@ 21335073:a244b1ad

The other day, I had the privilege of sitting down with one of my favorite living artists. Our conversation was so captivating that I felt compelled to share it. I’m leaving his name out for privacy.

Since our last meeting, I’d watched a documentary about his life, one he’d helped create. I told him how much I admired his openness in it. There’s something strange about knowing intimate details of someone’s life when they know so little about yours—it’s almost like I knew him too well for the kind of relationship we have.

He paused, then said quietly, with a shy grin, that watching the documentary made him realize how “odd and eccentric” he is. I laughed and told him he’s probably the sanest person I know. Because he’s lived fully, chasing love, passion, and purpose with hardly any regrets. He’s truly lived.

Today, I turn 44, and I’ll admit I’m a bit eccentric myself. I think I came into the world this way. I’ve made mistakes along the way, but I carry few regrets. Every misstep taught me something. And as I age, I’m not interested in blending in with the world—I’ll probably just lean further into my own brand of “weird.” I want to live life to the brim. The older I get, the more I see that the “normal” folks often seem less grounded than the eccentric artists who dare to live boldly. Life’s too short to just exist, actually live.

I’m not saying to be strange just for the sake of it. But I’ve seen what the crowd celebrates, and I’m not impressed. Forge your own path, even if it feels lonely or unpopular at times.

It’s easy to scroll through the news and feel discouraged. But actually, this is one of the most incredible times to be alive! I wake up every day grateful to be here, now. The future is bursting with possibility—I can feel it.

So, to my fellow weirdos on nostr: stay bold. Keep dreaming, keep pushing, no matter what’s trending. Stay wild enough to believe in a free internet for all. Freedom is radical—hold it tight. Live with the soul of an artist and the grit of a fighter. Thanks for inspiring me and so many others to keep hoping. Thank you all for making the last year of my life so special.

@ 51bbb15e:b77a2290

Yeah, I’m sure everything in the file is legit. 👍 Let’s review the guard witness testimony…Oh wait, they weren’t at their posts despite 24/7 survellience instructions after another Epstein “suicide” attempt two weeks earlier. Well, at least the video of the suicide is in the file? Oh wait, a techical glitch. Damn those coincidences!

At this point, the Trump administration has zero credibility with me on anything related to the Epstein case and his clients. I still suspect the administration is using the Epstein files as leverage to keep a lot of RINOs in line, whereas they’d be sabotaging his agenda at every turn otherwise. However, I just don’t believe in ends-justify-the-means thinking. It’s led almost all of DC to toss out every bit of the values they might once have had.

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install Sky Map (it's free and open source)
2. Launch the app and tap Accept, then tap OK
3. When asked to access the device's location, tap While Using The App
4. Tap somewhere on the screen to activate the menu, then tap ⁝ and select Settings
5. Disable Send Usage Statistics
6. Return to the main screen and enjoy stargazing!

ℹ️ Use the 🔍 icon in the upper toolbar to search for a specific celestial body, or tap the 👁️ icon to activate night mode

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

This piece is the first in a series that will focus on things I think are a priority if your focus is similar to mine: building a strong family and safeguarding their future.

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Choosing the ideal place to raise a family is one of the most significant decisions you will ever make. For simplicity sake I will break down my thought process into key factors: strong property rights, the ability to grow your own food, access to fresh water, the freedom to own and train with guns, and a dependable community.

A Jurisdiction with Strong Property Rights

Strong property rights are essential and allow you to build on a solid foundation that is less likely to break underneath you. Regions with a history of limited government and clear legal protections for landowners are ideal. Personally I think the US is the single best option globally, but within the US there is a wide difference between which state you choose. Choose carefully and thoughtfully, think long term. Obviously if you are not American this is not a realistic option for you, there are other solid options available especially if your family has mobility. I understand many do not have this capability to easily move, consider that your first priority, making movement and jurisdiction choice possible in the first place.

Abundant Access to Fresh Water

Water is life. I cannot overstate the importance of living somewhere with reliable, clean, and abundant freshwater. Some regions face water scarcity or heavy regulations on usage, so prioritizing a place where water is plentiful and your rights to it are protected is critical. Ideally you should have well access so you are not tied to municipal water supplies. In times of crisis or chaos well water cannot be easily shutoff or disrupted. If you live in an area that is drought prone, you are one drought away from societal chaos. Not enough people appreciate this simple fact.

Grow Your Own Food

A location with fertile soil, a favorable climate, and enough space for a small homestead or at the very least a garden is key. In stable times, a small homestead provides good food and important education for your family. In times of chaos your family being able to grow and raise healthy food provides a level of self sufficiency that many others will lack. Look for areas with minimal restrictions, good weather, and a culture that supports local farming.

Guns

The ability to defend your family is fundamental. A location where you can legally and easily own guns is a must. Look for places with a strong gun culture and a political history of protecting those rights. Owning one or two guns is not enough and without proper training they will be a liability rather than a benefit. Get comfortable and proficient. Never stop improving your skills. If the time comes that you must use a gun to defend your family, the skills must be instinct. Practice. Practice. Practice.

A Strong Community You Can Depend On

No one thrives alone. A ride or die community that rallies together in tough times is invaluable. Seek out a place where people know their neighbors, share similar values, and are quick to lend a hand. Lead by example and become a good neighbor, people will naturally respond in kind. Small towns are ideal, if possible, but living outside of a major city can be a solid balance in terms of work opportunities and family security.

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Let me know if you found this helpful. My plan is to break down how I think about these five key subjects in future posts.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

Here’s a revised timeline of macro-level events from The Mandibles: A Family, 2029–2047 by Lionel Shriver, reimagined in a world where Bitcoin is adopted as a widely accepted form of money, altering the original narrative’s assumptions about currency collapse and economic control. In Shriver’s original story, the failure of Bitcoin is assumed amid the dominance of the bancor and the dollar’s collapse. Here, Bitcoin’s success reshapes the economic and societal trajectory, decentralizing power and challenging state-driven outcomes.

Part One: 2029–2032

• 2029 (Early Year)\ The United States faces economic strain as the dollar weakens against global shifts. However, Bitcoin, having gained traction emerges as a viable alternative. Unlike the original timeline, the bancor—a supranational currency backed by a coalition of nations—struggles to gain footing as Bitcoin’s decentralized adoption grows among individuals and businesses worldwide, undermining both the dollar and the bancor.

• 2029 (Mid-Year: The Great Renunciation)\ Treasury bonds lose value, and the government bans Bitcoin, labeling it a threat to sovereignty (mirroring the original bancor ban). However, a Bitcoin ban proves unenforceable—its decentralized nature thwarts confiscation efforts, unlike gold in the original story. Hyperinflation hits the dollar as the U.S. prints money, but Bitcoin’s fixed supply shields adopters from currency devaluation, creating a dual-economy split: dollar users suffer, while Bitcoin users thrive.

• 2029 (Late Year)\ Dollar-based inflation soars, emptying stores of goods priced in fiat currency. Meanwhile, Bitcoin transactions flourish in underground and online markets, stabilizing trade for those plugged into the bitcoin ecosystem. Traditional supply chains falter, but peer-to-peer Bitcoin networks enable local and international exchange, reducing scarcity for early adopters. The government’s gold confiscation fails to bolster the dollar, as Bitcoin’s rise renders gold less relevant.

• 2030–2031\ Crime spikes in dollar-dependent urban areas, but Bitcoin-friendly regions see less chaos, as digital wallets and smart contracts facilitate secure trade. The U.S. government doubles down on surveillance to crack down on bitcoin use. A cultural divide deepens: centralized authority weakens in Bitcoin-adopting communities, while dollar zones descend into lawlessness.

• 2032\ By this point, Bitcoin is de facto legal tender in parts of the U.S. and globally, especially in tech-savvy or libertarian-leaning regions. The federal government’s grip slips as tax collection in dollars plummets—Bitcoin’s traceability is low, and citizens evade fiat-based levies. Rural and urban Bitcoin hubs emerge, while the dollar economy remains fractured.

Time Jump: 2032–2047

• Over 15 years, Bitcoin solidifies as a global reserve currency, eroding centralized control. The U.S. government adapts, grudgingly integrating bitcoin into policy, though regional autonomy grows as Bitcoin empowers local economies.

Part Two: 2047

• 2047 (Early Year)\ The U.S. is a hybrid state: Bitcoin is legal tender alongside a diminished dollar. Taxes are lower, collected in BTC, reducing federal overreach. Bitcoin’s adoption has decentralized power nationwide. The bancor has faded, unable to compete with Bitcoin’s grassroots momentum.

• 2047 (Mid-Year)\ Travel and trade flow freely in Bitcoin zones, with no restrictive checkpoints. The dollar economy lingers in poorer areas, marked by decay, but Bitcoin’s dominance lifts overall prosperity, as its deflationary nature incentivizes saving and investment over consumption. Global supply chains rebound, powered by bitcoin enabled efficiency.

• 2047 (Late Year)\ The U.S. is a patchwork of semi-autonomous zones, united by Bitcoin’s universal acceptance rather than federal control. Resource scarcity persists due to past disruptions, but economic stability is higher than in Shriver’s original dystopia—Bitcoin’s success prevents the authoritarian slide, fostering a freer, if imperfect, society.

Key Differences

• Currency Dynamics: Bitcoin’s triumph prevents the bancor’s dominance and mitigates hyperinflation’s worst effects, offering a lifeline outside state control.
• Government Power: Centralized authority weakens as Bitcoin evades bans and taxation, shifting power to individuals and communities.
• Societal Outcome: Instead of a surveillance state, 2047 sees a decentralized, bitcoin driven world—less oppressive, though still stratified between Bitcoin haves and have-nots.

This reimagining assumes Bitcoin overcomes Shriver’s implied skepticism to become a robust, adopted currency by 2029, fundamentally altering the novel’s bleak trajectory.

@ 6ad3e2a3:c90b7740

I’ve written about MSTR twice already, https://www.chrisliss.com/p/mstr and https://www.chrisliss.com/p/mstr-part-2, but I want to focus on legendary short seller James Chanos’ current trade wherein he buys bitcoin (via ETF) and shorts MSTR, in essence to “be like Mike” Saylor who sells MSTR shares at the market and uses them to add bitcoin to the company’s balance sheet. After all, if it’s good enough for Saylor, why shouldn’t everyone be doing it — shorting a company whose stock price is more than 2x its bitcoin holdings and using the proceeds to buy the bitcoin itself?

Saylor himself has said selling shares at 2x NAV (net asset value) to buy bitcoin is like selling dollars for two dollars each, and Chanos has apparently decided to get in while the getting (market cap more than 2x net asset value) is good. If the price of bitcoin moons, sending MSTR’s shares up, you are more than hedged in that event, too. At least that’s the theory.

The problem with this bet against MSTR’s mNAV, i.e., you are betting MSTR’s market cap will converge 1:1 toward its NAV in the short and medium term is this trade does not exist in a vacuum. Saylor has described how his ATM’s (at the market) sales of shares are accretive in BTC per share because of this very premium they carry. Yes, we’ll dilute your shares of the company, but because we’re getting you 2x the bitcoin per share, you are getting an ever smaller slice of an ever bigger overall pie, and the pie is growing 2x faster than your slice is reducing. (I https://www.chrisliss.com/p/mstr how this works in my first post.)

But for this accretion to continue, there must be a constant supply of “greater fools” to pony up for the infinitely printable shares which contain only half their value in underlying bitcoin. Yes, those shares will continue to accrete more BTC per share, but only if there are more fools willing to make this trade in the future. So will there be a constant supply of such “fools” to keep fueling MSTR’s mNAV multiple indefinitely?

Yes, there will be in my opinion because you have to look at the trade from the prospective fools’ perspective. Those “fools” are not trading bitcoin for MSTR, they are trading their dollars, selling other equities to raise them maybe, but in the end it’s a dollars for shares trade. They are not selling bitcoin for them.

You might object that those same dollars could buy bitcoin instead, so they are surely trading the opportunity cost of buying bitcoin for them, but if only 5-10 percent of the market (or less) is buying bitcoin itself, the bucket in which which those “fools” reside is the entire non-bitcoin-buying equity market. (And this is not considering the even larger debt market which Saylor has yet to tap in earnest.)

So for those 90-95 percent who do not and are not presently planning to own bitcoin itself, is buying MSTR a fool’s errand, so to speak? Not remotely. If MSTR shares are infinitely printable ATM, they are still less so than the dollar and other fiat currencies. And MSTR shares are backed 2:1 by bitcoin itself, while the fiat currencies are backed by absolutely nothing. So if you hold dollars or euros, trading them for MSTR shares is an errand more sage than foolish.

That’s why this trade (buying BTC and shorting MSTR) is so dangerous. Not only are there many people who won’t buy BTC buying MSTR, there are many funds and other investment entities who are only able to buy MSTR.

Do you want to get BTC at 1:1 with the 5-10 percent or MSTR backed 2:1 with the 90-95 percent. This is a bit like medical tests that have a 95 percent accuracy rate for an asymptomatic disease that only one percent of the population has. If someone tests positive, it’s more likely to be a false one than an indication he has the disease*. The accuracy rate, even at 19:1, is subservient to the size of the respective populations.

At some point this will no longer be the case, but so long as the understanding of bitcoin is not widespread, so long as the dollar is still the unit of account, the “greater fools” buying MSTR are still miles ahead of the greatest fools buying neither, and the stock price and mNAV should only increase.

. . .

One other thought: it’s more work to play defense than offense because the person on offense knows where he’s going, and the defender can only react to him once he moves. Similarly, Saylor by virtue of being the issuer of the shares knows when more will come online while Chanos and other short sellers are borrowing them to sell in reaction to Saylor’s strategy. At any given moment, Saylor can pause anytime, choosing to issue convertible debt or preferred shares with which to buy more bitcoin, and the shorts will not be given advance notice.

If the price runs, and there is no ATM that week because Saylor has stopped on a dime, so to speak, the shorts will be left having to scramble to change directions and buy the shares back to cover. Their momentum might be in the wrong direction, though, and like Allen Iverson breaking ankles with a crossover, Saylor might trigger a massive short squeeze, rocketing the share price ever higher. That’s why he actually welcomes Chanos et al trying this copycat strategy — it becomes the fuel for outsized gains.

For that reason, news that Chanos is shorting MSTR has not shaken my conviction, though there are other more pertinent https://www.chrisliss.com/p/mstr-part-2 with MSTR, of which one should be aware. And as always, do your own due diligence before investing in anything.

* To understand this, consider a population of 100,000, with one percent having a disease. That means 1,000 have it, 99,000 do not. If the test is 95 percent accurate, and everyone is tested, 950 of the 1,000 will test positive (true positives), 50 who have it will test negative (false negatives.) Of the positives, 95 percent of 99,000 (94,050) will test negative (true negatives) and five percent (4,950) will test positive (false positives). That means 4,950 out of 5,900 positives (84%) will be false.

@ b83a28b7:35919450

This article was originally part of the sermon of Plebchain Radio Episode 111 (May 2, 2025) that nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqpqtvqc82mv8cezhax5r34n4muc2c4pgjz8kaye2smj032nngg52clq7fgefr and I did with nostr:nprofile1qythwumn8ghj7ct5d3shxtnwdaehgu3wd3skuep0qyt8wumn8ghj7ct4w35zumn0wd68yvfwvdhk6tcqyzx4h2fv3n9r6hrnjtcrjw43t0g0cmmrgvjmg525rc8hexkxc0kd2rhtk62 and nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqpq4wxtsrj7g2jugh70pfkzjln43vgn4p7655pgky9j9w9d75u465pqahkzd0 of the nostr:nprofile1qythwumn8ghj7ct5d3shxtnwdaehgu3wd3skuep0qyt8wumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtcqyqwfvwrccp4j2xsuuvkwg0y6a20637t6f4cc5zzjkx030dkztt7t5hydajn

Listen to the full episode here:

<<https://fountain.fm/episode/Ln9Ej0zCZ5dEwfo8w2Ho>>

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Bitcoin has always been a narrative revolution disguised as code. White paper, cypherpunk lore, pizza‑day legends - every block is a paragraph in the world’s most relentless epic. But code alone rarely converts the skeptic; it’s the camp‑fire myth that slips past the prefrontal cortex and shakes hands with the limbic system. People don’t adopt protocols first - they fall in love with protagonists.

Early adopters heard the white‑paper hymn, but most folks need characters first: a pizza‑day dreamer; a mother in a small country, crushed by the cost of remittance; a Warsaw street vendor swapping złoty for sats. When their arcs land, the brain releases a neurochemical OP_RETURN which says, “I belong in this plot.” That’s the sly roundabout orange pill: conviction smuggled inside catharsis.

That’s why, from 22–25 May in Warsaw’s Kinoteka, the Bitcoin Film Fest is loading its reels with rebellion. Each documentary, drama, and animated rabbit‑hole is a stealth wallet, zipping conviction straight into the feels of anyone still clasped within the cold claw of fiat. You come for the plot, you leave checking block heights.

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Here's the clip of the sermon from the episode:

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpwp69zm7fewjp0vkp306adnzt7249ytxhz7mq3w5yc629u6er9zsqqsy43fwz8es2wnn65rh0udc05tumdnx5xagvzd88ptncspmesdqhygcrvpf2

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

Bitcoin has always been rooted in freedom and resistance to authority. I get that many of you are conflicted about the US Government stacking but by design we cannot stop anyone from using bitcoin. Many have asked me for my thoughts on the matter, so let’s rip it.

Concern

One of the most glaring issues with the strategic bitcoin reserve is its foundation, built on stolen bitcoin. For those of us who value private property this is an obvious betrayal of our core principles. Rather than proof of work, the bitcoin that seeds this reserve has been taken by force. The US Government should return the bitcoin stolen from Bitfinex and the Silk Road.

Using stolen bitcoin for the reserve creates a perverse incentive. If governments see bitcoin as a valuable asset, they will ramp up efforts to confiscate more bitcoin. The precedent is a major concern, and I stand strongly against it, but it should be also noted that governments were already seizing coin before the reserve so this is not really a change in policy.

Ideally all seized bitcoin should be burned, by law. This would align incentives properly and make it less likely for the government to actively increase coin seizures. Due to the truly scarce properties of bitcoin, all burned bitcoin helps existing holders through increased purchasing power regardless. This change would be unlikely but those of us in policy circles should push for it regardless. It would be best case scenario for American bitcoiners and would create a strong foundation for the next century of American leadership.

Optimism

The entire point of bitcoin is that we can spend or save it without permission. That said, it is a massive benefit to not have one of the strongest governments in human history actively trying to ruin our lives.

Since the beginning, bitcoiners have faced horrible regulatory trends. KYC, surveillance, and legal cases have made using bitcoin and building bitcoin businesses incredibly difficult. It is incredibly important to note that over the past year that trend has reversed for the first time in a decade. A strategic bitcoin reserve is a key driver of this shift. By holding bitcoin, the strongest government in the world has signaled that it is not just a fringe technology but rather truly valuable, legitimate, and worth stacking.

This alignment of incentives changes everything. The US Government stacking proves bitcoin’s worth. The resulting purchasing power appreciation helps all of us who are holding coin and as bitcoin succeeds our government receives direct benefit. A beautiful positive feedback loop.

Realism

We are trending in the right direction. A strategic bitcoin reserve is a sign that the state sees bitcoin as an asset worth embracing rather than destroying. That said, there is a lot of work left to be done. We cannot be lulled into complacency, the time to push forward is now, and we cannot take our foot off the gas. We have a seat at the table for the first time ever. Let's make it worth it.

We must protect the right to free usage of bitcoin and other digital technologies. Freedom in the digital age must be taken and defended, through both technical and political avenues. Multiple privacy focused developers are facing long jail sentences for building tools that protect our freedom. These cases are not just legal battles. They are attacks on the soul of bitcoin. We need to rally behind them, fight for their freedom, and ensure the ethos of bitcoin survives this new era of government interest. The strategic reserve is a step in the right direction, but it is up to us to hold the line and shape the future.

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

You'd think I'd be most excited to talk about that awesome Pacers game, but, no. What I'm most excited about this week is that @grayruby wants to continue Beefing with Cowherd.

Still, I am excited to talk about Tyrese Haliburton becoming a legendary Knicks antagonist. Unfortunately, the Western Conference Finals are not as exciting. Also, why was the MVP announcement so dumb?

The T20k cricket contest is tightening up, as we head towards the finish. Can @Coinsreporter hold on to his vanishing lead?

@Carresan has launched Football Madness. Let's see if we understand whatever the hell this is any better than we did last week.

On this week's Blok'd Shots, we'll ridicule Canada for their disgraceful loss in the World Championships and talk about the very dominant American Florida Panthers, who are favorites to win the Stanley Cup.

Are the Colorado the worst team in MLB history?

The Tush Push has survived another season. Will the NFL eventually ban it or will teams adjust?

Plus, whatever else Stackers want to talk about.

https://stacker.news/items/987399

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

Recently we have seen a wave of high profile X accounts hacked. These attacks have exposed the fragility of the status quo security model used by modern social media platforms like X. Many users have asked if nostr fixes this, so lets dive in. How do these types of attacks translate into the world of nostr apps? For clarity, I will use X’s security model as representative of most big tech social platforms and compare it to nostr.

The Status Quo

On X, you never have full control of your account. Ultimately to use it requires permission from the company. They can suspend your account or limit your distribution. Theoretically they can even post from your account at will. An X account is tied to an email and password. Users can also opt into two factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of protection, a login code generated by an app. In theory, this setup works well, but it places a heavy burden on users. You need to create a strong, unique password and safeguard it. You also need to ensure your email account and phone number remain secure, as attackers can exploit these to reset your credentials and take over your account. Even if you do everything responsibly, there is another weak link in X infrastructure itself. The platform’s infrastructure allows accounts to be reset through its backend. This could happen maliciously by an employee or through an external attacker who compromises X’s backend. When an account is compromised, the legitimate user often gets locked out, unable to post or regain control without contacting X’s support team. That process can be slow, frustrating, and sometimes fruitless if support denies the request or cannot verify your identity. Often times support will require users to provide identification info in order to regain access, which represents a privacy risk. The centralized nature of X means you are ultimately at the mercy of the company’s systems and staff.

Nostr Requires Responsibility

Nostr flips this model radically. Users do not need permission from a company to access their account, they can generate as many accounts as they want, and cannot be easily censored. The key tradeoff here is that users have to take complete responsibility for their security. Instead of relying on a username, password, and corporate servers, nostr uses a private key as the sole credential for your account. Users generate this key and it is their responsibility to keep it safe. As long as you have your key, you can post. If someone else gets it, they can post too. It is that simple. This design has strong implications. Unlike X, there is no backend reset option. If your key is compromised or lost, there is no customer support to call. In a compromise scenario, both you and the attacker can post from the account simultaneously. Neither can lock the other out, since nostr relays simply accept whatever is signed with a valid key.

The benefit? No reliance on proprietary corporate infrastructure.. The negative? Security rests entirely on how well you protect your key.

Future Nostr Security Improvements

For many users, nostr’s standard security model, storing a private key on a phone with an encrypted cloud backup, will likely be sufficient. It is simple and reasonably secure. That said, nostr’s strength lies in its flexibility as an open protocol. Users will be able to choose between a range of security models, balancing convenience and protection based on need.

One promising option is a web of trust model for key rotation. Imagine pre-selecting a group of trusted friends. If your account is compromised, these people could collectively sign an event announcing the compromise to the network and designate a new key as your legitimate one. Apps could handle this process seamlessly in the background, notifying followers of the switch without much user interaction. This could become a popular choice for average users, but it is not without tradeoffs. It requires trust in your chosen web of trust, which might not suit power users or large organizations. It also has the issue that some apps may not recognize the key rotation properly and followers might get confused about which account is “real.”

For those needing higher security, there is the option of multisig using FROST (Flexible Round-Optimized Schnorr Threshold). In this setup, multiple keys must sign off on every action, including posting and updating a profile. A hacker with just one key could not do anything. This is likely overkill for most users due to complexity and inconvenience, but it could be a game changer for large organizations, companies, and governments. Imagine the White House nostr account requiring signatures from multiple people before a post goes live, that would be much more secure than the status quo big tech model.

Another option are hardware signers, similar to bitcoin hardware wallets. Private keys are kept on secure, offline devices, separate from the internet connected phone or computer you use to broadcast events. This drastically reduces the risk of remote hacks, as private keys never touches the internet. It can be used in combination with multisig setups for extra protection. This setup is much less convenient and probably overkill for most but could be ideal for governments, companies, or other high profile accounts.

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Nostr’s security model is not perfect but is robust and versatile. Ultimately users are in control and security is their responsibility. Apps will give users multiple options to choose from and users will choose what best fits their need.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

In much of the world, it is incredibly difficult to access U.S. dollars. Local currencies are often poorly managed and riddled with corruption. Billions of people demand a more reliable alternative. While the dollar has its own issues of corruption and mismanagement, it is widely regarded as superior to the fiat currencies it competes with globally. As a result, Tether has found massive success providing low cost, low friction access to dollars. Tether claims 400 million total users, is on track to add 200 million more this year, processes 8.1 million transactions daily, and facilitates $29 billion in daily transfers. Furthermore, their estimates suggest nearly 40% of users rely on it as a savings tool rather than just a transactional currency.

Tether’s rise has made the company a financial juggernaut. Last year alone, Tether raked in over $13 billion in profit, with a lean team of less than 100 employees. Their business model is elegantly simple: hold U.S. Treasuries and collect the interest. With over $113 billion in Treasuries, Tether has turned a straightforward concept into a profit machine.

Tether’s success has resulted in many competitors eager to claim a piece of the pie. This has triggered a massive venture capital grift cycle in USD tokens, with countless projects vying to dethrone Tether. Due to Tether’s entrenched network effect, these challengers face an uphill battle with little realistic chance of success. Most educated participants in the space likely recognize this reality but seem content to perpetuate the grift, hoping to cash out by dumping their equity positions on unsuspecting buyers before they realize the reality of the situation.

Historically, Tether’s greatest vulnerability has been U.S. government intervention. For over a decade, the company operated offshore with few allies in the U.S. establishment, making it a major target for regulatory action. That dynamic has shifted recently and Tether has seized the opportunity. By actively courting U.S. government support, Tether has fortified their position. This strategic move will likely cement their status as the dominant USD token for years to come.

While undeniably a great tool for the millions of users that rely on it, Tether is not without flaws. As a centralized, trusted third party, it holds the power to freeze or seize funds at its discretion. Corporate mismanagement or deliberate malpractice could also lead to massive losses at scale. In their goal of mitigating regulatory risk, Tether has deepened ties with law enforcement, mirroring some of the concerns of potential central bank digital currencies. In practice, Tether operates as a corporate CBDC alternative, collaborating with authorities to surveil and seize funds. The company proudly touts partnerships with leading surveillance firms and its own data reveals cooperation in over 1,000 law enforcement cases, with more than $2.5 billion in funds frozen.

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The global demand for Tether is undeniable and the company’s profitability reflects its unrivaled success. Tether is owned and operated by bitcoiners and will likely continue to push forward strategic goals that help the movement as a whole. Recent efforts to mitigate the threat of U.S. government enforcement will likely solidify their network effect and stifle meaningful adoption of rival USD tokens or CBDCs. Yet, for all their achievements, Tether is simply a worse form of money than bitcoin. Tether requires trust in a centralized entity, while bitcoin can be saved or spent without permission. Furthermore, Tether is tied to the value of the US Dollar which is designed to lose purchasing power over time, while bitcoin, as a truly scarce asset, is designed to increase in purchasing power with adoption. As people awaken to the risks of Tether’s control, and the benefits bitcoin provides, bitcoin adoption will likely surpass it.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

One of the most common criticisms leveled against nostr is the perceived lack of assurance when it comes to data storage. Critics argue that without a centralized authority guaranteeing that all data is preserved, important information will be lost. They also claim that running a relay will become prohibitively expensive. While there is truth to these concerns, they miss the mark. The genius of nostr lies in its flexibility, resilience, and the way it harnesses human incentives to ensure data availability in practice.

A nostr relay is simply a server that holds cryptographically verifiable signed data and makes it available to others. Relays are simple, flexible, open, and require no permission to run. Critics are right that operating a relay attempting to store all nostr data will be costly. What they miss is that most will not run all encompassing archive relays. Nostr does not rely on massive archive relays. Instead, anyone can run a relay and choose to store whatever subset of data they want. This keeps costs low and operations flexible, making relay operation accessible to all sorts of individuals and entities with varying use cases.

