@ 73d8a0c3:c1853717

🧬 REDACTED SCIENCE: THE AUTHOR — A SHADOW IN THE MARGINS

📜 Excerpt from my book-in-progress. This is nonfiction. Redacted. Possibly buried science. Possibly military. Almost definitely real. I’m living it. And it might change how we think about disease, dehydration, and survival itself.

👇 Full post below 👇

---

📄 The Author: A Shadow in the Margins

What follows is an excerpt from my book: Redacted Science. This is nonfiction. Redacted. And, I believe, novel science — the kind that slipped through the cracks because it wasn’t supposed to be seen. The kind that, if true (and I’m living proof it might be), changes how we think about adaptation, disease, and control, all while hinting at evolutionary processes.

The person who wrote the article — the one at the center of this entire mystery — didn’t just document a medical condition. They didn’t write like a detached observer. They wrote like someone who had seen it, worked with it, maybe even helped design it.

This wasn’t a paper. It was a record.
A flare fired backwards through time.

🧠 What They Knew

• Electrolyte manipulation under pressure gradients
• Bone demineralization and molecular substitution
• Methyl group cycling
• Autonomic dysregulation
• Increased survivability under dehydration
• Accelerated burn recovery
• Abnormal pain tolerance
• Enhanced cognition and endurance in early stages
• …eventual collapse into parasympathetic failure, bone loss, immune misfire, and systemic decay

No generalist writes like this.
No academic from 1975 casually throws around methylation chemistry and calcium channel modulators (“these show promise” — yeah, I remembered that line. I figured it might save my life).

🧪 Proof in My Blood — Or Lack Thereof
I’ve lived the proof they described.

👁️ Who They Were

They were part of a program.
A researcher. Maybe a clinician. Possibly embedded in a classified military or survival physiology initiative.

🔍 The Quiet Warning

That mention of the ICD code shift?
It was like someone watching history be rewritten — shifting this condition under something it isn’t. Sleight-of-hand.
They couldn’t have known about the AIRE gene — and I don’t have it.

“We erased it from the books. But it was real. Look again. Find it if you can.”

And here I am.
Picking it up.
Line by line.
Molecule by molecule.

🏃 The 15K That Almost Killed Me

Twelve years ago: I ran the Tulsa Run, didn’t hydrate. Felt fine — until the vomiting hit. Bloodwork? Normal.
Smart doc took one look and hooked up fluids.

That wasn’t dehydration.
That was a system built to survive without water — until it couldn’t.

🕰️ When and Why

Photos: early 20th century.
The article? 1975–1985.
Someone who knew too much. Someone preserving knowledge — as it was being erased.

“It’s gone now. But it was here. And you need to look again.”

That’s not footnote energy.
That’s whistleblower energy.

---

🧠 Everything is open. All science is free. More is coming.

Read more at https://jimcraddock.substack.com or https://jimcraddock.com]

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

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.

@ b9d5de4b:26c0a1b8

Hello, legitmately asking for a friend...does anyone know of a way to recover a bip38 address created on bitaddress? they claim to have both keys just dont know the passphase.

https://stacker.news/items/1005953

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

OMAD is great! Outside the very short window eating window, I have almost no desire to eat or drink.

I also took a nap today and a cold shower. I just needed to be more active.

How did you all do today? Are you making progress towards your ~HealthAndFitness goals?

https://stacker.news/items/1005945

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

The latest AI chips, 8K displays, and neural processing units make your device feel like a pocket supercomputer. So surely, with all this advancement, you can finally mine bitcoin on your phone profitably, right?

The 2025 Hardware Reality: Can You Mine Bitcoin on Your Phone

Despite remarkable advances in smartphone technology, the fundamental physics of bitcoin mining haven’t changed. In 2025, flagship devices with their cutting-edge 2nm processors can achieve approximately 25-40 megahashes per second when you mine bitcoin on your phone—a notable improvement from previous generations, but still laughably inadequate.

Meanwhile, 2025’s top-tier ASIC miners have evolved dramatically. The latest Bitmain Antminer S23 series and Canaan AvalonMiner A15 Pro deliver 200-300 terahashes per second while consuming 4,000-5,500 watts. That’s a performance gap of roughly 1:8,000,000 between when you mine bitcoin on your phone and professional mining equipment.

To put this in perspective that hits home: if you mine bitcoin on your phone and it earned you one penny, professional miners would earn $80,000 in the same time period with the same effort. It’s not just an efficiency problem—it’s a complete category mismatch.

According to Pocket Option’s 2025 analysis, when you mine bitcoin on your phone in 2025, you generate approximately $0.003-0.006 in daily revenue while consuming $0.45-0.85 in electricity through constant charging cycles. Factor in the accelerated device wear (estimated at $0.75-1.20 daily depreciation), and you’re looking at losses of $1.20-2.00 per day just for the privilege of running mining software.

Mining Economic Factor

Precise Value (April 2025)

Direct Impact on Profitability

Smartphone sustained hash rate

20-35 MH/s

0.00000024% contribution to global hashrate

Daily power consumption

3.2-4.8 kWh (4-6 full charges)

$0.38-0.57 at average US electricity rates

Expected daily BTC earnings

0.0000000086 BTC ($0.0035 at $41,200 BTC)

Revenue covers only 0.9% of electricity costs

CPU/GPU wear cost

$0.68-0.92 daily accelerated depreciation

Reduces smartphone lifespan by 60-70%

Annual profit projection

-$386 to -$412 per year

Guaranteed negative return on investment

Source: PocketOption

Bitcoin’s 2025 Network: Harder Than Ever

Bitcoin’s network difficulty in 2025 has reached unprecedented levels. After the April 2024 halving event that reduced block rewards from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC, mining became significantly more competitive. The global hash rate now exceeds 800 exahashes per second—that’s 800 followed by 18 zeros worth of computational power securing the network.

Here’s what this means in practical terms: Bitcoin’s mining difficulty adjusts every 2,016 blocks (roughly every two weeks) to maintain the 10-minute block time. As more efficient miners join the network, difficulty increases proportionally. In 2025, mining difficulty has increased compared to 2024, making small-scale mining even less viable.

The math is unforgiving:

• Global Bitcoin hash rate: 828.96 EH/s
• Your smartphone’s contribution: ~0.000000003%
• Probability of solo mining a block: Virtually zero
• Expected time to mine one Bitcoin: Several million years

Even joining mining pools doesn’t solve the economic problem. Pool fees typically range from 1-3%, and your minuscule contribution would earn proportionally tiny rewards—far below the electricity and device depreciation costs.

The 2025 Scam Evolution: More Sophisticated, More Dangerous

Fraudsters now leverage AI-generated content, fake influencer endorsements, and impressive-looking apps that simulate realistic mining activity to entice you to mine bitcoin on your phone.

New 2025 scam tactics include:

AI-Powered Fake Testimonials: Deepfake videos of supposed successful mobile miners showing fabricated earnings statements and encouraging downloads of malicious apps.

Gamified Mining Interfaces: Apps that look and feel like legitimate games but secretly harvest personal data while simulating mining progress that can never be withdrawn.

Social Media Manipulation: Coordinated campaigns across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube featuring fake “financial influencers” promoting mobile mining apps to younger audiences.

Subscription Trap Mining: Apps offering “free trials” that automatically charge $19.99-49.99 monthly for “premium mining speeds” while delivering no actual mining capability.

Recent cybersecurity research shows that over 180 fake mining apps were discovered across major app stores in 2025, with some accumulating more than 500,000 downloads before being removed.

Red flags that scream “scam” in 2025:

• Apps claiming “revolutionary mobile mining breakthrough”
• Promises of earning “$10-50 daily” from phone mining
• Requirements to recruit friends or watch ads to unlock withdrawals
• Apps that don’t require connecting to actual mining pools
• Testimonials that seem too polished or use stock photo models
• Apps requesting permissions unrelated to mining (contacts, camera, microphone)

The 2025 Professional Mining Landscape

To understand why, consider what professional bitcoin mining looks like in 2025. Industrial mining operations now resemble high-tech data centers with:

Cutting-edge hardware:

• Bitmain Antminer S23 Pro: 280 TH/s at 4,800W
• MicroBT WhatsMiner M56S++: 250 TH/s at 4,500W
• Canaan AvalonMiner A1566: 185 TH/s at 3,420W

Infrastructure requirements:

• Megawatt-scale power contracts with industrial electricity rates
• Liquid cooling systems maintaining 24/7 optimal temperatures
• Redundant internet connections ensuring zero downtime
• Professional facility management with 24/7 monitoring

For a small operation, you might need at least $10,000 to $20,000 to buy a few ASIC miners, set up cooling systems, and cover electricity costs. These operations employ teams of engineers, maintain relationships with power companies, and operate with margins measured in single-digit percentages.

2025’s Legitimate Mobile Bitcoin Strategies

While it remains impossible to mine bitcoin on your phone profitably, 2025 offers exciting legitimate ways to engage with bitcoin through your smartphone:

Lightning Network Participation: Apps like Phoenix, Breez, and Zeus allow you to run Lightning nodes on mobile devices, earning small routing fees while supporting bitcoin’s payment layer.

Bitcoin DCA Automation: Services enable automated dollar-cost averaging with amounts as small as $1 daily. Historical data shows $10 weekly bitcoin purchases consistently outperform any mobile mining attempt by 1,500-2,000%.

Educational Mining Simulators: Legitimate apps like “Bitcoin Mining Simulator” teach mining concepts without false earning promises. These educational tools help users understand hash rates, difficulty adjustments, and mining economics.

Stacking Sats Rewards: Apps offering bitcoin rewards for shopping, learning, or completing tasks.

Lightning Gaming: Bitcoin-native mobile games where players can earn sats through skilled gameplay, with some players earning $10 monthly.onfirm that even the most optimized mobile mining setups in 2025 lose money consistently and predictably.

The Bottom Line

When you mine bitcoin on your phone fundamental economics remain unchanged: it’s impossible to profit. The laws of physics, network competition, and energy efficiency create insurmountable barriers that no app can overcome.

However, 2025 offers unprecedented opportunities to engage with bitcoin meaningfully through your smartphone. Focus on education, legitimate earning opportunities, and strategic investment rather than chasing the impossible dream of phone-based mining.

The bitcoin community’s greatest strength lies in its commitment to truth over hype. When someone promises profits to mine bitcoin on your phone in 2025, they’re either uninformed or deliberately misleading you. Trust the mathematics, learn from the community, and build your bitcoin knowledge and holdings through proven methods.

The real opportunity in 2025 isn’t to mine bitcoin on your phone—it’s understanding bitcoin deeply enough to participate confidently in the most important monetary revolution of our lifetime. Your smartphone is the perfect tool for that education; it’s just not a mining rig.

@ edeb837b:ac664163

On June 10th, 2025, four members of the NVSTly team traveled to New York City to attend the 2025 American Business Awards® ceremony, held at the iconic Marriott Marquis in Times Square. It was an unforgettable night as we accepted the Gold Stevie® Award for Tech Startup of the Year—this time, in person.

Meow (left), rich (center), MartyOooit (right)

Representing NVSTly at the event were:

• Rich, CEO & Founder
• Meow, CTO, Lead Developer, & Co-Founder
• MartyOooit, Investor
• Noob, Market Analyst (not shown in photos)

MartyOooit (left), rich (center), Meow (right)

While we shared the exciting news back in April when the winners were announced, being there in person alongside other winners—including eBay, AT&T, T-Mobile, HP Inc., and Fidelity Investments—made the achievement feel even more surreal. To be honored alongside billion-dollar industry leaders was a proud and humbling moment for our startup and a huge milestone in NVSTly’s journey.

---

🎤 Team Interview at the Event

During the event, our team was interviewed about the win. When asked:

“What does winning a Stevie Award mean for your organization?”
“How will winning a Stevie Award help your organization?”

Here’s what we had to say:
📺 Watch the video

---

A Big Win for Retail Traders

NVSTly was awarded Gold for Tech Startup of the Year in recognition of our work building a powerful, free social investing platform that empowers retail traders with transparency, analytics, and community-driven tools.

Unlike traditional finance platforms, NVSTly gives users the ability to:

• Share and track trades in real time
• Follow and receive alerts from top traders
• Compete on global leaderboards
• Access deep stats like win rate, average return, and more

Whether you're a beginner or experienced trader, NVSTly gives you the insights and tools typically reserved for hedge funds—but in a free, social format built for the modern investor.

---

Continued Recognition and Momentum

This award adds to a growing list of recognition for NVSTly:

• 🏆 People’s Choice Winner at the 2024 Benzinga Fintech Awards
• 🔁 Nominated again for Best Social Investing Product in the 2025 Benzinga Fintech Awards
• 🌟 Team members JustCoreGames and Lunaster are nominated for Employee of the Year (Information Technology – Social Media) in the 2025 Stevie® Awards for Technology Excellence

We’re beyond proud of what our small but mighty team has accomplished—and we’re just getting started. 🚀

---

Thanks to the Stevie Awards for an incredible night in New York, and to our community of 50,000+ traders who’ve helped shape NVSTly into what it is today.
This win is yours, too.

Stay tuned—more big things are coming.

— Team NVSTly

---

The event brought together some of the most respected names in tech, finance, and business.

@ f40a134b:60fb788b

{"url":"https://convy.click","title":"Convy","description":"","submittedAt":1749849014}

@ f40a134b:60fb788b

{"url":"https://test.com","title":"test.com","description":"","submittedAt":1749848822}

@ a4a6b584:1e05b95b

Prerequisites

```bash

Make sure your package list is fresh

sudo apt update

(Optional but recommended) ffmpeg lets yt-dlp negotiate the best formats

sudo apt install ffmpeg jq ```

---

1 Install yt-dlp system-wide

bash sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp \ -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp && sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp

A single binary is dropped into /usr/local/bin/; version upgrades are as simple as running the same command again in the future.

---

2 Download the auto-generated captions as SRT

Pick any video ID—here we’ll use knAGgxzYqw8 (Chase Hughes on What is Money?).

```bash VIDEO="knAGgxzYqw8" # change this to your target ID

yt-dlp --skip-download \ --write-auto-sub \ --sub-lang en \ --sub-format srt \ -o "${VIDEO}.%(ext)s" \ "https://youtu.be/${VIDEO}"

Result: knAGgxzYqw8.en.srt

```

Flags explained

| Flag | Purpose | | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------- | | --skip-download | ignore the actual video, we only want captions | | --write-auto-sub | fall back to YouTube’s auto-generated subtitles | | --sub-lang en | grab English only (adjust if you need another language) | | --sub-format srt | SRT is the simplest to strip; VTT also works | | -o | sets a predictable filename: <id>.en.srt |

---

3 Strip index numbers and timecodes

```bash grep -vE '^[0-9]+$|^[0-9]{2}:' "${VIDEO}.en.srt" \ | sed '/^[[:space:]]*$/d' \

"${VIDEO}.txt" ```

Breakdown

1. grep -vE '^[0-9]+$|^[0-9]{2}:'

2. Removes the line counters (3911) and any line that begins with a timestamp (02:33:40,800 --> …).

3. sed '/^[[:space:]]*$/d'

4. Deletes leftover blank lines.

5. Output is redirected to <ID>.txt—in our example: knAGgxzYqw8.txt.

---

4 (Option-al) Extra polish

Remove bracketed stage cues such as [Music] or [Applause] and collapse back-to-back duplicates:

```bash grep -v '^[.*]$' "${VIDEO}.txt" \ | awk 'prev != $0 {print} {prev=$0}' \

"${VIDEO}_clean.txt" mv "${VIDEO}_clean.txt" "${VIDEO}.txt" ```

---

5 Enjoy your transcript

bash less "${VIDEO}.txt" # page through grep -i "keyword" "${VIDEO}.txt" # quick search

You now have a plain-text file ready for note-taking, quoting, or feeding into your favorite AI summarizer—no browser or third-party web services required.

---

TL;DR (copy-paste cheat sheet)

```bash sudo apt update && sudo apt install ffmpeg jq -y sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp \ -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp && sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp

VIDEO="knAGgxzYqw8" # video ID yt-dlp --skip-download --write-auto-sub --sub-lang en \ --sub-format srt -o "${VIDEO}.%(ext)s" \ "https://youtu.be/${VIDEO}"

grep -vE '^[0-9]+$|^[0-9]{2}:' "${VIDEO}.en.srt" \ | sed '/^[[:space:]]$/d' \ | grep -v '^[.]$' \ | awk 'prev != $0 {print} {prev=$0}' \

"${VIDEO}.txt"

less "${VIDEO}.txt" ```

Happy transcribing!

Adam Malin

adammalin.com

npub15jnttpymeytm80hatjqcvhhqhzrhx6gxp8pq0wn93rhnu8s9h9dsha32lx

You can view and write comments on this or any other post by using the Satcom browser extention.

value4value Did you find any value from this article? Click here to send me a tip!

@ 8173f6e1:e488ac0f

{"voteEventId":"083ae248828a454a7d01b7de12f99ce90297672e0457ec8147bd7cfabd14f044","txHash":"752d3894c5657758d7b9754da3dc38db61662acb5f94c3dcb38077fc33f1bd7e","amount":"1000000000000000000","fee":"1000000000000000000","type":"token-gated-vote-proof"}

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Ich dachte immer, jeder Mensch sei gegen den Krieg, \ bis ich herausfand, dass es welche gibt, \ die nicht hingehen müssen. \ Erich Maria Remarque

Was sollte man von einem Freitag, den 13., schon anderes erwarten?, ist man versucht zu sagen. Jedoch braucht niemand abergläubisch zu sein, um den heutigen Tag als unheilvoll anzusehen. Der israelische «Präventivschlag» von heute Nacht gegen militärische und nukleare Ziele im Iran könnte allem Anschein nach zu einem längeren bewaffneten Konflikt führen – und damit unweigerlich zu weiteren Opfern.

«Wir befinden uns im Krieg», soll ein ranghoher israelischer Militärvertreter gesagt haben, und der Iran wertet den israelischen Angriff laut seinem Außenminister als Kriegserklärung. Na also. Der Iran hat Vergeltungsschläge angekündigt und antwortete zunächst mit Drohnen. Inzwischen ist eine zweite israelische Angriffswelle angelaufen. Ob wir wohl künftig in den Mainstream-Medien durchgängig von einem «israelischen Angriffskrieg auf den Iran» hören und lesen werden?

Dass die zunehmenden Spannungen um das iranische Atomprogramm zu einer akuten Eskalation im Nahen Osten führen könnten, hatte Transition News gestern berichtet. Laut US-Beamten sei Israel «voll bereit», den Iran in den nächsten Tagen anzugreifen, hieß es in dem Beitrag. Heute ist das bereits bittere Realität.

Der Nahe Osten steht übrigens auch auf der Themenliste des diesjährigen Bilderberg-Treffens, das zurzeit in Stockholm stattfindet. Viele Inhalte werden wir allerdings mal wieder nicht erfahren, denn wie immer hocken die «erlauchten» Persönlichkeiten aus Europa und den USA «informell» und unter größter Geheimhaltung zusammen, um über «Weltpolitik» zu diskutieren. Auf der Teinehmerliste stehen auch einige Vertreter aus der Schweiz und aus Deutschland.

Die Anwesenheit sowohl des aktuellen als auch des vorigen Generalsekretärs der NATO lässt vermuten, dass man bei dem Meeting weniger über das Thema «Neutralität» sprechen dürfte. Angesichts des Zustands unseres Planeten ist das schade, denn der Ökonom Jeffrey Sachs hob kürzlich in einem Interview die Rolle der Neutralität in geopolitischen Krisen hervor. Mit Blick auf die Schweiz betonte er, der zunehmende Druck zur NATO-Annäherung widerspreche nicht nur der Bundesverfassung, sondern auch dem historischen Erbe des Landes.

Positives gibt es diese Woche ebenfalls zu berichten. So hat der US-Gesundheitsminister Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nach der «sensationellen» Entlassung aller Mitglieder des Impfberatungsausschusses (wegen verbreiteter direkter Verbindungen zu Pharmaunternehmen) nun auch bereits neue Namen verkündet. Demnach möchte er unter anderem Robert W. Malone, Erfinder der mRNA-«Impfung» als Technologie und prominenter Kritiker der Corona-Maßnahmen, in das Komitee aufnehmen.

Auch die Aufarbeitung der unsinnigen Corona-Politik geht Schrittchen für Schrittchen weiter. In Heidelberg hat die Initiative für Demokratie und Aufklärung (IDA) den Gemeinderat angesichts der katastrophalen Haushaltslage zu einer offenen und ehrlichen Diskussion über die Ursachen der Krise aufgefordert. Das Thema «Corona» sei «das Teuerste, was Heidelberg je erlebt hat», sagte IDA-Stadtrat Gunter Frank im Plenum. Außerdem seien aus den Krisenstabsprotokollen der Stadt auch die enormen Verwerfungen ersichtlich, und es gebe Anlass für tiefgehende Gespräche mit der Stadtverwaltung.

Den juristischen und öffentlichen Druck auf die Kommunen möchte der Unternehmer Markus Böning erhöhen. Seine «Freiheitskanzlei» will Bürgern helfen, die Aufarbeitung selbst in die Hand zu nehmen. Unter dem Motto «Corona-Wiedergutmachung» bietet er Hilfestellung, wie Betroffene versuchen können, sich unrechtmäßige Bußgelder zurückzuholen.

So bleibt uns am Ende dieses finsteren Freitags doch auch Anlass zur Hoffnung. Es gibt definitiv noch Anzeichen von Menschlichkeit. Darauf möchte ich mich konzentrieren, und mit diesem Gefühl verabschiede ich mich ins Wochenende.

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

---

Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben und ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ d62e8d04:569fa79c

In today's fast-paced digital world, where cyber threats are constantly evolving, and blockchain technology is reshaping industries, Privkey LLC emerges as a leader in providing cutting-edge solutions. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Miami, Florida, Privkey LLC is dedicated to safeguarding businesses through its expertise in cybersecurity and blockchain technology. With over 20 years of experience in networking and the Internet, the company positions itself as a trusted advisor, helping organizations navigate the complexities of emerging digital landscapes.

A Mission to Secure the Digital Future

Privkey LLC’s core mission is to protect businesses by delivering high-quality, tailored solutions. Leveraging their deep understanding of cybersecurity and blockchain, they empower organizations to build secure, resilient, and compliant digital infrastructures. Whether it’s safeguarding sensitive financial data or ensuring the integrity of blockchain systems, Privkey LLC combines experience with innovation to meet the unique challenges of the modern era.

Comprehensive Services for a Digital World

Privkey LLC offers a diverse range of auditing and consulting services, focusing on some of the most critical areas in technology today. Below is an overview of their key offerings:

• Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC):As nations explore digital versions of fiat currencies, Privkey LLC provides auditing services to ensure CBDC systems are secure, scalable, and compliant with regulatory standards.

• DeFi and CeFi (Fintech):Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and Centralized Finance (CeFi) represent the future of financial services on the blockchain. Privkey LLC offers expertise in auditing these systems, helping businesses mitigate risks and maintain trust in their financial operations.

• Cybersecurity:With cyber threats on the rise, Privkey LLC delivers robust cybersecurity solutions to protect digital assets and sensitive data from malicious attacks, ensuring businesses remain secure in an increasingly hostile digital environment.

• Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT):As the backbone of blockchain, DLT requires meticulous implementation. Privkey LLC audits DLT systems to ensure they are efficient, secure, and optimized for business needs.

• CryptoCurrency Security Standard (CCSS):For organizations handling cryptocurrencies, compliance with CCSS is essential. Privkey LLC provides certification services to verify adherence to these standards, fostering trust among users and stakeholders.

These services reflect Privkey LLC’s commitment to addressing the diverse needs of businesses operating in the blockchain and cybersecurity domains.

Staying Ahead in a Rapidly Evolving Industry

Privkey LLC doesn’t just provide services—they actively engage with the latest industry trends and innovations. Their team, including professionals like William K. Santiago, frequently shares insights on platforms like LinkedIn. Topics range from Jack Dorsey’s Block unveiling a new Bitcoin hardware wallet to sustainable Bitcoin mining powered by nuclear and solar energy. While these discussions may not directly tie to specific Privkey LLC projects, they demonstrate the company’s deep involvement in the broader blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem. This forward-thinking approach ensures their services remain relevant and cutting-edge.

A Trusted Partner with Proven Expertise

With over two decades of experience in networking and Internet technologies, Privkey LLC brings unparalleled expertise to the table. This foundation allows them to tackle the unique challenges of cybersecurity and blockchain with confidence. As cyber threats grow more sophisticated and blockchain adoption accelerates, Privkey LLC stands ready to help businesses secure their digital futures.

Conclusion

Privkey LLC is more than a consulting firm—it’s a pioneer in cybersecurity and blockchain solutions. By offering specialized auditing and consulting services, staying ahead of industry trends, and leveraging decades of experience, they empower businesses to thrive in a digital world. For organizations looking to secure their digital assets and embrace blockchain technology, Privkey LLC is a reliable partner poised to lead the way.

@ 3c506452:fef9202b

Kia ora mai ra ano e te iwi whanui!

Step 1: Find Your Why:

Going off my own experiences - if you are anything like me you will have the occasional boost of enthusiasm, and intense determination. This could last a couple days, or if you are fortunate, a few weeks. Afterwards, life kicks in again, and you're out of gas.

With this in mind it is important to find something within you that could help carry you along until the next boost.

Action Step:

So grab a pen and paper, and write out why you want to become a Te Reo speaker.

Step 2: Find The Quick Win:

I consider myself to be a speaker of the reo, but I am SO FAR AWAY from my ideal, my vision, which is to think only in the reo. It would be silly of me to only consider myself a speaker of the reo once I attained that goal. Now, a speaker of the reo is... "Someone who speaks it". It doesn't matter how little you know now, your effort and the time you put in won't let you down.

Action Step:

1. Follow this link > Ngata Dictionary
2. Type in a word in the "Ngata English to Māori" box then press search. For example, let's use "hello".
3. Copy the sentence in te reo.
4. Follow the link > Papa Reo API, paste the sentence then press korero.
5. Mimic what you hear!

This is a great way to practice speaking the reo! You can have 100% confidence in these sentences provided to you from the Ngata Dictionary. The Papareo API is also a fantastic way to get instant feedback on pronunciation.

@ d68401a8:11aad383

Before AI, building a website posed a technological barrier. Not everyone was able to create even a simple contact page. It often meant paying for a yearly subscription (often too expensive for most), for templates that still required manual work, or paying even more to hire someone to do it for you.

Today, thanks to AI, building a website has become technologically accessible. Even if you still prefer to rely on a third-party company, the ease brought by AI is driving more competitive pricing.

In the domain world, before Handshake, owning a top-level domain (TLD) was economically out of reach. The application process set by ICANN was tedious and expensive. For most people, the only option was to rent a second-level domain, one not controlled by individuals and subject to whatever fees the TLD owner chose to charge.

Now, thanks to the Handshake DNS protocol, anyone can own a top-level domain and create an infinite number of second-level domains under it, at virtually no cost.

Owning a plot of land (a top-level domain) on the internet should be open and easy. Handshake aims to pave the way toward that vision, you can start to explore by using Namebase , Shakestation or Bob wallet .

@ 87f5ac31:60daf34c

hahahah 하블라 아유 오케이?

@ b1e9b8df:07685594

OERTR steht für eine Art, freie Bildungsressourcen (Open Educational Resources) über das dezentrale Protokoll Nostr zu verbreiten, auffindbar zu machen und weiterzuentwickeln.

Statt zentraler Plattformen oder Silos nutzen wir Relays – offene Knoten im Nostr-Netzwerk – um Materialien, Metadaten, Annotationen und Kurse dauerhaft, hoch verfügbar und maschinenlesbar im interoperablen Datenraum verfügbar zu machen.

---

🚀 Unser Ziel

• OER auffindbar machen – über strukturierte Events (z. B. Kind 30023, 30142)

• Mitmachen ermöglichen – durch einfache Workflows mit git, Matrix & Nostr

• Bildung dezentral denken – jenseits von Plattformlogiken

• Metadaten lebendig halten – durch Community-gestützte Annotation & Remixbarkeit

---

🔧 Womit wir arbeiten

• 💬 Matrix zur Koordination & Diskussion

• 💻 git(hub) zur offenen Entwicklung und Dokumentation

---

📡 Mach mit!

➡ Nostr folgen:\ 👉 npub1k85m3haymj3ggjknfrxm5kwtf5umaze4nyghnp29a80lcpmg2k2q54v05a (nähere Infos auf https://github.com/edufeed-org/OERTR )

➡ Matrix beitreten:\ 🟢 #OERTR:rpi-virtuell.de\ https://matrix.to/#/%23OERTR:rpi-virtuell.de\ Zum Diskutieren, Planen, Ausprobieren.

➡ GitHub anschauen:\ 📂 https://github.com/edufeed-org/OERTR\ Mit Beispieldaten, n8n-Workflows, NIP-Verlinkungen & mehr.

---

🧠 Ideen zum Start

• 🔍 Indexe für OER-Projekte (z. B. OERinfo, rpi-virtuell, WirLernenOnline)

• 📚 Tagging-Events für Fachbereiche, Zielgruppen & Lizenztypen

• 🤝 Event-Verknüpfung mit Mastodon, Mobilizon, Wikidata

• 🧩 Mitdenken beim Aufbau eines offenen Bildungsraums via Nostr

---

📎 Beispiel: OER-Material posten

json { "kind": 30142, "tags": [ ["d", "https://example.org/oer1234"], ["r", "https://example.org/oer1234"], ["subject", "Ethik"], ["author", "Max Mustermann"], ["license", "CC-BY 4.0"] ], "content": "Material zur Gewaltfreien Kommunikation für die 5. Klasse" }

💡 Fragen? Ideen?

Wir freuen uns über Feedback, Pull Requests oder ein einfaches "Hallo!"\ ➡ Schreib uns im Matrix-Raum oder auf Nostr .

OERTR – ein Netzwerk. Kein Silo.

@ efc2b6e5:99c53c19

AI companies massively influence society by projecting their values on ML models, whether we want it or not. It'd be great if at least some people in the companies knew how exactly they influence society, could make certain predictions, or even make ML models themselves predict users' worldviews and some of their behavior.

Some might argue that AI systems already do something like that. I believe they could do it much better: chatbots could be more balanced in terms of security (they are definitely overcensored) and recommender systems, for instance, could contribute to healthy personal and collective transformations (rather than just competing in ability to steal users' attention and trap it in the echo chambers).

Reductionism is an obstacle in AI development

Even most reliable knowledge doesn't solve some of the problems that are already in demand. Even least reliable knowledge still may contain something useful for our problems. While we lack reliable and noncontradictory knowledge, we can still benefit from certain synthesis of working ideas. There's approach that makes it possible to look at the knowledge from a very broad perspective, do such synthesis, and benefit from emergent properties of the synthesis.

Integral (Meta-)Theory created by Ken Wilber is probably the best known attempt to enable the possibility to form and navigate the big picture understanding in a hope to address issues of the epoch we've recently entered.

IMO it has certain challenges that make it repellent to IT:

1. Fundamental psychological theories on which the Integral Theory is based are still pretty fragile; they need time to become mature enough and recognized (while it doesn't look like we have that time). There are endless edit wars on Wikipedia, which makes me feel depressing about possibilities to even introduce Spiral Dynamics and Multiple Intelligences to IT people.
2. Emphasis on controversial interpretations of certain arational states of consciousness.

It's hard to address the first challenge; however, I recently discovered a new “secularized” Non-Reductionist Philosophy launched by David Long, which, among other things, uses wisdom from Integral Theory and attempts to address the second challenge. I'm glad that there are people who don't just criticize the Integral Theory, its community and Wilber's positions but are also developing the new meta-theories.

NR can also be a good way to get familiar with other meta-theories, so one could choose whatever works the best for their problems. For instance, if you're working on something as exotic as some competitor to EEG-powered meditation device, perhaps you will find Integral Theory relevant to study as well, since it's more focused on the states.

I'd like to point out a couple of moments I noticed in the video "Why Non-Reductionism Is A Better Meta-Theory" that caught my attention, as well as in some other older videos. There's not much to comment on the content itself rather than on the form of the content. This feedback might be used for improvements/elaborations in the next videos and just for everyone curious about the new meta-theory. But first

Why do I post here?

Specifically for the deep topics that relate to the current epoch, I no longer find engaging in the YouTube/FB/Reddit/Diqus/Giscus/etc. discussions useful anymore, at least due to broken and almost omnipresent AI-based censorship, that keeps “improving” at randomly shadow-banning people. How many deep and valuable opinions we no longer see?

BTW, it's possible to create Reddit-like communities here at Nostr as well, using Satellite client for example. I believe it's a better place for NR, Rebel Wisdom and many others.

References to full materials used for criticism

There are curious clips with Wilber in the video. It'd be great to have links in the description (or at least titles of the full videos if it's copyrighted material) so viewers could easier form their own independent opinions. I find it important during the age of information overload and narrative warfare. This will also improve SEO.

Emergentism FAQ

There's a strong position on emergence of consciousness; it seems it's not even a hypothesis in NR and I guess that makes some people so reactive.

I think it would be great to have an FAQ page to possibly make future debates more ecological and fruitful. Some of the things that could be elaborated in the FAQ:

• importance of distinction between philosophical theory (inductive reasoning? or actually deductive reasoning? I'm confused here) and scientific theory (deductive reasoning)
• the fact that for now counterarguments usually fall into the categories of “ignorance fallacy”, “false equivalency fallacy” and “God of the gaps” which aren't something sufficient; the whole point of challenge was to find at least a logically valid counterposition (ideally a counterposition that is sound with currently available scientific ~~facts~~ theories), not the nitpicking attacks
• what kind of emergence is meant, is it important here at all and why.

Debates moderation

Probably most of the debates converge to consensus, which are fruitful anyway. There are a few interesting conflicting debates as well. However, I found this specific conflicting debate with Matt Segall quite exceptional.

Matt's position was not understood. He was more interested in a dialogue rather than debates and I think it would be more productive. However, in this specific case, my guess is it would literally take hours to just figure out the common language on a certain concept he mentions.

My humble guess is that a combination of negotiator and moderator with a primary perceiving personality type function (if typologies work at all) could be a step to more meaningful and ecological dialogues in the future. But such negotiator/moderator should also be skilled enough to reflect most challenging parts using more “rational language” as best as possible. These people are rare. Basically I mean the style of dialogues that happened between theoretical physicist David Bohm and Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti: IMO these were the talks where both sides at some point were barely transcending limitations of their languages and focusing more on intuition in order to understand each other. Much fuzzier and spontaneous dialogues, which aren't prematurely limited by too harsh rationality. Similar thing (with shorter periods of negotiation) could be combined with debating as well.

I hope NR community will be open to understanding more perspectives and won't end up turning into something like a cold and scary crystallization of rational arrogance; that would be damaging and quite opposite to the healthy intentions of the whole project.

Final thoughts

I like the clarity and density of the presented ideas in the video, the choice of lines of development in the map and the alternative to the Integral Methodological Pluralism. I like the mentioned interpretation of “free” will, very much resonates with how I personally interpret it. Tritone-ish devilish sounds in the cons sections is a nice aesthetic choice as well.

I guess there's a lot to learn from NR, no matter what positions we hold on the “rational spirituality” and that sort of stuff. Just to avoid projections and misunderstandings: I'm in a neutral position to all the post-postmodern discourses (NR, Integral, Metamodernism, etc.); I care about these philosophies, make my own distinctions on what's healthy or not, and my positions don't necessarily perfectly match with some of the claims these philosophies make.

Thank you David Long for launching this philosophy and the movement; I'm looking forward to the next videos!

I'd appreciate reposts and all this as well, thanks!

@ f0fd6902:a2fbaaab

What can't fungi do? Fungi come in all kinds of delightfully enchanting and bizarre forms and are the ultimate do-it-alls. Some of them are edible or medicinal; they help organic gardeners keep their gardens happy; they eat plastic, and they glow in the dark. Fungi-based biomaterials also have the potential to help us build more sustainable homes or make more eco-friendly products; heck, they can even talk to each other in their own secret language.

Not surprisingly, they can also make some interesting music, with a little help from Canadian musician Tarun Nayar, the mastermind who makes nature-inspired electronic music under the name Modern Biology.

Source: https://www.treehugger.com/modern-biology-musician-makes-music-using-mushrooms-7485168

Video with mushrooms sound like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHwybeMXFAA&t=22s

https://stacker.news/items/1005531

@ 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

In this episode, host Marty speaks with Ken, a former CIA deputy chief and now head of government affairs at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, about Bitcoin’s growing relevance in U.S. national security and policy circles. Ken traces his Bitcoin journey from professional curiosity within the CIA, studying adversarial use cases like the Lazarus Group, to personal conviction following events like the Canadian trucker protests, which exposed the dangers of financial censorship. Contrary to popular belief, he reveals that many in the intelligence community support Bitcoin for its alignment with American values such as sovereignty and freedom. The conversation highlights a major cultural shift in Washington, where policymakers now view Bitcoin as a strategic asset rather than a criminal tool. Ken stresses that the future hinges on whether Bitcoin shapes institutions or is co-opted by them, and that political engagement is crucial to ensure the former. He argues Bitcoin can help solve systemic problems from fiscal irresponsibility to geopolitical instability, but only if the industry continues to organize, advocate, and embed its values into national policy.

Best Quotes

"Either institutions are going to win, or Bitcoin is going to win."

"Bitcoin naturally washes out leverage… it's what makes Bitcoin antifragile."

"The CIA didn’t create Bitcoin, but they sure are paying attention now."

"We were all Satoshi."

"Let’s not test the resistance-money thesis in the United States."

"Bitcoin strengthens U.S. values, freedom, private property, sovereignty."

"Bitcoin is political, but it doesn't have to be partisan."

"If you're in a federal agency, the only incentive is to spend more. Bitcoin changes that."

"Don't underestimate your voice. If you keep the phones ringing, they listen."

Conclusion

This episode offers a rare glimpse into how Bitcoin is increasingly viewed as a serious strategic asset within the U.S. intelligence and policy communities. Ken, with his high-level government background and current role in Bitcoin advocacy, underscores the shift from skepticism to engagement among policymakers. His message is clear: Bitcoiners are no longer outsiders, they have a seat at the table, and with sustained political action and education, they can shape the future of Bitcoin policy. The time to engage is now, because the battle for Bitcoin’s role in society is already in motion.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
0:26 - Ken's background
6:58 - Tornado/Samourai, surveillance state
11:53 - Reestablishing trust
14:23 - Bitkey
15:18 - CIA bitcoin theory
18:42 - Neutral reserve asset
23:52 - Unchained
24:20 - BPI
29:49 - CLARITY and Secret Service message
33:54 - Withstanding a change in administration
40:03 - Institutions win or bitcoin wins
46:43 - Shrinking gov with bitcoin
57:47 - BPI summit

Transcript

00:00:00 compared to China or Russia, do we have a comparable advantage in gold? How do we compete with China? And this is what the kinds of things CI will think about. Bitcoin is a natural option. At the end of the day, Bitcoin undermines the authority of the Chinese Communist Party. Either institutions are going to win or Bitcoin is going to win. But we do fundamentally on some level need institutions to make the country run. We want those institutions to be properly incentivized. In 10 years, Bitcoin is

00:00:19 either at a million dollars or is zero dollars. Ken, it's great to have you on the show. Thank you for joining me. Marty, finally. We've been we've been kicking us around for a few weeks. I'm glad we uh glad we were finally able to make it work. As I was telling you, in the middle of a move, conference in the middle of that move. It's been a hectic week, so I think I'm finally settling in. As you can see, no bookshelf, but we have stacked books behind me. Hopefully, they will be on on shelves soon.

00:00:52 No, there there are definitely ways there are ways in the world to get you know to get credits on um you know uh what do you call it? Um uh we're good Catholics, you know, when you when you pass and don't go to heaven. Um come on. Thank you. Well, moving is purgatory credit. So, I've done it many times in my life. So, I uh I feel for you. Well, thank you. But I'm really excited for this conversation and likewise the event in a few weeks, the BPI event down in DC, the summit, we met about a month ago, two months ago now at

00:01:26 this point in Austin during the takeover. And Zach was very eager to introduce you to me considering the the history of the show, topics we covered. And I think I'm excited for this cuz I'm infinitely curious to learn how somebody with your pedigree and your resume got into Bitcoin is now working for the Bitcoin Policy Institute as a director of government affairs. So for anybody listening who was unaware of Ken's resume, he did 20 years in government culminating as deputy chief of operations at the CIA Center for Cyber

00:02:01 Intelligence. uh you've worked overseas for the US State Department and now you're advocating on behalf of Bitcoin on Capitol Hill. So, how does somebody with that resume go from statecraft to cipher punk sort of ideas? Yeah. No, so I um like everybody else, I uh I um my my Bitcoin journey is a little bit everybody everybody has a unique journey, right? Um mine actually started at CIA, believe it or not. And it was for purely professional reasons. I um so I was an operations officer. I spent most of my career overseas um as

00:02:37 most of us do. Um but my last two years, my last two turn tours at CIA, I was at the center for cyber intelligence, which is CIA's cyber unit. Um and my first job there, I was group ch I was a operations chief for a group that worked on cyber threat issues. And this was in 2018. So you remember this was when Lazarus group the North Koreans figured out that stealing crypto was a lot easier than like you know trying to rob banks. Um this is when ransomware broke out as a serious problem just preceded you may

00:03:04 remember the Colonial Pipeline hack that shut down you know gasoline shipments to the east coast. So in 2018 um and it's kind of funny like I this is people say did the CIA create Bitcoin. I can tell you in 2018 when policy makers first had to confront its use by actors as an issue like nobody was ready for it. Like if they created it, it was tucked away and hidden in the basement cuz the the bench for people with crypto knowledge in general, digital assets, certainly Bitcoin was really really really shallow. Um I remember we had two

00:03:33 guys um who kind of had background in it and then you they became superstars because all of a sudden we were calling upon them to teach us about Bitcoin and digital assets in general. Um, but yeah, that's so I learned and like everything else, I learned about it because I had to because people we cared people we cared about were using it. Um, but like everything else there there was sort of a mind virus to it. Um, and I I admit, you know, I during co I was in the uh I was in the altcoin casino. I was defying

00:04:00 and memecoining and it was it was fun, you know. No, I I I don't hold any hate for the uh for the alcoiners. People do what they want with their money. Um but I you know that that was when it was during co um I had been sort of buying in 2018 but during co when I really started learning because this is what everybody learned right um and I you know for me Bitcoin was immediately attracted me to it and I was sort of inspired by um I mean the co Kenny trucker protest was something really important to me um I saw how it was

00:04:29 being used um but also sort of in my day job you know I I had a pretty good understanding of how the government uses financial financial tools as a weapon. Um, freezing bank accounts, OFAC sanctions, that kind of thing. And if you're on the, you know, on the giving end of that, that's great. Those are great tools to have if you're the government. Uh, not so great if you're on the other end of it. And, you know, watching these Canadian truckers the first time, you know, you'll be able to, it's very easy

00:04:54 to say, "Yeah, sanction the Iranian, sanction North Korea, whatever." You know, I'm not Iranian. Um but when you see all of a sudden Kat and Trucker people you had some sympathy with being targets of financial you know weaposition of the financial system it you know it struck it struck a it struck a nerve like a really really profound stinging shot to my consciousness my conscious about this issue. Um so for me for the first thing about Bitcoin was um was permissionless transactions that that's that's what got me into it. Um

00:05:23 then of course you go from there and by the time I left the government 2022 I had I was f I was you know full boore I was you know attending meetups and um that's when I started doing some advocacy stuff on Capitol Hill and and and messing around with uh David and Granny PPI doing some advocacy stuff but yeah but it it comes from my time at CIA and yeah I think the um the uh I think what might surprise some people is there are a lot of Bitcoiners um not just at CIA but across the whole national

00:05:52 security establishment And I think they're into it for the same reason that you know that everybody most of your listeners are right like it's you see what's happening in the world. You see the challenges we're facing. You see how governments use financial tools to weaponize them against opposition. You know it's it's very natural that if you have that kind of insight that you look for things to protect yourself and Bitcoin is obvious. So I I I tell a funny story when I um when I was first into it there was um cubicle one of the

00:06:17 guys and he had a bumper

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

Carl Rickertsen completely exits his position in Strategy as insiders sell $864 million worth of stock.

As reported by Protos, Carl Rickertsen, a member of Strategy’s board of directors, has fully liquidated his entire shareholding for over $10 million.

Rickertsen’s decision to completely exit his Strategy position marks a sharp shift from his previous investment stance. In 2022, the executive had shown confidence in the company by investing $700,000 in MSTR shares.

On June 13, 2022, Rickertsen purchased $608,000 worth of MSTR stock at $152 per share. Since then, the stock has rallied 152%. However, by 2023, the director had already sold half of his 4,000-share position.

Rickertsen’s approach to managing his holdings has become increasingly aggressive in recent years. Since joining the board in 2019, he has adopted a strategy of immediately liquidating any stock options received.

One example of this tactic occurred on June 2, when he acquired and sold 26,390 MSTR shares on the same day.

As of June 5 this year, Rickertsen reported zero vested Strategy shares, marking the end of his equity involvement with the company.

Rickertsen’s situation is not an isolated case within Strategy. Data from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reveals a controversial picture. According to information gathered by secform4.com, over the past five years, total insider sales have exceeded purchases by $864 million. This imbalance in insider transactions could raise questions about executives’ confidence in the company’s future.

The post Strategy director liquidates all his MSTR shares appeared first on Atlas21.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

When Richard Scotford moved to Costa Rica in 2018, he had no idea he would become a key figure in a thriving Bitcoin economy.

A longtime Bitcoin holder who initially saw it through the lens of speculation, Scotford’s journey led him to embrace Bitcoin’s deeper purpose and spearhead Bitcoin Jungle — a grassroots movement bringing real-world Bitcoin adoption to Costa Rica.

Bitcoin circular economies create holistic value for Bitcoiners

Bitcoin Jungle is inspired by Bitcoin Beach in El Salvador but uniquely adapted to Costa Rica’s economic landscape. Unlike El Salvador, where Bitcoin was positioned as a tool for financial inclusion, Costa Rica already has a fairly stable banking system.

The real issue? The friction of moving money. Expats, business owners, and tourists struggle with high fees, banking red tape, and slow transactions. Bitcoin helped solve a lot of these problems.

The Birth of Bitcoin Jungle

Scotford and his team launched Bitcoin Jungle in late 2021 with a simple goal: get bitcoin into people’s hands and make it usable. However, there was one challenge — he had no technical background.

Determined to create a circular bitcoin economy, Scotford networked aggressively. He attended the first Adopting Bitcoin conference in El Salvador, approaching strangers with his vision:

“I was just walking around trying to find people who could help me make this economy, going up to random people saying ‘Hey, what can you do? We’re trying to make a circular economy in Costa Rica, can you help us?’ They all thought I was crazy.”

The breakthrough came when he turned to Bitcoin Twitter. Nicolas Burtey from Galoy encouraged him to create a wallet, and developer Lee Salminen forked the Bitcoin Beach wallet for their project. 

“Within two weeks of Adopting Bitcoin, Lee forked the Galoy Bitcoin Beach wallet, which took Galoy by surprise. Even though they made their wallet to be forked if necessary, I don’t think they were expecting people to do it so fast and, I’d like to say, so well. They were like, ‘Okay, cool, who are these guys doing this?’”

Finally Bitcoin Jungle had its own working wallet, surprising even the Galoy team with the speed of execution.

Grassroots Adoption: One Vendor at a Time

How do you build a bitcoin economy from scratch? Scotford’s answer was simple: start at the farmers’ markets.

“We were like, okay, we’re going to get all the bespoke niche market sellers who are in this area. We have all these beautiful farmers markets, and we decided to approach these people first,” Scotford explained.

His team took a strategic approach, targeting market gatekeepers first.

“If you want to talk to every individual person, it’s really difficult. But if you can talk to the person who is the owner of the market, and then they can introduce you to their market stores, you’re already halfway there.”

Going stall by stall, they pitched Bitcoin’s advantages — no bank fees and better payment options. But adoption didn’t happen overnight, so Bitcoin Jungle initially offered a safety net — vendors could cash out at the end of the day.

“We would say to the vendors, ‘Look, accept bitcoin, and at the end of the day, if you don’t want to keep the bitcoin, we’ll buy it off you,’” Scotford recalled.

