcoin plans. She asked U.S. regulators to clarify their oversight of digital-asset ETFs, warning of investor risk.

Industry insiders are comparing Trump Media’s plans to Strategy (MSTR) which has built a multi-billion dollar bitcoin treasury over the last year. They used stock and bond sales to fund their bitcoin purchases.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Mapping Bitcoin’s Bull Cycle Potential

Bitcoin’s Market Value to Realized Value, or MVRV ratio, remains one of the most reliable on-chain indicators for identifying local and macro tops and bottoms across every BTC cycle. By isolating data across different investor cohorts and adapting historical benchmarks to modern market conditions, we can generate more accurate insights into where Bitcoin may be headed next.

The Bitcoin MVRV Ratio

The MVRV Ratio compares Bitcoin’s market price to its realized price, essentially the average cost basis for all coins in the network. As of writing, BTC trades around $105,000 while the realized price floats near $47,000, putting the raw MVRV at 2.26. The Z-Score version of MVRV standardizes this ratio based on historical volatility, enabling clearer comparisons across different market cycles.

Figure 1: Historically, the MVRV Ratio and the MVRV Z-Score have accurately identified cycle peaks and bottoms. View Live Chart

Short-Term Holders

Short-term holders, defined as those holding Bitcoin for 155 days or less, currently have a realized price near $97,000. This metric often acts as dynamic support in bull markets and resistance in bear markets. Notably, when the Short Term Holder MVRV hits 1.33, local tops have historically occurred, as seen several times in both the 2017 and 2021 cycles. So far in the current cycle, this threshold has already been touched four times, each followed by modest retracements.

Figure 2: Short Term Holder MVRV reaching 1.33 in more recent cycles has aligned with local tops. View Live Chart

Long-Term Holders

Long-term holders, who’ve held BTC for more than 155 days, currently have an average cost basis of just $33,500, putting their MVRV at 3.11. Historically, Long Term Holder MVRV values have reached as high as 12 during major peaks. That said, we’re observing a trend of diminishing multiples each cycle.

Figure 3: Achieving a Long Term Holder MVRV value of 8 could extrapolate to a BTC price in excess of $300,000. View Live Chart

A key resistance band now sits between 7.5 and 8.5, a zone that has defined bull tops and pre-bear retracements in every cycle since 2011. If the current growth of the realized price ($40/day) continues for another 140–150 days, matching previous cycle lengths, we could see it reach somewhere in the region of $40,000. A peak MVRV of 8 would imply a price near $320,000.

A Smarter Market Compass

Unlike static all-time metrics, the 2-Year Rolling MVRV Z-Score adapts to evolving market dynamics. By recalculating average extremes over a rolling window, it smooths out Bitcoin’s natural volatility decay as it matures. Historically, this version has signaled overbought conditions when reaching levels above 3, and prime accumulation zones when dipping below -1. Currently sitting under 1, this metric suggests that substantial upside remains.

Figure 4: The current 2-Year Rolling MVRV Z-Score suggests more positive price action ahead. View Live Chart

Timing & Targets

A view of the BTC Growth Since Cycle Lows chart illustrates that BTC is now approximately 925 days removed from its last major cycle low. Historical comparisons to previous bull markets suggest we may be around 140 to 150 days away from a potential top, with both the 2017 and 2021 peaks occurring around 1,060 to 1,070 days after their respective lows. While not deterministic, this alignment reinforces the broader picture of where we are in the cycle. If realized price trends and MVRV thresholds continue on current trajectories, late Q3 to early Q4 2025 may bring final euphoric moves.

Figure 5: Will the current cycle continue to exhibit growth patterns similar to those of the previous two cycles? View Live Chart

Conclusion

The MVRV ratio and its derivatives remain essential tools for analyzing Bitcoin market behavior, providing clear markers for both accumulation and distribution. Whether observing short-term holders hovering near local top thresholds, long-term holders nearing historically significant resistance zones, or adaptive metrics like the 2-Year Rolling MVRV Z-Score signaling plenty of runway left, these data points should be used in confluence.

No single metric should be relied upon to predict tops or bottoms in isolation, but taken together, they offer a powerful lens through which to interpret the macro trend. As the market matures and volatility declines, adaptive metrics will become even more crucial in staying ahead of the curve.

For more deep-dive research, technical indicators, real-time market alerts, and access to a growing community of analysts, visit BitcoinMagazinePro.com.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.

This post Mapping Bitcoin’s Bull Cycle Potential first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Matt Crosby.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

CANNES, FRANCE – May 2025 — Bitcoin mining made its mark at the world’s most prestigious film gathering this year as Puerto Rican director and producer Alana Mediavilla introduced her feature documentary Dirty Coin: The Bitcoin Mining Documentary at the Marché du Film during the Cannes Film Festival.

The film puts bitcoin mining at the center of a rising global conversation about energy, technology, and economic freedom.

Dirty Coin is the first feature-length documentary to explore bitcoin mining through immersive, on-the-ground case studies.

From rural towns in the United States to hydro-powered sites in Latin America and the Congo, the film follows miners and communities navigating what may be one of the most misunderstood technologies of our time.

The result is a human-centered look at how bitcoin mining is transforming local economies and energy infrastructure in real ways.

To mark its Cannes debut, Mediavilla and her team hosted a packed industry event that brought together leaders from both film and finance.

Dirty Coin debut ceremony at the Marché du Film

Sponsors Celestial Management, Sangha Renewables, Nordblock, and Paystand.org supported the program, which featured panels on mining, energy use, and decentralized infrastructure.

Attendees had the rare opportunity to engage directly with pioneers in the space. A special session in French led by Seb Gouspillou spotlighted mining efforts in the Congo’s Virunga region.

Dirty Coin builds on Mediavilla’s award-winning short film Stranded, which won over 20 international prizes, including Best Short Documentary at Cannes in 2024.

That success helped lay the foundation for the feature and positioned Mediavilla as one of the boldest new voices in global documentary filmmaking.

Alana Mediavilla speaks at the Marché du Film — Cannes Film Festival

“If we’ve found an industry that can unlock stranded energy and turn it into real power for people—especially in regions with energy poverty—why wouldn’t we look into it?” says Mediavilla. “Our privilege blinds us.

“The same thing we criticize could be the very thing that lifts the developing world to our standard of living. Ignoring that potential is a failure of imagination.”

Much like the decentralized network it explores, Dirty Coin is spreading globally through grassroots momentum.

Local leaders are hosting independent screenings around the world, from Roatán and Berlin to São Paulo and Madrid. Upcoming events include Toronto and Zurich, with more cities joining each month.

Mediavilla, who previously worked in creative leadership roles in the U.S. — including as a producer at Google — returned to Puerto Rico to found Campo Libre, a studio focused on high-caliber, globally relevant storytelling from the Caribbean.

She was also accepted into the Cannes Producers Network, a selective program open only to producers with box office releases in the past four years.

Mediavilla qualified after independently releasing Dirty Coin in theaters across Puerto Rico. Her participation in the network gave her direct access to meetings, insights, and connections with the most active distributors and producers working today.

The film’s next public screening will take place at the Anthem Film Festival in Palm Springs on Saturday, June 14 at 2 PM. Additional screenings and market appearances are planned throughout the year at Bitcoin events and international film platforms.

Dirty Coin at the Cannes Film Festival

Watch the Trailer + Access Press Materials

📂 EPK
🎬 Screener
🌍 Host a Screening

Follow the Movement

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dirty_coin_official/
Twitter: https://x.com/DirtyCoinDoc
Website: www.dirtycointhemovie.com

@ 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.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Wall Street is warming up to Bitcoin and getting closer and closer to it.

Cantor Fitzgerald, one of the oldest and most respected investment banks on Wall Street, has launched a $2 billion bitcoin-backed lending program.

They’ve reportedly already done their first deals, lending to two big digital asset companies: FalconX and Maple Finance.

This is a big step in connecting traditional finance to the fast-moving world of Bitcoin.

Cantor’s new service allows big investors, hedge funds and asset managers, to borrow money using bitcoin as collateral.

This is a game changer for institutions that hold bitcoin, as they can now access liquidity without having to sell their assets.

“Institutions holding bitcoin are looking to broaden their access to diverse funding sources,” said Christian Wall, co-CEO and global head of fixed income at Cantor Fitzgerald.

“And we are excited to support their liquidity needs to help them drive long term growth and success.”

The loans are not speculative or unsecured.

They are structured like traditional finance deals, backed by the borrower’s bitcoin. This reduces the risk for Cantor while giving bitcoin-holding companies new ways to grow and operate.

The first recipients of Cantor’s lending program are FalconX, a digital asset brokerage, and Maple Finance, a blockchain-based lending platform.

FalconX confirmed they secured a credit facility of over $100 million. Maple Finance also received the first tranche of their loan from Cantor.

This comes at a time when the bitcoin lending space is recovering after a tough period. Several big firms went under in 2022 and investor confidence was shaken.

Now with traditional finance on board, bitcoin-backed lending has returned. According to Galaxy Research the total size of the digital asset lending market grew to $36.5 billion in Q4 2024.

Cantor’s move into bitcoin-backed lending isn’t new. They announced their plans in July 2024 and have been building their presence in the Bitcoin space since then.

Earlier this year, they partnered with Tether, SoftBank and Bitfinex to launch Twenty One Capital, a $3.6 billion fund to buy over 42,000 bitcoin.

In May 2025 Cantor Equity Partners merged with Twenty One Capital and bought nearly $459 million worth of bitcoin.

They also own around $1.9 billion in shares of Strategy, a company that holds a lot of bitcoin. Clearly Cantor believes in bitcoin as a long-term asset.

Cantor is also a big player in the stablecoin space.

They manage U.S. Treasury reserves for Tether, the company behind the $142 billion USDT stablecoin. This adds another layer of trust and credibility to Cantor’s digital asset involvement.

To secure the bitcoin used as collateral, Cantor has partnered with digital asset custodians Anchorage Digital and Copper.co.

These companies are known for their robust security and institutional-grade infrastructure. Cantor hasn’t disclosed loan terms or interest rates but confirmed the lending will follow current regulations.

This also shows how traditional financial players are embracing DeFi.

Maple Finance for example allows undercollateralized lending using blockchain. By backing companies like Maple, Cantor is innovating while still having control and compliance.

For years, bitcoin-backed loans were only available through digital-asset-native companies like Genesis, BlockFi, and Ledn.

These loans were mostly for smaller clients and retail investors. But with Cantor’s entry, the scale and professionalism of bitcoin lending are expanding.

@ 41fa852b:af7b7706

"The poison was never forced - it was offered gently, until you forgot it was poison at all." - Mark Twain

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Happy Sunday, folks.

Below is your weekly roundup of events for the coming week.

Added to the event section this week, an exciting new Scottish Bitcoin Conference, happening in August.

Check out all the details below.

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This week's sponsor is…

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Upcoming Bitcoin Meetups

Happening this week…

1. Dundee Bitcoin: Join them on the 2nd Monday of every month from 17:30 to 20:30 PM at The Wine Press, 16 Shore Terrace, Dundee DD1 3DN. This month's meetup is on Monday 9th. 🍻

2. Canterbury Bitcoin: Meeting this month at the The Dolphin Pub in Canterbury at 7 PM on Tuesday the 10th of June. An informal meetup to discuss Bitcoin and chat. 🍺

3. Glasgow Bitcoin: Meetups are held every second Wednesday of the month. This is a place for people in and around Glasgow to discuss Bitcoin. 18:00 - 23:00 at The Piper Bar, G1 1HL. This month on Wednesday 11th. 🍻

4. St Albans: This is a new meetup happening on the second Wednesday of each month. This month, it's from 19:00 to 22:00 on the 11th at the Robin Hood of St Albans, Victoria St, St Albans. 🍻

5. Children of Riddim - Festival - Bitcoin Stage: Children of Riddim Festival is bringing Bitcoin to the big stage from the 12th--16th June in Hemel Hempstead, with 150+ DJs, artists, and speakers. The Barn of Freedom will host Bitcoin talks, music, and Nostr-powered apps. Tickets and donations for the stage can be made via geyser.fund, with camping included. Acts/speakers include Joe Bryan, Metamick, Roger9000, Angor, and more. 🎉🪩

6. Bitcoin Beach Bournemouth: Every second Thursday of the month at Chaplins Cellar Bar. 529 Christchurch Road, Boscombe, United. You'll find them in the Cogg Room at 19:30. This month it's the 12th. 🍺

7. Bury St Edmunds Bitcoin: is reviving the medieval spirit of the Folkmoot, one Bitcoin meetup at a time. Their second gathering takes place this Friday at 17:30 at Edmundo Lounge. They've also just launched a brand new website.