Critics are correct that there is no ironclad guarantee that every piece of data will always be available. Unlike bitcoin where data permanence is baked into the system at a steep cost, nostr does not promise that every random note or meme will be preserved forever. That said, in practice, any data perceived as valuable by someone will likely be stored and distributed by multiple entities. If something matters to someone, they will keep a signed copy.

Nostr is the Streisand Effect in protocol form. The Streisand effect is when an attempt to suppress information backfires, causing it to spread even further. With nostr, anyone can broadcast signed data, anyone can store it, and anyone can distribute it. Try to censor something important? Good luck. The moment it catches attention, it will be stored on relays across the globe, copied, and shared by those who find it worth keeping. Data deemed important will be replicated across servers by individuals acting in their own interest.

Nostr’s distributed nature ensures that the system does not rely on a single point of failure or a corporate overlord. Instead, it leans on the collective will of its users. The result is a network where costs stay manageable, participation is open to all, and valuable verifiable data is stored and distributed forever.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

Capitalism is the most effective system for scaling innovation. The pursuit of profit is an incredibly powerful human incentive. Most major improvements to human society and quality of life have resulted from this base incentive. Market competition often results in the best outcomes for all.

That said, some projects can never be monetized. They are open in nature and a business model would centralize control. Open protocols like bitcoin and nostr are not owned by anyone and if they were it would destroy the key value propositions they provide. No single entity can or should control their use. Anyone can build on them without permission.

As a result, open protocols must depend on donation based grant funding from the people and organizations that rely on them. This model works but it is slow and uncertain, a grind where sustainability is never fully reached but rather constantly sought. As someone who has been incredibly active in the open source grant funding space, I do not think people truly appreciate how difficult it is to raise charitable money and deploy it efficiently.

Projects that can be monetized should be. Profitability is a super power. When a business can generate revenue, it taps into a self sustaining cycle. Profit fuels growth and development while providing projects independence and agency. This flywheel effect is why companies like Google, Amazon, and Apple have scaled to global dominance. The profit incentive aligns human effort with efficiency. Businesses must innovate, cut waste, and deliver value to survive.

Contrast this with non monetized projects. Without profit, they lean on external support, which can dry up or shift with donor priorities. A profit driven model, on the other hand, is inherently leaner and more adaptable. It is not charity but survival. When survival is tied to delivering what people want, scale follows naturally.

The real magic happens when profitable, sustainable businesses are built on top of open protocols and software. Consider the many startups building on open source software stacks, such as Start9, Mempool, and Primal, offering premium services on top of the open source software they build out and maintain. Think of companies like Block or Strike, which leverage bitcoin’s open protocol to offer their services on top. These businesses amplify the open software and protocols they build on, driving adoption and improvement at a pace donations alone could never match.

When you combine open software and protocols with profit driven business the result are lean, sustainable companies that grow faster and serve more people than either could alone. Bitcoin’s network, for instance, benefits from businesses that profit off its existence, while nostr will expand as developers monetize apps built on the protocol.

Capitalism scales best because competition results in efficiency. Donation funded protocols and software lay the groundwork, while market driven businesses build on top. The profit incentive acts as a filter, ensuring resources flow to what works, while open systems keep the playing field accessible, empowering users and builders. Together, they create a flywheel of innovation, growth, and global benefit.

@ 08f96856:ffe59a09

เมื่อพูดถึง Bitcoin Standard หลายคนมักนึกถึงภาพโลกอนาคตที่ทุกคนใช้บิตคอยน์ซื้อกาแฟหรือของใช้ในชีวิตประจำวัน ภาพแบบนั้นดูเหมือนไกลตัวและเป็นไปไม่ได้ในความเป็นจริง หลายคนถึงกับพูดว่า “คงไม่ทันเห็นในช่วงชีวิตนี้หรอก” แต่ในมุมมองของผม Bitcoin Standard อาจไม่ได้เริ่มต้นจากการที่เราจ่ายบิตคอยน์โดยตรงในร้านค้า แต่อาจเริ่มจากบางสิ่งที่เงียบกว่า ลึกกว่า และเกิดขึ้นแล้วในขณะนี้ นั่นคือ การล่มสลายทีละน้อยของระบบเฟียตที่เราใช้กันอยู่

ระบบเงินที่อิงกับอำนาจรัฐกำลังเข้าสู่ช่วงขาลง รัฐบาลทั่วโลกกำลังจมอยู่ในภาระหนี้ระดับประวัติการณ์ แม้แต่ประเทศมหาอำนาจก็เริ่มแสดงสัญญาณของภาวะเสี่ยงผิดนัดชำระหนี้ อัตราเงินเฟ้อกลายเป็นปัญหาเรื้อรังที่ไม่มีท่าทีจะหายไป ธนาคารที่เคยโอนฟรีเริ่มกลับมาคิดค่าธรรมเนียม และประชาชนก็เริ่มรู้สึกถึงการเสื่อมศรัทธาในระบบการเงินดั้งเดิม แม้จะยังพูดกันไม่เต็มเสียงก็ตาม

ในขณะเดียวกัน บิตคอยน์เองก็กำลังพัฒนาแบบเงียบ ๆ เงียบ... แต่ไม่เคยหยุด โดยเฉพาะในระดับ Layer 2 ที่เริ่มแสดงศักยภาพอย่างจริงจัง Lightning Network เป็น Layer 2 ที่เปิดใช้งานมาได้ระยะเวลสหนึ่ง และยังคงมีบทบาทสำคัญที่สุดในระบบนิเวศของบิตคอยน์ มันทำให้การชำระเงินเร็วขึ้น มีต้นทุนต่ำ และไม่ต้องบันทึกทุกธุรกรรมลงบล็อกเชน เครือข่ายนี้กำลังขยายตัวทั้งในแง่ของโหนดและการใช้งานจริงทั่วโลก

ขณะเดียวกัน Layer 2 ทางเลือกอื่นอย่าง Ark Protocol ก็กำลังพัฒนาเพื่อตอบโจทย์ด้านความเป็นส่วนตัวและประสบการณ์ใช้งานที่ง่าย BitVM เปิดแนวทางใหม่ให้บิตคอยน์รองรับ smart contract ได้ในระดับ Turing-complete ซึ่งทำให้เกิดความเป็นไปได้ในกรณีใช้งานอีกมากมาย และเทคโนโลยีที่น่าสนใจอย่าง Taproot Assets, Cashu และ Fedimint ก็ทำให้การออกโทเคนหรือสกุลเงินที่อิงกับบิตคอยน์เป็นจริงได้บนโครงสร้างของบิตคอยน์เอง

เทคโนโลยีเหล่านี้ไม่ใช่การเติบโตแบบปาฏิหาริย์ แต่มันคืบหน้าอย่างต่อเนื่องและมั่นคง และนั่นคือเหตุผลที่มันจะ “อยู่รอด” ได้ในระยะยาว เมื่อฐานของความน่าเชื่อถือไม่ใช่บริษัท รัฐบาล หรือทุน แต่คือสิ่งที่ตรวจสอบได้และเปลี่ยนกฎไม่ได้

แน่นอนว่าบิตคอยน์ต้องแข่งขันกับ stable coin, เงินดิจิทัลของรัฐ และ cryptocurrency อื่น ๆ แต่สิ่งที่ทำให้มันเหนือกว่านั้นไม่ใช่ฟีเจอร์ หากแต่เป็นความทนทาน และความมั่นคงของกฎที่ไม่มีใครเปลี่ยนได้ ไม่มีทีมพัฒนา ไม่มีบริษัท ไม่มีประตูปิด หรือการยึดบัญชี มันยืนอยู่บนคณิตศาสตร์ พลังงาน และเวลา

หลายกรณีใช้งานที่เคยถูกทดลองในโลกคริปโตจะค่อย ๆ เคลื่อนเข้ามาสู่บิตคอยน์ เพราะโครงสร้างของมันแข็งแกร่งกว่า ไม่ต้องการทีมพัฒนาแกนกลาง ไม่ต้องพึ่งกลไกเสี่ยงต่อการผูกขาด และไม่ต้องการ “ความเชื่อใจ” จากใครเลย

Bitcoin Standard ที่ผมพูดถึงจึงไม่ใช่การเปลี่ยนแปลงแบบพลิกหน้ามือเป็นหลังมือ แต่คือการ “เปลี่ยนฐานของระบบ” ทีละชั้น ระบบการเงินใหม่ที่อิงอยู่กับบิตคอยน์กำลังเกิดขึ้นแล้ว มันไม่ใช่โลกที่ทุกคนถือเหรียญบิตคอยน์ แต่มันคือโลกที่คนใช้อาจไม่รู้ตัวด้วยซ้ำว่า “สิ่งที่เขาใช้นั้นอิงอยู่กับบิตคอยน์”

ผู้คนอาจใช้เงินดิจิทัลที่สร้างบน Layer 3 หรือ Layer 4 ผ่านแอป ผ่านแพลตฟอร์ม หรือผ่านสกุลเงินใหม่ที่ดูไม่ต่างจากเดิม แต่เบื้องหลังของระบบจะผูกไว้กับบิตคอยน์

และถ้ามองในเชิงพัฒนาการ บิตคอยน์ก็เหมือนกับอินเทอร์เน็ต ครั้งหนึ่งอินเทอร์เน็ตก็ถูกมองว่าเข้าใจยาก ต้องพิมพ์ http ต้องรู้จัก TCP/IP ต้องตั้ง proxy เอง แต่ปัจจุบันผู้คนใช้งานอินเทอร์เน็ตโดยไม่รู้ว่าเบื้องหลังมีอะไรเลย บิตคอยน์กำลังเดินตามเส้นทางเดียวกัน โปรโตคอลกำลังถอยออกจากสายตา และวันหนึ่งเราจะ “ใช้มัน” โดยไม่ต้องรู้ว่ามันคืออะไร

หากนับจากช่วงเริ่มต้นของอินเทอร์เน็ตในยุค 1990 จนกลายเป็นโครงสร้างหลักของโลกในสองทศวรรษ เส้นเวลาของบิตคอยน์ก็กำลังเดินตามรอยเท้าของอินเทอร์เน็ต และถ้าเราเชื่อว่าวัฏจักรของเทคโนโลยีมีจังหวะของมันเอง เราก็จะรู้ว่า Bitcoin Standard นั้นไม่ใช่เรื่องของอนาคตไกลโพ้น แต่มันเกิดขึ้นแล้ว

siamstr

@ 99e7936f:d5d2197c

Staugefahr

Manchmal ist der Lehrer interessanter als der Unterrichtsinhalt. Man lernt dann beiläufig, obwohl  das Thema öde ist. Mir ging das vor vielen Jahren so, als ich in meiner Ausbildung zur Krankenschwester Inhalte zum Thema Hygiene lernen durfte. Unser Lehrer für Hygiene duschte morgens in der Schule, bevor er uns unterrichtete, damit er, sauber vor uns sitzend, glaubwürdig über die permanente Gefahr der Mikroorganismen im Klinikalltag reden konnte. Er lebte das, was er predigte. Er bot pathogenen Keimen keinen Nährboden. Er pflegte sich und seine Kleidung penibel. Er trug Hosen, Pullover und Schuhe aus den 70ern, die kaum Gebrauchsspuren aufwiesen. Er blieb Überzeugungen, die er einmal für richtig befunden hatte, treu, war aber stets bereit, etwas Neues anzunehmen, wenn dies Sinn machte. Bevor er jedoch Neues annahm, prüfte er mehrfach gründlich, las Fachliteratur und vermied Gespräche mit Experten.

Er versuchte damals, Entscheidungsträger in der Klinik darüber aufzuklären, wie man mit einfachen Mitteln Infektionen im Hause hätte minimieren können. Meist wurden seine Vorschläge nur zögerlich umgesetzt, obwohl seine Argumente fachlich richtig waren.

Mir kommt es heute mit dem Thema „Trauma“ und „traumatisierte Gesellschaft“ ähnlich vor. Niemand möchte sich mit dem Thema beschäftigen, obwohl doch alle wissen müssten, dass viele unangenehme Verhaltensweisen von Menschen im Alltag oder in der Politik etwas mit diesem Thema zu tun haben. Aber das Thema scheint irgendwie unbequem, mühsam und, vor allem, nicht greifbar.

Ein Trauma kann man genau so wenig sehen wie einen pathogenen Keim, deswegen scheint die Auseinandersetzung mit diesem Thema wie eine unappetitliche und lästige Pflichtaufgabe, die man nur mit spitzen Fingern anfasst, wenn überhaupt.

Wie kann man dieses dringend zu besprechende Thema „Trauma“ sichtbar machen?

Vielleicht geht das mit dem Bild vom Stau auf der Autobahn. Den kennt jeder. Und den Stau kann man nicht übersehen. Große leuchtende Schilder weisen auf ihn hin, damit man nicht unvorbereitet in ihn hinein fährt. Überall wird vor dem Stau gewarnt. Und trotzdem passiert er, denn wir sind der Stau, wir selbst machen den Stau.

Stau passiert, weil es Hindernisse auf unserem Weg gibt.

Der Stau ist VOR dem Hindernis. Die Traumafolgen sind gewissermaßen der Stau in unserem Leben, obwohl das Trauma HINTER uns liegt. Wie geht das? Ein Trauma liegt zeitlich gesehen zwar in der Vergangenheit, aber energetisch gesehen liegt es immer vor uns. Es begleitet uns, verfolgt uns, holt uns ein. Energie kennt kein VOR oder HINTER. Energie ist allgegenwärtig. Sobald das Trauma integriert ist, hört dieser Spuk auf. Aber ein nicht bearbeitetes Trauma stellt definitiv ein Hindernis auf unserem (Lebens)Weg dar. Es liegt dann VOR uns.

Dieser Vergleich humpelt ein wenig, zeigt aber dennoch die einfachen Mechanismen von Trauma auf, wie ich finde.

Auf der Autobahn gibt es also ein Hindernis. Entweder gibt es eine bekannte Baustelle, die wir bereits beim Planen der Route zur Kenntnis genommen haben (Trauma ist bereits gut bekannt). Oder es gibt einen Unfall auf der Strecke vor uns, den niemand absehen konnte (Das frühe Trauma wird in einer Alltagssituation plötzlich aktiviert). Jedenfalls stehen wir dann geplant oder ungeplant im Stau, vielmehr sind wir der Stau. Es geht nur langsam oder gar nicht mehr weiter, obwohl der (Lebens)Motor läuft. Bei Trauma ist das auch so. Trauma bewirkt ganz viel Entwicklungsverzögerung in einzelnen Lebensbereichen. Menschen erlernen mehrere Berufe, brauchen länger, um beruflich anzukommen, heiraten später, mehrfach oder nie. Menschen mit Trauma haben manchmal auch beruflich wie privat große Erfolge, fallen dann aber tief, um dadurch letztlich neu geboren zu werden. Trauma sieht man nicht immer auf den ersten Blick. Es kann auch hinter jeder normalen Fassade stecken. Je nach Schwere des Traumas, kann Trauma auch alle Lebensbereiche gleichermaßen treffen. Das  entspricht dann dem Pendler, der regelmäßig Sommer wie Winter im Stau steht und auch schon selbst mal eine Panne, im Stau stehend, hatte.

Man erreicht einfach nicht die Ziele, die man sich selbst gesteckt hat. Man kann dann versuchen, die nächste Abfahrt zu nehmen, einen Umweg zu fahren, während des Staus etwas anderes zu erledigen, sich selbst zu erzählen, dass ein Stau gar kein Hindernis sei, sondern eine prima Gelegenheit, um eine Pause zu machen. Und man kann andere Menschen anrufen und erklären, dass man später komme oder sonstiges tun. Aber man steht im Stau, man ist der Stau. Es geht nicht so weiter, wie gewünscht, und man muss das hinnehmen. Verschiedene unangenehme Gefühle melden sich zwangsläufig. Man stellt sich die Sinnfrage, man schaut, wie andere mit dem Stau umgehen, und man möchte gefühlt nie wieder in einem Stau stehen, weil es nervt. Es bringt einen nicht um, aber es nervt. Und es ist ja nicht das erste Mal. Man möchte so gern ein Leben haben ohne Stau. Das wär´s. Es nervt einfach. Und dann nach langer Zeit, mit Blick auf die Tankanzeige, geht es endlich weiter. Die Autos fahren langsam an und der Verkehr rollt wieder. Man wirft einen kurzen Blick auf das Verkehrshindernis und fährt dann zügig weiter. Denn man will nur noch weg von diesem Streckenabschnitt/ Lebensabschnitt. Der Stresspegel im Körper geht runter, man atmet durch und entspannt sich. Aber es war unschön. Nächstes Mal will man die Route besser planen oder gleich mit dem Zug fahren. Man ist erleichtert und hat endlich die Kontrolle über sein Leben zurück. Jetzt ist alles möglich.

Es gibt viele Parallelen zwischen einem Stau und einem Trauma bzw. den Traumafolgen.

Traumabewältigung ist jedoch viel schmerzhafter, als an einem Verkehrshindernis nach längerer Wartezeit einfach vorbei zu fahren. Und man verpasst auch mehr im Leben als nur eine Stunde Zeit, die man auf leblosem Asphalt verbringt. Der Preis, den man für Trauma bezahlt, ist kaum zu beziffern. Und ein Trauma wirft nicht nur die Sinnfrage auf, sondern auch die Frage nach der eigenen Identität. Im Stau auf der Autobahn weiß ich genau, wer ich bin. Aber nach einem frühen Trauma gehen einige Seelenanteile auf eine lange Reise. Und wenn ein Trauma später im Leben passiert, dann sagen Menschen: „Ich habe mich selbst nicht mehr wieder erkannt.“ Trauma wirbelt alles in Dir durcheinander. Und genau darin liegt die Chance. Du musst jedes Teil, jeden Aspekt Deiner Persönlichkeit einzeln in die Hand nehmen, an den richtigen Ort zurück legen, und dadurch lernst Du Dich selbst kennen (und lieben) wie nie zuvor. Der Gewinn von Traumaarbeit übersteigt den zuvor gezahlten Preis. Das nennt man dann posttraumatisches Wachstum. Man ist erleichtert und hat viel mehr als nur die Kontrolle über sein Leben zurück. Eigentlich ist das schon die ganze Geschichte.

Das riesige Problem an der Traumabewältigung ist halt, dass es ein so  schmerzhafter und langwieriger Prozess ist. Aber auch hier gibt es gute Nachrichten. Viel von dem Kummer, den wir „im Stau“ erleben, hat etwas mit unseren positiv wie negativ übertriebenen Erwartungen an uns und andere und dem verloren gegangenen Kulturwissen in Bezug auf das Thema „Trauma“ zu tun. Trauma hat die Eigenart, in Vergessenheit zu geraten. Daher gibt es viele falsche Verkehrsmeldungen diesbezüglich. Deswegen möchte ich mein Erfahrungswissen zum Thema „Trauma“ teilen, weil ich denke, dass das Ängste abbauen kann, sich diesem Thema auf ganz natürliche Weise anzunähern, vergleichbar mit der WDR-Produktion „der siebte Sinn“ und getreu dem Motto „Gefahr erkannt, Gefahr gebannt“.

Man kann jedes Problem aufbauschen oder sachlich betrachten. Und es macht einen riesigen Unterschied, ob man mit einem Problem allein gelassen wird, oder ob man wohlwollende und kundige Hilfe an der Seite hat. Und genau dies sind meine zentralen Kritikpunkte zum Thema. Das Thema „Trauma“ wird  als unlösbar hingestellt und dadurch unnötig aufgebauscht. Deswegen muss man dieses Thema quasi schon vermeiden, wenn man sich nicht den Tag verderben möchte. Und in der Folge werden von Experten Hilfen angepriesen, die aber leider oft nicht zuverlässig helfen können, weil das Thema ja unlösbar ist. Der verhängnisvolle Kreis schließt sich, und man kommt ins Schleudern.

Kulturwissen wird verfälscht und verdreht, ein übles Schleudertrauma entsteht.

Nein, mal im Ernst, ich möchte das Thema sachlich betrachten und zumindest Impulse für eine günstige Betrachtungsweise geben. Diese Impulse kommen aus meinen persönlichen Erfahrungen und aus Beobachtungen, die ich gemacht habe. Mir ist bewusst, dass jeder Mensch Verletzungen und spätere Probleme, die daraus resultieren, unterschiedlich erlebt. Aber vielleicht geht es gerade um diesen in unserer Kultur fehlenden analogen, lebendigen und authentischen Austausch von Nicht-Experten über die verschiedenen Verletzungen, die daraus resultierende Probleme und die ­- sehr wohl - vorhandenen Lösungen.

Trauma ist das, was man draus macht.

Ich persönlich kenne niemanden, der kein Trauma erlebt hat.

Leben bedeutet immer auch, dass man Verletzungen erlebt.

Trauma passiert jedem.

Trauma passiert auch robusten Menschen.

Bestimmte Traumata haben immer sehr ähnliche Traumafolgen. Man ist nicht alleine damit.

Menschen reagieren ähnlich auf bestimmte Ereignisse im Leben, das hängt mit unserem Menschsein, der Biologie und der Evolution zusammen.

Menschen reden nicht gern über ihr Trauma.

Menschen schämen sich für ihr Trauma.

Menschen geben sich selbst die Schuld für ihr Trauma.

Menschen versuchen alles, um ihr Trauma zu vergessen oder ungeschehen zu machen.

Menschen erleben einen tiefen Schmerz durch Trauma.

Menschen werden aggressiv, weil sie selber verletzt wurden.

Menschen werden durch Aggression selbst zum Täter. Diese Gefahr besteht zumindest.

Menschen lehnen sich selbst ab für diese aggressiven Impulse.

Alle Gefühle haben eine Funktion. Auch negative Gefühle haben eine Funktion.

Negative Gefühle beschützen unser Leben.

Deswegen sind auch negative Gefühle im bestimmten Maße gut.

Der Schmerz, der durch Trauma entsteht, hat jedoch eine besondere Funktion.

Streng genommen, ist er kein Gefühl, aber egal.

Er ist jedenfalls der letzte und wichtigste Hüter des Lebens. Man sollte ihn nicht übergehen oder versuchen, ihn weg zu machen. Er ist die rote Ampel, die den Stau regelt.

Eine rote Ampel in einem Stau zu ignorieren, ist verhängnisvoll.

Halte lieber an dieser roten Ampel im Stau, auch wenn es schmerzt.

Dieser Schmerz ist die schwierigste, aber auch wichtigste Herausforderung bei der Traumabewältigung, denn er verzögert Dein ohnehin gestautes Leben noch zusätzlich.

Wer es schafft, die Geduld aufzubringen und sich diesem Schmerz hinzugeben, der erlebt Wunder.

Dieses schlimmste Gefühl bringt Dir quasi Dein Leben und die grüne Welle zurück.

Wenn der Schmerz zu Dir kommt, dann heiße ihn willkommen.

Wir sind gesellschaftlich betrachtet mit unseren unguten Verhaltensweisen mittlerweile im Stau angekommen, und die Ampel, die den Stau regelt, steht auf Rot.

Je ehrlicher wir den Schmerz jetzt zulassen, spüren und nicht wegmachen, desto eher sind wir bereit, unbequeme Veränderungen, die vielleicht mit Verzicht, Orientierungslosigkeit und zaghaften Versuchen zu tun haben, zu beginnen. Im Schmerz wächst ein Bewusstsein dafür, was richtig ist. Und es wächst die Kraft, das Gute zu tun. Der Schmerz macht entschlossen. Der Schmerz zeigt, wo das Lebendige liegt und dass es schützenswert ist. Der Schmerz reduziert unseren Blick auf das Wesentliche, auf das Leben und die Liebe, was aufs Gleiche heraus kommt. Der Schmerz markiert einfach nur die Grenze des Lebens. Und deswegen ist er gut, besonders in diesen Tagen.

Heiße den Schmerz willkommen, er gibt uns alle Information FÜR das Leben.

@ 30b99916:3cc6e3fe

sourcegraph #vibecoding #ai #bitcoin #security

After reading the article Revenge of the junior developer, this inspired me to go take a look at Sourcegraph.com to get a better understanding of all this AI stuff.

The first step was installing the VS Code extension called, Cody which is a coding agent. The Cody features explain the code in a file and review and analyze code did an extremely impressive job with VaultApi and BTCwallet.

VaultApi and BTCwallet are PowerShell scripts that are available from my BTCPAY Server

All of the following output was generated by Cody.

---

Code Analysis of VaultApi.ps1

The VaultApi.ps1 script is generally well-structured and follows many PowerShell best practices. It has comprehensive documentation, version history, and clear parameter definitions. The suggestions below would further enhance what is already a solid codebase. The author has clearly put significant effort into making the script functional and user-friendly, with good attention to cross-platform compatibility and security considerations.

VaultApi.ps1 Explanation

VaultApi.ps1 is a PowerShell script that helps users interact with HashiCorp Vault, which is a tool for securely storing and managing sensitive information like passwords and API keys.

Purpose of the Code

This script makes it easier to use Vault by providing simple commands to start the Vault server, unlock it (unseal), log in, store secrets, retrieve secrets, and shut down the server. Think of it as a friendly interface that simplifies all the complex operations you would otherwise need to do manually with Vault.

Inputs

The script takes several inputs:

• An action parameter that tells the script what operation to perform (like "Start", "Stop", "Kv1Create", "Kv1Read")
• A kvpath parameter that specifies where in Vault to store or retrieve information
• A kvalue parameter for the actual secret value you want to store
• A kvkey parameter that lets you specify a custom name for your secret
• Optional switches like -Info to show more detailed information and -Raw to display output directly instead of copying to clipboard

Outputs

Depending on the action performed, the script produces different outputs:

• Text messages in the console showing the status of operations
• Secret values retrieved from Vault (either displayed or copied to clipboard)
• Lists of available secret paths
• Status information about the Vault server
• Backup files of your Vault data

How It Works

The script works by:

1. First checking if Vault is installed and running
2. Setting up communication with the Vault server using its API address
3. Performing the requested action by sending the appropriate commands to Vault
4. Processing any responses and displaying results to the user

For example, when you use the "Kv1Create" action, the script:

• Checks if you're logged in
• Verifies the path doesn't already exist
• Formats your data correctly
• Sends a request to Vault to create the new secret
• Shows you the result

Important Logic Flows

Some key processes in the script include:

1. Authentication flow: The script helps you log in using either a token or username/password, then stores your authentication token for future commands.

2. Unsealing process: Vault requires multiple keys to unlock (unseal) it after starting. The script can retrieve these keys from a secure file or prompt you to enter them.

3. Secret management: The script handles creating, reading, updating, and deleting secrets, supporting both single values and multiple key-value pairs at a path.

4. Path management: The script can list all available paths and help you search for specific ones, making it easier to organize and find your secrets.

5. Value generation: When creating or updating secrets, you can use the keyword "setvalue" to automatically generate a random 20-character value, which is then copied to your clipboard.

The script uses a configuration file in your home directory to know how to connect to Vault, and it can optionally use encrypted files to store sensitive information like unlock keys. It communicates with Vault using REST API calls, which are like special messages that tell Vault what to do.

In summary, VaultApi.ps1 is a helper tool that makes it much easier to use HashiCorp Vault for securely storing and managing your sensitive information, without needing to remember all the complex commands and procedures.

Code Analysis of BTCwallet.ps1

The script generally follows sound design principles with good organization, comments, and documentation. It demonstrates thoughtful error checking and user interaction. The identified opportunities for enhancement would primarily improve security, maintainability, and robustness rather than addressing fundamental flaws. The script author has clearly put significant effort into creating a comprehensive tool with good documentation and practical functionality.

BTCwallet.ps1 Explanation

The BTCwallet.ps1 script is a PowerShell tool designed to help Bitcoin users manage different wallet applications on a Linux system. It provides a convenient way to start, stop, and check the status of Bitcoin wallets while adding security features.

Purpose

The main purpose of this script is to securely manage Bitcoin wallets, particularly focusing on "cold storage" solutions. Cold storage means keeping your Bitcoin wallet data in an encrypted container that's only mounted when needed, which is more secure than keeping it always accessible ("hot storage").

Inputs

The script takes one main input parameter:

• $action: This can be "start", "stop", or "check" (default), telling the script what operation to perform on your Bitcoin wallet.

Outputs

The script doesn't return data but produces several visible outputs:

• Status messages showing whether wallets are running or stopped
• Prompts for user input when decisions are needed
• Confirmation messages when actions are completed

How It Works

1. When you run the script, it first loads a configuration file (BTCwalletCfg.xml) that contains information about which wallets you have installed.