“When we first started, maybe 30–40% of the vendors were cashing up every day or at the weekends. Lee would be walking around with big fistfuls of money, cashing out vendors.”

But over time, something shifted — they started keeping their bitcoin.

“Eventually, the vendors started to learn themselves that, ‘Oh, actually it’s better to keep it.’ They would then pay for their tables in the markets using bitcoin. They thought, ‘Well, I don’t want to keep this bitcoin, I don’t really know what to do with it, but I can pay for my table.’ So there, the circular economy starts to happen.”

Today, Bitcoin Jungle runs with minimal intervention, and Scotford takes pride in their reliability.

“When you come here to Costa Rica, what we really pride ourselves on is that if someone says they accept bitcoin, 99% of the time, they will. And if they’re part of Bitcoin Jungle, they will 100% accept bitcoin and you will have a fluid experience with it.”

By mid-summer 2024 over 380 locations in Costa Rica accepted bitcoin

The Bitcoin Jungle Wallet and Real Usage

Bitcoin Jungle is an open-source community project built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

Acting as a community bank, the project processes a large number of transactions daily. To encourage proper security practices, Scotford’s team alerts their peers, reminding users to move their bitcoin to cold storage.

“If you’ve got too much bitcoin on your wallet, we send you a message telling you to move it to cold storage,” he explained. For larger businesses, they even offer hands-on assistance to secure funds properly.

Unlike the HODL-only philosophy that many Bitcoiners advocate, Bitcoin Jungle encourages spending.

“Michael Saylor says don’t spend your bitcoin. We say the opposite,” Scotford laughed. “We’re the antithesis of that. You need to spend it.”

Bitcoin Jungle’s Unique Approach to Costa Rica

Bitcoin Jungle isn’t just another Bitcoin adoption effort; it’s tailored to Costa Rica’s economy. The wallet operates in Costa Rican colónes, making transactions feel familiar to residents while ensuring tourists and expats can still interact easily.

The team has also introduced low-fee bitcoin ATMs, point-of-sale integrations, and partnerships that allow users to pay in bitcoin while the recipient receives local currency.

A major breakthrough came when Francis Pouliot from Bull Bitcoin joined forces with Bitcoin Jungle, bringing his expertise in banking infrastructure to the project.

This collaboration enabled seamless bitcoin payments that integrate directly with Costa Rica’s financial system, allowing users to pay anyone, even businesses that don’t directly accept bitcoin, while the recipient receives funds in colónes or dollars.

“I can go to a hardware store, order steel for my new basketball court, pay in bitcoin, and the store gets dollars,” Scotford said. “For a non-tech guy like me, it’s magical.”

Why Aren’t There More Bitcoin Jungles?

Scotford sees an opportunity for more localized bitcoin economies.

“There should be a Bitcoin Harbor, a Bitcoin Mountain, a Bitcoin Driveway,” he joked. “But instead of waiting for permission or corporate funding, people need to take action themselves.”

He emphasizes that building a circular bitcoin economy doesn’t require deep pockets. “I probably gave away $600 worth of bitcoin when we started — just $3 here, $4 there — to get people using it.”

The Future of Bitcoin Jungle

Bitcoin Jungle continues to grow, recently hosting events like the Bitcoin Freedom Festival and integrating bitcoin into community projects, including a school where tuition can be paid in bitcoin.

“The institutions have come in, but the grassroots projects haven’t caught up,” Scotford observed. “It’s time for people to stop sitting on their hands and start building.”

Bitcoin is permissionless, no one has to wait for approval to start using it. Bitcoin Jungle proves that with vision and persistence, anyone can build a thriving Bitcoin economy, one market stall at a time.

Get the latest from Bitcoin Jungle: follow them on X

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

The Blockchain Group, Europe’s first publicly listed bitcoin treasury company, has received the green light from its shareholders to raise more than €10 billion (approximately $11 billion) to buy more bitcoin.

This is one of the biggest bitcoin treasury plays in Europe as the company wants to speed up its bitcoin accumulation and become a major institutional buyer.

At the Annual General Meeting held on June 10, 39% of the voting rights represented by shareholders voted in favor of the financing plan, with over 95% of the votes cast in favor.

The approval gives the board of directors broad financial powers to issue shares and other securities to raise capital, either with or without preferential subscription rights.

This will allow the company to raise funds quickly in public or private markets to buy bitcoin when the time is right.

CEO Jean-Philippe Casadepax-Soulet said:

“I would like to thank our shareholders for the trust they have placed in us with the approval of these new financial authorizations, that will enable us to accelerate our Bitcoin Treasury strategy, focused on increasing the number of bitcoins per share on a fully diluted basis over time.”

The Blockchain Group’s strategy is to increase the number of bitcoin per share. This means that the company aims to buy more bitcoin without diluting existing shareholders’ ownership, and provide exposure to a growing hard-asset reserve within the company’s equity.

According to Bitcoin Treasuries, the company already holds 1,471 BTC, worth around €160 million.

Earlier this month, it added 624 BTC, worth around €69 million, to its treasury. These are just the beginning of a much bigger accumulation effort funded by the recent shareholder-approved capital increase.

Alongside ordinary shares, the financial powers granted to the board include the ability to issue preferred shares, warrants and convertible bonds. This gives the company the tools to optimize funding costs and respond to market demand.

This is on top of the €300 million at-the-market (ATM) facility announced earlier with asset manager TOBAM, where the company can issue new shares at market price. TOBAM is the sole subscriber under this ATM and can buy up to 39% of the company if the facility is fully used.

In addition to the capital raise, shareholders elected Alexandre Laizet as a board member and appointed him Deputy CEO in charge of the Bitcoin strategy. Laizet’s 6-year term will end in 2030, which shows the long-term vision for digital assets.

The appointment highlights the importance of bitcoin within the company’s overall structure which also includes subsidiaries in data intelligence, AI consulting and decentralized technology.

@ 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.

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

This article was originally published on dev.to by satshacker.

Alright, you’ve built a useful and beautiful website, tool or app. However, monetization isn’t a priority and you’d rather keep the project free, ads-free and accessible?

Accepting donations would be an option, but how? A PayPal button? Stripe? Buymeacoffe? Patreon?

All of these services require a bank account and KYC verification, before you can send and receive donations – not very convenient.

If we only could send value over the internet, with just one click and without the need of a bank account…

Oh, hold on, that’s bitcoin. The decentralized protocol to send value across the globe. Money over TCP/IP.

In this article, we’ll learn how anyone can easily add a payment button or donation widget on a website or app.

Let’s get into it.

Introduction

Bitcoin is digital money that you can send and receive without the need for banks. While bitcoin is extremely secure, it’s not very fast. The maximum transactions per second (TPS) the network can handle is about 7. Obviously that’s not useful for daily payments or microtransactions.

If you’d like to dig deeper into how bitcoin works, a great read is “Mastering Bitcoin” by Andreas Antonopoulos.

Bitcoin vs Lightning

If you’d like to receive bitcoin donations “on-chain” all you need is a bitcoin wallet. You simply display your bitcoin address on your site and that’s it. You can receive donations.

It would look something like this; 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa

Instead of showing the actual bitcoin address, you can also turn it into a QR code.

However, this is not a recommended solution. Using static on-chain addresses has two major downsides. It lowers privacy for you and your donnors and it’s a UTXO disaster because many small incoming transactions could beocme hard to consolidate in the future.

For donations and small transactions, the Lightning Network is the better option. Lightning allows for instant settlement with fees only a fraction of a cent.

Similar to bitcoin, you have the choice between non-custodial and custodial wallets. This means, either you have full control over your money or the wallet provider has.

Option 1: Lightning Address

With the lightning address feature, you an easily receive donations to an email like address.

It looks like this: yourname@wallet.com

Many wallets support lightning addresses and make it easy to create one. Then, you simple add the address to your donation page and you’re ready to receive tips.

You can also add a link link as in lightning:yourname@wallet.com and compatible lightning wallets and browser wallets will detect the address.

How to get a Lightning Address Fast

Option 2: Lightning Donation Widgets

If you like to take it a step further, you can also create a more enhanced donation checkout flow. Of course you could programm something yourself, there are many open source libraries you can build upon. If you want a simple plug-and-play solution, here are a couple of options:

Name

Type

Registration

SatSale

Self-hosted

No KYC

BTCPay Server

Self-hosted

No KYC

Pay With Flash

Widget

Email

Geyser Fund

Widget

Email

The Giving Block

Hosted

KYC

OpenNode

Hosted

KYC

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SatSale (GitHub)

Lightweight, self-hosted Bitcoin/Lightning payment processor. No KYC.

Ideal for developers comfortable with server management. Simple to deploy, supports both on-chain and Lightning, and integrates with WooCommerce.

---

BTCPay Server

Powerful, open-source, self-hosted processor for Bitcoin and Lightning. No KYC.

Supports multiple currencies, advanced features, and full privacy. Requires technical setup and maintenance. Funds go directly to your wallet; great for those seeking full control.

---

Pay With Flash

Easiest for indie hackers. Add a donation widget with minimal code and no KYC. Payments go directly to your wallet for a 1.5% fee.

Setup Steps:

1. Sign up at PayWithFlash.com
2. Customize your widget in the dashboard
3. Embed the code:

1. Test to confirm functionality

Benefits:

• Minimal technical skills required
• Supports one-time or recurring donations
• Direct fund transfer, no intermediaries

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Geyser Fund

Crowdfunding platform. Widget-based, connects to your wallet, email registration.Focused on Bitcoin crowdfunding, memberships and donations.

---

The Giving Block

Hosted, KYC required. Integrates with fiat and crypto, best for nonprofits or larger organizations.

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OpenNode

Hosted, KYC required. Accept Bitcoin payments and donations; supports conversion to fiat, suitable for businesses and nonprofits.

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Summary

• Fast, low-code setup: Use Pay With Flash or Geyser Fund.
• Privacy and control: Choose SatSale or BTCPay Server (requires technical skills).
• Managed, compliant solutions: The Giving Block or OpenNode.

Choose based on your technical comfort, privacy needs, and project scale.

I hope this article helped you. If you added bitcoin donations, share your link in the comments and I will send you a few satoshis maybe

@ 99e7936f:d5d2197c

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

„BORN TUBI FREE“   statt   „VIEL FREE“

Ja, Sie haben richtig gelesen.

Bildung hatte in meinem Elternhaus keinen hohen Stellenwert. Für meine Eltern war es erstrebenswert, ein gutes Heim mit großem Garten, etwas Komfort und gutes Essen zu haben. Sowohl mein Vater als auch meine Mutter hatten starken Bezug zur Landwirtschaft und Nutztierhaltung. Tiere, die keinen Nutzen hatten, waren in den Augen meiner Eltern Luxus. Auch für mich ist es heute wichtig, Zugang zu Grün und zur Natur zu haben. Ich liebe Tiere, die keinen Nutzen haben, und Pflanzen aller Art. Im Sommer stundenlang unter dem Blätterdach eines alten Baumes zu liegen und dem Knacken der Äste zuzuhören, ist für mich Glück.

In meiner Kindheit gab es blökende Schafe und Lämmer statt Klavierunterricht. Wir kletterten bei der Obsternte auf den Baum oder sammelten Fallobst statt im Sportverein zu turnen. Statt Büchern gab es Besuche bei Tante und Onkel, die Geschichten von früher erzählten. Und statt Museumsbesuchen gab es die Werkstatt meines Vaters und das Hobby meiner Mutter, alte Möbel zu sammeln und selbst zu restaurieren. Die Themen des Lebens lernte ich nicht durch Theateraufführungen kennen, sondern durch den Alltag und die Menschen in meiner unmittelbaren Umgebung.

Durch die Schule kam ich erstmals in Kontakt mit der Möglichkeit, dass man Dinge auch abstrakt-theoretisch lernen konnte. Schule war für mich auch ein Ort, an dem ich ganz nebenbei das Sozialverhalten anderer Menschen studieren konnte. Das war für mich als Kind und Teenager ein wichtiges Korrektiv. Aber vor allem habe ich über die Schule gelernt, dass es eine ganze Welt zu entdecken gab, die mir bis dahin unbekannt war. Bildung war für mich nie etwas, mit dem man angibt. Bildung war für mich ein Geschenk, eine Überraschung, eine Freude, ein Anfang von etwas Neuem, eine Hoffnung, manchmal eine Angst, es nicht zu schaffen, aber immer wieder eine Quelle von Verstehen und neuen Fragen. Bildung ist für mich heute eine riesige Landkarte, die ich nach Herzenslust bereisen kann, wenn ich mag. Auf meiner Landkarte gibt es noch so viele weiße Flecken. Ich habe mein Abitur mit 29 Jahren ohne die emotionale Unterstützung meiner Eltern nachgeholt. Meine Eltern ahnten schon, dass sich nach dem Abitur ein „teures“ Studium anschließen würde. Auch das war in ihren Augen Luxus, denn ich hatte ja bereits eine Ausbildung.

Nach dem Krieg hatten viele Menschen gar nicht die Möglichkeit, Schulbildung zu erlangen. Im Vordergrund stand, einen guten Job zu finden, Kinder zu bekommen und etwas aufzubauen, ein Haus zu bauen, sich Urlaub im sonnigen Süden leisten zu können. Frauen, die in den 60er Jahren nicht heirateten und stattdessen studieren wollten, waren in der Welt meiner Eltern nicht sichtbar. Bildung war eine stille Sehnsucht, an die man nicht mal im Traum denken durfte, so kam es mir in meiner Familie als Teenager manchmal vor. Das muss mit dem materiellen Mangel meiner Eltern in ihrer Kindheit zu tun gehabt haben. Ich habe dieses Phänomen auch bei den Eltern von Freunden oder bei Verwandten beobachten können. Materieller Wohlstand schien wichtiger als irgendwelche fernen Ziele und Horizonte. Erst mit fortschreitendem Alter fingen meine Eltern an, sich hobbymäßig und theoretisch zu bilden. Sie besuchten zwar keine Kurse in der Volkshochschule, aber sie kauften sich Sachbücher zu den verschiedensten Themen oder machten Kulturreisen in die neuen Bundesländer. Das war für sie der pure Luxus. Sie besuchten Schlösser und Burgen, mein Vater liebte es, in rustikaler Umgebung oder in historischen Gebäuden an schön gedeckten Tischen zu essen, während meine Mutter die Holzmaserung der Möbel genau betrachtete und befühlte.

Da ich diesen „Bildungsluxus“ aber deutlich vor meinem Rentenalter haben wollte, nahm ich die zähen Diskussionen mit meinen Eltern wegen einer finanziellen Unterstützung meines Studiums in Kauf. Bildung ist ein Grundbedürfnis von Menschen, das von ganz allein entsteht, wenn es nicht aktiv unterdrückt wird. Das hat die Evolution vermutlich so angelegt, damit man ab und zu auch mal das Gewohnte verlässt, um Neues zu entdecken, weil Flexibilität die Überlebenschancen der Spezies erhöht.

Bildung ist ein Grundbedürfnis, und das machen sich natürlich auch die dunklen Kräfte auf dieser Welt zu Nutze.

Das heutige Bild, das ich zum Artikel gewählt habe, habe ich vor ein paar Wochen in dem Viertel, in dem ich wohne, mit der Kamera aufgenommen. Auf einem Plakat konnte ich „VIEL FREE“ in großen Buchstaben lesen und war sprachlos. Ich wusste gar nicht, was mich so bestürzte, als ich das Plakat sah. Aber ich spürte, dass ich dieses Plakat im Bild festhalten musste, weil irgendeine tiefe Botschaft darin lag, die ich mitnehmen sollte. Manchmal verstehe ich Dinge erst intuitiv und anschließend kognitiv.

Dieses Plakat ist eine Werbung für irgendeinen Freizeitpass o.ä., den man in unserer Region erwerben kann. Aber der Anbieter wirbt mit einer bewusst falschen Rechtschreibung (VIEL FREE). Da ich nicht aus einem Bildungshaushalt komme, könnte mir das herzlich egal sein. Aber was mir nicht egal ist, ist das Gefühl, das ich beim Lesen dieses Plakats bekam. Das war ein Gefühl von einem vollen Nachttopf, den man mir über den Kopf schüttet und dabei noch hämisch grinst. Das Plakat hat mich spontan empört.

Ich dachte sofort an die Geflüchteten aus Syrien und Afghanistan, mit denen ich vor ein paar Jahren gearbeitet hatte. Sie hatten dermaßen Stress mit dem Erlernen der deutschen Sprache gehabt. Oft waren die „Lehrer“ in den Sprachkursen keine ausgebildeten Lehrer gewesen. Die Familienväter und die Teenager der Flüchtlingsfamilien fielen teils mehrmals durch die Prüfungen und hatten Angst, deshalb von der Behörde nicht zum regulären Arbeitsmarkt bzw. zum Gymnasium zugelassen zu werden. Die Mütter blieben zum Glück gelassener. Die bestandene Sprachprüfung war die offizielle Voraussetzung für die Teilnahme am ersten Arbeitsmarkt, so hieß es damals zumindest. Wer den Abschluss nicht hatte, erhielt keine Hilfe beim Schreiben einer Bewerbung. Das „Konzept“ der Maßnahme zur Vermittlung in Arbeit, in der ich damals tätig war, sah dies so vor. Ich kann mich noch lebhaft an die Auseinandersetzung mit meinem Kollegen erinnern, die ich deshalb damals hatte. Diese Logik erschloss sich mir nicht, denn man lernt Sprache doch am besten dort, wo man lebt UND arbeitet. Aber zurück zu dem Plakat. Was ich zum Ausdruck bringen möchte, ist, dass es insbesondere in dem Viertel, in dem ich wohne, viele Menschen mit ganz unterschiedlicher Herkunft und mit Kriegserfahrung gibt, die nicht sicher sind in der deutschen Sprache, für die es nicht hilfreich ist, dass Plakate mit einer fehlerhaften Rechtschreibung für etwas werben. Und von der zynischen Qualität dieses „VIEL FREE“ rede ich noch gar nicht.

Wie soll man in einem Land, das man neu kennen lernen möchte und muss, weil man aus einem Krieg geflüchtet ist, die Sprache lernen, wenn man bewusst fehlerhafte Rechtschreibung vorgesetzt bekommt? Und den angeblichen Wortwitz verstehen doch die meisten gar nicht, weil sie, wie gesagt, weder im mündlichen noch im schriftlichen Sprachausdruck sicher sind. Und niemand möchte sich lediglich „frei fühlen“, sondern lieber tatsächlich „frei sein“, oder nicht? Und echte Freiheit hat sicherlich auch nichts mit irgendeiner Plastikkarte zu tun, mit der ich einen Erlebnispark oder ein Spaßbad aufsuchen kann.  

„Frei sein“ bedeutet für mich, dass ich nicht durch psychologische Tricks für etwas interessiert werde, das mich von echter Freiheit ablenken und abhalten soll. Echte Freiheit braucht auch sicherlich keine Plastikkarten mit personenbezogenen Daten. Echte Freiheit bedeutet, dass ich NICHT aus meinem Heimatland durch Krieg vertrieben werde, sondern dass ich mein Leben (und meine Freizeit) nach Lust und Laune so gestalten kann, wie ich das will. Und dazu gehört mehr als ein Besuch im Erlebnispark des Landes, in das ich geflüchtet bin, um zu überleben. Dazu gehört, dass ich die Sprache vor Ort verstehe und selbst sprechen kann, dass ich ein respektierter Teil der Gesellschaft werde, dass ich die gleichen Chancen bekomme wie die anderen, dass ich die finanziellen Mittel habe für Bildung, guten Wohnraum mit Garten und was auch immer, dass ich mobil bin, und dass ich, insbesondere als junger Mensch, meine Familie und eine vertraute Gruppe von Freunden um mich habe. Also „frei sein“ bedeutet, NICHT aus meiner Heimat weggebombt zu werden.

In meiner unmittelbaren Nachbarschaft leben unbegleitete minderjährige Flüchtlinge in einer Wohngemeinschaft zusammen. Das sind höfliche Jungs so um die 16/17 Jahre. Sie lernen die Welt und das Leben gerade erst kennen. Sie haben keinen leichten Start gehabt, sind aber neugierig auf dieses neue Land, in dem sie nun leben. Sie grüßen freundlich und probieren die neu erlernte Sprache aus. Solche Plakate direkt vor ihrer Haustür sind nicht hilfreich. Diese Plakate versuchen, junge Menschen mit ihrem ganz normalen Bedürfnis danach, Neues zu erleben, abzuholen und in eine aktionsreiche Scheinwelt zu entführen, in der es vermeintlich Freiheit und ganz VIEL Spaß gibt. Solche Plakate sind für mich keine unschuldige Werbung für einfache Freizeitgestaltung. Solche Plakate sind einerseits der dezente Wink in Richtung Konsum und andererseits kognitive Platzhalter, mentale Füllstoffe.

VIEL FREE mit Plastikkarten ist in meinen Augen ein aufdringliches Angebot für willkommene Schmerzvermeidung durch Konsum. Es ist Angriff auf Sprache und Denken. Es richtet sich an junge Menschen, die das, was sie in den letzten Jahren hier oder woanders erleben mussten, vergessen möchten. Nach Kriegen oder staatlichen Übergriffen, so wie in der sogenannten Corona-Zeit, geht es immer für fast alle Beteiligten um das Vergessen. An diesem Punkt sind sich die Dynamik von Trauma einerseits und die Täterstruktur andererseits leider immer einig. Deswegen hat es ja auch in der deutschen Vergangenheit funktioniert, Konsum als Schmerzpflaster auf Wunden aller Art zu kleben.

VIEL FREE ist für mich ein trauriges Zeitdokument, das meine Aufmerksamkeit gefunden hat, weil es das Gegenteil von Freiheit, Genießen, Gemeinschaft und vielem mehr darstellt.

VIEL FREE hat mich an meine Eltern in jungen Jahren und ihre Sehnsüchte erinnert, eine traumatisierte Generation, die alles dafür getan hat, materiellen Wohlstand zu generieren, um sich endlich wieder emotional sicher fühlen zu können.

VIEL FREE erreicht nicht die Herzebene, weil es nicht von Herzen kommt.

VIEL FREE ist eine kostengünstige Zucker-LÖSUNG, die den kleinen Hunger und die stille Sehnsucht nach Heimat, Zugehörigkeit, Sicherheit, Frieden, Glück und vielleicht auch nach Bildung stillen soll. Aber sie macht genau das, was Zucker macht. Sie macht nicht satt, sondern weckt den großen Hunger. Man konsumiert dann das Falsche mit all den Folgen, die das hat. Es ist schwer, aus solchen Kreisläufen wieder raus zu kommen.

Wem dienen diese ungesunden Kreisläufe?

Wem dient dieser Konsum, der nicht satt macht?

Wem dient das Vergessen einer traumatischen Jugend?

Was denkt man alles NICHT, während man mit VIEL FREE als mentalem Füllstoff beschäftigt ist?

Was fühlt man alles NICHT, während man Loopings auf der Konsumschiene dreht?

Was macht man alles NICHT, was außerhalb der vorgezeichneten Freizeitzone liegt, aber auch Spaß macht?

Was ist die gesunde Alternative für junge Menschen, egal welcher Herkunft?

Wie können Angebote insbesondere für junge Menschen, die traumatisiert sind, aussehen?

Wo kann man als junger Mensch kostenlos und ohne eine Institution oder ein „Konzept“ im Nacken mit Gleichaltrigen in der Freizeit „abhängen“ und nebenbei Schafe, Obstbäume und andere Menschen aus sicherer Entfernung beobachten?

Wo gibt es solche unschuldigen Oasen?

Wo kann man Trauma „heilen“ oder zumindest die Voraussetzungen für spätere Selbstheilung schaffen?

Wo wird man nicht mit Zucker-LÖSUNG angefixt?

Wo kann man lernen, den eigenen Körper, die eigenen Gefühle nach Trauma wieder zu spüren, zu regulieren und sich dadurch wirklich frei zu fühlen?

Wer vermittelt der nächsten Generation eigentlich, was wir (in den letzten fünf Jahren) gelernt haben?

Vielleicht geht das erstmal über praktische Angebote, über das persönliche Erleben und später dann über theoretische Bildung. Man muss den Wert von Schafen und Bäumen nicht sofort theoretisch erklärt bekommen. Für den Anfang reicht es, wenn man Zugang zu Schafen und Bäumen bekommt und lernt, wie andere mit Schafen und Bäumen umgehen, also Lernen am Modell. Es müssen auch nicht unbedingt Schafe und Bäume sein, das ist, wie Sie bereits gemerkt haben, nur eine Metapher.

Mich haben Schafe und Bäume in gewisser Weise gerettet. Sie haben mir Verbindung angeboten. Ich konnte diese Verbindung am eigenen Leib spüren. Ich konnte spüren, dass ich bin und auch erahnen, wer ich wirklich bin. Sie waren mir ein verlässliches Gegenüber in schwierigen Zeiten, sie haben mich so oft beruhigt, getröstet und gehalten. Die Natur hört zu, wenn keiner mehr zuhört. Sie nimmt Dich an, egal wer Du bist. Sie bewertet Dich nicht. Sie ist unendlich geduldig und ein super Lehrer für alle Fragen, die einem als Kind so einfallen können. Sie weckt Deine Aufmerksamkeit, Deine Neugier, Deinen Wunsch zu Lernen und zu Verstehen. Sie lenkt Dich ab. Die Natur unterrichtet Dich ganz beiläufig. Ihre Sprache ist das kreative Spiel und die Fülle. Diese Anbindung an die Natur hilft mir bis heute, mit Herausforderungen aller Art klarzukommen. Wenn ich nicht weiter weiß oder mich beruhigen möchte und muss, dann gehe ich in die Natur. Danach ist nicht jedes Problem sofort gelöst, aber ich bin wieder zuversichtlich, dass ich auch diese Welle nehmen kann und über Wasser bleibe. Ich spüre mich dann mit all meiner Kraft als einen Teil dieser Welt. Und genau das wünsche ich vor allem den jungen Leuten in meiner Umgebung, die noch so viel vor sich haben.

Du bist geboren, um Dich als einen Teil dieser Welt kraftvoll und frei zu fühlen.

Du bist ein Stück von dieser Natur, die jeden Tag kreativ spielt und immer reichlich von allem hat.

Man sagt: „Schau auf den Horizont, wenn die Wellen hochschlagen.“

Für mich bedeutet das: Wenn Du Dich mit der Natur verbindest, dann hast Du Orientierung, dann fühlst Du Dich selbst. Und wenn Du Dich und Deine angeborene Stärke fühlst, dann bist Du frei. Dann kann Dir kein Problem etwas anhaben. Die Natur heilt sich und Dich jeden Tag auf`s Neue.

BORN TO BE FREE.

BE FREE.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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

Sie sind noch nicht auf Nostr and wollen die volle Erfahrung machen (liken, kommentieren etc.)? Zappen können Sie den Autor auch ohne Nostr-Profil! Erstellen Sie sich einen Account auf Start. Weitere Onboarding-Leitfäden gibt es im Pareto-Wiki.

\ Newsletter per Mail (Die Friedenstaube)\ hier abonnieren\ \ In Telegram lesen -> hier unsere Kanäle\ https://t.me/pareto_artikel \ https://t.me/friedenstaube_artikel \ \ Als Feed in einem Feed-Reader \ https://pareto.space/atom/feed.xml \ https://pareto.space/atom/de_feed.xml \ https://pareto.space/atom/en_feed.xml

@ e096a89e:59351479

Here’s how to make the perfect soft boiled egg in seven minutes using ice water.

Video: https://v.nostr.build/gODN4ihoJal4EhuA.mp4

1. Grab your eggs.

2. Fill a pot with water, put it on high heat, and bring it to a boil.

3. While waiting, fill a bowl with ice and water. Set it aside.

4. Once the water is boiling, gently add the eggs.

5. Start a timer for 7 minutes.

6. When 7 minutes are up, transfer the eggs into the ice water bowl.

7. Let them sit for a couple of minutes before peeling.

(Optional) Make peeling fun - see how big of shell pieces you can get.

1. After peeling, put the eggs back into the ice water for a few more minutes. *This helps them firm up slightly while keeping the yolk soft but not runny.

2. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and enjoy with whatever you like.

Give a zap if you enjoy this sort of content, and if this yielded good results for you :)

@ 0403c86a:66d3a378

Exciting news for FOOTBALL fans ⚽! Global Sports Central 🌐 is teaming up with Predyx, a leading prediction market in the Bitcoin ecosystem, to bring you comprehensive coverage of the very first Club World Cup directly on Nostr. This partnership is all about enhancing your experience with the latest news, insights, and interactive features!

The Club World Cup will showcase the best clubs from around the globe, and with our collaboration, you’ll be fully engaged in the action. Predyx focuses on long-term outcomes, allowing you to make predictions on who will win it all. Plus, if you’re not happy with your predictions, you can sell your shares at any time and switch allegiance—after all, it’s a free market!

What You Can Expect:

• Latest News and Match Reports: Stay updated with the latest news, in-depth match reports, and insights from the tournament, ensuring you never miss a moment.

• Market Odds Tracking: Follow the shifts in market odds in real-time, giving you the edge when making predictions and engaging with the action.

• Player of the Day Card: Celebrate standout performances with our Daily Player of the Day card, highlighting the top players from the tournament.

• Game oN Frontpage: Each day, we’ll feature the frontpage of the day, showcasing the most historical matchups and capturing the feel of the game.

• Best Moments Replays: Relive the excitement with replays of the best moments from the Cup, so you can catch all the highlights and unforgettable plays.

• Long-Term Predictions: Engage with Predyx to forecast who will win the tournament and who will take home the MVP award, allowing you to make strategic predictions as the tournament unfolds.

• Easy Login System: Getting started is a breeze! All you need is a Lightning wallet to log in and participate, making it simple for everyone to join in on the fun.

• Lightning-Fast Bitcoin Payments: With the Lightning Network, placing your bets and making predictions is faster and easier than ever. Enjoy seamless transactions while you cheer for your favorite teams!

"Predyx is excited to be part of this innovative partnership," said Derek. "We’re bringing fans a new way to interact with the game they love, all while using the fast and secure Lightning Network."

Predyx is a Bitcoin-native prediction market platform running on the Lightning Network. We’re building the fastest, most trust-minimized betting engine in the world — no deposits, instant payouts, sats-native, and degen-friendly.

Global Sports Central 🌐 Your daily spin around the sports world 🔄 Stay in the loop with the latest scores, stories, and stats.

GSC360 - Where Every Angle Matters

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

The Coinbase Lightning Network is Coinbase’s implementation of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network technology, launched in partnership with Lightspark in April 2024. This innovative solution allows users to send, receive, and pay with bitcoin instantly and cheaply directly from their Coinbase accounts.

Think of the Coinbase Lightning Network as the express lane of bitcoin transactions. While regular bitcoin transfers can take 10-60 minutes and cost several dollars in fees, Lightning Network transactions on Coinbase complete in seconds with fees typically under a cent.

Key Benefits of Coinbase Lightning Network:

• Instant transfers: Transactions complete in seconds, not hours
• Ultra-low fees: 0.2% processing fee vs. traditional network fees
• Global reach: Send bitcoin anywhere in the world instantly
• Cost efficiency: 20 times cheaper than traditional credit card fees

Coinbase Lightning Network vs Regular Bitcoin Transfers

Understanding the difference between Coinbase Lightning Network and regular bitcoin transfers is crucial for choosing the right method:

Feature

Coinbase Lightning Network

Regular Bitcoin Transfer

Speed

Instant (seconds)

10-60 minutes

Fees

0.2% + minimal network fee

$5-50+ depending on network

Best for

Small to medium amounts

Large amounts, long-term storage

Availability

24/7 instant

Subject to network congestion

The Coinbase Lightning Network processes transactions “off-chain,” creating payment channels that settle later on the main Bitcoin blockchain, resulting in dramatically faster and cheaper transactions.

How to Send Bitcoin Using Coinbase Lightning Network

Sending Bitcoin through Coinbase’s Lightning option is incredibly straightforward. Follow these step-by-step instructions:

Step 1: Access Your Coinbase Account

1. Sign in to your Coinbase account via web browser or mobile app
2. Ensure you have bitcoin (BTC) in your account balance
3. Navigate to your portfolio and locate your bitcoin holdings

Step 2: Initiate the Lightning Transfer

1. Click “Transfer” then select “Send crypto”
2. Choose bitcoin (BTC) as your asset
3. Enter the amount you wish to send
4. Select Lightning Network as your transfer method

Step 3: Add Recipient Information

1. Obtain the Lightning Network invoice from your recipient
2. Paste the invoice into the recipient field
3. The Coinbase Lightning Network will automatically detect and validate the invoice
4. Review the transaction details carefully

Step 4: Complete the Transaction

1. Verify the amount and recipient information
2. Click “Send” to initiate the transfer
3. Your Coinbase Lightning Network transaction will complete within seconds
4. Both you and the recipient will receive confirmation notifications

How to Receive Bitcoin via Coinbase Lightning Network

Receiving Bitcoin through Coinbase’s Lightning option requires generating a Lightning invoice. Here’s your complete guide:

Step 1: Generate a Lightning Invoice

1. Log into your Coinbase account
2. Navigate to “Transfer” then “Receive crypto”
3. Select Bitcoin (BTC) as the asset you wish to receive
4. Choose “Lightning Network” as your receiving method

Step 2: Create Your Invoice

1. Enter the specific amount you want to receive (required for Lightning)
2. Add an optional description or memo
3. Click “Generate Invoice”
4. Your Lightning Network invoice will appear as both a QR code and text string

Step 3: Share Your Invoice

1. Copy the Lightning invoice text or share the QR code
2. Send this information to the person sending you Bitcoin
3. Remember: Lightning invoices expire after 72 hours
4. Generate a new invoice if the original expires

Step 4: Receive Your Bitcoin

1. Once the sender pays your invoice, you’ll receive instant notification
2. The bitcoin will appear in your Coinbase account immediately
3. No waiting for blockchain confirmations required with Coinbase Lightning Network

Coinbase Lightning Network Fees and Limits

Understanding the fee structure of Coinbase Lightning Network helps you make informed decisions:

• Processing Fee: 0.2% of the transfer amount
• Network Fee: Minimal (typically fractions of a cent)
• Minimum Amount: Varies by region, typically $0.1- 5
• Maximum Amount: Subject to your account limits and Lightning Network capacity

The Coinbase Lightning Network offers significant savings compared to traditional bitcoin transfers, especially for smaller amounts under $1,000.

Troubleshooting Common Coinbase Lightning Network Issues

Even with the user-friendly Coinbase Lightning Network, you might encounter some challenges:

Invoice Expired Error

• Solution: Generate a fresh Lightning invoice
• Prevention: Complete transactions promptly after generating invoices

Transaction Failed

• Cause: Insufficient Lightning Network liquidity or routing issues
• Solution: Try again in a few minutes or use smaller amounts

Can’t Find Lightning Option

• Check: Ensure Lightning is available in your region
• Verify: Update your Coinbase app to the latest version

Address Whitelist Issues

• Problem: Lightning invoices may not work with address whitelisting enabled
• Solution: Temporarily disable whitelisting or contact Coinbase support

The Coinbase Lightning Network transforms bitcoin from a store of value into a practical, everyday payment method. With instant transactions, minimal fees, and user-friendly implementation, it’s never been easier to send and receive bitcoin.

@ ae9dc5ef:77f0ed87

I'm excited to announce that Nostr Game Engine just reached its first development milestone: v0.0.

What is Nostr Game Engine?

Nostr Game Engine is built on top of the modular and proven jMonkeyEngine.

What sets it apart? Its internals are being gradually replaced with Nostr-powered modules, turning it into a reference engine purpose-built for decentralized games.

This first release delivers these key capabilities:

Peer-to-Peer Networking

Forget centralized game servers. Nostr Game Engine gives you real P2P multiplayer, using WebRTC for data streaming and Nostr relays for coordination.

Want to dig deeper? This is a draft NIP that is a revised version of this other draft NIP, that details how the signaling works.

WebRTC is already a solid and reliable peer-to-peer protocol, equipped with a full set of NAT traversal capabilities, but its signaling phase typically relies on specialized central servers.

By coupling WebRTC with Nostr, we take signaling decentralized too by relying on a network of dumb public relays that are oblivious to what encrypted data we send to them and are easily replaceable.

(see the documentation for more info)

Nostr Authentication & Gamertags

NGE has a fully managed Nostr Auth flow, with support for NIP-49 encrypted local nsecs and  NIP-46 remote signers.

It also fully handles metadata, including external identities:  your profile picture, display name, and other details can carry over between games, and even from other Nostr clients and communities.

This release is also introducing Gamertags: persistent gaming handles tied to your Nostr pubkey. They are like Xbox Gamertags or the old Discord handle, but they’re decentralized and follow you across any game that supports them (check this draft nip for more info).

Match Making

While matchmaking is planned for a later milestone on the roadmap, this release ships with an early implementation to help test RTC connections.

This initial implementation has the APIs to create lobbies that are discoverable and optionally password-protected. Players can search and filter for lobbies using both client-side and relay-side filtering, depending on what the relay supports.

Right now, you can’t see how many players are in a lobby, and the feature is still a bit rough around the edges, but it's a solid start, and more improvements are coming as we move further along the roadmap.

The cool part? You don’t even need to know Nostr is running under the hood. The engine exposes simple APIs like createLobby, findLobbies, and connectToLobby, the developer can call them when needed, and the engine handles all the relay querying and data stitching behind the scenes.

(see the documentation for more info)

A new Nostr Client Library

The engine uses a new Nostr client library built from scratch, designed for performance, asynchronicity, and memory efficiency. It’s lean, fast, and built to be the foundation for everything that comes next.

Cross-Platform and language of choice

The entire codebase is written mostly in Java, and it builds natively for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Support for Android, iOS, and Web Browsers is on the roadmap.

What has been built so far?

• Version 0.0, with the core features mentioned above

• Documentation covering the key components of the engine

• An app template to help bootstrap projects and experiment with the engine

• An high performance and portable nostr client library

• A tech demo (more on that later)

So now, you can get a real feel for the engine, see what it does, play around with it, and maybe even start experimenting with your own ideas.

Roadmap

This is just the beginning. There is a full roadmap on the website.

Upcoming milestones include ads, deeper identity features, and tools that make decentralized game development as smooth as possible.

Sea of Nostriches

This is a demo built for this release. 

You start alone in an open ocean with a boat, nothing much at first. 

But as soon as another player joins (another peer), your boat begins sending data directly to theirs via peer-to-peer communication. You’ll see this visualized as a stream of numbers moving between boats in game.

If you have a profile picture set, it’ll automatically appear on your boat’s sail, and you’ll see others’ profile pictures on theirs.

That’s the core of it. 

It is not a real game, as there is nothing really to do, no lag compensation, no score etc… but it is a decent reference, and an “integration test” for this release.

There’s a lot more going on behind the scenes, like how the ocean is simulated or how rendering is handled, but that’s beyond the scope of this post. You can check out the full source code on GitHub, along with native builds for all supported platforms and a portable JAR.

---

That’s all for now! Huge thanks go to nostr:nprofile1qythwumn8ghj7ct5d3shxtnwdaehgu3wd3skuep0qyt8wumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtcqypu8xwr40lp96ewdj2fef408wy70gd3carf9n6xu7hrnhq6whpgly925h0z for making this possible. Their support allows me to dedicate full-time effort to this project and contribute to the growth of the Nostr ecosystem.

---

Check out the website at ngengine.org and browse the docs at ngengine.org/docs if you want to dig deeper.

Feel free to come up with any questions. I’ll do my best to answer.

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

Boy howdy! We're getting some good finals games in the NBA and NHL. I imagine that will occupy most of our discussion.

Do we expect these teams to be contenders next year too or is this their window?

I now need Indy to pull off the win, if I'm going to win our bracket challenge. In the event of an Indy win, @grayruby hilariously shot himself in the foot with his pick for MVP in the points challenge (there's a fun little econ lesson there).

We are starting to transition into offseason mode, though: starting with the Knicks post mortem.

Aaron Judge has a ludicrous 87% chance of winning the AL MVP this year. Also, @Jer is demolishing me in fantasy this week.

Predyx has some exciting new sports markets up. I may have gotten a bargain on some Euro Rules Football outcomes just a few minutes ago.

We'll also recap the ongoing contests and discuss whatever else stackers want to hear about.

https://stacker.news/items/1005467

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

Why are Stripe Alternatives are growing like mushrooms? When it comes to online payment processing, Stripe has long dominated the conversation.

However, with its complex pricing structure, strict policies and first-world focus, many entrepreneurs and companies are actively seeking viable Stripe alternatives.

Whether you’re a SaaS startup, e-commerce store, or global enterprise, choosing the right payment processor can significantly impact your bottom line and customer experience.

Table of Contents

• Why Consider Stripe Alternatives?
• The Complete List of Stripe Alternatives
• Additional Notable Mentions
• How to Choose the Right Stripe Alternative
• Conclusion

Why Consider Stripe Alternatives?

Before diving into our comprehensive list, it’s worth understanding why businesses are exploring alternatives to Stripe. While Stripe offers robust features and excellent developer tools, some businesses face challenges with pricing transparency, limited global coverage, or specific industry requirements that Stripe doesn’t fully address.

The Complete List of Stripe Alternatives

Based on extensive research and analysis of the payment processing landscape, here are 27 proven Stripe alternatives that could be the perfect fit for your business:

1. Flash – Easiest Bitcoin Payment Solution

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.

2. Lemon Squeezy – The SaaS-Focused Alternative

Dubbed as “acq’d by Stripe,” Lemon Squeezy offers a comprehensive solution specifically designed for digital product sales and SaaS businesses. It provides strong customer support, built-in analytics, and handles payments, subscriptions, global tax compliance, and fraud prevention in one platform.

3. Gumroad – Creator Economy Champion

Gumroad has carved out a niche serving creators and small businesses by providing tools for selling digital products, physical goods, and subscriptions. It’s particularly popular among content creators, artists, and independent entrepreneurs who want to experiment with various ideas and formats. They also open-sourced their code which is quite the ‘chad-move’.

4. Paddle – All-in-One SaaS Commerce

Paddle caters to SaaS and software companies by offering a comprehensive platform with billing, licensing, and global tax handling capabilities. It’s designed to be a complete solution for subscription-based businesses, handling payments, tax, and subscription management in one platform.

5. FastSpring – Global E-commerce Specialist

FastSpring specializes in e-commerce solutions for software and SaaS companies, with a focus on global payments and subscription management. According to TechnologyAdvice, it’s particularly strong for international transactions and helps companies sell more, stay lean, and compete big.

6. 2Checkout – Versatile Payment Solutions

2Checkout (now part of Verifone) offers versatile payment solutions excelling in global payments, subscription billing, and digital commerce. One of the best stripe alternatives as it’s an all-in-one monetization platform that maximizes revenues and makes global online sales easier, supporting over 200 countries and territories.

7. Payoneer – Cross-Border Payment Expert

Payoneer simplifies cross-border payment solutions, offering local payment ease globally with a focus on market expansion and multi-currency support. It’s trusted by small to medium-sized businesses for global payment solutions and international money transfers.

8. Chargebee – Subscription Management Leader

Chargebee is a subscription management platform perfect for SaaS and SMBs, with robust billing and revenue management features. If you were looking for stripe alternatives to setup subscriptions, Chargebee might be right for you. It streamlines revenue operations and helps businesses grow efficiently with comprehensive subscription billing capabilities.

9. Maxio (formerly Chargify) – B2B SaaS Billing

Maxio offers a robust platform for B2B SaaS billing and financial operations, focusing on growth and efficiency for subscription businesses. It’s the most complete financial operations platform for B2B SaaS, bringing core financial operations into one platform.

10. Recurly – Dynamic Subscription Management

Recurly offers dynamic subscription management platform, excelling in churn management and data insights for subscription growth. It’s the only proven platform that expands and protects your recurring revenue with subscription management, recurring billing, and payments orchestration.

11. Braintree – PayPal’s Enterprise Solution

Braintree (by PayPal) provides a versatile global payments platform, integrating multiple payment methods with a focus on conversion and security. It delivers end-to-end checkout experiences for businesses, offering single-touch payments and mobile optimization.

12. PayKickstart – Modern Commerce Platform

PayKickstart offers a modern commerce platform for online billing and affiliates, focusing on revenue maximization and churn minimization. It’s the most complete checkout, recurring billing, affiliate management, and retention solution with global capabilities.

13. PayPro Global – Full-Service E-commerce

PayPro Global offers a full-service eCommerce solution for selling software and SaaS, focusing on global payments, tax compliance, and customer support. It provides flexible solutions with over 70 payment methods and great support for software companies.

14. Shopify Payments – E-commerce Integration

Integrated with Shopify, this service is ideal for SMBs in eCommerce, offering a seamless shopping cart and payment experience. It’s the simplest way to accept online payments, automatically set up for major methods with no fees for some payment types.

15. Square – Versatile POS and Payment Solutions

Square provides versatile POS and payment solutions for small businesses with a strong focus on retail and mobile payments. Forbes Advisor notes it as one of the top alternatives for businesses needing both online and offline payment capabilities.

16. Zoho Billing – Integrated Business Solution

Zoho Billing is an online recurring billing and subscription management solution, ideal for small and medium-sized businesses seeking professional invoice creation, time and expense tracking, and improved cash flow management. Zoho isn’t just competing for stripe alternatives, they offer a ton of other products and services.

17. WePay – Chase Company Integration

WePay, a Chase company, provides integrated payment solutions for ISVs and SaaS companies with customizable payment solutions. It’s designed for platforms like marketplaces and small business tools, offering seamless user experience and fraud protection.

18. QuickBooks Payments – SMB Accounting Integration

This service provides seamless accounting and payment solutions for SMBs and SaaS businesses, featuring real-time tracking and automated bookkeeping. It lets small businesses accept payments online from anywhere with easy integration into QuickBooks accounting.

19. Mangopay – Marketplace Payment Infrastructure

Mangopay offers a modular payment infrastructure for marketplaces and platforms, emphasizing flexibility, global payouts, and AI-powered anti-fraud. It uses flexible wallets built to orchestrate fund flows and monetize payment experiences.

20. Coinbase Commerce – Cryptocurrency Payments

Coinbase Commerce enables businesses to accept payments from around the world using cryptocurrency. It offers instant settlement, low fees, and broad asset support, making it easy for merchants to accept digital currency payments globally.

21. BTCPay Server – Open-Source Bitcoin Processor

BTCPay Server is a self-hosted, open-source cryptocurrency payment processor with 0% fees and no third-party involvement. It’s secure, private, censorship-resistant, and completely free for businesses wanting full control over their Bitcoin payments.

22. Lago – Open-Source Billing Alternative

Lago is an open-source alternative to Stripe Billing and Chargebee, specializing in billing and metering in one place for usage-b

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

In a quiet corner of the world, bitcoin mining operations in Africa are turning electricity into digital currency and in the process, redefining how value is created.

At its core, bitcoin mining involves validating transaction information before adding new blocks to the Bitcoin blockchain by competing to solve a cryptographic puzzle that meets a specific criterion.

Globally, mining plays a key role in keeping the blockchain decentralized and secure. The system depends on miners to verify and record transactions, mainly to prevent a problem called double spending, the digital version of using the same money twice.

To understand this better, imagine Charles sends $5 to Amanda. With physical cash, Amanda can trust the note is real and hasn’t been used elsewhere. But with digital currency, copying data is easy, so how can she be sure that the same $5 wasn’t sent to someone else too? That’s the exact problem Bitcoin mining helps solve.

In recent years, Africa has started to draw attention in this space, positioning itself as a key hub in global bitcoin mining. While there may be less than 2 million bitcoin left to be mined from the total 21 million supply, the rise of mining operations in Africa has sparked excitement, creating new jobs and drawing in foreign capital.

Although some countries still grapple with power shortages and the energy demands of mining, many citizens view bitcoin as a more stable store of value and a safeguard against the volatility of their local currencies.

At the same time, Africa’s wealth of hydro, solar, wind, and geothermal resources makes the continent one of the most promising regions for cost-effective and sustainable mining.

What Makes a Large-Scale Bitcoin Mining Operation in Africa?

It all starts with difficulty. Bitcoin mining isn’t just about solving a puzzle, it’s about solving one that keeps getting harder. Mining difficulty refers to how much computational work is needed to generate a number lower than the target hash.