8. Stoke Bitcoin Meetup: The Stoke Bitcoin meetup is back! They will have Bitcoin coffee to taste, delivered by hand directly from the mountains of El Salvador and grown by @lacruzboss in Berlin, El Salvador. 15:00 on Friday 13th. ☕️🍻

9. Bitcoin Walk - Edinburgh: Every Saturday they walk around Arthur's Seat in this historic city. Join them at 12 pm to chat about all things Bitcoin and keep fit. 🚶🏽‍♂️🚶🏼‍♀️🚶🏻

10. Bitcoin East: Join Bitcoin East in Bury St. Edmunds on Sunday 15th, 12:00 at Hopsters Bar, Felixstowe. All welcome, Bitcoiners and anyone else curious about Bitcoin. 🍺

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New Businesses Accepting Bitcoin

This week we have…

• Core Agency: A creative communications firm that blends financial expertise with bold storytelling to help businesses in finance and beyond stand out. Based in the UK, they specialise in strategic planning, brand identity, content production, and public relations, delivering everything from investor-focused media to high-impact digital campaigns. With in-house studios for video, animation, and live streaming, Core offers end-to-end solutions that are both visually compelling and commercially effective. Their mission is to bring clarity, creativity, and confidence to brands navigating complex markets. Whether you're a fintech startup or a global institution, Core helps you communicate with purpose and originality. Now accepting bitcoin payments. 📈

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Upcoming Special Events

These events aren't happening next week, but they're important to add to your calendar now as tickets are selling fast.

The Bitcoin Beach Retreat: An annual Bitcoin-only gathering held at a scenic coastal campsite in North Wales. Celebrating its fifth year in 2025, the retreat offers a relaxed, community-driven alternative to traditional conferences.

From July 11--14, up to 120 Bitcoiners will come together to share knowledge, enjoy beachside BBQs, and strengthen their networks under the stars. With no pre-booked speakers, the event thrives on peer-led workshops and spontaneous discussions, fostering genuine connections among attendees. Emphasising local engagement, the retreat directs the majority of its funds into the surrounding community, with 42% of expenses paid in Bitcoin last year.

Whether attending solo or with family, attendees can expect a welcoming environment dedicated to sound money and shared values.

Scottish Bitcoin Conference: Taking place on August 23, 2025, at the Glasgow University Union, located at 32 University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8LX. From 09:00 to 16:30.

Featuring an impressive roster of speakers, including Anthony Scaramucci, Hashley Giles, Rick Messit, Dr. Peter Connor, Claire Chisholm, Roger9000, John Magill, Ian Scanlon, Robin Thatcher, Jamie Plowman, Robbie Maltby, Russell Rukin, Peter Lane, Francesco Madonna, and Sam Roberts.

Open to all, this conference offers a unique opportunity for Bitcoiners and newcomers alike to connect and learn in the vibrant setting of Glasgow.

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Get Involved

• Volunteer: Passionate about merchant adoption? Reach out to Bridge2Bitcoin on Twitter or website.
• Start a Meetup: Want to launch a Bitcoin meetup? We'll support you. Contact us on Twitter or just reply to this email.
• Contribute to BTCMaps: Help maintain this key Bitcoin resource--no coding skills needed. Update a UK area.
• Telegram: Join our Channel for UK meetup updates
• Feedback: Reply to this email with ideas and suggestions.

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This week's sponsors is…

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Get out and support the meetups where you can, visit Bitcoin Events UK for more info on each meetup and to find your closest on the interactive map.

Stay tuned for more updates next week!

Simon.

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Key Takeaways

Michael Goldstein, aka Bitstein, presents a sweeping philosophical and economic case for going “all in” on Bitcoin, arguing that unlike fiat, which distorts capital formation and fuels short-term thinking, Bitcoin fosters low time preference, meaningful saving, and long-term societal flourishing. At the heart of his thesis is “hodling for good”—a triple-layered idea encompassing permanence, purpose, and the pursuit of higher values like truth, beauty, and legacy. Drawing on thinkers like Aristotle, Hoppe, and Josef Pieper, Goldstein redefines leisure as contemplation, a vital practice in aligning capital with one’s deepest ideals. He urges Bitcoiners to think beyond mere wealth accumulation and consider how their sats can fund enduring institutions, art, and architecture that reflect a moral vision of the future.

Best Quotes

“Let BlackRock buy the houses, and you keep the sats.”

“We're not hodling just for the sake of hodling. There is a purpose to it.”

“Fiat money shortens your time horizon… you can never rest.”

“Savings precedes capital accumulation. You can’t build unless you’ve saved.”

“You're increasing the marginal value of everyone else’s Bitcoin.”

“True leisure is contemplation—the pursuit of the highest good.”

“What is Bitcoin for if not to make the conditions for magnificent acts of creation possible?”

“Bitcoin itself will last forever. Your stack might not. What will outlast your coins?”

“Only a whale can be magnificent.”

“The market will sell you all the crack you want. It’s up to you to demand beauty.”

Conclusion

This episode is a call to reimagine Bitcoin as more than a financial revolution—it’s a blueprint for civilizational renewal. Michael Goldstein reframes hodling as an act of moral stewardship, urging Bitcoiners to lower their time preference, build lasting institutions, and pursue truth, beauty, and legacy—not to escape the world, but to rebuild it on sound foundations.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Michael’s BBB presentation Hodl for Good
07:27 - Austrian principles on capital
15:40 - Fiat distorts the economic process
23:34 - Bitkey
24:29 - Hodl for Good triple entendre
29:52 - Bitcoin benefits everyone
39:05 - Unchained
40:14 - Leisure theory of value
52:15 - Heightening life
1:15:48 - Breaking from the chase makes room for magnificence
1:32:32 - Nakamoto Institute’s mission

Transcript

(00:00) Fiat money is by its nature a disturbance. If money is being continually produced, especially at an uncertain rate, these uh policies are really just redistribution of wealth. Most are looking for number to go up post hyper bitcoinization. The rate of growth of bitcoin would be more reflective of the growth of the economy as a whole.
(00:23) Ultimately, capital requires knowledge because it requires knowing there is something that you can add to the structures of production to lengthen it in some way that will take time but allow you to have more in the future than you would today. Let Black Rockck buy the houses and you keep the sats, not the other way around.
(00:41) You wait until later for Larry Frink to try to sell you a [Music] mansion. And we're live just like that. Just like that. 3:30 on a Friday, Memorial Day weekend. It's a good good good way to end the week and start the holiday weekend. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you for having me here. Thank you for coming. I wore this hat specifically because I think it's I think it's very apppropo uh to the conversation we're going to have which is I hope an extension of the presentation you gave at Bitblock Boom Huddle for good. You were working on
(01:24) that for many weeks leading up to uh the conference and explaining how you were structuring it. I think it's a very important topic to discuss now as the Bitcoin price is hitting new all-time highs and people are trying to understand what am I doing with Bitcoin? Like you have you have the different sort of factions within Bitcoin.
(01:47) Uh get on a Bitcoin standard, get on zero, spend as much Bitcoin as possible. You have the sailors of the world are saying buy Bitcoin, never sell, die with your Bitcoin. And I think you do a really good job in that presentation. And I just think your understanding overall of Bitcoin is incredible to put everything into context. It's not either or.
(02:07) It really depends on what you want to accomplish. Yeah, it's definitely there there is no actual one-sizefits-all um for I mean nearly anything in this world. So um yeah, I mean first of all I mean there was it was the first conference talk I had given in maybe five years. I think the one prior to that uh was um bit block boom 2019 which was my meme talk which uh has uh become infamous and notorious.
(02:43) So uh there was also a lot of like high expectations uh you know rockstar dev uh has has treated that you know uh that that talk with a lot of reference. a lot of people have enjoyed it and he was expecting this one to be, you know, the greatest one ever, which is a little bit of a little bit of a uh a burden to live up to those kinds of standards.
(03:08) Um, but you know, because I don't give a lot of talks. Um, you know, I I I like to uh try to bring ideas that might even be ideas that are common. So, something like hodling, we all talk about it constantly. uh but try to bring it from a little bit of a different angle and try to give um a little bit of uh new light to it.
(03:31) I alsove I've I've always enjoyed kind of coming at things from a third angle. Um whenever there's, you know, there's there's all these little debates that we have in in Bitcoin and sometimes it's nice to try to uh step out of it and look at it a little more uh kind of objectively and find ways of understanding it that incorporate the truths of of all of them.
(03:58) uh you know cuz I think we should always be kind of as much as possible after ultimate truth. Um so with this one um yeah I was kind of finding that that sort of golden mean. So uh um yeah and I actually I think about that a lot is uh you know Aristotle has his his concept of the golden mean. So it's like any any virtue is sort of between two vices um because you can you can always you can always take something too far.
(04:27) So you're you're always trying to find that right balance. Um so someone who is uh courageous you know uh one of the vices uh on one side is being basically reckless. I I can't remember what word he would use. Uh but effectively being reckless and just wanting to put yourself in danger for no other reason than just you know the thrill of it.
(04:50) Um and then on the other side you would just have cowardice which is like you're unwilling to put yourself um at any risk at any time. Um, and courage is right there in the middle where it's understanding when is the right time uh to put your put yourself, you know, in in the face of danger um and take it on. And so um in some sense this this was kind of me uh in in some ways like I'm obviously a partisan of hodling.
(05:20) Um, I've for, you know, a long time now talked about the, um, why huddling is good, why people do it, why we should expect it. Um, but still trying to find that that sort of golden mean of like yes, huddle, but also what are we hodling for? And it's not we're we're not hodddling just merely for the sake of hodddling.
(05:45) There there is a a purpose to it. And we should think about that. And that would also help us think more about um what are the benefits of of spending, when should we spend, why should we spend, what should we spend on um to actually give light to that sort of side of the debate. Um so that was that was what I was kind of trying to trying to get into.
(06:09) Um, as well as also just uh at the same time despite all the talk of hodling, there's always this perennial uh there's always this perennial dislike of hodlers because we're treated as uh as if um we're just free riding the network or we're just greedy or you know any of these things. And I wanted to show how uh huddling does serve a real economic purpose.
(06:36) Um, and it does benefit the individual, but it also does uh it it has actual real social um benefits as well beyond merely the individual. Um, so I wanted to give that sort of defense of hodling as well to look at it from um a a broader position than just merely I'm trying to get rich. Um uh because even the person who uh that is all they want to do um just like you know your your pure number grow up go up moonboy even that behavior has positive ramifications on on the economy.
(07:14) And while we might look at them and have uh judgments about their particular choices for them as an individual, we shouldn't discount that uh their actions are having positive positive effects for the rest of the economy. Yeah. So, let's dive into that just not even in the context of Bitcoin because I think you did a great job of this in the presentation.
(07:36) just you've done a good job of this consistently throughout the years that I've known you. Just from like a first principles Austrian economics perspective, what is the idea around capital accumulation, low time preference and deployment of that capital like what what like getting getting into like the nitty-gritty and then applying it to Bitcoin? Yeah, it's it's a big question and um in many ways I mean I I even I barely scratched the surface.
(08:05) uh I I can't claim to have read uh all the volumes of Bombber works, you know, capital and interest and and stuff like that. Um but I think there's some some sort of basic concepts that we can look at that we can uh draw a lot out. Um the first uh I guess let's write that. So repeat so like capital time preference. Yeah. Well, I guess getting more broad like why sav

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

“Not your keys, not your coins” isn’t a slogan—it’s a survival mantra in the age of digital sovereignty.

The seismic collapses of Mt. Gox (2014) and FTX (2022) weren’t anomalies; they were wake-up calls. When $8.7 billion in customer funds vanished with FTX, it exposed the fatal flaw of third-party custody: your bitcoin is only as secure as your custodian’s weakest link.

Yet today, As of early 2025, analysts estimate that between 2.3 million and 3.7 million Bitcoins are permanently lost, representing approximately 11–18% of bitcoin’s fixed maximum supply of 21 million coins, with some reports suggesting losses as high as 4 million BTC. This paradox reveals a critical truth: self-custody isn’t just preferable—it’s essential—but it must be done right.

The Custody Spectrum

Custodial Wallets (The Illusion of Control)

• Rehypothecation Risk: Most platforms lend your bitcoin for yield generation. When Celsius collapsed, users discovered their “held” bitcoin was loaned out in risky strategies.
• Account Freezes: Regulatory actions can lock withdrawals overnight. In 2023, Binance suspended dollar withdrawals for U.S. users citing “partner bank issues,” trapping funds for weeks.
• Data Vulnerability: KYC requirements create honeypots for hackers. The 2024 Ledger breach exposed 270,000 users’ personal data despite hardware security.

True Self-Custody
Self-custody means exclusively controlling your private keys—the cryptographic strings that prove bitcoin ownership. Unlike banks or exchanges, self-custody eliminates:

• Counterparty risk (no FTX-style implosions)
• Censorship (no blocked transactions)
• Inflationary theft (no fractional reserve lending)

Conquering the Three Great Fears of Self-Custody

Fear 1: “I’ll Lose Everything If I Make a Mistake”

Reality: Human error is manageable with robust systems:

• Test Transactions: Always send a micro-amount (0.00001 BTC) before large transfers. Verify receipt AND ability to send back.
• Multi-Backup Protocol: Store seed phrases on fireproof/waterproof steel plates (not paper!). Distribute copies geographically—one in a home safe, another with trusted family 100+ miles away.
• SLIP39 Sharding: Split your seed into fragments requiring 3-of-5 shards to reconstruct. No single point of failure.