2. Based on the $action parameter, it performs one of three main functions:

   • Check: Shows if your wallet application is currently running
   • Start: Launches your wallet application, with options for hot or cold storage
   • Stop: Closes your wallet application and securely dismounts any encrypted containers
   • For security, the script can use HashiCorp Vault (a secure password manager) to store sensitive information like passwords for encrypted containers.

3. The script also verifies its own integrity by checking its file hash against a previously stored value, alerting you if the script has been modified.

Important Logic Flows

Starting a Wallet

When starting a wallet, the script:

1. Asks which wallet you want to use (Sparrow, GreenWallet, or Wasabi)
2. Checks if HashiCorp Vault is running and starts it if needed
3. Verifies the script's integrity by comparing file hashes
4. Asks if you want to use hot or cold storage
5. For cold storage, it:
   • Retrieves the encrypted container's location and password
   • Mounts the encrypted container using VeraCrypt
   • Starts the wallet application pointing to the mounted container
6. For hot storage, it simply starts the wallet application with default settings

Stopping a Wallet

When stopping a wallet, the script:

1. Checks if the wallet is still running and asks you to close it first if needed
2. For cold storage wallets, it moves any wallet files back to the encrypted container
3. Dismounts the encrypted container
4. Optionally stops the HashiCorp Vault service

The script handles different wallet applications (Sparrow, GreenWallet, and Wasabi) slightly differently based on how each one stores its data and what command-line options they support.

In summary, BTCwallet.ps1 provides a secure way to manage Bitcoin wallets by combining wallet applications with encrypted storage and password management, all controlled through simple commands.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) Opens $2.1B ATM Program for Strife Preferred Stock 

Strategy has launched a $2.1 billion At-The-Market (ATM) equity program for its Strife (STRF) preferred stock, marking another step in the firm’s long-term strategy to build a Bitcoin-backed financial architecture.

The announcement was made by CEO and President Phong Lee during an investor update alongside Executive Chairman Michael Saylor. According to Lee, strong year-to-date results from the firm’s Bitcoin-linked securities Strike (STRK) and Strife (STRF) gave Strategy the confidence to expand its fundraising strategy. 

BREAKING: Strategy to sell up to $2.1 billion of 10% preferred stock.pic.twitter.com/xufD8uv64v

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 22, 2025

“We’re currently at 16.3% BTC yield for the year, against a 25% target,” Lee said. “BTC dollar gain is $7.7 billion so far, on track toward our $15 billion target.”

Both instruments have outperformed expectations since launch. Strike is up 24% from its initial price of $80 to nearly $100. Strife, which was priced at $85 just two months ago, now trades around $98.80, a 16% increase. By comparison, similarly structured preferreds in the market have declined by 3–5% over the same period. 

In the last 30 days alone, Strike rose 17% and Strife 12%, bringing both close to par value. Lee emphasized the liquidity profile of these instruments, citing average daily trading volumes of $31 million for Strike and $23 million for Strife. “That’s 60x what we typically see in comparable preferreds,” he noted. 

The company previously issued $212 million through Strike’s ATM, with no adverse pricing pressure. Based on the trading volume and investor demand, Lee said the company believes the $2.1 billion Strife ATM can be executed in a similar fashion.

Strife is a perpetual preferred stock with a 10% coupon and sits at the top of Strategy’s capital stack. Saylor described it as “the crown jewel” of the company’s preferred offerings. “We’re going to be ten times as careful with Strife,” he said. “Our goal is for it to be seen as investment-grade fixed income — a high-quality instrument with robust protections.”

Strike, by contrast, is positioned for what Saylor called “Bitcoin-curious” investors. It carries an 8% coupon and includes upside through Bitcoin conversion. “Think of it like a Bitcoin fellowship with a stipend,” Saylor said. 

Strategy now operates three ATM programs: $21 billion each for MSTR equity and Strike, and $2.1 billion for Strife. These are rebalanced daily, with issuance adjusted based on market conditions, volatility, and investor demand. According to Saylor, this dynamic structure allows the company to optimize Bitcoin acquisition and capital deployment across changing market environments.

Behind this strategy sits Strategy’s Bitcoin treasury, now totaling 576,230 BTC — roughly $60 billion in value. “That permanent capital is the foundation for everything we’re building,” Saylor said.

While spot Bitcoin ETFs cater to investors looking for direct price exposure, Strategy continues to offer a more nuanced set of instruments — each targeting different levels of risk, return, and compliance. The Strife ATM is the latest move in that broader strategy.

This post Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) Opens $2.1B ATM Program for Strife Preferred Stock  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

H100 Group Became The First Publicly Listed Bitcoin Treasury Company In Sweden

H100 Group AB has announced it has become Sweden’s first publicly listed health technology company to adopt Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, announcing the purchase of 4.39 BTC for 5 million NOK (approximately $475,000) as part of its long-term Bitcoin Treasury Strategy.

The Stockholm-based company, which provides AI-powered automation and digital solutions for healthcare providers, joins a growing roster of public companies adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets in 2025. The purchase was executed at an average price of 1,138,737 NOK per Bitcoin (roughly $108,200).

JUST IN: H100 Group buys 4.39 BTC and becomes Sweden's first publicly listed #Bitcoin treasury company. pic.twitter.com/pNXe9XT2a7

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 22, 2025

“This addition to H100’s Bitcoin Treasury Strategy follows an increasing number of tech-oriented growth companies holding Bitcoin on their balance sheet,” said CEO Sander Andersen. “And I believe the values of individual sovereignty highly present in the Bitcoin community aligns well with, and will appeal to, the customers and communities we are building the H100 platform for.”

The move comes amid a surge in corporate Bitcoin adoption, with many public companies announcing Bitcoin treasury programs in the first five months of 2025. Notable recent entrants include Twenty One Capital, Strive and several others.

H100 Group emphasized that the Bitcoin purchase does not affect its core operations in the health and longevity industry. The company views the investment as a strategic deployment of excess liquidity to strengthen its financial position while aligning with its values of individual sovereignty.

The announcement reflects a broader shift in corporate treasury management, as companies seek to diversify their holdings beyond traditional cash reserves.

At press time, Bitcoin trades at $111,108, up 1.28% over the past 24 hours, as institutional adoption continues to drive market momentum. H100 Group’s shares closed up 1.37% at 0.89 SEK on the NGM Nordic SME exchange following the announcement.

This post H100 Group Became The First Publicly Listed Bitcoin Treasury Company In Sweden first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Vivek Sen.

@ 7460b7fd:4fc4e74b

如果比特币发明了真正的钱，那么 Crypto 是什么？

引言

比特币诞生之初就以“数字黄金”姿态示人，被支持者誉为人类历史上第一次发明了真正意义上的钱——一种不依赖国家信用、总量恒定且不可篡改的硬通货。然而十多年过去，比特币之后蓬勃而起的加密世界（Crypto）已经远超“货币”范畴：从智能合约平台到去中心组织，从去央行的稳定币到戏谑荒诞的迷因币，Crypto 演化出一个丰富而混沌的新生态。这不禁引发一个根本性的追问：如果说比特币解决了“真金白银”的问题，那么 Crypto 又完成了什么发明？

Crypto 与政治的碰撞：随着Crypto版图扩张，全球政治势力也被裹挟进这场金融变革洪流（示意图）。比特币的出现重塑了货币信用，但Crypto所引发的却是一场更深刻的政治与治理结构实验。从华尔街到华盛顿，从散户论坛到主权国家，越来越多人意识到：Crypto不只是技术或金融现象，而是一种全新的政治表达结构正在萌芽。正如有激进论者所断言的：“比特币发明了真正的钱，而Crypto则在发明新的政治。”价格K线与流动性曲线，或许正成为这个时代社群意志和社会价值观的新型投射。

冲突结构：当价格挑战选票

传统政治中，选票是人民意志的载体，一人一票勾勒出民主治理的正统路径。而在链上的加密世界里，骤升骤降的价格曲线和真金白银的买卖行为却扮演起了选票的角色：资金流向成了民意走向，市场多空成为立场表决。价格行为取代选票，这听来匪夷所思，却已在Crypto社群中成为日常现实。每一次代币的抛售与追高，都是社区对项目决策的即时“投票”；每一根K线的涨跌，都折射出社区意志的赞同或抗议。市场行为本身承担了决策权与象征权——价格即政治，正在链上蔓延。

这一新生政治形式与旧世界的民主机制形成了鲜明冲突。bitcoin.org中本聪在比特币白皮书中提出“一CPU一票”的工作量证明共识，用算力投票取代了人为决策bitcoin.org。而今，Crypto更进一步，用资本市场的涨跌来取代传统政治的选举。支持某项目？直接购入其代币推高市值；反对某提案？用脚投票抛售资产。相比漫长的选举周期和层层代议制，链上市场提供了近乎实时的“公投”机制。但这种机制也引发巨大争议：资本的投票天然偏向持币多者（富者）的意志，是否意味着加密政治更为金权而非民权？持币多寡成为影响力大小，仿佛选举演变成了“一币一票”，巨鲸富豪俨然掌握更多话语权。这种与民主平等原则的冲突，成为Crypto政治形式饱受质疑的核心张力之一。

尽管如此，我们已经目睹市场投票在Crypto世界塑造秩序的威力：2016年以太坊因DAO事件分叉时，社区以真金白银“投票”决定了哪条链获得未来。arkhamintelligence.com结果是新链以太坊（ETH）成为主流，其市值一度超过2,800亿美元，而坚持原则的以太经典（ETC）市值不足35亿美元，不及前者的八十分之一arkhamintelligence.com。市场选择清楚地昭示了社区的政治意志。同样地，在比特币扩容之争、各类硬分叉博弈中，无不是由投资者和矿工用资金与算力投票，胜者存续败者黯然。价格成为裁决纷争的最终选票，冲击着传统“选票决胜”的政治理念。Crypto的价格民主，与现代代议民主正面相撞，激起当代政治哲思中前所未有的冲突火花。

治理与分配

XRP对决SEC成为了加密世界“治理与分配”冲突的经典战例。2020年底，美国证券交易委员会（SEC）突然起诉Ripple公司，指控其发行的XRP代币属于未注册证券，消息一出直接引爆市场恐慌。XRP价格应声暴跌，一度跌去超过60%，最低触及0.21美元coindesk.com。曾经位居市值前三的XRP险些被打入谷底，监管的强硬姿态似乎要将这个项目彻底扼杀。

然而XRP社区没有选择沉默。 大批长期持有者组成了自称“XRP军团”（XRP Army）的草根力量，在社交媒体上高调声援Ripple，对抗监管威胁。面对SEC的指控，他们集体发声，质疑政府选择性执法，声称以太坊当年发行却“逍遥法外”，只有Ripple遭到不公对待coindesk.com。正如《福布斯》的评论所言：没人预料到愤怒的加密散户投资者会掀起法律、政治和社交媒体领域的‘海啸式’反击，痛斥监管机构背弃了保护投资者的承诺crypto-law.us。这种草根抵抗监管的话语体系迅速形成：XRP持有者不但在网上掀起舆论风暴，还采取实际行动向SEC施压。他们发起了请愿，抨击SEC背离保护投资者初衷、诉讼给个人投资者带来巨大伤害，号召停止对Ripple的上诉纠缠——号称这是在捍卫全球加密用户的共同利益bitget.com。一场由民间主导的反监管运动就此拉开帷幕。

Ripple公司则选择背水一战，拒绝和解，在法庭上与SEC针锋相对地鏖战了近三年之久。Ripple坚称XRP并非证券，不应受到SEC管辖，即使面临沉重法律费用和业务压力也不妥协。2023年，这场持久战迎来了标志性转折：美国法庭作出初步裁决，认定XRP在二级市场的流通不构成证券coindesk.com。这一胜利犹如给沉寂已久的XRP注入强心针——消息公布当天XRP价格飙涨近一倍，盘中一度逼近1美元大关coindesk.com。沉重监管阴影下苟延残喘的项目，凭借司法层面的突破瞬间重获生机。这不仅是Ripple的胜利，更被支持者视为整个加密行业对SEC强权的一次胜仗。

XRP的对抗路线与某些“主动合规”的项目形成了鲜明对比。 稳定币USDC的发行方Circle、美国最大合规交易所Coinbase等选择了一条迎合监管的道路：它们高调拥抱现行法规，希望以合作换取生存空间。然而现实却给了它们沉重一击。USDC稳定币在监管风波中一度失去美元锚定，哪怕Circle及时披露储备状况也无法阻止恐慌蔓延，大批用户迅速失去信心，短时间内出现数十亿美元的赎回潮blockworks.co。Coinbase则更为直接：即便它早已注册上市、反复向监管示好，2023年仍被SEC指控为未注册证券交易所reuters.com，卷入漫长诉讼漩涡。可见，在迎合监管的策略下，这些机构非但未能换来监管青睐，反而因官司缠身或用户流失而丧失市场信任。 相比之下，XRP以对抗求生存的路线反而赢得了投资者的眼光：价格的涨跌成为社区投票的方式，抗争的勇气反过来强化了市场对它的信心。

同样引人深思的是另一种迥异的治理路径：技术至上的链上治理。 以MakerDAO为代表的去中心化治理模式曾被寄予厚望——MKR持币者投票决策、算法维持稳定币Dai的价值，被视为“代码即法律”的典范。然而，这套纯技术治理在市场层面却未能形成广泛认同，亦无法激发群体性的情绪动员。复杂晦涩的机制使得普通投资者难以参与其中，MakerDAO的治理讨论更多停留在极客圈子内部，在社会大众的政治对话中几乎听不见它的声音。相比XRP对抗监管所激发的铺天盖地关注，MakerDAO的治理实验显得默默无闻、难以“出圈”。这也说明，如果一种治理实践无法连接更广泛的利益诉求和情感共鸣，它在社会政治层面就难以形成影响力。

XRP之争的政治象征意义由此凸显： 它展示了一条“以市场对抗国家”的斗争路线，即通过代币价格的集体行动来回应监管权力的施压。在这场轰动业界的对决中，价格即是抗议的旗帜，涨跌映射着政治立场。XRP对SEC的胜利被视作加密世界向旧有权力宣告的一次胜利：资本市场的投票器可以撼动监管者的强权。这种“价格即政治”的张力，正是Crypto世界前所未有的社会实验：去中心化社区以市场行为直接对抗国家权力，在无形的价格曲线中凝聚起政治抗争的力量，向世人昭示加密货币不仅有技术和资本属性，更蕴含着不可小觑的社会能量和政治意涵。

不可归零的政治资本

Meme 币的本质并非廉价或易造，而在于其构建了一种“无法归零”的社群生存结构。 对于传统观点而言，多数 meme 币只是短命的投机游戏：价格暴涨暴跌后一地鸡毛，创始人套现跑路，投资者血本无归，然后“大家转去炒下一个”theguardian.com。然而，meme 币社群的独特之处在于——失败并不意味着终结，而更像是运动的逗号而非句号。一次币值崩盘后，持币的草根们往往并未散去；相反，他们汲取教训，准备东山再起。这种近乎“不死鸟”的循环，使得 meme 币运动呈现出一种数字政治循环的特质：价格可以归零，但社群的政治热情和组织势能不归零。正如研究者所指出的，加密领域中的骗局、崩盘等冲击并不会摧毁生态，反而成为让系统更加强韧的“健康应激”，令整个行业在动荡中变得更加反脆弱cointelegraph.com。对应到 meme 币，每一次暴跌和重挫，都是社群自我进化、卷土重来的契机。这个去中心化群体打造出一种自组织的安全垫，失败者得以在瓦砾上重建家园。对于草根社群、少数派乃至体制的“失败者”而言，meme 币提供了一个永不落幕的抗争舞台，一种真正反脆弱的政治性。正因如此，我们看到诸多曾被嘲笑的迷因项目屡败屡战：例如 Dogecoin 自2013年问世后历经八年沉浮，早已超越玩笑属性，成为互联网史上最具韧性的迷因之一frontiersin.org；支撑 Dogecoin 的正是背后强大的迷因文化和社区意志，它如同美国霸权支撑美元一样，为狗狗币提供了“永不中断”的生命力frontiersin.org。

“复活权”的数字政治意涵

这种“失败-重生”的循环结构蕴含着深刻的政治意涵：在传统政治和商业领域，一个政党选举失利或一家公司破产往往意味着清零出局，资源散尽、组织瓦解。然而在 meme 币的世界，社群拥有了一种前所未有的“复活权”。当项目崩盘，社区并不必然随之消亡，而是可以凭借剩余的人心和热情卷土重来——哪怕换一个 token 名称，哪怕重启一条链，运动依然延续。正如 Cheems 项目的核心开发者所言，在几乎无人问津、技术受阻的困境下，大多数人可能早已卷款走人，但 “CHEEMS 社区没有放弃，背景、技术、风投都不重要，重要的是永不言弃的精神”cointelegraph.com。这种精神使得Cheems项目起死回生，社区成员齐声宣告“我们都是 CHEEMS”，共同书写历史cointelegraph.com。与传统依赖风投和公司输血的项目不同，Cheems 完全依靠社区的信念与韧性存续发展，体现了去中心化运动的真谛cointelegraph.com。这意味着政治参与的门槛被大大降低：哪怕没有金主和官方背书，草根也能凭借群体意志赋予某个代币新的生命。对于身处社会边缘的群体来说，meme 币俨然成为自组织的安全垫和重新集结的工具。难怪有学者指出，近期涌入meme币浪潮的主力，正是那些对现实失望但渴望改变命运的年轻人theguardian.com——“迷茫的年轻人，想要一夜暴富”theguardian.com。meme币的炒作表面上看是投机赌博，但背后蕴含的是草根对既有金融秩序的不满与反抗：没有监管和护栏又如何？一次失败算不得什么，社区自有后路和新方案。这种由底层群众不断试错、纠错并重启的过程，本身就是一种数字时代的新型反抗运动和群众动员机制。

举例而言，Terra Luna 的沉浮充分展现了这种“复活机制”的政治力量。作为一度由风投资本热捧的项目，Luna 币在2022年的崩溃本可被视作“归零”的失败典范——稳定币UST瞬间失锚，Luna币价归零，数十亿美元灰飞烟灭。然而“崩盘”并没有画下休止符。Luna的残余社区拒绝承认失败命运，通过链上治理投票毅然启动新链，“复活”了 Luna 代币，再次回到市场交易reuters.com。正如 Terra 官方在崩盘后发布的推文所宣称：“我们力量永在社区，今日的决定正彰显了我们的韧性”reuters.com。事实上，原链更名为 Luna Classic 后，大批所谓“LUNC 军团”的散户依然死守阵地，誓言不离不弃；他们自发烧毁巨量代币以缩减供应、推动技术升级，试图让这个一度归零的项目重新燃起生命之火binance.com。失败者并未散场，而是化作一股草根洪流，奋力托举起项目的残迹。经过迷因化的叙事重塑，这场从废墟中重建价值的壮举，成为加密世界中草根政治的经典一幕。类似的案例不胜枚举：曾经被视为笑话的 DOGE（狗狗币）正因多年社群的凝聚而跻身主流币种，总市值一度高达数百亿美元，充分证明了“民有民享”的迷因货币同样可以笑傲市场frontiersin.org。再看最新的美国政治舞台，连总统特朗普也推出了自己的 meme 币 $TRUMP，号召粉丝拿真金白银来表达支持。该币首日即从7美元暴涨至75美元，两天后虽回落到40美元左右，但几乎同时，第一夫人 Melania 又发布了自己的 $Melania 币，甚至连就职典礼的牧师都跟风发行了纪念币theguardian.com！显然，对于狂热的群众来说，一个币的沉浮并非终点，而更像是运动的换挡——资本市场成为政治参与的新前线，你方唱罢我登场，meme 币的群众动员热度丝毫不减。值得注意的是，2024年出现的 Pump.fun 等平台更是进一步降低了这一循环的技术门槛，任何人都可以一键生成自己的 meme 币theguardian.com。这意味着哪怕某个项目归零，剩余的社区完全可以借助此类工具迅速复制一个新币接力，延续集体行动的火种。可以说，在 meme 币的世界里，草根社群获得了前所未有的再生能力和主动权，这正是一种数字时代的群众政治奇观：失败可以被当作梗来玩，破产能够变成重生的序章。

价格即政治：群众投机的新抗争

meme 币现象的兴盛表明：在加密时代，价格本身已成为一种政治表达。这些看似荒诞的迷因代币，将金融市场变成了群众宣泄情绪和诉求的另一个舞台。有学者将此概括为“将公民参与直接转化为了投机资产”cdn-brighterworld.humanities.mcmaster.ca——也就是说，社会运动的热情被注入币价涨跌，政治支持被铸造成可以交易的代币。meme 币融合了金融、技术与政治，通过病毒般的迷因文化激发公众参与，形成对现实政治的某种映射cdn-brighterworld.humanities.mcmaster.caosl.com。当一群草根投入全部热忱去炒作一枚毫无基本面支撑的币时，这本身就是一种大众政治动员的体现：币价暴涨，意味着一群人以戏谑的方式在向既有权威叫板；币价崩盘，也并不意味着信念的消亡，反而可能孕育下一次更汹涌的造势。正如有分析指出，政治类 meme 币的出现前所未有地将群众文化与政治情绪融入市场行情，价格曲线俨然成为民意和趋势的风向标cdn-brighterworld.humanities.mcmaster.ca。在这种局面下，投机不再仅仅是逐利，还是一种宣示立场、凝聚共识的过程——一次次看似荒唐的炒作背后，是草根对传统体制的不服与嘲讽，是失败者拒绝认输的呐喊。归根结底，meme 币所累积的，正是一种不可被归零的政治资本。价格涨落之间，群众的愤怒、幽默与希望尽显其中；这股力量不因一次挫败而消散，反而在市场的循环中愈发壮大。也正因如此，我们才说“价格即政治”——在迷因币的世界里，价格不只是数字，更是人民政治能量的晴雨表，哪怕归零也终将卷土重来。cdn-brighterworld.humanities.mcmaster.caosl.com

全球新兴现象：伊斯兰金融的入场

当Crypto在西方世界掀起市场治政的狂潮时，另一股独特力量也悄然融入这一场域：伊斯兰金融携其独特的道德秩序，开始在链上寻找存在感。长期以来，伊斯兰金融遵循着一套区别于世俗资本主义的原则：禁止利息（Riba）、反对过度投机（Gharar/Maysir）、强调实际资产支撑和道德投资。当这些原则遇上去中心化的加密技术，会碰撞出怎样的火花？出人意料的是，这两者竟在“以市场行为表达价值”这个层面产生了惊人的共鸣。伊斯兰金融并不拒绝市场机制本身，只是为其附加了道德准则；Crypto则将市场机制推向了政治高位，用价格来表达社群意志。二者看似理念迥异，实则都承认市场行为可以也应当承载社会价值观。这使得越来越多金融与政治分析人士开始关注：当虔诚的宗教伦理遇上狂野的加密市场，会塑造出何种新范式？

事实上，穆斯林世界已经在探索“清真加密”的道路。一些区块链项目致力于确保协议符合伊斯兰教法（Sharia）的要求。例如Haqq区块链发行的伊斯兰币（ISLM），从规则层面内置了宗教慈善义务——每发行新币即自动将10%拨入慈善DAO，用于公益捐赠，以符合天课（Zakat）的教义nasdaq.comnasdaq.com。同时，该链拒绝利息和赌博类应用，2022年还获得了宗教权威的教令（Fatwa）认可其合规性nasdaq.com。再看理念层面，伊斯兰经济学强调货币必须有内在价值、收益应来自真实劳动而非纯利息剥削。这一点与比特币的“工作量证明”精神不谋而合——有人甚至断言法定货币无锚印钞并不清真，而比特币这类需耗费能源生产的资产反而更符合教法初衷cointelegraph.com。由此，越来越多穆斯林投资者开始以道德投资的名义进入Crypto领域，将资金投向符合清真原则的代币和协议。

这种现象带来了微妙的双重合法性：一方面，Crypto世界原本奉行“价格即真理”的世俗逻辑，而伊斯兰金融为其注入了一股道德合法性，使部分加密资产同时获得了宗教与市场的双重背书；另一方面，即便在遵循宗教伦理的项目中，最终决定成败的依然是市场对其价值的认可。道德共识与市场共识在链上交汇，共同塑造出一种混合的新秩序。这一全球新兴现象引发广泛议论：有人将其视为金融民主化的极致表现——不同文化价值都能在市场平台上表达并竞争；也有人警惕这可能掩盖新的风险，因为把宗教情感融入高风险资产，既可能凝聚强大的忠诚度，也可能在泡沫破裂时引发信仰与财富的双重危机。但无论如何，伊斯兰金融的入场使Crypto的政治版图更加丰盈多元。从华尔街交易员到中东教士，不同背景的人们正通过Crypto这个奇特的舞台，对人类价值的表达方式进行前所未有的实验。

升华结语：价格即政治的新直觉

回顾比特币问世以来的这段历程，我们可以清晰地看到一条演进的主线：先有货币革命，后有政治发明。比特币赋予了人类一种真正自主的数字货币，而Crypto在此基础上完成的，则是一项前所未有的政治革新——它让市场价格行为承担起了类似政治选票的功能，开创了一种“价格即政治”的新直觉。在这个直觉下，市场不再只是冷冰冰的交易场所；每一次资本流动、每一轮行情涨落，都被赋予了社会意义和政治涵义。买入即表态，卖出即抗议，流动性的涌入或枯竭胜过千言万语的陈情。Crypto世界中，K线图俨然成为民意曲线，行情图就是政治晴雨表。决策不再由少数权力精英关起门来制定，而是在全球无眠的交易中由无数普通人共同谱写。这样的政治形式也许狂野，也许充满泡沫和噪音，但它不可否认地调动起了广泛的社会参与，让原本疏离政治进程的个体通过持币、交易重新找回了影响力的幻觉或实感。

“价格即政治”并非一句简单的口号，而是Crypto给予世界的全新想象力。它质疑了传统政治的正统性：如果一串代码和一群匿名投资者就能高效决策资源分配，我们为何还需要繁冗的官僚体系？它也拷问着自身的内在隐忧：当财富与权力深度绑定，Crypto政治如何避免堕入金钱统治的老路？或许，正是在这样的矛盾和张力中，人类政治的未来才会不断演化。Crypto所开启的，不仅是技术乌托邦或金融狂欢，更可能是一次对民主形式的深刻拓展和挑战。这里有最狂热的逐利者，也有最理想主义的社群塑梦者；有一夜暴富的神话，也有瞬间破灭的惨痛。而这一切汇聚成的洪流，正冲撞着工业时代以来既定的权力谱系。

当我们再次追问：Crypto究竟是什么？ 或许可以这样回答——Crypto是比特币之后，人类完成的一次政治范式的试验性跃迁。在这里，价格行为化身为选票，资本市场演化为广场，代码与共识共同撰写“社会契约”。这是一场仍在进行的文明实验：它可能无声地融入既有秩序，也可能剧烈地重塑未来规则。但无论结局如何，如今我们已经见证：在比特币发明真正的货币之后，Crypto正在发明真正属于21世纪的政治。它以数字时代的语言宣告：在链上，价格即政治，市场即民意，代码即法律。这，或许就是Crypto带给我们的最直观而震撼的本质启示。

参考资料：

• 中本聪. 比特币白皮书: 一种点对点的电子现金系统. (2008)bitcoin.org

• Arkham Intelligence. Ethereum vs Ethereum Classic: Understanding the Differences. (2023)arkhamintelligence.com

• Binance Square (@渔神的加密日记). 狗狗币价格为何上涨？背后的原因你知道吗？binance.com

• Cointelegraph中文. 特朗普的迷因币晚宴预期内容揭秘. (2025)cn.cointelegraph.com

• 慢雾科技 Web3Caff (@Lisa). 风险提醒：从 LIBRA 看“政治化”的加密货币骗局. (2025)web3caff.com

• Nasdaq (@Anthony Clarke). How Cryptocurrency Aligns with the Principles of Islamic Finance. (2023)nasdaq.comnasdaq.com

• Cointelegraph Magazine (@Andrew Fenton). DeFi can be halal but not DOGE? Decentralizing Islamic finance. (2023)cointelegraph.com

@ 450102fc:539757ac

With Nostr, Jack is well ahead of what Elon and Zuck have learned about censorship

Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that he is dropping censorship in the U.S. for Facebook and Instagram was accompanied by a comment that he is going to work with the U.S. government to encourage other countries to not censor content. Upon acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk dropped censorship and soon learned that government mandates from across the world censor content.

In 2024, Brazil blocked Twitter until it complied with censorship demands, France arrested Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov, the EU censored additional Russian outlets and wrote letters to Twitter mandating more content moderation, and Australia announced it will fine platforms for misinformation.