This difficulty automatically adjusts every 2,016 blocks (about every two weeks), depending on how quickly miners solved the previous batch. If mining is fast and efficient, the network increases the difficulty; if miners drop off and block times slow, it reduces it, all to maintain a consistent block production time of roughly 10 minutes.

The significance of mining difficulty lies in the increased demands it places on mining operations. As difficulty rises, miners require more powerful hardware, cost-effective energy sources, advanced infrastructure, and substantial financial investment. These requirements distinguish large-scale mining operations from smaller, casual miners.

In short, it’s the difficulty of mining that births the need for large facilities, massive energy inputs, industrial-grade hardware, and significant financial investment, the very traits that define a “large” bitcoin mining operation.

This leads us to the 4 key factors that define large Bitcoin mining operations in Africa, each one a direct response to the growing demands of the network:

1. Facility size and infrastructure:

The physical size of a mining facility is a direct reflection of its capacity to house mining equipment and support systems. Larger operations typically have thousands of mining rigs installed, supported by extensive infrastructure such as advanced cooling systems and stable power supplies.

These are critical to ensure that the equipment runs continuously and efficiently, given the intense heat and electricity demands of mining.

While it is possible to mine Bitcoin using desktop computers or gaming rigs by joining mining pools, these setups are limited in profitability. Mining pools distribute rewards based on the computational power contributed, meaning small or less efficient machines earn only modest returns.

To compete effectively, mining operations invest in specialized hardware known as Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) miners. These machines are far more powerful and energy-efficient than regular computers but require significant capital investment, with prices ranging from $4,000 to $12,000 per rig depending on their performance.

Large-scale operations typically deploy hundreds or thousands of these ASIC miners, which necessitates the large facilities and sophisticated infrastructure mentioned earlier. In this way, the size of the facility and the sophistication of the mining equipment are tightly linked, together defining the overall scale and capability of a bitcoin mining operation.

2. Hashrate contribution:

Hashrate refers to the computational power used to mine and process transactions on the Bitcoin network. A higher hashrate indicates a more significant contribution to the network’s security and transaction processing.

Large mining operations often possess substantial hashrate, measured in exa hashes per second (EH/s). For instance, as of July 2024, the Bitcoin network’s hashrate was approximately 733.41 EH/s.

3. Energy consumption and power source:

Bitcoin mining is energy-intensive. The total energy consumption of the Bitcoin network has been estimated at 175.87 terawatt-hours annually, comparable to the power consumption of Poland. Large mining operations often seek locations with access to cheap and reliable energy sources, such as hydroelectric, solar, or wind power, to reduce operational costs and environmental impact.

4. Financial banking and investor interest:

Significant financial investment is required to establish and maintain large-scale mining operations. This includes the cost of mining hardware, facility construction, energy procurement, and operational expenses. Companies with substantial financial backing can invest in cutting-edge technology and infrastructure, enhancing their mining capabilities. 

Overview of Bitcoin Mining in Africa

Africa is beginning to carve out its share of the global Bitcoin mining market, which was valued at $2.45 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $8.24 billion by 2034. 

As Bitcoin’s value continues to rise, countries across the continent are positioning themselves to benefit, many by tapping into abundant renewable energy sources and taking advantage of regulatory ambiguity or excess energy production. 

Ethiopia currently leads the continent in Bitcoin mining activity, with around 2.5% of the global hashrate reportedly coming from operations powered entirely by renewable energy. 

This energy mismatch has attracted major miners from China and other regions, who see an opportunity to monetize surplus electricity. Ethiopia’s success showcases how renewable energy and mining can coexist sustainably while contributing meaningfully to state revenue. 

Kenya follows closely behind. As the top geothermal energy producer in Africa, with an installed capacity of 863 MW, the country is using its energy advantage to support sustainable mining. 

Nigeria is emerging as a serious contender. While not yet dominant, its large population, increasing tech engagement, and growing interest in using flared gas for mining signal potential for expansion. Nigeria’s complex but evolving regulatory landscape also leaves room for further mining developments as the government explores clearer crypto frameworks.

Malawi represents a more localized model of Bitcoin mining. By converting rainfall-powered microgrids into revenue-generating infrastructure, Malawi shows how small-scale mining can play a powerful role in community development and rural electrification.

In Libya, Bitcoin mining is technically illegal, but that hasn’t stopped it. Despite the ban, underground mining continues to thrive thanks to heavily subsidized electricity. In 2021, Libyan miners accounted for an estimated 0.6% of the global Bitcoin production, the highest in both the Arab world and Africa at the time. Today, mining reportedly consumes around 2% of the country’s electricity, even as it operates in the shadows.

Angola rounds out the list with limited public data but notable potential. The country struggles with energy inefficiencies, losing nearly 40% of its hydroelectric power during transmission. Some reports suggest Bitcoin miners are beginning to capitalize on this otherwise stranded energy, though large-scale operations are yet to surface.

What unites these countries is a shared set of conditions: untapped or mismanaged energy resources, an openness or gray area in regulation, and the growing understanding that Bitcoin mining can serve as a financial incentive to build and stabilize decentralized energy systems. 

Whether through massive hydroelectric projects or rural microgrids, Bitcoin mining is emerging as both an energy monetization strategy and a bridge to infrastructure development across Africa.

Profiles of the Largest Bitcoin Mining Operations in Africa

1. BitCluster (Ethiopia)

As of 2024, Bitcoin mining in Africa is largely concentrated in

@ 2cde0e02:180a96b9

pen & ink; monochromized

tools used

https://stacker.news/items/1005456

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

The Barcelona Cyphers Conference (BCC8333), the city’s first biggest bitcoin-themed event, transforms a historic building in the central born district of the Catalan capital into a hub for bitcoin enthusiasts and cypherpunks. Named after the port bitcoin nodes use to sync the timechain (8333), this inaugural event delivers high-signal discussions and practical applications of decentralized technology, uniting over 100 attendees from Spain, Europe, and beyond.

Venue and Atmosphere

Set in a 17th-century palace that doubles as a flamenco venue, Palau Dalmases blends historical elegance with a creative, almost rebellious vibe. The unique setting fosters deep conversations, hands-on workshops, and genuine connections, prioritizing substance over spectacle. The spectacular courtyard serves as a lively backdrop for collaboration and sparking chats that resonates with the event’s freedom/privacy-oriented ethos.

Lightning Network Integration

BCC8333 embedds Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN) into its core, emphasizing privacy and scalable technology. Two on-site bars accept LN payments for drinks, demonstrating fast, low-cost bitcoin transactions in action.

But the usage of Lightning Network extends beyond just ‘refreshments’. 

·       Chain Duel: This simple yet engaging game has many BCC8333 participants send sats via LN to enter, compete, and have fun for the two days of the event. A large-screen tournament on the main stage amplifies the excitement, showcasing one more practical case for LN in the bitcoin ecosystem with a nice bounty, i.e. winners claiming the collected sats.

·       Thematic sessions and practical workshops on wallets, vending machines, and Nostr highlight LN’s role in bitcoin adoption, while touching on the importance of privacy vs. scalable transactions.

While the overall adoption in Barcelona’s local establishments outside the venue remains rather limited, attendees find a nearby street with vivid graffiti dedicated to bitcoin, and in a practical way, whenever possible, swap sats for fiat among themselves when direct payments aren’t possible.

Selected Highlights

The agenda balances intense sessions with networking breaks, ensuring space for reflection and collaboration. Some of the key sessions include: 

·       Future of Private Transactions (English, Max Hillebrand).

·       Miniscripts Roundtable (English, Edouard from Liana, Landabaso from Rewind, Francesco from BitVault, Yuri da Silva from Great Wall).

·       Sovereign Hardware Tools (English, Wesatoshi).

·       Debate: Future of Lightning (Spanish, mixed attendees).

·       Op_return Debate (English, Peter Todd, Unhosted Marcellus, Lunaticoin).

Recordings from the main stage and additional coverage by Juan Cienfuegos, host of the BitCorner Podcast, will soon be available online (X: @BCC833, @TheJuanSC).

Why BCC8333 Stood Out

·       Local Maxis: vibrant and well-organized approach shines through, with local bitcoiners as organizers of the event (Spanish and expats) bringing their best PoW to the table.

·       Focused Discussions: Free of hype and influencers, BCC8333 prioritizes signal over noise, diving into critical topics like privacy, nodes, wallets, P2P tools, decentralized mining, and Nostr. 

·       Community Vibe: The smaller crowd enables authentic connections, fostering a tight-knit community of freedom-tech enthusiasts committed to sovereignty.

BCC8333 is a powerful testament to the cypherpunk spirit, blending bitcoin and privacy to fuel innovation. From LN-powered interactions to thought-provoking talks, the event underscores the strength of a community dedicated to building decentralized solutions. Congratulations to the organizers, contributors, volunteers, and attendees for making this conference a standout moment in the year’s lineup of bitcoin-themed events.

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

Here's a video about the Pacers' offensive adjustments to OKC's extraordinary defense:

https://youtu.be/1LF2Sd1jTXQ

This finals matchup probably has the highest level team basketball I remember seeing.

https://stacker.news/items/1005445

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

News

• Wallet of Satoshi teases a comeback in the US market with a non-custodial product. According to an announcement on X, the widely popular custodial Lightning wallet is preparing to re-enter the United States market with a non-custodial wallet. It is unclear whether the product will be open-source, but the project has clarified that "there will be no KYC on any Wallet of Satoshi, ever!" Wallet of Satoshi ceased serving customers in the United States in November 2023.

• Vulnerability disclosure: Remote crash due to addr message spam in Bitcoin Core versions before v29. Bitcoin Core developer Antoine Poinsot disclosed an integer overflow bug that crashes a node if spammed with addr messages over an extended period. A fix was released on April 14, 2025, in Bitcoin Core v29.0. The issue is rated Low severity.
• Coinbase Know Your Customer (KYC) data leak. The U.S. Department of Justice, including its Criminal Division in Washington, is investigating a cyberattack on Coinbase. The incident involved cybercriminals attempting to extort $20 million from Coinbase to prevent stolen customer data from being leaked online. Although the data breach affected less than 1% of the exchange's users, Coinbase now faces at least six lawsuits following the revelation that some customer support agents were bribed as part of the extortion scheme.
• Fold has launched Bitcoin Gift Cards, enabling users to purchase bitcoin for personal use or as gifts, redeemable via the Fold app. These cards are currently available on Fold’s website and are planned to expand to major retailers nationwide later this year.

"Our mission is to make bitcoin simple and approachable for everyone. The Bitcoin Gift Card brings bitcoin to millions of Americans in a familiar way. Available at the places people already shop, the Bitcoin Gift Card is the best way to gift bitcoin to others," said Will Reeves, Chairman and CEO of Fold.

• Corporate treasuries hold nearly 1.1 million BTC, representing about 5.5% of the total circulating supply (1,082,164 BTC), per BitcoinTreasuries.net data. Recent purchases include Strategy adding 7,390 BTC (total: 576,230 BTC), Metplanet acquiring 1,004 BTC (total: 7,800 BTC), Tether holding over 100,521 BTC, and XXI Capital, led by Jack Mallers, starting with 31,500 BTC.
  • Meanwhile, a group of investors has filed a class action lawsuit against Strategy and its executive Michael Saylor. The lawsuit alleges that Strategy made overly optimistic projections using fair value accounting under new FASB rules while downplaying potential losses.
• The U.S. Senate voted to advance the GENIUS stablecoin bill for further debate before a final vote to pass it. Meanwhile, the House is crafting its own stablecoin legislation to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins and their issuers in the U.S, reports CoinDesk.
• French 'crypto' entrepreneurs get priority access to emergency police services. French Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, agreed on measures to enhance security for 'crypto' professionals during a meeting on Friday. This follows a failed kidnapping attempt on Tuesday targeting the family of a cryptocurrency exchange CEO, and two other kidnappings earlier this year.
• Brussels Court declares tracking-based ads illegal in EU. The Brussels Court of Appeal ruled tracking-based online ads illegal in the EU due to an inadequate consent model. Major tech firms like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and X are affected by the decision, as their consent pop-ups fail to protect privacy in real-time bidding, writes The Record.
• Telegram shares data on 22,777 users in Q1 2025, a significant increase from the 5,826 users' data shared during the same period in 2024. This significant increase follows the arrest of CEO and founder Pavel Durov last year.
• An Australian judge has ruled that Bitcoin is money, potentially exempting it from capital gains tax in the country. If upheld on appeal, this interim decision could lead to taxpayer refunds worth up to $1 billion, per tax lawyer Adrian Cartland.

Use the tools

• Bitcoin Safe v1.3.0 a secure and user-friendly Bitcoin savings wallet for beginners and advanced users, introduces an interactive chart, Child Pays For Parent (CPFP) support, testnet4 compatibility, preconfigured testnet demo wallets, various bug fixes, and other improvements.
• BlueWallet v7.1.8 brings numerous bug fixes, dependency updates, and a new search feature for addresses and transactions.
• Aqua Wallet v0.3.0 is out, offering beta testing for the reloadable Dolphin card (in partnership with Visa) for spending bitcoin and Liquid BTC. It also includes a new Optical Character Recognition (OCR) text scanner to read text addresses like QR codes, colored numbers on addresses for better readability, a reduced minimum for spending and swapping Liquid Bitcoin to 100 sats, plus other fixes and enhancements.

Source: Aqua wallet.

• The latest firmware updates for COLDCARD Mk4 v5.4.3 and Q v1.3.3 are now available, featuring the latest enhancements and bug fixes.
• Nunchuk Android v1.9.68.1 and iOS v1.9.79 introduce support for custom blockchain explorers, wallet archiving, re-ordering wallets on the home screen via long-press, and an anti-fee sniping setting.
• BDK-cli v1.0.0, a CLI wallet library and REPL tool to demo and test the BDK library, now uses bdk_wallet 1.0.0 and integrates Kyoto, utilizing the Kyoto protocol for compact block filters. It sets SQLite as the default database and discontinues support for sled.
• publsp is a new command-line tool designed for Lightning node runners or Lightning Service Providers (LSPs) to advertise liquidity offers over Nostr.

"LSPs advertise liquidity as addressable Kind 39735 events. Clients just pull and evaluate all those structured events, then NIP-17 DM an LSP of their choice to coordinate a liquidity purchase," writes developer smallworlnd.

• Lightning Blinder by Super Testnet is a proof-of-concept privacy tool for the Lightning Network. It enables users to mislead Lightning Service Providers (LSPs) by making it appear as though one wallet is the sender or recipient, masking the original wallet. Explore and try it out here.

• Mempal v1.5.3, a Bitcoin mempool monitoring and notification app for Android, now includes a swipe-down feature to refresh the dashboard, a custom time option for widget auto-update frequency, and a

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

President Donald Trump’s media company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), is doubling down on its Bitcoin bet, partnering with Crypto.com and Yorkville America Digital to launch its own bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), called the Truth Social Bitcoin ETF.

On June 3, a division of the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Arca, filed a 19b-4 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

This is the final regulatory hurdle before an ETF can be launched. If approved, this new fund will allow everyday investors to buy shares tied to the price of bitcoin, without having to hold the asset themselves.

The Truth Social Bitcoin ETF will track the price of bitcoin and give investors a simple, regulated way to invest in the digital money.

It will be listed and traded on NYSE Arca, and Foris DAX Trust Company (the custodian for Crypto.com’s assets) has been named as the proposed custodian for this new fund.

According to the filings, the ETF is “designed to remove the obstacles represented by the complexities and operational burdens involved in a direct investment in bitcoin.”

This is part of a bigger plan by Trump Media to offer a full suite of digital-asset-based financial products.

The company has also applied to trademark six investment products and has plans for additional ETFs under its Truth.Fi fintech platform, which will focus on digital assets and energy sectors.

Trump Media also recently announced a $2.5 billion bitcoin treasury plan and raised $2.4 billion in stock and debt to support its bitcoin initiatives.

Related: Trump Media Will Raise $2.5 Billion to Build Bitcoin Treasury

Now that the 19b-4 has been filed, the SEC has 45 days to approve, reject or delay the application. This can be extended several times, but a final decision must be made by January 29, 2026.

In addition to the 19b-4, Yorkville America Digital must also file an S-1 registration statement. This will outline exactly how the ETF will work, what it offers to investors, how funds will be used, and the risks involved.

Since January 2024, bitcoin ETFs have been all the rage, with over $130 billion in assets. Big players like BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity’s FBTC dominate the space. BlackRock alone has $69 billion in assets through its bitcoin ETF.

Even though Trump’s ETF is entering a crowded field, its name will get attention. The Truth Social bitcoin ETF is expected to generate media buzz, political controversy and divided investor opinions, making it a cultural and financial statement.

Donald Trump is the majority owner of Trump Media, although his shares are in a trust controlled by his son, Donald Trump Jr. The ETF filing doesn’t mention Trump by name, but most people see it as a Trump product.

The President is getting more and more involved in the digital asset space. He has NFT collections, meme coins, a bitcoin mining company, a digital asset wallet, and now a potential bitcoin ETF.

But not everyone is happy. Some argue that a sitting president’s involvement in regulated financial products, especially one that could benefit from political influence, is unethical.

An SEC-approved digital asset product from Trump could blur the lines between politics, personal gain and digital assets.

Others, however, see this as a calculated move to boost Trump’s image and position him as a leader in the digital asset and tech space.

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

Paris, France – June 6, 2025 – Flash, the easiest Bitcoin payment gateway for businesses, just announced a new partnership with the Bitcoin Only Brewery, marking the first-ever beverage company to leverage Flash for seamless Bitcoin payments. 

Bitcoin Buys Beer Thanks to Flash!

As Co-Founder of Flash, it's not every day we get to toast to a truly refreshing milestone.

Okay, jokes aside.

We're super buzzed to see our friends at @Drink_B0B
Bitcoin Only Brewery using Flash to power their online sales!

The first… pic.twitter.com/G7TWhy50pX

— Pierre Corbin (@CierrePorbin) June 3, 2025

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.

Bitcoin payment usage is growing thanks to Lightning

In May, fast-food chain Steak ‘N Shake went viral for integrating bitcoin at their restaurants around the world. In the same month, the bitcoin2025 conference in Las Vegas set a new world record with 4,000 Lightning payments in one day.

According to a report by River Intelligence, public Lightning payment volume surged by 266% from August 2023 to August 2024. This growth is also reflected in the overall accessibility of lighting infrastructure for consumers. According to Lightning Service Provider Breez, over 650 Million users now have access to the Lightning Network through apps like CashApp, Kraken or Strike.

Bitcoin Only Brewery’s adoption of Flash reflects the growing trend of businesses integrating Bitcoin payments to cater to a global, privacy-conscious customer base. By offering no-KYC delivery across Europe, the brewery aligns with the ethos of decentralization and financial sovereignty, appealing to the increasing number of consumers and businesses embracing Bitcoin as a legitimate payment method.

“Flash is committed to driving innovation in the Bitcoin ecosystem,” Corbin added. “We’re building a future where businesses of all sizes can seamlessly integrate Bitcoin payments, unlocking new opportunities in the global market. It’s never been easier to start selling in bitcoin and we invite retailers globally to join us in this revolution.”

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.

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.

Media Contact:

Pierre Corbin
Co-Founder, Flash
Email: press@paywithflash.com
Website: paywithflash.comPhotos paywithflash.com/about/press

How Flash Enables Interoperable, Self-Custodial Bitcoin Commerce

@ f0fd6902:a2fbaaab

https://stacker.news/items/1005372

@ 7460b7fd:4fc4e74b

从“出行规则”看监管逻辑与比特币的制度之道

FATF“出行规则”的治理逻辑与监管者的苦衷

金融行动特别工作组（FATF）在2019年推出“Travel Rule”（出行规则），试图将传统银行体系的反洗钱规制延伸至加密资产领域complyadvantage.com。这一规则要求虚拟资产服务商（VASPs）在转账过程中收集并传递交易双方的身份信息，使这些信息如同“随行护照”般伴随资金流动complyadvantage.com。其背后的治理逻辑不难理解：随着加密货币跨境使用的激增，监管者担心加密交易的匿名性为洗钱、恐怖融资提供了便利通道complyadvantage.com。因此，FATF将传统金融领域的第16号建议（关于跨境电汇信息）更新，明确要求加密交易同样附带发送人和接收人的姓名、地址等识别数据complyadvantage.comcomplyadvantage.com。这一举措体现了监管机构的苦衷：在犯罪分子利用技术躲避监管的现实下，他们感到有责任“补上漏洞”，即便这意味着套用旧有的银行规则到全新的区块链技术上。

然而，落实出行规则绝非易事。首先，不同司法管辖区行动步调不一，FATF多次批评各国实施进度缓慢，许多国家尚未将该规则转化为国内法complyadvantage.com。即使在已经执行的地区，监管部门也面临两难：既要防止非法资金流动，又担心过严管制扼杀金融创新。监管者的“苦衷”在于，他们既害怕被视作纵容犯罪，又担心被指责扼杀技术进步。出行规则要求VASPs收集详尽的客户身份信息，并在交易时与对方机构共享，这在实践中遇到技术和隐私保护方面的阻碍trisa.io。一些国家（如瑞士、新加坡）甚至在无最低金额门槛的情况下要求对所有交易执行该规则，欧盟更规定即使收款方是私人自管钱包也必须提交信息trisa.io。这种高标准加重了行业合规负担，使守法企业叫苦不迭，而不法分子则可能转入地下或转向无监管区域继续活动。可以说，监管机构陷入“猫抓老鼠”的困境：不推行吧，担心放任犯罪；推行过严吧，又恐打击面过广。正因如此，FATF在其2024年报告中承认出行规则的全球落实“严重滞后”complyadvantage.com，这既反映各国执法能力的差异，也凸显了此规则本身在新技术环境下的水土不服。

全球跨境资金与信息的系统性压制

出行规则的推行，从宏观上看是在全球金融体系施加新的“信息围墙”。一方面，它将原本开放的价值互联网重新划分为受监管的透明区和未监管的黑箱区。凡是跨过一定金额门槛（FATF建议为1000美元/欧元）的交易，都必须在链上绑定用户的实名信息complyadvantage.com。这意味着个人的资金流动和身份信息被深度绑定并广泛共享，一举打破了加密货币原有的准匿名特性。这种做法固然提升了追踪非法交易的可能性，但也埋下了系统性压制的隐患。正如业界联盟TRISA所警告的那样，将出行规则机械地套用于公开区块链，实则打造了一个集中存储个人隐私与财富信息的“数据金库”，极易成为黑客、犯罪组织甚至敌对政府垂涎的目标trisa.iotrisa.io。因为在传统银行体系下，账户账本是私密的，第三方难以直接获取交易明细；而在区块链上，一旦将姓名、地址等个人识别数据与公开的钱包地址关联，任何人都能通过链上记录分析出个人的财富状况和社交图谱trisa.io。这种对跨境资金和信息流动的全面记录与监控，实质上构成了对个人金融自由的系统性压制：人们在国际转账时不得不暴露隐私，否则交易将被拒之门外。更有甚者，一些国家已将这一逻辑无限延伸，例如中国公安机关提示即便一笔1000 USDT（泰达币）的转账都有可能被列入重点监控名单binance.com。当连如此小额的个人跨境交易都被严密审查时，金融交易所承载的信息自由流动已大打折扣。

从制度批判的视角看，这种全球范围的信息管制源自某些法律传统下对国家主权和税收控制的执念。在大陆法系传统中，国家往往通过成文法律对经济活动实施自上而下的强力规范，历史上形成了构筑信息壁垒以巩固主权和财政的路径依赖。例如许多大陆法系国家长期实行外汇管制和资本流动限制，以防范资金外逃、维护本国税基。这种做法虽出于主权自主的考虑，却与自由贸易要求的要素自由流动天然矛盾。研究表明，不同法律体系的国家在经贸合作模式上偏好迥异，法律传统差异往往成为国际经济一体化的无形藩篱，甚至导致经济关系的割裂cogitatiopress.com。典型案例如中国，对加密资产和稳定币采取高压监管，正是延续了其在资本项目下的信息管控传统。2024年链上数据显示，中国境内USDT跨境流动规模同比激增400%，日均交易额超过50亿美元binance.com。大量民间资金试图借助稳定币绕开官方的外汇管制，形成了一条隐蔽的“数字资金高速公路”binance.com。对此当局迅速祭出国家安全大旗，不仅将无证出入境资金视为重大风险隐患，甚至明确指出USDT等稳定币已成资本无序外逃的工具，必须强力封堵binance.combinance.com。在这一背景下，FATF出行规则等于为各国提供了一个合法理由，在全球范围内实施对跨境资金与信息的联合围堵：以打击洗钱之名，行资本管制之实。这套机制所产生的结构性效果，是在国际金融体系中嵌入了一种“默认不信任”的基调——跨境资金流动被一律视为潜在不法，必须层层验证、记录在案。其结果不仅压抑了资金与信息的自由流通，也为公民个人头上加装了“数字镣铐”，让人们在国际经贸往来中丧失匿名行动的选择权。

隐私协议的滥用：区块链匿名性的两面

在区块链世界中，隐私与匿名性原本被视作一项珍贵的技术特性，代表着去中心化金融对个人隐私权的尊重。然而，当缺乏法理自洽性和契约中立性的支撑，这种匿名性工具却易被犯罪集团所劫持，成为逃避监管的温床。以太坊上的“Tornado Cash”混币协议就是前车之鉴。作为一个去中心化的匿名交易服务，Tornado Cash初衷在于增强用户隐私，但由于缺少必要的合法约束和内部控制，一再被不法之徒利用：自2019年成立以来，该协议已被用于清洗超过70亿美元的犯罪收益，其中包括朝鲜黑客组织“拉撒路集团”在攻击Axie Infinity游戏桥后盗取的4.55亿美元secrss.com。2022年美国财政部更指出，尽管开发者声称Tornado Cash只是中立工具，但其并未采取哪怕基本的措施来阻止服务被反复用于恶意洗钱secrss.com。最终，美国OFAC直接将Tornado Cash列入制裁清单，以此警示加密行业：缺乏法理支撑的匿名协议，终将因为被滥用于洗钱而招致严厉监管惩罚secrss.com。

类似的情况也发生在波场（Tron）等链上。一些基于Tron的混币机制号称提供端到端加密、零知识证明等技术手段来隐匿交易来源sites.google.com。表面上看，这些系统满足了用户追求隐私的需求，但在现实中却成为电信诈骗、网络赌盘等犯罪链条的最爱。联合国毒品和犯罪办公室2024年的报告披露：Tron区块链上的泰达币（USDT）已成为网络诈骗、洗钱、非法赌博的首选工具int-comp.org。犯罪分子之所以偏爱Tron上的USDT，正因为它具备价格稳定、跨境转账手续费低、速度快等优势，可以在不引人注目的情况下快速大额转移资金int-comp.org。链上分析亦显示，高风险USDT转账有高达83%无法追溯最终去向，犯罪团伙通过混币器、地址拆分等技术手段把资金搞得支离破碎，以至于监管部门难以跟踪binance.com。这背后反映出一个发人深省的现象：当一套隐私工具本身没有内置中立的契约约束（如合法用途的限定或责任追踪机制），那么它的匿名性越强，越可能被不法势力挟持利用。波场USDT的大规模滥用已经引起各方警觉，Tron项目方甚至与稳定币发行商和区块链分析公司合作，成立“T3打击犯罪特别小组”，截止2024年底已冻结逾1亿美元涉嫌犯罪的USDTtrmlabs.comcointelegraph.com。可见，当匿名性的武器落入犯罪网络之手，技术提供者也不得不被动介入“事后补救”，这恰恰说明当初设计时若缺乏法理上的自我约束，最终仍要以行政手段清理残局。

隐私协议被滥用的另一面，还体现在某些区块链应用与既有法律文化格格不入。以太坊上的去中心化预测市场「Polymarket」提供了一种赌博式合约交易平台，用户可以下注现实事件的结果。然而从伊斯兰教法视角看，这类“预测市场”无异于赤裸裸的**赌博（Maysir）**行为——参与者纯粹为了不确定事件的结果赌上一把财富，得利者以他人损失为代价，没有创造任何实际价值blog.zoya.financeblog.zoya.finance。根据伊斯兰金融原则，任何脱离实体经济、以纯粹机会为基础获取收益的交易都被视为不道德且明令禁止blog.zoya.finance。因此，Polymarket之类的平台与伊斯兰法对契约合法性的根本要求完全不兼容。这提醒我们：区块链技术的创新若缺乏契约中立性（即契约不偏离基本的公平与道义原则），就容易触犯某些法律或宗教的底线，从而被视作无效甚至有害的合约。无论是Tornado Cash这样的匿名洗钱温床，Tron链上被诈骗集团操控的资金暗道，还是Polymarket式的“去中心化赌场”，这些系统都凸显出当技术试图凌驾法律和伦理时所面临的巨大风险。它们要么被政府如临大敌般封杀（正如Tornado Cash遭制裁），要么被正义力量反制清理（如Tether冻结波场诈骗资金reuters.com），要么在道义上遭到主流文化的排斥（如伊斯兰世界视预测赌博为禁忌）。这一系列教训昭示：区块链生态中的隐私与创新，必须建立在法理自洽和契约中立的基础上，否则技术越前卫，反噬也越猛烈。

比特币的保守式创新：技术中立与合约合法性的统一

在区块链的众多创新中，比特币无疑是一个特殊的存在。它被称为“保守派的创新”，乃因其在开创数字货币新时代的同时，恪守了一些朴素但持久的原则。首先，比特币的设计追求技术中立。中立并不意味着纵容匿名滥用，而是指比特币网络对任何参与者一视同仁，仅仅按照既定算法规则处理交易，无内置偏见或特殊权限。比特币交易记录公开透明，所有交易在全球共享的账本上广播确认，其匿名性是“假名制”（pseudonymous）而非无法穿透的黑箱。事实上，正是由于比特币交易记录可被区块链分析工具去匿名化，在过去几年中我们看到犯罪团伙对比特币的兴趣有所降低，反而转向了Monero等完全匿名币或Tron-USDT等更隐匿便捷的手段int-comp.orgint-comp.org。Chainalysis的最新报告显示，2024年稳定币已经取代比特币成为犯罪分子使用的主要加密货币，占非法交易量的63%，而比特币在非法用途中的占比显著下降int-comp.orgint-comp.org。这个趋势从反面印证了比特币系统“公开且中立”的特性天然抑制了部分洗钱和犯罪滥用：任何人在比特币区块链上大额频繁作恶，都更容易被全球监管机构捕捉线索，留下破案的蛛丝马迹。

其次，比特币体现了交易确定性和契约精神的统一。在法律体系（尤其是英美普通法和伊斯兰教法）中，一份契约要具有合法性，核心在于当事各方自愿、条款清晰且不违背基本道德。比特币网络上的交易契约以代码方式自动执行，一旦双方签名广播，交易即被不可篡改地记录，一切权利义务随即完结。这种**“交割即结算”的机制提供了绝对的确定性，杜绝了传统金融中常见的赖账、拒付、无限制 chargeback（退款）等不确定因素。比特币不需要中央中介担保信用，依靠分布式共识来保证交易的最终性，这种确定性契合了普通法系对契约履行的重视：契约一旦成立即应严格履行，不得任意毁约。更值得注意的是，比特币没有利息（riba）和债务膨胀的设计**，2100万枚的恒定供应和逐步减半的发行机制，使其更接近一种数字商品而非通过债务衍生的货币nasdaq.com。在伊斯兰金融原则下，收取或支付利息被视为不公正，属明令禁止的行为，而比特币的货币体系天生规避了“利息”的概念nasdaq.com。同时，比特币交易公开透明，每一笔转账都记录在链上且需双方同意才能发生，这与伊斯兰教法要求交易双方充分知情、协商一致的原则不谋而合nasdaq.comnasdaq.com。尽管有人担忧加密货币的投机性带来不确定性（Gharar），但那更多是市场行为层面的波动，而比特币协议本身的运作是清晰明确、不含欺瞒的nasdaq.com。在穆斯林学者看来，如果加密货币被用于合法且善意的目的，它并不必然违反伊斯兰金融核心原则nasdaq.com。例如，中东一些创新项目已尝试将区块链用于公益和慈善，对每笔币交易提取天课（宗教捐献）用于慈善基金，以确保技术符合伊斯兰伦理nasdaq.comnasdaq.com。这种做法其实与比特币“协议中立、用途开放”的精神一致——技术本身不预设善恶关键，在于使用者是否将其用于合乎道义的契约。

换言之，比特币之“保守”，保守在它选择做“数字黄金”而非肆意重塑社会契约。它遵循价值储藏和交换媒介的基本定位，没有内置复杂的金融衍生功能，也不鼓励凭空创造信用泡沫。这种克制让比特币能够较自然地融入现行法治框架：作为一种私人财产和交换工具，比特币交易遵循“你情我愿，金额确定”的简明契约模型，各法域只需按财产或货物的属性去规范它即可。在英美法下，比特币已逐渐被法院视为可执行财产权益，盗窃比特币等同于盗窃有形财物来惩处。伊斯兰世界中，越来越多学者承认比特币具有财产价值，可以作为货币或商品使用，只要不用于赌博等不法用途，即可被视为“清洁”的财富。在迪拜等地，监管机构也探索制定符合沙里亚原则的加密货币监管指南，承认比特币等作为投资和支付工具的地位。这一切说明，比特币的核心设计没有违背人类社会关于契约正当性的根本要求——公平、自愿、透明，以及不伤害无辜第三方的利益。相比之下，许多后来的加密项目试图在隐私、金融工程上“开历史倒车”，结果反而凸显出比特币朴素设计的高明之处：它为维护基本道义预留了空间，通过公开透明防范了极端滥用，用技术手段恢复了契约的确定性和中立性。

历史视角：数字黄金如何推动正和博弈

历史的眼光往往能够校准当下的纷争。在货币演进的长河中，每当权力过度介入导致“恶币驱逐良币”时，人类总会试图寻回更公正稳健的交换媒介。16世纪格雷欣法则（劣币驱逐良币）揭示出，当政府滥铸货币、削减贵金属含量时，真正有价值的硬币（良币）便会被人们藏匿起来，劣币充斥市面yilinhut.netyilinhut.net。但值得深思的是，格雷欣现象并非不可逆的自然规律，而是统治者操控货币所致的扭曲。正如有学者指出的：“劣币驱逐良币并非市场自发，而是‘政府用劣币驱逐良币’的缩影；一旦能够摆脱政府的控制，这一定律就会失效，比特币恰恰旨在让货币摆脱政府控制，让良币重归市场”yilinhut.net。比特币作为现代数字黄金，其出现为全球经济提供了一种从新回归良币的可能。它不隶属于任何单一国家，其价值不依赖特定主权信用背书，而源于全球共识和算力保障的稀缺性。从国际贸易角度看，比特币类似于跨境结算中的黄金或白银——当两个国家缺乏互信或不愿接受对方货币时，完全可以通过比特币这种“中性资产”进行价值锚定交换，从而避开法币汇率波动和政治干预的风险。近年来，一些案例显示，比特币在地缘冲突或关税战背景下扮演了避险工具的角色：有分析指出，由于比特币不受制于特定国家的贸易政策，投资者把它视为对冲关税风险的手段，当贸易争端导致股市下跌时，比特币反倒逆势上涨，展现出独立于国际贸易格局的价值定位nai500.com。这印证了比特币作为“数字黄金”的一个要义：在国家壁垒与货币战争横生的世界里，它提供了一种超脱政治藩篱的价值载体，使得资金能够在更大程度的自由中逐利避险。

更深一层看，比特币蕴含着推动全球从零和博弈走向正和博弈的制度潜能。传统的法币体系常常被国家间博弈所挟持：各国竞相贬值本币以刺激出口、通过货币超发转嫁债务，这种你输我赢的零和心态导致国际金融秩序暗流汹涌。而比特币的兴起为“货币互信”提供了新范式。设想一个场景：若若干主要经济体将比特币纳入储备或结算体系，它们之间反而可能降低竞争性贬值的冲动，因为谁也无法单方面增发比特币来占便宜，大家只有共同维护其价值稳定才有利可图。这种在公开透明规则下的竞争，更接近“正和游戏”，即各方通过合作都能获益，而非此消彼长。有人将比特币视为一种“人类道义契约”，意指它不是某强权逼迫他国接受的货币（如历史上的殖民通货），而是全球无数个体自愿选择的价值共识。它的运行不依赖枪炮和法律强制，而靠的是对规则的信任与技术的确保。可以说，比特币构筑了一个前所未有的“自愿制度”：人人遵守21万块区块的发行上限和去中心化共识，这本身就是人类史上少见的跨文化、跨政治的合作现象。当这种制度逐步深入国际贸易和金融关系，我们有理由期待一个更公平的格局：劣币不再轻易驱逐良币，反而诚实守信的货币会赢得更广泛的使用；国家壁垒不会彻底消弭，但各国将更难通过封锁金融信息来要挟他国或剥夺公民，因为人们手中握有主权无法轻易触及的价值锚。

当然，比特币并非万能良药，它也会经历价格周期波动、面临技术升级挑战。然而，从历史视角出发，它承载的意义堪比现代版的黄金/白银——一种超越民族国家、服务于全球贸易和人类福祉的价值尺度。当年金本位体系在19世纪促进了世界贸易的繁荣，那是因为金银天然具有防范滥发的属性，使各国币值维持相对稳定。而比特币有望在21世纪承担类似的角色：在数字时代为世界提供一个防止无序贬值和信用滥用的“价值中轴”。这不仅是经济议题，更是道义命题。正如卢梭等思想家描述的社会契约，只有当制度建立在自愿与道义基础上，才能实现持久的正和博弈。比特币所体现的，就是这样一种自下而上凝聚的制度工具：它让个人与个人之间、国家与国家之间有机会基于共同利益而非强制权力来协作。一旦“良币”不再总是被逐出市场，人类就可能跳出过去那种劣币横行、以鄙胜良的怪圈，迎来金融领域的道义复归。

结语：拥抱创新契约，重塑监管范式

当下，FATF的出行规则所代表的监管思路与比特币所代表的技术革新，正站在历史的对立面上交锋。一方以安全与主权之名筑墙设限，另一方以中立与自由之实开辟新径。本文从制度批判的角度剖析了出行规则背后的治理逻辑与局限，揭示了过度管制对全球资金与信息流动的系统性压制，也反思了隐私技术在缺乏法理支撑时被滥用的教训。与此形成鲜明对照的是，比特币作为“保守式创新”的范例，展现出通过技术中立与契约确定性来天然抑制犯罪、兼容多元法统的独特优势。历史的回声告诉我们：真正良好的制度应当是使善者获益、恶者难存，其出发点是信任合作而非恐惧防范。

面对这一新旧范式的碰撞，立法者和监管者理应有所醒悟。与其穷尽手段构筑高墙、不惜牺牲公民自由来堵截风险，不如顺应技术发展的大势，拥抱那些内生具有道义契约性质的创新。在反洗钱和金融稳定目标下，监管可以也应该与技术“正和博弈”：鼓励像比特币这样透明中立的系统发挥正面效应，同时针对真正的黑箱匿名工具精确打击；在国际合作中，以开放心态探索新的全球货币协议，避免陷入零和的管制竞赛。只有这样，我们才能既防范“劣币”作乱，又让“良币”留在市井，形成一个既有秩序又有自由的金融生态。比特币之所以令无数持有者怀抱信念，不仅因为其经济价值，更因为其背后蕴含着对更公正更自由的制度可能性的期待。这份期待正在转化为现实的政治倡议，推动立法和监管的变革。在不久的将来，当我们回望今日，或许会发现：正是这一场关于“出行规则”与“数字黄金”的争论，催生出金融治理范式的转折点——让人类第一次有机会以合作共赢的契约，去取代那延续千年的强权博弈。

参考文献：

• FATF. What is the FATF Travel Rule? ComplyAdvantagecomplyadvantage.comcomplyadvantage.com

• TRISA. Recommendations to FATF for Virtual Assets Travel Ruletrisa.iotrisa.io

• E安全. 美国对朝鲜黑客关联加密货币Tornado Cash实施制裁secrss.comsecrss.com

• Rezaul Karim. Stablecoins: The new epicentre of crypto fraud, ICAint-comp.org

• 币圈线人. 凌晨三点的USDT警报：当稳定币变成资本外逃的「数字高速公路」binance.combinance.com

• 最高检. 依法惩治跨境电信网络诈骗及其关联犯罪典型案例spp.gov.cn

• Zoya Finance. Election Betting Markets: Halal or Haram?blog.zoya.finance

• 胡翌霖. 为什么比特币不适用格雷欣法则（劣币驱逐良币）？yilinhut.net

• Reuters. Tether says it has frozen $225 mln linked to human traffickingreuters.comreuters.com

• NAI500财经. 再创历史新高的比特币，究竟是科技股还是“数字黄金”？nai500.com

• Nasdaq. How Cryptocurrency Aligns with Islamic Financenasdaq.comnasdaq.com

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From my end, it s not one thing but a sentence:

A borderless world in a decentralized economy, where age, sex, race, religion... have not labels in a society where human are sovereigns.

https://stacker.news/items/1005361

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Bitcoin Magazine

Where Could Bitcoin Peak This Cycle?

With Bitcoin looking as bullish as ever, the inevitable question arises of how high could BTC realistically go in this market cycle? Here we’ll explore a wide range of on-chain valuation models and cycle timing tools to identify plausible price targets for a Bitcoin peak. Although prediction is never a substitute for disciplined data reaction, this analysis gives us frameworks to better understand where we are and where we might be heading.

Price Forecast Tools

The journey begins with Bitcoin Magazine Pro’s free Price Forecast Tools, which compile several historically accurate valuation models. While it’s always more effective to react to data rather than blindly predict prices, studying these metrics can still provide powerful context for market behavior. If macro, derivative, and on-chain data all start flashing warnings, it’s usually a solid time to take profit, regardless of whether a specific price target has been hit. Still, exploring these valuation tools is informative and can guide strategic decision-making when used alongside broader market analysis.

Figure 1: Applying Price Forecast Tools to calculate potential cycle tops. View Live Chart

Among the key models, the Top Cap multiplies the average cap over time by 35 to project peak valuations. It accurately forecasted 2017’s top, but missed the 2020–2021 cycle, estimating over $200k while Bitcoin peaked around $69k. It now targets over $500k, which feels increasingly unrealistic. A step further is the Delta Top, subtracting the average cap from the realized cap, based on the cost basis of all circulating BTC, to generate a more grounded projection. This model suggested an $80k–$100k top last cycle. The most consistently accurate, however, is the Terminal Price, based on Supply Adjusted Coin Days Destroyed, which has closely aligned with each prior peak, including the $64k top in 2021. Currently projecting around $221k, it could rise to $250k or more, and remains arguably the most credible model for forecasting macro Bitcoin tops. Of course, more information regarding all of these metrics and their calculation logic can be found beneath the charts on the site.

Peak Forecasting

Another powerful metric is the MVRV ratio, which compares market cap to realized cap. It offers a psychological window into investor sentiment, typically peaking near a value of 4 in major cycles. The ratio currently sits at 2.34, suggesting there may still be room for significant upside. Historically, as MVRV nears 3.5 to 4, long-term holders begin to realize substantial gains, often signaling cycle maturity. However, with diminishing returns, we might not reach a full 4 this time around. Instead, using a more conservative estimate of 3.5, we can begin projecting more grounded peak values.

Figure 2: A view of the MVRV ratio predicts further cycle growth to reach historical 4+ and even more conservative 3.5 target values. View Live Chart

Calculating A Target

Timing is as important as valuation. Analysis of BTC Growth Since Cycle Lows illustrates that previous Bitcoin cycles peaked almost exactly 1,060 days from their respective lows. Currently, we are about 930 days into this cycle. If the pattern holds, we can estimate the peak may arrive in roughly 130 days. Historical FOMO-driven price increases often happen late in the cycle, causing Realized Price, a proxy for average investor cost basis, to rise rapidly. For instance, in the final 130 days of the 2017 cycle, realized price grew 260%. In 2021, it increased by 130%. If we assume a further halving of growth due to diminishing returns, a 65% rise from the current $47k realized price brings us to around $78k by October 18.

Figure 3: Based on the peak rate of previous cycles, this cycle is far from over. View Live Chart

With a projected $78k realized price and a conservative MVRV target of 3.5, we arrive at a potential Bitcoin price peak of $273,000. While that may feel ambitious, historical parabolic blowoff tops have shown that such moves can happen in weeks, not months. While it may seem more realistic to expect a peak closer to $150k to $200k, the math and on-chain evidence suggest that a higher valuation is at least within the realm of possibility. It’s also worth noting that these models dynamically adjust, and if late-cycle euphoria kicks in, projections could quickly accelerate further.

Figure 4: Combining projected realized price and a possible MVRV target to predict this cycle’s peak.

Conclusion

Forecasting Bitcoin’s exact peak is inherently uncertain, with too many variables to account for. What we can do is position ourselves with probabilistic frameworks grounded in historical precedent and on-chain data. Tools like the MVRV ratio, Terminal Price, and Delta Top have repeatedly demonstrated their value in anticipating market exhaustion. While a $273,000 target might seem optimistic, it is rooted in past patterns, current network behavior, and cycle-timing logic. Ultimately, the best strategy is to react to data, not rigid price levels. Use these tools to inform your thesis, but stay nimble enough to take profits when the broader ecosystem starts signaling the top.

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

---

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 Where Could Bitcoin Peak This Cycle? first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Matt Crosby.

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Первоначально создан в 2004 году Джоном Грубером (англ. John Gruber) и Аароном Шварцем. Многие идеи языка были позаимствованы из существующих соглашений по разметке текста в электронных письмах...

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https://liascript.github.io/course/?https://raw.githubusercontent.com/liaScript/docs/master/README.md

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Autor: Caitlin Johnstone. Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben. Sie finden alle Texte der Friedenstaube und weitere Texte zum Thema Frieden hier. Die neuesten Pareto-Artikel finden Sie in unserem Telegram-Kanal.

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

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Israel hat eine umfangreiche Serie von Luftangriffen auf den Iran gestartet.

Die westlichen Medien übernehmen natürlich unhinterfragt die faktenfreie Behauptung der israelischen Regierung, dass diese Angriffe „präventiv“ waren.

Das Trump-Regime versucht, dies als einen völlig einseitigen israelischen Angriff darzustellen, der nichts mit den Vereinigten Staaten zu tun habe - eine Behauptung, die man durchaus glauben könnte, wenn man gestern geboren wäre.

Hier ist eine Liste von Schlagzeilen, die wir in Zukunft von der New York Times erwarten können:

• Iranische Angriffe erschüttern Israel in einem unprovozierten Angriff.

• Israelische Familien suchen Schutz bei antisemitischem Terroranschlag.

• Israelischer Verteidigungsminister: US-Campus-Demonstranten wussten irgendwie von iranischen Angriffen im Voraus, was auf eine Koordination mit Teheran hindeutet.

• Trump äußert privat seine Frustration mit Netanjahu über den Iran-Konflikt, dem die USA nur passiv und unschuldig beiwohnen.

• Amerikanische Juden fühlen sich inmitten der sich zuspitzenden Kriege im Nahen Osten verunsichert und nicht unterstützt.

• Meine Meinung: Ich habe bei den Luftangriffen auf Tel Aviv um mein Leben gefürchtet. Niemand auf der Welt kann sich vorstellen, wie das ist.

• Meinung: Besteht die Gefahr, dass die USA in einen weiteren Krieg im Nahen Osten hineingezogen werden?

• Meinung: Stolpern die USA in einen weiteren Krieg im Nahen Osten?

• Meinung: Stolpern die USA versehentlich in einen weiteren Krieg im Nahen Osten?

• Meinung: Werden die USA mit Füßen getreten und in einen Krieg im Nahen Osten hineingezogen, den sie seit jeher um jeden Preis zu vermeiden versuchen?

• USA starten Präventivschlag gegen den Iran.

• Ihre Meinung: Werden die USA in einen dritten Weltkrieg hineingezogen?

• Meinung: Taumeln die USA kopfüber in einen nuklearen Schlagabtausch mit Russland und China?

• Meinung: Der Himmel verdunkelt sich, während nukleare Strahlung über unser Land kriecht, deshalb müssen wir alle zusammenkommen und die Hamas verurteilen.

• Meinung: Die Erde ist ein unfruchtbares Ödland. Nichts bleibt übrig. Schauen Sie nach Ihren jüdischen Freunden.

Dieser Text erschien zuerst auf englisch auf dem Substack-Blog der Autorin.

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LASSEN SIE DER FRIEDENSTAUBE FLÜGEL WACHSEN!