Fear 2: “Hackers Will Steal My Keys”

Reality: Offline storage defeats remote attacks:

• Hardware Wallets: Devices like Bitkey or Ledger keep keys in “cold storage”—isolated from internet-connected devices. Transactions require physical confirmation.
• Multisig Vaults: Bitvault’s multi-sig system requires attackers compromise multiple locations/devices simultaneously. Even losing two keys won’t forfeit funds.
• Air-Gapped Verification: Use dedicated offline devices for wallet setup. Never type seeds on internet-connected machines.

Fear 3: “My Family Can’t Access It If I Die”

Reality: Inheritance is solvable:

• Dead Man Switches: Bitwarden’s emergency access allows trusted contacts to retrieve encrypted keys after a pre-set waiting period (e.g., 30 days).
• Inheritance Protocols: Bitkey’s inheritance solution shares decryption keys via designated beneficiaries’ emails. Requires multiple approvals to prevent abuse.
• Public Key Registries: Share wallet XPUBs (not private keys!) with heirs. They can monitor balances but not spend, ensuring transparency without risk.

The Freedom Dividend

1. Censorship Resistance: Send $10M BTC to a Wikileaks wallet without Visa/Mastercard blocking it.
2. Privacy Preservation: Avoid KYC surveillance—non-custodial wallets like Flash require zero ID verification.
3. Protocol Access: Participate in bitcoin-native innovations (Lightning Network, DLCs) only possible with self-custodied keys.
4. Black Swan Immunity: When Cyprus-style bank bailins happen, your bitcoin remains untouched in your vault.

The Sovereign’s Checklist

1. Withdraw from Exchanges: Move all BTC > $1,000 to self-custody immediately.
2. Buy Hardware Wallet: Purchase DIRECTLY from manufacturer (no Amazon!) to avoid supply-chain tampering.
3. Generate Seed OFFLINE: Use air-gapped device, write phrase on steel—never digitally.
4. Test Recovery: Delete wallet, restore from seed before funding.
5. Implement Multisig: For > $75k, use Bitvault for 2-of-3 multi-sig setup.
6. Create Inheritance Plan: Share XPUBs/SLIP39 shards with heirs + legal documents.

“Self-custody isn’t about avoiding risk—it’s about transferring risk from opaque institutions to transparent, controllable systems you design.”

The Inevitable Evolution: Custody Without Compromise

Emerging solutions are erasing old tradeoffs:

• MPC Wallets: Services like Xapo Bank shatter keys into encrypted fragments distributed globally. No single device holds full keys, defeating physical theft.
• Social Recovery: Ethically designed networks (e.g., Bitkey) let trusted contacts restore access without custodial control.
• Biometric Assurance: Fingerprint reset protocols prevent lockouts from physical injuries.

Lost keys = lost bitcoin. But consider the alternative: entrusting your life savings to entities with proven 8% annual failure rates among exchanges. Self-custody shifts responsibility from hoping institutions won’t fail to knowing your system can’t fail without your consent.

Take action today: Move one coin. Test one recovery. Share one xpub. The path to unchained wealth begins with a single satoshi under your control.

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

@ 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

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

For years American bitcoin miners have argued for more efficient and free energy markets. It benefits everyone if our energy infrastructure is as efficient and robust as possible. Unfortunately, broken incentives have led to increased regulation throughout the sector, incentivizing less efficient energy sources such as solar and wind at the detriment of more efficient alternatives.

The result has been less reliable energy infrastructure for all Americans and increased energy costs across the board. This naturally has a direct impact on bitcoin miners: increased energy costs make them less competitive globally.

Bitcoin mining represents a global energy market that does not require permission to participate. Anyone can plug a mining computer into power and internet to get paid the current dynamic market price for their work in bitcoin. Using cellphone or satellite internet, these mines can be located anywhere in the world, sourcing the cheapest power available.

Absent of regulation, bitcoin mining naturally incentivizes the build out of highly efficient and robust energy infrastructure. Unfortunately that world does not exist and burdensome regulations remain the biggest threat for US based mining businesses. Jurisdictional arbitrage gives miners the option of moving to a friendlier country but that naturally comes with its own costs.

Enter AI. With the rapid development and release of AI tools comes the requirement of running massive datacenters for their models. Major tech companies are scrambling to secure machines, rack space, and cheap energy to run full suites of AI enabled tools and services. The most valuable and powerful tech companies in America have stumbled into an accidental alliance with bitcoin miners: THE NEED FOR CHEAP AND RELIABLE ENERGY.

Our government is corrupt. Money talks. These companies will push for energy freedom and it will greatly benefit us all.

---

Microsoft Cloud hiring to "implement global small modular reactor and microreactor" strategy to power data centers: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/microsoft-cloud-hiring-to-implement-global-small-modular-reactor-and-microreactor-strategy-to-power-data-centers/

---

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

@ 318ebaba:9a262eae

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@ 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.

@ 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

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

It’s 3 AM, and you’re staring at your phone screen, watching bitcoin’s price fluctuate by thousands of dollars in real-time. Your heart races as you see green candles shooting upward, and suddenly you’re questioning every financial decision you’ve ever made. Should you buy? Should you sell? Are you already too late to the party?

Welcome to the wild psychological rollercoaster that is bitcoin investing, where emotions often override logic, and where the ancient human drives of fear and greed play out on digital exchanges 24/7.

Community Driven by Emotion

Recent research reveals just how deeply psychology permeates the bitcoin ecosystem. According to a comprehensive 2024 survey by Kraken, 84% of digital currency holders have made investment decisions based on FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), while 81% admitted to making choices driven by FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). Perhaps most telling of all: 63% of holders acknowledged that emotional decisions have significantly damaged their portfolios.

With over 560 million digital currency users worldwide as of 2024, and bitcoin maintaining its position as the flagship digital asset, these psychological patterns affect hundreds of millions of investors globally. In the United States alone, approximately 36 million adults own bitcoin, making this psychological phenomenon a mainstream financial reality.

The FOMO Factor: When Missing Out Becomes an Obsession

FOMO in bitcoin isn’t just about missing a quick profit—it’s about missing what many believers see as a once-in-a-generation wealth transfer. The Kraken study found that 60% of bitcoin holders fear missing a significant price surge more than they fear missing a buying opportunity during dips. This reveals a fascinating bias: investors are more concerned with unrealized gains from assets they already own than with strategic accumulation during downturns.

This psychological quirk explains why bitcoin often experiences explosive rallies followed by sharp corrections. When FOMO kicks in, rational decision-making goes out the window. Investors chase green candles, buying at peaks instead of strategically accumulating during valleys. The irony? This behavior often ensures they miss the very opportunities they’re trying to catch.

Consider bitcoin’s journey past $100,000 in late 2024. As the price breached this psychological barrier, social media exploded with FOMO-driven content, creating a feedback loop where seeing others’ gains intensified the fear of being left behind. Yet historically, many of these late-stage buyers found themselves underwater when inevitable corrections followed.

The Fear and Greed Index

Bitcoin’s psychological state is so influential that it has its own emotional barometer: the Crypto Fear and Greed Index. This fascinating tool measures market sentiment on a scale from 0 (Extreme Fear) to 100 (Extreme Greed), incorporating factors like volatility, trading volume, social media sentiment, market dominance, and Google search trends.

The index reveals a counterintuitive truth: the best buying opportunities often occur during periods of “Extreme Fear,” while “Extreme Greed” frequently signals market tops. Yet human psychology drives us to do the opposite—buying when everyone’s greedy and selling when fear dominates.

This emotional inversion creates what researchers call “behavioral arbitrage”—opportunities for those who can master their psychology to profit from others’ emotional mistakes. The index serves as a mirror, reflecting our collective psychological state and often predicting market movements with surprising accuracy.

The HODL Culture

Perhaps nowhere is bitcoin’s unique psychology more evident than in its “HODL” culture. What began as a misspelled “hold” has evolved into a sophisticated psychological framework that shapes market dynamics in ways traditional finance has never seen.

Research into Bitcoin’s HODL phenomenon reveals that volatility actually strengthens conviction rather than weakening it. Unlike traditional investors who might panic-sell during 30-50% corrections, bitcoin holders often view these drops as validation of their long-term thesis rather than reasons to exit.

This creates a unique market structure where the supply of available bitcoin for trading continuously shrinks. Long-term holders remove coins from circulation, creating artificial scarcity that amplifies price movements in both directions. It’s not just code that makes bitcoin scarce—it’s psychology.

The HODL mentality represents a form of collective resistance to short-term market dynamics. Holders refuse to participate in what they see as irrational price discovery, instead betting on long-term adoption and monetary debasement. This isn’t passive investing; it’s active rebellion against traditional financial thinking.

Social Media: The Amplifier of Emotions

The role of social media in bitcoin psychology cannot be overstated. The Kraken study found a strong correlation between social media usage and FOMO-driven decisions: 85% of investors who rely on social media for investment information reported that emotional decisions had negatively impacted their portfolios.

Platforms like Twitter (now X), Reddit, and Discord function as emotional echo chambers where bullish sentiment gets amplified during rallies and bearish fears spread like wildfire during corrections. Memes become market-moving forces, and influential personalities can trigger massive buying or selling waves with single tweets.

This creates a fascinating paradox: the democratization of financial information through social media empowers individual investors, but it also makes them more susceptible to emotional manipulation and herd mentality. The speed and scale of information flow intensify psychological responses, compressing emotional cycles that might have taken weeks in traditional markets into mere hours or minutes.

The Gender and Age Divide in Bitcoin Psychology

Fascinating demographic patterns emerge when examining bitcoin’s psychological landscape. The Kraken research revealed significant gender differences in emotional investing: 66% of male bitcoin holders frequently made FOMO-driven decisions, compared to only 42% of female holders. Similarly, 83% of men reported FUD-influenced decisions versus 75% of women.

Age also plays a crucial role. Investors aged 45-60 showed the most extreme psychological patterns: 78% felt they had missed bitcoin’s biggest gains, yet 75% remained optimistic about future opportunities. This suggests that FOMO and hope can coexist, creating a complex emotional state that drives continued participation despite feelings of regret.

These demographic differences highlight how personal psychology intersects with market dynamics. Understanding these patterns can help investors recognize their own biases and develop more rational strategies.

The Neuroscience of Bitcoin Volatility

Recent academic research reveals the neurological basis of bitcoin’s psychological appeal. Studies on digital currency trading psychology show that bitcoin’s extreme volatility triggers the same reward pathways associated with gambling, creating potentially addictive patterns of behavior.

The unpredictability of bitcoin’s price movements creates what psychologists call “intermittent reinforcement”—the most powerful form of behavioral conditioning. Like slot machines, bitcoin provides irregular rewards that keep investors engaged far longer than consistent returns would.

This neurological response explains why many bitcoin investors check prices obsessively. The survey found that 55% of digital asset holders check markets significantly more frequently than traditional markets, suggesting an almost compulsive relationship with price monitoring.

Breaking Free from Emotional Cycles

Understanding bitcoin’s psychology isn’t just academic—it’s practical. Successful bitcoin investors develop strategies to counteract their emotional biases:

Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) has emerged as the most popular emotion-neutral strategy, with 59% of U.S. digital currency users employing this approach. By making regular purchases regardless of price, DCA removes the emotional burden of timing the market.

Automated trading tools and scheduled purchases help investors stick to predetermined strategies without succumbing to FOMO or FUD. These tools essentially outsource emotional decision-making to algorithms, reducing the psychological burden of active trading.

Education and community engagement in healthy bitcoin communities can provide emotional anchoring during volatile periods. Understanding bitcoin’s long-term value proposition helps investors maintain perspective during short-term chaos.

Bitcoin investing isn’t just about understanding technology, economics, or market analysis—it’s about understanding yourself. The statistics are clear: emotional decision-making significantly damages portfolio performance, yet the vast majority of investors continue making emotion-driven choices.

The key insight? Bitcoin’s psychology isn’t a bug—it’s a feature. The emotional volatility that terrifies traditional investors creates opportunities for th

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

“Not your keys, not your coins” isn’t a slogan—it’s a survival mantra in the age of digital sovereignty.

The seismic collapses of Mt. Gox (2014) and FTX (2022) weren’t anomalies; they were wake-up calls. When $8.7 billion in customer funds vanished with FTX, it exposed the fatal flaw of third-party custody: your bitcoin is only as secure as your custodian’s weakest link.

Yet today, As of early 2025, analysts estimate that between 2.3 million and 3.7 million Bitcoins are permanently lost, representing approximately 11–18% of bitcoin’s fixed maximum supply of 21 million coins, with some reports suggesting losses as high as 4 million BTC. This paradox reveals a critical truth: self-custody isn’t just preferable—it’s essential—but it must be done right.