The current U.S. administration had a heavy censorship hand and had threatened to revoke Section 230 which protects Internet sites from liability about their users’ content. Zuck indicated in his announcement and a letter to Congress in November that Meta felt coerced to comply. Twitter under Jack Dorsey was also coerced to censor, as disclosed in the Twitter Files and Alex Berenson’s amended censorship lawsuit with new insider materials from Twitter.

Western governments did not typically engage in government guidance or mandates on content until after the Brexit and Trump elections in 2016 followed by the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022. Once Western governments realized that they had lost narrative control, they started playing catch up with China, which was well aware from the start of the power of social networks to both disrupt and control narratives.

Due to the secretive nature of government guidance and mandates, Elon and those outside social media organizations had only witnessed basic content moderation. Jack and Zuck had already experienced years of coercive government guidance threatening Section 230 revocation as well as numerous explicit censorship mandates from Western governments.

Zuck’s response was to downrank and de-emphasize political content in early 2021 after the bruising 2020 U.S. election cycle. This was a difficult decision since Facebook made a lot of money from political arguments, as I pointed out in a 2019 article for VentureBeat. Zuck sidestepped government pressure and continued to grow his properties. Correspondingly, despite the volumes of racist and homophobic content on Instagram, there is not much pressure for content moderation from groups like Media Matters and GARM that have targeted X/Twitter.

Jack’s response was to fund Bluesky to shift Twitter to an open protocol like email’s SMTP and the web’s HTTP. Governments can of course censor at the protocol level with firewalls like they currently do for email and web, but by separating the application and protocol layers, Jack recognized that social networks could operate like any other Internet infrastructure that is content neutral. Jack departed Bluesky when the company started massively moderating accounts and content. Jack then discovered Nostr (Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays), a decentralized messaging protocol initially created by an anonymous developer FiatJeff, much like an anonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin.

Nostr is reminiscent of FidoNet, a popular store-and-forward messaging protocol for Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) in the 1980s. Each BBS was fully independent, and each could choose which forum messages to store-and-forward, whether to moderate content, and how long to keep the messages. In addition, FidoNet could store-and-forward private messages between users. UseNet also operated in a similar store-and-forward manner for Internet forums, but did not operate private messages since the Internet already had SMTP.

Nostr developers offer an active ecosystem of both clients and servers offering an interface familiar to social network users, as well as micro apps offering new functionality on top of the protocol. Nostr is decentralized with no central control point and transmits messages across independently operated relays. Just like with current email systems and Nostr predecessors FidoNet and UseNet the independence of the relays create inefficiency. Different users may not see each others’ replies chronologically until the messages transmission has caught up, and not all relays transmit all messages. FidoNet and UseNet were inefficient due to resource constraints such as long distance charges and intermittent connectivity. Nostr and Bitcoin use inefficiency to engineer resilience into the protocol.

A Nostr account can never be “revoked,” however relays are not obligated to carry an account’s messages. Users can easily switch relays or even operate their own. As part of the new generation of decentralized crypto software, Nostr uses a public/private key combination for identity, and you can optionally publish your profile name, e-mail address, and lightning wallet associated with the key. Nostr clients sign messages with your private key when you post, and users know it’s you by your public key. A note of caution: just like with crypto, if your private key gets compromised or lost, it’s like losing or having your Bitcoin private key stolen.

A new administration could easily coerce social media companies. This time, Elon stood in the face of a government onslaught. Zuck followed when the coast was clear. Jack has laid the foundation for the future. https://npub1g5qs9.layer3.press/articles/cd5020b0-08ad-409d-b792-81387bb4f060

@ d12614be:8ed99bc6

Test article 23.05.2025 2

https://drewdru.layer3.press/articles/ddd70871-69c2-41af-ae56-13fea76050e0

@ a296b972:e5a7a2e8

Was Rudolf Steiner vor gut 110 Jahren an Informationen zusammengetragen und kommentiert hat, liest sich in großen Abschnitten so, als ob es in der heutigen Zeit geschrieben worden wäre. Man trifft auf eine ganze Reihe von „guten, alten Bekannten“, die auch heute noch maßgeblich an den Strippen ziehen. Deutlich wird, dass ein Krieg nicht aus heiterem Himmel ausbricht, sondern das im Vorfeld schon Kräfte wirken, die auf einen Krieg hinarbeiten. Wie jetzt wieder im Ukraine-Krieg wird diese Vorgeschichte gerne versucht unter den Teppich zu kehren und hochkompetente, sauber recherchierende, akribisch Quellen angebende Journalisten, wie z. B. Frau Gabriele Krone-Schmalz oder Herr Patrik Baab, der sich auf eigene Kosten einen Eindruck von vor Ort verschafft hat, werden versucht mundtot zu machen und mittlerweile gar nicht mehr zu Gesprächen im öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunk eingeladen, weil sie die fortlaufende Gehirnwäsche des Ministeriums für Wahrheit und Narrative mit ihren Aussagen gefährden. Andere kommen auf die Sanktionsliste.

Auch heute ist von den „Guten“ und den „Bösen“ die Rede, was darauf schließen lässt, dass man durchaus eingesteht, dass hier geistige Kräfte am Werk sind. Rudolf Steiner kommt auf diese immer wieder zu sprechen. Aus der von ihm gegebenen anthroposophischen Geisteswissenschaft heraus, beleuchtet er die Vorgänge innerhalb der gesamten Menschheitsentwicklung. Mancher stört sich hier an Begriffen, die man heute so nicht mehr verwenden würde. Dabei ist immer zu berücksichtigen, zu welcher Zeit die Vorträge gehalten wurden. Die Anthroposophie von Rudolf Steiner gilt heute bei vielen auch als „umstritten“, aber was ist das heute nicht? Fast könnte man es schon als Auszeichnung sehen, wenn etwas „umstritten“ ist, denn das ist mittlerweile ein Beweis dafür, dass es Ansichten, Meinungen und Einschätzungen gibt, die in einer gesunden Demokratie innerhalb einer Kontroverse zu einem Dialog und Austausch beitragen können, der jedoch leider derzeit weder gewünscht ist, noch gepflegt wird, was an der „Spaltung“ deutlich zu sehen ist. Und auch unter den Anthroposophen hat die „Spaltung“ Einzug gehalten.

Um das aktuelle, viele Bereiche umschließende, gigantische Lügenkonstrukt aufrecht zu erhalten, ist mittlerweile jedes Mittel recht, von der Deutungshoheit der Wahrheit durch systemkonforme Begutachter, bis hin zu infantil-kleingeistigen Kindergartenspielchen, um gegenläufige Meinungen oder Oppositionelle in ihrem Wirken zu behindern.

Der gesunde Hausverstand wird ausgetrocknet, und der Garten des Wahnsinns wird durch immer neue Ideen kranker Geister weiter gegossen, gehegt und gepflegt.

Die Zeitgeschichtlichen Betrachtungen von Rudolf Steiner bestehen aus 3 Bänden aus der GA (Gesamtausgabe):

GA 173 a – Wege zu einer objektiven Urteilsbildung

GA 173 b – Das Karma der Unwahrhaftigkeit

GA 173 c – Die Wirklichkeit okkulter Impulse

Sie bestehen aus niedergeschriebenen Vorträgen und einem sehr umfangreichen Anhang mit näheren Erläuterungen und einer Schilderung der Entstehung dieser drei Bände.

Es bedarf einiger Eingewöhnung in die zur damaligen Zeit verwendete Sprache Rudolf Steiners, der ein Meister im Bilden von Schachtelsätzen war. Der Inhalt jedoch, und auf den kommt es ja an, berührt immer wieder den in allen Menschen vorhandenen Wahrheitssinn.

Hier nur eine kleine Kostprobe, die vielleicht das Interesse wecken kann, sich mit diesem derzeit besonders aktuellen Werk näher zu beschäftigen.

GA 173a, 6. Vortrag, Seite 205 und Seite 206, Dornach, 17. Dezember 1916:

„Viel intimer, viel verborgener liegen die Dinge bei der englischen Politik, die ja ganz beeinflußt ist von dem, was in solcher Weise hinter ihr steckt. Da handelt es sich darum, daß man die Wege findet, um die entsprechenden Menschen an die richtigen Plätze zu befördern. Okkultistische Menschen, im Hintergrunde stehend, sind oftmals – na, verzeihen Sie – Einser, bloße Einser, und bedeuten für sich nichts Besonderes; sie brauchen noch etwas anderes – sie brauchen Nullen. Nullen sind ja nicht Einser, aber (fügt man eine Null zu einer Eins), dann wird gleich eine Zehn daraus. Und wenn man noch mehr Nullen hinzufügt – jede Null ist nur eine Null, aber wenn die Eins irgendwo steckt, dann ist gar mancherlei da, zum Beispiel die Tausend, und wenn man die Eins zudeckt, dann sind (scheinbar) nur die Nullen da; die Nullen brauchen aber nur in der entsprechenden Weise mit den Einsern kombiniert zu sein, und sie brauchen nicht einmal viel zu wissen von der Art, wie sie mit den Einsern kombiniert sind.“

Schildert diese 108 Jahre alte Beschreibung nicht genau das, was sich heute vor unseren Augen abspielt?

Dieser Artikel wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben

* *

(Bild von pixabay)

@ 1c5ff3ca:efe9c0f6

Auto-Deployment on a VPS with GitHub Actions

Introduction

This tutorial describes how you can deploy an application on a VPS using GitHub Actions. This way, changes in your GitHub repository are automatically deployed to your VPS.

Prerequisites

• GitHub Account
• GitHub Repository
• Server + SSH access to the server

Step 1 - SSH Login to Server

Open a terminal and log in via SSH. Then navigate to the .ssh directory

ssh user@hostname cd ~/.ssh

Step 2 - Create an SSH Key

Now create a new SSH key that we will use for auto-deployment. In the following dialog, simply press "Enter" repeatedly until the key is created.

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "service-name-deploy-github"

Step 3 - Add the Key to the authorized_keys File

cat id_ed25519.pub >> authorized_keys

(If you named the key file differently, change this accordingly)

Step 4 - GitHub Secrets

In order for the GitHub Action to perform the deployment later, some secrets must be stored in the repository. Open the repository on GitHub. Navigate to "Settings" -> "Secrets And Variables" -> "Actions". Add the following variables:

• HOST: Hostname or IP address of the server
• USERNAME: Username you use to log in via SSH
• SSHKEY: The private key (copy the content from cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519)
• PORT: 22

Step 5 - Create the GitHub Action

Now create the GitHub Action for auto-deployment. The following GitHub Action will be used: https://github.com/appleboy/scp-action In your local repository, create the file .github/workflows/deploy.yml:

```yaml name: Deploy on: [push] jobs: build: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v1 - name: Copy repository content via scp uses: appleboy/scp-action@master with: host: ${{ secrets.HOST }} username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }} port: ${{ secrets.PORT }} key: ${{ secrets.SSHKEY }} source: "." target: "/your-target-directory"

- name: Executing a remote command
  uses: appleboy/ssh-action@master
  with:
    host: ${{ secrets.HOST }}
    username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}
    port: ${{ secrets.PORT }}
    key: ${{ secrets.SSHKEY }}
    script: |
      ls

```

This action copies the repository files to your server using scp. Afterwards, the ls command is executed. Here you can add appropriate commands that rebuild your service or similar. To rebuild and start a docker service you could use something like this or similar: docker compose -f target-dir/docker-compose.yml up --build -d Now commit this file and in the "Actions" tab of your repository, the newly created action should now be visible and executed. With every future change, the git repository will now be automatically copied to your server.

Sources

I read this when trying out, but it did not work and I adapted the deploy.yml file: https://dev.to/knowbee/how-to-setup-continuous-deployment-of-a-website-on-a-vps-using-github-actions-54im

@ dfc7c785:4c3c6174

Where do I even start? Sometimes it's best to just begin writing whatever comes into your head. What do I do for a living? It used to be easy to explain, I write JavaScript, I build front-end code, in order to build apps. I am more than that though. Over the past eight years, I moved from writing Angular, to React and then to Vue. However my background was originally in writing full-stack projects, using technologies such as .NET and PHP. The thing is - the various jobs I've had recently have pigeon-holed me as front-end developer but nowadays I am starting to feel distracted by a multitude of other interesting, pivotal technologies both in my "day job" and across my wider experience as a Technologist; a phrase I prefer to use in order to describe who I am, more gernerally.

I have used untype.app to write this today, it looks great.

More to come...

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

The Freedom Issue: Letter From the Editor

Bitcoin is freedom money, a censorship-resistant form of digital cash allowing anyone with an internet connection to send money to anyone else, regardless of nationality, borders, or other arbitrary restrictions.

I personally first heard about Bitcoin in early 2013, through friends who were buying… stuff from Silk Road, the darknet marketplace helmed by the mysterious Dread Pirate Roberts. Although Silk Road was controversial (the “stuff” most people bought and sold was, of course, illegal drugs), it represented a radical example of the form of freedom that Bitcoin provides.

Later in 2013, Silk Road was shut down by the FBI, and Ross Ulbricht was revealed as the market’s founder and the true identity behind the Dread Pirate Roberts pseudonym — although he claims several people operated the account. Ulbricht was sentenced to two life sentences plus forty years in prison without the possibility of parole.

In my view — and that of many Bitcoiners — it was excessive. Even if you believe Ulbricht was guilty of everything he was convicted of (all nonviolent crimes), he was made an example of, and didn’t actually deserve to be locked up for the rest of his days.

Fortunately, Ulbricht was granted a full and unconditional pardon from President Trump in January of this year. The founder of Silk Road, in a very literal sense, has regained his freedom.

This edition of Bitcoin Magazine celebrates and highlights the freedom aspect of Bitcoin with a range of articles and artwork focusing on the people and projects that use bitcoin to advance liberty, and those who make this possible… with a special focus on Ulbricht and Silk Road.

For other stories about bitcoin as freedom money, flip the magazine around!

Welcome to The Freedom Issue.

Aaron van Wirdum

Don’t miss your chance to own The Freedom Issue—featuring never-before-seen letters from Ross Ulbricht and his mother, Lyn. Limited run. Only available while supplies last.

This piece is the Letter from the Editor featured in the latest print edition of Bitcoin Magazine, The Freedom Issue. We’re sharing it here as an early look at the ideas explored throughout the full issue.

This post The Freedom Issue: Letter From the Editor first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Aaron Van Wirdum.

@ 5c26ee8b:a4d229aa

Generally mentioning God, Allah, by reciting/reading the Quran or performing Salat (compulsory prayer), for instance, brings tranquility to the heart of the believer. The Salat, other than being the first deed a Muslim would be questioned about on Judgement Day, it keeps the person away from the forbidden wrong deeds too. The Salat is sufficient for obtaining God’s provision as he decrees the means for it to reach the person. Wasting or missing performing the Salat or mentioning God (Allah) by reciting/reading the Quran or Tasbieh, can lead to following the desires only and a depressed life as well as punishment in the Thereafter.

13:28 Ar-Ra'd

‎الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُمْ بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ

Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured (tranquillised) by the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured (tranquillised)."

29:45 Al-Ankaboot

‎اتْلُ مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ ۖ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنْكَرِ ۗ وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ

Recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do.

11:114 Hud

وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ طَرَفَيِ النَّهَارِ وَزُلَفًا مِنَ اللَّيْلِ ۚ إِنَّ الْحَسَنَاتِ يُذْهِبْنَ السَّيِّئَاتِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ذِكْرَىٰ لِلذَّاكِرِينَ

And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds. That is a reminder for those who remember.

20:132 Taa-Haa

وَأْمُرْ أَهْلَكَ بِالصَّلَاةِ وَاصْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا ۖ لَا نَسْأَلُكَ رِزْقًا ۖ نَحْنُ نَرْزُقُكَ ۗ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ

And enjoin prayer upon your family [and people] and be steadfast therein. We ask you not for provision; We provide for you, and the [best] outcome is for [those of] righteousness.

20:124 Taa-Haa

وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْ ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكًا وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَىٰ

And whoever turns away from My remembrance - indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind."

20:125 Taa-Haa

قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَنِي أَعْمَىٰ وَقَدْ كُنْتُ بَصِيرًا

He will say, "My Lord, why have you raised me blind while I was [once] seeing?"

20:126 Taa-Haa

قَالَ كَذَٰلِكَ أَتَتْكَ آيَاتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا ۖ وَكَذَٰلِكَ الْيَوْمَ تُنْسَىٰ

[Allah] will say, "Thus did Our signs come to you, and you forgot them; and thus will you this Day be forgotten."

20:127 Taa-Haa

وَكَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي مَنْ أَسْرَفَ وَلَمْ يُؤْمِنْ بِآيَاتِ رَبِّهِ ۚ وَلَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَشَدُّ وَأَبْقَىٰ

And thus do We recompense he who transgressed and did not believe in the signs of his Lord. And the punishment of the Hereafter is more severe and more enduring.

20:128 Taa-Haa

أَفَلَمْ يَهْدِ لَهُمْ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُمْ مِنَ الْقُرُونِ يَمْشُونَ فِي مَسَاكِنِهِمْ ۗ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِأُولِي النُّهَىٰ

Then, has it not become clear to them how many generations We destroyed before them as they walk among their dwellings? Indeed in that are signs for those of intelligence.

49:17 Al-Hujuraat

‎يَمُنُّونَ عَلَيْكَ أَنْ أَسْلَمُوا ۖ قُلْ لَا تَمُنُّوا عَلَيَّ إِسْلَامَكُمْ ۖ بَلِ اللَّهُ يَمُنُّ عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ هَدَاكُمْ لِلْإِيمَانِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

They consider it a favor to you that they have accepted Islam. Say, "Do not consider your Islam a favor to me. Rather, Allah has conferred favor upon you that He has guided you to the faith, if you should be truthful."

53:29 An-Najm

‎فَأَعْرِضْ عَنْ مَنْ تَوَلَّىٰ عَنْ ذِكْرِنَا وَلَمْ يُرِدْ إِلَّا الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا

So turn away from whoever turns his back on Our message and desires not except the worldly life.

53:30 An-Najm

‎ذَٰلِكَ مَبْلَغُهُمْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنْ ضَلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِهِ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اهْتَدَىٰ

That is their sum of knowledge. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who strays from His way, and He is most knowing of who is guided.

53:62 An-Najm

‎فَاسْجُدُوا لِلَّهِ وَاعْبُدُوا ۩

So prostrate to Allah and worship [Him].

@ 975e4ad5:8d4847ce

Bitcoin Is Not Just an Asset

When Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin in 2009, the vision was clear: a decentralized currency for everyday transactions, from buying coffee to paying bills. It was designed to bypass banks and governments, empowering individuals with financial freedom. But when Bitcoin is treated as “digital gold” and locked away in wallets, it fails to fulfill this vision. Instead of replacing fiat currencies, it becomes just another investment, leaving people reliant on dollars, euros, or other traditional currencies for their daily needs.

The Problem with HODLing and Loans

Some Bitcoin enthusiasts advocate holding their coins indefinitely and taking loans against them rather than spending. This approach may seem financially savvy—Bitcoin’s value often rises over time, and loans provide liquidity without selling. But this prioritizes personal gain over the broader goal of financial revolution. Someone who holds Bitcoin while spending fiat isn’t supporting Bitcoin’s mission; they’re merely using it to stay wealthy within the existing system. This undermines the dream of a decentralized financial future.

Lightning Network: Fast and Cheap Transactions

One common argument against using Bitcoin for daily purchases is the high fees and slow transaction times on the main blockchain. Enter the Lightning Network, a second-layer solution that enables near-instant transactions with minimal fees. Imagine paying for groceries or ordering a pizza with Bitcoin, quickly and cheaply. This technology makes Bitcoin practical for everyday use, paving the way for widespread adoption.

Why Using Bitcoin Matters

If Bitcoin is only hoarded and not spent, it will remain a niche asset that shields against inflation but doesn’t challenge the fiat system. For Bitcoin to become a true alternative currency, it must be used everywhere—in stores, online platforms, and peer-to-peer exchanges. The more people and businesses accept Bitcoin, the closer we get to a world where decentralized currency is the norm. This isn’t just an investment; it’s a movement for financial freedom.\ \ Bitcoin wasn’t created to sit idly in wallets or serve as collateral for loans. It’s a tool for change that demands active use. If we want a world where individuals control their finances, we must start using Bitcoin—not just to avoid poverty, but to build a new financial reality.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Pizza Day: 15 Years Since 10,000 BTC Bought Two Pizzas and Changed Everything 

On May 22, 2010, Bitcoin became more than just an idea—it became real money. Laszlo Hanyecz, a developer and early contributor to Bitcoin’s codebase, posted a casual offer: “I’ll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas.” Five days later, someone took him up on it. Two Papa John’s pizzas were delivered. A screenshot was posted. Bitcoin had entered the real world. 

15 years ago, Laszlo Hanyecz spent 10,000 #bitcoin worth $30 on two Papa John's pizzas.

Today, 10,000 $BTC is worth over $1,100,000,000.

What a legend! pic.twitter.com/EbxQAsixhZ

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 22, 2025

That 10,000 Bitcoin, worth about $41 at the time, is now valued at over $1.1 billion. And with Bitcoin hitting a new all-time high of $111,999 on the 15th anniversary of the transaction, the story of the “Bitcoin Pizza” carries more weight than ever.

@realbitcoinmagazine

15 years ago, someone paid 10,000 #Bitcoin for 2 pizzas. That’s worth over $1,000,000,000 today!

♬ original sound – Bitcoin Magazine

It wasn’t just about the pizza. This was the moment Bitcoin proved itself as a functioning currency. Until then, it had lived mostly in theory and code—talked about by cryptographers and mined by hobbyists. Hanyecz’s post, and the trade that followed, transformed the idea into action. “This transaction made Bitcoin real in my eyes,” he said in a 2019 interview. “It wasn’t worth much at the time. I wouldn’t have spent $100 million on pizza, right? But if I hadn’t done that, maybe Bitcoin wouldn’t have become so popular.” 

Over the summer of 2010, Hanyecz continued using Bitcoin to buy pizzas, eventually spending more than 79,000 BTC—now worth nearly $8.7 billion. While some have joked at his expense, the truth is this: without those early real-world transactions, Bitcoin might never have proven its use case. Hanyecz helped move Bitcoin from the fringe into functionality.

That legacy still shapes us today. Bitcoin Pizza Day has become a cultural milestone in the crypto world, with meetups, pizza parties, and educational events held globally each May 22. The day serves as a reminder of how far the technology has come—and the importance of everyday actions and the impact they have. 

Smiles, joy, and shared moments, this is what today looked like.#Bitcoin Pizza Day at His Grace School was more than a visit. It was connection, care, and community. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated and supported #BitcoinGhana #BitcoinPizzaDay #BTC #Bitfiasi pic.twitter.com/xRMv1rpife

— Bitfiasi Initiative (@bitfiasi) May 22, 2025

Just this week, fast food chain Steak ‘n Shake began accepting Bitcoin via the Lightning Network, signaling a growing wave of mainstream adoption. What once felt experimental is now becoming part of everyday commerce. 

Bitcoin Pizza Day is about recognition. One simple transaction proved that Bitcoin could work—and 15 years later, the world is still building on that first bite. 

This post Bitcoin Pizza Day: 15 Years Since 10,000 BTC Bought Two Pizzas and Changed Everything  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

The Citadel (v. Nardo): From Meme to Monument

My latest painting, The Citadel (v. Nardo), did not begin simply on canvas. It began as a whisper – an image passed digitally between anonymous hands, reposted, remixed, archived, and mythologized across the internet. Like many of my works, this piece builds from historical fragments and symbols, grounded in the belief that memes are not fleeting – they are foundational. They don’t just reflect culture, rather, they write it.

Last year in 2024, I presented a solo show in Abu Dhabi centered around the fact that Subway – the sandwich chain – was one of the first fast food restaurants to accept Bitcoin. That small historical detail became the seed of a larger conceptual inquiry: what does it mean to “consume” in an age of hyper-speed information? The works explored the overlap between fast food, memes, and digital attention. The exhibition was tight, precise, and deeply memetic in its structure.

The Citadel came from a similar place.

In 2013, a now-legendary Reddit post titled “I am a time-traveler from the future, here to beg you to stop what you are doing” appeared online. The author – claiming to be from 2025 – warned of a future shaped by Bitcoin, but not in the way many had hoped. It wasn’t a utopia. It was a stratified society where those who adopted early became untouchably rich, and everyone else was left behind. Whether satire, fiction, or genuine warning, the post struck a nerve. It spread quickly. It became part of the cultural and memetic architecture of Bitcoin.

Years later, another anonymous user gave that warning a visual form. The Citadel v.1, likely created on 4chan, featured a massive tower cobbled together from borrowed imagery – most notably a background ripped from Alexander Mikhalchyk’s oil painting Tower of Babel. Red – overlaid with iconic internet figures like Pepe, Wojak, and the Bogdanoff twins. It was chaotic, funny, ominous. And it caught fire. Versions spread across forums. Variants emerged for Monero, Ethereum, and other Bitcoin-based class hierarchies. A whole mythology took shape around it.

I couldn’t stop thinking about that image. The symbolism. The verticality. The warning. It wasn’t just a meme – it was a map. A visual schema of power and belief, told in the language of the internet. And yet, it had never been physically painted. Never given the weight or permanence it deserved. That’s when I decided to create what I believe is the first fully hand-painted oil version of the Bitcoin Citadel meme.

The Citadel (v. Nardo) is 7 feet wide, 5 feet tall, and entirely rendered in oil by hand over six months. The tower in my painting is original – constructed from references to Bruegel’s depictions of Babel. The superimposed depictions of Pepe, the monk, the nobleman, even Jesus, are deliberate nods to the v.1 version, reimagined and integrated with painterly care. Nothing here is copy-pasted. Every inch is built to feel mythic, monumental, and true to the weight of the meme itself.

Like all my work, it’s meant to evoke grandeur, drama, and symbolic density. It’s meant to feel like a relic from a future past – something dug up from the ruins of digital civilization. My late professor once told me that the best art is both folkloric and provocative. That line never left me.

And that’s essentially what internet memes are. They are modern folklore. They encode belief, identity, warning, and aspiration in compressed symbols. They may start as jokes – but jokes have always been a delivery system for deeper truth. Memes don’t just survive online; they shape what we expect from reality.

The Citadel (v. Nardo) will be sold at auction via Scarce.City and debut at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas – the largest gathering of Bitcoiners in the world. It’s not just a painting. It’s a response. A reckoning. A reminder.Because in the end, as I always say: you become what you meme.

This is a guest post by X-Nardo Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC, Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine_._

This post The Citadel (v. Nardo): From Meme to Monument first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by X-Nardo.

@ 63d59db8:be170f6f

In a world overwhelmed by contradictions—climate change, inequality, political instability, and social disconnection—absurdity becomes an unavoidable lens through which to view the human condition. Inspired by Albert Camus' philosophy, this project explores the tension between life’s inherent meaninglessness and our persistent search for purpose.\ \ The individuals in these images embody a quiet defiance, navigating chaos with a sense of irony and authenticity. Through the act of revolt—against despair, against resignation—they find agency and resilience. These photographs invite reflection, not on solutions, but on our capacity to live meaningfully within absurdity.

Visit Katerina's website here.

Submit your work to the NOICE Visual Expression Awards for a chance to win a few thousand extra sats:

https://noicemagazine.com/SUBMISSIONS

@ 2b468756:7930dd9c

Agorisme is libertarisme in de praktijk: op legale wijze maximale economische en persoonlijke vrijheid. Samen ontdekken en delen we wat er allemaal mogelijk is. We doen dit door: - organiseren jaarlijks agorismefestival - organiseren meerdere themadagen / excursies per jaar - bundelen praktische kennis op Agorisme Wiki - online uitwisselen via (thema)appgroepen

Op deze site worden activiteiten aangekondigd en kun je je opgeven.

Binnenkort: - cursussen metselen, stucen en vloeren - reis naar libertarisch dorp Walden Woods en Liberstad in Noorwegen - introductie Krav Maga zelfverdediging

We zijn gelieerd aan de libertarische partij.

Graag tot ziens!

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Not ECDSA. Not Schnorr. Meet DahLIAS.

Aggregate signatures aren’t new. They’ve been around since the early 2000s. But building one that actually works in Bitcoin’s security model, with Bitcoin’s elliptic curve, has never been proven. Developers speculated it might be possible. They shared hand-wavy sketches and said, “maybe it’d work like MuSig2, but across transaction inputs.” The idea lingered for years as developer folklore, close, never provably confirmed.