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Wenn Sie auf anderem Wege beitragen wollen, schreiben Sie die Friedenstaube an: friedenstaube@pareto.space

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Sie sind noch nicht auf Nostr and wollen die volle Erfahrung machen (liken, kommentieren etc.)? Zappen können Sie den Autor auch ohne Nostr-Profil! Erstellen Sie sich einen Account auf Start. Weitere Onboarding-Leitfäden gibt es im Pareto-Wiki.

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Bitcoin Magazine

JPMorgan Reports Record Profits for Bitcoin Miners in Q1

Bitcoin mining companies in the U.S. have kicked off 2025 with record performance, according to a recent report. The first quarter of the year was “one of Bitcoin miners’ best quarters to date,” analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce stated. 

JUST IN: JPMorgan reported Q1 2025 was one of the best periods on record for publicly traded bitcoin mining companies pic.twitter.com/gs9fGiTbZV

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) June 13, 2025

“Four of the five operators in our coverage reported record revenue and profits,” the report stated, underscoring the sector’s impressive rebound in profitability amid continued institutional adoption and high bitcoin prices, currently hovering around $105,462.87.

In total, U.S.-listed miners brought in $2.0 billion in gross profit during Q1 2025, with average gross margins reaching 53%—a jump from $1.7 billion and 50% in the previous quarter.

MARA Holdings (MARA) once again led the pack in Bitcoin production, mining the most BTC for the ninth consecutive quarter. However, despite its output dominance, MARA also posted the highest cost per coin, estimated at $72,600, JPMorgan noted.

On the profitability front, IREN (IREN) was the standout performer. For the first time, IREN earned the most gross profit among the tracked firms. The company also reported the lowest all-in cash cost per Bitcoin, around $36,400, helping to boost margins significantly.

CleanSpark (CLSK), another major player, did not raise any equity in the quarter—one of the more capital-disciplined moves seen among its peers. In fact, JPMorgan reported that the five miners it tracks issued only $310 million in equity for Q1, marking a steep decline from $1.3 billion in Q4 2024. 

On the operational expense side, miners spent an estimated $1.8 billion on power, up $50 million from the previous quarter—demonstrating the energy-intensive nature of mining. 

JPMorgan’s outlook on the industry remains bullish for select players. The bank maintains overweight ratings for CleanSpark, IREN, and Riot Platforms (RIOT), while assigning neutral ratings to Cipher Mining (CIFR) and MARA.

As profitability surges and strategic spending remains in check, 2025 may very well be remembered as a turning point in mining economics—especially for companies navigating cost discipline and scaling production. 

This post JPMorgan Reports Record Profits for Bitcoin Miners in Q1 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

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The Pallas cat wasn’t known to live on Mount Everest until a National Geographic Expedition in 2019 made a surprising discovery. The research team, made up of scientists from eight different countries, unexpectedly found Pallas feces in the Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal. “It is phenomenal to discover proof of this rare and remarkable species at the top of the world,” said Dr Tracie Seimon of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Zoological Health Program.

These irritated-looking kitties live at high elevations throughout Asia and are considered “super predators,” meaning they are extremely successful at catching their prey. Analysis of scat revealed the feline is surving on pika within the mountain region.

https://stacker.news/items/1005336

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Bitcoin Magazine

UK Gold Mining Company Bluebird to Convert Gold Revenues into Bitcoin

Bluebird Mining Ventures Ltd., a pan Asian gold project development company, recently announced a major strategic shift. It plans to convert future revenues from its gold mining projects into bitcoin and adopt bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset. 

Strategy shift to covert gold into digital gold – #bitcoin #goldmining #goldequities #investinbitcoin #investingold
"Combining income streams from gold mining projects and recycling these revenues into a proactive "Bitcoin in Treasury" management approach, whilst maintaining a… pic.twitter.com/BpJA6hFU9Y

— Bluebird Mining Ventures Ltd (LSE:BMV.L) (@bluebirdIR) June 5, 2025

“By adopting a ‘gold plus a digital gold’ strategy, it offers the Company an opportunity to turn the page and look to the future and seek to attract a new type of shareholder,” said the Executive Director and CEO of Bluebird Aidan Bishop. “Under the leadership of a new CEO, once identified, it is my sincere hope that Bluebird will finally realise its ambitions for which it was initially established for.”

The announcement comes as Bluebird progresses towards a key agreement on its flagship Philippine project. The company expects to finalize a deal in the coming weeks that will grant it a net profit interest throughout the life of the mine, with no ongoing capital costs. The company said it believes bitcoin offers a modern alternative to traditional store of value assets like gold.

“I am very pleased with the progress of discussions in the Philippines which are looking very positive and will enable, if successfully completed, Bluebird to maintain an ongoing exposure with zero future cash commitments,” stated Bishop.

Bluebird plans to recycle revenues from its mining operations directly into bitcoin, aligning with what they describe as an innovative treasury approach. The company cited bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million, increasing global adoption, and role as a hedge against inflation and monetary instability as key reasons for its decision.

“Combining income streams from gold mining projects and recycling these revenues into a proactive ‘Bitcoin in Treasury’ management approach…” the company said. “Companies that have adopted bitcoin into their treasury strategy globally across public markets have been enjoying significant investor interest as well as substantial premiums to Net Asset Value (NAV) that have challenged traditional financial metrics as a basis of valuation.”

To lead this new phase, Bluebird is actively searching for a new CEO with experience in digital assets.

“On a personal level, I embarked some time ago on a journey to understand and learn about bitcoin,” added Bishop. “I am convinced that we are witnessing a tectonic shift in global markets and that bitcoin will reshape the landscape of financial markets on every level.”

This post UK Gold Mining Company Bluebird to Convert Gold Revenues into Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

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I recently decided to create my own personal brand website—something simple with a clean landing page, contact info, links to my work, and a blog. The idea was straightforward: when you meet people in real life or connect online, you need a reliable, consistent place they can go to learn more about you. Social media platforms aren’t built for that—they’re noisy, crowded, and ultimately not under your control.

As we shift into a decentralized digital future, owning your own website is one of the easiest and most powerful moves you can make. Social media pages are just websites owned by someone else. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube—they all serve specific functions, but there’s nothing stopping you from creating your own platform. If you make videos, host a video gallery. If you write, post your own blog. You don’t need to depend on Twitter or Medium to get your thoughts out. Open-source tools and modern frameworks make it easier than ever to replicate what these big platforms do—on your terms.

This shift is already visible with platforms like Nostr and Mastodon, which promote the idea of identity and communication without central ownership. Your website can be a central node in that ecosystem. Unlike a profile on a platform that can vanish overnight, your domain name is portable and permanent. You can point it anywhere—your own server, a decentralized network, or a new platform that respects user autonomy. That kind of control is only possible when you own your digital real estate.

In fact, I believe domain names are the next evolution of usernames. They’re already being used that way on services like BlueSky and Mastodon. A domain name isn’t just a web address—it’s a digital identity. It can be your contact card, your blog, your portfolio, and even your inbox. In a decentralized world, owning a domain is like planting a flag. It says: this is mine.

The deeper truth is that these centralized platforms are incentivized to keep you inside their ecosystem. They harvest your data, limit your reach unless you pay, and can suspend or ban your account without warning. When you build on their land, you play by their rules. When you build on your own land—your website—you make the rules. You decide what gets seen, what gets featured, and what data gets collected.

And let’s talk discoverability. While social media relies on algorithms and trends to push your content, your website can be indexed and searched globally on your terms. SEO tools, schema markup, and open metadata standards let you control how your content appears across the web. Add analytics, email capture, or even push notifications, and you’ve created a full digital marketing system that doesn’t depend on anyone else’s infrastructure.

For developers and technical creators, building a personal site also becomes a live demo of your skillset. It’s an interactive resume, a sandbox for new technologies, and a launchpad for projects. Whether you’re using React, Astro, Hugo, or GhostCMS, the tools you choose say as much about you as the content you publish. And because it’s all yours, you’re free to experiment without limitation.

Ultimately, your website is an investment in future-proofing your digital identity. As decentralized protocols evolve, your personal site can plug into that infrastructure—whether it’s connecting wallets, supporting decentralized comments, or syndicating content to multiple platforms. Owning your site today means you’ll be ready for the web of tomorrow.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

The 30,000-Foot View of the Oslo Freedom Forum

As I step onto the plane leaving Gardermoen Airport in Oslo, Norway, the weight and warmth of the past week settles into my chest.

The Oslo Freedom Forum is not a conference. It’s not a summit. It’s something harder to name and even harder to describe — a convergence of courage, truth and defiance that burns through the noise of the modern world and gives you no choice but to listen, feel and act.

For the second time, I leave this city more convinced than ever that something unstoppable is rising. That amid the censorship, surveillance and state repression spreading across the globe, there is a countervailing force rooted in humanity, accelerated by technology and led by those who’ve already paid the price for speaking out.

The Forum doesn’t trade in empty optimism. It delivers a different kind of hope, forged from lived experience and stitched together by people who have been in the dark and still choose to see the light. A hope borne from the stories of individuals who have lived through the worst an authoritarian regime can do and still choose to fight for the freedom of others. The experiences shared were hard. At times, devastating. But they weren’t offered for pity. They were calls to action.

Just days after she was abducted, blindfolded, tortured, and sexually assaulted in a Tanzanian prison cell, Agather Atuhaire stood in front of a crowd of strangers and told her story.

Her voice did not tremble.

The Ugandan journalist and lawyer had traveled to Tanzania in solidarity with fellow East African dissidents, only to be disappeared in a black van alongside Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi.

And yet, against all odds, she came back. Not just to her home in Uganda, but also to the stage in Oslo, where she spoke calmly and clearly about what it means to tell the truth under a dictatorship.

Her presentation, “The Digital Free Speech Crackdown in Uganda,” laid bare the authoritarian playbook: social media blackouts, propaganda campaigns, surveillance of journalists and the slow financial asphyxiation of independent media. When the government doesn’t like a story, it simply blocks the platform or website. When a journalist digs too deep, they disappear for a while. Or forever. Atuhaire painted a picture many struggle to even imagine.

And yet, after everything, she didn’t just recount these struggles. She looked out at the crowd and thanked the open source builders and contributors who write code and create tools that make it possible for activists like her to speak, move money and organize under regimes that want them silenced, or worse.

(Ugandan journalist and lawyer, Agather Atuhaire, speaks during the Freedom Tech track at the 2025 Oslo Freedom Forum.)

From Iran, independent Bitcoin educator Ziya Sadr reminded us that financial privacy is not a luxury but a necessary lifeline for those facing the financial repression by oppressive rulers. Sadr’s detainment during the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom movement following the murder of Mahsa Amini by the Iranian regime is a testament to that. Without financial privacy, activists’ actions, connections and finances are exposed to a regime equipped with widespread financial controls and a sophisticated, restrictive internet firewall that rivals even China’s.

The result is one of the most repressive digital environments in the world. And if that wasn’t enough, the Iranian rial currency has lost more than 80% of its value in just a few years.

Against this backdrop, Iranians are using bitcoin as undebasable savings, and to buy digital services like VPNs in order to access the open internet. But even that act, just reaching the outside world, requires a level of privacy most of us take for granted.

In his presentation, “Securing Lifelines: The Bitcoin Privacy Imperative,” Sadr shared that many Iranians turn to Bitcoin Coinjoins, a privacy technique that breaks the link between Bitcoin transaction inputs. Coinjoins preserve user transaction privacy and, more importantly, shield Iranians from the surveillance and retaliation of a regime who punishes anyone trying to access information beyond its tightly controlled digital spaces. The use of Coinjoins is becoming more difficult as global legal pressure mounts against open source developers, and in the aftermath of the Samourai developer arrests, privacy protocols like Whirlpool are unworkable.

Today, Sadr is learning more about additional Bitcoin privacy tools, including Paykoin, a privacy method that allows two users to contribute an input to a Bitcoin transaction. Payjoin breaks common chain analysis heuristics and conceals the sender and receiver of a transaction as well as the payment amount. Then there is ecash, a form of digital cash backed by Bitcoin that enables very private, everyday payments with the custodial trade-off of trusting mints (entities that issue and redeem ecash tokens) to store user funds.

The continued development of these protocols is crucial for Iranians, who live under a government that not only tracks and surveils digital behavior, but also imposes automatic fines on women for violating hijab rules and manipulates currency exchange rates to profit off citizens’ savings. For millions in Iran, bitcoin offers a last line of defense against a collapsing currency, intrusive surveillance and total financial repression.

(Independent Iranian Bitcoin educator, Ziya Sadr, speaks during the Freedom Tech track at the Oslo Freedom Forum.)

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López took the stage at the 2025 Oslo Freedom Forum not as a politician, but as a witness to what happens when a state turns its institutions into further tendrils of its repression machine.

After Nicolás Maduro stole Venezuela’s 2024 elections, López watched thousands of his fellow people — activists, students, journalists, opposition members and lawyers — get arrested, disappeared or forced into exile. The regime blocked access to social media, revoked passports, criminalized dissent and used the financial system as a means of controlling the population.

Amid this digital repression and Venezuela’s 162% inflation rate, López sees bitcoin (decentralized money) and Nostr (decentralized social media) as lifelines. When dictators shut down the internet or freeze your bank account, alternatives that are open source, decentralized, uncensorable and accessible become more important than ever for the survival of democracy and freedom.

**“Decentralized resistance is the convergence of people, Bitcoin, Nostr, and AI.

People, it’s about the center and the end of what we are doing.

Brave women and men who sacrifice their freedom, who take risks, who are willing to fight for other people.

If it’s not about people, technology wouldn’t be something worth fighting for.

Bitcoin is freedom money. It’s decentralized, nobody controls it, nobody can stop it, it can move around without borders.”**

(Venezuelan Opposition Leader Leopoldo López during the Freedom Tech track at the 2025 Oslo Freedom Forum.)

For decades, Paraguay’s greatest natural resource, hydroelectric power, has flowed out of the country through international contracts, fueling development in neighboring countries like Brazil and Argentina while one in four Paraguayans remained trapped in poverty. Paraguay’s Itaipu Dam, one of the largest in the world, has long symbolized this paradox: a river of energy diverted away from the very people who need it most.

Björn Schmidtke and Delia Garcete of Penguin Group are flipping that script.

In a landmark move, they secured Paraguay’s first 100-megawatt power purchase agreement, marking the beginning of a bold experiment to reclaim that energy for the people of Paraguay. Instead of selling it off to foreign powers, they use it to mine Bitcoin — and the proc

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Bitcoin Magazine

Pakistan’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: A Step Toward Orange-Pilling a Nation?

Pakistan’s relationship with Bitcoin has been marked by inconsistency and confusion over the past few years. Initially, the country outright banned bitcoin trading in 2018, citing concerns over fraud, money laundering and lack of regulation. However, over time, their stance softened and regulators began exploring the technology behind Bitcoin with courts even questioning the legality of the ban. Eventually, citizens were allowed to hold bitcoin, though trading remained murky and unregulated. This back-and-forth approach has created a confusing environment, where Bitcoin exists in a legal gray area. It is technically allowed, yet not fully embraced or regulated, reflecting the state’s struggle to balance innovation with control.

PAKISTAN TO ESTABLISH NATIONAL STRATEGIC #BITCOIN RESERVE

Honored to have had the Pakistan Minister Bilal Bin Saqib at the Bitcoin Conference pic.twitter.com/7WunP5fuZm

— The Bitcoin Conference (@TheBitcoinConf) May 29, 2025

This muddled relationship with Bitcoin seems to have turned a corner in recent weeks as Bilal Bin Saqib, head of the Pakistan Crypto Council, at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas announced that the country is moving to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Furthermore, he announced the allocation of 2,000 megawatts of excess energy to Bitcoin mining and high-performance computer data centers. The Ministry of Finance has also commissioned the establishment of an entirely new agency to oversee digital asset regulation which could lead to a less opaque legal framework around bitcoin ownership and usage in everyday transactions.

Critics have argued that this is merely an attempt by Pakistan to cozy up to Trump in the aftermath of the recent skirmish with India. After all, Saqib did state that Pakistan was inspired by the Trump administration when he spoke at the recent Las Vegas Bitcoin conference. Others have asserted that Pakistan is merely seeking to build resistance to possible sanctions in the future over its support for terrorist groups. I believe that such a geopolitically focused critique overlooks a deeper economic reality that has been staring Pakistan in the face for many years. 

I wrote an article for a Pakistani newspaper about a year ago in which I argued that the country is uniquely situated, in economic terms, to take advantage of Bitcoin and unlock the benefits that come with adoption. Pakistan suffers from rampant inflation, stagnant capital formation, depleted foreign reserves, an inefficient bureaucracy and an overreliance on remittances from abroad. These systemic issues have eroded citizens’ faith in traditional financial systems, leaving many Pakistanis disillusioned and seeking alternative means to safeguard their wealth and economic autonomy. 

Thus, nurturing a culture of Bitcoin adoption could go a long way toward alleviating much of these economic ills and empowering citizens to take control of their financial future. By earning and trading a form of currency that is deflationary in nature, Pakistanis can protect themselves from the downsides of the macroeconomic trends that have decimated the living standards of this once proud nation. Bitcoin adoption could transform the country’s lively remittance sector, with receivers keeping more of the money they are sent. It could also emancipate people from the inefficient banking system that is such a drain on the people. Permissionless transactions could also empower the beleaguered minorities who often struggle to achieve financial freedom. 

The announcement of a strategic Bitcoin reserve, as well as promises to introduce pro-Bitcoin regulation and a mining strategy, are steps in the right direction. They show that the mood is shifting and the country is starting to take a serious look at the only real digital currency in town. These steps also point to a much broader, global shift in attitudes toward Bitcoin — especially in nations where hyperinflation is a daily reality and the banking system struggles to meet citizens’ needs. 

However, real change will only come when Pakistan fully legalizes bitcoin as a digital currency and takes steps toward mass adoption. Only then will ordinary Pakistani citizens be free to trade with people from all over the world without the need to rely on the local banking system. Only then will financial autonomy become an achievable goal for those living far away from the big cities where banks are based. Only then will women be free to earn, store and transact in a digital currency that is resistant to cultural barriers. 

Creating a national strategic reserve merely signals that a nation believes in bitcoin as an asset with the potential to offer a reliable return. It does not signal that a nation has adopted the digital currency as a means to overcome the obstacles imposed by fiat. Strategic national reserves also hoard bitcoin and bring it too close to the state, even though the digital currency was designed to be a hedge against state-controlled money. As such, a reserve does not unlock the true potential of bitcoin to act as a buffer against domestic inflation, currency devaluation and a cumbersome banking system. 

A strategic Bitcoin reserve is a step in the right direction for Pakistan, as it would be for any nation that suffers from hyperinflation. But only mass adoption will truly unlock the immense potential Bitcoin can offer to a nation such as Pakistan and we have a long way to go before that becomes a reality. 

In my view, strategic reserves are not what bitcoin is all about, but let’s hope this is merely the first step in a long and prosperous journey toward orange-pilling a nation.

This post Pakistan’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: A Step Toward Orange-Pilling a Nation? first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Ghaffar Hussain.

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Find essential details about the operating hours of the after school program in Anaheim Hills offered by Hillsborough Private Preschool. This structured program runs weekdays and is designed to accommodate working parents while offering children a secure, enriching environment. With flexible scheduling and attentive care, the program aligns with local school dismissal times. Learn about pick-up procedures, supervision quality, and how the program supports academic and social development through structured routines and engaging activities tailored to your child’s needs.

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Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Layer 2: Statechains

Statechains are an original second layer protocol originally developed by Ruben Somsen in 2018, depending on the eltoo (or LN Symmetry) proposal. In 2021 a variation of the original proposal, Mercury, was built by CommerceBlock. In 2024, a further iteration of the original Mercury scheme was built, Mercury Layer. 

The Statechain protocol is a bit more complicated to discuss compared to other systems such as Ark or Lightning because of the range of variations that are possible between the original proposed design, the two that have been actually implemented, and other possible designs that have been loosely proposed. 

Like Ark, Statechains depend on a centralized coordinating server in order to function. Unlike Ark, they have a slightly different trust model than a vUTXO in an Ark batch. They depend on the coordinating server to delete previously generated shares of a private key in order to remain trustless, but as long as the server follows the defined protocol and does so, they provide a strong security guarantee. 

The general idea of a Statechain is to be able to transfer ownership of an entire UTXO between different users off-chain, facilitated by the coordinator. There is no requirement for receiving liquidity like Lightning, or the coordinator server to provide any liquidity like Ark. 

To begin, we will look at the original protocol proposed by Ruben Somsen. 

The Original Statechain

Statechains are effectively a pre-signed transaction allowing the current owner of the Statechain to unilaterally withdraw on-chain whenever they want, and a history signed messages cryptographically proving that past owners and the receivers they sent the Statechain to approved those transfers. 

The original design was built on eltoo using ANYPREVOUT, but the current plans on how to enable the same functionality make use of CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY and CHECKSIGFROMSTACK (a high level explanation of this is at the end of the CHECKSIGFROMSTACK article). The basic idea is a script enabling a pre-signed transaction to spend any UTXO that has that script and locks the appropriate amount of bitcoin, rather than being tied to spending a single specific UTXO. 

In the protocol, a user wishing to deposit their coins to a Statechain approaches a coordinator server and goes through a deposit protocol. The depositing user, Bob, generates a key that will be uniquely owned by him, but also a second “transitory” key that will eventually be shared (more on this soon). They then craft a deposit transaction locking their coin to a multisig requiring the coordinator’s key and the transitory key to sign. 

Using this multisig, Bob and the coordinator sign a transaction that spends that coin and creates a UTXO that can either be spent by any other transaction signed by the transitory key and the coordinator’s key using LN Symmetry, or Bob’s unique key after a timelock. Bob can now fund the multisig with the appropriate amount, and the Statechain has been created. 

To transfer a Statechain to Charlie, Bob must go through a multistep process. First, Bob signs a message with his unique private key that attests to the fact he is going to transfer the Statechain to Charlie. Charlie must also sign a message attesting to the fact that he has received the Statechain from Bob. Finally, the coordinator server must sign a new transaction allowing Charlie to unilaterally claim the Statechain on-chain before Bob sends Charlie a copy of the transitory key. 

All of this is made atomic using adapter signatures. These are signatures that are modified in such a way using a random piece of data that renders them invalid, but can be made valid again once the holder of the signature receives that piece of information. All of the messages, and the new pre-signed transaction are signed with adapter signatures, and atomically made valid at the same time through the release of the adapter data. 

Holders of a Statechain must trust that the coordinator server never conspires with a previous owner to sign an immediate closure of the Statechain and steal funds from the current owner, but the chain of pre-signed messages can prove that a coordinator has participated in theft if they were to do so. If a past owner attempts to use their pre-signed transaction to steal the funds, the timelock on the spend path using only their key allows the current owner to submit their pre-signed transaction and correctly claim the funds on chain. 

Mercury and Mercury Layer

The original Statechain architecture requires a softfork in order to function. CommerceBlock designed their variant of Statechains to function without a softfork, but in order to do so tradeoffs were made in terms of functionality. 

The basic idea is the same as the original design, all users hold a pre-signed transaction that allows them to claim their funds unilaterally, and the coordinator server still plays a role in facilitating off-chain transfers that requires them to be trusted to behave honestly. The two major differences are how those transactions are signed, and the structure of the pre-signed transaction users are given. 

Where the signing is concerned, there is no longer a transitory private key that is passed from user to user. Instead of this, a multiparty-computation protocol (MPC) is used so that the original owner and the coordinator server are able to collaboratively generate partial pieces of a private key without either of them ever possessing the full key. This key is used to sign the pre-signed transactions. The MPC protocol allows the current owner and coordinator to engage in a second protocol with a third party, the receiver of a transfer, to regenerate different pieces that add up to the same private key. In both the Mercury and Mercury Layer protocol, after completing a transfer an honest coordinator server deletes the key material corresponding to the previous owner. As long as this is done, it is no longer possible for the coordinator to sign a transaction with a previous owner, as the new piece of key material they have is not compatible with the piece any previous owner might still have. This is actually a stronger guarantee, as long as the coordinator is honest, than the original proposal.

The pre-signed transaction structure for Mercury and Mercury Layer can’t use LN Symmetry, as this is not possible without a softfork. In lieu of this, CommerceBlock opted to use decrementing timelocks. The original owner’s pre-signed transaction is timelocked using nLocktime to a time far out in the future from the point of the Statechain’s creation. As each subsequent user receives the Statechain during a transfer, the nLocktime value of their transaction is some pre-determined length of time shorter than the previous owner. This guarantees that a previous owner is incapable of even trying to submit their transaction on-chain before the current owner can, but it also means that eventually at some point the current owner must close their Statechain on-chain before previous owners’ transactions start becoming valid. 

The major difference between Mercury and Mercury Layer is how these transactions are signed. In the case of Mercury, the coordinator server simply sees the transaction proposed, verifies it, and then signs it. Mercury Layer uses a blind-signing protocol, meaning that they do not actually see any details of the transaction they are signing. This necessitates the server tracking Statechains using anonymized records on the server, and a special authorization key of the current owner so that they can be sure they are only signing valid transfers. 

Synergy With Other Layers

Statechains can synergize with other Layer 2s that are based on pre-signed transactions. For instance, part of the original proposal suggested a combination of Statechains and Lightning Channels. Because both are simply pre-signed transactions, it is possible to actually nest a Lightning channel on top of a Statechain. This simply requires the current owner’s unilateral exit key to be a multisig, and the creation of the pre-signed transactions spending that output into a Lightning channel. This allows Lightning channels to be opened and closed entirely off-chain. 

In a similar fashion, it is possible to nest a Statechain on top of a vUTXO in an Ark batch. This simply requires the pre-signed transactions necessary for a Statechain to be constructed, spending the vUTXO output. 

Wrapping Up

Statechains are not entirely trustless, but they are a very trust minimized scheme that is very liquidity efficient and allows freely transferring UTXOs off-chain between any users willing to accept the trust model of Statechains. 

While the original proposal has yet to be built, the two implementations designed by CommerceBlock have been completely implemented. Both failed to achieve anything more than marginal use in the real world. Whether this is due to users being unwilling to accept the trust model involved, or simply a failure in marketing or awareness is something that cannot be fully ascertained. 

Regardless, given that there are two full implementations and designs for a more flexible variation should LN Symmetry ever become possible on Bitcoin, this an option

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Panpsychism is the view that mentality is fundamental and ubiquitous in the natural world. The view has a long and venerable history in philosophical traditions of both East and West, and has recently enjoyed a revival in analytic philosophy. For its proponents panpsychism offers an attractive middle way between physicalism on the one hand and dualism on the other. The worry with dualism—the view that mind and matter are fundamentally different kinds of thing—is that it leaves us with a radically disunified picture of nature, and the deep difficulty of understanding how mind and brain interact. And whilst physicalism offers a simple and unified vision of the world, this is arguably at the cost of being unable to give a satisfactory account of the emergence of human and animal consciousness. Panpsychism, strange as it may sound on first hearing, promises a satisfying account of the human mind within a unified conception of nature.

For more details: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/panpsychism/

https://stacker.news/items/1005324

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Key Takeaways

In this episode of TFTC, Jessy Gilger, Managing Partner at Sound Advisory and architect of Ganet Trust, unpacks the complexities of retiring on Bitcoin, emphasizing that the “right” amount depends on spending habits, age, and minimizing withdrawal pressure. He introduces Ganet Trust as a Bitcoin-native fiduciary solution that leverages multisig custody to meet institutional compliance standards without sacrificing decentralization. Jessy also critiques high-yield derivative products like MSTY, warning of systemic risks and advocating for safer alternatives like SMAs. The conversation broadens into the emotional pitfalls of financial decision-making, the importance of aligning wealth with values, and the evolving macro landscape where Bitcoin’s intersection with traditional finance and tax policy will shape how individuals and institutions protect and grow their holdings across generations.

Best Quotes

"The most comfort comes from putting as little pressure as possible against that stack."

"Multisig is the upgrade from a honeypot to a distributed key setup."

"If a whale pees in the pool, everyone is affected."

"Everyone feels late to Bitcoin because they know someone who got in earlier."

"Stacking Saturdays is my new stack sats."

"Bitcoin doesn’t know about trust, it knows private keys."

"The money is there to serve your values—not the other way around."

"Some financial products will help, some will hurt, and some will fail. Our job is to help clients navigate them safely."

Conclusion

This episode offers a powerful blend of practical insight and philosophical reflection on long-term Bitcoin strategy, emphasizing the need for sound custody, inheritance planning, and emotional discipline in a volatile, financialized world. Jessy Gilger introduces Ganet Trust as a vital solution for secure, compliant Bitcoin ownership, while his “stacking Saturdays” mantra reframes wealth as a pursuit of time, freedom, and meaningful priorities. As Bitcoin moves further into the mainstream, the conversation urges listeners to stay grounded, think generationally, and build resilient systems for both assets and life.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro
0:33 - Bitcoin Retirement Planning at New All-Time Highs
5:22 - How Gannett Trust Works
10:05 - High Net Worth Bitcoin Storage and Estate Planning Solutions
16:48 - MSTY Derivatives: Understanding MicroStrategy Product Risks
19:53 - Bitkey
20:56 - How MSTY Works and the Whale in the Pool Problem
30:16 - Unchained
30:37 - Bitcoin Financialization and Corporate Treasury Strategy
39:35 - Avoiding Ego-Driven Bitcoin Mistakes and Building Bridges
47:33 - Stack Saturdays
53:15 - Tax Policy Changes and Wild Times Ahead
57:18 - Where to Find Gannett Trust and Closing

Transcript

(00:00) We have people retiring with hundreds of Bitcoin. Do you need to be on a yacht every week or are you staying humble and keeping those stats? 10 of the 12 ETFs are at Coinbase means all the keys are at Coinbase and with the news of the last week like, hey, there could be cracks. Micro Strategy is built on Bitcoin.
(00:18) It's got all of the risks of Bitcoin, right? But then it's got its own set of risks. Let's call them Sailor and Profitability. Then you have derivatives which are on top of Micro Strategy and they retain the risks of everything underneath. meeting on a on a day when we hit new all-time highs. Bitcoin approached $110,000.
(00:43) Got Jesse back on the show to talk about many things, not just the price ripping. A lot of good things happening on the unch unchained side of things. Watching Ganet Trust. We'll get into it. Yeah, lot lots of stuff happening. I think um the price likes Ganet. I I think that's the uh the mover. What uh I mean that's been a big discussion in in the space right now is uh are we heading to new all-time highs? How should Bitcoiners be preparing? How much Bitcoin do people need to retire? How how are you thinking about all this as we approach what seems
(01:22) to be another bull cycle? Yeah, that's a common question, right? How much Bitcoin do I need to retire? I get it a lot and there's so many other questions I want to ask like, well, how much money are you spending, right? Do you do you need to be on a yacht every week or are you staying humble and keeping those stats? And so, the amount of Bitcoin can vary because the spending pressure you're putting against your Bitcoin stack is the the biggest factor, right? And age is probably the second.
(01:54) a 30-year-old retiring on Bitcoin is different than a 75year-old retiring on Bitcoin just because of the horizon. So, stacks vary. We've got people retiring with um less than seven figures of Bitcoin because they have other assets and then we have people retiring with hundreds of Bitcoin um and putting very little pressure against that portfolio.
(02:16) So, can go in a lot of different ways. Um but it is a question of the day as you're poking new all-time highs. Everyone's like, "Well, how high is it going to get?" And then huge question is do we have cycles again right if countries are buying what what would a downside look like and that's the big question in the retirees mind is how do I protect and not ride that downside all the way down if we do have another 70 80% drawback. Yeah. No.
(02:42) And I think particularly for younger people having in their mind like the perspective of 21 million Bitcoin, 8 billion people, what's the stat? 60 million millionaires in the world. Mhm. How much how many stats do I need to get to to feel comfortable that I have a sufficient slice of the Bitcoin pie? That feel comfortable concept is just so different, right? because Bitcoin is moving and shaking and all-time highs or down 30% and that's still within a bull market.
(03:15) Is that comfortable, right? Can you actually hang it up and like, all right, not going into work and I'm just going to continue to ride these adoption cycles. I don't know if it ever gets comfortable. The most comfort comes from putting as little pressure as possible against that stack, right? that you're not pushing these withdrawal rates of like 5 10 20% of my Bitcoin stack.
(03:38) I'm needing to live on every because then you're requiring Bitcoin to do something for you in the short term which is just not great at, right? What what's Bitcoin price going to be in a year? Far less reliable than what's Bitcoin price going to be in 30 years. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I I think one of the holdups too is the ability for people to get into Bitcoin and know where to put it and not only have certainty of what it will be valued at in 30 years, but will they have access to it? That's one thing that you guys
(04:10) have been very much focused. I know sound advisory is separate from Unchained technically but within the Unchained umbrella but Unchained focused on helping secure individuals and businesses and trust uh Bitcoin and I think today's announcement of Ganet Trust is a massive step in a direction towards more certainty for long-term holdings for particular entities.
(04:36) Yes, the unchained umbrella or or family of companies is growing and the intention will be for sound advisory to tuck under or be merged into folded into Ganet Trust Company as it gets stood up. But it is the most robust uh compliance offering that um is out there in the fiduciary space. And so that in my opinion was the one thing missing as people want to live on a Bitcoin standard.
(05:04) Sometimes they're in an entity or an organization or have a structure that requires a fiduciary standard. And these two coming together is solved by Ganet Trust Company. So it's going to be the most robust way to hold Bitcoin and have like true inheritance that can be um administered through generations. So how how does this work mechanically via Ganet? Mechanically.
(05:28) So as the first Bitcoin native trust company, other other trust companies do exist, right? but they don't build upon Bitcoin in the way that Unchained has. So Ganet in its um in its Unchained roots and using Unchained technology is going to be able to use multi-IG to achieve um trust company goals.
(05:50) And what that likely will mean is Ganet holding a key, Unchained holding a key, third party holding a key. Those three keys together ensure that the Bitcoin is not being held at any one spot, right? We could get into the Coinbase honeypot. We actually talked about this on our last episode like, "Hey, what do you think is the uh the risk out there that the industry might disagree with?" Said, "I'm launching a new segment.
(06:15) I'm going to ask you a prediction of what what's out there that the uh the industry doesn't see eye to eye with you at." And I was at conferences and they're saying, "Hey, Coinbase is the best. That's where we put all the cut." That means all the keys are at Coinbase and with the news of the last week like, hey, there could be cracks, right? If you've got exposure to Coinbase now, you could be questioning. I was on the list.
(06:37) I got the email. You were affected. That's not great. It doesn't feel good knowing that information that information could have been a lot worse. That headline could have been private keys being mismanaged. When you overlay what Ganet is going to offer to the custody space, it means that not all of the keys are going to be at any one entity.
(07:00) And so that gives the Bitcoiner who understands multisig the confidence that okay, I'm upgrading from a honeypot to a distributed key setup. But it has to be done in a fiduciary and compliant way to satisfy the the institutional and big money of the world, right? family offices, uh, Bitcoin treasury companies, they're going to need a structure that the CIO, the

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JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the U.S. and one of the most powerful institutions in global finance, is going deeper into Bitcoin. The bank is reportedly going to allow wealthy clients to use shares of Bitcoin ETFs—specifically BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) — as collateral for loans.

This is a big move from the Wall Street giant and a sign of how traditional finance is changing the way it treats bitcoin.

According to a Bloomberg report, JPMorgan will let trading and wealth-management clients borrow money using digital asset ETFs like IBIT as collateral—the same way clients might use stocks, real estate or even cars.

The bank will also factor clients’ digital asset holdings into calculations of net worth and liquidity. So now, bitcoin will be treated like real estate or company shares when assessing a client’s loan repayment ability.

This is set to launch in the coming weeks and will start with IBIT which has over $70 billion in assets. IBIT is now the largest spot bitcoin ETF in the world and has far outpaced competitors like Fidelity’s FBTC.

Previously JPMorgan only allowed bitcoin ETFs as collateral on a case-by-case basis, Bloomberg reports. This decision will now make it available to all wealth-management clients.

JPMorgan’s new Bitcoin-friendly strategy comes despite its CEO Jamie Dimon’s long-time skepticism of Bitcoin. For years, Dimon has been one of the most vocal critics of Bitcoin, calling it a tool for criminals and comparing it to a “pet rock.”

But in a change of heart, Dimon recently said the bank would allow clients to buy bitcoin. At JPMorgan’s annual Investor Day, he said, “I don’t think you should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke. I defend your right to buy bitcoin.”

Related: JPMorgan Chase to Allow Clients to Buy Bitcoin, Says CEO Jamie Dimon

While Dimon remains personally unconvinced about the long-term value of bitcoin, the bank seems to be moving forward with embracing bitcoin, a move Bitcoin advocates believe is rooted in fear of missing out on possible profits and losing market share.

JPMorgan is following the trend on Wall Street. Other big financial players like Fidelity, Grayscale, and Standard Chartered have launched services for clients to invest or trade bitcoin.

The approval of Bitcoin ETFs by the U.S. SEC in 2024 has opened the door to millions of investors who were hesitant to enter the Bitcoin space.

Institutional interest is surging as the political landscape is also opening doors for digital assets. Under President Donald Trump’s administration, several Bitcoin-friendly policy changes have been introduced.

In April 2025, the Federal Reserve withdrew past guidance that discouraged banks from working with digital asset companies. Soon after, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency confirmed banks could hold customer’s bitcoin in custody.

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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.

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Jason Lowery’s thesis, Softwar: A Novel Theory on Power Projection and the National Strategic Significance of Bitcoin, reframes bitcoin not merely as digital cash but as a transformative security technology with profound implications for investors and nation-states alike.

For centuries, craft brewers understood that true innovation balanced tradition with experimentation—a delicate dance between established techniques and bold new flavors.

Much like the craft beer revolution reshaped a global industry, bitcoin represents a fundamental recalibration of how humans organize value and project power in the digital age.

The Antler in the Digital Forest: Power Projection

Lowery, a U.S. Space Force officer and MIT scholar, anchors his Softwar theory in a biological metaphor: Bitcoin as humanity’s “digital antler.” In nature, antlers allow animals like deer to compete for resources through non-lethal contests—sparring matches where power is demonstrated without fatal consequences. This contrasts sharply with wolves, who must resort to violent, potentially deadly fights to establish hierarchy.

The Human Power Dilemma: Historically, humans projected power and settled resource disputes through physical force—wars, seizures, or coercive control of assets. Even modern financial systems rely on abstract power structures: court orders, bank freezes, or government sanctions enforced by legal threat rather than immediate physical reality.

Lowery argues this creates inherent fragility: abstract systems can collapse when met with superior physical force (e.g., invasions, revolutions). Nature only respects physical power.

Bitcoin’s Physical Power Engine: Bitcoin introduces a novel solution through its proof-of-work consensus mechanism. Miners compete to solve computationally intense cryptographic puzzles, expending real-world energy (megawatts) to validate transactions and secure the network.

This process converts electricity—a tangible, physical resource—into digital security and immutable property rights. Winning a “block” is like winning a sparring match: it consumes significant resources (energy/cost) but is non-destructive.

The miner gains the right to write the next page of the ledger and collect rewards, but no participant is physically harmed, and no external infrastructure is destroyed.

Table: Traditional vs. Bitcoin-Based Power Systems

Power System

Mechanism

Key Vulnerability

Resource Cost

Traditional (Fiat/Banking)

Legal abstraction, threat of state force

Centralized points of failure, corruption, political change

Low immediate cost, high systemic risk

Military/Economic Coercion

Physical force, sanctions

Escalation, collateral damage, moral hazard

Very high (lives, capital, instability)

Bitcoin (Proof-of-Work)

Competition via energy expenditure

High energy cost, concentration risk (mining)

High energy cost, low systemic risk

Softwar Theory National Strategic Imperative: Governments Are Taking Notice

Lowery’s Softwar Theory has moved beyond academia into the corridors of power, shaping U.S. national strategy:

1. The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: Vice President JD Vance recently framed bitcoin as an instrument projecting American values—”innovation, entrepreneurship, freedom, and lack of censorship”. State legislation is now underway to implement this reserve, preventing easy reversal by future administrations.
2. Regulatory Transformation: The SEC is shifting from an “enforcement-first” stance under previous leadership. New initiatives include:
   • Repealing Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121), which discouraged banks from custodying digital currency by forcing unfavorable balance sheet treatment.
   • Creating the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU) to develop clearer crypto registration/disclosure rules.

The Investor’s Lens: Scarcity, Security, and Asymmetric Opportunity

For investors, understanding “Softwar” validates bitcoin’s unique value proposition beyond price speculation:

• Digital Scarcity as Strategic Depth: Bitcoin’s fixed supply of 21 million makes it the only digital asset with truly inelastic supply, a programmed scarcity immune to political whims or central bank printing.

  This “scarcity imperative” acts as a natural antidote to global fiat debasement. As central banks expanded money supplies aggressively (Global M2), bitcoin’s price has shown strong correlation, acting as a pressure valve for inflation concerns. The quadrennial “halving” (latest: April 2024) mechanically reduces new supply, creating built-in supply shocks as adoption grows. * The Antifragile Security Feedback Loop: Bitcoin’s security isn’t static; it’s antifragile. The network strengthens through demand: * More users → More transactions → Higher fees → More miner revenue → More hashpower (computational security) → Greater network resilience → More user confidence.
  This self-reinforcing cycle contrasts sharply with traditional systems, where security is a cost center (e.g., bank security budgets, military spending). Bitcoin turns security into a profitable, market-driven activity. * Institutionalization Without Centralization: While institutional ownership via ETFs (like BlackRock’s IBIT) and corporate treasuries (MicroStrategy, Metaplanet) has surged, supply remains highly decentralized.

  Individuals still hold the largest share of bitcoin, preventing a dangerous concentration of control. Spot Bitcoin ETFs alone are projected to see over $20 billion in net inflows in 2025, demonstrating robust institutional capital allocation.

The Bitcoin Community: Building the Digital Antler’s Resilience

Lowery’s “Softwar” theory underscores why bitcoin’s decentralized architecture is non-negotiable. Its strength lies in the alignment of incentives across three participant groups:

1. Miners: Provide computational power (hashrate), validating transactions and securing the network. Incentivized by block rewards (newly minted BTC) and transaction fees. Their physical energy expenditure is the “muscle” behind the digital antler.
2. Nodes: Independently verify and enforce the protocol rules, maintaining the blockchain’s integrity. Run by users, businesses, and enthusiasts globally. They ensure decentralized consensus, preventing unilateral protocol changes.
3. Users: Individuals, institutions, and corporations holding, transacting, or building on bitcoin. Their demand drives transaction fees and fuels the security feedback loop.

This structure creates “Mutually Assured Preservation”. Attacking bitcoin requires overwhelming its global, distributed physical infrastructure (miners/nodes), a feat far more complex and costly than seizing a central bank’s gold vault or freezing a bank’s assets. It transforms financial security from a centralized liability into a decentralized, physically-grounded asset.

Risks & Responsibilities

Investors and policymakers must acknowledge persistent challenges:

• Volatility: Bitcoin remains volatile, though this has decreased as markets mature. Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is widely recommended to mitigate timing risk.
• Regulatory Uncertainty: While U.S. policy is increasingly favorable, global coordination is lacking. The EU’s MiCAR regulation exemplifies divergent approaches.
• Security & Custody: While Bitcoin’s protocol is robust, user errors (lost keys) or exchange hacks remain risks.
• Environmental Debate: Proof-of-Work energy use is scrutinized, though mining increasingly uses stranded energy/renewables. Innovations continue.

Jason Lowery’s “Softwar” theory elevates bitcoin from a financial instrument to a socio-technological innovation on par with the invention of the corporation, the rule of law, or even the antler in evolutionary biology. It provides a coherent framework for understanding why:

• Nations like the U.S. are looking to establish bitcoin reserves and embracing stablecoins—they recognize bitcoin’s role in projecting economic power non-violently in the digital age.
• Institutional Investors are allocating billions via ETFs—they see a scarce, secure, uncorrelated asset with antifragile properties.
• Individuals in hyperinflationary economies or under authoritarian regimes use bitcoin—it offers self-sovereign wealth storage immune to seizure or debasement.

For the investor, bitcoin represents more than potential price appreciation. It offers exposure to a fundamental reorganization of how power and value are secured and exchanged globally, grounded not in abstract promises, but in the unyielding laws of physics and mathematics.