The Custody Spectrum

Custodial Wallets (The Illusion of Control)

• Rehypothecation Risk: Most platforms lend your bitcoin for yield generation. When Celsius collapsed, users discovered their “held” bitcoin was loaned out in risky strategies.
• Account Freezes: Regulatory actions can lock withdrawals overnight. In 2023, Binance suspended dollar withdrawals for U.S. users citing “partner bank issues,” trapping funds for weeks.
• Data Vulnerability: KYC requirements create honeypots for hackers. The 2024 Ledger breach exposed 270,000 users’ personal data despite hardware security.

True Self-Custody
Self-custody means exclusively controlling your private keys—the cryptographic strings that prove bitcoin ownership. Unlike banks or exchanges, self-custody eliminates:

• Counterparty risk (no FTX-style implosions)
• Censorship (no blocked transactions)
• Inflationary theft (no fractional reserve lending)

Conquering the Three Great Fears of Self-Custody

Fear 1: “I’ll Lose Everything If I Make a Mistake”

Reality: Human error is manageable with robust systems:

• Test Transactions: Always send a micro-amount (0.00001 BTC) before large transfers. Verify receipt AND ability to send back.
• Multi-Backup Protocol: Store seed phrases on fireproof/waterproof steel plates (not paper!). Distribute copies geographically—one in a home safe, another with trusted family 100+ miles away.
• SLIP39 Sharding: Split your seed into fragments requiring 3-of-5 shards to reconstruct. No single point of failure.

Fear 2: “Hackers Will Steal My Keys”

Reality: Offline storage defeats remote attacks:

• Hardware Wallets: Devices like Bitkey or Ledger keep keys in “cold storage”—isolated from internet-connected devices. Transactions require physical confirmation.
• Multisig Vaults: Bitvault’s multi-sig system requires attackers compromise multiple locations/devices simultaneously. Even losing two keys won’t forfeit funds.
• Air-Gapped Verification: Use dedicated offline devices for wallet setup. Never type seeds on internet-connected machines.

Fear 3: “My Family Can’t Access It If I Die”

Reality: Inheritance is solvable:

• Dead Man Switches: Bitwarden’s emergency access allows trusted contacts to retrieve encrypted keys after a pre-set waiting period (e.g., 30 days).
• Inheritance Protocols: Bitkey’s inheritance solution shares decryption keys via designated beneficiaries’ emails. Requires multiple approvals to prevent abuse.
• Public Key Registries: Share wallet XPUBs (not private keys!) with heirs. They can monitor balances but not spend, ensuring transparency without risk.

The Freedom Dividend

1. Censorship Resistance: Send $10M BTC to a Wikileaks wallet without Visa/Mastercard blocking it.
2. Privacy Preservation: Avoid KYC surveillance—non-custodial wallets like Flash require zero ID verification.
3. Protocol Access: Participate in bitcoin-native innovations (Lightning Network, DLCs) only possible with self-custodied keys.
4. Black Swan Immunity: When Cyprus-style bank bailins happen, your bitcoin remains untouched in your vault.

The Sovereign’s Checklist

1. Withdraw from Exchanges: Move all BTC > $1,000 to self-custody immediately.
2. Buy Hardware Wallet: Purchase DIRECTLY from manufacturer (no Amazon!) to avoid supply-chain tampering.
3. Generate Seed OFFLINE: Use air-gapped device, write phrase on steel—never digitally.
4. Test Recovery: Delete wallet, restore from seed before funding.
5. Implement Multisig: For > $75k, use Bitvault for 2-of-3 multi-sig setup.
6. Create Inheritance Plan: Share XPUBs/SLIP39 shards with heirs + legal documents.

“Self-custody isn’t about avoiding risk—it’s about transferring risk from opaque institutions to transparent, controllable systems you design.”

The Inevitable Evolution: Custody Without Compromise

Emerging solutions are erasing old tradeoffs:

• MPC Wallets: Services like Xapo Bank shatter keys into encrypted fragments distributed globally. No single device holds full keys, defeating physical theft.
• Social Recovery: Ethically designed networks (e.g., Bitkey) let trusted contacts restore access without custodial control.
• Biometric Assurance: Fingerprint reset protocols prevent lockouts from physical injuries.

Lost keys = lost bitcoin. But consider the alternative: entrusting your life savings to entities with proven 8% annual failure rates among exchanges. Self-custody shifts responsibility from hoping institutions won’t fail to knowing your system can’t fail without your consent.

Take action today: Move one coin. Test one recovery. Share one xpub. The path to unchained wealth begins with a single satoshi under your control.

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

Hosted at the iconic Palace of Culture and Science—a prominent symbol of the communist era—the Bitcoin FilmFest offers a vibrant celebration of film through the lens of bitcoin. The venue itself provides a striking contrast to the festival’s focus, highlighting bitcoin’s core identity as a currency embodying independence from traditional financial and political systems.

𝐅𝐢𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬.
Warsaw, Day Zero at #BFF25 (European Bitcoin Pizza Day) with @roger__9000, MadMunky and the @2140_wtf squad pic.twitter.com/9ogVvWRReA

— Bitcoin FilmFest (@bitcoinfilmfest) May 28, 2025

This venue represents an era when the state tightly controlled the economy and financial systems. The juxtaposition of this historical site with an event dedicated to bitcoin is striking and thought-provoking.

The event features a diverse array of activities, including engaging panel discussions, screenings of both feature-length and short films, workshops and lively parties. Each component designed to explore the multifaceted world of bitcoin and its implications for society, offering attendees a blend of entertainment and education.

The films showcase innovative narratives and insights into bitcoin’s landscape, while the panels facilitate thought-provoking discussions among industry experts and filmmakers.

Networking is a significant aspect of the festival, with an exceptionally open and friendly atmosphere that foster connections among participants. Participants from all over Europe gather to engage with like-minded individuals who share a passion for BTC and its implications for the future.

The open exchanges of ideas foster a sense of community, allowing attendees to forge new connections, collaborate on projects, and discuss the potential of blockchain technology implemented in bitcoin.

The organization of the festival is extraordinary, ensuring a smooth flow of information and an expertly structured schedule filled from morning until evening. Attendees appreciate the meticulous planning that allowed them to maximize their experience. Additionally, thoughtful touches such as gifts from sponsors and well-chosen locations for various events contribute to the overall positive atmosphere of the festival.

Overall, the Bitcoin FilmFest not only highlights the artistic expression surrounding bitcoin but also serves as a vital platform for dialogue—about financial freedom, the future of money, and individual sovereignty in a shifting world.

The event successfully bridges the gap between a historical symbol of control and a movement that celebrates freedom, innovation, and collaboration in the digital age, highlighting the importance of independence in financial systems while fostering a collaborative environment for innovation and growth.

Next year’s event is slated for June 5-7 2026. For further updates check: https://bitcoinfilmfest.com/

@ 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

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Mapping Bitcoin’s Bull Cycle Potential

Bitcoin’s Market Value to Realized Value, or MVRV ratio, remains one of the most reliable on-chain indicators for identifying local and macro tops and bottoms across every BTC cycle. By isolating data across different investor cohorts and adapting historical benchmarks to modern market conditions, we can generate more accurate insights into where Bitcoin may be headed next.

The Bitcoin MVRV Ratio

The MVRV Ratio compares Bitcoin’s market price to its realized price, essentially the average cost basis for all coins in the network. As of writing, BTC trades around $105,000 while the realized price floats near $47,000, putting the raw MVRV at 2.26. The Z-Score version of MVRV standardizes this ratio based on historical volatility, enabling clearer comparisons across different market cycles.

Figure 1: Historically, the MVRV Ratio and the MVRV Z-Score have accurately identified cycle peaks and bottoms. View Live Chart

Short-Term Holders

Short-term holders, defined as those holding Bitcoin for 155 days or less, currently have a realized price near $97,000. This metric often acts as dynamic support in bull markets and resistance in bear markets. Notably, when the Short Term Holder MVRV hits 1.33, local tops have historically occurred, as seen several times in both the 2017 and 2021 cycles. So far in the current cycle, this threshold has already been touched four times, each followed by modest retracements.

Figure 2: Short Term Holder MVRV reaching 1.33 in more recent cycles has aligned with local tops. View Live Chart

Long-Term Holders

Long-term holders, who’ve held BTC for more than 155 days, currently have an average cost basis of just $33,500, putting their MVRV at 3.11. Historically, Long Term Holder MVRV values have reached as high as 12 during major peaks. That said, we’re observing a trend of diminishing multiples each cycle.

Figure 3: Achieving a Long Term Holder MVRV value of 8 could extrapolate to a BTC price in excess of $300,000. View Live Chart

A key resistance band now sits between 7.5 and 8.5, a zone that has defined bull tops and pre-bear retracements in every cycle since 2011. If the current growth of the realized price ($40/day) continues for another 140–150 days, matching previous cycle lengths, we could see it reach somewhere in the region of $40,000. A peak MVRV of 8 would imply a price near $320,000.

A Smarter Market Compass

Unlike static all-time metrics, the 2-Year Rolling MVRV Z-Score adapts to evolving market dynamics. By recalculating average extremes over a rolling window, it smooths out Bitcoin’s natural volatility decay as it matures. Historically, this version has signaled overbought conditions when reaching levels above 3, and prime accumulation zones when dipping below -1. Currently sitting under 1, this metric suggests that substantial upside remains.

Figure 4: The current 2-Year Rolling MVRV Z-Score suggests more positive price action ahead. View Live Chart

Timing & Targets

A view of the BTC Growth Since Cycle Lows chart illustrates that BTC is now approximately 925 days removed from its last major cycle low. Historical comparisons to previous bull markets suggest we may be around 140 to 150 days away from a potential top, with both the 2017 and 2021 peaks occurring around 1,060 to 1,070 days after their respective lows. While not deterministic, this alignment reinforces the broader picture of where we are in the cycle. If realized price trends and MVRV thresholds continue on current trajectories, late Q3 to early Q4 2025 may bring final euphoric moves.

Figure 5: Will the current cycle continue to exhibit growth patterns similar to those of the previous two cycles? View Live Chart

Conclusion

The MVRV ratio and its derivatives remain essential tools for analyzing Bitcoin market behavior, providing clear markers for both accumulation and distribution. Whether observing short-term holders hovering near local top thresholds, long-term holders nearing historically significant resistance zones, or adaptive metrics like the 2-Year Rolling MVRV Z-Score signaling plenty of runway left, these data points should be used in confluence.

No single metric should be relied upon to predict tops or bottoms in isolation, but taken together, they offer a powerful lens through which to interpret the macro trend. As the market matures and volatility declines, adaptive metrics will become even more crucial in staying ahead of the curve.

For more deep-dive research, technical indicators, real-time market alerts, and access to a growing community of analysts, visit BitcoinMagazinePro.com.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.

This post Mapping Bitcoin’s Bull Cycle Potential first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Matt Crosby.

@ dab6c606:51f507b6

Dlhšie som sa zaujímal o to ako funguje biznis s míľami, vernostnými bodmi. Zistil som, že to čiastočne môžu robiť iba veľké korporácie kvôli tomu ako to môžu potom zaúčtovať. A je to daňovo super výhodné. Pridal som aj info o vernostných bodoch a darčekových kartách. Text nižšie napísali rôzne AI ako som sa v tom vŕtal, to je v zásade sumár, zdieľam pre tých, ktorých to zaujíma.

Časť I: Vernostné programy veľkých korporácií

Obchodná logika vernostných programov

Vernostné programy leteckých spoločností a hotelov sú sofistikované obchodné nástroje, ktoré slúžia niekoľkým kľúčovým účelom. Primárne fungujú na zvýšenie zákazníckej lojality vytvorením "switching costs" - zákazníci nechcú prísť o nazbierané body, čo znižuje pravdepodobnosť, že prejdú ku konkurencii.

Zároveň sú významným zdrojom dodatočných príjmov. Napríklad American Airlines zarába viac na predaji míľ bankám ako na niektorých leteckých linkách. Keď Citibank kupuje míle za 1-2 centy za míľu, aerolínia získava okamžitý príjem, zatiaľ čo reálna hodnota pre zákazníka môže byť 3-5 centov pri správnom využití.

Účtovné spracovanie vernostných bodov

Z účtovného hľadiska predstavujú vernostné body odložené záväzky. Keď zákazník získa body, spoločnosť musí vytvoriť rezervu na ich budúce uplatnenie. Body sa oceňujú na základe predpokladaných nákladov na ich uplatnenie, nie na základe nominálnej hodnoty.

Kľúčový je rozdiel medzi cash accounting a accrual accounting: - Cash accounting: Príjmy sa uznávajú pri prijatí platby, náklady pri zaplatení. - Accrual accounting: Príjmy a náklady sa uznávajú v momente vzniku záväzku.

Pre vernostné programy je accrual accounting kritické. Keď aerolínia predá míle banke za $1,000,000, vytvorí zároveň záväzok na budúce náklady (povedzme $600,000), takže zdaniteľný príjem je len $400,000.