That changed recently, when Jonas Nick and Tim Ruffing of Blockstream Research, together with Yannick Seurin of Ledger, published a paper that turned this cryptographic ghost story into a concrete, provable result. DahLIAS is the first formal, secure construction of a full constant-size aggregate signature (CISA) scheme that works on Bitcoin’s native curve! 

But that’s a lot of words, so let’s break that down:

• Full aggregation: Multiple signatures across different inputs are combined into one — and the result is a 64 byte signature whose size stays constant, no matter how many signers or inputs. 
• Cross-input: Each signer can authorize different inputs, and all combine into one signature.

It adds no significant new assumptions beyond those already relied on by Bitcoin. DahLIAS builds a new cryptographic primitive using the same math Bitcoin already relies on, unlocking an entirely new kind of signature.

Let’s Talk About Curves and Signatures

Digital signatures are how Bitcoin proves that a user has authorized a transaction. When you go to spend bitcoin, your wallet uses a private key to sign a message, and the network verifies that signature using the matching public key.

Bitcoin uses the secp256k1 curve. It is fast, efficient, and has been battle-tested over time. It supports signature schemes like ECDSA (Bitcoin’s original signature algorithm) and Schnorr (added through Taproot in 2021), which are currently the only signature schemes permitted by Bitcoin consensus.

Traditionally, full signature aggregation relied on mathematical operations not supported by Bitcoin’s curve, secp256k1, which made it seem out of reach. These features have typically relied on other types of elliptic curves. For example, BLS (Boneh–Lynn–Shacham) signatures use a special kind of curve called a pairing-friendly curve, which enables advanced operations like combining many signatures, even on different messages, into one.

The problem is that BLS signatures do not work on secp256k1. While Schnorr was a natural upgrade from ECDSA, since both rely on the same kind of elliptic curve, adding BLS would be a much bigger leap and a departure from Bitcoin’s existing security model. Though technically possible, it would introduce new cryptographic assumptions and add significant complexity to the protocol. Supporting a curve that is pairing-friendly, like BLS12-381, would be a major change for Bitcoin.

This is part of why full signature aggregation has never been done on secp256k1.

Until now.

What Aggregate Signatures Actually Do

Most Bitcoin users are familiar with multisignatures. In a multisig wallet, multiple people jointly authorize the spending of a single UTXO or some specific “coin”. Everyone signs the same input data. This setup is useful for things like shared custody wallets.

Aggregate signatures work differently. Instead of multiple people signing the same input or coin, each signer authorizes a different UTXO in a transaction. These separate signatures are then compressed into one compact proof. With DahLIAS, that means a single 64-byte signature on Bitcoin’s secp256k1 curve that verifies all inputs at once.

That means if you have five inputs from five different people, the transaction needs five different signatures. With an aggregate signature, all of those can be bundled into one. Even if each signer is spending a different input and signing a different part of the transaction, the result is one signature that proves the entire transaction was properly authorized.

It’s like zipping a whole list of approvals into one file. The signature is compact, but still verifiably proves that each signer authorized their specific UTXO.

Instead of verifying 10 separate signatures, you verify one.

This helps realign incentives for privacy. By reducing the signature overhead to a single 64-byte proof, DahLIAS lowers the cost of combining inputs in CoinJoins, making it financially smarter to choose privacy than to go without it.

Why Half-Aggregation Got Close

Shortly after Schnorr signatures were introduced on Bitcoin, developers explored half-aggregation, as a way to compress multiple signatures but they were not fixed size. Each input contributes to the size of the signature, so the transaction still grows with every participant. DahLIAS fixes this by enabling full-aggregation across inputs and signers. No matter how many people are involved or what they’re signing, all their signatures compress into one constant-size, 64-byte proof.

What DahLIAS Actually Unlocks

The main benefit here is that DahLIAS are reducing the size of complex transactions.

DahLIAS uses a two-round interactive signing process. It’s similar to MuSig2 in that regard, but it isn’t a multisignature protocol because it doesn’t require all participants to co-sign the same message. Instead, it aggregates different signatures on different messages across the transaction.

DahLIAS is also faster to verify than checking each signature individually, up to twice as fast in some cases. Lower verification costs make it easier for more people to run full nodes, which helps preserve Bitcoin’s decentralization over time.

Importantly, DahLIAS comes with strong cryptographic guarantees. The scheme includes formal security proofs. Earlier ‘folklore’ approaches to full signature aggregation lacked this, and some were even later shown to be insecure. Fortunately they weren’t adopted prematurely.

It’s worth repeating: DahLIAS is not a multisig protocol. It isn’t comparable to MuSig2 or FROST from a functional standpoint, even if it shares similar cryptographic building blocks. It serves a different purpose. It offers a new way to encode many independent approvals into one clean, verifiable package.

Future Directions

You might think: if DahLIAS is so powerful, why isn’t it a BIP? Why not propose it for Bitcoin consensus?

DahLIAS signatures don’t look like Schnorr or ECDSA signatures. The verification algorithm is different. Instead of taking a single public key, message, and signature, a DahLIAS verifier takes lists of public keys and messages, and a single 64-byte proof.

This makes DahLIAS incompatible with Bitcoin’s current consensus rules. Supporting it at the base layer would require a consensus change. This paper doesn’t propose that change, but it does something equally important.

This paper shows that a full signature aggregation scheme for Bitcoin’s native curve is possible.

That alone is a major step forward.

To make DahLIAS part of Bitcoin, someone would need to write a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP), maybe even using secp256k1lab. That means specifying the scheme in detail, considering its implications for consensus and implementation, and building community support. This paper lays the cryptographic foundation for that conversation.

The real value of the DahLIAS paper is what it proves. Full signature aggregation on secp256k1 is not just a thought experiment. It’s concrete. It’s efficient. It’s secure. For years, the idea lived in developer folklore. Now, it’s written down, analyzed, and proven. All that’s left is to bring it to Bitcoin—if we want it.

This is a guest post by Kiara Bickers. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

This post Not ECDSA. Not Schnorr. Meet DahLIAS. first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Kiara Bickers.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

There is something quietly rebellious about stacking sats. In a world obsessed with instant gratification, choosing to patiently accumulate Bitcoin, one sat at a time, feels like a middle finger to the hype machine. But to do it right, you have got to stay humble. Stack too hard with your head in the clouds, and you will trip over your own ego before the next halving even hits.

Small Wins

Stacking sats is not glamorous. Discipline. Stacking every day, week, or month, no matter the price, and letting time do the heavy lifting. Humility lives in that consistency. You are not trying to outsmart the market or prove you are the next "crypto" prophet. Just a regular person, betting on a system you believe in, one humble stack at a time. Folks get rekt chasing the highs. They ape into some shitcoin pump, shout about it online, then go silent when they inevitably get rekt. The ones who last? They stack. Just keep showing up. Consistency. Humility in action. Know the game is long, and you are not bigger than it.

Ego is Volatile

Bitcoin’s swings can mess with your head. One day you are up 20%, feeling like a genius and the next down 30%, questioning everything. Ego will have you panic selling at the bottom or over leveraging the top. Staying humble means patience, a true bitcoin zen. Do not try to "beat” Bitcoin. Ride it. Stack what you can afford, live your life, and let compounding work its magic.

Simplicity

There is a beauty in how stacking sats forces you to rethink value. A sat is worth less than a penny today, but every time you grab a few thousand, you plant a seed. It is not about flaunting wealth but rather building it, quietly, without fanfare. That mindset spills over. Cut out the noise: the overpriced coffee, fancy watches, the status games that drain your wallet. Humility is good for your soul and your stack. I have a buddy who has been stacking since 2015. Never talks about it unless you ask. Lives in a decent place, drives an old truck, and just keeps stacking. He is not chasing clout, he is chasing freedom. That is the vibe: less ego, more sats, all grounded in life.

The Big Picture

Stack those sats. Do it quietly, do it consistently, and do not let the green days puff you up or the red days break you down. Humility is the secret sauce, it keeps you grounded while the world spins wild. In a decade, when you look back and smile, it will not be because you shouted the loudest. It will be because you stayed the course, one sat at a time. \ \ Stay Humble and Stack Sats. 🫡

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

KindlyMD, Nakamoto, and Anchorage Digital Form Strategic Bitcoin Treasury Alliance

Nakamoto Holdings Inc., KindlyMD, Inc., and Anchorage Digital today announced a strategic partnership that will see Anchorage become a trading partner for KindlyMD’s Bitcoin treasury. The partnership will officially take effect upon the close of KindlyMD’s merger with Nakamoto, expected in Q3 2025.

NEW! Anchorage Digital @Nakamoto @KindlyMD

Today we’re thrilled to announce a strategic partnership with Nakamoto Holdings and $KDLY to accelerate the future of corporate Bitcoin adoption. pic.twitter.com/nQueTyutQH

— Anchorage Digital (@Anchorage) May 21, 2025

Anchorage Digital, a U.S. federally chartered digital asset bank, will provide institutional-grade custody, 24/7 trading, and deep liquidity to support the Bitcoin strategy of the combined entity.

“In the not-so-distant-future, the omission of Bitcoin on a balance sheet will be more glaring than its inclusion,” said Nathan McCauley, CEO and Co-Founder of Anchorage Digital. “Until then, companies like Nakamoto-KindlyMD are pioneering a new path forward—one in which Bitcoin is at the heart of corporate strategy.” 

The future of corporate treasury strategy is Bitcoin-native. We're here to make it happen. Pumped to be partnering with @Nakamoto and @KindlyMD.@DavidFBailey’s vision continues to open new doors.

LFG https://t.co/BtUDdwwLQF

— Nathan McCauley (@nathanmccauley) May 21, 2025

The merger between KindlyMD and Nakamoto is backed by approximately $710 million in financing, including $510 million in PIPE funding—the largest ever PIPE for a public crypto-related deal. The goal is to establish a Bitcoin-native corporate treasury strategy that redefines how capital markets engage with digital assets.

“Our goal is to bring Bitcoin to the center of global capital markets within a compliant, transparent structure,” said David Bailey, Founder and CEO of Nakamoto Holdings Inc. “We are excited to partner with Anchorage Digital to implement our vision with the highest levels of security and battle-tested infrastructure and enable us to deliver sustained value to shareholders.”

This announcement follows a key milestone on May 18, when KindlyMD shareholders approved the proposed merger with Nakamoto. The transaction is now expected to close in Q3 2025, pending SEC review and information statement distribution.

“This milestone brings us one step closer to unlocking Bitcoin’s potential for KindlyMD shareholders,” Bailey said yesterday. “We are grateful that KindlyMD shares our vision for a future in which Bitcoin is a core part of the corporate balance sheet.”

With its Bitcoin-first strategy and strategic alliances, the Nakamoto-KindlyMD partnership is set to accelerate institutional Bitcoin adoption—and with Anchorage Digital’s infrastructure behind it, the foundation is now firmly in place.

“By collaborating with Anchorage Digital, we are implementing our Bitcoin treasury strategy with the utmost standards in safety and security for our shareholders,” stated Tim Pickett, CEO of KindlyMD. “Their institutional-grade platform allows us to confidently hold Bitcoin as a treasury asset as we look to unlock access to Bitcoin and drive value for the long term.”

Disclosure: Nakamoto is in partnership with Bitcoin Magazine’s parent company BTC Inc to build the first global network of Bitcoin treasury companies, where BTC Inc provides certain marketing services to Nakamoto. More information on this can be found here. 

This post KindlyMD, Nakamoto, and Anchorage Digital Form Strategic Bitcoin Treasury Alliance first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

How Zeus is Redefining Bitcoin with Cashu Ecash Integration

The U.S.-based Bitcoin and Lightning mobile wallet Zeus recently announced an alpha-release integration of Cashu. The move marks the first integration of ecash into a popular Bitcoin wallet, breaking new ground for potential user adoption to Bitcoin.
Cashu is a hot new implementation of Chaumian ecash, a form of digital cash invented by David Chaum in the ’90s that has incredible privacy and scalability properties, with the trade-off of being fundamentally centralized, requiring a significant amount of trust in the issuer.

In a counterintuitive move for Zeus, known as the go-to tool for advanced Lightning users seeking to connect to their home nodes, the integration of Cashu acknowledges a “last mile” challenge Lightning wallets face when delivering Bitcoin to the masses.

“We basically started off as the cypherpunk wallet, right? You got to set up your own Lightning node and connect to it with Zeus. The last two years, we put the node in the phone with one click, you can run it all in a standalone app without a remote node,” Evan Kaloudis, founder and CEO of Zeus, told Bitcoin Magazine.

“Cashu addresses uneconomical self-custody for small bitcoin amounts. On-chain, the dust limit is 546 satoshis, and Layer Two systems like Lightning have costs for channel setup or unilateral exits that aren’t widely discussed,” Evan explained, highlighting a major point of friction in noncustodial Lightning wallets: the need for liquidity and channel management. While these esoteric aspects of the Lightning Network have been mostly abstracted away since its invention in 2016, these fundamental trade-offs continue to manifest even in the most sophisticated and user-friendly wallets.

In the case of both Phoenix and Zeus, two of the most popular noncustodial options in the market, users must pay up to 10,000 sats upfront to gain spending capacity. These fees are necessary to cover the on-chain fees spent to open a channel for the user against the wallet’s liquidity service provider, unlocking a noncustodial experience.

The required up-front fee is difficult to explain and represents a painful onboarding experience for new users who are used to fiat apps giving them money to join instead. The result is the proliferation of custodial Lightning wallets like Wallet of Satoshi (WOS), which gained massive adoption early on by leveraging the global, near-instant settlement power of Bitcoin combined with the excellent user experience centralized wallets can create.

Major developments have been made over seven years after the Lightning Network’s inception, however, and Zeus is pushing the boundaries.

“With Ecash, we make it so easy that anyone can set up a wallet and start participating in our ecosystem, which I really think is going to become more and more prevalent,” Evan explained.

Today, at roughly $100,000 per bitcoin, 1,000 satoshis are equivalent to $1. Transactions of these sizes are known as microtransactions — a popular example are Nostr social media tips known as Zaps. But finding the right tool for this use case is not simple. Self custodied wallets like Phoenix charge transaction fees in the hundreds of satoshis, even with open channels, and on-chain fees often cost the same and are slower to settle. As a result, there’s an entire category of spending that is only served by cheaper alternatives such as custodial lightning wallets like WOS or Blink, but result in significant privacy tradeoffs, often requiring phone numbers from users and in some cases more advanced KYC and IP tracking. Cashu hopes to serve this market with lower privacy costs, the same ease of use, speed and competitive fees.

Digging deeper into the Cashu integration, Evan explained that “for users this means being able to pick and switch between custodians in a single app. For developers this means being able to defer custodial responsibilities to third parties and not have to wire up a new integration when your current custodian halts operations.”

Zaps are satoshi-denominated rewards delivered as “likes” or micro-tips for content in the Nostr social media ecosystem. A Zap can be as small as one satoshi, the smallest amount of bitcoin that can be technically transferred, equivalent today to about a tenth of a penny. “But I think if we look at Nostr and you’re seeing how many people are Zapping and how big a part of that ecosystem it is. It’s like, people are willing to do it,” Evan explained.

“Cashu, while custodial, lets users accumulate small amounts — say, via Nostr Zaps — without needing 6,000 satoshis to open a Lightning channel. Zeus prompts users to upgrade to self-custody as their balance grows,” he concluded, explaining that the wallet will effectively annoy users into self custody, one of several design choices made to mitigate the risks introduced by Cashu.

Ecash

The trade-offs introduced by Cashu challenge the common understanding of custody as an either-or in Bitcoin. Historically you were either a centralized — custodial — exchange, or you were a noncustodial Bitcoin wallet. In the former, you entrust the coins to a third party; in the latter you take personal responsibility for those coins and their corresponding private keys. Cashu changes this paradigm by introducing bitcoin-denominated ecash notes or “nuts,” which are bearer instruments that should be backed by a full bitcoin reserve and Lightning interoperability for instant withdraw.

Similar to fiat cash, you must take control and responsibility over these notes, but there’s also counterparty risk. In the case of Cashu, there are certain things the issuing mint can theoretically do to exploit their users — akin to how a bank can run on a fractional reserve. 

The big difference between Cashu or custodial Bitcoin exchanges and fiat currency is that Cashu is open source, is designed around user privacy, and scales very well. It makes the cost of running a mint lower than either alternative, a feature that makes mint competition easier, in theory countering the centralizing network effects of specific mints.

Finally, the user experience of storing Cashu tokens has been attached to known forms of Bitcoin self custody such as the download of 12-words seeds via various mechanisms, though implementations still vary from wallet to wallet and the whole ecosystem is in its early stages. 

To further mitigate the custodial risk of Chaumian-style ecash in Bitcoin, the Cashu community has developed various methods for automatically managing custody risk.

“Users can split risk by using multiple mints, switching between them in the user interface. Soon, ZEUS will guide users to select five or six reputable mints, automatically balancing funds to minimize exposure,” Evan explained, referring to a particular approach called automated bank runs. The idea is that as some Cashu mints may hold more of your funds, Zeus de-ranks them and rotates value out to minimize risk. 

“I think the idea is going to be that we guide users to pick five or six reputable mints… And from there, users will be able to have the wallet automatically switch between those mints and determine which mint should be receiving the balance depending on the balance of all the mints presently. So you’ll be like, OK. MiniBits has way too much money. Let’s switch the default to one of the mints that doesn’t have a lot. So that way you can sort of mitigate or rather distribute the rug risk there,” Evan explained, adding, “Our Discover Mint feature pulls reviews from bitcoinmints.com, showing vouch counts and user feedback, like mint reliability or longevity,” describing the reputation layer stacked on top of the various other risk management mechanisms.

There is no known way to use Chaumian-style ecash in an entirely noncustodial way. So as long as the custody risk can be minimized, the scaling and privacy upside becomes remarkable. 

Microtransactions

One of the opportunities that ecash unlocks is microtransactions, the most popular example of which are Nostr Zaps often in single dollar ranges of value transferred, though it applies to small Lightning transactions as well. This use case triggers an important technical question that predates Bitcoin, do microtransactions actually make economic sense?

There’s a long-standing argu

@ ecda4328:1278f072

An honest response to objections — and an answer to the most important question: why does any of this matter?

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\ Statement: Deflation is not the enemy, but a natural state in an age of technological progress.\ Criticism: in real macroeconomics, long-term deflation is linked to depressions.\ Deflation discourages borrowers and investors, and makes debt heavier.\ Natural ≠ Safe.

1. “Deflation → Depression, Debt → Heavier”

This is true in a debt-based system. Yes, in a fiat economy, debt balloons to the sky, and without inflation it collapses.

But Bitcoin offers not “deflation for its own sake,” but an environment where you don’t need to be in debt to survive. Where savings don’t melt away.\ Jeff Booth said it clearly:

“Technology is inherently deflationary. Fighting deflation with the printing press is fighting progress.”

You don’t have to take on credit to live in this system. Which means — deflation is not an enemy, but an ally.

💡 People often confuse two concepts:

1. That deflation doesn’t work in an economy built on credit and leverage — that’s true.

2. That deflation itself is bad — that’s a myth.

📉 In reality, deflation is the natural state of a free market when technology makes everything cheaper.

Historical example:\ In the U.S., from the Civil War to the early 1900s, the economy experienced gentle deflation — alongside economic growth, employment expansion, and industrial boom.\ Prices fell: for example, a sack of flour cost \~$1.00 in 1865 and \~$0.50 in 1895 — and there was no crisis, because wages held and productivity increased.

Modern example:\ Consumer electronics over the past 20–30 years are a vivid example of technological deflation:\ – What cost $5,000 in 2000 (e.g., a 720p plasma TV) now costs $300 and delivers 10× better quality.\ – Phones, computers, cameras — all became far more powerful and cheaper at the same time.\ That’s how tech-driven deflation works: you get more for less.

📌 Bitcoin doesn’t make the world deflationary. It just doesn’t fight against deflation, unlike the fiat model that fights to preserve its debt pyramid.\ It stops punishing savers and rewards long-term thinkers.

Even economists often confuse organic tech deflation with crisis-driven (debt) deflation.

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\ \ Statement: We’ve never lived in a truly free market — central banks and issuance always existed.\ Criticism: ideological statement.\ A truly “free” market is utopian.\ Banks and monetary issuance emerged in response to crises.\ A market without arbiters is not always fair, especially under imperfect competition.

2. “The Free Market Is a Utopia”

Yes, “pure markets” are rare. But what we have today isn’t regulation — it’s centralized power in the hands of central banks and cartels.

Bitcoin offers rules without rulers. 21 million. No one can change the issuance. It’s not ideology — it’s code instead of trust. And it has worked for 15 years.

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\ \ Statement: Inflation is an invisible tax, especially on the poor and working class.\ Criticism: partly true: inflation can reduce debt burden, boost employment.\ The state indexes social benefits. Under stable inflation, compensators can work. Under deflation, things might be worse (mass layoffs, defaults).

3. “Inflation Can Help”

Theoretically — yes. Textbooks say moderate inflation can reduce debt burdens and stimulate consumption and jobs.\ But in practice — it works as a stealth tax, especially on those without assets. The wealthy escape — into real estate, stocks, funds.\ But the poor and working class lose purchasing power because their money is held in cash — and cash devalues.

💬 As Lyn Alden says:

“When your money can’t hold value, you’re forced to become an investor — even if you just want to save and live.”

The state may index pensions or benefits — but always with a lag, and always less than actual price increases.\ If bread rises 15% and your payment increase is 5%, you got poorer, even if the number on paper went up.

💥 We live in an inflationary system of everything:\ – Inflationary money\ – Inflationary products\ – Inflationary content\ – And now even inflationary minds

🧠 This is more than just rising prices — it’s a degradation of reality perception. You’re always rushing, everything loses meaning.\ But when did the system start working against you?

📉 What went wrong after 1971?

This chart shows that from 1948 to the early 1970s, productivity and wages grew together.\ But after the end of the gold standard in 1971 — the connection broke. Productivity kept rising, but real wages stalled.

👉 This means: you work more, better, faster — but buy less.

🔗 Source: wtfhappenedin1971.com

When you must spend today because tomorrow it’ll be worth less — that’s rewarding impulse and punishing long-term thinking.

Bitcoin offers a different environment:\ – Savings work\ – Long-term thinking is rewarded\ – The price of the future is calculated, not forced by a printing press

📌 Inflation can be a tool. But in government hands, it became a weapon — a slow, inevitable upward redistribution of wealth.

Indexing is weak compensation if bread is up 15% and your “increase” is only 5%.

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\ \ Statement: War is not growth, but a reallocation of resources into destruction.

Criticism: war can spur technological leaps (Internet, GPS, nuclear energy — all from military programs). "Military Keynesianism" was a real model.

4. “War Drives R&D”

Yes, wars sometimes give rise to tech spin-offs: Internet, GPS, nuclear power — all originated from military programs.

But that doesn’t make war a source of progress — it makes tech a byproduct of catastrophe.

“War reallocates resources toward destruction — not growth.”

Progress doesn’t happen because of war — it happens despite it.

If scientific breakthroughs require a million dead and burnt cities — maybe you’ve built your economy wrong.

💬 Even Michael Saylor said:

“If you need war to develop technology — you’ve built civilization wrong.”

No innovation justifies diverting human labor, minds, and resources toward destruction.\ War is always the opposite of efficiency — more is wasted than created.

🧠 Bitcoin, on the other hand, is an example of how real R&D happens without violence.\ No taxes. No army. Just math, voluntary participation, and open-source code.

📌 Military Keynesianism is not a model of progress — it’s a symptom of a sick monetary system that needs destruction to reboot.

Bitcoin shows that coordination without violence is possible.\ This is R&D of a new kind: based not on destruction, but digital creation.

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Statement: Bitcoin isn’t “Gold 1.0,” but an improved version: divisible, verifiable, unseizable.

Criticism: Bitcoin has no physical value; "unseizability" is a theory;\ Gold is material and autonomous.

5. “Bitcoin Has No Physical Value”

And gold does? Just because it shines?

Physical form is no guarantee of value.\ Real value lies in: scarcity, reliable transfer, verifiability, and non-confiscatability.

Gold is:\ – Hard to divide\ – Hard to verify\ – Expensive to store\ – Easy to seize

💡 Bitcoin is the first store of value in history that is fully free from physical limitations, and yet:\ – Absolutely scarce (21M, forever)\ – Instantly transferable over the Internet\ – Cryptographically verifiable\ – Controlled by no government

🔑 Bitcoin’s value lies in its liberation from the physical.\ It doesn’t need to be “backed” by gold or oil. It’s backed by energy, mathematics, and ongoing verification.

“Price is what you pay, value is what you get.” — Warren Buffett

When you buy bitcoin, you’re not paying for a “token” — you’re gaining access to a network of distributed financial energy.

⚡️ What are you really getting when you own bitcoin?\ – A key to a digital asset that can’t be faked\ – The ability to send “crystallized energy” anywhere on Earth\ – A role in a new accounting system that runs 24/7/365\ – Freedom: from banks, borders, inflation, and force

📉 Bitcoin doesn’t require physical value — because it creates value:\ Through trust, scarcity, and energy invested in mining.\ And unlike gold, it was never associated with slavery.

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Statement: There’s no “income without risk” in Bitcoin: just hold — you preserve; want more — invest, risk, build.

Criticism: contradicts HODL logic; speculation remains dominant behavior.

6. “Speculation Dominates”

For now — yes. That’s normal for the early phase of a new technology. Awareness doesn’t come instantly.

What matters is not the motive of today’s buyer — but what they’re buying.

📉 A speculator may come and go — but the asset remains.\ And this asset is the only one in history that will never exist again. 21 million. Forever.

📌 Look deeper. Bitcoin has:\ – No CEO\ – No central issuer\ – No inflation\ – No “off switch”

💡 It’s not a stock. Not a startup. Not someone’s project.\ It’s a new foundation for trust.\ It’s opting out of a system where freedom is a privilege you’re granted under conditions.

🧠 People say: “Bitcoin can be copied.”\ Theoretically — yes.\ Practically — never.

Here’s what you’d need to recreate Bitcoin:\ – No pre-mine\ – A founder who disappears and never sells\ – No foundation or corporation\ – Tens of thousands of nodes worldwide\ – 701 million terahashes of hash power\ – Thousands of devs writing open protocols\ – Hundreds of global conferences\ – Millions of people defending digital sovereignty\ – All that without a single marketing budget

That’s all.

🔁 Everything else is an imitation, not a creation.\ Just like you can’t “reinvent fire” — Bitcoin can only exist once.

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Statements:\ The Russia's '90s weren’t a free market — just anarchic chaos without rights protection.*\ Unlike fiat or even dollars, Bitcoin is the first asset with real defense — from governments, inflation, even thugs.\ And yes, even if your barber asks about Bitcoin — maybe it's not a bubble, but a sign that inflation has already hit everyone.

Criticism: Bitcoin’s protection isn’t universal — it works only with proper handling and isn’t available to all.\ Some just want to “get rich.”\ None of this matters because:

1. Bitcoin’s volatility (-30% in a week, +50% in a month) makes it unusable for price planning or contracts.

2. It can’t handle mass-scale usage.

3. To become currency, geopolitical will is needed — and without the first two, don’t even talk about the third.\ Also: “Bitcoin is too complicated for the average person.”

7. “It’s Too Complex for the Masses”

It’s complex — if you’re using L1 (Layer 1). But even grandmas use Telegram. In El Salvador, schoolkids buy lunch with Lightning. My barber installed Wallet of Satoshi in minutes right in front of me — and I now pay for my haircut via Lightning.

UX is just a matter of time. And it’s improving. Emerging tools:\ Cashu, Fedimint, Fedi, Wallet of Satoshi, Phoenix, Proton Wallet, Swiss Bitcoin Pay, Bolt Card / CoinCorner (NFC cards for Lightning payments).

This is like the internet in 1995:\ It started with modems — now it’s 4K streaming.

---

8. “Can’t Handle the Load”

A common myth.\ Yes, Bitcoin L1 processes about 7 transactions per second — intentionally. It’s not built to be Visa. It’s a financial protocol, just like TCP/IP is a network protocol. TCP/IP isn’t “fast” or “slow” — the experience depends on the infrastructure built on top: servers, routers, hardware. In the ’90s, it delivered text. Today, it streams Netflix. The protocol didn’t change — the stack did.

Same with Bitcoin: L1 defines rules, security, finality.\ Scaling and speed? That’s the second layer’s job.