Like the brewers who balanced tradition with innovation to create something enduring and valuable, bitcoin pioneers are building the infrastructure for a more resilient digital future—one computationally secured block at a time. The “Softwar” is here, and it is reshaping the landscape of p

@ 7460b7fd:4fc4e74b

比特币如何通过协议机制实现隐私而不违反反洗钱法

1. 引言

“保守派的创新”理念指的是在不破坏既有社会制度的前提下推进技术革新。在金融领域，隐私与合规常被视为此消彼长的关系，但比特币生态展示出一种渐进式的平衡路径：既探索交易隐私保护，又避免公然违背反洗钱法规要求。这种平衡并非异想天开；传统金融本就提供一定程度的隐私，例如银行账簿并非对公众透明，个人消费细节通常不为外人所知en.bitcoin.it。比特币的目标之一是以去中心化方式复制这种隐私保护，但同时它并未试图动摇反洗钱法律的基石。相反，比特币社区秉持“保守式创新”，通过协议层的改进逐步增强用户隐私，同时尊重监管红线。例如，美国政府近年提出“负责任创新”原则，要求在保障国家安全和金融稳定的前提下鼓励区块链技术有序发展siis.org.cn。比特币的发展恰体现了这一点：它采用公开区块链，但通过巧妙的机制设计和增量升级，为合法用户提供类似现金的隐私空间，而不公然为洗钱者大开方便之门。

2. UTXO 模型与账户制的本质区别

比特币采用 UTXO（未花费交易输出）模型记录账本，这与传统银行或以太坊的账户模型截然不同。简单类比来说，UTXO 模型类似于现金交易，账户模型则类似于银行账簿nervos.org。在 UTXO 模型下，每笔交易消耗之前的输出并创造新的输出，币值被划分成离散的“硬币”单元；就如同用一枚金币付款找零，找零过程会销毁原金币并造出面额不同的新币docs.glassnode.comdocs.glassnode.com。每个 UTXO 都隶属于某个地址，而地址通常由用户一次性使用，这使得难以直接将所有交易关联到同一身份nervos.org。换言之，比特币系统并不追踪“账户余额”，而是追踪散落在各地址下的一笔笔未花费输出nervos.org。用户的钱包余额只是所有这些 UTXO 金额的总和。

与之相比，账户模型则维护全球状态，每个账户有持续的余额记录，很容易基于固定的账户识别用户身份cexplorer.io。账户体系下，多笔交易进出同一账户，会在账本中清晰显示某人所有的资产变动情况。这种透明度对监管有利，但也意味着隐私的天然缺失——资金流向可以直接与账户持有人绑定。UTXO 模型天生提供了更大的隐私空间，因为每笔交易可以使用新的地址，外部观察者难以确定多个交易是否属于同一主体nervos.org。正如贵金属或现金交易中，实物的流转不记名，UTXO 的分散性赋予了用户类似实物货币的隐私保护。而账户体系更像实名登记的银行账户，所有交易活动都集中在同一名下，隐私隔离性较弱。

需要强调的是，UTXO 模型提供的是**“笔名制”隐私而非完全匿名。区块链上的地址并不直接揭示身份，但如果有人能将地址与现实身份对应起来（例如通过交易所KYC记录），那么UTXO交易历史的透明特征仍可被利用。因此，比特币底层设计选择在匿名性与可追溯之间折中：通过UTXO提供尽可能的去身份化交易记录，同时保留全网公开可审计的交易流动性。这种设计一方面满足了反洗钱(AML)**对可追溯性的最低要求（所有交易公开上链），另一方面也为合法交易提供了一定程度的隐私遮蔽（地址不直接对应实名）。这种隐私“空隙”是比特币协议保守创新的起点。它类似于现金的特性——现金交易不记录买卖双方身份，但大额可疑现钞交易仍可通过其他线索引起执法注意。同理，UTXO 模型下小额日常交易可保持去身份化，而异常模式的资金流动仍可能触发监管机构的区块链分析关注。

3. CoinJoin 的实现方式与监管意义

为进一步拓展隐私，比特币社区发展出多种链上混合机制，其中最典型的是 CoinJoin。CoinJoin 是一种无须信任中介的协作交易方法：将多个付款人的转账合并在一笔交易中，从而混淆外部观察者对“谁在向谁付款”的判断en.bitcoin.it。其核心思想由 Gregory Maxwell 于2013年提出，利用比特币交易可以有多个输入和输出的特性，组织多个参与者共同构造一笔交易，每个参与者提供若干输入并得到自己预期的输出。由于区块链上只记录了一笔合成交易，外界难以确定哪笔输入对应哪笔输出，实现交易参与者之间的匿名性集。典型的 CoinJoin 实现会让所有参与者约定使用相同面额的输出（例如每人都拆分成若干个0.1 BTC的输出），这样链上看到多个等额输出时，无法分辨这些输出原先属于哪个参与者en.bitcoin.it。同时，每个参与者通常还会得到找零输出，从而保持总额不变。通过这种方式，一次 CoinJoin 交易实质上打乱了资金的对应关系，达到了“混币”的效果。

CoinJoin 的技术细节体现出比特币协议层面的巧妙设计：比特币交易的输入签名彼此独立，因此完全可以由不同用户分别签署再合并，只要所有必要签名齐备，交易便有效en.bitcoin.it。这意味着多个彼此不信任的用户可以在不交出控制权的情况下共同生成一笔交易——整个过程无需更改比特币协议，一切遵循既有规则即可完成en.bitcoin.it。这种协作混合交易在链上结构特征通常为：多个来源地址（输入）对应多个去向地址（输出），且输出面额往往存在重复值，使传统“通过金额和地址关联交易”的分析方法失效。由于 CoinJoin 交易并不标注参与者身份，它在区块链数据上与普通交易不可区分，尤其当其输出面额设计得不像刻意等值时，更增添了辨识难度。

然而，正是这种加强隐私的技术，引起了监管机构对潜在滥用的关注。反洗钱机构将此类混合服务归类为“增加匿名性风险的活动”。FATF（金 融 行 动 特 别 工 作 组）的报告将使用混币器视为一项重要风险指标，指出“不少犯罪分子利用混币/Tumbling服务来遮蔽资金来源或去向”fatf-gafi.org。从监管角度看，CoinJoin 等机制本身具有中立性，但其用途可能涉及掩盖非法所得流转，从而引发执法部门警惕。在现实案例中，确有不法分子尝试利用 CoinJoin 逃避监管：例如 2016 年 Bitfinex 交易所黑客窃得巨额比特币后，多年间反复采用Wasabi钱包的 CoinJoin 功能清洗资金，被称为“当时最先进的洗钱手法”time.com。又如2021年美国司法部破获的臭名昭著案件中，一对夫妻涉嫌协助清洗 Bitfinex 被盗比特币，调查发现他们使用了 CoinJoin 来试图匿名化交易，但最终仍因区块链的永久记录和执法部门的链上分析技术而落网time.comcointelegraph.com。这说明混合交易并非万能护身符：对于有能力的执法机构而言，大额异常的链上混合行为依然可能被捕捉和溯源，只是增加了分析难度和取证成本。

监管机构对于混币工具的法律立场逐渐明晰。在美国，FinCEN（金融犯罪执法网络）早在2013年指导意见中即表明，经营虚拟货币兑换或传输业务需遵守《银行保密法》(BSA)规定。2019年FinCEN进一步明确：提供混币/搅币服务的机构属于货币服务业务（MSB），必须登记注册并履行反洗钱义务fincen.gov。简言之，运行CoinJoin服务即视同资金汇兑业务，需要实行KYC、报告可疑交易等合规措施，否则即属非法经营。在2020年，美国首次对比特币混币服务施加严厉制裁：运营 “Helix”混币器的 Larry Harmon 被指控未经许可经营MSB并协助洗钱，被FinCEN处罚6000万美元，后又被法院判处入狱三年fincen.gov。执法调查显示，Harmon经营的混币服务三年内处理比特币逾350,000枚，且主动宣传可匿名购买毒品等非法商品，这些行为严重违反了反洗钱法fincen.govfincen.gov。这一里程碑案例表明，美国司法实践已将第三方混币服务视作违法，运营者须承担刑事及民事后果。

与此对应的是，如果仅提供去中心化的软件工具而非代客操作，则法律定位有所不同。FinCEN在2019年声明中也承认，提供匿名化软件本身不构成货币传输服务cliffordchance.com。这为比特币协议层面的创新留下了空间：开发者可以创造CoinJoin钱包或协议，让用户自行对等完成混合交易，而不涉及中介经手资金。在这种架构下，软件提供方不直接“控制”客户资金流，因而不被视为MSB。然而，监管的灰度在于，如果软件提供方设立了协调服务器并从中收取服务费，是否变相成为了混币业务经营者？对此，不同司法辖区可能有不同解读。一些CoinJoin实现（如Wasabi钱包的协调器）选择主动限制自身角色，以避免落入监管“经营服务”的范畴。同时，也有业内主体为了降低监管冲击而做出让步。例如，隐私钱包 Wasabi 的开发公司（注册于英国）在2022年宣布，其CoinJoin协调服务器将拒绝可疑的非法来源资金参与混币cointelegraph.com。该公司通过黑名单过滤特定的UTXO来防止明显带有犯罪特征的币混入池内，此举被视为向执法机构妥协的“自律”措施cointelegraph.comcointelegraph.com。虽然此举在隐私社区引发争议，但从监管角度看，这是行业努力寻求平衡的体现：即允许合法用户继续享有隐私工具，同时遏制不法分子滥用。类似地，FATF和各国监管者也在加强对混币器的监控合作，包括将臭名昭著的混币平台列入制裁清单（如2022年美国OFAC先后制裁了比特币混币服务Blender.io和以太坊混币器Tornado Cash，因其被朝鲜黑客用于清洗盗窃资金）cliffordchance.com。

综合来看，CoinJoin技术本身并不违反法律——正如现金本身不违法，但用于洗钱即涉罪。关键在于使用目的和主体。比特币协议通过CoinJoin提供了增强隐私的可能性，这是对抗链上数据监控、维护币值可替代性（fungibility）的“保守式创新”举措en.bitcoin.it。它在技术上避免了对底层协议的破坏，也没有阻断执法取证的所有途径（大额交易所的进出仍需KYC，链上记录依然永久留存）。监管机构目前的态度是在不取缔技术本身的前提下，加强对相关服务商和可疑行为的监管。对于商业银行运营者而言，这意味着应当了解CoinJoin交易的链上特征及合理用途：并非凡是CoinJoin输出即等同非法，必须结合上下文判断真实风险。同时，银行也需遵循监管指引，对来自明显混币路径的资金提高尽调级别，必要时提交可疑交易报告。但反过来说，在合规框架下，合理使用CoinJoin提升客户隐私并不直接违法。例如，一些合规的比特币托管机构会允许用户提币时自行使用CoinJoin，以保护客户交易历史不被外界窥探——前提是资金本身来源清白、去向明确记录。这样的做法体现了隐私与反洗钱并非绝对对立：通过适当的程序设计，可以在不违背法规的情况下给用户更多隐私保障。

4. Lightning Network 的中介态地位

*闪电网络（Lightning Network）*是比特币之上的第二层协议，它通过链下通道实现高速小额支付，被视为比特币在隐私和扩容上的一大创新。闪电网络的运作机制，是两方在链上创建一个支付通道（开设一笔特殊的多签交易作为锚定），然后在通道内部通过数字签名即时交换比特币所有权。这些频繁发生的链下交易并不记录在区块链上，只有当双方最终关闭通道时，链上才结算通道的最终余额状态。由于大部分交易被转移到链下，闪电网络具有先天的隐私中介性质：外界只能看到通道开启和关闭的两笔链上交易，而通道内部可能发生了上千笔支付却无从获知细节。这使得闪电网络的交易不可被区块浏览器直接追踪，从而大大减少了链上分析能够获取的信息cointelegraph.comcointelegraph.com。对于普通用户而言，这种“离链”处理提升了交易私密性和即时性；对于商业银行合规部门而言，闪电网络则带来了全新的挑战和机遇。

从合规角度看，闪电网络的位置有些类似于**“灰盒”：介于传统金融和完全公开区块链之间。一方面，闪电节点间的转账采用类似于Tor洋葱路由的加密跳转，每一跳节点只知道前一站和后一站，路径中继信息被隐藏，这为交易双方提供了接近匿名的路径隐私。另一方面，闪电通道的资金最终还是要通过链上比特币进出，这些开关通道的动作依然在公共账本上透明可见。因此，监管可以将注意力聚焦在出入口**：当资金从交易所等受监管机构流入闪电通道，或从闪电通道流回受监管机构时，对相关主体进行KYC和流向监控。这类似于对银行资金流出进入现金流通领域的监管思路——现金在社会中如何流转难以监控，但银行对大额取现和存现可以执行申报和审查。同理，闪电网络内部的细小支付难以逐笔监视，但大型入口/出口操作（如大量资金通过闪电通道转移）可以被标记关注。

闪电网络的挑战在于匿名性和跨境性。由于节点运行不需要许可，任何人在全球范围内都可架设闪电节点并参与路由，中间节点既看不见支付金额（只有通道余额变化）也不知交易来源和目的地。这种设计初衷是在技术上保护用户隐私和抗审查，但也意味着传统“旅伴规则”（Travel Rule）的信息传递机制难以直接应用于闪电支付。根据FATF的“VASPs旅行规则”，虚拟资产服务商之间转账需在金额阈值以上共享客户身份信息。然而闪电网络的交易路径通常不经过中心化服务商：大多是用户自行操作钱包直连，对等网络中路线随机。即便有部分交易通过托管型闪电服务（如托管钱包）发起，目前也缺乏成熟方案让节点在支付时附带KYC信息。因此，闪电网络被视为现行AML框架下的“监管空白地带”之一：合法的小额支付在其中获得极大便利，但不法分子也可能尝试利用其快速转移资金、不留痕迹的特性来层层拆分洗钱。

监管机构正逐步关注这一动向。一方面，他们强调同样的法规原则适用于闪电网络：凡是以营利为目的替他人传输资金者，无论通过链上或链下，都应履行反洗钱义务。比如，FinCEN在2023年提出的预防性规则中，将“虚拟货币混合作为特定受关注领域”，虽未明指闪电网络，但也释放出对任何有意提高匿名性的交易技术加强监管的信号cliffordchance.comcliffordchance.com。对于提供托管式闪电服务的机构，情况类似于交易所或托管钱包，需要注册MSB并执行KYC/AML流程。例如，一些提供闪电充值提现的公司在美国选择直接停止服务，以规避未能及时合规的风险——2023年11月，知名闪电钱包“Wallet of Satoshi”团队宣布将应用从美国区店下架，并停止为美国用户提供服务，称这是一个“艰难的决定”cointelegraph.com。虽然官方未明言原因，但业内推测此举与美国严格的合规环境有关：Wallet of Satoshi 属于全托管闪电钱包，依据美国法律应当取得货币传输牌照并遵循诸如Travel Rule等要求。在监管不确定性和合规成本高企的情况下，其选择退出美国市场，凸显了闪电业务在强监管司法管辖区所面临的压力。

另一方面，监管者也看到闪电网络的机遇：它有潜力降低链上交易拥堵、提升小额支付经济性，这对正规金融机构也是有利的创新。例如，银行可以利用闪电网络为客户提供秒级跨境小额汇款服务，在合法场景中比特币闪电通道可作为支付轨道，满足实时结算需求，同时因金额小、风险低可以适当简化手续。在香港等地，监管机构鼓励金融创新与风控并进。香港金管局在2023年修订的AML指引中提及，要采取风险为本方法看待新技术应用，并避免一刀切地拒绝虚拟资产相关业务，提倡审慎前瞻的态度来对待这类创新支付方式kwm.comkwm.com。英国FCA也提出**“不妨碍创新”的监管理念**，在确保核心AML要求落实的同时，为新支付技术留出试验空间。在这种氛围下，如果商业银行运营总监能够深入理解闪电网络的运行原理，就有机会将其优势用于合规的业务模式中。例如，银行可充当闪电通道的受信任节点，为客户提供经KYC的闪电支付渠道：银行对接入的客户身份尽职调查，并监控异常大额流动，而对客户小额高频交易则通过闪电网络实现即时低费率完成。这种模式下，银行相当于在闪电网络和传统体系之间架设合规桥梁，既不牺牲客户隐私（因为具体小额交易不公开），又满足反洗钱“看得见、管得了”的要求。

概言之，闪电网络作为中介态层，为比特币交易的隐私与效率提供了极大提升，但也要求金融机构调整传统AML手段：由链上监控转向节点端口监控。运营总监需要关注闪电通道的资金进出量、识别可疑的频繁开关通道行为，以及配合跨境情报分享以防范有人利用闪电网络在不同司法区之间快速转移赃款。在风险可控的前提下，闪电网络完全可以成为合规金融工具箱的一部分，而不是监管的对立面。

5. PayJoin（BIP-78）的机制与合规设计

PayJoin（又称P2EP，Pay to Endpoint）是一种由两方协作完成的特殊比特币交易结构，可视作CoinJoin的简化版和升级版。它由比特币改进提案BIP-78标准化，于2019年由开发者 Nicolas Dorier 提出bips.devbips.dev。PayJoin 的典型场景是付款人与收款人在一次支付过程中联手构造交易：收款人提供一个比特币收款地址和一个临时服务器端点，付款人发起交易时，不仅花费自己的UTXO，还从收款人处获取一个UTXO一同作为输入加入交易bitcoinops.org。换言之，交易的输入来自付款人和收款人双方，而输出则包括正常的付款金额给收款人（可能与常规付款金额不同，因为收款人也贡献了输入）以及付款人的找零。这种设计使链上观察者难以分辨哪些输入属于谁、哪个输出是真正的支付款，进而打破链上常用的“共同输入属于同一实体”推断bitcoinops.org。PayJoin 交易在区块链上看起来与普通交易无异：它不像传统CoinJoin那样有许多相等面额的输出，不具有明显的混币特征en.bitcoin.iten.bitcoin.it。因此，区块链分析公司难以再用简单启发式判断支付关系，从而极大增强了支付双方的隐私。

PayJoin 的技术流程可以概括如下：bips.dev首先，收款人在生成比特币收款二维码（BIP-21 URI）时，附带一个pj=端点，表示自己支持PayJoin并提供了协商接口。付款人扫描发票后，钱包客户端先构造一笔常规交易（只含付款人的输入和相应输出），然后将该未签名交易通过HTTP发送到收款人的pj端点。收款人服务器收到后，在交易中加入自己预先选定的一枚UTXO作为额外输入，并相应地增大将付给自己的输出金额（因为收款人也贡献了一部分资金，需要“找零”返还），形成一个新的交易方案。收款人签署自己那部分输入后，将半签名交易返回给付款人。付款人验证交易未被篡改（如支付目标金额正确等），再签署自己部分的输入。最终，这笔包含双方输入的完整交易被广播到比特币网络并记入区块链bips.devbips.dev。

举例来说，Alice 要向 Bob 支付1 BTC货款。传统做法是Alice用她的一枚≥1 BTC的UTXO付款，找零归还自己；Bob收到1 BTC。但在PayJoin中，假设Alice有一枚0.6 BTC和一枚0.5 BTC的UTXO，Bob手上有一枚0.4 BTC的UTXO未花费。那么Alice可先构造一笔用0.6+0.5两枚UTXO支付1 BTC的交易（找零0.1给自己）。Bob看到后，可以加入自己的0.4 BTC作为输入，并将支付给自己的输出从1 BTC增加到1.4 BTC，同时让Alice的找零相应减少为0.1-0.4=-0.3 BTC（负数意味着Alice其实付出了0.3 BTC + 原本的0.1找零共0.4 BTC给Bob，正好匹配Bob贡献的输入）。经过这种调整，最终交易输入包括Alice的0.6和0.5、Bob的0.4，总计1.5 BTC；输出包括Bob收到的1.4 BTC（其中Bob净得+1 BTC，含回自己的0.4）和Alice的找零0.1 BTC。链上观察者只看到Alice和Bob的若干输入共同支付了1.4 BTC给Bob的地址，以及0.1 BTC给Alice的找零地址。从表面上看，这可以被解释为Alice支付了1.4 BTC给Bob并收到0.1找零，也可以解释为Bob支付了一部分钱给自己（看似无意义）而Alice支付剩余部分给Bob，没有任何方法从区块数据确定真实的1 BTC支付额en.bitcoin.it。如此一来，支付本身的隐私性大幅提升，但交易合规性并未受损：Alice和Bob各自知道自己的出资与所得，交易双方的信息完整，可在需要时向监管说明实际资金流。只不过对于无知情权的第三方而言，这笔交易等同于谜题，大大降低了链上监控的可行性。

PayJoin 体现了比特币协议层治理的一种思路：通过开放标准增强隐私而不违反共识规则。作为BIP-78标准，PayJoin获得了社区认可并被多款钱包和支付处理工具采纳。例如，开源支付网关BTCPay Server自2020年以来支持商户端默认启用PayJoin收款bitcoinops.org；隐私钱包Wasabi和Samourai等也相继实现了对BIP-78的支持，让用户在日常支付中方便使用此功能bitcoinops.org。这些采用者本身都属于守法经营的实体（BTCPay服务的商户需遵守当地法规，Wasabi等钱包开发团队在合规压力下甚至实行过黑名单机制如前述），因此PayJoin的推广更多是为了保护良性用户的隐私，而非为洗钱提供新工具。相较于CoinJoin混合许多陌生资金，PayJoin每次仅涉及一名付款人和一名收款人，没有第三方参与资金池，故不存在“大规模匿名化”效果，只有针对该笔支付的信息隐藏。这使其很难被犯罪分子用于清洗巨额资金：因为两两配对支付的效率和匿名集规模都远不及混币池。而在合法场景下，PayJoin倒是十分实用——例如商户可以在不增加负担的情况下自动参与客户的支付交易，从而保护商户与客户双方的财务隐私不被区块链分析公司过度窥探。正如Bitcoin Optech对其评价的那样，PayJoin增强了支付双方以及整个比特币用户群的隐私bitcoinops.org，“通过让交易难以被拆解归属，有利于全网的隐私性”。

从合规设计上看，PayJoin 非常“克制”。首先，它不改变交易总额的去向：收款人仍收到应得的款项，只是多走了一步“先支付给自己再找零”的形式；付款人也仅花费了自己该付的钱（只是混杂在更大金额输出中）。因此，从资金流合法性来说，PayJoin 没有引入额外的模糊地带，每一笔输出都有明确的实际归属方。其次，PayJoin 不依赖任何中心化第三方来撮合，多在客户端与商户服务器间通过一次HTTP通讯完成。这意味着没有一个专门的“PayJoin服务提供商”需要承担MSB责任，整个流程更像是点对点协议的一部分。再次，由于收款人参与其中，通常收款人本身是提供商品或服务的商家，其身份在交易关系中是已知的。比如某客户通过PayJoin向商家付款，商家在自己后台记录中可以注明该笔订单已通过PayJoin支付，对应链上交易哈希等。如果日后监管调查，需要了解这笔混淆过的交易情况，商家完全能够提供证据证明谁是付款人、金额多少，只不过这些信息未写入区块链而已。这跟传统现金交易后的记录有异曲同工之处：账本上可能只显示商家收款入账，但商家收据上会注明付款人是谁。同样，PayJoin 实现了链上隐私但保留了链下记录的可能性。

当然，PayJoin 的兴起也让链上分析公司感到头疼：因为一旦这种交易普及，过去依据“共同输入推断同一所有者”的分析方法将失效en.bitcoin.it。这实际上提升了比特币整体的抗审查能力，却也令执法部门的链上自动监测工具需要升级。不过，从监管角度来看，PayJoin 并未妨碍司法调查：由于它没有像大型混币那样引入不特定多方，执法者可以通过传统调查手段（如向已知商家调取交易记录）来还原真相。可以说，PayJoin把隐私权和合规需求巧妙地划出了界限——公开账本不再暴露一切细节，但真正有合法权利需要知道的人（交易相对方、执法部门）依然有途径获取所需信息。这正是比特币“保守式创新”的精髓体现：在不破坏既有法律框架的前提下，通过协议改进最大程度保护用户正当隐私。

6. 对比“合用账户”与 PayJoin 的区别及法律可识别性

传统金融中，两个或以上主体共同使用资金，通常采用联名账户（Joint Account）的形式。例如，商业合作伙伴或夫妻可以开设联名银行账户，账户内资金由各持有人共同所有和支配。法律对这类账户的身份和权益归属有清晰界定：银行会对每位账户持有人进行尽职调查（KYC），账户资金的法定所有人就是账户登记的所有持有人。账户交易的责任也由持有人按合同分担。即使账户资金混合来源不一，法律上可以通过约定或推定原则划分各自的受益权益（例如按照存入金额或签署协议比例）birketts.co.ukbirketts.co.uk。重要的是，无论账户内资金如何流动，监管和执法都知道关联到该账户的自然人/法人是谁。因此，联名账户实现了多人合用资金的便利，但透明度依然存在于金融机构与监管视野内：多名持有人均是可识别、可问责的主体。

相比之下，PayJoin 在链上呈现出的“共同支付”情形并没有建立任何持久的联合账户或法律实体关系。一次PayJoin交易虽然包含了两方的输入，看起来是“两个人一起付了一笔钱”，但区块链并未记录这两个人各自的身份或份额。这就引出一个问题：法律上能识别PayJoin参与者吗？ 链上数据本身无法直接识别，需要结合链下信息。比如在前述客户与商家通过PayJoin交易的例子中，区块链只显示一笔来自多个地址的交易。如果不借助商家提供的订单记录，外部第三方很可能误以为这些输入都属于同一人控制（传统heuristic的误判）en.bitcoin.it。因此，从纯链上证据看，PayJoin让法律主体识别变得困难：执法人员若仅依据区块数据，很难断定这笔交易涉及两个独立当事人。然而，并不意味着法律就无法识别—关键在于索取链下佐证。正如上节所述，每笔PayJoin交易的当事双方自己清楚出资和收款情况。如果其中一方如商家是受监管实体（有KYC义务），那其记录就能将链上地址对应回实名。即便双方皆为个人，在调查情况下，也可通过钱包日志、通信记录等证明彼此在对应时间协作构建了该交易。因此，从法律证明角度，PayJoin的参与者身份是可还原的，只是需要额外的信息链路，比常规转账要绕一点。

值得注意的是，英美法系对类似“共同出资支付”并非没有概念可循。在英国法下，若两人共同出资购买资产但无明文协议，法院可能探寻双方的共同意图和出资比例来确定各自权益（如适用衡平法上的推定信托原则）birketts.co.ukbirketts.co.uk。PayJoin交易本质上是双方共同“出资”完成了一次支付，因此在极端情况下（比如交易发生纠纷，双方就其中款项归属产生争议），法院或仲裁机构也可参考类似思路：审查双方对支付金额的约定，以及各自贡献和收益，从而确认真正的资金流向。不过，与联名账户不同的是，PayJoin不涉及长期共同持有资金，它只是一个瞬时的合伙支付行为。交易完成后，资金立即分别归属该去向的单一主体（收款人得到款项、付款人拿回找零）。不存在一个持续的“共同账户”载体来容纳双方资金。因此，法律上无需也无法对PayJoin建立类似联名账户的架构。每一方仍然只对各自收到或支出的部分负责，没有形成新的共同财产。

对于监管机构而言，联名账户容易监控——银行定期报告账户活动，所有相关个人信息齐全；而PayJoin交易如果不借助外部信息，单凭链上模式就难以分辨出来。这既是其隐私优势也是监管难点。但反过来看，PayJoin也没有引入无法克服的匿名性：它没有混杂无关联的第三方资金，交易双方实际彼此熟知，是一对一有联系的。这与完全匿名的暗网混币有本质区别。可以说，PayJoin更像两人私下结伴去银行各取一部分现金，然后合在一起交给第三人——银行账上只看到第三人存入一笔总额，但两人的个人取款银行各自有记录。因此如果第三人涉嫌违法受款，调查人员可以从银行调取那笔存款来源的拆分记录，发现实际上来自两人分别的账户。同理，PayJoin的合规思路是在需要的时候，将链上模糊的交易“解压”回两条清晰的资金线。这种设计确保了它在法律可解释性上比起传统CoinJoin混币更强：CoinJoin有时会出现N进N出，每个输出来源于N个输入的混合，法律上很难逐一对应归属，而PayJoin始终是一进一出（一方净支付，另一方净收款），只是混在一起过账。因此，一旦揭示两方身份，各自金额清楚明了，不存在无法区分谁的钱的问题。

具体到普通法体系的英美港三地，对于PayJoin交易目前尚无明文法规或判例直接评述。但可以推测，如果司法或监管机关发现有人采用PayJoin方式来掩饰交易关系，他们会采用实质重于形式的原则看待：关注交易背后的真实当事人和资金用途，而不会被表面上的“单笔交易”假象所困扰。例如，美国FinCEN和司法部在认定洗钱时，核心是看资金是否经过分层、混淆意图隐匿非法来源fatf-gafi.org。PayJoin如果被用于非法用途，那么执法也许需要对相关的钱包服务商、通信记录等进行取证才能还原过程。这增加了调查难度，但并非无法可依。在香港，新的VASP法规下，持牌机构需要对涉及的不寻常交易模式提高警觉。如果客户提现比特币后马上与别人做了一次PayJoin再存回，这种不寻常链路可能会引发问询，要求说明交易目的。英国FCA亦强调，加密资产交易所应监控客户是否使用了高度混淆技术并进行风险评估。在这些框架下，PayJoin如果被理解并检测到，可能会被归类为一种需要额外尽职调查的交易行为。但只要能够解释清楚其合法用途（例如商家为了客户隐私而采用PayJoin收款），法律并不禁止这种交易结构。

最后，从用户角度看，PayJoin其实更接近正常商业行为而非刻意洗钱安排。例如，两家公司合作支付一笔款项给供应商，传统方法可能是成立一个合资实体或开共同账户来出资再付款，而通过比特币PayJoin，两家公司可各自直接拿出一部分比特币，在一次交易中共同支付给供应商，无需建立长期联名账户关系。这种做法在法律上依然体现为各公司分别支付了各自的那部分货款，只是合并成一笔链上交易。因此法律能够识别并追踪每家公司支付的金额（通过公司内部记录），不存在损失审计线索的隐患。可以说，联名账户依赖金融机构去记录和划分共同资金，PayJoin则依赖参与各方自行记录默契合作。前者信息透明在机构，后者信息私密但参与人自知。因此，只要参与方守法经营并做好内部财务纪录，PayJoin并不会削弱法律对资金流的追查能力，它只是让公开账本不再直接泄露交易细节。这对遵纪守法者是利好，对企图躲避监管的大额洗钱者来说反而不是首选工具（因为两两串联洗钱的效率和隐蔽性远逊于大型混币池和离岸账户）。综合而言，在英美港法理下，PayJoin交易应被视为一种正当且可解释的隐私增强支付，通过适当的信息披露即可澄清其性质，并不构成无法识别的法律难题。

7. 应用设想：无需公司设立的合伙支付

展望未来，比特币协议提供的这些机制有望催生新的合规创新应用。例如，利用PayJoin或CoinJoin思想，可以实现“无需公司实体的合伙支付”。设想两个跨境贸易伙伴临时合作采购一批货物，各自承担一半货款。他们不必设立合资公司或开联名账户来筹措资金，而是可以各自准备好比特币，通过一次多输入交易直接将货款支付给供应商。链上只记录供应商收到总货款，至于资金来自两家伙伴公司这一事实则隐匿在交易结构中。这种操作相当于一种即时合伙：双方在支付瞬间形成合作，在支付完成后合作关系即告终结，无需持续的法律实体。这对于一次性项目或临时联盟尤其方便，节省了大量传统金融流程（开设账户、签署联名协议等）。同时，由于比特币交易天然跨境，这笔合伙支付可以绕开繁琐的国际汇款手续，在分钟级别完成结算。

当然，要使此应用合规落地，需要满足若干前提：首先，双方合作伙伴彼此必须信任并有清晰的合同约定，否则仅靠技术协作支付无法确保权益。例如，他们应签署一份协议注明各自出资比例和采购份额，以防日后纠纷。其次，在财务上，每一方仍应登记自己支付了多少款项给供应商，以便审计和税务申报。这一点通过比特币钱包记录和双方对账单据可以解决。再次，供应商若受到监管（如大宗贸易需要申报资金来源），则需在合同中注明货款由两家共同支付，比特币交易哈希作为支付凭证，辅以两家公司声明各自支付了多少。这样，监管方即使在链上看不出细节，也能通过合同资料了解实情。最后，参与各方应确保符合反洗钱要求：如交易金额巨大，需要提前告知银行/监管（因为法定货币转换为比特币的过程可能涉及银行），并确保合作伙伴和供应商都不是制裁或黑名单对象。

在上述框架内，这种无需公司载体的合伙支付完全可以合法合规地运作。它带来的创新性在于降低了商务协作的门槛和提高资金周转效率。例如，中小企业联盟可以临时抱团采购获得批发折扣，用联合支付的方式完成结算，然后各自获得自己的货物份额，无需成立繁杂的联营公司。又比如，多位国际投资人可通过CoinJoin把资金汇聚支付给一个项目发起人，以换取相应代币或股权份额，过程中保护了各自的隐私（外界只能看到项目方收到总款项）——前提是项目合法且投资人信息项目方已经KYC掌握。在香港等金融中心，这类合伙支付概念若能成熟，或许会出现在沙盒测试中：监管机构可以指定一些低风险场景，让持牌机构尝试使用比特币的PayJoin技术为客户提供多人支付服务，观察其运作和风险点。在英国，开放式银行业务的推进下，不排除未来有传统银行与比特币技术公司合作，开发出“Consortium Pay”产品，允许多个企业客户共同发起一个链上支付给供应商，银行在后台负责协调并确保AML合规。而美国作为最大的资本市场，也有可能在明确监管框架后，允许受监管的金融科技公司提供此类合伙支付解决方案，服务于例如私募基金多LP联合出资投资等场景。

需要强调的是，此类应用设想应避免过度理想化。在现实推进中，监管者会审慎评估风险，不会因技术便利而放松对洗钱等的警惕。因此，上述创新更可能一步步渐进实现：先在小额、低风险场景测试，再扩展到更广泛用途。同时，行业需要建立配套的透明机制（如自愿的交易附言备注或链下报告）以令监管安心。例如，几个公司通过合伙支付完成交易后，可以向监管机构备案相关交易哈希和各自出资比例，以取得信任豁免监控的待遇。这类似于今天银行报告大额交易，但具体用途保留商业机密。总之，比特币协议赋予了支付组织形式的灵活性，如何将其用于合规且创造价值的领域，将取决于监管开放态度和从业者的创造力。

8. 结语

综上所述，比特币通过协议机制实现隐私的探索，体现出鲜明的“保守派的创新”特征：它尊重金融领域反洗钱等制度的底线，在此范围内巧妙地寻求隐私与合规的平衡。从UTXO模型的选择，到后来发展的CoinJoin、闪电网络、PayJoin等技术，比特币生态并未一味追求匿名至上的乌托邦，而是尝试在现行法律框架内改善用户隐私体验。UTXO让比特币天然具备类似现金的去名属性，但公开链上记录又确保了交易透明度的基本盘，不至于成为无法监管的黑箱en.bitcoin.it。CoinJoin进一步为自愿的用户群提供了混合匿名环境，同时行业自律和执法打击并行，防止其成为洗钱温床cointelegraph.comfincen.gov。闪电网络则以链下通道降低了小额交易的可追踪性，却仍需通过进出节点受控来维护法规所需的监测点cointelegraph.com。PayJoin更是在日常支付场景中证明，提升隐私不一定以损害合规为代价——两方协作即可隐藏交易图谱，同时交易实质一目了然，无损任何一方的审计责任bitcoinops.orgen.bitcoin.it。这些创新无不遵循渐进改良的路径：它们没有推倒重来地另起一套隐匿系统，而是构建在比特币原有规则之上，通过开放社区的BIP提案机制取得共识，再由市场自发采用。这种稳健的演进保证了社会制度与技术创新的同步适应：当新隐私工具出现时，监管社区也在学习调整，从而在动态博弈中找到了新的平衡点。

对于香港、英国、美国等奉行普通法和重视金融监管的司法区而言，比特币的这一发展路径提供了宝贵的参考。一方面，各国监管者日益认识到，加密技术带来的金融创新并非洪水猛兽，其间蕴含着优化效率和用户权益的新机会。正如FATF提出的，要在鼓励负责任创新的同时管控风险siis.org.cn。比特币的隐私机制若被正确运用，能够保护公民金融隐私权、增强货币可替代性、减少不必要的集中过问，这是与民主法治社会价值相契合的目标。另一方面，实践也证明，通过强有力的监管措施，完全可以将不法分子的滥用遏制在可控范围。链上数据的公开性加上新的分析工具，使执法部门即便在出现混淆技术时，仍能抽丝剥茧地追查重大神秘案件time.com。据Chainalysis等机构统计，近年来加密货币交易中涉非法用途的比例已降至不足0.2%这样的历史低位cointelegraph.com。这表明隐私增强技术的出现并未导致洗钱犯罪失控，相反，隐私与合规正逐步实现良性共存：守法大众享有更安全的个人金融空间，犯罪分子依然难逃法网。商业银行运营总监作为合规体系的重要一环，应当拥抱这种变化，深入理解比特币协议层隐私机制的原理和合规要点。在确保自身机构严格遵守KYC/AML要求的前提下，也可以考虑利用比特币的这些特性开发新业务、服务客户需求。毕竟，隐私保护和反洗钱并非零和博弈——正如比特币生态所展示的，技术创新完全可以服务于保护个人合法权益与维护金融秩序这两大目标的平衡统一。比特币协议层面“保守而创新”的实践，正在为新金融时代如何兼顾自由与安全提供启发，其经验值得我们持续关注和借鉴。

参考资料：

1. Nervos, “UTXO 模型 vs. 账户模型” (2023)nervos.orgnervos.org

2. Bitcoin Optech, “Payjoin”bitcoinops.org

3. Bitcoin Wiki, “PayJoin”en.bitcoin.it

4. Bitcoin Wiki, “CoinJoin”en.bitcoin.iten.bitcoin.it

5. Cointelegraph, “No crypto for criminals: CoinJoin BTC mixing tool to block illicit transactions” (2022)cointelegraph.comcointelegraph.com

6. FinCEN, “第一起比特币混币服务违反反洗钱法遭处罚”新闻稿 (2020)fincen.govfincen.gov

7. Clifford Chance, “FinCEN拟将混币交易列为主要洗钱顾虑” (2023)cliffordchance.com

8. TIME, “如何追踪Bitfinex被盗比特币” (2022)time.com

9. Cointelegraph, “Wallet of Satoshi 美国区下架” (2023)cointelegraph.com

10. 上海国研院, “美国区块链治理策略” (2023)siis.org.cn

11. FATF, “Virtual Assets Red Flag Indicators” (2020)fatf-gafi.org

12. Chainalysis, “2021年加密犯罪报告”cointelegraph.com

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

Treasury Secretary Bessent foresees a promising future for stablecoins pegged to the US dollar.

During a US Senate hearing held on June 11, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that the market for US dollar-backed stablecoins has the potential to surpass the $2 trillion mark within the next three years.

“I believe that stablecoin legislation backed by U.S. treasuries or T-bills will create a market that will expand U.S. dollar usage via these stablecoins all around the world,” the government official stated.

Bessent reiterated the administration’s commitment to strengthening the dollar’s status through USD-denominated stablecoins.

GENIUS Act gains ground

The legislative process received a boost after the Senate voted to advance the stablecoin bill, moving it closer to a final vote. The GENIUS Act, once approved, will establish strict requirements for the stable digital currency sector.

The bill mandates that stablecoins must be fully backed by US dollars or assets with equivalent liquidity (Treasuries). It also requires annual audits for issuers with a market capitalization exceeding $50 billion and includes specific provisions regarding the issuance of these cryptocurrencies abroad.

Stablecoins and the financial system

The stablecoin sector is drawing increasing interest from banking institutions. Bank of America is preparing to launch its own stablecoin, while Circle — issuer of USDC — went public this month, with shares surging 235% on its first trading day.

Currently, US dollar-pegged stablecoins account for over 96% of the entire stable digital currency market.

The post Stablecoins: market could reach $2 trillion by 2028, says Bessent appeared first on Atlas21.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin: How To Solve the Student Loan Crisis

Student loans continue to trouble millions of Americans, with a total of $1.77 trillion already owed. This crisis has been a major political issue for a while, especially after former President Biden promised to wipe out all of the student loan debt and ended up only fulfilling half of the promise. These billions of dollars are not just numbers on a spreadsheet; they represent people who repay their debt, every month, year in and year out. While the standard repayment plan spans 10 years, the reality is far more daunting: The average borrower takes 20-30 years to repay their loans. 

There are over two million new undergraduates every year, and, on average, they graduate with $29,400 in debt. Some, like medical students, surpass $250,000 in debt — a mortgage-sized pile. Almost $100 billion in new debt is created every year, piled upon the already unsustainable student debt pile. Similar to how we have (haven’t) dealt with public pensions, instead of dismantling a failed system we keep feeding the machine and crushing people’s lives and dreams underneath its weight. But perhaps there’s a way for future generations to avoid this dreadful fate — by borrowing new ideas from similar fields.

Real Estate: The Store of Value (SoV) Since Nixon

The real estate market is another system that heavily relies on debt to keep functioning, and like student loans, it’s not working too well. 

Real estate is a market where it’s completely normal to go 10x levered long on a single asset while putting all of your savings into it. Talk about idiosyncratic risk. The entire market has been in deep pain worldwide, not necessarily because of the debt, but due to how the fiat system has turned real estate into an investment-and-savings mechanism. In turn, the great investment of one generation becomes the unaffordable housing for the next. But a subset of the population has been divesting from the asset in favor of a better savings vehicle: bitcoin. 

Part of their thesis in divesting from real estate and moving to bitcoin is that they predict that bitcoin’s superior SoV function will drive real estate prices down, wreaking havoc on a fragile and overpriced asset class. This makes quite a bit of sense, especially to those individuals who invested in real estate in search of those SoV properties in the first place; they now have to contend with increasing risk all over the world, putting in peril what was once a “safe SoV” asset class. From wildfires all over the place to floods, expropriations, new taxes, and wars breaking out in places previously unimaginable, some investors are just fed up.

But housing is still necessary, and we still need to build a massive amount of new houses. In almost all major cities in the world, there’s a housing crisis driven in large part by shortages. This is due to lackluster housing buildouts following the 2008 great financial crisis, driven directly by housing debt. Thus, even if all of the real estate owners put all of their stock of housing into the market, we would still have to develop and construct new ones. But it’s hard to convince real estate developers to do so when you also tell them that, in bitcoin terms, the houses they are building will be worth less by the time they sell them.

Bitcoin Replaces Real Estate

That’s where a German Bitcoiner and real estate developer named Leon Wankum steps in and turns the problem into a solution. You may even say he used financial jiu-jitsu because his idea is to bundle new, debt-heavy real estate projects with a bitcoin fund. This way, a $10 million project — of which $9 million is debt-financed — would allocate a small percentage of the financing to bitcoin, in order to hedge the depreciation and devaluation of the main asset and thereby benefit from the appreciation of bitcoin. This way, real estate developers can leverage the debt-heavy nature of the real estate market to cover the demand for housing while also hedging themselves from any SoV risk that bitcoin may pose to that asset.

This seemed like a crazy idea. Bitcoin and real estate: a super conservative mainstream infrastructure investment combined with a hyper-volatile digital savings vehicle — an unlikely marriage. Yet, polar opposites attract, and an idea is only crazy until someone replicates it and makes it work. 

To everyone’s surprise, that’s exactly what happened last year, when Andrew Hohns of Newmarket Capital went on TV to announce they had started applying Wankum’s model to offer a loan to a real estate developer. They had provided financing for a real estate project with a few special conditions: 

• the developer had to use a small proportion to buy bitcoin, which was placed in escrow.
• the bitcoin is inextricably tied with the real estate asset.
• and the bitcoin has to be held for four years minimum.

The experiment was off to the races. If the past serves as a guide, this new investment structure will greatly reduce the burden of the loan.

Bitcoin and Student Debts, Rescuing the Next Generation

At this point, the parallels to student loans should be pretty clear. When 18-year-olds take out a mortgage-sized loan to bet on their education, their future human capital is effectively becoming the real estate (collateral) that backs the debt. Their capacity to make extra income from the knowledge and certificates they acquired by going into debt will help them pay it off (given that all goes well). Investment margins become very sensitive and risk increases immensely when huge amounts of leverage are added to any investment — be it trading stocks, real estate, or your future. Your room for maneuvering decreases, and you get trapped in the path you choose.

Thus, if you yourself become the real estate securing this mortgage-sized student debt, perhaps you could also secure that loan and reduce the burden on the main asset (you) by integrating bitcoin into the mix. This could have great benefits for all parties involved: decreasing the risk for the lender and giving increased peace of mind and opportunities for the borrower (you, the student).

One of the main advantages of adding bitcoin to your student debt structure is that there are now two assets rowing against the financial repayment current: yourself and bitcoin. By going to university, learning new skills and getting certificates, you open up the path to better-paid jobs and higher earning potentials, aka higher salaries. The more intriguing component is the bitcoin tied to your student debts. As a teenager itself, bitcoin has had an incredible CAGR over its lifespan. Even conservative numbers indicate that bitcoin will return about 60% annually for the foreseeable future. When compared with the 10-15% usually provided by the S&P 500, bitcoin looks like a Ferrari competing against horses. 

The other advantage is one that frustrates most students, and it has to do with acquiring bitcoin once they understand it. Unlike most adults, undergrads have barely had any time to build up savings, and are therefore unable to exchange much fiat for hard bitcoin. This can become incredibly frustrating, especially because you know that if you were a decade older, you could have aped into bitcoin and retired your entire bloodline. But now you are stuck being 16, saving up pennies, and sacrificing your younger years for trifling amounts of bitcoin that won’t make a difference in your lifetime. So close, yet so far away.

But what is debt if not a way to bring future purchasing power into the present? Debt is a time-traveling machine that allows people to buy assets by leveraging their future earnings, revenues, or salaries. And thankfully, the current system is created so that the moment you can legally go to jail or go to war, you can also indebt yourself up to your eyeballs with the promise of future wages as a doctor, engineer, lawyer, or another profession.

Funnily enough, bitcoin’s recommended minimum holding time is also the number of years for an average college degree — four years. This means that, as long as you create a similar structure as the one proposed by Newmarket Capital, where the bitcoin has a four-year holding period, you’ll be using financial jiu-jitsu. The four-year holding period, however, does not mean that the student needs to sell at that point. The question of how to manage your finances between repaying the student loans, selling the bitcoin, or acquiring more is a more complex and personal issue. Regardless of what any student does, with this hybrid method, student debts can help young Bitcoiners leap forward instead of taking a step back.

With this new method, students — and their families — now have another thing to celebrate when they walk onto the graduation stage. And if you drop out of school, for any set of reasons that life may hit you with, your student loan now comes with a fail-safe met

@ 05a0f81e:fc032124

Lying is a great tool for destruction, it have damage many marriage, relationships, culture, religion. It have also destroy human integrity and reputation.

What is lying? Lying is an act of someone saying something that is not true either to gain favor or to achieve any other hidden agenda.

There are many reasons why people lie, kids lie to flee from punishment, but adult lie either to gain favour or to achieve his hidden agendas. Since the existence of the world, adult lies have no positive impact on the society and the world at large.

Adult lies brings hatred, kill dreams, cage future and success, end norm and culture, delete history, the reason adult lie is different from the reason children's lie. Anything built on lies collapse when the truth arises, Anything covered with lies uncover when the truth unveil, lie leads to life full of regrets and angers especially when the truth unveils. Lies destroy life's and societies.

What happen if a child is raise on lies !.

When parents raise there children with lies, the children mindset reset towards the reason for the lies. If the lies are about a person, the children will end up hating the person, if it were about a profession, the children will end up hating the profession. Single mothers who lie to there baby about there father end up raising a child that hate his or her father.

Most norms and cultures have gone extinc all because of lies, some generations did not meet most norms because of lies, most legacy died because of lies.

When parents raise there children with lies, they did the children harm and they are destroying the society because children will grow into adults and have there own family, they will keep passing on the baton (lies) to generations and norms and cultures will keep dieing and the society will end up shattered.

Raise your child on truth! Raise your child on truth Teaching them repercussions and consequences if the truth is too wild.

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

News

• Bitcoin mining centralization in 2025. According to a blog post by b10c, Bitcoin mining was at its most decentralized in May 2017, with another favorable period from 2019 to 2022. However, starting in 2023, mining has become increasingly centralized, particularly due to the influence of large pools like Foundry and the use of proxy pooling by entities such as AntPool.

Source: b10c's blog.

• OpenSats announces the eleventh wave of Nostr grants. The five projects in this wave are the mobile live-streaming app Swae, the Nostr-over-ham-radio project HAMSTR, Vertex—a Web-of-Trust (WOT) service for Nostr developers, Nostr Double Ratchet for end-to-end encrypted messaging, and the Nostr Game Engine for building games and applications integrated with the Nostr ecosystem.
• New Spiral grantee: l0rinc. In February 2024, l0rinc transitioned to full-time work on Bitcoin Core. His efforts focus on performance benchmarking and optimizations, enhancing code quality, conducting code reviews, reducing block download times, optimizing memory usage, and refactoring code.
• Project Eleven offers 1 BTC to break Bitcoin's cryptography with a quantum computer. The quantum computing research organization has introduced the Q-Day Prize, a global challenge that offers 1 BTC to the first team capable of breaking an elliptic curve cryptographic (ECC) key using Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer. The prize will be awarded to the first team to successfully accomplish this breakthrough by April 5, 2026.
• Unchained has launched the Bitcoin Legacy Project. The initiative seeks to advance the Bitcoin ecosystem through a bitcoin-native donor-advised fund platform (DAF), investments in community hubs, support for education and open-source development, and a commitment to long-term sustainability with transparent annual reporting.
  • In its first year, the program will provide support to Bitcoin hubs in Nashville, Austin, and Denver.
  • Support also includes $50,000 to the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a $150,000 commitment at the University of Austin, and up to $250,000 in research grants through the Bitcoin Scholars program.

"Unchained will match grants 1:1 made to partner organizations who support Bitcoin Core development when made through the Unchained-powered bitcoin DAF, up to 1 BTC," was stated in a blog post.

• Block launched open-source tools for Bitcoin treasury management. These include a dashboard for managing corporate bitcoin holdings and provides a real-time BTC-to-USD price quote API, released as part of the Block Open Source initiative. The company’s own instance of the bitcoin holdings dashboard is available here.

Source: block.xyz

• Bull Bitcoin expands to Mexico, enabling anyone in the country to receive pesos from anywhere in the world straight from a Bitcoin wallet. Additionally, users can now buy Bitcoin with a Mexican bank account.

"Bull Bitcoin strongly believes in Bitcoin’s economic potential in Mexico, not only for international remittances and tourism, but also for Mexican individuals and companies to reclaim their financial sovereignty and protect their wealth from inflation and the fragility of traditional financial markets," said Francis Pouliot, Founder and CEO of Bull Bitcoin.

• Corporate bitcoin holdings hit a record high in Q1 2025. According to Bitwise, public companies' adoption of Bitcoin has hit an all-time high. In Q1 2025, these firms collectively hold over 688,000 BTC, marking a 16.11% increase from the previous quarter. This amount represents 3.28% of Bitcoin's fixed 21 million supply.

Source: Bitwise.

• The Bitcoin Bond Company for institutions has launched with the aim of acquiring $1 trillion in Bitcoin over 21 years. It utilizes secure, transparent, and compliant bond-like products backed by Bitcoin.
• The U.S. Senate confirmed Paul Atkins as Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). At his confirmation hearing, Atkins emphasized the need for a clear framework for digital assets. He aims to collaborate with the CFTC and Congress to address jurisdiction and rulemaking gaps, aligning with the Trump administration's goal to position the U.S. as a leader in Bitcoin and blockchain finance.
• Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has been released from custody. Griffith, whose sentence was reduced to 56 months, is now seeking a pardon. He was initially sentenced to 63 months for allegedly violating international sanctions laws by providing technical advice on using cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to evade sanctions during a presentation titled 'Blockchains for Peace' in North Korea.
• No-KYC exchange eXch to close down under money laundering scrutiny. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency trading platform said it will cease operations on May 1. This decision follows allegations that the platform was used by North Korea's Lazarus Group for money laundering. eXch revealed it is the subject of an active "transatlantic operation" aimed at shutting down the platform and prosecuting its team for "money laundering and terrorism."
• Blockstream combats ESP32 FUD concerning Jade signers. The company stated that after reviewing the vulnerability disclosed in early March, Jade was found to be secure. Espressif Systems, the designer of the ESP32, has since clarified that the "undocumented commands" do not constitute a "backdoor."