Príklad: Predaj míľ banke

Aerolínia predá 50 miliónov míľ Citibank za $1,000,000: 1. Okamžitý príjem: $1,000,000 2. Vytvorenie záväzku: $600,000 (odhadované budúce náklady) 3. Zdaniteľný príjem: $400,000 4. Budúce náklady: Keď zákazníci míle využijú, spoločnosť uzná náklad a zníži záväzok

Pozitívna marža vzniká z niekoľkých faktorov: - Breakage - 15-20% míľ sa nikdy neuplatní - Časová hodnota peňazí - Peniaze od banky investuje okamžite - Marginálne náklady - Prázdne sedadlo má nízky prírastok nákladu

Daňová optimalizácia a offshore štruktúry

Veľké spoločnosti často využívajú medzinárodné štruktúry na optimalizáciu daní z vernostných programov. Typická štruktúra zahŕňa: 1. Materská spoločnosť (USA/EU) - Prevádzkuje lety a poskytuje služby (napr. lety alebo ubytovanie). 2. IP Holding (Írsko/Holandsko) - Vlastní duševné vlastníctvo (IP) k loyalty programu, ako sú značky, softvér a databázy. 3. Loyalty Operating Company (Singapur/Dubaj) - Spravuje predaj míľ bankám a partnerom, koordinuje program a komunikuje so zákazníkmi.

Obchodné vzťahy a platby medzi entitami (príklad s pozitívnym výsledkom pre Singapur)

Tieto entity sú prepojené zmluvami, ktoré určujú, kto za čo platí a prečo, aby sa minimalizovala daňová záťaž: - Banka → Singapur (Loyalty Operating Company): Banka (napr. Citibank) platí $1,000,000 za míle, ktoré ponúka svojim klientom ako odmenu za používanie kreditných kariet. Singapurská spoločnosť je hlavný kontaktný bod pre partnerov, pretože je umiestnená v jurisdikcii s nízkou daňou (17 %) a dobrou infraštruktúrou pre finančné služby. - Singapur → Írsko (IP Holding): Singapurská spoločnosť platí $500,000 ako royalty za použitie IP (značky, softvéru a dát) loyalty programu. Táto platba je vysoká, aby sa presunul zisk do Írska, kde je daňová sadzba ešte nižšia (12,5 %). Tým sa znižuje zdaniteľný príjem v Singapure. - Singapur → Materská spoločnosť (Aerolínia): Singapurská spoločnosť platí $300,000 materskej spoločnosti za poskytnutie služieb (napr. letov), keď zákazníci využijú míle. Táto platba je nižšia ako reálne náklady, aby sa minimalizoval zisk v krajine materskej spoločnosti, kde je daňová sadzba vyššia (napr. 25-35 % v USA alebo EU). - Zisk v Singapure: $1,000,000 (príjem od banky) - $500,000 (royalty do Írska) - $300,000 (platba aerolínii) = $200,000 zisku, ktorý je zdanený pri 17 % v Singapure.

Prečo takéto rozdelenie?

• Írsko (IP Holding): Vysoké royalty platby ($500,000) idú do Írska, pretože daňová sadzba 12,5 % je atraktívna a Írsko je považované za "serióznu" jurisdikciu, ktorá spĺňa medzinárodné pravidlá (napr. BEPS). Zároveň má Írsko zmluvy o zamedzení dvojitého zdanenia s mnohými krajinami, čo uľahčuje presun zisku.
• Singapur (Loyalty Operating Company): Predaj míľ a koordinácia programu prebieha v Singapure kvôli priaznivému daňovému prostrediu (17 %) a strategickej polohe pre ázijské trhy. Zároveň sa tu zanecháva malý zisk ($200,000), aby sa preukázala "ekonomická substance" – teda, že spoločnosť má reálnu činnosť.
• Materská spoločnosť: Platba $300,000 je nízka, aby sa minimalizoval zdaniteľný príjem v krajine s vysokou daňovou sadzbou (napr. USA alebo EU).

Prečo nie 0 % daňová jurisdikcia?

Prečo sa nepoužíva krajina s nulovou daňou (napr. Kajmanské ostrovy)? Kvôli: - Regulatory scrutiny - Daňové úrady pozorne sledujú 0 % jurisdikcie a môžu spochybniť legitímnosť. - BEPS pravidlám - Potreba preukázať "substance" (reálne kancelárie, zamestnancov) v krajine. - Credibility testu - 12,5 % v Írsku alebo 17 % v Singapure vyzerá ako legitímna obchodná operácia.

Výsledkom takejto štruktúry je, že väčšina zisku (60-70 %) je zdanená pri 12,5 % v Írsku alebo 17 % v Singapure namiesto 25-35 % v domovskej krajine aerolínky.

Časť II: Loyalty programy a alternatívy pre malé biznisy

Prečo je loyalty program problematický pre malé biznisy

Na rozdiel od veľkých korporácií, malé biznisy ako kaviarne narážajú pri vernostných programoch na zásadný problém: cash accounting povinnosť. V mnohých krajinách musia malé firmy (pod $25M ročne) používať cash accounting, čo znamená: - Príjem z predaja bodov sa zdaní okamžite - Náklady sa odpočítajú až keď zákazník body využije (možno o rok) - Vzniká daňový a cashflow problém - daň sa platí z peňazí, ktoré "stratíte" v budúcnosti

Predstavte si kaviareň, ktorá predá vernostné body za €100. Okamžite musí zaplatiť daň (povedzme €21), ale náklady na kávu poskytnutú za body odpočíta až v budúcnosti.

Alternatívne modely pre malé biznisy

Existujú daňovo výhodnejšie alternatívy:

1. Gift Cards model

• Príjem sa NEUZNÁ pri predaji gift karty
• Príjem sa uzná až keď zákazník kartu využije
• Príklad: Predáte gift cards za €10,000 v decembri, získate cash okamžite, ale daň platíte postupne, ako zákazníci karty využívajú počas nasledujúceho roka.
• Časová hodnota peňazí: Peniaze môžete investovať (napr. 6 % ročne = €600 extra zisk na €10,000)
• Breakage benefit: 2-10 % kariet sa nikdy nevyužije, po určitom čase (3-5 rokov, podľa legislatívy) môžete zostatok uznať ako čistý zisk.

Príklad: Starbucks Starbucks mal v roku 2022 na účtoch $1,5 miliardy v nevyužitých gift cards. Odhadovaný breakage 3 % znamená $45 miliónov čistého zisku – bezúročná pôžička od zákazníkov s bonusom, že časť sa nikdy nevráti.

2. Subscription model

• Mesačný príjem = okamžité zdanenie
• Mesačné náklady = okamžitý odpočet
• Príklad: €10/mesiac za "premium membership" s určitými benefitmi

3. Discount Coupons

• Žiadny príjem pri vydaní kupónu
• Znížený príjem pri uplatnení (predáte za nižšiu cenu)
• Príklad: 20 % zľavový kupón = predaj kávy za €4 namiesto €5

Outsourcing loyalty programu: Podrobnosti o Shopify Loyalty

Platformy ako Shopify Loyalty predstavujú elegantné riešenie pre malé biznisy, ktoré chcú ponúkať vernostné programy bez účtovných a daňových komplikácií. Poďme si to rozobrať podrobne:

Ako funguje Shopify Loyalty

• Shopify ako tretia strana: Shopify vlastní a spravuje celý vernostný program vrátane bodov a softvéru. Zákazník má svoj "účet" priamo u Shopify, nie u konkrétneho obchodu. To znamená, že body nie sú vaším záväzkom, ale záväzkom Shopify.
• Vaša úloha: Vy (napr. kaviareň) platíte Shopify mesačný poplatok (napr. €29) za používanie platformy a malý transakčný poplatok (napr. €0,20) za každé uplatnenie bodov (reward). Vy ste v podstate "dodávateľom služieb" pre Shopify – poskytujete odmeny, keď vám Shopify pošle objednávku.
• Získavanie bodov: Zákazník získava body za nákupy v obchodoch, ktoré sú zapojené do Shopify Loyalty programu. Napríklad, ak zákazník nakúpi kávu za €5 vo vašej kaviarni, Shopify mu pripíše body (napr. 5 bodov za každé euro, teda 25 bodov). Konkrétne pravidlá (koľko bodov za euro) si nastavujete vy cez Shopify platformu, ale technicky body spravuje Shopify.
• Využitie bodov: Zákazník môže body využiť na odmeny (napr. kávu zadarmo za 100 bodov), ale zvyčajne len v obchodoch zapojených do Shopify siete. To znamená, že ak vaša kaviareň používa Shopify Loyalty, body získané u vás môžu byť využité u vás alebo v iných obchodoch v rámci Shopify ekosystému, ak to Shopify umožňuje. Väčšinou však obchody nastavujú program tak, aby boli body využiteľné primárne u nich, čím sa zvyšuje lojalita k ich značke.
• Proces uplatnenia bodov: Keď zákazník chce využiť body (napr. 100 bodov za kávu zadarmo), Shopify pošle objednávku vám (kaviarni) na poskytnutie odmeny. Vy kávu vydáte, ale nedostanete za ňu priamy príjem od zákazníka – ide o marketingový náklad. Zároveň platíte Shopify transakčný poplatok (€0,20). Účtovne to nie je predaj, takže nevzniká zdaniteľný príjem ani povinnosť vystaviť bloček.
• Účtovné spracovanie: Keď zákazník využije body:
• Žiadny bloček = žiadny zdaniteľný príjem
• Náklad kávy (€2) + Shopify fee (€0,20) = €2,20
• Účtuje sa ako "Promotional expenses" alebo "Marketing costs"

Prečo musí byť loyalty program outsourcovaný tretej strane (ako Shopify)?

Malé biznisy nemajú kapacitu ani zdroje na správu vlastného loyalty programu "in-house" z týchto dôvodov: - Daňová a účtovná komplexnosť: Ak by ste spravovali loyalty program sami, museli by ste vytvárať rezervy na budúce záväzky (body, ktoré zákazníci využijú neskôr), odhadovať breakage rate (percento nevyužitých bodov) a riešiť cash vs. accrual accounting. Pre malé firmy, ktoré často musia používať cash accounting, to znamená okamžité zdanenie príjmu, ak by body predávali, ale odpočet nákladov až v budúcnosti – vzniká cashflow nesúlad. - Technologická infraštruktúra: Správa bodov, databáz zákazníkov a integrácia s platobnými systémami vyžaduje sofistikovaný softvér a IT tím, čo je pre malé firmy nákladné a komplikované. - Legálna separácia: Keď program spravuje tretia strana ako Shopify, body sú ich záväzkom, nie vaším. Pre vás to znamená, že nemáte žiadne budúce záväzky vo svojej účtovnej knihe – len mesačné náklady (poplatok Shopify), ktoré sú daňovo odpočítateľné ako bežný výdavok. - Ekonomická efektivita: Shopify združuje tisíce obchodov, čím dosahuje ekonomiku rozsahu – nižšie náklady na softvér, bezpečnosť a správu dát. Malá kaviareň by sama nikdy nedokázala vytvoriť takýto systém za rozumnú cenu.

Prečo to nemôže byť in-house z daňového hľadiska?

Ak by malá firma spravovala loyalty program sama: - Okamžitý daňový problém: Ak by firma predávala body (napr. za peniaze alebo ako súčasť nákupu), príjem by musela zdaniť hneď, hoci náklady na poskytnutie odmien (napr. káva zadarmo) by mohla odpočítať až v momente, keď zákazník body využije. To vytvára cashflow nesúlad, pretože daň platíte skôr, než reálne "stratíte" peniaze na odmenu. - Zložité rezervy: Musela by odhadovať, koľko bodov sa využije, a vytvárať účtovné rezervy, čo je administratívne náročné a vyžaduje drahých účtovníkov alebo softvér. - Riziko chýb: Nesprávne odhady breakage rate alebo zlý manažment záväzkov môžu viesť k daňovým kontrolám a pokutám.

S Shopify sa tieto problémy eliminujú – vy platíte len mesačný poplatok a transakčné fees, ktoré sú jednoducho účtované ako marketingové náklady. Shopify preberá celú zodpovednosť za správu bodov a záväzkov voči zákazníkom.

Prípadová štúdia: Vernostné body pre kaviareň (model 10 + 1 zadarmo)

Pozrime sa na konkrétny prípad malej kaviarne, ktorá ponúka klasický vernostný program typu "10 + 1 zadarmo". Zákazník dostane 1 bod za každú kúpenú kávu (napr. za €3) a po nazbieraní 10 bodov dostane jednu kávu zadarmo. Rozoberieme, ako to funguje účtovne, či ide o "promotional expense" a aký je rozdiel medzi in-house správou a použitím Shopify.

Ako funguje program "10 + 1 zadarmo"

• Získavanie bodov: Zákazník kúpi kávu za €3 a dostane 1 bod (napr. pečiatku na kartičku alebo digitálny záznam). Body nemajú peňažnú hodnotu na predaj – sú čisto odmenou za nákup.
• Využitie bodov: Po nazbieraní 10 bodov (čo znamená nákupy za €30) zákazník dostane kávu zadarmo (hodnota €3).
• Reálny náklad pre kaviareň: Náklad na výrobu kávy zadarmo je nižší ako predajná cena, napr. €1,50 za suroviny a prácu.