To understand scale:

| Network | TPS (Transactions/sec) | | --- | --- | | Visa | up to 24,000 | | Mastercard | \~5,000 | | PayPal | \~193 | | Litecoin | \~56 | | Ethereum | \~20 | | Bitcoin | \~7 |

\ ⚡️ Enter Lightning Network — Bitcoin’s “fast lane.”\ It allows millions of transactions per second, instantly and nearly free.

And it’s not a sidechain.

❗️ Lightning is not a separate network.\ It uses real Bitcoin transactions (2-of-2 multisig). You can close the channel to L1 at any time. It’s not an alternative — it’s a native extension built into Bitcoin.\ Also evolving: Ark, Fedimint, eCash — new ways to scale and add privacy.

📉 So criticizing Bitcoin for “slowness” is like blaming TCP/IP because your old modem won’t stream YouTube.\ The protocol isn’t the problem — it’s the infrastructure.

🛡️ And by the way: Visa crashes more often than Bitcoin.

---

9. “We Need Geopolitical Will”

Not necessarily. All it takes is the will of the people — and leaders willing to act. El Salvador didn’t wait for G20 approval or IMF blessings. Since 2001, the country had used the US dollar as its official currency, abandoning its own colón. But that didn’t save it from inflation or dependency on foreign monetary policy. In 2021, El Salvador became the first country to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender. Since March 13, 2024, they’ve been purchasing 1 BTC daily, tracked through their public address:

🔗 Address\ 📅 First transaction

This policy became the foundation of their Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) — a state-led effort to accumulate Bitcoin as a national reserve asset for long-term stability and sovereignty.

Their example inspired others.

In March 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve of the USA, to be funded through confiscated Bitcoin and digital assets.\ The idea: accumulate, don’t sell, and strategically expand the reserve — without extra burden on taxpayers.

Additionally, Senator Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming) proposed the BITCOIN Act, targeting the purchase of 1 million BTC over five years (\~5% of the total supply).\ The plan: fund it via revaluation of gold certificates and other budget-neutral strategies.

📚 More: Strategic Bitcoin Reserve — Wikipedia

👉 So no global consensus is required. No IMF greenlight.\ All it takes is conviction — and an understanding that the future of finance lies in decentralized, scarce assets like Bitcoin.

---

10. “-30% in a week, +50% in a month = not money”

True — Bitcoin is volatile. But that’s normal for new technologies and emerging money. It’s not a bug — it’s a price discovery phase. The world is still learning what this asset is.

📉 Volatility is the price of entry.\ 📈 But the reward is buying the future at a discount.

As Michael Saylor put it:

“A tourist sees Niagara Falls as chaos — roaring, foaming, spraying water.\ An engineer sees immense energy.\ It all depends on your mental model.”

Same with Bitcoin. Speculators see chaos. Investors see structural scarcity. Builders see a new financial foundation.

💡 Now consider gold:

👉 After the U.S. abandoned the gold standard in 1971, gold surged from \~$35 to over $800 in a decade — while suffering wild -40% to -60% crashes along the way.\ \ 📈 Gold Price Chart — Macrotrends\ \ Nobody said, “This can’t be money.” \ Because money is defined not by volatility, but by scarcity, adoption, and trust — which build over time.

📊 The more people save in Bitcoin, the more its volatility fades.

This is a journey — not a fixed state.

We don’t judge the internet by how it worked in 1994.\ So why expect Bitcoin to be the “perfect currency” in 2025?

It grows bottom-up — without regulators’ permission.\ And the longer it survives, the stronger it becomes.

Remember how many times it’s been declared dead.\ And how many times it came back — stronger.

---

📊 Gold vs. Bitcoin: Supply Comparison

This chart shows the key difference between the two hard assets:

🔹 Gold — supply keeps growing.\ Mining may be limited, but it’s still inflationary.\ Each year, there’s more — with no known cap: new mines, asteroid mining, recycling.

🔸 Bitcoin — capped at 21 million.\ The emission schedule is public, mathematically predictable, and ends completely around 2140.

🧠 Bottom line:\ Gold is good.\ Bitcoin is better — for predictability and scarcity.

💡 As Saifedean Ammous said:

“Gold was the best monetary good… until Bitcoin.”

While we argue — fiat erodes every day.

No matter your view on Bitcoin, just show me one other asset that is simultaneously:

– immune to devaluation by decree\ – impossible to print more of\ – impossible to confiscate by a centralized order\ – impossible to counterfeit\ – and, most importantly — transferable across borders without asking permission from a bank, a state, or a passport

💸 Try sending $10,000 through PayPal from Iran to Paraguay, or Bangladesh to Saint Lucia.\ Good luck. PayPal doesn't even work there.

Now open a laptop, type 12 words — and you have access to your savings anywhere on Earth.

🌍 Bitcoin doesn't ask for permission.\ It works for everyone, everywhere, all the time.

📌 There has never been anything like this before.

Bitcoin is the first asset in history that combines:

– digital nature\ – predictable scarcity\ – absolute portability\ – and immunity from tyranny

💡 As Michael Saylor said:

“Bitcoin is the first money in human history not created by bankers or politicians — but by engineers.”

You can own it with no bank.\ No intermediary.\ No passport.\ No approval.

That’s why Bitcoin isn’t just “internet money” or “crypto” or “digital gold.”\ It may not be perfect — but it’s incorruptible.\ And it’s not going away.\ It’s already here.\ It is the foundation of a new financial reality.

---

🔒 This is not speculation. This is a peaceful financial revolution.\ 🪙 This is not a stock. It’s money — like the world has never seen.\ ⛓️ This is not a fad. It’s a freedom protocol.

And when even the barber starts asking about Bitcoin — it’s not a bubble.\ It’s a sign that the system is breaking.\ And people are looking for an exit.

For the first time — they have one.

---

💼 This is not about investing. It’s about the dignity of work.

Imagine a man who cleans toilets at an airport every day.

Not a “prestigious” job.\ But a crucial one.\ Without him — filth, bacteria, disease.

He shows up on time. He works with his hands.

And his money? It devalues. Every day.

He doesn’t work less — often he works more than those in suits.\ But he can afford less and less — because in this system, honest labor loses value each year.

Now imagine he’s paid in Bitcoin.

Not in some “volatile coin,” but in hard money — with a limited supply.\ Money that can’t be printed, reversed, or devalued by central banks.

💡 Then he could:

– Stop rushing to spend, knowing his labor won’t be worth less tomorrow\ – Save for a dream — without fear of inflation eating it away\ – Feel that his time and effort are respected — because they retain value

Bitcoin gives anyone — engineer or janitor — a way out of the game rigged against them.\ A chance to finally build a future where savings are real.

This is economic justice.\ This is digital dignity.

📉 In fiat, you have to spend — or your money melts.\ 📈 In Bitcoin, you choose when to spend — because it’s up to you.

🧠 In a deflationary economy, both saving and spending are healthy:

You don’t scramble to survive — you choose to create.

🎯 That’s true freedom.

When even someone cleaning floors can live without fear —\ and know that their time doesn’t vanish... it turns into value.

@ f7d424b5:618c51e8

GAMERS, Join us for a vicless episode where we talk about AI for a change and how it has been impacting our lives. I promise it's video games related.

Stuff cited:

• Look at the bags under the Marathon guy's eyes
• Evidence that Marathon stole art

Obligatory:

• Listen to the new episode here!
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Reminder that this is a Value4Value podcast so any support you can give us via a modern podcasting app is greatly appreciated and we will never bow to corporate sponsors!

@ 662f9bff:8960f6b2

I have been really busy this week with work - albeit back in Madeira - so I had little time to read or do much other than work. In the coming weeks I should have more time - I am taking a few weeks off work and have quite a list of things to do.

First thing is to relax a bit and enjoy the pleasant weather here in Funchal for a few days. With 1st May tomorrow it does seem that there will be quite a bit to do..

Some food for thought for you. Who takes and makes your decisions? Do you make them yourself based on information that you have and know to be true or do you allow other people to take and make decisions for you? For example - do you allow governments or unaccountable beaureaucrats and others to decide for you and even to compell you?

In theory Governments should respect Consent of the Governed and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government". For you to decide if and to what extent governments today are acting in line with these principles. If not, what can you do about it? I dive into this below and do refer back to letter 9 - section: So What can you do about it.

First, a few things to read, watch and listen to

• I Finance the Current Thing by Allen Farrington - when money is political, everything is political...

• Prediction for 2030 (the Great Reset). Sorelle explains things pretty clearly if you care to watch and listen...

• The Global Pandemic Treaty: What You Need to Know . James Corbett is pretty clear too... is this being done with your support? Did you miss something?

• Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid - fascinating thinking on how quite a few recent things came about...

And a few classics - you ought to know these already and the important messages in them should be much more obvious now...

• 1984 by George Orwell - look for the perpetual war & conflict, ubiquitous surveillance and censorship not to mention Room 101

• Animal farm - also by George Orwell - note how the pigs end up living in the farmhouse exceeding all the worst behaviour of the farmer and how the constitution on the wall changes. Things did not end well for loyal Boxer.

• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley- A World State, inhabited by genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy - the novel anticipates large scale psychological manipulation and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by only a single individual who does not take the Soma.

For more - refer to the References and Reading List

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

One of the most transformative books that I ever read was 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey. Over many years and from researching hstorical literature he found seven traits that successful people typically display. By default everyone does the opposite of each of these! Check how you do - be honest...

• Habits 1-3 are habits of Self - they determine how you behave and feel

• Habits 4-6 are habits of interpersonal behaviour - they determine how you deal with and interact with others

• Habit 7 is about regeneration and self care - foundation for happy and healthy life and success

One: Be proactive

Choose your responses to all situations and provocations - your reaction to a situation determines how you feel about it.

By default people will be reactive and this controls their emotions

Two: Begin with the end in mind

When you start to work on something, have a clear view of the goal to be achieved; it should be something substantial that you need and will value.

By default people will begin with what is in front of them or work on details that they can do or progress without having a clear view on the end result to be achieved

Three: Put First things First

Be clear on, and begin with, the Big Rocks- the most important things. If you do not put the Big Rocks into your planning daily activities, your days will be full of sand and gravel! All things can be categorised as Urgent or Not-Urgent and Important or Not-Important.

By Default people will focus on Urgent regardless of importance - all of the results come from focusing on Important Non-Urgent things. All of the 7 Habits are in this category!

Four: Seek Win-Win in all dealings with people and in all negotiations

This is the only sustainable outcome; if you cannot achieve Win-Win then no-deal is the sustainable alternative.

By default people will seek Win-Loose - this leads to failed relationships

Five: Seek first to understand - only then to be understood.

Once you visibly understand the needs and expectations of your counterpart they will be open to listening to your point of view and suggestions/requests - not before!

By default people will expound their point of view or desired result causing their counterpart to want to do the same - this ends in "the dialogue of the deaf"

Six: Synergise - Seek the 3rd alternative in all problems and challenges

Work together to find a proposal that is better than what each of you had in mind

By default people will focus on their own desired results and items, regardless of what the other party could bring to help/facilitate or make available

Seven: Sharpen the saw

Take time to re-invigorate and to be healthy - do nothing to excess. Do not be the forrester who persists in cutting the tree with a blunt saw bcause sharpening it is inconvenient or would "take too much time"!

By default people tend to persist on activities and avoid taking time to reflect, prepare and recover

Mindaps - a technique by Tony Buzan

Many years ago I summarised this in a Mind Map (another technique that was transformative for me - a topic for another Letter from around the world!) see below. Let me know if this interests you - happy to do an explainer video on this!

That's it!

No one can be told what The Matrix is.\ You have to see it for yourself.**

Do share this newsletter with any of your friends and family who might be interested.

You can also email me at: LetterFrom@rogerprice.me

💡Enjoy the newsletters in your own language : Dutch, French, German, Serbian, Chinese Traditional & Simplified, Thai and Burmese.

@ e97aaffa:2ebd765d

Passou alguns dias, após as eleições legislativas, a cabeça está mais fria, é um bom momento para um rescaldo e para um pouco de futurologia. Esta análise vai ser limitada apenas aos grandes partidos.

Podemos resumir esta eleição, numa única palavra: Terramoto.

A AD ganhou, mas o grande destaque foi a queda do PS e a subida do Chega. Se a governação do país estava difícil, agora com este novo desenho da assembleia, será quase impossível, piorou bastante. Neste momento, ainda falta contabilizar os votos da emigração, mas o mais provável é o Chega ultrapassar o PS.

A queda do PS foi tremenda, ninguém esperava tal coisa, o partido está em estado de choque. O partido vai necessitar de tempo para estabilizar e para se reconstruir.

Devido a motivos constitucionais (6 meses antes e 6 meses depois da eleição do presidente da República) só poderá existir eleições no final do próximo ano, isso garante que o novo governo da AD vai estar no poder pelo menos um ano. Isso vai obrigar a aprovação do próximo orçamento de estado, como o PS necessita de tirar os holofotes sobre si, vai facilitar o governo. Provavelmente vai existir um acordo de cavalheiro, um pacto de não agressão entre o governo e o PS, o PS vai se abster na votação do orçamento de estado e a governo não fará revisão constituicional sem o consentimento do PS e também não fará reformas nas leis ou políticas que sejam contra os princípios básicos do partido socialista. Em suma, não haverá grandes reformas, será um governo de gestão com ligeiramente mais poderes.

Não será um governo de bloco central, nem um governo da AD com apoio PS, será apenas um governo da AD com uma falsa oposição do PS. Um governo de bloco central, é uma bomba nuclear, ainda seria demasiado cedo para utilizá-la.

O Partido Socialista sabe que, para ter algumas hipóteses de vencer a próxima eleição, necessita de estar bem e o governo da AD tem que demonstrar algum desgaste, uma queda na popularidade. Eu não acredito que um ano seja suficiente, talvez, seja necessário 2 anos. Isto significa que o país poderá ficar estagnado 1 ou 2 anos, se o governo não conseguir fazer grandes reformas, se os cidadãos não virem/sentirem sinais de mudança, vai dar ainda mais força ao Chega.

Eu acredito que o ponto chave, é a imigração, o governo terá que demonstrar muito trabalho e minimizar o problema, para “esvaziar” um pouco o Chega, caso não faça será um problema.

XXVI Governo

Assim, nessa próxima eleição, talvez em 2027, acredito que as percentagens ficarão mais ou menos como esta eleição, com um partido ligeiramente à frente e os outros dois mais equilibrados. Só que o vencedor seria o Chega, ficando a AD(provavelmente o PSD) e o PS a disputa pelo 2º lugar.

Seria um novo terramoto, mas aqui seria necessário utilizar a bomba nuclear, iria surgir uma nova geringonça. Apesar da vitória do Ventura, iria surgir o governo bloco central, com o PSD e PS, não haveria outra alternativa.

O governo de bloco central, teria que ser muito competente, porque se não o for, iria para novas eleições. Se o governo for um fiasco, PS corre o risco de ser esvaziado, cairá ainda mais, correrá um risco de existência, poderá tornar-se num partido insignificante na nossa política.

XXVII Governo

Agora o terramoto ainda maior, nessa futura eleição, o Chega venceria com maioria absoluta, aí sim, seria um verdadeiro terramoto, ao nível de 1755.

O Chega tem o tempo a seu fazer, tem uma forte penetração nos jovens. Cada jovem que faça 18 anos, existe uma forte possibilidade de ser eleitor do Chega, o seu oposto, acontece com o PCP e o PS, os mais velhos vão morrendo, não existe renovação geracional. Mas o ponto fulcral é a ausência de competência generalizada nos partidos e políticos que têm governado o nosso país nos últimos anos, o descontentamento da população é completo. Esses políticos vivem na sua bolha, não tem noção do mundo real, nem compreendem quais são os problemas das pessoas simples, do cidadão comum.

Ventura

Na minha opinião só existirá três situações, que poderão travar as ascensão do André Ventura a primeiro-ministro:

• Ou existe um óptimo governo, que crie um bom crescimento na qualidade de vida das pessoas e que resolva os 3 problemas que mais anseiam actualmente os portugueses: Habitação, Saúde e Imigração. A probabilidade de isso acontecer é quase nula.
• Ou se o André Ventura desistir, a batalha será muito longa e ele poderá ficar cansado. Pouco provável.
• Ou então, um Argumentum ad hominem, terá que surgir algo, factos concretos que manche a imagem do André Ventura, que destrua por completo a sua reputação.

---

É a minha a linha leitura da bola de cristal, poderão dizer é uma visão pessimista, eu acho que é realista e pragmática, não vejo qualquer competência na classe política para resolver os problemas do país. Esta é a opinião de um recorrente crítico do Chega.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin Liquid Network Surpasses $3.27 Billion in Total Value Locked

Today, the Liquid Federation has announced that the Liquid Network has surpassed $3.27 billion in total value locked (TVL), according to a press release shared with Bitcoin Magazine. 

“Surpassing the $3 billion threshold marks a pivotal moment for both Liquid and Bitcoin, signaling the evolution of Bitcoinʼs ecosystem into a full-fledged platform for global financial markets,” said the CEO and Co-Founder of Blockstream Dr. Adam Back. “As Bitcoin gains mainstream acceptance, and demand for regulated asset tokenization accelerates, Liquid is better positioned than ever to bridge Bitcoin with traditional finance and drive the next wave of capital markets innovation.”

The announcement follows growing interest in tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs), with major moves such as BlackRock’s decision to tokenize a $150 billion Treasury fund. According to a 2025 report by Security Token Market, the tokenized asset market is projected to grow to $30 trillion by 2030.

Liquid supports over $1.8 billion in tokenized private credit and offers products like U.S. Treasury notes and digital currencies through Blockstream’s AMP platform. The network also features fast, low-cost, and confidential transactions, with support for atomic swaps and robust smart contracts.

Governed by over 80 global institutions, Liquid was launched in 2018 as Bitcoin’s first sidechain. It is now preparing for a major upgrade with the mainnet release of Simplicity, aimed at expanding its smart contract capabilities.

To keep up with increasing demand, the Liquid Federation is boosting developer resources and technical onboardings, along with integrations with exchanges, custodians and service providers. Recent bootcamps and important meetings with policy makers in Asia, Europe and Latin America reflect the network’s growing global presence.

This post Bitcoin Liquid Network Surpasses $3.27 Billion in Total Value Locked first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Spark Partners with Breez to Launch Bitcoin-Native SDK for Lightning Payments

Today, Breez and Spark have announced a new implementation of the Breez SDK, built on Spark’s Bitcoin-native Layer 2 infrastructure. According to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine, the update is intended to make it easier for developers to integrate self-custodial Bitcoin Lightning payments into everyday apps and services.

Few companies are as good as @Breez_Tech at putting Bitcoin in people’s hands. We’re incredibly humbled to have them building on Spark.

Learn more → https://t.co/KRPpWJa3os pic.twitter.com/QiCfHbWu9d

— Spark (@buildonspark) May 22, 2025

“This is what the future of Bitcoin looks like — fast, open, and embedded in the apps people use every day. By teaming up with Breez, we’re expanding the ecosystem and giving developers powerful, Bitcoin-native tools to build next-generation payment experiences. Together, we’re building the standard for global, peer-to-peer transactions,” said the creator of Spark Kevin Hurley.

The SDK supports LNURL, Lightning addresses, real-time mobile notifications, and includes bindings for all major programming languages and frameworks. It is designed to allow developers to build directly on Bitcoin without relying on bridges or external consensus. This collaboration gives developers tools to add Bitcoin payment features to apps used for monetization social apps, cross-border remittances, and in-game currencies.

“We need developers to bring Bitcoin into apps people use every day,” said the CEO of Breez Roy Sheinfeld. “That’s why we built the Breez SDK. We’re excited to build on Spark’s revolutionary architecture — giving developers a powerful new Bitcoin-native option and continuing to strengthen Lightning as the common language of Bitcoin.”

Breez will also operate as a Spark Service Provider (SSP), alongside Lightspark, to help support payment facilitation and the growth of Spark’s ecosystem. The new implementation is expected to be released later this year.

“We’re excited to see what developers build with Spark; it’s very exciting to see this come to the world,” said the co-founder and CEO of Lightspark David Marcus.

The Breez SDK is expanding

We’re joining forces with @buildonspark to release a new nodeless implementation of the Breez SDK — giving developers the tools they need to bring Bitcoin payments to everyday apps.

→ https://t.co/iWjZhWRwsx

Bitcoin-Native
Powered by Spark’s…

— Breez (@Breez_Tech) May 22, 2025

Yesterday, Magic Eden also partnered with Spark to improve Bitcoin trading by addressing issues like slow transaction times, high fees, and poor user experience. The integration will introduce a native settlement system aimed at making transactions faster and more cost-effective, without using bridges or synthetic assets.

“We’re proud to be betting on BTC DeFi,” said the CEO of Magic Eden Jack Lu. “We’re going to lead the forefront of all Bitcoin DeFi to make BTC fast, fun, and for everyone with Magic Eden as the #1 BTC native app on-chain.”

This post Spark Partners with Breez to Launch Bitcoin-Native SDK for Lightning Payments first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 0e9491aa:ef2adadf

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.

---

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.

@ 9973da5b:809c853f

First article Skynet begins to learn rapidly and eventually becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m., EDT, on August 29, 1997 https://layer3press.layer3.press/articles/45d916c0-f7b2-4b95-bc0f-8faa65950483

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Nigel Farage To Speak At Bitcoin 2025 Conference

We are pleased to announce that Nigel Farage will join the speaker lineup at the Bitcoin Conference 2025 in Las Vegas. A defining figure in modern European politics, Farage led the Brexit movement that took the United Kingdom out of the EU, reshaping global conversations around national sovereignty. He is the founder and current leader of Reform UK, a rising political force now polling competitively, positioning him as a serious contender for to be the next UK Prime Minister.

A former Member of the European Parliament for over 20 years, Farage built his reputation challenging supranational institutions and unelected power—values that resonate deeply with the Bitcoin community. He also hosts GB News, where he critiques monetary policy, CBDCs, and digital surveillance. An outspoken advocate for financial sovereignty and free speech, Farage previously appeared at Bitcoin Amsterdam 2023 in a conversation with Peter McCormack. In 2025, he returns for a fireside with Bitcoin Magazine’s Frank Corva, whose sharp political interviews are helping shape Bitcoin’s place in global affairs.

About Bitcoin 2025

The excitement is building as the world’s largest Bitcoin conference approaches, Bitcoin 2025. Set to take place in Las Vegas from May 27-29, this premier event is anticipated to draw Bitcoin enthusiasts, industry leaders, and innovators from all over the globe.

Be part of the revolution! Come experience the cultural movement that’s the Bitcoin Conference – a landmark event with wealth of opportunities for networking and learning. In 2025, Bitcoin takes over Las Vegas, uniting builders, leaders, and believers in the world’s most resilient monetary network.

New in 2025: Code & Country launches on Industry Day, bringing together policymakers, technologists, and industry leaders for a full day of focused collaboration.

The aim: strengthen Bitcoin’s role in national strategy, regulatory clarity, and technological sovereignty. This marks a new era where Bitcoin’s protocol and geopolitical potential intersect more directly than ever before.

Highlights Include

• Keynote Speakers: Renowned experts and visionaries will share their insights and predictions for the future of digital currency.
• Workshops and Panels: Attendees can participate in hands-on workshops and panel discussions covering a wide array of topics, from technical details to practical applications in various industries.
• Exhibition Hall: The exhibition will showcase art, cutting-edge products and services from top companies in the bitcoin ecosystem.
• Networking Opportunities: With thousands of attendees expected, Bitcoin 2025 offers unparalleled opportunities for networking with peers, potential partners, and thought leaders.

Keynote Speakers

The conference is set to feature an impressive lineup of speakers, including leading Bitcoin developers, experts, as well as influential figures from the financial sector. Topics range from the latest advancements to regulatory updates and investment strategies.

1. JD Vance, Vice President Vance will become the first sitting vice president in the history of the United States to publicly voice his support for Bitcoin as he addresses the audience in Las Vegas.
2. Ross Ulbricht, Freedom Advocate – Founder of the Silk Road marketplace, recently released by President Donald Trump from serving a double life sentence. His story has become emblematic of the clash between personal liberty, Bitcoin, and the state.
3. Eric Trump & Donald Trump Jr, Both figures bring a bold voice to the conversation around Capitalism, Bitcoin, freedom, and economic sovereignty.
4. Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss, Co-Founders of Gemini – Early Bitcoin adopters and founders of the regulated exchange Gemini.
5. David Sacks, White House AI & Crypto Czar – Former PayPal COO and venture capitalist, now serving as the White House’s senior advisor on AI and cryptocurrency policy, leading national efforts on stablecoin legislation and digital asset strategy.
6. Bryan Johnson, Founder of Project Blueprint – Tech entrepreneur and longevity researcher known for reversing his biological age and challenging fiat-era assumptions about health, time, and human potential.

Past Conferences in the USA

– 2021 Miami: Where President Nayib Bukele revealed plans for El Salvador to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, making history live on stage. Attendance: 11,000
– 2022 Miami: Where Michael Saylor delivered a landmark address on corporate Bitcoin strategy and announced additional MicroStrategy purchases. Attendance: 26,000
– 2023 Miami: Where Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became the first U.S. presidential candidate to speak at a Bitcoin conference, addressing financial freedom and civil liberties. Attendance: 15,000
– 2024 Nashville: Highlights include President Donald J. Trump’s appearance, where he voiced support for Bitcoin mining and national monetary sovereignty. Attendance: 22,000

Join Us in Las Vegas

• Date: May 27-29, 2025
• Venue: The Venetian, Las Vegas, NV, USA  
• Tickets: https://b.tc/conference/2025
• Get a free General Admission ticket when you deposit $200 on eToro – while supplies last!

This post Nigel Farage To Speak At Bitcoin 2025 Conference first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Conor Mulcahy.

@ 2b998b04:86727e47

\> “Huge swathes of people…spend their entire working lives performing tasks they secretly believe do not really need to be performed.”\ \> — David Graeber, Bullshit Jobs

\> “We are in a system that must grow — forever — or it collapses. But technology, by its very nature, is deflationary.”\ \> — Jeff Booth, The Price of Tomorrow

We live in a strange paradox: Technological progress is supposed to make life easier, yet many people feel more overworked and less fulfilled than ever. While artificial intelligence and automation promise unprecedented productivity, it’s not yet clear whether that will mean fewer bullshit jobs — or simply new kinds of them.

What Is a Bullshit Job?

In his landmark book Bullshit Jobs, the late anthropologist David Graeber exposed a haunting truth: millions of jobs exist not because they are needed, but because of economic, political, or psychological inertia. These are roles that even the workers themselves suspect are meaningless — created to serve appearances, maintain hierarchies, or justify budgets.

Think:

• Middle managers approving other middle managers' reports

• Employees running meetings to prepare for other meetings

• Corporate roles invented to interface with poorly implemented AI tools

Bullshit work isn’t the absence of technology. It’s often the outcome of resisting what technology could actually do — in order to preserve jobs, status, or growth targets.

Booth’s Warning: The System is Rigged Against Deflation

In The Price of Tomorrow, entrepreneur Jeff Booth argues that the natural state of a tech-driven economy is deflation — things getting better, cheaper, and faster.

But our global financial system is built on perpetual inflation and debt expansion. Booth writes:

\> “We are using inflationary monetary policy to fight deflationary technological forces.”

Even as AI and automation could eliminate unnecessary jobs and increase abundance, our system requires jobs — or the illusion of them — to keep the economy expanding. So bullshit jobs persist, and even evolve.

AI as a Deflationary Force

AI is rapidly accelerating the deflation Booth described:

• Tasks that used to take hours now take seconds

• Whole creative and administrative processes are being streamlined

• Labor can scale digitally — one tool used globally at near-zero marginal cost

Embraced honestly, this could mean fewer hours, lower costs, and more prosperity. But again, we are not optimized for truth — we are optimized for GDP growth.

So we invent new layers of AI-enhanced bullshit:

• Prompt engineers writing prompts for other prompt engineers

• "Human-in-the-loop" validators reviewing AI output they don’t understand

• Consultants building dashboards that nobody reads

Toward a Post-Bullshit Future

Here’s the real opportunity: If we embrace deflation as a blessing — not a threat — and redesign our systems around truth, efficiency, and abundance, we could:

• Eliminate meaningless labor

• Reduce the cost of living dramatically

• Liberate people to create, heal, build, and rest

This means more than economic reform — it’s a philosophical shift. We must stop equating “employment” with value. That’s where Bitcoin and open-source tools point: toward a world where permissionless value creation is possible without the bloat of gatekeeping institutions.