• Bank of America is lobbying for regulations that favor banks over tech firms in stablecoin issuance. The bank's CEO Brian Moynihan is working with groups such as the American Bankers Association to advance the issuance of a fully reserved, 1:1 backed "Bank of America coin." If successful, this could limit stablecoin efforts by non-banks like Tether, Circle, and others, reports The Block.
• Tether to back OCEAN Pool with its hashrate. "As a company committed to financial freedom and open access, we see supporting decentralization in Bitcoin mining as essential to the network’s long-term integrity," said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
• Bitdeer to expand its self-mining operations to navigate tariffs. The Singapore-based mining company is advancing plans to produce machines in the U.S. while reducing its mining hardware sales. This response is in light of increasing uncertainties related to U.S. trade policy, as reported by Bloomberg.
• Tether acquires $32M in Bitdeer shares. The firm has boosted its investment in Bitdeer during a wider market sell-off, with purchases in early to mid-April amounting to about $32 million, regulatory filings reveal.
• US Bitcoin miner manufacturer Auradine has raised $153 million in a Series C funding round as it expands into AI infrastructure. The round was led by StepStone Group and included participation from Maverick Silicon, Premji Invest, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, Mayfield, MARA Holdings, GSBackers, and other existing investors. The firm raised to over $300 million since its inception in 2022.
• Voltage has partnered with BitGo to [enable](https://www.voltage.cloud/blog/bitgo-and-voltage-team-up-to-deliver-instant-bitcoin-and-stabl

@ 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.

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

The new communication protocol aims to improve the industry with measurable advantages in terms of efficiency and security.

A new study conducted by Hashlabs, in collaboration with the SRI (Stratum V2 Reference Implementation) team and figures like Matt Corallo, Alejandro De La Torre and others reveals how the Stratum V2 protocol can increase miner profitability compared to the current Stratum V1 standard, used for over a decade.

Speaking to Atlas21, Gabriele Vernetti, Stratum V2 maintainer, declared:

“This first case study demonstrates how much Stratum V2 can help miners as well, securing and increasing their profits, in addition to the rest of the network. It’s just a first study aimed at demonstrating how decentralization can be aligned with the profit dynamics typical of the mining sector.

In the future we will also focus on the benefits for mining pool operators, who can benefit from the protocol’s efficiency to lower their operating costs (such as those for bandwidth used by their servers).

The feedback has been very positive: this first study was a joint work with various market players, including miners and mining pool operators. As SRI we want to continue working together with the entire community as done in this case, becoming a reference point for all actors interested in innovating the Bitcoin mining field”.

The research, based on controlled tests with two identical ASIC S19k Pro, with stock firmware, demonstrates that Stratum V2 can increase net profits by up to 7.4%. For an industry that often operates with 10% margins, this could represent a substantial competitive advantage.

The V2 protocol reduces various inefficiencies that plague the current system. The latency in block switching, that is the waiting time created when a miner must change block template after a new block has been mined on the network, goes from 325 milliseconds to just 1.42 milliseconds, a speed 228 times higher. This translates to about 4.9 hours of completely wasted hash power less per year.

Another problem of modern mining concerns “stale shares” – proofs of work that arrive too late to be remunerated, often due to network latency or inefficient communication. However, not all stale shares depend on inefficiency problems. On average, about 2% are rejected for expected reasons, such as when the share doesn’t reach the minimum difficulty required by the pool. This value is considered normal in the sector. The remaining 98%, instead, is caused by avoidable delays. With Stratum V1, miners lose between 0.1% and 0.2% of their computing power this way. Stratum V2 with Job Declaration completely eliminates this waste, provided that the miner and the pool node have the same level of connectivity. This step could translate into a net profit increase of up to 2% by fully adopting Stratum V2 with Job Declaration.

In the Stratum V2 protocol, the Job Declaration Client (JDC) is software that allows miners to receive mining jobs directly from their local Bitcoin node, that is the block templates to work on. The JDC communicates directly with the miner’s local node, receiving updated data for new block construction and immediately sending them to the mining software via Stratum V2. This allows miners to receive jobs in real time from their own node, without having to wait for them from the pool, reducing latency and the risk of working on obsolete jobs. Furthermore, if the pool allows it, miners can build custom templates choosing which transactions to include in the block.

The research also highlights an often overlooked aspect: the loss of transaction fees. With the Stratum V1 protocol, miners lose about 0.75% of potential fees for each block due to the delay in receiving new jobs. Considering that about 52,560 blocks are mined each year, this loss per block adds up to a total of about 74 bitcoins per year, equivalent to over $8 million at current prices.

Beyond economic advantages, Stratum V2 solves a critical vulnerability of the current system: hashrate hijacking. The V1 protocol doesn’t encrypt communications, allowing attackers to intercept and steal up to 2% of computing power without the miner noticing. The new protocol eliminates this risk through end-to-end encryption and authentication.

According to the study, by reducing latency, optimizing share sending and improving security, Stratum V2 enables a potential net profit increase of 7.4%, derived exclusively from technical improvements.

The post Stratum V2 increases profits by 7.4%: “The study shows that profit and decentralization can coexist”, says Vernetti, SV2 maintainer appeared first on Atlas21.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

France’s The Blockchain Group Secures €9.7 Million More For Its Bitcoin Treasury Strategy

Today, The Blockchain Group (ALTBG), listed on Euronext Growth Paris and recognized as Europe’s first Bitcoin Treasury Company, announced it has raised around €9.7 million through a mix of equity and convertible bond issuances. This move is part of their continued push to build out their Bitcoin Treasury Company strategy.

The Blockchain Group announces an equity and convertible bond issuance for a total amount of ~€9.7M to pursue its Bitcoin Treasury Company strategy

Full Press Release (EN): https://t.co/jjGOBswJsd

Full Press Release (FR): https://t.co/0Jwuv2sP7W

BTC Strategy (EN):… pic.twitter.com/mUVLHJduX5

— The Blockchain Group (@_ALTBG) June 12, 2025

The funding comes from multiple sources and was carried out through their wholly-owned Luxembourg subsidiary, “The Blockchain Group Luxembourg SA.” A major portion, about €6 million, was raised through a convertible bond issuance to TOBAM, with bonds priced at €6.24 per share. That price reflects a 30 percent premium over ALTBG’s closing price on June 9, 2025.

Ludovic Chechin-Laurans also came in with around €2.4 million, subscribing in BTC at a conversion price of about €0.7072 per share. This was part of a deal originally set up back in March 2025. If the stock price climbs 30 percent above that level, to around €0.919 over 20 consecutive trading days, he’ll have the option to convert into up to 3.4 million new ALTBG shares.

Adam Back also finalized his conversion of all OCA Tranche 1 bonds into 14.9 million ALTBG shares and subscribed to an additional 2.1 million shares for €1.16 million at €0.544 per share. 

“The Company recalls that Adam Back notified The Blockchain Group of his intention to convert all OCA Tranche 1 he holds, in accordance with the terms of the OCA Issuance Agreement entered into on March 4, 2025, the details of which were disclosed in a press release dated March 6, 2025, and which the Company now confirms has been definitively completed,” stated the press release.

TOBAM did the same, converting 1 million Tranche 1 bonds into 1.84 million shares and subscribing to 262,605 new shares for €0.14 million.

“Given the recent high volatility in the Company’s share price observed since the signing of the OCA Issuance Agreement, the conversion price of €0.544 reflects a discount of 89.52% compared to the closing price on June 12, 2025,” the press release added.

“These operations could allow for the potential acquisition of ~80 BTC, bringing the Company’s total potential holdings to ~1,611 BTC, including the proceeds from the potential completion of remaining operations announced in the press release dated May 26, 2025,” said the press release.

This post France’s The Blockchain Group Secures €9.7 Million More For Its Bitcoin Treasury Strategy first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 8672c492:14d2af43

SPEC.md - Swift Calculator Architecture

1. Overview

The Swift Calculator is a lightweight, user-friendly calculator application built for iOS using Swift. It supports basic arithmetic operations, a clear/reset function, and a responsive UI.

2. Architecture

The application follows the Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) pattern to separate concerns and improve maintainability.

2.1 Components

1. Model (CalculatorModel.swift):
2. Handles the core logic for arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division).

3. Manages the current state (e.g., display value, pending operations).

4. ViewModel (CalculatorViewModel.swift):

5. Acts as the intermediary between the Model and View.

6. Processes user inputs (e.g., button taps) and updates the Model and View accordingly.

7. View (CalculatorView.swift):

8. Responsible for the UI layout (buttons, display label).
9. Observes the ViewModel for changes and updates the UI.

2.2 Key Features

• Basic Operations: Supports +, -, *, /.
• Clear/Reset: A C button to reset the calculator state.
• Error Handling: Displays "Error" for invalid operations (e.g., division by zero).
• Responsive UI: Adapts to different screen sizes and orientations.

2.3 Data Flow

1. User interacts with the View (e.g., taps a button).
2. View sends the input to the ViewModel.
3. ViewModel processes the input and updates the Model.
4. Model updates its state and notifies the ViewModel.
5. ViewModel updates the View with the new state.

3. Technical Stack

• Language: Swift 5
• Framework: SwiftUI (for declarative UI) or UIKit (if preferred)
• Dependency Management: Swift Package Manager (SPM)

4. Future Enhancements

• Support for scientific operations (e.g., square root, exponents).
• Dark mode support.
• Memory functions (M+, M-, MR).

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Japanese investment firm Metaplanet has announced a massive $5.4 billion plan to increase its bitcoin holdings to 210,000 BTC by the end of 2027 — that’s about 1% of the total bitcoin supply.

Metaplanet on X

The Tokyo-listed company is accelerating its already aggressive bitcoin plan, with CEO Simon Gerovich calling the initiative “Asia’s largest-ever equity raise to buy Bitcoin — again!”

The company’s new capital raise, called the “555 Million Plan”, involves issuing 555 million shares through moving strike warrants. That’s basically a type of option where people can buy shares later, and the price they pay depends on the stock’s price at that time.

So with moving strike warrants, the price at which people can buy the stock goes up or down depending on how the company’s stock is doing. It gives investors more flexibility — and it can make the warrants more attractive — because they don’t get stuck with a bad deal if the stock price drops.

This way the company can raise capital gradually over the next 2 years without impacting the stock market and existing shareholders.

The funds raised will be used to buy bitcoin, with some to redeem bonds and other income-generating strategies like selling put options.

This is a big step up from Metaplanet’s previous targets. Initially aiming to reach 10,000 BTC by the end of 2025, the company now plans to reach:

• 30,000 BTC by end of 2025
• 100,000 BTC by end of 2026
• 210,000 BTC by end of 2027

The Japanese investment firm hopes to be in the “Bitcoin 1% club” which means holding at least 1% of the total 21 million bitcoin supply.

Metaplanet bitcoin targets

Metaplanet is already making good progress. As of June 2025, the company holds 8,888 BTC, acquired at a cost of about ¥122.2 billion (around $849 million) and has already reached 89% of its original 10,000 BTC target for 2025.

This comes after the success of the company’s previous “210 Million Plan” which raised ¥93.3 billion ($650 million) in 60 trading days by issuing 210 million shares.

During that time, the company’s bitcoin holdings grew from 1,762 BTC to 7,800 BTC and the BTC Yield (a key performance metric showing growth in bitcoin per share) increased by 189%.

Year to date the BTC Yield is 225.4%.

Metaplanet’s BTC Yield graph

The stock has reflected this momentum, up 275% since early 2025 and 1,619% over the past year.

Metaplanet’s stock price chart — TradingView

Metaplanet is now one of the most actively traded stocks in Japan and has become a top-ten corporate bitcoin holder globally, recently surpassing Block Inc., the company founded by Jack Dorsey.

Metaplanet sees this as part of a bigger shift in capital markets.

By being a “bitcoin treasury vehicle” listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, it aims to offer investors exposure to bitcoin through regulated equity markets. This is especially useful in Japan where retail investors are often restricted from accessing bitcoin directly.

“Bitcoin is repricing the global cost of capital,” the company said in a statement. “Through our 555 Million Plan, Metaplanet is doubling down on a high-conviction, equity-driven capital markets strategy to accelerate our Bitcoin accumulation trajectory.”

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

Flash, the all-in-one Bitcoin payment platform, just launched Flash Invoicing. The first invoicing tool for Bitcoin that is completely free, non-custodial, KYC-free, and fully integrated into a professional-grade business suite.

Freelancers, contractors and independent workers can now send professional Bitcoin invoices with 0% platform fees, no identity verification, and no third-party custody — a first in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

According to Deel, crypto payments to freelancers grew 10x in 2023, with Bitcoin remaining the most-used currency. But despite this surge, the tools available for invoicing remain outdated.

Most freelancers still paste Bitcoin addresses into PDF footers or emails, hoping their client sends the right amount. Others use custodial platforms that charge high fees and require full identity verification.

“We’ve seen too many people paste BTC addresses into documents and call it invoicing,” said Pierre Corbin, CEO of Flash.

“It’s messy, reduces privacy and very inconvenient both for payee and payer.”, he explains.

Most Bitcoin invoicing tools charge a percentage per transaction — or lock users into subscription plans. That means freelancers lose a portion of every invoice just for the privilege of getting paid.

The other option is host open-source invoicing tools or use a google sheet template. While the former requires a hardware investment, the latter lacks functionality. Flash Invoicing is aiming to provide a better solution to address the invoicing needs for modern businesses and freelancers.

“Freelancers work hard enough. The last thing they need is a platform skimming off their earnings,” said Pierre.

“That’s why we dropped our fee from 1.5% to 0% — and launched the first invoicing tool that’s truly free, without compromising on privacy or control.”

“As a freelancer myself, I love using the Flash invoicing feature. It keeps all my clients in one place, allows me to easily edit invoices and track payments. Much more professional than sending a lightning address in the footer of a PDF invoice.” — Ada, freelancer & Flash user

Whether you’re a solo designer in Nairobi, a Web3 developer in Buenos Aires, or a consultant billing startups in Berlin, Flash Invoicing gives you a way to accept Bitcoin — without giving up control, privacy, or revenue.

And because it’s fully integrated with the broader Flash suite, freelancers can easily scale from invoicing to setting up stores, receiving donations, or gating premium content.

About Flash

Flash is the only non-custodial, KYC-free Bitcoin payment platform built for freelancers, creators, and businesses. With tools for invoicing, donations, stores, and POS, Flash gives users full control over how they earn and operate in Bitcoin — with no fees and no middlemen.

Learn more on www.paywithflash.com

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Passport Prime: A New Security Device For a New Generation

Passport Prime, Foundation Devices’ latest retail hardware wallet, is about to hit the market in Q3 of 2025. The device features a full-color touch screen the size of a credit card with a modern industrial aesthetic. It aims to be a developer platform for Bitcoin and crypto software with high security demands.

Besides serving the basic wallet needs of Bitcoin users, the device is designed as an open source platform for app developers to bring a new experience of crypto-native cybersecurity to the public. The Passport Prime is expected to ship with a powerful Bitcoin wallet app, as well as virtual YubiKeys, a 2FA app, a seed vault for imported or low-value crypto wallets, 50 GB of storage, NFC, and encrypted Bluetooth support, among other features.

Frustrated with the public’s lackluster adoption of hardware wallets as the crypto industry enters the mainstream adoption phase, Foundation has been working since 2020 to bring security hardware devices to feature parity with mainstream consumer technology. However, the path is not simple.

The Adoption Problem of Hardware Wallets

Hardware wallets have been a critical security product for Bitcoin users since 2014 when Satoshi Labs created the Trezor. Before that, users had few options, and many of the funds lost in that era were due to user ignorance of how to manage and properly secure private keys in Bitcoin. Armory, funded by Trace Mayer in the early days, was one of the first solutions but it was highly technical and was best used with hardware the user had to modify themselves — like removing antennas from a laptop. This kind of technology became a security foundation for exchanges, who, through many hacks and hard lessons, slowly got better at securing user funds from organized crime and hackers while playing jurisdictional arbitrage to avoid hostile governments.

As the first hardware wallets started to enter the retail market, significant adoption was seen. With the massive growth of Bitcoin since its inception, the best security practices have failed to keep up with the ease of use provided by custodians while also failing to deliver security and feature parity to users in an interface they are familiar with.

In a keynote presentation on the Passport Prime landing page, Zach Herbert, CEO and co-founder of Foundation, explains their analysis of the market and why they believe only 2.5% of the market is using hardware wallets today, despite mainstream adoption of digital assets like Bitcoin — a concern felt across the industry that too many people are getting accustomed to custodial services.

The small screens, iconic to the hardware wallet ecosystem, are often a barrier for users. The shape of the device, often small and with few buttons, can make people nervous, especially when the wrong combination of clicks means an irreversible financial transaction.

In the case of touchscreen devices like the Trezor T, while certainly an improvement from the Trezor One, the buttons are still far smaller than what the public is used to for smartphones, the most prolific computer platform of this era.

The problem with trying to bring hardware wallets to feature parity with mobile phones is the massive complexity introduced by the corresponding software and hardware. Mobile phones, after all, are designed for mass manufacturing and with ease-of-use priorities in mind, rather than securing life-changing amounts of digital currency, which, once sent, cannot be reversed.

The hardware wallet industry has had to build out open source, verifiable, security-optimized hardware and software that addresses top security concerns, while also delivering a familiar and comfortable user experience to the public. In general, the industry recognizes the need for bigger screens and bigger buttons, as seen in new models by Ledger, for example, with their Ledger Stax, and, of course, Coldcard Q’s Blackberry-style hardware wallet.

When asked why not just try to build on top of a standard mobile phone platform, Owen Kemeys, hardware designer at Foundation Devices, told Bitcoin Magazine that “there’s a huge advantage to Passport Prime being a separate security device,” adding that “we need this stuff to work for the normal people. They are not going to be able to understand or have any interest in understanding what makes something safe or unsafe on their phone. Even if they were going so far as to have a dedicated phone for secret stuff or whatever. Everything that we develop, Apple and Google could bake into their phones and tell you it’s safe. But if it’s in a separate device that is built to do that one exact thing, then you know, OK, if it happens on the Passport Prime, it’s safe.”

The Passport Prime Feature Set

Foundation believes they have found an optimal and preferable middle ground between high security and a familiar user experience in a mobile phone-style device, but with very specific hardware and software inside. Kemeys explained that “the Passport Prime runs its own operating system,” adding that “We’re not running a fork of Android or something and then dressing it up differently. We wrote this from the ground up in Rust. It’s called KeyOS. It’s designed for this one purpose of running a smartphone-like experience, but with sandboxed apps.”

The wallet-related cryptography that’s normal to today’s Bitcoin and crypto wallets is also deeply integrated with the operating system. A master seed phrase is set up by the user; the seed’s corresponding master private and public keys are then used to derive secure, isolated keys for other apps on the Passport Prime. “All apps are sandboxed and receive hardened child seeds, meaning that even if an app is malicious, it has no access to the master seed and cannot communicate with other apps,” Herbert explained in his presentation.

This design builds the foundations necessary for secure app development on top of the Passport Prime, unique among hardware wallet manufacturers. While Ledger has made some progress in that direction, Herbert says that the Ledger operating system is very restrictive with such apps — primarily out of security concerns  — making it difficult for developers to contribute to the ecosystem. Foundation believes they have solved the problem, unlocking a new kind of security device that can be used for more than cold storage of Bitcoin and crypto assets. It is a security platform for everyday use in the digital era.

As is generally expected of high-security devices like a hardware wallet, the Passport Prime comes without most of the normal sensors or antennas found in mobile devices. No Wi-Fi, no GPS, and no SIM card, of course. However, NFC, an increasingly popular communications module in hardware wallets and in payments technology in general, is included. NFC has a very short signal range and depends on power from the device sending the signal, making it a fairly secure protocol and bringing Bitcoin closer to the tap-to-pay credit card experience the general public is used to.

“We now have an NFC reader inside,” Kemeys explained, excited about the innovation space unlocked by NFC chips in Bitcoin. “As part of your onboarding setup, in the box, we’re going to ship three NFC cards with the Prime. And as our default onboarding workflow, we’re going to encourage people to make a two-of-three Shamir setup, and back up the shares onto some of those cards.”

Shamir secret sharing is an old and well-known cryptographic algorithm similar to multisignature schemes in Bitcoin but entirely off-chain. It allows users to grab a master private key and split it into shares that can come together later to recreate and reco

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Coinbase Announces Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card, Offering up to 4% BTC Back on Everything

Coinbase is launching its first-ever branded credit card in partnership with American Express, set to roll out this fall. Called the Coinbase One Card, it will be available only to U.S. members of Coinbase One, the platform’s monthly subscription service. The card will offer 2% to 4% back in Bitcoin on everyday purchases, along with access to American Express perks.  

JUST IN: Coinbase launches credit card allowing users to earn up to 4% bitcoin back on every purchase pic.twitter.com/d6pdNZV4pi

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) June 12, 2025

This is a first-of-its-kind product for Coinbase, which previously only offered a prepaid debit card with Visa in 2020. 

“We see real potential in the combination of Coinbase and crypto with the powerful backing of American Express, and what the card offers is an excellent mix of what customers are looking for right now,” said Will Stredwick, head of American Express global network services, during the Coinbase State of Crypto Summit in New York.

The card is part of a larger push by Coinbase to expand its subscription-based services. Coinbase One costs $29.99/month and includes zero trading fees, higher staking rewards, and customer support perks. The company also announced a cheaper version—Coinbase Basic—for $4.99/month or $49.99/year, which includes fewer features.

Coinbase’s subscription business is growing fast. It brought in $698.1 million in Q1 2025, compared to $1.26 billion in trading revenue. According to William Blair analyst Andrew Jeffrey, this kind of recurring revenue is a big reason why long-term investors are sticking with the stock.

Launched in 2023, Coinbase One now has over a million members. The company has been steadily growing its ecosystem with products like its Base developer platform and a self-custody wallet. 

The company has long positioned Bitcoin at the center of its strategy—offering BTC custody services to institutions, supporting Bitcoin ETFs, integrating Bitcoin rewards into its products, and actively advocating for Bitcoin-friendly regulation in Washington. Coinbase also supports Bitcoin development directly through funding grants and engineering support. As the largest publicly traded crypto exchange in the U.S., Coinbase continues to frame Bitcoin not just as an asset, but as the foundation of its long-term vision.

This post Coinbase Announces Bitcoin Rewards Credit Card, Offering up to 4% BTC Back on Everything first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Will Replace Gold And Go To $1,000,000, Says Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz

Today, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz told CNBC that Bitcoin is on a path to replace gold and could eventually reach a value of $1,000,000.

JUST IN: Galaxy Digital CEO told CNBC that Bitcoin will replace gold and go to $1,000,000 pic.twitter.com/Tf831LBt1h

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) June 12, 2025

“Bitcoin has become a macro asset,” said Novogratz. “And some of the great things is most people have it on their screens next to gold and silver and the S&P. And you think back ten years ago when people thought we were crazy. And now it’s an institutionalized macro asset… It’s just becoming institutionalized.”

He emphasized that Bitcoin is no longer a fringe investment but part of the mainstream financial landscape. He pointed out that its volatility is now seen as normal compared to traditional assets.

“We are in a dollar bear market. For the last 15 years, American exceptionalism was the story. Europeans were widely overweight and Asians widely overweight the US stock and we have an administration that wants a weaker dollar. They are pretty clear about it,” he said. “Even in the way Trump negotiates. And you can argue if it’s successful or not successful, but by telling Canada they want to be the 51st state, and telling people that they come here to kiss his rear end, it doesn’t engender people to say, ‘Oh, I want to buy more dollars.’”

According to Novogratz, this global shift is pushing investors toward assets outside the dollar, including Bitcoin.

“I think most macro funds are having a great year,” he stated. “They’re short the dollar, they’re long the euro, they’re long the yen, they’re long Aussie, they’re long a basket of currencies. Well, Bitcoin, gold, silver, platinum, they all fall into that same category as something that’s not the dollar.”

He also pointed to Bitcoin’s fixed supply as a key factor behind its growing value.

“There is no more Bitcoin,” he said. “What’s unique about Bitcoin as an asset is it was created with 21 million coins total. Period. End of story. There’ll never be more than that. But not all of those have been mined, is my point. Not most of them. Lots of them have been lost. There have been more Bitcoins lost than will be mined for the rest of eternity.”

Novogratz believes the wave of institutional involvement, including firms like BlackRock, is cementing Bitcoin’s role as a savings asset.

“The bull case becomes that over time… gold slowly gets replaced by Bitcoin. And so if you look at gold’s market cap and Bitcoin market cap, Bitcoin has a long way to go. Right? 10x. And so that [is] $1,000,000 a Bitcoin just to be where gold is.”

This post Bitcoin Will Replace Gold And Go To $1,000,000, Says Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

The Russian government is preparing sanctions against those who violate mining regulations, with fines of up to $25,000.

The Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation has drafted a bill introducing financial penalties and the seizure of cryptocurrencies for miners operating illegally.

The ministerial proposal, currently under interdepartmental review according to Forbes Russia, would grant judicial authorities extraordinary powers over the mining sector. Courts would be able not only to impose financial penalties but also to directly confiscate illegally mined bitcoins.

Fines will follow a progressive scale:

• private individuals: 100,000 to 200,000 rubles ($1,272–$2,544);
• individual entrepreneurs and public officials: 200,000 to 400,000 rubles ($2,544–$5,088);
• companies and corporations: 1 million to 2 million rubles ($12,728–$25,456).

Crackdown on mining pools

Another aspect of the proposed legislation concerns mining pools. If approved, the bill would introduce penalties for those participating in such groups illegally. The government strategy aims to amend the Code of Administrative Offenses, effectively turning illegal mining into a criminal offense with harsher consequences than current administrative fines.

Crypto payments under scrutiny

Beyond mining operations, the new provisions would also target the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment outside the official sandbox managed by Russia’s Central Bank. Sanctions for this violation could reach 1 million rubles ($12,728).

Andrey Medvedev, Head of the Legal Department at the Central Bank, emphasized during the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum that “[crypto] illegally used as a means of payment will be confiscated.”

Regional restrictions on mining

Under current Russian regulations, unregistered citizens are allowed to mine domestically provided their energy consumption does not exceed 6,000 kWh per month. However, about ten Russian regions and territories under Russian control maintain specific restrictions.

Operators of mining infrastructures — primarily data center and hosting service providers — will be required to report operational details to Rosfinmonitoring, the national financial intelligence agency, including wallet addresses used at their facilities.

While penalties are tightening, the government recently chose not to extend mining bans to new regions. The government’s energy commission, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, rejected a proposal to ban mining in Khakassia and postponed annual restrictions in Zabaikalsky Krai and Buryatia. However, Moscow has approved a one-year mining ban in the southern part of the Irkutsk region, widely considered the de facto capital of Russian mining.

The post Mining in Russia: fines and asset seizures for illegal operations appeared first on Atlas21.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

While most Bitcoin companies chase quick wins with flashy marketing and complex trading features, Coinfinity is taking a different path. The Austria-based company has built their entire business model around something most brokers treat as an afterthought: education.

Founded on the principle that Bitcoin adoption requires understanding, not just access, Coinfinity offers something great in the Bitcoin space: a broker that actually wants you to take your bitcoin off their platform.

Their Bitcoin Blinks educational series provides a self-custody-first approach, and Austrian economics foundation make them stand out in a crowded field of crypto casinos.

Coinfinity’s HQ in Graz, Austria

At the heart of this educational mission is Fab, Coinfinity’s Head of Bitcoin Education, whose journey to Bitcoin mirrors that of many who’ve found their way to Austrian economics through pure instinct.

“I always had the feeling that something in the world just doesn’t add up,” he told Bitcoin News when he sat down with us. “Something’s wrong, I don’t know what, but I felt like the foundation of our society isn’t quite fair, I just never knew what it was.”

Sound familiar?

That hunch eventually led him down a rabbit hole of geopolitics, monetary systems, and finally to Andreas Antonopoulos videos on YouTube.

“I basically disappeared from life for about a week, just watching those videos,” Fab recalled. But it wasn’t until he read The Bitcoin Standard that everything clicked.

“I remember it like it was yesterday, I closed the book and thought ‘Holy s***, now I get it.’ That was the moment. From then on, I was Bitcoin-only.”

Many of the best Bitcoin books are in English and translating them is important

Now as Head of Bitcoin Education at Coinfinity and co-founder of Aprycot Media (a German publishing house focused exclusively on Bitcoin), Fab spends his days helping others find that same spark.

And unlike most “crypto” companies, Coinfinity’s strategy isn’t driven by marketing gimmicks or token launches, it’s driven by teaching.

“Our goal is to create educational content that’s so easy to understand that people love sharing it,” Fab explained. “When they share it, they connect with us. Once they start understanding Bitcoin, they choose us to buy it.”

Most companies buy Google ads. Coinfinity builds minds. With their Bitcoin Blinks, 42 short, clear lessons covering everything from subjective value to seed phrases, they’re offering what most brokers won’t: context. Meaning. Philosophy.

“It became quite popular, and we think it’s way more effective for our brand than just buying ads,” Fab said.

And they don’t stop there. When it comes to custody, Coinfinity takes a radically different approach than most Bitcoin brokers.

“When you buy bitcoin from us, you always take custody, either in our in-app wallet where you control the seed, or your own hardware wallet,” Fab emphasized. “Even our lightning feature works the same way you always buy into your own wallet.”

That’s not just a slogan. It’s a core value of the company that runs so deep they’re willing to sacrifice user experience for it. “We never custody your bitcoin,” Fab said. “It’s one of the core values that you custody them yourself.”

Even as fees rise and UTXO management gets harder, Coinfinity stays committed to self-custody. They are open to optional custodial tools in the future, but always paired with education, and always encouraging users to take their bitcoin off-platform when the time is right.

“If we ever offer custodial services, it would only be to help users stack small amounts until they reach a meaningful UTXO size,” Fab explained.

The plan would involve accumulating smaller purchases monthly or weekly until users hit a threshold, maybe a million sats, then withdrawing to self-custody. “We don’t want to play games with your bitcoin. We don’t want to lend it out or earn interest on it.”

Coinfinity emphasizes on self-custody and education, even in its app

The challenge is real though. When new users first encounter Bitcoin, the technical barriers can be overwhelming. “Often causes problems with people just getting into Bitcoin who don’t understand what self custody is” Fab notes.

That’s why they built their in-app wallet, to smooth the onboarding while maintaining their self-custody values. “The in-app wallet was our first step toward optimizing user experience without compromising our core value of bringing bitcoin into self-custody,” he said.

“One of our taglines is ‘bringing Bitcoin to the people’ and we literally mean that. We want to bring bitcoin to them, not keep it from them.”

Another promising thing the company is doing in their operations is using AI to create more content, faster. Podcast scripts, educational summaries, internal tools, Fab’s even feeding Austrian economics PDFs into models to keep the tone on-brand and Bitcoin-only.

“We’re using these tools in our business development and marketing teams to generate more output with the same number of people,” he said. But the future looks even more exciting.

“Maybe one day we’ll have a tutor in the app where you can do a video call and ask ‘What is a Bitcoin address?’ and it will talk back to you naturally, going deeper as you ask more questions,” Fab explained. “That’s absolutely possible.”

The technology isn’t quite there yet for mainstream deployment in their app, but Fab is optimistic. “I’m sure that in the future, this won’t just be used for improving our internal workflow, but for enhancing the content itself,” he said.

It’s not a pipe dream. The tech is already close. The only thing missing is more Bitcoin-native data and companies like Coinfinity are quietly building that layer.

One of the favorite parts of these interviews is asking the builders in the space what they would ask Satoshi if given one question. When I asked Fab what he’d ask Bitcoin’s creator, he didn’t hesitate:

“Did you purposely build Bitcoin based on Austrian economics, or did it just happen by accident?

“All this monetization theory, Bitcoin being a store of value first, is this something you actually thought was possible and had in mind? Or was it just a lucky shot that accidentally gave us the best monetary properties?”

Because if Satoshi had built Bitcoin with a 2% inflation rate, like some other projects, it might’ve worked. But it wouldn’t have lasted.

“He could have made it with 2% tail emission, it still would have been decentralized. But then today, someone might introduce a coin with a fixed supply that could kill Bitcoin,” Fab noted.

Fab suspects the fixed supply wasn’t an accident. And thank God for that.

What’s remarkable about Coinfinity isn’t just their Austrian approach or their self-custody obsession, it’s how they’re proving that education-first Bitcoin companies can compete with the flashy crypto casinos dominating the space.

Coinfinity doesn’t serve U.S. customers. They’re focused on Europe, operating within EU regulations. But what they’re building, honest Bitcoin education, smart tools, and a relentless push for financial sovereignty, matters everywhere.

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Marty's Bent

via me

"The man in the coma" has been a long-running archetype of a bitcoiner on TFTC and Rabbit Hole Recap. Over the years, we've referenced the man in the coma in regards to bitcoin being a backward compatible distributed network that would enable an individual, in the case of our example - a man who fell into a coma, to be able to wake up many years, even decades, after falling into a deep sleep, go back to his bitcoin node and be able to participate in the network and validate his own transactions as if the network was operating the same it was the day he slipped into a coma. As a distributed network, this is one of bitcoin's greatest value props; consistency for the individual running it, no matter the version.

Having spent 12 years engrossed in bitcoin, thinking about it every day, building a media company focused on educating people about the network and the monetary revolution it enables, why it's important and how they can use it. Becoming a managing partner at Ten31, which is dedicated to investing in companies building out infrastructure that makes bitcoin more accessible and easier to use; "the man in the coma" has become a more prominent archetype in my mind.

"The man in the coma" archetype can be described in other ways. For instance, there was an individual by the name of John Doe, who joined myself and Matt Odell on TFTC about seven years ago who went to jail for four years. He was distributing certain goods on the Silk Road for many years and got nabbed by the police while throwing a house party. Unfortunately for Mr. Doe, the goods he were selling via the Silk Road were in the house hosting the party that got busted. Fortunately for Mr. Doe, the police who nabbed him were not privy to the way in which he was marketing and selling the goods. He went to jail for four years, walked out at the end of his sentence, found his bitcoin wallets, recovered them and was more than pleasantly surprised at the magnitude of his wealth.

The forced hodl that was incited by the state throwing him in a cage wound up paying off after four years. Now, I can certainly admit that time is the most scarce asset in the world. Being put in a cage for four years or falling into a coma for a number of years is not ideal. However, there are lessons to be gleaned from the successes that have been realized by "the man in the coma" and the man who was forced to hodl by being thrown in a cage. Unable to access his bitcoin during that period of time to make less than wise decisions.

The main lesson to be gleaned is that doing nothing is oftentimes significantly more optimal than doing something. Too many bitcoiners decide to make rash decisions influenced by the day-to-day happenings on social media or some one-off comment from someone in their personal life that they respect. These comments can be about the long-term viability of bitcoin itself, some prognostications about where the price is going in a short-term to medium-term time frame or simply the social aspects of being associated with bitcoin. All of these factors play into influencing certain individuals deciding to sell their bitcoin in the hopes of buying it back lower, realizing something material in their day-to-day life or jumping off a ship that they've been convinced is about to sink.

In my mind, the only thing listed above that makes a bit of sense to me is realizing something material in your day-to-day life. Selling some bitcoin to purchase something that makes your life better like enabling you to support your family at a critical time and in a way that would not be possible unless you sold bitcoin. That makes sense to me. However, the other two are completely nonsensical. Bitcoin's success is binary. It either succeeds or it doesn't. And if you accept that this is true, success means slowly but surely becoming the global reserve currency and monetary network used by billions of humans on the planet or it goes to zero.

If the former materializes, that means that billions of people are going to be competing for 21 million Bitcoin. There are, by some estimates, $900 trillion worth of assets that are being used to store wealth over the short, medium, and long term. Bitcoin has the potential to subsume a material percentage of that $900 trillion. In my mind, if bitcoin is as good as I believe it is, it should take at least half of that market, if not 80 to 90%. This in and of itself is a gamble. No one can be certain that this will come true. And with that in mind you have to make a probabilistic bet by surveying the world and discerning what the likelihood of bitcoin's ultimate success is.

If you think governments, central banks, and large corporations are going to continue down the path of unfettered expansion of the monetary base, debt, and misallocation of capital, bitcoin, a peer-to-peer distributed cash system that cannot be controlled by any individual. corporation, country, or central bank makes a lot of sense. The debasement, the debt expansion, and the misallocation of capital are driven by fallible humans working in incentive structures that are vulnerable to the fallible nature of the humans working within them.

Human fallibility brings with it the ability to talk oneself out of a position that one knows makes sense and is logical. This is the disadvantage that those who are not "the man in the coma" or "the man in a cage" operate from. Being forced to hodl bitcoin is already and will increasingly be seen as a relative advantage. Many who are in bitcoin today, paying attention to every headline, every pull request and every doubt flung their way will likely get to 2030 and agree that they made worse decisions than the man who was thrown in a cage or who slipped into a coma.

Of course, this isn't a fair introspective conclusion. The man in the coma and the man who was forced to hodl because he was put in a jail cell did not have a decision at the end of the day. Both were forced to hodl due to external or internal forces that, all else being equal, they would prefer not have had to endure. However, the outcome of these two situations will likely be better than the outcome of "the man in the arena" who thinks that by making decisions on the go as a slew of information comes his way on a day-to-day basis will materialize in a larger stack of satoshis.

The reality of the situation is such that no one truly knows where bitcoin is going to go on a day-to-day, month-to-month, or year-to-year basis. Especially at this point with large institutions, nation-states, corporations, and individual states getting into the fray. The only tried-and-true strategy within bitcoin over the long term is to stay humble, stack sats, and hodl like you are "the man in the coma" or the man who was thrown in a cage.

Bitcoin's Volatility Won't End With Institutional Adoption

Leon Wankum challenged the popular "supercycle" narrative during our conversation, arguing that Bitcoin's volatility isn't going away despite massive institutional adoption. While acknowledging that MicroStrategy now holds over 2% of all Bitcoin and won't sell, Leon maintains that leverage will still need to be washed out. He expects another 60% drawdown at the end of this bull cycle, viewing this as a feature rather than a bug of Bitcoin's design.

"Bitcoin naturally washes out leverage, it builds resilience and we don't go through these crazy boom and bust cycles, we go through bull and bear markets and I think that's a net positive." - Leon Wankum

Leon sees Bitcoin's volatility as fundamentally different from fiat's destructive boom-bust cycles. Where traditional markets require central bank intervention to prop up failing systems, Bitcoin's regular corrections create genuine resilience. Bad actors will always enter during euphoric phases, and the subsequent washouts ensure only strong hands remain. This natural selection process, he argues, is beautiful - it's what makes Bitcoin antifragile.

Check out the full podcast here for more on real estate opportunity costs, Bitcoin bonds, and treasury company risks.

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Headlines of the Day

Romania Adds Crypto Terminals to Post Offices - via X

Musk Claims Trump in Epstein Files - via X

Uber CEO Calls Bitcoin Proven Store of Value - via X

Get our new STACK SATS hat - via tftcmerch.io

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Final thought...

The kids really do grow up f

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

The involvement of America’s largest corporations with stablecoins has reached 29%.

According to the latest State of Crypto report published by Coinbase, interest in stablecoins among Fortune 500 executives has seen a significant surge, rising from 8% in 2024 to 29% in 2025.

The study, based on a sample of 100 executives from the 500 highest-revenue U.S. companies, reveals that nearly three in ten said their organization is either planning or seriously considering integrating stablecoins into their business processes.

The growing interest is mainly driven by inefficiencies in traditional payment systems. The executives surveyed identified slow transaction speeds and high fees as the main drawbacks of conventional payment methods.

The survey also found that 7% of Fortune 500 companies are already actively using or holding stablecoins in their corporate wallets.

And it’s not just large corporations getting on board. The study also surveyed 251 financial decision-makers at small and medium-sized businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Among them, 81% expressed interest in using stablecoins — a sharp rise from 61% the previous year. Meanwhile, 46% of these businesses plan to integrate cryptocurrencies into their operations within the next three years.

Transaction volume data confirms this growing interest. Stablecoins have seen significant monthly spikes, with $719 billion in December 2024 and $717 billion in April 2025.

Over the course of 2024, total stablecoin transaction volumes reached $27.6 trillion, surpassing the combined transaction volumes of Visa and Mastercard by 7.7%. At the same time, the number of stablecoin holders surpassed 161 million users as of May 2025, according to Coinbase.

The post Stablecoins: interest from major U.S. companies grows 260% in a year appeared first on Atlas21.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

In a move that diverges from many other U.S. states, Connecticut has passed a new law that bars state and local governments from investing in bitcoin or any other digital currency.

The bill, HB7082, passed unanimously in both the House and Senate with zero opposing votes.

The law, officially titled “An Act Concerning the Regulation of Virtual Currency and State Investments,” was signed into law recently and is causing a stir in the Bitcoin and financial communities.

HB7082 prohibits the state of Connecticut and its political subdivisions from accepting, holding or investing in digital currencies. This includes bitcoin, ethereum and other digital assets. It also bars the state from creating a bitcoin reserve, a concept being explored by other states.

The law goes further by imposing strict rules on digital asset businesses operating in the state. These rules enforce anti-money laundering (AML) compliance and parental consent verification for digital asset users under 18.

It also requires 1:1 reserve requirements for bitcoin custodians.

Businesses that handle Bitcoin transactions must now provide users with clear information about risks and fees and provide receipts with full transaction details.

No business can let a minor use a money-sharing app without first getting proof of consent from a parent or guardian.

Lawmakers in Connecticut say it’s about protecting public funds and minimizing financial risk. They say Connecticut’s new law bars state investments in bitcoin to protect its financial assets from market risk.

Supporters argue that the high volatility of bitcoin makes it a risky investment for public money like pension funds and state reserves.

The law also looks to bring bitcoin businesses under tighter control, to make them follow the same rules as the traditional financial system.

While Connecticut is cracking down on digital assets, other states are going the other way.

States like Texas, New Hampshire and Arizona have already passed laws or proposed bills to create a bitcoin reserve, which allows public funds to be invested in bitcoin.

Texas has even described bitcoin as a “forward-thinking investment opportunity” and a long-term store of value.

The new law has caused mixed reactions in the financial world. Some think it’s too cautious, others think it’s part of a bigger plan.

Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise, responded with sarcasm, “The hedge fund managers got so upset they couldn’t beat Bitcoin…”

Matt Hougan on X

Some states like Florida, South Dakota and Oklahoma have either killed or vetoed Bitcoin bills this year. Others like Louisiana are still exploring the tech. Louisiana just announced it would create a special committee to study AI, blockchain and digital assets.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Mercurity Fintech to Raise $800 Million for Bitcoin Treasury 

Mercurity Fintech Holding Inc. (Nasdaq: MFH), a digital finance company focused on blockchain-based financial infrastructure, has announced plans to raise $800 million to establish a long-term Bitcoin treasury reserve. The initiative is part of the company’s effort to incorporate digital assets into its financial strategy. 

According to a recent news release, Mercurity intends to transition a portion of its reserves into Bitcoin, supported by blockchain-native custody, staking solutions, and tokenized treasury tools designed to advance yield and extend asset duration. 

“We’re building this Bitcoin treasury reserve based on our belief that Bitcoin will become an essential component of the future financial infrastructure,” said Shi Qiu, CEO of Mercurity. “We are positioning our company to be a key player in the evolving digital financial ecosystem.”

If fully raised and implemented at current market prices, the capital could allow the company to acquire approximately 7,433 BTC, which would make Mercurity the 11th largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, surpassing GameStop’s reported 4,710 BTC holdings. 

The announcement comes during a time of corporate interest in Bitcoin, with 223 companies and entities now holding the asset, up from 124 earlier this month. In total, public firms currently hold more than 819,000 BTC, accounting for roughly 3.9% of the total supply. 

Mercurity’s plans also coincide with its initial inclusion in the FTSE Russell 2000® and Russell 3000® indexes, according to the 2025 reconstitution list. The firm was previously listed in the Russell Microcap Index. Index inclusion is expected to increase the company’s visibility among institutional investors and funds that track major benchmarks.

“Moving from the Russell Microcap to the Russell 2000 shows that investors recognize the value we are creating in blockchain finance,” Qiu added. “Our Bitcoin treasury reserve initiative is the next logical step in this evolution.”

The company noted that the reserve will be managed using institutional-grade custody, on-chain liquidity protocols, and staking-enabled tools to improve capital efficiency. The goal is to not just hold Bitcoin, but to put it to work within a secure, yield-generating structure. By using these systems, Mercurity aims to maintain long-term exposure to BTC while maximizing reserve productivity. 

With this initiative, Mercurity joins a growing list of public companies actively reshaping treasury strategy around Bitcoin, signaling continued momentum in corporate Bitcoin adoption. 

This post Mercurity Fintech to Raise $800 Million for Bitcoin Treasury  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

@ d57360cb:4fe7d935

Most of life is out of your control. It happens of its own accord. We make plans in our minds but they rarely turn out how we want them to. Look back five years ago and remember the visions and dreams you had of your life. Most likely it never fit the vision you used to imagine. Sure somethings may have came into reality but it’s certain it didn’t go according to plan.

That’s the great myth it never goes as planned and that’s, well it’s okay. We don’t need to hold on for dear life and close ourselves off to life itself.

When life occurs, we have the tendency to want to edit and modify things to our likings. Only it’s impossible. What’s more important is the mind we bring with us to life. If we can enter into every situation with acceptance, things start to feel completely different. This isn’t to say this is some magical fix and everything will be fine. It’s more of a way to eliminate unnecessary mental roadblocks we create.

The outside circumstances don’t matter as much as you think. People will use the things outside themselves as a perpetual hope machine they strive on to escape their present issues. Surely one day it will all change when x, y, and z happen, but the joke of it all is when x, y and z do happen people suddenly look for a, b and c.

Instead of peering off into an imaginative future, ask yourself what mind did you bring to the place your feet are firmly placed in. You don’t need to hope on x, y, or z when you have a mind that can attend to any circumstance.

There’s an old zen story of a man who received a lump of clay, thinking it worthless he discarded it. Another man found it washed up near a river bank. On close inspection he saw a shining light glittering through the clay. He rinsed it completely to find a shining gold bar. It was always gold whether covered in clay or in its purest form much like pure attention is the nature of your mind only its often buried under an endless stream of thoughts.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

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

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

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

nostr is to twitter as bitcoin is to paypal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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My Nostr Public Key: npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx

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

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

A third of the bitcoins in circulation is now under the control of centralized entities, valued at $668 billion according to an analysis by Gemini.

A study conducted by Gemini in collaboration with Glassnode revealed that centralized actors currently hold 30.9% of bitcoin’s entire circulating supply.

These entities include national governments, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and publicly listed companies. Collectively, these players control 6.1 million BTC, equivalent to approximately $668 billion at current market prices. BlackRock alone holds around 665,635 BTC through its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF, representing over 3% of bitcoin’s total supply, with a value close to $73 billion.

Source: Gemini

The accumulation of bitcoin by such entities has grown by 924% over the past decade. This increase coincides with bitcoin’s price evolution, which has surged from under $1,000 to over $100,000 during the same period.

Analysts interpret this trend as further confirmation that institutions increasingly view bitcoin as a strategic store-of-value asset. According to the report, the correlation between the rise in institutional holdings and bitcoin’s price appreciation reinforces the case for the cryptocurrency’s mainstream adoption.

One key takeaway from the research concerns the predominant role of centralized exchanges within Bitcoin treasury holdings. These platforms hold about half of the total, although a significant portion of those funds actually belongs to retail clients and individual investors.

Government bitcoin treasuries display distinctive characteristics compared to other institutional holders. According to the study, sovereign wallets show infrequent movements and limited correlation with Bitcoin’s price cycles.