Účtovné spracovanie (In-house)

Ak kaviareň spravuje program sama (in-house), účtovný proces závisí od toho, či používa cash accounting (bežné pre malé firmy) alebo accrual accounting: - Cash accounting: - Pri nákupe kávy zákazníkom: Kaviareň účtuje príjem €3 za každú kávu a vydá bloček. Bod (pečiatka) nemá peňažnú hodnotu, takže sa neúčtuje ako záväzok ani príjem. - Pri uplatnení 10 bodov: Keď zákazník dostane kávu zadarmo, nevzniká príjem (€0), ale vzniká náklad na výrobu kávy (€1,50). Tento náklad sa účtuje ako "Promotional expense" alebo "Marketing cost", pretože ide o formu zľavy alebo reklamy na udržanie zákazníka. - Daňový dopad: Žiadny príjem pri vydaní kávy zadarmo, náklad €1,50 je daňovo odpočítateľný ako bežný výdavok. - Accrual accounting (menej bežné pre malé firmy): - Pri nákupe kávy zákazníkom: Kaviareň účtuje príjem €3, ale zároveň vytvára malý záväzok na budúcu odmenu (napr. €0,30 za každý bod, čo je odhad nákladu na budúcu kávu zadarmo deleno 10). Teda z €3 príjmu je zdaniteľný príjem len €2,70. - Pri uplatnení 10 bodov: Keď zákazník dostane kávu zadarmo, kaviareň zníži záväzok o €3 (10 bodov x €0,30) a účtuje náklad €1,50 na výrobu kávy. Rozdiel môže byť upravený ako breakage alebo iný zisk, ak sa odhady líšia od reality. - Daňový dopad: Zdaniteľný príjem je nižší už pri prvom nákupe, ale účtovníctvo je zložitejšie kvôli odhadom a rezervám.

Je to Promotional Expense? Áno, v oboch prípadoch (cash aj accrual) sa náklad na kávu zadarmo účtuje ako "Promotional expense" alebo "Marketing cost", pretože ide o formu zľavy na podporu lojality zákazníkov. Nie je to považované za bežný predaj, pretože nevzniká príjem ani bloček.

Účtovné spracovanie (cez Shopify Loyalty)

Ak kaviareň používa Shopify Loyalty na správu programu "10 + 1 zadarmo", proces je jednoduchší: - Pri nákupe kávy zákazníkom: Kaviareň účtuje príjem €3 za kávu a vydá bloček. Shopify pripíše bod zákazníkovi do jeho účtu (nie je to váš záväzok, ale Shopify). - Pri uplatnení 10 bodov: Shopify pošle objednávku na vydanie kávy zadarmo. Kaviareň vydá kávu (náklad €1,50) a zaplatí Shopify transakčný poplatok (€0,20). Celkový náklad €1,70 sa účtuje ako "Promotional expense" alebo "Marketing cost". - Daňový dopad: Rovnako ako pri in-house, žiadny príjem pri vydaní kávy zadarmo, náklad €1,70 je daňovo odpočítateľný ako bežný výdavok. Navyše nemusíte riešiť žiadne záväzky alebo odhady breakage, pretože body spravuje Shopify.

Rozdiel medzi In-house a Shopify

• In-house:
• Výhody: Plná kontrola nad programom, žiadne mesačné poplatky tretej strane (napr. €29 Shopify fee).
• Nevýhody: Ak použijete accrual accounting, musíte vytvárať rezervy a odhadovať breakage, čo je administratívne náročné. Pri cash accounting je to jednoduchšie (žiadne záväzky), ale ak by ste body predávali za peniaze, vzniká daňový nesúlad (príjem zdanený hneď, náklad až neskôr). Navyše musíte sami spravovať databázu bodov (pečiatky, softvér), čo je časovo náročné.
• Shopify Loyalty:
• Výhody: Žiadne záväzky vo vašej účtovnej knihe, Shopify spravuje body a technológiu. Účtovne je to jednoduché – len mesačný poplatok (€29) a transakčné poplatky (€0,20) ako marketingový náklad. Nemusíte riešiť odhady ani breakage.
• Nevýhody: Platíte mesačné poplatky a transakčné fees, čo zvyšuje náklady (napr. €0,20 navyše za každú kávu zadarmo). Máte menšiu kontrolu nad programom, pretože ho spravuje tretia strana.

Záver pre kaviareň: Program "10 + 1 zadarmo" je účtovne považovaný za Promotional expense v oboch prípadoch (in-house aj Shopify), pretože káva zadarmo je forma marketingu na udržanie zákazníkov. Rozdiel je v administratívnej záťaži a nákladoch – Shopify zjednodušuje účtovníctvo a správu, ale za cenu mesačných poplatkov. In-house je lacnejšie, ale náročnejšie na správu, najmä ak by ste chceli používať accrual accounting alebo predávať body za peniaze.

Záver

Vernostné programy sú sofistikovaný nástroj zákazníckej lojality, ale ich účtovné a daňové aspekty sa výrazne líšia medzi veľkými a malými firmami. Veľké korporácie využívajú accrual accounting a medzinárodné štruktúry na optimalizáciu daní, zatiaľ čo pre malé biznisy sú často výhodnejšie alternatívne modely ako gift cards alebo outsourcing celého programu, ktoré eliminujú daňové a cashflow problémy. Gift cards navyše prinášajú okamžitý cash flow, časovú hodnotu peňazí a breakage benefit, čo z nich robí ideálny nástroj pre podniky všetkých veľkostí. Shopify Loyalty ponúka malým firmám spôsob, ako implementovať vernostný program bez účtovných komplikácií, pretože preberá technickú a právnu zodpovednosť, čím umožňuje sústrediť sa na core biznis. Pre jednoduché programy ako "10 + 1 zadarmo" je účtovný dopad podobný (Promotional expense), ale Shopify zjednodušuje správu za cenu dodatočných poplatkov.

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Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Layer 2: Ark

Ark is a novel off-chain transaction batching mechanism originally proposed by Burak, a young Turkish developer. There are currently two implementations being built, one by Ark Labs, and the other by Second, neither of which Burak is involved with. 

The original proposal for Ark was much more complicated, and involved some design goals more focused around privacy than the implementations currently being built. It was also originally envisioned to require CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (CTV) in order to be built. 

The protocol depends on a central coordinating server in order to function properly, but despite that is able to provide the same functionality and security guarantees that the Lightning Network does. As long as a user stays online during the required time period, at all times (unless they choose to trust the operator for short periods of time) every user is capable at any time of unilaterally exiting the Ark system at any time and taking back full unilateral control of their funds onchain. 

Unlike Lightning, Ark does not require users to have pre-allocated liquidity assigned to them in order to receive funds. An Ark user can simply onboard to a wallet and receive funds immediately with no liquidity pre-allocation at all. 

Let’s walk through the different constituent pieces of Ark.

The Ark Tree

Coins held on Ark are called Virtual UTXOs (vUTXOs). These are simply pre-signed transactions that guarantee the creation of a real UTXO under the unilateral control of a user once submitted onchain, but are otherwise held offchain. 

Every user’s vUTXOs are nested inside a tree of pre-signed transactions, or a “batch.” Ark works by having the coordinator server, or Ark Service Provider (ASP), facilitate the coordination between users necessary to create a batch. Whenever users are receiving funds, onboarding to Ark, or offboarding, it is necessary to construct a transaction and the associated transaction tree to create a new batch. 

The tree is constructed to take the single root UTXO confirmed onchain, locked with an n-of-n multisig including all users holding vUTXOs in the tree as well as the ASP, and slowly split into more and more UTXOs until eventually reaching the leaves, which are each users vUTXO. Each vUTXO is guaranteed using a script that has to be signed by a 2-of-2 multisig, one key held by the user, and the other by the ASP, or just the user after a timelock. 

Each time the tree splits, vUTXOs are created onchain, but so are more internal UTXOs that have yet to actually split into vUTXOs. Each of these internal UTXOs is locked with an n-of-n multisig composed of the ASP, and all users who have a vUTXO further down the tree. During the batch creation process, users start at their respective vUTXOs, and go through a signing process all the way back down the root of the tree. This guarantees that the root will never be signed before each user’s claim to a vUTXO is, ensuring they always have unilateral access in a worst case scenario to their funds. 

Each batch also has an expiry time (which will make sense in the next section). This expiry spend path, which exists as an alternate spending condition for the root UTXO onchain as well as every internal UTXO, allows the ASP to unilaterally spend all funds by itself. 

Transactions, Preconfirmation, and Connector Inputs

When it comes to transacting on Ark, there are two possible mechanisms that are possible, both with their own costs and implications in terms of security model. There are out-of-round transfers, or preconfirmed transactions, and there are in-round transfers, or actually confirmed transactions. 

To conduct an out-of-round transfer is a very simple process. If one user (Alice) wants to pay another (Bob), they simply contact the ASP and have them co-sign a transaction spending the vUTXO to Bob. Bob is then given that pre-signed transaction, as well as all the other ones preceding it back to the batch root onchain. Bob is now capable of unilaterally exiting the Ark with this transaction, but, he must trust the ASP not to collude with Alice to doublespend it. These out-of-round transactions can even be chained multiple times before finally confirming them. 

To finalize an Ark transaction, users have to engage in a “batch swap.” Users cannot actually trustlessly confirm a transfer within a single batch, they have to atomically swap a vUTXO in an existing batch with a fresh vUTXO created in a new batch. This is done using the ASP as a facilitator of the swap, and with the aid of what is called a “connector input.”

When a user goes to finalize an Ark transaction with a batch swap, they relinquish control of the vUTXO to the ASP. This could be problematic, what is to stop the ASP from simply keeping it and not giving them a confirmed vUTXO in a new batch? The connector input. 

When a new batch is created, a second output is created in the transaction that is confirmed on chain instantiating a new tree composed of connector UTXOs. When Bob goes to sign over a forfeit transaction to the ASP to conduct the batch swap, the transaction includes as an input one of the connector UTXOs from the new batch. 

This creates an atomic guarantee. Bob’s confirmed vUTXO is included in a batch in the same transaction the connector input is created in that is necessary for his forfeit transaction to be valid. If that batch is never created onchain, i.e. Bob never actually receives the new confirmed vUTXO, then the forfeit transaction he signed for the ASP will never be valid and confirmable onchain.

Liquidity Dynamics and Blockspace

All of the liquidity necessary to create new batches in order to facilitate transfers between users is provided by the ASP. They are required to have enough liquidity to create new batches for users until old ones have expired and the ASP can unilaterally sweep them to reclaim old liquidity previously locked up to create vUTXOs for users. 

This is the core of the liquidity dynamic at the center of the Ark protocol. While in one sense this is a massive efficiency win, not requiring liquidity providers to assess users and essentially guess which ones will actually receive large volumes of payments before they can receive any funds, in another it is an efficiency loss as the ASP must have enough liquidity to continue creating new batches for users for however long they configure the expiry time to be and they can start reclaiming allocated liquidity. 

This can be mitigated to a decent degree by how often an ASP offers to create new batches to finalize pending transactions. In the event of an ASP attempting to create new batches in real time as transactions are coming in, the liquidity requirements would be exorbitantly high. However, an ASP can lower the frequency at which they create new batches and drastically lower their liquidity requirements. 

This dynamic also has implications for blockspace use. Unlike Lightning, which can provide strong confirmation guarantees entirely offchain, in order for an Ark transaction to have an equivalent trustless degree of finality a new batch has to be created onchain. This means that unlike Lightning, where transaction volume does not reflect itself onchain, the velocity of Ark transactions inherently requires a proportional amount of blockspace use, albeit in a very compressed and efficient manner. This creates a theoretical upper limit of how many Ark batches can be created during any given time interval (although Ark trees can be smaller or larger depending on this dynamic). 

Wrapping Up

Ark presents in many ways an almost opposite set of tradeoffs to the Lightning Network. It is a massive blockspace efficiency improvement for offchain transactions, and does away with the problem of liquidity allocation on the Lightning Network, but it does have a much closer tied throughput limit that is correlated with the blockchains throughput limit. 

This dynamic of almost opposite tradeoffs makes it a very complementary system to the Lightning Network. It can also interoperate with it, i.e. vUTXOs can be swapped atomically in transactions entering or exiting the Lightning Network. 

Ultimately how it fits into the broader Bitcoin ecosystem is yet to be seen, but it is an undoubtedly valuable protocol stack that will find some functional niche, even if it is different than originally intended.

This post Bitcoin Layer 2: Ark first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Shinobi.

@ 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

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Mapping Bitcoin’s Bull Cycle Potential

Bitcoin’s Market Value to Realized Value, or MVRV ratio, remains one of the most reliable on-chain indicators for identifying local and macro tops and bottoms across every BTC cycle. By isolating data across different investor cohorts and adapting historical benchmarks to modern market conditions, we can generate more accurate insights into where Bitcoin may be headed next.