Final Thought: Tech Won’t Save Us, But Truth Might

Technology, left to its own logic, tends toward freedom, efficiency, and abundance. But our current systems suppress that logic in favor of growth at all costs — even if it means assigning millions of people to do work that doesn’t need doing.

So will AI eliminate bullshit jobs?

It can. But only if we stop pretending we need them.

And for those of us who step outside the wage-work loop, something remarkable happens. We begin using these tools to create actual value — not to impress a boss, but to solve real problems and serve real people.

Recently, I built a tool using AI and automation that helps me cross-post content from Nostr to LinkedIn, Facebook, and X. It wasn’t for a paycheck. It was about leverage — freeing time, expanding reach, and creating a public record of ideas.\ You can check it out here:\ 👉 <https://tinyurl.com/ywxuowl5>

Will it help others? I don’t know yet.\ But it helped me — and that’s the point.

Real value creation doesn’t always begin with a business plan. Sometimes it starts with curiosity, conviction, and the courage to build without permission.

Maybe the future of work isn’t about scaling jobs at all.\ Maybe it’s about reclaiming time — and using these tools to build lives of meaning.

---

If this resonates — or if you’ve found your own way to reclaim time and create value outside the wage loop — zap me and share your story. Let’s build the post-bullshit economy together. ⚡

@ 94215f42:7681f622

The promise of AI is intoxicating: slash operational costs by 50-80%, achieve software-style margins on service businesses and and watch enterprise value multiply overnight.

But this initial value creation contains a hidden trap that could leave businesses worth less than when they started. Understanding the "Value Trap" is key to navigating a transition to an AI economy.

What is the Value Trap?

Whilst the value trap is forward looking and somewhat theoretical at this point, there are strong financial incentives to drive investments (many $bns of are looking at the transformation opportunity) that mean this should be taken very seriously.

The Value Trap unfolds in distinct phases:

Phase 1: Status Quo A typical service business operates with 100 units of revenue and 90 units of cost, generating 10 units of profit, representing a standard 10% margin. A bog standard business we can all relate to, long term customers locked in, market fit a distant memory, but growth is hard at this point.

Phase 2: Cost Reduction Early AI adopters slash operational expenses from 90 to 20 units while maintaining 100 units of revenue. This is the very real promise when moving to a "Human at the Edge" model that we'll unpack in a future article. Suddenly, they're generating 80 units of profit at an 8x increase that can easily add multiple to the enterprise value! A venture style return on a business previously struggling for growth.

Phase 3: Growth Phase With massive profit margins comes pricing power. These businesses can undercut competitors while maintaining healthy margins, driving rapid revenue growth. Having removed the human constraint on scaling and the additional overheads and complexity this introduces we see seemingly unlimited expansion. The brakes are truly off at this point for early adopters to expand total market share.

Phase 4: Competition Emerges The extraordinary returns attract competitors. It's important to note there is no technical moat here, other businesses implement similar AI strategies, often from your own staff who may have been let go, new entrants launch AI-native operations, and pricing power erodes.

Phase 5: Mean Reversion After 3-7 years (our best guess given current investment interest in transformation led PE), competitive pressure drives revenue down from 100 to 25 units while costs remain at 20. The business ends up with similar margins to where it started but at much lower absolute revenue, potentially destroying enterprise value.

What you've done is just massively reduced costs in this industry by displacing jobs and those individuals can turn around and compete. You incentivise the competition which erodes your pricing power

Why This Pattern is Inevitable

The Value Trap isn't pure speculation, but based on market dynamics playing out given a set of financial incentives. We believe there are several key forces that make this cycle almost guaranteed:

The Arbitrage is Too Attractive When businesses can achieve "venture returns with no product-market fit risk," capital will flood in. Private equity and Venture Capital firms are already raising funds specifically to acquire traditional service businesses and apply AI transformation strategies .

Low Technical Barriers Unlike previous technological advantages, AI implementation doesn't require significant technical moats. Much of the technology is open source, and the real barrier is process redesign thinking rather than proprietary technology.

The "One Player" Principle In any market, it only takes one competitor to implement AI-native processes to force everyone else to adapt. You either "play the game or you get left behind".

Capital Abundance With global money supply expanding and traditional investment opportunities yielding lower returns, the combination of proven product-market fit and dramatic cost reduction potential represents an irresistible opportunity for investors.

Strategic Response for SMEs: The Netflix Model

Small and medium enterprises actually have a significant advantage in navigating the Value Trap, but they need to act strategically and start moving now.

Embrace the Incubation Approach Rather than gutting your existing business, adopt Netflix's strategy: build an AI-native version of your business alongside your current operations. This approach manages risk while positioning for the future.

The answer here is why not both. you don't necessarily have to gut your current business, but you should be thinking about what does my business look like in five years and how do I transition into that.

Leverage Your Natural Advantages Small businesses can adapt faster than large enterprises. While a 20,000-person company faces "political shockwaves" when reducing workforce, a 10-person business can double revenue without anyone noticing. You can focus on growth rather than painful cost-cutting.

Remove Growth Constraints Early AI removes the traditional constraint where "adding the next person" represents a significant capital investment. Small businesses can scale efficiently once they've redesigned their processes around AI-native workflows, avoid further capital outlay and scaling without increasing complexity in operations.

Focus on Local Networks For various reasons associated with the commoditisation of intelligence, we believe the future favours "hyper-localised" businesses serving customers who "know, like, and trust" them. As intelligence becomes commoditised, human relationships become more valuable, not less.

Strategic Response for Capital Allocators

For private equity and venture capital firms, the Value Trap presents both enormous opportunity and significant risk.

Target the Right Businesses Look for businesses with strong persistent moats that will slow mean reversion:

• Strong brand and customer relationships

• High customer acquisition costs in the industry

• Regulatory barriers to entry

• Capital-intensive startup requirements

• Long-term contracts and switching costs

Master the Timing The key is capturing value during the expansion phase and exiting before mean reversion accelerates, or finding an appropriate time arbitrage solution to retain value (see below). The optimal point if you're a capital allocator is almost when you've extracted the most cost out of the business.

Consider Hybrid Strategies Rather than just gutting existing businesses, consider acquiring for distribution and customer base while building AI-native operations alongside traditional ones. This provides multiple exit strategies and reduces execution risk.

Bitcoin: The Time Arbitrage Solution

Whenever I've talked to anybody about AI, my first point of advice is just buy bitcoin.

This isn't just evangelism, so much as a recognition of where you would want to hold value as the Value Trap plays out. In essence the value trap generates an arbitrage opportunity, hige profits are pulled forwards short-term balooning the balance sheet, but the second order consequences of this change risk destroying the value you just created!

We believe alongside rapid competition leading to price for services collapsing, the mass job displacement leads to political pressure for intervention.

This could take several forms, but UBI, mortgage bailouts, unemployment extensions, seizure of existing property.

"All roads lead to money printing," as Pete notes in Good Stuff 02 .

During Weimar Republic hyperinflation, "the cost of a newspaper in year five was the same nominal figure as all of the money that existed in year four." While extreme, this illustrates how quickly monetary systems can shift as inflation and money supply inflation begins to run.

To resolve these issues, Bitcoin allows you to conduct arbitrage across time in an asset that is inflation resistant (fixed supply), hard to seize, has no counter party risk (if someone holds your gold, stocks, cash they can take it without asking) and transportable. Capturing value today and preserving it through monetary system changes protecting against the second and third-order effects of massive economic disruption, that AI represents.

Opportunity, Not Fear: The Renaissance Ahead

The Value Trap isn't a reason to avoid AI, it's a roadmap for navigating inevitable change strategically.

The Entrepreneurial Renaissance This could be a Renaissance for entrepreneurs, if you're entrepreneurial minded, this is an amazing time to be alive because there's opportunity that exists in all fields and the barriers to entry have never been lower.

Liberation from Busy Work The displacement of administrative and routine cognitive work frees humans for higher-value creation.

Democratisation of Intelligence When you can "purchase intelligence in buckets of $0.02 API calls," the barriers to starting and scaling businesses collapse. Individual entrepreneurs can build businesses that previously required large teams, with much lower complexity and risk.

Cost Reduction Benefits Everyone The ultimate outcome of the Value Trap cycle benefits consumers through dramatically lower prices for goods and services.

"Who doesn't want cheaper stuff? Why don't we just reduce the cost of everything massively?"

Conclusion: Embrace the High Agency Era

The Value Trap represents a fundamental shift from employment-based to entrepreneurship-based wealth creation. Rather than fearing job displacement, we should prepare for "the age of the entrepreneur" a high agency era.

The businesses and individuals who thrive will be those who:

• Understand the cycle and position accordingly

• Focus on unique value creation rather than routine processing or middleman models

• Build local networks and relationships

• Preserve wealth through the monetary transition

• Embrace building and creating unique value

If you are high agency, you can make anything happen.

The Value Trap isn't just about AI transforming business, it won't do this on its own, its a description of how humans will use this technology to generate and capture value.

The future belongs to builders, creators, and entrepreneurs who can navigate transition periods and emerge stronger. The Value Trap is the map, use it wisely.

This article draws heavily on discussion between myself and business partner Andy in Episode 02 of The Good Stuff, if you prefer listening try that :)

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

A Chinese printer company inadvertently distributed malware that steals Bitcoin through its official drivers, resulting in the theft of over $950,000.

According to local media outlet Landian News, a Chinese printer manufacturer was found to have unknowingly distributed malware designed to steal Bitcoin through its official device drivers.

Procolored, a Shenzhen-based printer company, distributed malware capable of stealing Bitcoin alongside the official drivers for its devices. The company reportedly used USB devices to spread infected drivers and uploaded the compromised software to globally accessible cloud storage services.

Crypto security and compliance firm SlowMist explained how the malware works in a post on X:

The official driver provided by this printer carries a backdoor program. It will hijack the wallet address in the user's clipboard and replace it with the attacker's address: 1BQZKqdp2CV3QV5nUEsqSg1ygegLmqRygj

According to @MistTrack_io, the attacker has stolen 9.3086… https://t.co/DHCkEpHhuH pic.twitter.com/W1AnUpswLU

— MistTrack (@MistTrack_io) May 19, 2025

The consequences of the breach have been significant, with a total of 9.3 BTC stolen — equivalent to over $950,000.

The issue was first flagged by YouTuber Cameron Coward, whose antivirus software detected malware in the drivers during a test of a Procolored UV printer. The software identified both a worm and a trojan virus named Foxif.

When contacted, Procolored denied the accusations, dismissing the antivirus warning as a false positive. Coward then turned to Reddit, where he shared the issue with cybersecurity professionals, drawing the attention of security firm G Data.

G Data’s investigation revealed that most of Procolored’s drivers were hosted on the MEGA file-sharing platform, with uploads dating back to October 2023. Their analysis confirmed the presence of two separate malware strains: the Win32.Backdoor.XRedRAT.A backdoor and a crypto-stealer designed to replace clipboard wallet addresses with those controlled by the attacker.

G Data reached out to Procolored, which stated that it had removed the infected drivers from its storage as of May 8 and had re-scanned all files. The company attributed the malware to a supply chain compromise, saying the malicious files were introduced via infected USB devices before being uploaded online.

Landian News recommended that users who downloaded Procolored drivers in the past six months “immediately run a full system scan using antivirus software.” However, given that antivirus tools are not always reliable, the Chinese media outlet suggested that a full system reset is the safest option when in doubt.

The post Bitcoin malware discovered: Chinese printer manufacturer involved appeared first on Atlas21.

@ 90152b7f:04e57401

<https://www.ord.io/72990614>

[Analytical & Intelligence Comments]\ \ “On Monday February 27th, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor's web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods.”\ \ Released on 2013-02-13 00:00 GMT Email-ID 13332210 Date 2011-05-04 16:26:59\ From <jetdrive@earthlink.net> To <responses@stratfor.com> CROYDON KEMP sent a\ message using the contact form at <https://www.stratfor.com/contact\>\\ Mossad ran 9/11 Arab "hijacker" terrorist operation\ \ By Wayne Madsen\ \ British intelligence reported in February 2002 that the Israeli Mossad ran the Arab hijacker cells that were later blamed by the U.S. government's 9/11 Commission for carrying out the aerial attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. WMR has received details of the British intelligence report which was suppressed by the government of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair.\ \ A Mossad unit consisting of six Egyptian- and Yemeni-born Jews infiltrated "Al Qaeda" cells in Hamburg (the Atta-Mamoun Darkanzali cell), south Florida, and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates in the months before 9/11. The Mossad not only infiltrated cells but began to run them and give them specific orders that would eventually culminate in their being on board four regularly-scheduled flights originating in Boston, Washington Dulles, and Newark, New Jersey on 9/11.\ \ The Mossad infiltration team comprised six Israelis, comprising two cells of three agents, who all received special training at a Mossad base in the Negev Desert in their future control and handling of the "Al Qaeda" cells. One Mossad cell traveled to Amsterdam where they submitted to the operational control of the Mossad's Europe Station, which operates from the El Al complex at Schiphol International Airport. The three-man Mossad unit then traveled to Hamburg where it made contact with Mohammed Atta, who believed they were sent by Osama Bin Laden. In fact, they were sent by Ephraim Halevy, the chief of Mossad.\ \ The second three-man Mossad team flew to New York and then to southern Florida where they began to direct the "Al Qaeda" cells operating from Hollywood, Miami, Vero Beach, Delray Beach, and West Palm Beach. Israeli "art students," already under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration for casing the offices and homes of federal law enforcement officers, had been living among and conducting surveillance of the activities, including flight school training, of the future Arab "hijacker" cells, particularly in Hollywood and Vero Beach.\ \ In August 2001, the first Mossad team flew with Atta and other Hamburg "Al Qaeda" members to Boston. Logan International Airport's security was contracted to Huntleigh USA, a firm owned by an Israeli airport security firm closely connected to Mossad — International Consultants on Targeted Security – ICTS. ICTS's owners were politically connected to the Likud Party, particularly the Netanyahu faction and then-Jerusalem mayor and future Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. It was Olmert who personally interceded with New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to have released from prison five Urban Moving Systems employees, identified by the CIA and FBI agents as Mossad agents. The Israelis were the only suspects arrested anywhere in the United States on 9/11 who were thought to have been involved in the 9/11 attacks.\ \ The two Mossad teams sent regular coded reports on the progress of the 9/11 operation to Tel Aviv via the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC. WMR has learned from a Pentagon source that leading Americans tied to the media effort to pin 9/11 on Arab hijackers, Osama Bin Laden, and the Taliban were present in the Israeli embassy on September 10, 2001, to coordinate their media blitz for the subsequent days and weeks following the attacks. It is more than likely that FBI counter-intelligence agents who conduct surveillance of the Israeli embassy have proof on the presence of the Americans present at the embassy on September 10. Some of the Americans are well-known to U.S. cable news television audiences.\ \ In mid-August, the Mossad team running the Hamburg cell in Boston reported to Tel Aviv that the final plans for 9/11 were set. The Florida-based Mossad cell reported that the documented "presence" of the Arab cell members at Florida flight schools had been established.\ \ The two Mossad cells studiously avoided any mention of the World Trade Center or targets in Washington, DC in their coded messages to Tel Aviv. Halevy covered his tracks by reporting to the CIA of a "general threat" by an attack by Arab terrorists on a nuclear plant somewhere on the East Coast of the United States. CIA director George Tenet dismissed the Halevy warning as "too non-specific." The FBI, under soon-to-be-departed director Louis Freeh, received the "non-specific" warning about an attack on a nuclear power plant and sent out the information in its routine bulletins to field agents but no high alert was ordered.\ \ The lack of a paper trail pointing to "Al Qaeda" as the masterminds on 9/11, which could then be linked to Al Qaeda's Mossad handlers, threw off the FBI. On April 19, 2002, FBI director Robert Mueller, in a speech to San Francisco's Commonwealth Club, stated: "In our investigation, we have not uncovered a single piece of paper — either here in the United States, or in the treasure trove of information that has turned up in Afghanistan and elsewhere — that mentioned any aspect of the September 11 plot."\ \ The two Mossad "Al Qaeda" infiltration and control teams had also helped set up safe houses for the quick exfiltration of Mossad agents from the United States. Last March, WMR reported: "WMR has learned from two El Al sources who worked for the Israeli airline at New York’s John F. Kennedy airport that on 9/11, hours after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded all civilian domestic and international incoming and outgoing flights to and from the United States, a full El Al Boeing 747 took off from JFK bound for Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport. The two El Al employee sources are not Israeli nationals but legal immigrants from Ecuador who were working in the United States for the airline. The flight departed JFK at 4:11 pm and its departure was, according to the El Al sources, authorized by the direct intervention of the U.S. Department of Defense. U.S. military officials were on the scene at JFK and were personally involved with the airport and air traffic control authorities to clear the flight for take-off. According to the 9/11 Commission report, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta ordered all civilian flights to be grounded at 9:45 am on September 11." WMR has learned from British intelligence sources that the six-man Mossad team was listed on the El Al flight manifest as El Al employees.\ \ WMR previously reported that the Mossad cell operating in the Jersey City-Weehawken area of New Jersey through Urban Moving Systems was suspected by some in the FBI and CIA of being involved in moving explosives into the World Trade Center as well as staging "false flag" demonstrations at least two locations in north Jersey: Liberty State Park and an apartment complex in Jersey City as the first plane hit the World Trade Center's North Tower. One team of Urban Moving Systems Mossad agents was arrested later on September 11 and jailed for five months at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Some of their names turned up in a joint CIA-FBI database as known Mossad agents, along with the owner of Urban Moving Systems, Dominik Suter, whose name also appeared on a "Law Enforcement Sensitive" FBI 9/11 suspects list, along with the names of key "hijackers," including Mohammed Atta and Hani Hanjour, as well as the so-called "20th hijacker," Zacarias Moussaoui.\ \ Suter was allowed to escape the United States after the FBI made initial contact with him at the Urban Moving Systems warehouse in Weehawken, New Jersey, following the 9/11 attacks. Suter was later permitted to return to the United States where he was involved in the aircraft parts supply business in southern Florida, according to an informe3d source who contacted WMR. Suter later filed for bankruptcy in Florida for Urban Moving Systems and other businesses he operated: Suburban Moving & Storage Inc.; Max Movers, Inc.; Invsupport; Woodflooring Warehouse Corp.; One Stop Cleaning LLC; and City Carpet Upholstery, Inc. At the time of the bankruptcy filing in Florida, Suter listed his address as 1867 Fox Court, Wellington, FL 33414, with a phone number of 561 204-2359.\ \ From the list of creditors it can be determined that Suter had been operating in the United States since 1993, the year of the first attack on the World Trade Center. In 1993, Suter began racking up American Express credit card charges totaling $21,913.97. Suter also maintained credit card accounts with HSBC Bank and Orchard Bank c/o HSBC Card Services of Salinas, California, among other banks. Suter also did business with the Jewish Community Center of Greater Palm Beach in Florida and Ryder Trucks in Miami. Miami and southern Florida were major operating areas for cells of Israeli Mossad agents masquerading as "art students," who were living and working near some of the identified future Arab "hijackers" in the months preceding 9/11.\ \ ABC's 20/20 correspondent John Miller ensured that the Israeli connection to "Al Qaeda's" Arab hijackers was buried in an "investigation" of the movers' activities on 9/11. Anchor Barbara Walters helped Miller in putting a lid on the story about the movers and Suter aired on June 21, 2002. Miller then went on to become the FBI public affairs spokesman to ensure that Mueller and other FBI officials kept to the "Al Qaeda" script as determined by the Bush administration and the future 9/11 Commission. But former CIA chief of counter-terrorism Vince Cannistraro let slip to ABC an important clue to the operations of the Mossad movers in New Jersey when he stated that the Mossad agents "set up or exploited for the purpose of launching an intelligence operation against radical Islamists in the area, particularly in the New Jersey-New York area." The "intelligence operation" turned out to have been the actual 9/11 attacks. And it was no coincidence that it was ABC's John Miller who conducted a May 1998 rare interview of Osama Bin Laden at his camp in Afghanistan. Bin Laden played his part well for future scenes in the fictional "made-for-TV" drama known as 9/11.\ \ WMR has also learned from Italian intelligence sources that Mossad's running of "Al Qaeda" operatives did not end with running the "hijacking" teams in the United States and Hamburg. Other Arab "Al Qaeda" operatives, run by Mossad, were infiltrated into Syria but arrested by Syrian intelligence. Syria was unsuccessful in turning them to participate in intelligence operations in Lebanon. Detailed information on Bin Laden's support team was offered to the Bush administration, up to days prior to 9/11, by Gutbi al-Mahdi, the head of the Sudanese Mukhabarat intelligence service. The intelligence was rejected by the Biush White House. It was later reported that Sudanese members of "Al Qaeda's" support network were double agents for Mossad who had also established close contacts with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and operated in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Eritrea, as well as Sudan. The Mossad connection to Al Qaeda in Sudan was likely known by the Sudanese Mukhabarat, a reason for the rejection of its intelligence on "Al Qaeda" by the thoroughly-Mossad penetrated Bush White House. Yemen had also identified "Al Qaeda" members who were also Mossad agents. A former chief of Mossad revealed to this editor in 2002 that Yemeni-born Mossad "deep insertion" commandos spotted Bin Laden in the Hadhramaut region of eastern Yemen after his escape from Tora Bora in Afghanistan, following the U.S. invasion.\ \ French intelligence determined that other Egyptian- and Yemeni-born Jewish Mossad agents were infiltrated into Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates as radical members of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, the "Muslim Brotherhood" agents actually were involved in providing covert Israeli funding for "Al Qaeda" activities. On February 21, 2006, WMR reported on the U.S. Treasury Secretary's firing by President Bush over information discovered on the shady "Al Qaeda" accounts in the United Arab Emirates: "Banking insiders in Dubai report that in March 2002, U.S. Secretary of Treasury Paul O’Neill visited Dubai and asked for documents on a $109,500 money transfer from Dubai to a joint account held by hijackers Mohammed Atta and Marwan al Shehhi at Sun Trust Bank in Florida. O'Neill also asked UAE authorities to close down accounts used by Al Qaeda . . . . The UAE complained about O’Neill’s demands to the Bush administration. O’Neill’s pressure on the UAE and Saudis contributed to Bush firing him as Treasury Secretary in December 2002 " O'Neill may have also stumbled on the "Muslim Brotherhood" Mossad operatives operating in the emirates who were directing funds to "Al Qaeda."\ \ After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Sharjah's ruler, Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qasimi, who survived a palace coup attempt in 1987, opened his potentate to Russian businessmen like Viktor Bout, as well as to financiers of radical Muslim groups, including the Taliban and "Al Qaeda."\ \ Moreover, this Israeli support for "Al Qaeda" was fully known to Saudi intelligence, which approved of it in order to avoid compromising Riyadh. The joint Israeli-Saudi support for "Al Qaeda" was well-known to the Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah-based aviation network of the now-imprisoned Russian, Viktor Bout, jailed in New York on terrorism charges. The presence of Bout in New York, a hotbed of Israeli intelligence control of U.S. federal prosecutors, judges, as well as the news media, is no accident: Bout knows enough about the Mossad activities in Sharjah in support of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, where Bout also had aviation and logistics contracts, to expose Mossad as the actual mastermind behind 9/11. Bout's aviation empire also extended to Miami and Dallas, two areas that were nexuses for the Mossad control operations for the "Al Qaeda" flight training operations of the Arab cell members in the months prior to 9/11.\ \ Bout's path also crossed with "Al Qaeda's" support network at the same bank in Sharjah, HSBC. Mossad's phony Muslim Brotherhood members from Egypt and Yemen controlled financing for "Al Qaeda" through the HSBC accounts in Sharjah. Mossad's Dominik Suter also dealt with HSBC in the United States. The FBI's chief counter-terrorism agent investigating Al Qaeda, John O'Neill, became aware of the "unique" funding mechanisms for Al Qaeda. It was no mistake that O'Neill was given the job as director of security for the World Trade Center on the eve of the attack. O'Neill perished in the collapse of the complex.Mossad uses a number of Jews born in Arab countries to masquerade as Arabs. They often carry forged or stolen passports from Arab countries or nations in Europe that have large Arab immigrant populations, particularly Germany, France, Britain, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands.\ \ For Mossad, the successful 9/11 terrorist "false flag" operation was a success beyond expectations. The Bush administration, backed by the Blair government, attacked and occupied Iraq, deposing Saddam Hussein, and turned up pressure on Israel's other adversaries, including Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Hamas, and Lebanese Hezbollah. The Israelis also saw the U.S., Britain, and the UN begin to crack down on the Lebanese Shi'a diamond business in Democratic Republic of Congo and West Africa, and with it, the logistics support provided by Bout's aviation companies, which resulted in a free hand for Tel Aviv to move in on Lebanese diamond deals in central and west Africa.\ \ Then-Israeli Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu commented on the 9/11 attacks on U.S. television shortly after they occurred. Netanyahu said: "It is very good!" It now appears that Netanyahu, in his zeal, blew Mossad's cover as the masterminds of 9/11.\ \ Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist, author and syndicated columnist. He has written for several renowned papers and blogs.\ \ Madsen is a regular contributor on Russia Today. He has been a frequent political and national security commentator on Fox News and has also appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, and MS-NBC. Madsen has taken on Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity on their television shows. He has been invited to testifty as a witness before the US House of Representatives, the UN Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and an terrorism investigation panel of the French government.\ \ As a U.S. Naval Officer, he managed one of the first computer security programs for the U.S. Navy. He subsequently worked for the National Security Agency, the Naval Data Automation Command, Department of State, RCA Corporation, and Computer Sciences Corporation.\ \ Madsen is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), Association for Intelligence Officers (AFIO), and the National Press Club. He is a regular contributor to Opinion Maker

<https://www.ord.io/72990614>

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比特币持有者在 iPhone 上的安全使用注意事项

引言：iPhone 与安卓的对比

当涉及移动设备安全，比特币持有者面临着在 iPhone 和安卓设备之间的选择。从安全硬件来看，安卓阵营中确有一些型号配备了类似于 Apple Secure Enclave 的硬件安全模块，例如 Google Pixel 手机内置的 Titan M/M2 安全芯片，用于保障启动流程和存储敏感数据us.norton.com；三星的旗舰机型则集成了 Samsung Knox 多层安全平台，经过多国政府机构认证，可在硬件层面保护设备及其中数据us.norton.com。这些安全措施大大提升了设备抵御恶意攻击和数据泄露的能力。然而，需要注意的是：具备此类高级安全特性的安卓机型在市场上相对少见，并非安卓阵营的普遍标准us.norton.com。安卓生态高度碎片化，不同厂商的安全实践差异悬殊；除了少数注重安全的厂商（如 Google、Samsung）外，许多设备缺乏统一的安全保障水平us.norton.com。尤其在二手市场上，安卓设备型号繁杂且来源不一，一些旧款或改装机型可能缺少最新的安全芯片或更新，使安全性难以得到保证。

相比之下，Apple iPhone 全系列自带硬件级的安全隔区（Secure Enclave），统一的闭源系统和严格的应用审核使其安全措施在所有设备上保持一致us.norton.com。同时，iPhone 引入的 Face ID（三维结构光人脸识别）在生物识别安全性上具有独特优势。Apple官方数据显示，Face ID 被他人解锁的概率只有 百万分之一，远低于指纹识别的五万分之一。这源于Face ID利用红外点阵投射捕捉面部3D结构，难以被照片或面具所破解，大幅减少了伪造生物特征解锁的风险。此外，相较许多安卓手机仍依赖的二维人脸识别或电容/光学指纹，Face ID 在抗攻击能力上更胜一筹——例如普通指纹残留可能被提取复制，而二维人脸解锁曾被照片轻易骗过，但Face ID的深度感应技术有效避免了这些漏洞。

综上所述，在移动设备安全领域，iPhone 为比特币等高价值敏感资产的持有者提供了更为稳健和统一的安全基础。尽管某些高端安卓手机具有可圈可点的安全功能，但鉴于这类机型凤毛麟角、安卓设备更新和管控的不统一，以及生物识别方案的差异，我们强烈建议将 iPhone 作为比特币手持设备的唯一选择。从硬件加密到生物识别，iPhone 的封闭生态和领先技术能为数字资产提供更可靠的防护，而安卓设备在这一场景下则存在诸多先天不足。