However, the amount of bitcoins held by these governments remains large enough to significantly influence the markets whenever sales or transfers occur, the report states. The governments of the United States, China, and the United Kingdom have acquired most of their bitcoins through legal actions (seizures) rather than direct market purchases. In contrast, El Salvador and Bhutan accumulate bitcoin through intentional and ongoing purchases. According to analysts, while the volumes involved are smaller, these strategic allocations signal a long-term commitment and bolster investor confidence, encouraging broader institutional participation and contributing to market stability.

The research concludes that with nearly a third of bitcoin’s circulating supply now held by centralized entities, the market has undergone a structural transformation toward institutional maturity. According to the authors of the report, this evolution has made price action more predictable and less vulnerable to the speculative extremes that characterized Bitcoin’s early years.

The post Report: centralized entities control 31% of bitcoin’s total supply appeared first on Atlas21.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Maelstrom Announces Its Fourth Bitcoin Developer Grant Recipient

Maelstrom is announcing that Ron, known online as “macgyver13,” is the fourth recipient of the Maelstrom Bitcoin Grant Program, per a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine. Ron will be working on Silent Payments, as proposed in Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 352. 

“We are excited to be financially supporting Ron, in his mission on integrating Silent Payments into Bitcoin wallets,” said the CFO of Maelstrom Arthur Hayes. “Many merchants and users want to provide/display a single static address that doesn’t change, which is an important, valid and simple use case. With Silent Payments this can still be done, while on-chain address re-use is avoided. Address re-use is a goldmine for the surveillance organisations, and at Maelstrom, we want to help put a stop to it.”

In September 2023, Silent Payments was proposed by Josie Baker and Ruben Somsen. It allows people to create a single, static address to share with friends, use for donations, or post for tips without sacrificing privacy. This eliminates address reuse, a key method used by surveillance firms to track user behavior on the blockchain.

“With many software projects, and perhaps even more so in Bitcoin, taking an idea from a proposal to a fully adopted solution is the hardest part,” Josie said. “In the short amount of time I’ve been working with Ron, I’ve been thrilled at the progress we’ve made and I’m excited to work with him over the next year on Silent Payments adoption with the goal of making an intuitive, seamless user experience while also protecting user’s financial privacy.”

Bitcoin privacy depends on using new addresses, which often requires sender to receiver interaction. Existing static address methods use notifications that increase costs and leak metadata. Silent Payments avoids both interaction and notifications but requires wallets to scan the blockchain. Multi-party input use is not yet proven secure.

Silent Payments aim to implement:

• Zero transaction cost overhead
• No linkability between payments and static addresses
• No need for sender to receiver interaction
• Compatibility with privacy tools and modern wallet features

“My primary focus will be coordinating development and testing efforts within the growing community dedicated to integrating Silent Payments into desktop and mobile Bitcoin wallets,” stated the new grantee of Maelstrom Ron. “By advancing Silent Payments alongside BOLT12 and BIP-353, we aim to enhance privacy and simplify the user experience, paving the way for broader adoption of Bitcoin as a payment solution.”

This post Maelstrom Announces Its Fourth Bitcoin Developer Grant Recipient first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 1fdb6dac:65eb9a8a

What if art knows before I do?

There are times when I finish a piece and just stare at it, not really understanding what I’ve done. As if it had been created by another part of me… a part that knows things I don’t yet know.

It often happens that, some time later—when I’m no longer so immersed in the process—I start to see signs, symbols, colors or shapes that speak of something I’m going through — or was about to go through. It’s as if my body knew it before my mind. As if art were a secret language between my soul and the world.

I don’t know if this happens to other artists, but I feel that often I’m not creating something with a clear intention. It just appears. And then, when I look at it with some distance, I realize a story was being told… my story. One I wasn’t fully aware of.

I feel that when I create from an honest place, without trying to control, something bigger takes over. The mind quiets a little, and it’s the body that begins to speak. There’s a kind of trance, like a current running through me. Sometimes I enjoy it, other times it makes me uncomfortable.

When I “finish,” I’m left with the feeling of having been moved by something that taught me without words.

I’ve realized that art doesn’t always say what I want to show, but what I need to see. And that’s powerful, because sometimes it reveals things I’m not ready to face. But it’s there. In front of me. Like a symbolic mirror.

It also happens that, when someone looks at my work and says, “this made me feel something,” it often aligns with something I’m processing inside—even if I haven’t said it out loud. As if the other person could read in the art what I didn’t know how to write in words.

When we’re creating, we’re also moving energy. Not just painting, or writing, or dancing — but transforming emotions, releasing things we didn’t know were stuck. There’s something ritualistic about art. A healing with no prescription. Alchemy.

Sometimes I feel that art heals me without me even knowing what was hurting. And that feels magical — and also very real.

I’m starting to trust that more: that the soul knows first. That my most intuitive and wild side understands processes that my rational side still can’t name. Art helps me give shape to the shapeless. And maybe, sometimes, it’s not even mine — it simply moves through me.

That when I stop trying to control, something appears that reveals me. That says:\ “This is you, even if you don’t know it yet.”¿Y si el arte sabe antes que yo?

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ESPAÑOL

Hay veces que termino una obra y me quedo mirándola sin entender bien qué hice. Como si la hubiese creado otra parte de mí… una parte que sabe cosas que yo todavía no sé.

Me pasa seguido que, tiempo después, cuando ya no estoy tan adentro del proceso, empiezo a ver señales, símbolos, colores o formas que me hablan de algo que estoy atravesando —o que estaba por atravesar. Es como si mi cuerpo lo hubiera sabido antes que mi cabeza. Como si el arte fuese un lenguaje secreto entre mi alma y el mundo.

No sé si a otros artistas les pasa esto, pero yo siento que muchas veces no estoy creando algo con intención clara. Simplemente aparece. Y después, al observarlo con distancia, me doy cuenta de que ahí se estaba contando una historia… mi historia. Una que ni yo tenía del todo consciente.

Siento que cuando creo desde un lugar honesto, sin querer controlar, algo más grande toma el control. La mente se silencia un poco, y es el cuerpo el que empieza a hablar. Hay una especie de trance, como una corriente que me atraviesa. A veces me gusta y otras me incomoda.

Cuando "termino", quedo con la sensación de haber sido atravesada por algo que me enseñó sin palabras.

Me di cuenta de que el arte no siempre dice lo que quiero mostrar, sino lo que necesito ver. Y eso es fuerte, porque a veces revela cosas que no estoy lista para enfrentar. Pero está ahí. Frente a mí. Como un espejo simbólico.

Me pasa también que, cuando alguien mira mi obra y me dice “esto me hizo sentir tal cosa”, muchas veces coincide con algo que yo estoy procesando internamente, aunque no lo haya dicho en voz alta. Como si el otro pudiera leer en el arte lo que yo no supe escribir con palabras.

Cuando estamos creando, también estamos moviendo energía. No solo pintando o escribiendo o bailando, sino transformando emociones, liberando cosas que no sabíamos que estaban trabadas. El arte tiene algo de ritual. De sanación sin receta. De alquimia.

A veces siento que el arte me cura sin que yo entienda qué me estaba enfermando. Y eso me parece mágico y también muy real.

Estoy empezando a confiar más en eso: en que el alma sabe antes. En que mi parte más intuitiva y salvaje entiende procesos que mi parte racional todavía no puede nombrar. El arte me ayuda a poner en forma lo que no tiene forma. Y quizás, a veces, ni siquiera es mío: simplemente pasa por mí.

Que cuando dejo de querer controlar, aparece algo que me revela. Que me dice:\ “Esto sos vos, aunque no lo sepas todavía”.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

The Bitcoin Treasury Strategy That’s Reanimating Zombie Companies

A growing number of public companies are stuck in limbo—technically solvent, but strategically stalled. Growth has evaporated. Stock prices have languished. Reinvestment opportunities are unclear or underwhelming. These companies aren’t broken—they’re just drifting.

They’ve become what markets call zombie companies: firms that generate enough to survive, but not enough to excite. And in today’s capital environment, stagnation is no longer neutral—it’s dangerous.

This is where a Bitcoin treasury strategy comes in.

What Is a Bitcoin Treasury Strategy—and What Problem Does It Solve?

At its core, a Bitcoin treasury strategy means converting a portion of idle corporate cash into Bitcoin and treating it as a long-term treasury reserve asset. It’s not a product pivot or a marketing stunt. It’s a capital strategy.

The problem it solves is simple but deadly:

• Capital erosion: Fiat currencies are inflating away purchasing power.
• Inefficient reserves: Billions in cash sit idle on balance sheets, dragging down return on assets.
• Narrative decay: Companies without a growth story get ignored—or punished—by markets.
• Shareholder fatigue: Passive capital strategies frustrate conviction-driven investors.

A Bitcoin treasury strategy is designed to reverse that trend—by reframing cash as conviction.

Two Distinct Approaches to a Bitcoin Treasury Strategy

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to building a Bitcoin treasury. Instead, companies tend to pursue one of two broad strategic paths:

1. Defensive Allocation
Companies like Tesla and Block have allocated a portion of their reserves to Bitcoin as a hedge against fiat debasement. It’s a form of monetary insulation—protecting cash from erosion while signaling awareness of inflation’s long-term effects. These companies aren’t changing their business models, but they are acknowledging that holding cash in today’s environment means silently bleeding purchasing power. This strategy helps improve the hurdle rate, enhances reserve productivity, and sends a forward-looking message to investors.

2. Offensive Accumulation and Securitization
Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), Semler Scientific, and Metaplanet have adopted a more aggressive model. Rather than passively holding Bitcoin, they’ve turned their balance sheets into capital engines—securitizing their Bitcoin holdings through equity and debt issuance to fuel further accumulation. Their goal is to maximize BTC per share, enhance BTC yield, and create shareholder value through financial engineering that compounds exposure. These companies are rewriting the treasury playbook, showing that Bitcoin isn’t just a store of value—it can be a strategic accelerant.

Why Bitcoin—and Not Gold, Equities, or Cash?

Bitcoin isn’t just another asset. It’s engineered monetary policy.

➤ Fixed supply: Bitcoin’s 21 million cap creates built-in scarcity, unlike fiat or equity dilution.

➤ 24/7 liquidity: Global, permissionless markets give companies access to real-time value.

➤ Verifiability and portability: It’s digital capital that can’t be seized, censored, or inflated.

➤ Asymmetric upside: Bitcoin has consistently outperformed every major asset class over multi-year cycles.

More importantly, Bitcoin is narrative fuel. It communicates conviction, discipline, and macro-awareness—all of which modern investors are starving for.

The Components of a Successful Bitcoin Treasury Strategy

A Bitcoin treasury strategy isn’t just about buying Bitcoin. It’s about embedding it into capital structure and governance. That requires rigor.

➤ Treasury governance: Establish internal guardrails on allocation, rebalancing, and reporting.

➤ Secure custody: Choose institutional-grade solutions, with redundancy, auditability, and oversight.

➤ Capital deployment strategy: Some companies use cash. Others leverage equity, debt, or ATM programs.

➤ Market communication: The value of Bitcoin on your balance sheet rises with clarity, transparency, and frequency of investor communication.

Companies like Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), Semler Scientific, and Metaplanet didn’t just buy Bitcoin. They built Bitcoin treasury frameworks—with real policies, investor alignment, and governance maturity.

How Bitcoin Reframes the Shareholder Relationship

The Bitcoin treasury model isn’t just a liquidity play. It’s a credibility signal.

➤ Narrative magnet: Bitcoin attracts attention—not just from retail investors, but from global institutions searching for proxy exposure.

➤ Alignment lever: High-conviction shareholders reward companies that act decisively and transparently.

➤ Shareholder base upgrade: Bitcoin introduces long-term, ideologically aligned holders who are less reactive to short-term earnings noise.

Bitcoin gives stale stories new energy. And in capital markets, momentum is everything.

Execution: What It Takes to Make This Strategy Work

Bitcoin is not a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. It requires:

➤ Executive conviction: Most successful strategies are driven by founders, activist chairs, or tightly aligned boards—not committees.

➤ Discipline over hype: Volatility is part of the game. But the strategy must be built to endure it.

➤ Clarity and timing: The best entries are paired with proactive shareholder education and public clarity—not reactive announcements.

The most common failure mode? Buying Bitcoin high, with no treasury framework in place, then being forced to sell low when pressure mounts. That’s not a Bitcoin failure—that’s a structure failure.

Conclusion: You Don’t Need a New Business Model—You Need a Capital One

A Bitcoin treasury strategy isn’t for everyone. But for companies with a strong cash position and weak narrative traction, it offers a clear path forward.

You don’t need to change your product. You don’t need to invent a new category. You need to stop leaking value through capital drift—and start signaling conviction through capital strategy.

In a market where performance is narrative, and capital is credibility, Bitcoin is the benchmark.

Zombie companies won’t survive on inertia. But with a Bitcoin treasury strategy, they might just come back to life.

Disclaimer: This content was written on behalf 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 The Bitcoin Treasury Strategy That’s Reanimating Zombie Companies first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Nick Ward.

@ 9c9d2765:16f8c2c2

In the heart of a forgotten village, wrapped in fog and silence, lived a girl named Lisa who had never seen her reflection.

There were no mirrors in the village, only old tales whispered by elders that mirrors “stole your spirit” or “showed things best left hidden.” Lisa never questioned it. She believed what she was told: she was plain, timid, and destined for nothing more than blending into shadows.

But she felt something inside a flicker, like a candle trying to burn through thick glass.

One day, while gathering herbs deep in the forest, Lisa stumbled upon the ruins of an ancient house. Inside, beneath sheets of ivy and dust, stood an enormous mirror tall, cracked, and untouched for decades.

She froze.

Curiosity trembled in her chest. Carefully, she wiped away the dust with her sleeve.

At first, she saw only her eyes, wild, curious, and afraid. Then, slowly, the whole reflection emerged. Not plain. Not broken. But alive.

It was her, and yet someone more stronger, prouder, freer.

Tears welled in her eyes. All her life, she had believed others’ words. But here, in silence, she saw the truth for herself.

She began visiting the mirror each day, not to admire beauty, but to remind herself she was real. That her thoughts mattered. That what lived inside her could not be shaped by lies spoken outside.

When she returned to the village, she walked differently.

She spoke.

She led.

And others began to wonder: What did she see that changed her?

Lisa simply smiled and said, “I stopped seeing what they told me I was. And started seeing who I truly am.”

Moral: You are not what others say you are. You are who you choose to see.

@ 9c9d2765:16f8c2c2

In a quiet coastal town where summer lingered like a forgotten song, lived an old gardener named Ali. His home sat at the edge of the cliffs, where ocean wind tossed sea spray into the air and the sun kissed everything golden. Ali’s garden was a legend of tulips that sang with color, vines that danced in the breeze, and trees that whispered stories to anyone who would listen.

But Ali had grown frail. His hands, once strong, now trembled. His memory sometimes slipped like sand through a sieve. Yet every day, he tended the plants. Not because he needed them but because they still needed him.

One autumn, a young boy named Ben moved into the neighboring house. Ben had not spoken a word since losing his mother the year before. He would sit for hours at the fence, watching Ali work.

Ali never asked him to speak. Instead, he gave Ben a sunflower seed.

“Plant it,” he said. “And believe in the bloom.”

Ben did.

The next day, Ali gave him a cracked watering can. The next, a rusty trowel. Day by day, silence became action. The boy mimicked Ali’s movements. Dug soil. Watered. Waited.

Then winter came fast. A cruel one.

One morning, Ali was gone.

The town whispered, “The gardener has passed.” Snow dusted the garden. The plants withered. Ben stood before the tiny sunflower shoot and wept silently.

But spring arrived timid and uncertain.

And from the earth, a single sunflower broke through.

Ben spoke his first words in months to the flower.

“You’re not alone.”

And in a voice that cracked but carried, he added, “Neither am I.”

Moral: Even after loss, life finds a way. Sometimes, a single leaf can carry the weight of hope for someone else.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

El Salvador – June 3, 2025 — The grassroots Bitcoin community of El Salvador is proud to announce the return of Bitcoin Week, taking place this November with five dynamic events celebrating Bitcoin adoption, education, and community-led innovation.

Join us for a week of inspiration, collaboration, and impact.

Bitcoin Week 2025 calendar

📍 November 12 – Bitcoin Education Celebration Gala: Kick off the week in style with a luxurious and intimate evening at a high-class dinner, celebrating “proof of work” and the achievements of the Bitcoin education movement.
Expect major plans for the year(s) ahead but also a reflection to past proof-of-work—and don’t miss out on the Great Grassroots Giveaway, included with every ticket.

📍 November 13 – Bitcoin Educators Unconference: Hosted for the third time in San Salvador at Cadejo Montaña, this sixth edition of the Educators Unconference embodies our commitment to provide a space for decentralized, community-led conversations.
Join educators and leaders shaping the global Bitcoin conversation!

📍 November 14–15 – Adopting Bitcoin: The Network Effect: Now in its fifth year, Adopting Bitcoin returns with a powerful focus on real-world Bitcoin usage across global communities.
This year’s theme—The Network Effect—explores how interconnected local initiatives can spark exponential growth in adoption.

📍 November 16 – Visit Bitcoin Beach, El Zonte: Make your way to Bitcoin Beach, the heart of El Salvador’s Bitcoin story. Enjoy a day of connection and discovery in this iconic beachside town. Full details coming soon.

📍 November 22–23 – Economía Bitcoin, Berlín: Head to the town of Berlín, El Salvador for the second edition of Economía Bitcoin, a powerful, small-scale conference and festival focused on circular economies and practical Bitcoin use.
Spend sats freely in town and see how local action drives global impact.

With five unique events across three regions in Bitcoin Country, this edition of Bitcoin Week is your chance to experience El Salvador’s Bitcoin journey up close. Whether you’re an educator, builder, Bitcoiner, or simply curious—you’re invited.

Join us this November. Be part of the movement.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Remixpoint Invests ¥887 Million More Into Bitcoin

Remixpoint Inc. (3825.T), a management consulting services company, announced it has purchased ¥887.3 million worth of Bitcoin, acquiring 55.68 BTC at an average price of ¥15.94 million per coin. 

JUST IN: Remixpoint just keeps buying more #bitcoin. Another 55.68 BTC today and they now have a total of 981.39 BTC. pic.twitter.com/mTkZg8mNO4

— NLNico (@btcNLNico) June 12, 2025

Following this purchase, the company now holds a total of 981.39 BTC, with a market value of approximately ¥15.63 billion. The unrealized gain on its Bitcoin holdings stands at ¥2.32 billion, reflecting their confidence in Bitcoin’s long term value. The funds came from the exercise of stock acquisition rights conducted on June 10.

Remixpoint Inc. is a Japanese company that started in the auto and energy sectors but has changed toward digital assets. It’s one of the few public companies in Japan actively holding Bitcoin, seeing it as both a store of value and a hedge against the weakening yen. Their move highlights a growing shift in Japan’s corporate space toward Bitcoin adoption.

Bitcoin has been so strong over the years that even in Japan, more companies are adding it to their balance sheets. It all started with Metaplanet, which was originally a hotel and hospitality company. In 2024, they shifted their strategy entirely and began accumulating Bitcoin as a treasury asset. That move caught the attention of investors and marked a turning point in Japan’s corporate approach to digital assets. Since then, Metaplanet has leaned fully into the Bitcoin thesis, positioning itself as Japan’s version of Strategy.

Recently, Metaplanet also announced its “555 Million Plan,” aiming to acquire 210,000 BTC, which is about 1% of Bitcoin’s total supply, by the end of 2027. This represents a major step up from its original “21 Million Plan,” which aimed for just 21,000 BTC. As of June 2, the company had already secured 8,888 BTC, far ahead of schedule and signaling strong momentum in its accumulation strategy.

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

To fund this effort, Metaplanet launched Japan’s first moving strike warrant structure, issuing 555 million shares to raise approximately ¥770.9 billion. The plan was approved following a 10-for-1 stock split and a shareholder vote to increase authorized shares. With robust BTC yield performance and growing investor backing, Metaplanet is quickly establishing itself as Japan’s most influential corporate player in the Bitcoin space.

This post Remixpoint Invests ¥887 Million More Into Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Marty's Bent

J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has long been an outspoken skeptic and critic of bitcoin. He has called Bitcoin a speculative asset, a fraud, a pet rock, and has opined that it will inevitably blow up. A couple of years ago, he was on Capitol Hill saying that if he were the government, he would "close it down". Just within the last month, he was on Fox Business News talking with Maria Bartiromo, proclaiming that the U.S. should be stockpiling bullets and rare earth metals instead of bitcoin. It's pretty clear that Jamie Dimon, who is at the helm of the most powerful and largest bank in the world, does not like bitcoin one bit.

Evidence below:

via Bitcoin Magazine

via me

via CNBC

via Trending Politics

Despite Dimon's distinguished disdain for Bitcoin, J.P. Morgan cannot deny reality. The CEO of the largest bank in the world is certainly a powerful man, but no one individual, even in the position that Jamie Dimon is in, is more powerful than the market. And the market has spoken very clearly, it is demanding bitcoin. The Bitcoin ETFs have been the most successful ETFs in terms of pace of growth since their launch. They've accumulated tens of billions of dollars in AUM in a very short period of time. Outpacing the previous record set by the gold ETF, GLD.

Whether or not Jamie Dimon himself likes Bitcoin doesn't matter. J.P. Morgan, as the largest bank in the world and a publicly traded company, has a duty to shareholders. And that duty is to increase shareholder value by any ethical and legal means necessary. Earlier today, J.P. Morgan announced plans to offer clients financing against their Bitcoin ETFs, as well as some other benefits, including having their bitcoin holdings recognized in their overall net worth and liquid assets, similar to stocks, cars, and art, which will be massive for bitcoiners looking to get mortgages and other types of loans.

via Bloomberg

I've talked about this recently, but trying to buy a house when most of your liquid net worth is held in bitcoin is a massive pain in the ass. Up until this point, if you wanted to have your bitcoin recognized as part of your net worth and count towards your overall credit profile, you would need to sell some bitcoin, move it to a bank account, and have it sit there for a certain period of time before it was recognized toward your net worth. This is not ideal for bitcoiners who have sufficient cash flows and don't want to sell their bitcoin, pay the capital gains tax, and risk not being able to buy back the amount of sats they were forced to sell just to get a mortgage.

It's not yet clear to me whether or not J.P. Morgan will recognize bitcoin in cold storage toward their clients' net worth and credit profile, or if this is simply for bitcoin ETFs only. However, regardless, this is a step in the right direction and a validation of something that many bitcoiners have been saying for years. Inevitably, everyone will have to bend the knee to bitcoin. Today, it just happened to be the largest bank in the world. I expect more of this to come in the coming months, years, and decades.

Lyn Alden likes to say it in the context of the U.S. national debt and the fiscal crisis, but it also applies to bitcoin adoption and the need for incumbents to orient themselves around the demands of individual bitcoiners; nothing stops this train.

Real Estate Correction Coming

Real estate expert Leon Wankum shared his perspective on why property prices need to find a new equilibrium by 2026. He pointed to the 18-year property cycle theory, noting we're at the end of the current cycle with a massive imbalance - 34% more sellers than buyers, the highest gap since records began in 2013. Leon explained that sellers still have unrealistic expectations based on 2021-2022 peaks, while buyers face a fundamentally different reality with higher borrowing costs.

"We need a price equilibrium. We need demand and supply prices to match. It's going to take a long time, I think." - Leon Wankum

Leon doesn't expect a catastrophic crash, however. He emphasized that the financial system depends too heavily on real estate as collateral for authorities to allow a complete collapse. With interest rates likely staying above 3% to combat inflation, he sees a healthy correction rather than devastation - a necessary adjustment that creates opportunities for patient buyers who understand the new market dynamics.

Check out the full podcast here for more on Bitcoin treasury strategies, dual collateralization, and corporate BTC adoption

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Headlines of the Day

California May Seize Idle Bitcoin After 3 Years - via X

Semler Scientific Buys $20M More Bitcoin, Holds $467M - via X

US Home Sellers Surge as Buyers Hit 4-Year Low - via X

Get our new STACK SATS hat - via tftcmerch.io

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Final thought...

I feel old.

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@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

F Street Announced Goal Of Accumulating $10 Million In Bitcoin

Today, F Street, an alternative investment and private lending firm, announced it has begun adding Bitcoin to its corporate treasury, with a goal of accumulating $10 million in BTC.

JUST IN: Investment firm F Street announced it's buying Bitcoin daily using business proceeds for its treasury reserves

They plan to buy $10 million Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/NMLOteyUYU

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) June 11, 2025

The company began daily BTC purchases on June 9, using business proceeds and treasury funds. This move is part of a broader strategy to strengthen F Street’s capital base and support its real estate lending and investment operations.

“Bitcoin offers a compelling hedge against inflation and dollar debasement,” said the Chief Operating Officer of F Street Mike Doney. “Incorporating it into our treasury is a strategic step to preserve and grow value for our investors and our business interests.”

In line with its commitment to transparency, F Street also plans to establish a public proof of reserves so that stakeholders can independently verify the custody of its Bitcoin assets. The firm aims to build a meaningful BTC position that supports its long term vision of a capital framework.

F Street’s move comes at a time when institutional interest in Bitcoin is experiencing a notable surge, and many prominent voices in the financial world are starting to support it. Billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones, speaking today in an interview with Bloomberg, named Bitcoin as a critical part of what he considers the ideal portfolio against inflation.

“What would an ideal portfolio be… But it would be some kind of combination of probably gold, vol adjusted, Bitcoin, gold, stocks,” Jones said. “That’s probably your best portfolio to fight inflation. Vol adjusted because the vol of Bitcoin obviously is five times that of gold, so you’re going to do it in different ways.”

Adding to the momentum, the Head of Digital Assets of BlackRock Robert Mitchnick explained two days ago what’s really driving the surge in demand for Bitcoin ETFs.

“It’s a lot of things coming together. Out of the gate was retail and investor demand…” said Mitchnick. “Now, more recently, we’ve seen just steady progress of more wealth advisor adoption, more institutional adoption. It’s been a mix of people who it’s the first time that they’ve invested in anything in the crypto space. And then on the other hand, you have lots of people who’ve been invested in Bitcoin for a long time and they’re taking advantage of the ETP wrapper.”

This post F Street Announced Goal Of Accumulating $10 Million In Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has become the fastest exchange-traded fund (ETF) to ever reach $70 billion in assets under management (AUM).

The fund, which launched in January 2024, hit this milestone in just 341 trading days—five times faster than the previous record-holder, the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD), which took 1,691 days to reach the same mark.

IBIT now holds over 662,000 BTC — iShares

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted on June 9, “IBIT just blew through $70 billion and is now the fastest ETF to ever hit that mark in only 341 days.” This is a big deal and shows bitcoin is going mainstream.

IBIT has beaten fastest growing ETFs in history — Eric Balchunas on X

The fund’s rapid growth means institutional investors are embracing bitcoin at scale.

The fund has $71.9 billion in AUM and holds over 662,000 bitcoin. This makes BlackRock the largest institutional bitcoin holder in the world. To put that in perspective, the fund holds more bitcoin than Binance or Michael Saylor’s Strategy.

“IBIT’s growth is unprecedented,” said Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart. “It’s the fastest ETF to reach most milestones, faster than any other ETF in any asset class.”

BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF isn’t just big. It’s also greatly outperforming other spot bitcoin ETFs launched at the same time. BlackRock’s brand and global client base gave the fund instant credibility.

Many institutional investors want a regulated and convenient way to get into bitcoin without holding the asset directly, and this fund has made it easy for them to invest.

Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s head of digital assets, told Yahoo Finance that bitcoin’s rising status as an inflation hedge and alternative store of value is driving IBIT’s popularity.

He explained bitcoin is becoming an inflation hedge and alternative store of value and that’s what’s driving the growth.

Eric Balchunas also noted that when BlackRock filed for IBIT, bitcoin was at $30,000 and there was still skepticism after the FTX blowup. Now that bitcoin is at $110,000, it is “seen as legitimate for other big investors.”

Institutional demand for bitcoin has never been stronger, with IBIT making up nearly 20% of all bitcoin held by public companies, private firms, governments, exchanges and decentralized finance platforms.

That dominance may soon be challenged as public companies prepare to buy more bitcoin and shake up the current supply distribution.

Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital assets research, shared data that six public companies plan to raise, or have raised, up to $76 billion to buy bitcoin. That’s more than half of the spot Bitcoin ETF industry’s current AUM, so there’s clearly interest beyond ETFs.

On the broader market, IBIT’s rise coincided with bitcoin’s price surge to new highs above $110,000. The inflows reflect investors’ confidence in Bitcoin’s future and desire for regulated exposure through traditional products.

It’s worth mentioning that IBIT also had over $1 billion in volume on its first day of trading. It’s now the largest ETF in BlackRock’s lineup, even bigger than gold funds and other popular ETFs tracking international equities.

@ a88f35c7:7b121d83

El stone balancing.

La práctica de apilar piedras en equilibrio se conoce comúnmente como "stone balancing". Algunos lo consideran una forma de arte y meditación, en la que las piedras se colocan de manera que se mantienen en equilibrio, a menudo en configuraciones visualmente impresionantes, sin el uso de adhesivos u otros materiales de sujeción. Por lo que he descubierto haciendo este artículo, el "stone balancing" es muy antiguo y tiene orígenes diversos por lo que no se puede atribuir a una sola cultura o región geográfica.

Personalmente, he de reconocer que soy un poco "hater" respecto a esta práctica de apilar piedras, ya que considero que la mayoría de las personas que construyen estos montículos hoy en día lo hacen durante sus vacaciones, simplemente para mostrar al mundo que estuvieron allí (la foto en Instagram suele estar incluida en la experiencia). Sin embargo, no son conscientes de que, como resultado, el paisaje queda plagado de miles de montículos creados por "stone balancers" como ellos.

Sinceramente, creo que solo una pequeña parte de la población practica esta actividad con fines meditativos o funcionales, y debo admitir que, cada vez que me encuentro con una acumulación de piedras en formato vertical, siento una fuerte tentación de derribarlas, pero mi mujer suele impedírmelo.

La analogía.

Llegados a este punto, espero que tengáis claro que no os he querido hacer leer un artículo entero sobre el "stone balancing", por muy respetable que sea esta práctica, así que obviamente lo estoy utilizando como analogía. Os prometo que, a partir de ahora, iré al grano:

La cuestión es que considero que la analogía del “stone balancing” encaja perfectamente con el proceso de creación de Bitcoin. Más aún, creo que refleja fielmente el proceso creativo que hubo detrás de muchos inventos que han cambiado el mundo. Por ello, aunque este artículo se centre en Bitcoin y su reloj probabilístico, la analogía en sí puede aplicarse a una amplia variedad de ámbitos.

Vamos que la analogía del "stone balancing" podría considerarse como la navaja suiza de las analogías en cuanto a procesos creativos! Mis argumentos a favor a continuación:

• La invención de Satoshi se basó en la selección de elementos tecnológicos y protocolos preexistentes, combinándolos de manera innovadora para lograr un equilibrio funcional y robusto. De manera similar, en el “stone balancing”, se eligen cuidadosamente las piedras disponibles en el entorno considerando su forma, peso y estabilidad.

Es fundamental comprender que el verdadero mérito de Satoshi radicó - como bien señala Nick Szabo en "Bitcoin, what took ye so long?" - en la “gran cantidad de pensamiento poco convencional que se requirió” para ensamblar piezas ya existentes de forma totalmente novedosa.

• En el "stone balancing", si todas las piedras han sido seleccionadas y colocadas correctamente, el equilibrio puede permanecer inalterado durante años, resistiendo incluso las inclemencias del tiempo. De manera similar, Bitcoin ha mantenido su estabilidad operativa durante más de 16 años. Desde su creación en 2009, la red de Bitcoin ha demostrado una notable resistencia, funcionando de manera continua sin interrupciones significativas en todo este tiempo.

• Finalmente, si las piedras se han apilado en el momento y lugar adecuados, es esperable que más personas quieran intentar crear algo similar cerca (esto es precisamente lo que sucede en paisajes llenos de montículos al finalizar la temporada de verano). De manera análoga, la creación de Bitcoin ha generado una proliferación de miles de intentos similares—comúnmente denominados shitcoins—que han terminado saturando el entorno.

De hecho, las burbujas especulativas (y el mercado Crypto lo es) pueden entenderse como señales de neón que, pese al ruido generado, sugieren la posibilidad de que haya algo verdaderamente valioso detrás (Bitcoin).

Creo que si nos ponemos a pensar en otras invenciones, veremos como la analogía puede encajar bastante bien.

Las piedras que seleccionó Satoshi.

Según el propio whitepaper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” el objetivo final de Satoshi Nakamoto era crear un sistema de efectivo electrónico descentralizado. Sin embargo, es importante resaltar que Bitcoin no fue el primero de su especie ya que existieron varios intentos antes que él. Los más relevantes se listan a continuación:

• B-Money de Wei Dai.

• Hashcash de Adam Back.

• eCash de David Chaum.

Pues bien, estos intentos previos ya hicieron uso de las mismas “piedras” que años más tarde apilaría Satoshi Nakamoto para crear Bitcoin. Las “piedras” que llevaban ya tiempo disponibles eran, entre otras, las siguientes:

• La Prueba de trabajo (PoW): Ya utilizada por B-Money y eCash

• La criptografía de clave pública: Ya utilizada B-Money y eCash

• Las funciones Hash: Ya utilizadas por B-Money, Hashcash y eCash

• Blockchain: Incluso el concepto de blockchain ya fue conceptualizado en 1991 por Stuart Haber y W. Scott Stornetta como un sistema criptográficamente seguro para el sellado de tiempo de documentos digitales. (How to time-stamp a digital document)

Entonces, si las piedras que apilaron Wei Dai, Adam Back y David Chaum son básicamente las mismas que las que apiló más tarde Satoshi Nakamoto, ¿porque estos sistemas previos de dinero electrónico no acabaron funcionando y Bitcoin sí?

Pues bien, a diferencia de los intentos previos, Satoshi Nakamoto logró alinear de manera casi perfecta los incentivos de todos los participantes de una red descentralizada, diseñando un sistema económico que, a través de la teoría de juegos, garantizase que el comportamiento honesto resultase más beneficioso que cualquier intento de actuar de forma maliciosa, con el objetivo de lograr un consenso entre todos los participantes sobre el estado del sistema (o libro contable) en un momento determinado y es justo aquí donde hay que hacerse las preguntas clave:

• ¿Cómo sabes la hora si no puedes confiar en un tercero que te diga qué hora es?

• ¿Quién debería estar a cargo del tiempo si poner a alguien a cargo no está permitido?

Creo que tal vez fuese la respuesta a estas preguntas la que requirió esa gran cantidad de pensamiento poco convencional del que hablaba Nick Szabo. Creo que tal vez solucionar el problema de generar un reloj descentralizado es lo que convierte a Satoshi Nakamoto en un genio. Si lo paras a pensar, generar tu propia unidad de tiempo (el tiempo de bloque) no es trivial.

El equilibrio de Satoshi.

Para entender porqué es este uno de los factores más importantes de Bitcoin me he basado, casi de forma exclusiva, en el siguiente artículo de Gigi: Bitcoin is time.

En este artículo, Gigi explora por qué el problema de medir el tiempo está estrechamente relacionado con la necesidad de mantener registros, por qué no existe un tiempo absoluto en un sistema descentralizado y cómo Bitcoin utiliza la causalidady la impredictibilidad para construir su propio sentido del “ahora”:

• El tiempo es una cadena causal: Sin la causalidad, distinguir entre lo que ocurrió antes y lo que sucedió después sería imposible. La línea de tiempo establece la relación causal entre los eventos, proporcionando el contexto necesario para su secuenciación.

Determinar con precisión el orden de los eventos es fundamental para mantener un libro contable coherente y evitar el problema del doble gasto. Bitcoin logra esto encadenando los bloques mediante funciones criptográficas de hash, que garantizan la inmutabilidad y secuencialidad de las transacciones. Cada bloque contiene un hash del bloque anterior, lo que crea una estructura encadenada que dificulta la alteración de registros sin invalidar la cadena completa.

• La impredictibilidad es necesaria: Sin impredictibilidad, la causalidad carece de sentido ya que para establecer que algo ocurrió en un momento dado, es necesario reportar eventos que no podrían haberse predicho antes de que ocurrieran o dicho de otra forma, si la secuencia de eventos fuera predecible, sería posible saltar hacia adelante. Por tanto, la impredictibilidad asegura que ningún participante pueda predecir o manipular el orden de las transacciones.

Bitcoin se apoya en dos grandes fuentes de impredictibilidad: las propias transacciones y la prueba-de-trabajo (PoW):

• Las transacciones: De antemano es imposible saber quien ganará la prueba de trabajo y por tanto qué transacciones decidirá incluir en el nuevo bloque.

• La prueba-de-trabajo (PoW): De antemano es imposible saber la solución de la prueba de trabajo por lo que cualquier minero deberá gastar cierta energía y tiempo en resolverla.

Todo lo anterior asegura poder disponer de un reloj probabilístico cuyo tiempo de referencia es el tiempo de bloque. Sin embargo, este tiempo de bloque se encontraría totalmente desconectado de la realidad “humana” sin el ajuste de dificultad.

La genialidad del ajuste de dificultad mantiene el nexo de unión entre el tiempo en el mundo Bitcoin (el tiempo de bloque) y el tiempo en el mundo "humano". Este mecanismo es esencial porque, sin él, el reloj interno de Bitcoin tendería a acelerarse progresivamente a medida que más mineros se unieran a la red o que mejorara la eficiencia de los dispositivos de minería. Gracias al ajuste de dificultad, se preserva la relación aproximada de 1 bloque cada 10 minutos, asegurando así la estabilidad temporal entre el mundo de Bitcoin y “nuestro mundo”.

Por tanto, y tal y como sugiere Gigi; "la nueva idea -lo que descubrió Satoshi- es cómo estar de acuerdo de forma independiente sobre una historia de eventos sin una coordinación central. Él halló la forma de implementar un esquema de marcado de hora descentralizado"

La guinda del pastel.

Como guinda del pastel, he reservado un punto que bien podría haber incluido en el apartado de la analogía, pero que considero encaja mejor aquí como conclusión final y es que al igual que en el arte del “stone balancing”, donde el creador de la estructura se retira poco después de haberla construido, dejando que el equilibrio se mantenga por sí solo, Satoshi Nakamoto que siempre se mantuvo en el anonimato, llegado a cierto punto se hizo a un lado y desapareció.

Satoshi Nakamoto probablemente comprendía que permanecer al frente de su invención podría convertirlo en una vulnerabilidad para el sistema. Es posible que tomara nota de los problemas legales enfrentados por Bernard von NotHaus, creador de Liberty Dollar, una moneda respaldada por metales preciosos como el oro y la plata, diseñada como una alternativa al dólar estadounidense a la que, en 2007, poco antes de la invención de Bitcoin, las autoridades federales le incautaron grandes cantidades de monedas de plata y oro, así como otros activos relacionados con el Liberty Dollar.

Y es que cuando apilas piedras en la propiedad de un Estado, es probable que este intente derribarlas… sino que se lo digan a Keonne Rodríguez y William Lonergan Hill, cofundadores de Samourai Wallet.

@ a2bcfaeb:2b1f789d

Privileged to be in the Bitcoin village for two days conference courtesy of BitBiashara. I wouldn't get such a chance without Bitcoin Making meaningful connections and sharing ideas with the best minds in Bitcoin. My take home is, Bitcoin education is really needed. I will be carrying the message back to my village. God bless Bitcoin. Support our circular economy.

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联名银行账户的历史、挑战与现代替代方案 —— 兼论 PayJoin 的跨法域教法友好新实践

1. 联名账户的起源与制度逻辑（英美法系）

联名账户的定义与起源。 联名银行账户是指由两个或以上个人共同持有、均有权操作的银行账户birketts.co.uk。这一制度起源于英美普通法下对于共同财产持有的需求，可追溯到不动产共有 (如共有租赁 joint tenancy) 概念在金融存款领域的引入birketts.co.uk。19世纪末到20世纪中叶，欧美银行开始允许多人在同一账户上拥有签字权，方便夫妻或家人联合管理财务，并在账户持有人死亡时避免遗产认证（probate）流程——因此联名账户常被称为“穷人的遗嘱”，作为一种规避遗嘱认证的工具nelsonmullins.comnelsonmullins.com。

共同租赁与生存者权利。 在英国普通法传统中，不动产的 joint tenancy 具有“生存者享有权”（Right of Survivorship），即一名共有人去世后，其份额自动归属存活的共有人。这一理念被移植到银行账户：大多数联名账户在开立时即默认附带生存者权利（JTWROS），存款人之一死亡时，账户资金无须经过遗产程序直接归属于存活者birketts.co.uknelsonmullins.com。英美各州法律以及《统一遗嘱认证法》（UPC）普遍承认这一默认规则，除非开户时有相反约定nelsonmullins.comnelsonmullins.com。这体现了联名账户在制度设计上的核心逻辑：账户法律权属共同且具有延续性，银行只关注账户的法律所有人而不深究每位持有人对资金的实益份额birketts.co.uk。

意图推定与权益归属争议。 尽管法律上联名账户具共同所有与生存者权利，但在实益归属（Beneficial Ownership）上常引发争议birketts.co.uk。英美法院历史上发展出不同理论来推定联名账户资金归属的意图：一是合同理论，认为签署的开户协议本身构成合同，确立各持有人对账户的平等权利（包括死亡后全额归属权）；二是信托/赠与理论，视添加共有人为对其利益的赠与或信托安排birketts.co.ukbirketts.co.uk。英国法院传统上采用推定信托原则：若账户资金完全由一方存入，则推定这笔钱由该方信托持有，除非账户持有人有夫妻、父母子女等特殊关系，此时反推定为赠与（advancement）birketts.co.uk。例如，父母将子女加入账户通常被视为对子女的财产赠与，逝世后余额归子女所有birketts.co.uk；而无亲属关系的人加入账户则多被视为管理方便的安排，资金实益仍属原出资人birketts.co.uk。美国法亦有类似原则，不少州要求若实际意图只是“便利账户”（Convenience Account），需在开户时或遗嘱中明确声明，否则默认视为赠与，账户余额按生存者权利归共同持有人nelsonmullins.comnelsonmullins.com。这种法律推定的复杂性，使联名账户长期存在“制度混乱”局面nelsonmullins.com，历史上大量诉讼围绕共同持有人之间以及继承人之间对账户资金归属的争夺展开nelsonmullins.comnelsonmullins.com。

账户签署模式：“和”与“或”。 另一个制度要点是账户的操作权限。传统英美银行账户协议中，可以指定联名账户为“双方签字”（“A 和 B”账户）或“任一方签字”（“A 或 B”账户）模式investopedia.com。“双方签字”要求所有共有人同意才能支取，保障了共同行使控制权，但使用不便，主要用于企业账户或信托账户；“任一方签字”则允许任一持有人单独操作账户，是夫妻/家庭联名账户的常见形式investopedia.com。印度、英国等地银行常用“Either or Survivor”（任一或生存者）来指明此类账户默认具有生存者继承权mikecoady.com。这一设计体现了联名账户的灵活性：要么强调共同控制，要么强调独立便利。然而正如下文所述，这种便利也带来了诸多法律与实务风险。

2. 美国联名账户的典型法律问题及银行应对

遗产继承与意图冲突。 在美国，联名账户最常见的问题是与遗产规划意图不一致，引发继承纠纷。例如老年父母出于支付账单方便，将成年子女之一加入账户，但并不打算在去世后将全部余额都赠与该子女nelsonmullins.comnelsonmullins.com。如果父母过世前未书面声明账户不作为遗赠，那么按照许多州法律，该账户会绕开遗嘱直接归存活的子女所有nelsonmullins.comnelsonmullins.com。这可能与父母原本打算公平分配遗产给其他继承人的意愿相违背nelsonmullins.com。例如在南卡罗来纳的案例 Abernathy v. Latham 中，母亲生前联名账户本意是方便支付其医疗开销，遗嘱却意图将财产分予另两位非联名子女，但因未在开户时或遗嘱中明确说明，法院仍判定账户余额由共有人（联名女儿）全额继承nelsonmullins.comnelsonmullins.com。为避免此类情况，《统一多方账户法》（已被部分州采纳）要求账户持有人如欲排除生存者权利，须在开户表或遗嘱中有明确书面说明，否则默认视为意图赠与生存者nelsonmullins.comnelsonmullins.com。银行方面也逐渐提供选项，允许客户指定联名账户为“无生存者权利”（类似于按份共有），但这在实践中不常使用，需要客户有明确法律意识。

账户冻结与债权纠纷。 联名账户的另一风险在于，当其中一位持有人遇到法律麻烦（债务、诉讼、税务等），整个账户可能被冻结或强制执行。美国的多数司法辖区视联名账户内资金为各持有人_推定_平等拥有，因此债权人可以申请冻结或扣押债务人姓名下的联名账户，即便另一共有人对债务不知情也可能失去账户资金nolo.comnolo.com。各州对此规定不同：有些州限定债权人仅能扣押账户的一半资金（假定另一半属无债务方）nolo.com；但在另一些州，债权人可申请扣押全部余额，然后由无责共有人举证证明其中有自己出资的部分才能取回nolo.comnolo.com。例如一对兄妹联名账户，如兄弟欠债遭判决，债权人可能要求银行冻结整个账户，妹妹必须提供存款记录等证明哪些钱是自己存入（traceable contributions）才能抗辩解除nolo.comnolo.com。这一过程繁琐且充满不确定性，给无辜共有人带来资金风险。对此风险，银行没有义务主动区分资金归属，只依据账户合同行事nolo.com。为减轻客户顾虑，一些州允许在开户时将账户明确标为“便利账户”（仅供代理操作，不算共同财产），或夫妻开设“Entireties账户”（夫妻整体所有，仅可共同处分，个人债权人不得强制执行），以提供一定保护alperlaw.comnolo.com。但这些选项依赖特殊法规且在不同管辖区差异很大nolo.comnolo.com。因此美国银行通常会在开户协议中提醒联名账户的连带责任（如信用卡联名账户双方对欠款负共同责任investopedia.com）和可能的债权风险，并建议客户慎重选择共有人。

误操作与内部欺诈。 联名账户给予每位持有人几乎不受限制的提款权，因此另一大隐患是账户内部的误用或欺诈。如果一位持有人缺乏理财自律或存在恶意，他/她可单方面提取或转移全部资金，另一持有人事后才发现损失investopedia.comkitces.com。由于银行视所有共有人为合法所有者之一，无法仅凭一方投诉而阻止另一方的提款——银行有合同义务执行任何持有人合法发起的指令kitces.com。这意味着联名账户几乎没有内部制衡：即使银行察觉可疑，也“束手无策”，因为指令来自账户合法共有人kitces.com。受害一方只能通过法院诉讼，主张账户只是“代理/便利”性质、对方违反受托责任 (fiduciary duty) 而挪用资金，尝试追回款项kitces.com。然而举证过程漫长且结果不确定，需要证明当初加名仅为代理方便而非真正赠与kitces.com。正因如此，美国理财顾问常警示客户：不要轻易通过联名账户授权他人理财，否则不仅资金可能被滥用，而且一旦对方出事，您的钱也可能受牵连kitces.comkitces.com。相比之下，更安全的做法是使用有限授权（Power of Attorney）或生前信托来给予代理人有限权限，而非直接共享所有权kitces.comkitces.com。银行业也逐步接受和配合这些替代方案，如核验授权书、副署人等，以平衡便利性和安全性。

3. 海湾国家联名账户的实践与挑战

跨境劳工汇款与联名账户。 海湾阿拉伯国家聚集了大量外籍劳工（尤其来自南亚、东南亚），他们经常需要将收入汇款回家。许多外籍人士选择开立联名账户作为家庭财务工具，例如在本国银行开设自己与配偶或父母的联名账户，以便家人在其海外工作期间共同管理资金或从账户中提取生活费icicibank.comicicibank.com。部分在海湾地区的银行也允许外籍客户与家人开联名账户，方便他们将工资存入并由在家乡的配偶使用附属银行卡取款reddit.com。这种安排在技术上降低了频繁国际汇款的成本和难度。然而，它也带来了法律和文化层面的挑战：一方面，不同国籍/居住地的联名人涉及跨境法规（如外汇管制、税务申报）的复杂性；另一方面，在一些文化中男女或代际间共享账户可能与传统观念不符，需要遵循伊斯兰教法或当地习俗。比如有的穆斯林丈夫可能按照教法允许妻子保有自己财产、不干涉之原则，不倾向于共用账户，而选择直接汇款给妻子个人账户reddit.com。因此，跨境家庭常在便利与合规之间权衡，在联名账户和单独账户+授权取款等模式中做出选择。