The Bitcoin MVRV Ratio

The MVRV Ratio compares Bitcoin’s market price to its realized price, essentially the average cost basis for all coins in the network. As of writing, BTC trades around $105,000 while the realized price floats near $47,000, putting the raw MVRV at 2.26. The Z-Score version of MVRV standardizes this ratio based on historical volatility, enabling clearer comparisons across different market cycles.

Figure 1: Historically, the MVRV Ratio and the MVRV Z-Score have accurately identified cycle peaks and bottoms. View Live Chart

Short-Term Holders

Short-term holders, defined as those holding Bitcoin for 155 days or less, currently have a realized price near $97,000. This metric often acts as dynamic support in bull markets and resistance in bear markets. Notably, when the Short Term Holder MVRV hits 1.33, local tops have historically occurred, as seen several times in both the 2017 and 2021 cycles. So far in the current cycle, this threshold has already been touched four times, each followed by modest retracements.

Figure 2: Short Term Holder MVRV reaching 1.33 in more recent cycles has aligned with local tops. View Live Chart

Long-Term Holders

Long-term holders, who’ve held BTC for more than 155 days, currently have an average cost basis of just $33,500, putting their MVRV at 3.11. Historically, Long Term Holder MVRV values have reached as high as 12 during major peaks. That said, we’re observing a trend of diminishing multiples each cycle.

Figure 3: Achieving a Long Term Holder MVRV value of 8 could extrapolate to a BTC price in excess of $300,000. View Live Chart

A key resistance band now sits between 7.5 and 8.5, a zone that has defined bull tops and pre-bear retracements in every cycle since 2011. If the current growth of the realized price ($40/day) continues for another 140–150 days, matching previous cycle lengths, we could see it reach somewhere in the region of $40,000. A peak MVRV of 8 would imply a price near $320,000.

A Smarter Market Compass

Unlike static all-time metrics, the 2-Year Rolling MVRV Z-Score adapts to evolving market dynamics. By recalculating average extremes over a rolling window, it smooths out Bitcoin’s natural volatility decay as it matures. Historically, this version has signaled overbought conditions when reaching levels above 3, and prime accumulation zones when dipping below -1. Currently sitting under 1, this metric suggests that substantial upside remains.

Figure 4: The current 2-Year Rolling MVRV Z-Score suggests more positive price action ahead. View Live Chart

Timing & Targets

A view of the BTC Growth Since Cycle Lows chart illustrates that BTC is now approximately 925 days removed from its last major cycle low. Historical comparisons to previous bull markets suggest we may be around 140 to 150 days away from a potential top, with both the 2017 and 2021 peaks occurring around 1,060 to 1,070 days after their respective lows. While not deterministic, this alignment reinforces the broader picture of where we are in the cycle. If realized price trends and MVRV thresholds continue on current trajectories, late Q3 to early Q4 2025 may bring final euphoric moves.

Figure 5: Will the current cycle continue to exhibit growth patterns similar to those of the previous two cycles? View Live Chart

Conclusion

The MVRV ratio and its derivatives remain essential tools for analyzing Bitcoin market behavior, providing clear markers for both accumulation and distribution. Whether observing short-term holders hovering near local top thresholds, long-term holders nearing historically significant resistance zones, or adaptive metrics like the 2-Year Rolling MVRV Z-Score signaling plenty of runway left, these data points should be used in confluence.

No single metric should be relied upon to predict tops or bottoms in isolation, but taken together, they offer a powerful lens through which to interpret the macro trend. As the market matures and volatility declines, adaptive metrics will become even more crucial in staying ahead of the curve.

For more deep-dive research, technical indicators, real-time market alerts, and access to a growing community of analysts, visit BitcoinMagazinePro.com.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.

This post Mapping Bitcoin’s Bull Cycle Potential first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Matt Crosby.

@ 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

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Wall Street is warming up to Bitcoin and getting closer and closer to it.

Cantor Fitzgerald, one of the oldest and most respected investment banks on Wall Street, has launched a $2 billion bitcoin-backed lending program.

They’ve reportedly already done their first deals, lending to two big digital asset companies: FalconX and Maple Finance.

This is a big step in connecting traditional finance to the fast-moving world of Bitcoin.

Cantor’s new service allows big investors, hedge funds and asset managers, to borrow money using bitcoin as collateral.

This is a game changer for institutions that hold bitcoin, as they can now access liquidity without having to sell their assets.

“Institutions holding bitcoin are looking to broaden their access to diverse funding sources,” said Christian Wall, co-CEO and global head of fixed income at Cantor Fitzgerald.

“And we are excited to support their liquidity needs to help them drive long term growth and success.”

The loans are not speculative or unsecured.

They are structured like traditional finance deals, backed by the borrower’s bitcoin. This reduces the risk for Cantor while giving bitcoin-holding companies new ways to grow and operate.

The first recipients of Cantor’s lending program are FalconX, a digital asset brokerage, and Maple Finance, a blockchain-based lending platform.

FalconX confirmed they secured a credit facility of over $100 million. Maple Finance also received the first tranche of their loan from Cantor.

This comes at a time when the bitcoin lending space is recovering after a tough period. Several big firms went under in 2022 and investor confidence was shaken.

Now with traditional finance on board, bitcoin-backed lending has returned. According to Galaxy Research the total size of the digital asset lending market grew to $36.5 billion in Q4 2024.

Cantor’s move into bitcoin-backed lending isn’t new. They announced their plans in July 2024 and have been building their presence in the Bitcoin space since then.

Earlier this year, they partnered with Tether, SoftBank and Bitfinex to launch Twenty One Capital, a $3.6 billion fund to buy over 42,000 bitcoin.

In May 2025 Cantor Equity Partners merged with Twenty One Capital and bought nearly $459 million worth of bitcoin.

They also own around $1.9 billion in shares of Strategy, a company that holds a lot of bitcoin. Clearly Cantor believes in bitcoin as a long-term asset.

Cantor is also a big player in the stablecoin space.

They manage U.S. Treasury reserves for Tether, the company behind the $142 billion USDT stablecoin. This adds another layer of trust and credibility to Cantor’s digital asset involvement.

To secure the bitcoin used as collateral, Cantor has partnered with digital asset custodians Anchorage Digital and Copper.co.

These companies are known for their robust security and institutional-grade infrastructure. Cantor hasn’t disclosed loan terms or interest rates but confirmed the lending will follow current regulations.

This also shows how traditional financial players are embracing DeFi.

Maple Finance for example allows undercollateralized lending using blockchain. By backing companies like Maple, Cantor is innovating while still having control and compliance.

For years, bitcoin-backed loans were only available through digital-asset-native companies like Genesis, BlockFi, and Ledn.

These loans were mostly for smaller clients and retail investors. But with Cantor’s entry, the scale and professionalism of bitcoin lending are expanding.

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Key Takeaways

In this episode, Bram Kanstein delivers a powerful exploration of how studying money for thousands of hours led him to a single, life-changing conclusion: Bitcoin is the key to preserving value and reclaiming personal agency in an increasingly unstable world. Through the lens of a disillusioned millennial generation—raised with technological optimism but betrayed by economic reality—Bram exposes the fiat system as one built on illusion, debt, and diminishing returns. He explains how Bitcoin’s transparent, rule-based design offers a principled alternative, especially for those wired to question systems and seek truth. Describing the fiat economy as a “high-velocity trash system” that undermines innovation and long-term planning, he argues Bitcoin creates the time and space to think, build, and live freely. As AI reshapes the labor market, Bram sees Bitcoin as a vital foundation for individuals to adapt, maintain sovereignty, and thrive in a future defined by rapid technological disruption.

Best Quotes

“Anything that you would want to fix in the world is broken because the money is broken.”

“You’re stacking nothing. Literal paper.”

“You have to red pill before you orange pill.”

“The only thing you need to do is move to the other money that they cannot mess with.”

“One Bitcoin is one Bitcoin. That’s the whole point.”

“Millennials are primed to understand Bitcoin.”

“Bitcoin lets you get out of the rat race and start walking your own path.”

“The fiat mindset is a zero-sum game. In Bitcoin, value is created.”

“We should stop asking how to value Bitcoin—and start asking how to value everything else in Bitcoin.”

“Even with a master’s in economics, people still don’t understand what money is.”

Conclusion

This episode delivers a powerful call to rethink everything we assume about money, arguing that understanding Bitcoin is less about profit and more about reclaiming personal agency in a world defined by uncertainty. Bram Kanstein shows how asking fundamental questions—like “What is money?”—can lead to a deeper sense of purpose and autonomy. As AI and systemic instability accelerate, Bitcoin emerges not just as sound money, but as a life tool for intentional living, long-term thinking, and individual sovereignty.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
0:36 - INTJ bitcoiners
4:58 - The millennial headspace is primed for bitcoin
7:25 - Bitcoin gives time and space to build
15:29 - Fold & Bitkey
17:05 - Seeing systemic problems
26:25 - Bitcoin’s positive feedback loop
33:55 - Recognize your agency
37:58 - Unchained
38:27 - Fiat money creates uncertainty
44:41 - What is money?
54:04 - Money and energy
1:03:43 - Bitcoin allows growth
1:09:02 - Bitcoin/AI
1:31:34 - Optimistic note

Transcript

(00:00) Let's say you're a millennial and mid-30s and you want to retire in 30 years. If you calculate the amount of dollar, pound the euro, yen units. You need way more units of that money than you think right now. They are funding pension funds, but the pension funds are using that money for the people that are actually retiring.
(00:17) No one knows about money. They don't know how debt works, how finance works. But that's kind of how it's designed, right? Like that's what eventually keeps the Ponzi alive. And I just started with the question, what do you think happens if you call the bank and say like, hey, can I get 100 or 200k in cash? Man, you got an editor like in house.
(00:39) That's That's pro. That's uh it's because this setup I'm so far away from the computer. I just need somebody to hit the button. Okay. Okay. the extent the extent of of Logan's job extends far beyond just hitting the button. But yeah, INTJ I think uh I think it was as we rear into what looks to be another bull market.
(01:05) I think getting back to first principles and discussing the challenges of studying and understanding Bitcoin, it's important to to highlight the archetype of individuals who have studied fallen down the rabbit hole and really dedicated their lives to Bitcoin. And this INTJ cohort that exists within Bitcoin seems pretty material apparently. Yeah.
(01:35) I mean, I have many moments where I just realize that I'm lucky that my brain is wired in a certain way, you know. I feel like crazy blessed that I figured out this Bitcoin thing, you know, and that when I ran into certain realizations along the way in my Bitcoin journey that I was like, hm, you know, how does this actually work? you know, do I actually understand the systems I'm participating in, the things that I believe, you know, the the the the people that I abstracted um or or outsourced certain responsibilities to to take care of, for example, my money
(02:10) in the bank. You know, I I think um being wired in a certain way definitely helps in grasping Bitcoin to a degree where you're like, okay, this is the only thing I need to pay attention to, you know, in my life. And yeah, we we jokingly started talking about this because I have the hat here, but there was this um I think it was like like a Twitter poll actually or someone shared it on Twitter and this is already like two or three years old where where someone investigated these MyersBriggs um personality types and I think there's
(02:42) only like 2% of people that have INTJ but like 20% of Bitcoiners have that personality type. So it um it apparently helps. So yeah, I just I just quickly Googled it actually. It says uh the INTJ is the architect. It's a personality type with the introverted intuitive thinking and judging traits. These thoughtful tacticians love perfecting the details of life, applying creativity and rationality to everything they do.
(03:09) I think the rationality part here is what um what uh I think helps you to to gro Bitcoin eventually. Yeah, it reminds me of I forget what the study was, but postco it was a similar distribution of just like 2% of people were highly skeptical of what was going on with the lockdowns and the attack on bodily autonomy.
(03:38) And there was a study that was done about I forget it was bees or some type of fly that they they have like the horde of um the horde of the particular fly I think it was bees has like 2% act as these sort of alarm bells that are on the outside the outskirts of the community and they'll start communicating like hey something's wrong here and people the other flies or bees will be skeptical at first but then eventually uh the alarm bells will be proven to be right that there was some sort of danger around the corner. That's fascinating.
(04:09) Yeah. Yeah, that's fascinating. I I think we're not that special eventually, you know, like we think we have all this autonomy, but but um yeah, we're we're just wired in a certain way. And I think I don't know where you want to take this conversation, but I think, you know, part of growing up and being an adult is figuring out, you know, how do I actually work and how do I work with how I work, you know? Yeah. No, it is.
(04:36) And as I get older, creep into my mid-30s, which is hard hard to come to grips with, it is uh really falling back on like, all right, I I feel like I have a good perspective on the world and my place in it, and how do I just optimize to make sure I'm aligning my my work and my career, I guess, if you call it that, with what I'm passionate about. Yeah.
(05:00) Well, I also think that is actually why our generation, you know, my my podcast is Bitcoin for millennials. I think uh the millennials are primed to understand Bitcoin. You know, we are in this life phase where big things happen, you know, starting a family or settling somewhere or or making big career moves or decide Yeah.
(05:25) like deciding what am I going to spend like the next 10 20 years on and uh I think it's an interesting phase actually I I don't know how that was for you but but for me like the the 30s were really where I dove more and more into Bitcoin like got got that stronger conviction and also yeah kind of was invited to go further down that that rabbit hole you know and like how I see it now is that that Bitcoin is really the foundation for the rest of my life, you know, like it it gives me time and space to look forward and enthusiasm, you know, like I sometimes lurk on the
(06:01) millennial subreddit, you know, or the finance sub subreddit. And many people in our generation are very nihilistic, you know, they're very unsure about the future. Like some people aren't even having kids because they think they cannot afford it, you know. And uh whenever I read that, I just think like, yeah, I I don't really have those things.
(06:22) But I know it's because of Bitcoin, you know. I I know that Bitcoin gives me, yeah, like I said, the time and space to figure out what's next, like what should I focus on? Like it gives time and space to to try out stuff, to build something, you know, to to to really attempt at at doing something. Where I see many people that don't see that, they are more in the consumer type, you know, like they they just spend the money that's worth the most today, you know, like that's what they're incentivized to do. Yeah.
(06:49) And is is that why you started Bitcoin for millennials is to number one put the put the message out there. Millennials come listen to this. One of you Yes. that is trying to educate you about this. But because this is something I think about a lot is somebody's like dead smack in the middle of the millennial generation and has observed many of the things you just described in my own life, my own network.
(07:13) And that's part of the reason why this podcast exists. And um what I'm trying to do at TFTC is just try to figure out a way to reach into the minds of millennials, hopefully c

@ 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.