家族资产共管需求。 海湾本地富裕家族内部也存在共同管理资产的需求。例如父子共同经营生意、兄弟姐妹联合投资物业等情况，希望有一个共管的账户池。传统上，在海湾阿拉伯社会，大家族通过掌门人代持或设立家族办事处（Family Office）集中管理资产，但现代银行服务也提供了一些新工具。例如阿联酋的 Emirates Islamic 推出了**“家庭储蓄账户”模式，允许多达10位直系亲属各有独立子账户，但共享一个合并余额来获得较高的整体收益率，同时保持每个人账户的私密性和独立使用emiratesislamic.aeemiratesislamic.ae。这被视为传统联名账户的改良：资金并不真正混同，但在银行系统内被视为“虚拟共同体”，以激励家庭存款emiratesislamic.aeemiratesislamic.ae。该方案也明确遵循伊斯兰教法**（如采用 Wakala 投资代理协议分享利润，而非利息）emiratesislamic.aeemiratesislamic.ae。由此可见，海湾银行业在满足家族共同理财需求时，更倾向于结构化解决方案，以避免直接共有人制度带来的法律障碍。

教法继承与账户冻结。 最严峻的挑战是伊斯兰教法的强制继承规则。在海湾阿拉伯国家（如海合会各国），伊斯兰教法（Sharia）通常适用于穆斯林公民的资产继承。根据教法，当账户持有人去世，其资产必须按照固定的继承份额分配给法定继承人（配偶、子女、父母等），个人意愿影响有限。这与普通法系下联名账户“生存者自动继承全部”原则直接冲突gulfnews.comgulfnews.com。因此在如阿联酋等地，无论账户是个人还是联名，只要持有人去世，银行立即冻结账户，直到宗教法院或民事法院完成继承认证gulfnews.comgulfnews.com。联名并不能豁免冻结：即使另一共有人健在且资金主要由其贡献，也不得动用账户，直至法院指令gulfnews.comgulfnews.com。例如一位印度外籍人士在迪拜与妻子共有多个账户，妻子骤然去世后，他发现所有联名账户被法院冻结，无法提款支付日常生活费mikecoady.commikecoady.com。因为按照程序，继承人在申请继承证书时需申报所有死者名下账户，法院即通知各银行冻结资金mikecoady.commikecoady.com。数月后法院根据教法规将款项在丈夫和子女间按教法份额分配（例如丈夫25%、儿子50%、女儿25%mikecoady.com），而不像普通法那样全部归存活配偶mikecoady.com。这一事件突显了联名账户在教法环境下的“危险”：存活共有人不仅无法直接继承，短期内甚至无法动用共同财产gulfnews.comgulfnews.com。为此，当地专业人士建议外籍人士避免在无遗嘱情况下使用联名账户，或至少保证每人有独立账户以备不时之需mikecoady.com。更稳妥的做法是在当地立下符合教法的正式遗嘱，或采用公司/信托架构持有资产，以绕开个人账户直接继承的障碍gulfnews.com。总之，在海湾国家，联名账户因为法域文化差异面临特殊挑战，必须提前规划以防范账户冻结与继承冲突的问题。

4. 联名账户的现代替代方案及局限性

面对上述各种问题，金融和技术领域已经发展出若干替代方案来实现多人共同管理资金的目标，每种方案各有其法律、治理和技术局限。下表对主要替代机制进行比较：

| 替代方案 | 实现方式 | 优点 | 局限性 | | ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | 对公账户/公司账户 | 设立法人实体（公司、合伙企业），以公司名义开银行账户，由多名股东/高管共同控制fdic.gov。 | 法律结构清晰，有公司法保护；可设定多签批准流程；个人债务不直接牵连公司资金。 | 设置和维护成本高（注册、税务、合规）；非家庭场景不便；跨国开户困难。 | | 信托账户 | 设立信托或基金，受托人开设账户代持财产，受益人包括相关个人kitces.com。 | 可定制受托人义务，保障弱势方利益；避开遗产认证，按信托契约分配；在普通法下有成熟法理。 | 在民法或教法地区法律地位不明；设立需专业知识和费用；受托人可能滥用职责（需信任或监管）。 | | 授权与代理 | 不改变账户所有权，通过签署财务授权书或银行授权，让代理人能操作账户kitces.com。 | 手续简单成本低；不转移所有权、不影响继承；授权范围可限定（仅查看、限额支付等）。 | 授权人在法律上无所有权，遇代理破产/去世授权失效；部分机构对授权认受度有限（可能拒绝执行）。 | | 多重签名钱包 | 在加密货币领域使用多签名技术（如2/3签名）管理资金，各方持有私钥，需达成门槛签名才能支出blog.upay.bestmilkroad.com。 | 技术上去中心化，无单点控制；规则灵活（M-of-N签名可定制）；无银行介入、无国界限制；防范单方欺诈或遗失（可设应急密钥）。 | 仅适用于数字资产，不适用法币账户；用户需一定技术能力；法律上不承认“共同签名”财产分配，纠纷解决缺乏司法支持；一旦签名门槛达不到（如一方失联），资金可能冻结在链上。 | | 权限分级系统 | 由银行或金融平台提供，多用户共享同一账户或钱包但权限不同（如主账户人设置子账户/支付限额）。 | 可实现精细控制：如一方全权，另一方仅查询或限额交易；方便家庭理财、企业财务控制；平台往往提供日志追踪增强透明度。 | 核心账户仍属单一法律主体，其他人为被授权人而非真正共有人；授权关系依赖平台规则，法律保障弱；跨机构不可通用，缺乏行业标准。 |

对公账户/公司架构： 通过成立法人实体（如注册有限责任公司或合伙企业）共同持有资金，是许多情况下替代联名账户的方案absolutetrustcounsel.com。例如夫妻可成立一家有限责任公司共同持有投资资产，再以公司名义开银行账户。这将资金从个人名下移至公司名下，从而隔离个人法律风险：一方的个人债权人无法直接针对公司账户执行alperlaw.com。公司章程还能规定账户需多方签字支出，提高内部监督。然而其局限是显而易见的：成立和维护公司需支付注册、审计、报税等成本，对于单纯家庭资金共管显得繁琐；跨境开设公司账户涉及各国法律和合规要求，操作门槛高。因此公司账户更多用于正式商业合伙场景，在普通家庭财务中接受度有限。

信托结构： 信托源于普通法，可作为联名账户的法律替代——尤其在涉及遗产和未成年人利益时更为优越。家长可设立生前信托，把资金转入信托账户，由受托银行按信托契约管理并允许指定受益人共同使用，从而避免形式上的联名kitces.comkitces.com。信托能够细致规定各方的权益份额和职责（受托人对受益人的诚信义务 Amanah），并可跨越死亡事件自动过渡产权，无需冻结账户或经过繁琐继承程序。然而信托在许多民法或伊斯兰法系国家并无完善的法律框架（例如一些海湾国家对家族信托的承认有限），设立信托往往需要借助离岸法域（如开曼群岛、新加坡的信托法律）coinshares.com。此外，信托涉及专业法律文件起草和持续监管成本，对一般用户门槛较高。若受托人滥用职权，受益人必须诉诸法院救济，也存在道德风险。因此信托虽在英美被视为解决联名财产问题的黄金标准，但在跨法域环境下其可行性取决于当地法律制度支持程度。

授权代理： 这是不改变资金所有权又能实现共同管理的简单途径。很多美国老人不愿直接加子女为联名人，改为签署广泛的持久财务授权书 (Durable Power of Attorney)，授权子女在自己失能时管理账户kitces.com。银行也提供第三方授权形式，比如在账户中登记一位“代理签字人”。授权的优点是保留资产独立性：资金仍属原主，无需担心代理人个人债务牵连；同时授权可随时撤销或修改。不过授权并非万能：若授权人去世，授权自动失效，代理人无法再动用账户（此时资产转由遗产程序处理）nelsonmullins.comnelsonmullins.com。此外，不是所有国家/银行都乐于承认外国授权文件，实际操作中代理人可能仍遇阻力（一些银行出于合规会对代理指令多加审查）。因此授权适合作为短中期的账户共管方案，但不能完全解决死亡继承和跨境问题。

多重签名数字钱包： 在区块链和加密货币领域，多重签名 (multi-sig) 技术成为实现“多人共管资金”的创新方案blog.upay.bestmilkroad.com。例如，两位商业伙伴可以创建一个比特币2-of-2多签钱包，任何转出交易需要双方的数字签名，类似银行账户要求两把钥匙同时拧开保险箱。这种技术不依赖中心机构：资金由去中心化网络维护，任何一方单独无法挪用，使内部欺诈风险降至最低。同时，它突破了国界，在不同法域的人都可共同控制同一钱包。然而，当前多签钱包主要限于加密资产，对于法币存款并不可用。即便在加密领域，也存在治理难题：法律层面不承认密码学上的“共有”概念，如果多签持有人发生纠纷或死亡，传统法院很难介入分配私钥或代为执行交易river.comriver.com。例如一方去世未留下其私钥，除非智能合约预设了应急方案（如超时解锁给存活方或预留第三方密钥），否则资金将永久锁定链上。又如一方恶意拒绝签名，另一方只能尝试技术或社工手段获取签名，无正规法律途径解决。总的来说，多签提供了技术上的安全与中立，但牺牲了一定的便捷性和法律可追索性，目前更适合高信任度团队或对安全性要求极高的场景（如加密货币交易所的资产托管）。

权限分级的账户系统： 随着金融科技的发展，一些银行和支付平台推出了多用户权限功能，试图兼顾多人使用的便利与风险控制。例如某些数字银行允许一个主账户下开设子账户，各账户持有人拥有独立登录、卡片，但资金在后台链接，实现类似家庭钱包的效果。主账户持有人可以设定每个副账户的额度和权限（只能消费不可转出等），既给家人财务自由又保留总体控制。这类方案实质上还是一个人拥有账户，其余是被授权用户，只不过科技手段让用户体验上接近联名账户。这种权限分级系统可以灵活定制规则（比如双重确认大额支出、实时通知等），非常适合企业财务（类似传统网银的“双人复核”）或家庭预算（如给孩子的零用卡）。局限在于：法律关系上账户只属于主用户，其余人没有法律所有权，因此如果主用户出事，账户仍会被冻结，其他人权益无保障。此外，不同银行平台各自为政，缺乏统一标准，一旦跨行或跨境，此类授权无法延伸。在监管层面，这种模式也引发KYC疑问：银行需要对所有实际使用者尽职调查，否则可能出现非账户持有人匿名使用资金的情况。

综上，各种替代方案各自解决了传统联名账户的一部分问题，却也引入新的限制。没有一种方案能完美覆盖法律、治理、技术各方面：对公账户和信托提供法律清晰度但成本高、地域受限；授权和权限分级提升便利但不改变根本权属；多签钱包实现了跨境共同控制但游离于现行法律框架之外。正是在这样的背景下，新兴的PayJoin技术引人注目——它并非传统意义上的“账户”或“契约”，而是一种交易机制，可能在跨法域和教法环境下提供一种创新的资金共管思路。

5. PayJoin 技术机制与联名账户的比较

PayJoin 的原理简介。 PayJoin（又称 P2EP，Pay-to-Endpoint）是一种比特币交易的隐私增强技术，其核心思想是：让交易的接收方也贡献一部分输入river.com。在传统的单方支付中，一笔交易的所有输入通常都来自付款人，这泄露了一个隐私信息：这些输入地址很可能属于同一人（区块链分析中的“共同输入归属假设”）river.com。PayJoin 则打破这一假设：收款人预先与付款人沟通，同意在收到款项时由自己提供一个UTXO作为交易输入之一，然后双方构建一个包含多笔输入、输出的联合交易payjoin.orgpayjoin.org。例如，Alice 向 Bob 支付 1 BTC，传统做法是 Alice 提供1 BTC输入-> Bob 的地址。PayJoin 下，可能变成：Alice 提供0.6 BTC输入，Bob 提供0.5 BTC输入，两人签署一笔交易，其中 Bob 的输出得到1.1 BTC（相当于 Bob 原有0.5+Alice支付1.0，减去找零给Alice和手续费），Alice 拿回找零0.4 BTCpayjoin.org。从区块链上看，这笔交易有两个输入（分别来自Alice和Bob的钱包）和若干输出，但观察者无法断定究竟是哪部分是支付、哪部分是找零，因为它看起来跟“一人用多个输入付款”并无二致payjoin.orgpayjoin.org。PayJoin 使交易的资金归属变得难以推导：外人不再确切知道Alice给了Bob多少钱。

“共同控制”与权限对比。 虽然 PayJoin 不是账户，但它体现了一种交易层面的共同控制：交易的生成和签名需要双方参与river.com。付款人和收款人通过点对点加密通信（通常经Tor或类似渠道）协商交易细节，各自选择愿意投入的UTXO，然后协同构建PSBT（部分签名比特币交易）并分别签章river.comriver.com。只有双方都签名，交易才能广播成功。这一点类似联名账户的“双签”模式（“和账户”），需要双方同意才能完成一笔“资金移动”。不同之处在于：联名账户的双签是在账户维度的持续权限控制，而 PayJoin 的“双签”是逐笔交易的合作行为，一旦交易完成，双方各自拿回属于自己的输出，并不产生一个长期共管的地址或账户。这意味着 PayJoin 不涉及资金托管：Alice和Bob各自仍控制自己钱包里的币，只是在支付发生的一刻进行了协作。相较之下，传统联名账户（尤其“或账户”）往往允许单方独立操作而缺乏约束investopedia.cominvestopedia.com；而 PayJoin 则需要双方在线同意才能促成，这在一定程度上提供了共同见证/确认。不过，PayJoin 并不能防止任一方事后随意支配自己收到的输出（类似于联名账户的任一持有人可自行提取自己的款项比例）。因此在控制模型上，PayJoin更像是瞬时的“合伙记账”：双方都参与记账过程，但结算后各拿各的钱。如果有需要，可以反复通过PayJoin进行资金往来，从而达到一种“经常性共同操作”的效果，但它本身不会锁定资金需要长期共同签署。相比之下，多重签名钱包会真正把资金锁定在需要多方签名才能解锁的地址上，这是不同的。

不可推导的资金归属。 对于联名账户，外部人（包括银行或法院）通常也无法直接区分账户内资金最初由谁存入，因为账户作为一个整体记录余额birketts.co.uk。只有通过内部账或存款记录才能分析贡献比例。同样地，PayJoin 交易在区块链上造成了资金来源的混淆：链上观察者无法确定哪一方贡献了多少输入、哪个输出归谁payjoin.org。这从隐私角度是优点：它打破了比特币网络上对于资金流向的常规分析规则payjoin.org。而从“共有”角度来看，这种资金归属不透明性与联名账户有相似之处——在一个联名账户中，如果没有充分证据，第三方或债权人常默认账户资金各半归属双方nolo.com；在一次PayJoin交易中，除非双方公开细节，否则无人能确知哪个输出是支付哪个是找零，即交易对手间的具体资金划分仅他们自己清楚payjoin.org。值得注意的是，这种隐私并非完全的匿名，而是针对特定交易的归属不可判定。联名账户的不可归属性是长期的（整个账户余额如此），而PayJoin是针对单笔转移，但如果双方持续采用PayJoin模式进行交互，那么整个资金流的图谱对外部来说将变得支离破碎，难以拼凑双方各自持有多少。对于希望财务共管但又不想被外界清晰审计出权属的人来说，这提供了一种新颖的工具。

与多方混币区别。 需要指出，PayJoin 不同于传统的CoinJoin（多人混币）。CoinJoin通常是数个不相干的人把若干UTXO放一起构造一笔交易，打乱关联，从而实现隐私增强river.com。而 PayJoin 仅两方参与且具有实际支付含义：付款人最终少了钱，收款人净得钱。这更贴近真实的一对一资金往来场景，只是包装成让外界看不出。而CoinJoin往往输出每人拿回和输入等量的钱，只是换了碎片顺序，没有实现真正资金转移。PayJoin的效率更高（两人即可，不需撮合众人），也更节省手续费，因其输出数量可与普通交易无异，不增加链上容量payjoin.orgpayjoin.org。

综上，PayJoin 在共同控制和资金归属模糊两方面都与联名账户有相似之处，却又有本质区别：联名账户是法律与账户层面的共管关系，持续存在；PayJoin是技术与交易层面的合作行为，瞬时完成。正是这种差异，使 PayJoin 可以避开许多联名账户的制度性问题，从而具备一些独特优势，如下节所述。

6. PayJoin：跨法域中立且教法友好的潜力

跨法域的中立性。 PayJoin 基于比特币网络运作，其参与各方只需遵循比特币协议，与任何特定国家法律或金融机构无直接关联。这意味着，无论交易双方身处何地、何种法系，都可以采用PayJoin来完成一笔支付或价值转移，而不受当地银行政策差异的影响。例如，一位美国的用户可以与一位海湾国家的用户通过各自的比特币钱包执行PayJoin，资金即时划转，无需经过银行清算或外汇管制。这种去中心化特性使 PayJoin 天然具有跨法域中立性：它不需要在某国开设账户、符合某地金融牌照，也无须考虑两地对联名账户截然不同的法律定义。对于跨境家庭或团队而言，PayJoin 提供了共同参与财务活动的新方式——不再以账户形式存在，而是在链上合作完成交易。由于没有共同持有的账户实体，便不存在账户被冻结或被单方面没收的风险（前提是双方各自保管好自己的私钥）。尤其在一些司法管辖冲突的场景下（如非穆斯林丈夫与穆斯林妻子想共享财富，但各自国家法律对联名财产认定不同），PayJoin可以作为双方私下的财务协议来使用，而避免落入法域冲突的真空地带。需要强调，PayJoin 本身不违反任何国家的明文法律——它只是标准的比特币交易形式之一payjoin.orgpayjoin.org。法律上各国通常将比特币交易视为个人资产处分行为，只要不用于非法目的，并无禁止交易双方协商其交易结构的法规。因此，从合法性角度看，PayJoin 相当于两人商定了一种转账方式，在Common Law看来符合契约自由原则，在各法域都找不出明显抵触的条文。

伊斯兰教法的友好性。 从伊斯兰金融原则审视，PayJoin 具有许多契合点，使其有望被视为“教法友好”的实践：

• 无利息（Riba）：PayJoin 只是资金转移工具，不涉及贷款或利息计付。比特币本身不支付利息，交易过程中也没有任何一方无风险获利的要素scitcentral.com。相比传统银行账户可能涉及利息或利率变动（伊斯兰金融需通过盈利率协议Wakala等实现类似功能），PayJoin 完全规避了利息禁忌。

• 控制与所有权明确（Amanah信托原则）：在联名账户中，各方资金混同，实际归属成谜，可能引发Amanah上的疑虑——一方实为代管他人财产却可以随意取用。而PayJoin每笔交易双方知情并同意，且结算后各自掌控自己的余额，没有长期代管他人财物的情况。可以认为，双方在PayJoin合作中互为受托人：各自承诺只签署符合约定金额的交易，不多签或少签。这种短暂的互信很容易履行且范围有限，符合 Amanah 强调的受托义务（诚信、准时履约）。双方都不把资金长久交给对方或第三方，减少了信托滥用的可能。

• 避免过度不确定性（Gharar）：Gharar 指交易中不确定性或信息不对称过高，从而带有投机欺诈成分。PayJoin 交易结构虽然对外人不透明，但对交易双方本身是完全清晰的——他们事先约定了支付额，每人贡献多少UTXO、将得到多少找零输出，都是明确计算的payjoin.org。交易未完成前，任何一方都可以中止（不签名则交易无效），不存在押注未知结果的情况，也没有复杂衍生品或概率元素，因而不违反“避免Gharar”的原则changelly.com。与之相比，传统联名账户在教法环境下的最大不确定性反而是继承处理：共有人无法确定死后谁能得到多少份额（取决于教法和法院），这对各方而言是一种Gharar。而PayJoin每次交易完结，资金归属当下尘埃落定，没有悬而未决的权益。

• 非赌博性质（Maysir）：Maysir意为赌博或投机。PayJoin 并非博弈，而是有实际用途的支付工具，没有随机输赢，也不以对赌为目的changelly.com。两人合作进行PayJoin，不会出现一方赢钱一方输钱的零和结果——本质还是执行支付，只是改变信息披露，并无博彩成分。因此，用PayJoin进行正常经济活动，应不触犯禁赌教规。

更进一步，有学者和教法顾问已经在讨论比特币本身的可容许性：许多观点认为只要比特币用于合法贸易、避免利息和欺诈，它可以被视作财产和交换媒介，从教法上是Halal（可允）plasbit.comchangelly.com。一些中东地区的交易所和机构也在寻求Fatwa（教令）承认加密货币交易的合规性。PayJoin 作为其上的一种交易方式，如能被正确理解，其Sharia合规障碍应较小。因为相比之下，更具争议的是匿名性和洗钱风险，但那属于世俗法律范畴，下节会谈到。

避免强制继承冲突。 前文提及，在海湾国家按Sharia会冻结联名账户并强制按法定比例分配。这主要因为账户在法律上视为死者遗产的一部分。而若两人采用PayJoin等去中心化方式管理财富，则每人始终持有自己那部分私钥控制的币，不形成法律上的“联名遗产”。当一方过世，其私钥所控币是其遗产，另一方所控币不属于遗产范围，因此不会被教法程序冻结。当然，亡者的比特币仍需按其遗嘱或教法分配，但起码存活者立即可支配自己持有的部分，现金流不中断。这与联名账户情形截然不同。在实践中，夫妻可各自持有数字钱包，定期用PayJoin互相汇款、结算共同开支。万一一方不幸去世，另一方钱包里的余额就是属于Ta自己的，不经遗产处理即可继续使用；而逝者钱包若未留访问方式则资产可能锁死，反而避免了与法定继承人的纠纷（当然，从保护家人利益角度，应有妥善的密钥遗嘱安排，但可通过多签或托管来实现，而不需要传统联名账户）。总之，PayJoin提供了一种不经银行、绕开法域限制的合作模式，使双方的财产在法律上保持独立，却能在经济上实现协同。这对于跨国夫妇或团队，尤其处在不同财产制度（教法 vs 世俗法）下的组合，极具吸引力。

7. 合规性分析：伊斯兰金融原则与普通法要求的平衡

引入任何新实践方式，都必须评估其在各法域的合规性。针对 PayJoin，需要分别从伊斯兰金融教义和普通法/现代监管角度来审视，确保其同时满足双方关切，真正成为“跨法域中立、教法友好”的方案。

符合伊斯兰金融原则： 根据上述分析，PayJoin 本身没有违反 Riba、Gharar、Maysir 等禁忌，可被设计为符合 Shariah 的工具。然而，为进一步确保教法合规，可以考虑以下细节：

• 合同形式与意图明确（Niyyah）：伊斯兰交易强调各方意图正当、合同清晰。虽然 PayJoin 不需要书面合同，但双方可在私下有书面或口头协议，说明这是一种共同协作支付，不是借贷或投资关系，以免日后产生歧义。这类似于 Amanah 原则下的承诺：双方约定各自仅为支付目的贡献资金，不据此主张对方财产权。

• 避免不义之财（Dhulm）：教法禁止不公正的占有。如果 PayJoin 被恶意用来隐匿资助不法活动或侵占他人财产，显然不合规。这需要道德约束：FinTech开发者在推广PayJoin方案时，应嵌入使用指引，强调其用于正当目的（如家庭财务协作、隐私保护），不鼓励用于欺诈或洗钱。这与伊斯兰金融注重的社会责任原则吻合nasdaq.com。

• 审慎与透明（Itqan & disclosure）：在穆斯林社群中推广时，可以让受过教法培训的专业人士参与审查PayJoin流程，甚至发布教法意见书（Fatwa）声明其可接受性，并教育用户如何将其融入Halal理财生活。例如建议穆斯林家庭在使用PayJoin前，明确约定彼此的财产份额和用途，记录每笔协作交易的原因，以保持家庭内部的透明和信任（这有点类似于定期对账，在宗教上也是鼓励诚实对待财产往来的一部分）。

符合普通法和监管要求： 虽然 PayJoin 技术本身不违反合同和财产基本法理，但现实应用中还有一些合规问题需要考虑：

• 反洗钱（AML）与身份识别（KYC）：西方普通法体系下的金融监管要求对资金来源和交易对手尽职调查。PayJoin提高了链上匿名性，可能引起监管机构对其用于洗钱的担忧cointelegraph.comriver.com。为此，FinTech企业在实现PayJoin功能时，可加入自愿的透明机制：例如双方如果在受监管平台（交易所、支付处理器）进行PayJoin，可以在链下向平台报告交易对手的身份哈希，以满足监管审计需要（前提是双方同意，并且平台在受司法令时才揭示）。这样既不破坏链上隐私，又保留合规的选项。此外，开发者也应提示用户遵守所在地法规：如一次性大额PayJoin转账在某些国家可能需要申报，用户需自觉履行。

• 合同与救济：Common Law 强调合同自由，但也要求有违约或欺诈时能提供司法救济。PayJoin 没有标准合同，如果一方未履行承诺（例如收款方承诺一起做PayJoin但反悔要求普通转账，或者付款方声称已付但实际未广播交易），法律上如何处理？对此建议是：当 PayJoin 用于商业场景时，仍应有基本合同约定。如果发生纠纷，一方可以提交协商的PSBT记录、通信记录等作为证据。由于Bitcoin交易有不可篡改的链上记录，反而容易举证实际支付了多少钱给谁。法律可能将其视为一种合伙或代理协议的履行：双方合意做一件事并完成了。如果一方中途毁约导致对方损失，可按普通契约法求偿。不过需要法院对这一技术有所了解。因此合规上，或许需要通过行业协会向监管和司法解释PayJoin的机制，使其被当作正当交易手段看待，而非神秘的洗钱工具。

• 税务与报告：各国税法对加密交易的申报要求不同。PayJoin并未改变交易实质，只是隐私增强，但从税务上说，若涉及资产转移，同样要记录成本基础和收益。合规方案可以是：提供给用户一个工具，将自己参加的PayJoin交易标记并保存原始支付细节（付款额、找零额），以便报税时证明实际支出收入情况。这一点对企业采用PayJoin尤为重要，确保账务透明避免日后审计问题。

公平与共识： 普通法原则重视交易的公平合理和各方真实同意。PayJoin是双方自愿合作的结果，表面上满足共识原则。但我们也要考虑弱势保护：比如一方技术精通，一方小白用户，会否出现不公平？为了防范这一点，可以在用户界面上做警示：当有人请求与你进行PayJoin，你应该明白这对你意味着什么——一般来说收款人不会吃亏，因为多收一个找零输出，并不会损失价值；付款人也不应吃亏，只是多花一点手续费。但要防止有人利用不明真相的用户，让其参与PayJoin却在输出分配上作弊（理论上如果收款人恶意构造交易让付款人多付了钱且付款人未察觉签了名）。因此技术实现上也需做到公平：钱包软件在构建PayJoin时应自动检查付款金额正确、找零正确，防止篡改。这种保护符合普通法对公平的要求，也体现了伊斯兰金融中**避免Dhulm（不义）**的精神。

综上，PayJoin 作为一种新实践，要成功立足，需要双重合规：一方面在宗教伦理上证明其正当性，一方面在世俗法律上确保透明与守法。幸运的是，这两方面并不矛盾：PayJoin追求的是一种技术手段的优化，与伊斯兰和普通法原则并无本质冲突。通过适当的措施和教育，完全可以做到兼容。例如，在一个试点应用中（假设由一家兼具Sharia顾问和合规官的FinTech公司运营），穆斯林家庭用经Fatwa认可的比特币钱包进行PayJoin理财，同时该应用满足KYC/AML标准并提供报表工具。那么这一模式将真正体现“跨法域中立、教法友好”。它既让用户不受限于传统制度，又确保了道德与法律底线，为金融科技开发者打开一条服务全球用户的新道路。

结语

联名银行账户作为百年来方便多人共管财富的制度，一路发展伴随着各类法律和实践难题。在普通法系，其灵活性与风险并存，引发继承、债务、滥用等诸多纠纷；在伊斯兰法环境下，更面临继承冻结等制度性冲击。在全球化时代的跨境场景中，传统联名账户愈发显出局限，各种替代方案各擅胜场却难有万能药。PayJoin 技术的出现，为我们提供了一个全新的视角：也许不再需要“联名账户”这个法律产物，通过区块链的协作交易，完全可以实现类似目标且避开许多固有问题。本报告深入比较了联名账户制度与PayJoin在“共同控制”和“不可推导归属”上的异同，探讨了PayJoin 如何满足伊斯兰金融和普通法的合规要求。对于金融科技开发者而言，这意味着巨大的创新空间：未来的应用可以让两个人“各自持币，共同支付”，既保障各自权属，又实现合作效率。在设计此类系统时，我们应牢记历史教训，融合法律与教义的智慧，确保技术既推进了便利，也巩固了公平与信任——这正是联名账户理念在21世纪的重生。

参考文献：

• Birketts法律简报，“联名银行账户：谁拥有这些钱？”，2023年4月4日birketts.co.ukbirketts.co.uk。

• Nelson Mullins律师事务所博客，“理解联名账户的生存者权利”，2024年1月17日nelsonmullins.comnelsonmullins.com。

• Nolo法律百科，“对联名账户的强制执行”，更新于2023年10月30日nolo.comnolo.com。

• Mike Coady财富管理博客，“阿联酋外籍人士：联名账户的危险”，2021年7月29日mikecoady.commikecoady.com。

• _Gulf News_报道，“在你之后，你在阿联酋的银行余额会自动给家人吗？”，2025年5月16日gulfnews.comgulfnews.com。

• Emirates Islamic 银行官网，“Emarati家庭储蓄账户”产品页emiratesislamic.aeemiratesislamic.ae。

• Kitces金融规划文章，“便利账户的风险与备选方案”，2019年kitces.comkitces.com。

• Investopedia词条，“Joint Account联名账户：定义、运作、利弊”，更新于2025年5月9日investopedia.cominvestopedia.com。

• Payjoin官方文档，“为什么使用PayJoin - 隐私”，2025年payjoin.orgpayjoin.org。

• River Financial百科，“PayJoin (P2EP)”，2025年river.comriver.com。

• 其他参考资料包含 PlasBit、Changelly 等对于比特币与伊斯兰金融兼容性的讨论changelly.comscitcentral.com。

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

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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

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

In a massive vote of confidence for a new bitcoin-focused company, Tether and Bitfinex have moved over 37,000 BTC—worth $3.9 billion—to digital treasury firm Twenty One Capital. This is one of the largest Bitcoin transactions in recent history.

The announcement came from Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether and CTO of Bitfinex, through multiple posts on X. According to Ardoino, the transfers were part of a pre-funding round for the launch of Twenty One Capital, a new company that will lead the bitcoin treasury space.

Ardoino announced several transfers on X — Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

“Tether Group is moving 10,500 BTC to address bc1qpzt4m58zzqgp84ktyuj5tz8g8k8ssg2g2d5eeerwhx4gxulqq5mqjzm5gc as part of the pre-funding of SoftBank’s investment in Twenty One Capital (XXI)” Ardoino said.

Twenty One Capital is a new bitcoin treasury firm led by Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike and founder of Zap. The company is backed by Tether, Bitfinex, SoftBank and Cantor Fitzgerald.

The company will go public via a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners (CEP) and will trade under the ticker XXI on Nasdaq. After the merger was announced CEP’s stock price skyrocketed from $11 to $59.75.

Cantor Equity Partners’ stock price jumped on news of the merger — TradingView

Mallers says the company’s mission is bold and clear: accumulate bitcoin and provide full transparency through public wallet disclosures, also known as providing “proof-of-reserves“.

Total bitcoin moved to Twenty One Capital so far include:

• 10,500 BTC from Tether on behalf of SoftBank (worth about $1.1 billion)
• 19,729.69 BTC from Tether (worth around $2 billion)
• 7,000 BTC from Bitfinex (valued at roughly $740 million)

The amounts sum up to 37,229.69 BTC, worth around $3.9 billion at current prices. These were verified on public blockchain explorers.

The Twenty One Capital wallets now show large balances. They have already confirmed they have 31,500 BTC. That makes them the 3rd largest corporate bitcoin holder behind Strategy and Marathon Digital Holdings.

Once these new transfers are confirmed, the company will take over Marathon to become the second-largest corporate holder of the scarce digital asset globally.

Related: Twenty One Capital Becomes 3rd-Largest Corporate Holder of Bitcoin

Unlike companies that add bitcoin to their balance sheet, Twenty One Capital exists solely to accumulate and manage bitcoin. It follows a model similar to Strategy but is more transparent.

Mallers introduced new financial metrics like Bitcoin Per Share (BPS) and Bitcoin Return Rate (BRR) to value the company in bitcoin terms, not fiat.

He thinks economic value in the future will not be measured in dollars but in satoshis—the smallest unit of bitcoin. The company is not just about guarding against fiat collapse, but about completely opting out of the system.

A key part of the firm’s strategy is proof of reserves. Unlike some other big bitcoin holders, Twenty One Capital has already published its public wallet addresses so anyone can verify its holdings in real time.

Ardoino called this approach “Bitcoin Treasury Transparency (BTT)” and said it’s a response to recent industry scandals that showed the dangers of financial opacity in digital assets.

Mallers added openness is the only way to build long-term trust in a bitcoin-native financial system.

Twenty One Capital wants to reshape financial infrastructure, build native bitcoin lending models and promote global Bitcoin adoption.

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• Wasabi Wallet v2.6.0 "Prometheus" is a major update for the project, focused on resilience and independence from centralized systems.
• Key features include support for BIP 158 block filters for direct node synchronization, a revamped full node integration for easier setup without third-party reliance, SLIP 39 share backups for flexible wallet recovery (sponsored by Trezor), and a Nostr-based update manager for censorship-resistant updates.
• Additional improvements include UI bug fixes, a new fallback for transaction broadcasting, updated code signing, stricter JSON serialization, and options to avoid third-party rate providers, alongside various under-the-hood enhancements.

This new version brings us closer to our ultimate goal: ensuring Wasabi is future-proof," said the developers, while also highlighting the following key areas of focus for the project:

• Ensuring users can always fully and securely use their client.
• Making contribution and forks easy through a codebase of the highest quality possible: understandable, maintainable, and improvable.

"As we achieve our survival goals, expect more cutting-edge improvements in Bitcoin privacy and self-custody. Thank you for the trust you place in us by using Wasabi," was stated in the release notes.

What's new

• Support for Standard BIP 158 Block Filters. Wasabi now syncs using BIP 158 filters without a backend/indexer, connecting directly to a user's node. This boosts sync speed, resilience, and allows full sovereignty without specific server dependency.
• Full Node Integration Rework. The old integration has been replaced with a simpler, more adaptable system. It’s not tied to a specific Bitcoin node fork, doesn’t need the node on the same machine as Wasabi, and requires no changes to the node’s setup.
  • "Simply enable the RPC server on your node and point Wasabi to it," said the developers. This ensures all Bitcoin network activities—like retrieving blocks, fee estimations, block filters, and transaction broadcasting—go through your own node, avoiding reliance on third parties.
• Create & Recover SLIP 39 Shares. Users now create and recover wallets with multiple share backups using SLIP 39 standard.

"Special thanks to Trezor (SatoshiLabs) for sponsoring this amazing feature."

• Nostr Update Manager. This version implements a pioneering system with the Nostr protocol for update information and downloads, replacing reliance on GitHub. This enhances the project's resilience, ensuring updates even if GitHub is unavailable, while still verifying updates with the project's secure certificate.
• Updated Avalonia to v11.2.7, fixes for UI bugs (including restoring Minimize on macOS Sequoia).
• Added a configurable third-party fallback for broadcasting transactions if other methods fail.
• Replaced Windows Code Signing Certificate with Azure Trusted Signing.
• Many bug fixes, improved codebase, and enhanced CI pipeline.
• Added the option to avoid using any third-party Exchange Rate and Fee Rate providers (Wasabi can work without them).
• Rebuilt all JSON Serialization mechanisms avoiding default .NET converters. Serialization is now stricter.

Full Changelog: v2.5.1...v2.6.0

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo

@ 73868430:0ec4fe27

皇居 Imperial Palace

巽櫓（桜田二重櫓) Sakurada Tatsumi Yagura

二重橋 Nijubashi Bridge

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靖國神社 Yasukuni Jinja

遊就館 Yushukan

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上野動物園 Ueno Zoological Garden

上野動物園不忍池 Ueno Zoological Garden Shinobazuno Pond

上野東照宮五重塔 Ueno Toshogu Shrine Five Story Pagoda

築地活鮮市場,御徒町店 Tsukiji Kassen Ichiba, Okachimachi

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鉄道博物館 The Railway Museum

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TOHAKU茶館 (応挙館) Tohaku Chakan

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新大久保駅 Shin-Ōkubo

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シンボルプロムナード公園 Symbol Promenade Park

セントラル広場 Central Square

日本科学未来館 The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation Japan (Miraikan)

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箱根町 Hakone

芦ノ湖 Lake Ashi

元箱根 Motohakone

彫刻の森駅 Chokokunomori

三の鳥居,箱根神社 The Third Torii of Hakone Shrine

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小田原城 Odawara Castle

@ 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

@ a88f35c7:7b121d83

Aunque a primera vista no lo parezca, el mundo digital en el que operan muchas empresas hoy en día no es tan diferente del mundo físico. De hecho, es común establecer analogías con la era medieval (términos como Bastion Host, Castle and Moat, Gatekeepers y Watchtower reflejan esta comparación) y quienes trabajamos en ciberseguridad estamos acostumbrados su uso. Sin embargo, hoy quiero abordar la seguridad digital desde una perspectiva evolutiva y haciendo una analogía con el contexto de la economía primaria, ya que la lectura de la tesis “Softwar: A Novel Theory on Power Projection and the National Strategic Significance of Bitcoin”, de Jason Paul Lowery, me ha llevado a reflexionar sobre este tema.

Para profundizar en esta analogía, propongo una relación simple: todos los actores que habitan el mundo digital (empresas, proveedores de servicios, actores malintencionados, usuarios, etc.) se consideraran organismos biologicos vivos que coexisten en un entorno hostil y compiten por los recursos disponibles en él.

Relación beneficio-costo del ataque (RBC).

Cada organismo biológico puede describirse como una fuente rica en nutrientes y un depósito de recursos valiosos. En la imagen de arriba, he intentado representar (disculpad si no lo he logrado completamente) un organismo unicelular con un núcleo (el tesoro) y una membrana que lo protege de las bacterias de alrededor.

En un escenario como este, es lógico pensar que la mayoría de estos organismos se convierten en un objetivo atractivo, una presa, para otros seres vivos diseñados por la evolución para capturar y explotar dichos recursos por la fuerza.

En consecuencia, un organismo incapaz de proteger su tesoro (ya sea por debilidad o ineficacia) se convierte en un caramelo en la puerta de un colegio: un cartel de neón irresistible para las formas de vida circundantes, que no dudarán en devorarlo.

Nota: Mientras escribía esto, no pude evitar pensar en el mundo digital y en todos esos sistemas con puertos abiertos expuestos en Shodan.

Pues bien, se puede definir la relación de beneficio-costo del ataque como:

RBC = BA/CA

Donde:

• BA representa la función de la abundancia de recursos de un organismo (su “tesoro”). Los organismos con una gran cantidad de recursos valiosos tienen un BA alto, mientras que aquellos con menos recursos valiosos presentan un BA más bajo.

• CA mide la capacidad y disposición de un organismo para imponer costos físicos severos a sus atacantes. Los organismos que pueden y están dispuestos a infligir daños físicos significativos a sus vecinos tienen un CA alto. En contraste, aquellos que carecen de dicha capacidad o no están dispuestos a ejercerla tienen un CA bajo.

Si la relación anterior ha quedado clara, resulta evidente que los organismos con una RBC más alta son más vulnerables al ataque que aquellos con una RBC más baja, ya que representan un mayor retorno de inversión para los vecinos hambrientos que buscan devorarlos.

Por esta razón, los organismos tienen la necesidad existencial de reducir su RBC tanto como sea posible, lo que los impulsa a aumentar su capacidad y disposición para imponer costos físicos significativos a sus atacantes. Por el contrario, un organismo no puede simplemente dedicar todo su tiempo y energía a acumular recursos y esperar prosperar a largo plazo, ya que esto incrementaría su RBC, poniendo en riesgo su supervivencia.

A modo conclusión, se podría decir que, para sobrevivir a largo plazo, los organismos deben gestionar ambos lados de la relación RBC para evitar que este ratio aumente hasta niveles peligrosos. Esto se puede hacer de la siguiente forma:

• Optar por reducir su numerador (reducir su "tesoro").

• Aumentar su denominador (imponer costos físicos significativos a sus atacantes).

En la naturaleza, podríamos decir que reducir la abundancia de recursos no es una solución demasiado ideal para los organismos que buscan crecer, por lo que aumentar su CA es la opción más recomendable.

Una analogía útil para explicar el RBC es la situación en la que un ladrón debe decidir qué apartamento robar. Antes de actuar, inspecciona dos puertas en el mismo piso: una a la izquierda, de madera y visiblemente desgastada, y otra a la derecha, blindada y equipada con múltiples cerrojos.

Es probable que el ladrón asuma que el “tesoro” detrás de la puerta blindada es más valioso. Sin embargo, los altos costos del ataque (mayor tiempo, esfuerzo y riesgo) disuadirán a muchos ladrones que no estén preparados para asumir ese desafío. Así, la relación entre recompensa y costo de ataque influye en la decisión, reflejando el principio del RBC en la naturaleza.

Margen de prosperidad.

Retomando la idea de la “economía de la evolución” y la difícil tarea de sobrevivir, es importante recordar que, como hemos visto antes, cualquier organismo debe mantener su nivel de RBC lo más bajo posible. Pero, ¿cuán bajo exactamente?

La clave está en mantenerlo por debajo del umbral crítico que determine si un ataque resulta rentable o no para un posible depredador o competidor. Si el RBC es demasiado alto, el organismo se convierte en un objetivo atractivo; si es lo suficientemente bajo, los costos de atacarlo superan los beneficios, disuadiendo a la mayoría de los agresores. Según Lowery, la diferencia entre el nivel de RBC de un organismo y el umbral peligroso puede definirse como su margen de prosperidad. En otras palabras, este margen representa cuánto puede permitirse un organismo aumentar su RBC antes de volverse un objetivo viable para el ataque. Mantener un margen de prosperidad amplio es esencial para garantizar estabilidad y minimizar riesgos en un entorno competitivo.

Planteado a alto nivel, podría parecer un problema sencillo de resolver, ya que, en esencia, solo se trata de mantener el RBC por debajo del umbral peligroso mientras se preserva un margen adecuado de prosperidad. Sin embargo (y siempre hay un “pero”), el verdadero desafío radica en que el organismo no puede conocer con precisión dicho umbral, ya que este depende casi por completo de factores externos.

Las variables que determinan el umbral peligroso están condicionadas por el entorno y por la presencia de otros organismos que cohabitan en él. Esto implica que un organismo nunca puede estar completamente seguro de cuánto puede aumentar su RBC antes de atraer la atención de posibles atacantes. Esta incertidumbre introduce un nivel de riesgo que dificulta la optimización de la estrategia de crecimiento y supervivencia.

Supervivencia a largo plazo.

Dado que los organismos no pueden determinar con certeza qué nivel de seguridad es suficiente, la supervivencia se convierte en un proceso de aprendizaje sobre cómo regular el RBC y maximizar el margen de prosperidad tanto como sea posible. En términos generales, un organismo puede seguir tres estrategias:

• Opción 1: Aumentar el BA por encima del CA provocará un crecimiento en el RBC, acercándolo a la zona de peligro, por lo que esta opción queda descartada.

• Opción 2: Aumentar el CA a medida que aumenta el BA, manteniendo el RBC fijo (crecimiento proporcional de los dos valores). Aunque esta estrategia conserva el mismo margen de seguridad, no es una solución sostenible a largo plazo, ya que el entorno se vuelve cada vez más hostil y el nivel de RBC que antes garantizaba la supervivencia puede volverse insuficiente.

• Opción 3: Aumentar el CA más que el BA. En este caso, el margen de prosperidad se amplía porque el RBC disminuye. Esta, según Lowery, es la única estrategia viable para garantizar la supervivencia a largo plazo.

La enseñanza de la evolución en el mundo de la ciberseguridad.

Si aplicamos los principios de la economía primaria al ámbito de la ciberseguridad, es posible extraer algunas enseñanzas valiosas, aunque también es cierto que el mundo digital tiene ciertas excepciones o flexibilidades. A continuación, expondré las conclusiones a las que he llegado tras realizar este ejercicio de análisis.

El Coste de Ataque (CA), que implica imponer costos a los atacantes, no deja de ser una inversión en seguridad a través de herramientas, procesos y revisiones. Como ha demostrado la económica primaria, esta estrategia es clave para garantizar la supervivencia a largo plazo de una empresa ya que hace que los ciberataques sean menos rentables y por lo tanto menos frecuentes. En esta línea y al igual que en la naturaleza, una empresa no puede saber nunca que tan cerca está del umbral del peligro (ya que este depende de factores casi totalmente externos) y por tanto debe esforzarse por maximizar el CA siempre que pueda (esto es invertir en ciberseguridad). Así que ya sabéis, si alguien alguna vez pone en duda las inversiones en ciberseguridad, le podéis decir con total certeza que es economía de supervivencia y es LA ÚNICA FORMA de garantizar la viabilidad de la empresa a largo plazo.

Por otro lado, está el Beneficio de Ataque (BA), el "tesoro" protegido por todos los organismos. Haciendo un paralelismo con el mundo digital, este equivale a los datos e información que almacena una organización. Es natural que, al igual que ocurre en los organismos biológicos, una empresa busque incrementar y proteger este activo.

Todos hemos oído un millón de veces expresiones como "es la era de la información", "los datos son el nuevo petróleo" o "la información es poder", y no dudo de su veracidad. Sin embargo, basándonos en la economía de supervivencia mencionada, hacer crecer el Beneficio de Ataque (BA) puede ser peligroso.

De hecho, hemos comprobado que incrementar el BA por encima del Coste de Ataque (CA) no es una estrategia viable a largo plazo. Pero, como todos sabemos, es complicado convencer al área de negocio de que tal vez (solo tal vez) ciertos datos sensibles no sean realmente necesarios para su almacenamiento en bases de datos. Y que, en caso de que lo sean, su protección mediante cifrado debería ser una prioridad.

Entonces, ¿Es posible reducir el BA?

Llegados a este punto, surge la duda de si, a diferencia del mundo natural, en el mundo digital que hemos construido, es posible reducir el Beneficio de Ataque (BA) sin comprometer la viabilidad de una empresa.

En la naturaleza, la supervivencia depende del crecimiento y la acumulación de recursos, pero en el entorno digital, ¿realmente es necesario almacenar y procesar cada dato disponible? ¿O es posible optimizar y reducir el volumen de datos sensibles sin afectar el negocio? A continuación algunos ejemplos:

• ¿Es realmente necesario que tenga que facilitar mi DNI al repartidor de UPS o SEUR?

• ¿Es justificable que el Real Decreto 933/2021 obligue a las empresas del sector de hospedaje a almacenar y proporcionar datos sensibles de los viajeros, como el DNI, teléfono fijo y móvil, relación de parentesco entre huéspedes, así como información sobre el pago, incluyendo el tipo de tarjeta, número y fecha de caducidad?

• ¿Porque es necesario pasar por un proceso riguroso de KYC para comprar según que activos financieros?

Estoy seguro que cada caso de los anteriores tiene una justificación aunque tampoco tengo ninguna duda de que estas probablemente sean cuestionables desde el punto de vista de la privacidad y protección de datos.

Esta última reflexión me ha llevado a buscar si actualmente existen proyectos y/o estrategias enfocadas en la minimización de datos, con el objetivo de reducir cualquier exposición innecesaria de información personal y he podido comprobar que existen diferentes líneas de trabajo en esta dirección como el sistema Decentralized Identity (DID) o Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP). Estas tecnologías permiten verificar información sin revelar datos personales, lo que indica que ya hay profesionales abordando esta preocupación.

Quizás, cuando estos sistemas estén más consolidados, podamos comprobar si, a diferencia del mundo biológico, el mundo digital permite el crecimiento de un organismo sin tener que aumentar su BA.