@ 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

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Neutron, Asia’s leading Bitcoin Lightning infrastructure company, announced the upcoming launch of Neutron Lend, a non-custodial, bitcoin-backed lending product designed for individuals and businesses who want access to liquidity without selling their bitcoin.

The service is currently open for waitlist sign-ups, with public access expected by end of June 2025.

As Bitcoin adoption accelerates, many holders are looking for secure ways to borrow against their bitcoin while maintaining control of their assets. Neutron Lend addresses this need with a multi-signature custody model, competitive interest rates, and a clear, transparent loan structure.

Key Features of Neutron Lend

• Borrow $10,000 to $1,000,000 USDT
• Non-custodial 3-key multi-sig (User, Neutron, Neutral Custodian)
• 50% Loan-to-Value (LTV)
• Principal + interest paid at loan maturity
• Introductory interest rates between 6% and 12% APR, based on tier
• Extension options available (with admin fee and adjusted rates)

Loans are fully collateralized with bitcoin and managed securely using a multi-sig wallet where users retain one of the keys. Neutron does not rehypothecate collateral, and no party can move the funds unilaterally.

“As Bitcoin continues to redefine the future of finance, I’m proud to introduce Neutron Lend a product built for those who believe in the long-term value of their BTC but need liquidity today,” said Albert Buu, CEO of Neutron. He added:

“Traditional finance simply doesn’t understand the needs of Bitcoiners: they force you to sell your most trusted asset or leave you without options.

“With Neutron Lend, our users can secure USDT loans against their BTC collateral at competitive rates, unlocking capital to invest, grow, and diversify without ever parting with their bitcoin.

We see a massively underserved market of HODLers and innovators who deserve access to flexible, transparent lending solutions. At Neutron, we’re here for you, empowering the Bitcoin community with the financial tools they’ve been waiting for.”

Now Open for Waitlist Registration

Neutron Lend is currently in waitlist phase. Early users will receive:

• Priority access to the platform at launch
• Limited-time introductory rates

The platform is expected to begin rolling out globally by end of June 2025.

Media Contact:
info@neutron.me

Learn More and Join the Waitlist: www.neutron.me/lend

About Neutron

Neutron is a Bitcoin Lightning infrastructure company based in Asia, offering scalable financial tools across the Bitcoin ecosystem. Its products include a Lightning-as-a-Service API (Neutron Economy), the consumer-facing Neutronpay app, and now Neutron Lend, bringing secure, flexible Bitcoin-backed lending to market.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Wall Street is warming up to Bitcoin and getting closer and closer to it.

Cantor Fitzgerald, one of the oldest and most respected investment banks on Wall Street, has launched a $2 billion bitcoin-backed lending program.

They’ve reportedly already done their first deals, lending to two big digital asset companies: FalconX and Maple Finance.

This is a big step in connecting traditional finance to the fast-moving world of Bitcoin.

Cantor’s new service allows big investors, hedge funds and asset managers, to borrow money using bitcoin as collateral.

This is a game changer for institutions that hold bitcoin, as they can now access liquidity without having to sell their assets.

“Institutions holding bitcoin are looking to broaden their access to diverse funding sources,” said Christian Wall, co-CEO and global head of fixed income at Cantor Fitzgerald.

“And we are excited to support their liquidity needs to help them drive long term growth and success.”

The loans are not speculative or unsecured.

They are structured like traditional finance deals, backed by the borrower’s bitcoin. This reduces the risk for Cantor while giving bitcoin-holding companies new ways to grow and operate.

The first recipients of Cantor’s lending program are FalconX, a digital asset brokerage, and Maple Finance, a blockchain-based lending platform.

FalconX confirmed they secured a credit facility of over $100 million. Maple Finance also received the first tranche of their loan from Cantor.

This comes at a time when the bitcoin lending space is recovering after a tough period. Several big firms went under in 2022 and investor confidence was shaken.

Now with traditional finance on board, bitcoin-backed lending has returned. According to Galaxy Research the total size of the digital asset lending market grew to $36.5 billion in Q4 2024.

Cantor’s move into bitcoin-backed lending isn’t new. They announced their plans in July 2024 and have been building their presence in the Bitcoin space since then.

Earlier this year, they partnered with Tether, SoftBank and Bitfinex to launch Twenty One Capital, a $3.6 billion fund to buy over 42,000 bitcoin.

In May 2025 Cantor Equity Partners merged with Twenty One Capital and bought nearly $459 million worth of bitcoin.

They also own around $1.9 billion in shares of Strategy, a company that holds a lot of bitcoin. Clearly Cantor believes in bitcoin as a long-term asset.

Cantor is also a big player in the stablecoin space.

They manage U.S. Treasury reserves for Tether, the company behind the $142 billion USDT stablecoin. This adds another layer of trust and credibility to Cantor’s digital asset involvement.

To secure the bitcoin used as collateral, Cantor has partnered with digital asset custodians Anchorage Digital and Copper.co.

These companies are known for their robust security and institutional-grade infrastructure. Cantor hasn’t disclosed loan terms or interest rates but confirmed the lending will follow current regulations.

This also shows how traditional financial players are embracing DeFi.

Maple Finance for example allows undercollateralized lending using blockchain. By backing companies like Maple, Cantor is innovating while still having control and compliance.

For years, bitcoin-backed loans were only available through digital-asset-native companies like Genesis, BlockFi, and Ledn.

These loans were mostly for smaller clients and retail investors. But with Cantor’s entry, the scale and professionalism of bitcoin lending are expanding.

@ 86dfbe73:628cef55

Das Private ist immer nur privat in Bezug zu einem bestimmten oder unbestimmten Gegenüber. Heutzutage steht man vielen Privatheiten und vielen Öffentlichkeiten gegenüber. Was privat ist, bemisst sich an der jeweiligen Relation, in der es als privat festgelegt wurde. Die “Privatsphäre”, die üblicherweise gemeint wird, ist jene Sphäre, die der Staat als privat zu respektieren hat, über deren Grenze er sich also nur in seltenen und jeweils zu begründenden Einzelfällen hinwegsetzen darf.

In anderen Beziehungen hingegen gibt es andere “Privatheiten” — dem Arbeitgeber gegenüber etwa, den Kollegen, ehemaligen Schulfreunden, dem Ehepartner, den Eltern oder Kinder. In all diesen Beziehungen gibt es “ausgeschlossene” Bereiche, die das Private meinen. Die Privatsphäre ist dabei die Sphäre über deren Geheimhaltung man gegenüber dem anderen Partner der Beziehung frei verfügen kann, denn Privatsphäre ist die Möglichkeit, sich der Welt selektiv zu offenbaren.

Wenn nicht reflektiert wird, dass es weitgehend eine veränderte Gesellschaft ist, die sich konstituiert, eine Gesellschaft, die mit der vorherigen nichts aber auch gar nichts mehr gemein hat, weil sich der Begriff des “Privaten” verändert, ausdifferenziert, verschiebt, zerfasert — wird der Privatsphärenschutz nicht zu gewährleisten sein.

Das Problem ist, dass „privat und „öffentlich“ alleine nicht funktionieren. Zwischen Privat und Öffentlich gehört – abgeleitet aus dem Begriff des „Social Web“ das Soziale. Und zwischen scheinbar einheitlicher privater „Identität“ und öffentlicher „Person“ gehört ein Bündel an Socialities.

Schon vor dem Netz zersplitterte der moderne, flexible und mobile Mensch in ein Bündel von (nicht: Identitäten sondern) Socialitäten. Das heißt in ein Bündel von Verhaltensweisen, die mehr oder minder bewusst in Beziehung zu bestimmten anderen Socii eingenommen werden. Es ist eine rein kommunikative Größe. Die Socialität eines Arbeitnehmers deckt sich nicht mit der Sozialität des Ehegatten, Vaters usw.

In jeder dieser Beziehungen ist eine andere, zumeist bewusst zu lernende Sozialität vonnöten. Selbst gegenüber Vorgesetzten, gleichrangigen Kollegen und Untergebenen sind mindestens dreierlei Socialitäten am Werke. Denn diese Socialität ist nicht einfach die soziologische „Rolle“, die ein Pluriversum von angenommenen Identitäten unterstellt. Sondern sie ist Ergebnis einer Kommunikationsbeziehung.

Online-Socialitäten

Das Private ist kein kohärente Sphäre, sondern wird durch die Socialität erschaffen. Es ist das, was in der Socialität nicht vorkommt – oder die Qualität der Socialität entscheidend verändert – etwa wenn eine Beziehung zu einer Kollegin/einem Kollegen beginnt (die in der Socialität der Ehegatten wiederum vermutlich nichts zu suchen hat …), sich eine Exfreundin als neue Kundin vorstellt, ein ehemaliger Schulkamerad Chef wird usw. Was „das Private“ ist, lässt sich nicht fassen.

Bei Facebook beispielsweise connectet sich der User mit Familienangehörigen, Freunden, vielleicht ehemaligen Schulfreunden, Kollegen, ggf. Vorgesetzen – und mit Geschäftspartnern oder Kunden. Das heißt: Ein großes Socialitätenbündel vereinigt sich.

Das kann zu größeren Problemen führen, denn die Socialität etwa des Geschäftspartners stellt andere Anforderungen als der ehemalige Klassenkamerad. Die Socialität des Kollegen stellt andere Anforderungen als die der Geschwister.

Die Bündelungsmöglichkeiten durch Personensuchen stellt vor eine ganz andere Herausforderung. Das Multiversum der Socialitäten, das unter verschiedenen Pseudonymen oder doch zumindest auf verschiedenen Plattformen ausgetragen wurde – wird nun plötzlich in ein „Image“ zusammengeführt, das natürlich vorne und hinten inkongruent ist, weil kein gemeinsamer „Kern“, keine einfache „Identität“ vorhanden ist.

Streetview und die Socialität

Schon jetzt nutzen Auskunfteien wie SchuFa oder Creditreform die Wohngegend um Kreditwürdigkeiten zu berechnen. Schon jetzt klassifizieren die Telefonrechner in Callcentern die „Wertigkeit“ eines eingehenden Anrufs per Telefonnummer nach Wohnlage.

Das macht in dieser Socialität "Versicherung-Kunde" einen gewaltigen Unterschied. Und der Kunde hat keinerlei Macht über die Informationen, die der anderen Seite der Socialität verfügbar sind. Die Entscheidung, dass etwas privat sei, zieht nach sich, dass ich es aus einer Socialität exkludiere. „Privat“ bedeutet vor allem „Verzeihung, das ist mir zu privat, darüber gebe ich keine Auskunft“. Und derlei Privatheiten gibt es zu viele – was privat ist, bestimmt die Socialität. Privatsphäre gegenüber dem Kollegen ist eine andere als gegenüber der Vorgesetzten, als gegenüber dem Kunden, als gegenüber dem ehemaligen Schulfreund.

Wie damit umgehen? Das Netz verlassen oder eine eigene „Netzsocialität“ erschaffen, die von vornherein eine inszenierte Kunstfigur ist? Nichts von alledem ist hilfreich. Deswegen kann die Lösung nur aus einer gesamtgesellschaftlichen Debatte rund um die Socialitäten kommen. Und muss sich fragen: Wie soll das Netz sein und funktionieren? Wer soll was einsehen können?