小结： 安卓阵营虽有Pixel Titan芯片、Samsung Knox等亮点，但安全机型数量有限且良莠不齐；iPhone凭借统一的安全架构和先进的Face ID，在保护敏感数据方面更胜一筹。为确保比特币等资产安全，选择安全可靠的iPhone 是明智之举。

iPhone 安全配置指南

选择了 iPhone 作为比特币存取和通讯设备后，仍需进行细致的安全设置，以最大化利用其安全潜力。以下是针对比特币持有者的 iPhone 安全配置要点：

• 禁用 Face ID/Touch ID 生物解锁，改用强PIN码： 建议关闭面容ID解锁功能，改用6位以上的数字PIN码（或更复杂的字母数字密码）作为解锁方式。在紧急情况下，生物识别容易被他人强制利用（例如他人将手机对准机主面部强行解锁），而记忆型的PIN码只有持有人知晓，更难以被胁迫获取。此外，法律上某些地区对强制提供生物特征和提供密码有所区别，这也使得使用PIN码在极端情况下更有保障。

• 启用自动锁定（1分钟） 将设备设为闲置1分钟后自动锁定屏幕。从安全角度出发，锁定等待时间越短越好。1分钟的设置可确保即使暂时离开或疏忽，设备也会很快上锁，防范他人乘虚而入。养成随手锁屏的习惯固然重要，但有了短自动锁定时间作为双重保障，安全性更上一层楼。

• 开启输错10次自动抹除： 在“设置 > 面容ID/触控ID与密码”中启用“连续输错10次密码抹掉数据”功能。一旦有人反复尝试猜测密码，该功能会在第十次错误尝试后自动抹除手机数据。很多用户担心该设置存在风险，但事实上 误触发的可能性极低。sspai.comsspai.com实际测试表明，iPhone在多次输错密码时会触发累进的延迟惩罚机制：第五次错误需要等待1分钟，第六次错误等待5分钟，第7-8次各等待15分钟，第9次等待1小时sspai.comsspai.com。要连续进行十次独立的错误尝试至少需要约96分钟，在现实中“熊孩子”乱按连续清空数据几乎不可能发生sspai.com。相反，该功能对抗暴力破解极为有效——正如2015年圣贝纳迪诺恐怖袭击案中，嫌犯所用的iPhone就启用了十次错误清除，使FBI也无法轻易尝试破解en.wikipedia.org。总之，此项设置能将设备落入他人之手时的数据泄露风险降至最低。

• 利用应用级 Face ID 控制（iOS 18+）：升级至iOS 18或更新版本，充分利用其新增的应用锁定功能。长按主屏某个应用图标，可以找到“需要Face ID”选项，将该应用加锁theverge.com。被加锁的应用每次打开都需要通过Face ID身份验证（即使手机已解锁）。建议对 聊天通讯、密码管理、交易所App 等敏感应用启用此功能。例如，将微信、Signal、邮件客户端等设置为打开需Face ID验证，以防范他人在您手机解锁的短暂间隙内获取其中内容。应用级Face ID锁定为设备提供了第二道防线：即使手机本身已解锁，敏感应用和数据仍受到保护。

• 建议购买第二台 iPhone 或 iPad 作为“备用解锁入口”： 利用 Apple 的“信任链”机制，为同一 Apple ID 配置多台受信任设备（如两台 iPhone 或 iPhone+iPad）。这样即使主设备丢失或被抹除，备用设备依然可以访问并恢复 iCloud 端到端加密数据。其安全本质类似于“1-of-N 多签”，即任一设备均可独立解锁所有云数据，但无需多设备联合协商，恢复更灵活。注意：这与比特币的m-of-n多签不同，Apple的信任链是单设备多入口，安全性和便利性权衡需根据个人需求评估。官方说明参见：Apple平台安全白皮书（Keychain与信任链）

• 建议购买 YubiKey 等硬件安全密钥作为 Apple ID 验证要素： 由于信任链机制下新设备加入时，身份验证成为潜在攻击点（如钓鱼、社工、短信劫持），推荐为 Apple ID 配置 YubiKey 或兼容 FIDO2/U2F 的硬件安全密钥。启用后，只有插入并触发硬件密钥的情况下，才能完成新设备授权、敏感操作或账户恢复，有效阻止网络钓鱼和大部分远程攻击。该方法可显著提升账户安全，降低因凭证泄漏或验证被劫持导致的信任链攻破风险。Apple 官方说明：为 Apple ID 添加安全密钥

通过上述配置，iPhone 将处于一个平衡了便利性和安全性的状态：日常解锁采用PIN码确保意外情况下设备不被强制解锁，短自动锁和十次清除严防暴力破解，而应用级加锁进一步保障重要数据不外泄。

小结： 按照以上指南对iPhone进行安全配置，可以大幅提升设备在实际使用中的抗攻击能力。生物识别解锁的取舍、自动锁定和清除机制、以及iOS 18引入的应用加锁功能相结合，全方位地巩固了手机作为比特币手持设备的安全基石。

关于自动抹除的常见质疑回应

启用“输错10次自动抹除”功能后，不少用户会提出疑虑，主要集中在两个方面：其一，担心儿童误操作或本人一时疏忽导致设备数据被抹掉；其二，担心万一手机数据被抹除，设备本身价值受损。针对这些质疑，我们进行如下回应：

• “熊孩子乱按怎么办？” 前文已提及，iPhone设计了渐进延时机制，使得连续十次错误输入并非易事sspai.comsspai.com。孩子无意识地反复点击相同数字，系统只视为一次错误sspai.com；而多次不同错误则会触发越来越长的锁定时间，很难真的连续试满十次sspai.com。实践中，要触发十次错误清除需要近两个小时且每次输入都不同，这种情景极不现实sspai.com。因此，只要平时看护好设备，误抹除几乎无需担心。相反，如果没有该功能，一旦设备遗失或被不法分子获取，后果将不堪设想——对方可以在足够时间和专业工具协助下尝试无限次解锁，从而获取您手机中的一切秘密。

• “数据没了岂不可惜？” 我们强调，比特币持有者手机中存储的敏感信息价值远超设备本身。手机里可能有助记词、私钥线索、交易记录截图，甚至包含您社交账户中关于资产的对话。在攻击者眼中，这些数据的价值胜过一部手机。与其担心设备被误清除，不如担心设备落入他人之手数据遭泄露的风险。况且，对于重要数据您应当早有备份（下文将讨论启用iCloud云备份的问题）。即使真发生误清除，有备份在手也能恢复；但若数据被不法分子窃取，一旦造成资产损失将无法挽回。因此，从风险权衡来看，“宁可误删，不可被盗”——自动抹除是最后一道保障，在极端情况下保护您的数字资产不被侵害。

总而言之，这一功能的利远大于弊。儿童误触可以通过良好监护和系统延时设计来防范，而一旦启用，您将获得巨大的安心：手机若遭试图破解，可以自毁以保全数据安全。这正是比特币持有者应有的安全理念：舍弃设备保安全，数据和资产永远优先于硬件。随着良好备份策略的配合（例如iCloud加密备份），启用自动抹除几乎没有后顾之忧。

小结： 针对自动抹除功能的疑虑更多是误解。iPhone的机制使得误触发几率极低，而其提供的数据安全保障却是无可替代的。比特币等敏感资产持有者应放下顾虑，优先保护数据安全——哪怕代价是设备被清除，也胜过数据落入他人之手。

iCloud 备份的争议与建议

在确保本地设备安全的同时，妥善备份数据同样关键。对于比特币持有者而言，启用 iCloud 云备份可以提供额外的一层安心：万一设备遗失、损坏或被抹除后，仍有机会恢复重要信息。然而，围绕iCloud备份的安全性一直存在争议，我们在此详细分析并给出建议：

首先强烈建议在启用iCloud备份的同时，务必开启「高级数据保护」（Advanced Data Protection, ADP）。默认情况下，iCloud云备份的数据加密密钥由Apple掌管，这意味着苹果公司在法律要求下能够解密并提供您的备份数据support.apple.comsupport.apple.com。而开启高级数据保护后，备份所涉及的大部分数据将采用端对端加密，只有您的受信任设备掌握解锁密钥support.apple.com。据苹果官方说明，在ADP模式下，即便苹果公司也无法读取您的备份内容support.apple.com。因此，高级数据保护能够将使用云备份可能带来的隐私泄露风险降至最低（前提是您妥善保管好自己的账户和恢复密钥）。

启用云备份常见的疑虑是：“会不会把我的钱包私钥也备份上去，万一云被攻破岂不危险？” 实际上，多数主流比特币/加密钱包软件不会将核心密钥（如助记词或扩展公钥xpub）存储在云备份中。很多钱包在设计时就要求用户自行备份助记词，而不会把这些高度敏感的数据写入应用沙盒，可被iCloud备份抓取。同样地，一些钱包应用甚至提醒用户关闭iCloud备份以防助记词泄露support.wallet.coinex.com。换言之，开启iCloud备份并不会将您的私钥上传（除非个别钱包特别设置了云同步，但大多数非托管钱包都没有这么做）。当然，为审慎起见，您可以查阅所用钱包的文档或设置，确认其是否有备份敏感信息到云的选项，并据此做出取舍。

与此同时，我们更加关心的是其他应用的数据完整备份。对于比特币持有者来说，聊天记录、笔记文档和工作应用的数据往往同样敏感且重要。例如，常用通讯软件（微信、Telegram、Signal 等）中的聊天可能涉及交易细节或人脉网络；办公应用如钉钉、飞书则包含财务往来或业务资料。这些应用的数据都会包含在iCloud整机备份中并被完整保存，一旦手机丢失或损坏，可以通过云备份原样恢复。support.apple.com值得一提的是，在高级数据保护开启且不泄漏密钥的前提下，这些备份数据即使存储在苹果服务器上也是安全的，第三方无法解读其中内容。

进一步的好处是：利用备份进行调查取证。假设最坏情况发生——您的手机被抹除或遗失，但是事先有一份最新的iCloud备份。在紧急需要时，您可以在一台新的iPhone上恢复这份备份。在恢复完成后，切断新设备的网络连接（拔掉SIM卡或不连Wi-Fi）。由于备份恢复会还原您的应用登录状态和本地数据，新设备在离线情况下将维持原手机当时的登录环境。您可以打开聊天应用、邮件、照片等查看内容，就像原手机一样。离线操作确保应用不会因为检测到新设备而要求重新登录，也避免了云端数据被远程清除的可能。这对于事后取证、提供线索给执法部门或自我调查都极为有利。比如，若涉及盗窃诈骗案件，这部离线恢复的手机里保留的聊天记录、交易凭证可以作为关键证据。而一旦联网，这些应用可能出于安全考虑登出账户或拉取最新状态，反而不利于保留原始证据。因此，有意识地保存一份完整云备份，并在需要时以离线方式恢复，是一种非常巧妙的应对策略。

小结： 尽管人们对云备份心存疑虑，但通过启用高级数据保护，iCloud备份既能提供数据恢复便利，又充分保障了隐私安全。大多数加密钱包不会上传私钥等核心数据，而聊天、办公等应用的数据则可完整份以备不时之需。在平衡安全与可用性的前提下，开启iCloud备份（搭配ADP加密）是明智之举——它让您在设备意外损坏或丢失时依然有据可查、有据可证。

高级数据保护与密码学机制分析

最后，我们从更宏观的视角，结合真实案例和技术原理，深入探讨苹果设备与云服务的安全性，以及高级数据保护（ADP）所依赖的密码学机制。这部分将涵盖苹果在多个国家遭遇的解锁争议、ADP 的运作及其与实体安全密钥的配合、以及关于苹果是否存在解密后门的分析。

苹果与执法部门的解锁事件

过去数年间，多起高调事件凸显了设备加密与执法取证之间的矛盾。美国国会山骚乱事件（2021年1月6日）中，执法部门缴获了大量嫌疑人的手机。据报道，不少嫌犯使用的是iPhone，调查人员能够从苹果获取其中的数据 但途径主要是通过 iCloud 云备份 而非直接破解设备thedailybeast.com。由于当时高级数据保护尚未推出或未启用，苹果依然持有那些嫌疑人iCloud账户的备份密钥，因此在收到合法的执法请求后，苹果向FBI提供了嫌疑人的iCloud备份内容，其中包括视频、照片和聊天记录等关键证据thedailybeast.com。这些数据帮助当局重构了案件过程，也反映出如果用户没有使用端到端加密备份，云端数据在法律压力下并非牢不可破。

相反，在更早的**圣贝纳迪诺恐怖袭击案（2015）**中，FBI面对一部启用了强加密的嫌犯iPhone却陷入僵局。那是一个运行iOS 9的 iPhone 5C，开启了PIN码锁和10次输错清除功能en.wikipedia.org。由于该设备上的本地数据经过设备加密且苹果并不持有密钥，FBI无法提取其中信息，遂求助苹果公司要求破解。但苹果以维护所有用户安全为由拒绝编写后门固件来绕过安全限制，引发了一场著名的法律拉锯en.wikipedia.orgen.wikipedia.org。最终执法部门辗转通过第三方工具解锁了手机，但苹果的立场十分明确：即便面对恐怖主义案件，也不会为单次事件在系统中留下后门。这一事件凸显出现代iPhone设备本地加密之强大——在没有用户密码的情况下，即使连厂商都无能为力，除非另辟蹊径寻求系统或硬件漏洞。

iCloud 在中国与英国的访问争议

在不同国家，苹果围绕用户数据加密与政府监管的博弈也在上演。中国方面，自2018年以来苹果将中国大陆 iCloud 服务交由“云上贵州”公司运营，数据存储和加密密钥均留在境内zh.amnesty.org。依据中国《网络安全法》，云服务运营者有义务为执法和国家安全机关提供“技术支持和协助”zh.amnesty.org。这意味着若中国警方出于刑侦需要向云上贵州调取某用户的 iCloud 数据，该公司必须配合提供，几乎没有拒绝的空间zh.amnesty.org。更重要的是，苹果把中国用户的 iCloud 加密密钥也存放在中国，一旦收到合法命令要求解密数据，苹果和云上贵州只能遵从zh.amnesty.org。换言之，在标准数据保护模式下，中国当局有途径通过法律手段获取本地存储的iCloud明文数据。这引发了人们对隐私的担忧：如果没有端到端加密，中国的用户数据可能在政府要求下被查看。然而如果用户开启高级数据保护，使得苹果也无法解读备份内容，那么即便在中国，此举从技术上为用户争取到了更高的私密性（前提是中国地区允许开启ADP——截至目前，苹果并未在中国禁用该功能，国区用户依然可以自行启用高级数据保护support.apple.comsupport.apple.com）。

再看英国的情况。英国政府近年以打击犯罪和恐怖主义为由，不断向科技公司施压要求提供加密数据的后门访问权。2023年底，英国援引《调查权力法》(IPA)秘密向苹果发出“技术能力通知”（TCN），要求苹果在全球范围内为英国安全部门提供对加密iCloud内容的解锁途径cnbeta.com.tw。这实际上等同于要求苹果破坏其端到端加密体系，留出一个只有政府能用的后门。苹果对此断然拒绝，并做出强硬回应：宁愿撤除在英服务，也不会妥协安全底线cnbeta.com.tw。结果是，苹果选择在英国境内停止提供高级数据保护功能给新用户。已有启用ADP的英国用户被通知需在宽限期内手动将其关闭，否则将无法继续使用iCloud备份cnbeta.com.tw。苹果在声明中表示对此深感失望，但为了遵守当地法律别无他法cnbeta.com.tw。下面这张截图显示了英国用户在系统中看到的提示信息，明确告知ADP服务不再可用

苹果针对英国地区做出的ADP功能调整通知。英国政府要求能够解密用户数据，迫使苹果撤回了对英国用户的新端到端加密备份支持cnbeta.com.twcnbeta.com.tw。苹果声明强调只有用户本人才能解读其加密数据，并重申不会在产品中留下执法后门cnbeta.com.tw。

这一英国内外的罕见举措表明，各国政府正日益重视加密带来的执法障碍，而苹果则在平衡用户隐私和法律要求之间走钢丝。尽管英国的情况迫使苹果让步（取消当地ADP），但苹果并未真的为政府打造解密后门，而是通过限制功能来表明态度——这与其长期立场一致：绝不在加密产品中留后门，即使承受业务上的损失cnbeta.com.tw。

高级数据保护与安全密钥

高级数据保护（ADP） 是苹果于 iOS 16.2 引入的一项可选功能，其核心是在用户选择开启后，将包括设备备份在内的大部分 iCloud 数据升级为端到端加密存储support.apple.comsupport.apple.com。开启ADP有两个前提：账户已启用双重认证，以及设置了账户恢复联系人或恢复密钥，以防用户遗失访问权限support.apple.comsupport.apple.com。在ADP模式下，Apple不再持有绝大部分云数据的解锁密钥，这些密钥只存在于用户的受信任设备中support.apple.com。这意味着，即便苹果公司收到政府索取数据的要求或其服务器遭黑客攻击，没有密钥的加密数据对任何第三方都是无意义的乱码。正如苹果声明所言：“只有拥有数据的用户才能解密，Apple 无法访问端对端加密的数据”cnbeta.com.tw。可以说，ADP将用户云数据的主导权完全交还给用户自己，从而彻底消除了苹果方面潜在的数据泄露点。

为了进一步增强账户安全，苹果在_iOS 16.3_开始支持绑定实体安全密钥（如 YubiKey）作为 Apple ID 的额外两步验证方式sspai.com。过去Apple ID登录主要依赖密码+发送到受信设备的验证码，但假如用户Apple ID密码泄露，攻击者可能利用社会工程获取验证码。而引入实体安全密钥后，用户可以要求任何新的登录尝试都必须提供物理密钥认证才能完成。这相当于给 Apple ID 上了一把“硬件锁”。对于比特币持有者而言，这一步非常值得配置：即使黑客骗取了您的苹果账号密码，没有您的YubiKey或同类FIDO2安全密钥，他仍无法登录您的iCloud或停用您的ADP。安全密钥本身具有防钓鱼特性，它不会把可被重用的机密泄露给假网站，再加上密钥私藏于硬件内部不可导出，使得账户保护达到新的高度sspai.comsspai.com。简而言之，**“ADP + 硬件安全密钥”**的组合为用户云数据打造了双重护城河：前者确保云上数据加密不被窥探，后者确保账户本身不被劫持利用。

需要注意的是，启用ADP后如果遗失所有设备且忘记密码，苹果无法帮您找回数据support.apple.com。这就像您把保险箱钥匙只握在自己手里而不交给任何人保管，其安全性空前提高，但也意味着责任完全在您。因此请务必牢记Apple ID密码，保管好恢复密钥或紧急联系人。一旦平衡好便利与安全，这套机制将为您的数字资产提供堪比硬件钱包的云端保障。

后门密钥与私钥不可拆分性

现代加密体系的设计使得用户私钥与设备环境密不可分。在苹果的生态中，每台设备都拥有由硬件生成的唯一加密根密钥。例如，安全隔区（Secure Enclave）内嵌入了设备唯一标识符UID作为根密钥，UID由安全硬件随机生成并烧录至芯片中help.apple.com。这个UID既不与任何其他设备标识相关，也无法被设备外的任何人（包括苹果官方）获取help.apple.com。同时，用户的解锁密码与该UID进行数学“交织”（entangle），共同派生出加密密钥help.apple.com。换言之，设备硬件密钥和用户密码共同决定了数据加密密钥，没有这两者就无法还原密钥。这体现了用户私钥对设备及用户身份的强绑定——苹果没有第三方密钥可以绕过这一绑定关系help.apple.comhelp.apple.com。

从密码学角度来看，如果苹果试图在上述体系中插入一个额外的“后门密钥”，将面临巨大的技术困难，并且这样的异常极易被察觉。设想苹果通过异或（XOR）或 Shamir 密钥共享等方式，将一个后门密钥与用户密钥组合：

• 实现层面的异常：用户设备在正常情况下应当能够独立完成解密/签名操作。如果加入隐藏密钥份额，意味着设备单凭用户自己的密钥无法完成某些解密，必须依赖苹果持有的那一份。这样的改动会造成额外的密钥协商步骤或异常的解密失败。例如，若苹果将后门密钥与用户密钥异或生成实际工作密钥，那么单用用户密钥将无法解密出正确结果，设备可能需要静默地向苹果服务器请求密钥片段或进行额外计算。这类非预期的通信或计算步骤很容易被安全研究者通过流量分析或逆向工程发现端倪。再比如采用 Shamir’s Secret Sharing 等门限方案，如果苹果持有一份密钥碎片，设备在解密时就需要满足门限条件，这通常意味着需要苹果的参与或预置公钥，从而在协议日志中留下异常痕迹。任何偏离常规协议的做法——无论是多传输一段数据，还是多保存一段密钥信息——都可能成为研究者捕捉的线索。历史经验表明，密码协议中的“奇怪之处”往往预示潜在漏洞或后门：例如 NSA 推出的 Dual_EC_DRBG 伪随机数生成器由于使用了异常常数，被专家迅速怀疑存在后门；著名密码学家施奈尔（Bruce Schneier）就曾直言 Dual_EC_DRBG 中的后门“相当明显”，呼吁业界停止使用en.wikipedia.org。由此可见，试图暗中插入额外密钥会在数学实现上留下破绽，而资深密码学者和安全社区有足够能力识别这些反常之处。

进一步，从门限签名理论对比苹果现有密钥管理，可以加深这一不可行性的理解。门限密码学允许将密钥拆分给多方持有，只有达到预定门槛的份额才能重构密钥或执行签名解密toc.csail.mit.edumedium.com。其优点在于提高了密钥托管的安全性，需要多方协作才能解锁秘密。然而，这种机制是公开设计的一部分，各参与方和流程都是明示的。例如在某些区块链多重签名方案中，多个私钥持有者共同生成交易签名，每个人都知晓门限机制的存在。相较之下，苹果在产品中的密钥管理要么是完全由用户端掌握密钥（如iPhone本地数据加密，密钥存在Secure Enclave中），要么是在用户许可下由苹果代管（如传统iCloud云备份未启用高级加密时，苹果保存备份密钥）。苹果并没有公开采用“两方门限”的模式来和用户分享密钥，否则等于声明“用户单方无法完全掌控自己的解密权”。如果苹果暗中采用门限签名让自己持有一份密钥碎片，本质上就是一种**变相密钥托管（Escrow）**行为。这样的做法会明显偏离苹果宣称的零后门立场，与其在隐私政策中反复强调的原则相违背。值得注意的是，苹果在其官方隐私声明中明确表示：“我们从未在任何产品或服务中创建过后门或万能解锁主密钥”apple.com。因此，从理论和实践双重层面来看，用户私钥与潜在后门密钥是难以在不被发现的情况下拆分存在的。任何试图将二者解耦的举措都会引起体系架构的异常，进而难逃专家法眼。

加密社区对后门的发现与审计

在当今的安全生态中，不存在“悄无声息的后门”。一旦厂商试图在加密方案中掺入后门密钥，全球的密码学社区和安全研究人员都有多种手段将其揪出。下面从几个方面概述社区常用的后门检测与审计方法：

• 开源协议分析：安全专家偏好开源的软件和协议，因为源码透明意味着任何可疑的算法修改、密钥处理流程都暴露在公众视野中。通过阅读和形式化分析公开的协议规范，研究者可以发现是否有多余的密钥交换步骤或异常的参数。例如，Signal通信协议的源代码和技术细节是完全公开的，全球专家曾多次审阅其实现，验证其端到端加密未存在后门linkedin.com。事实证明，公开透明带来的是更严苛的监督，任何隐秘加入的密钥参数都有可能被审计人员发现。正如业内人士所指出的，Signal 采用开放源码意味着安全专家可以独立审计其代码以核实安全性linkedin.com。类似地，许多现代加密库都会经过社区审视，以确保其中没有“暗门”。

• 逆向工程与二进制审计：对于闭源的软件（例如苹果自身的系统组件），安全研究者会运用逆向工程技术来分析应用的二进制代码和运行时行为。一旦苹果的加密实现存在未公开的密钥使用，比如在本地程序中引用了某个神秘常量或调用了隐藏的密钥解密函数，逆向工程往往能还原这些逻辑。专业团队通过调试、反编译、动态埋点等方式重现协议的握手过程，查看每一步骤所用的密钥材料。如果过程中出现与官方文档不符的环节（例如本应由用户设备生成的密钥却从外部获取），将立即引发怀疑。此外，安全社区定期举办的漏洞挖掘和破解挑战赛也扮演重要角色——顶尖黑客会竞相攻破苹果设备的加密层，并公开报告发现的问题。过去这些努力揭示了一些实现漏洞（如内存越界、0day攻击途径），但从未曝出“苹果预留万能密钥”之类的后门。一例典型事件是2017年有黑客成功解密了Secure Enclave固件以研究其中机理，结果证实即便取得固件代码，攻击者仍无法提取到任何用户密钥或后门凭证ciso.economictimes.indiatimes.com。这一结论进一步增强了业界对苹果加密实现中无后门的信心。

• 网络流量与协议行为分析：加密协议往往涉及设备与服务器的交互流程。研究人员会抓包和监控这些网络流量，分析协议握手时交换的消息格式和内容。如果苹果尝试在密钥协商时暗中插入自己的公钥或请求额外数据，流量分析将捕捉到异常的报文模式。例如，在正常的端到端加密通信中，设备之间交换彼此的公钥证书，不应有第三方公钥悄然出现。而所谓“幽灵用户”后门提案正是要求服务提供商在群聊中偷偷加入一个看不见的第三方公钥。这样的方案被广泛批评因为它破坏了用户验证通信对端身份的机制，需要服务器隐藏通知才能欺骗用户lawfaremedia.org。密码学家指出，这将削弱认证过程并带来新漏洞，因此难以在不被发现的情况下实施lawfaremedia.org。由此可见，通过流量异常识别潜在后门是切实可行的。当年的GCHQ“幽灵用户”建议一提出，就被包括苹果在内的业界联合抵制，47家机构和专家联名公开信指出该做法“对网络安全构成严重威胁”internetsociety.orgsilicon.co.uk，可见社区对这类后门手段有高度警惕性。

• 独立审计和信任链验证：许多安全敏感的加密功能会接受独立机构的审计，以建立公众信任。比如苹果的 iCloud 钥匙串（Keychain） 采用多层加密和信任链机制，其设计文档表明敏感信息的密钥始终需要Secure Enclave参与才能解锁techrepublic.com。有第三方评估指出，钥匙串中的私密数据即便保存在云端也是经过高强度加密的，任何人（包括苹果）都无法直接读取明文techrepublic.com。这一架构经过多轮外部安全会议研讨和学者研究，至今未出现被植入后门的迹象。同样，苹果设备中的 Secure Enclave 安全隔区 也多次成为学术研究和黑客大会的焦点。研究人员通过攻击Secure Enclave找出了少数漏洞（例如早期A7-A11芯片存在硬件级漏洞ciso.economictimes.indiatimes.comciso.economictimes.indiatimes.com），但这些漏洞只是实现瑕疵，并非有意留出的后门。实际上，正是这些公开的审计和破解挑战证明了Secure Enclave的设计初衷：即使攻击者获得硬件或固件访问权，仍无法提取出主密钥ciso.economictimes.indiatimes.com。学术界和白帽黑客社区通过反复的审查和渗透测试，为苹果的“零后门”承诺提供了有力的背书。换言之，加密社区的独立审计机制确保了任何后门都难以隐藏；只有经得起各方检验的系统，才能真正赢得用户信任。

综上所述，在强大的社区监督下，任何后门密钥的存在都会留下蛛丝马迹，并最终被曝光。无论是协议分析、逆向工程还是实网监测，多层次的手段使得厂商无法神不知鬼不觉地在成熟加密方案中藏入后门。这也是为什么苹果等公司反复强调没有后门：一旦撒谎，终将被揭穿，信用荡然无存。

iCloud 钥匙串信任链下的全局数据加密密钥（DEK）机制研究

苹果的高级数据保护（Advanced Data Protection）引入了端到端加密，将大部分 iCloud 数据的密钥仅存储在用户的受信设备上support.apple.com。在该机制下，每个用户的 iCloud 帐户针对各数据类别生成自己的“全局”数据加密密钥（Data Encryption Key, DEK），这些密钥受 iCloud 钥匙串的信任链机制保护。下面将详细探讨全局 DEK 的生成、分发与封装，多设备场景下的生命周期变化，以及苹果保障 DEK 安全和确保服务器从未获取明文 DEK 的技术手段。

全局 DEK 的生成、更新与轮换

初始生成：当用户首次在支持的设备上启用高级数据保护时（需运行 iOS 16.2、macOS 13.1 等新版系统，并开启双重认证），系统会在该设备上本地生成全局数据加密密钥。实际上，每个受端到端加密保护的 iCloud 服务（例如云备份、照片、笔记等）都有各自的 CloudKit 服务密钥对，其私钥用作该类别数据的主加密密钥support.apple.comsupport.apple.com。这些服务密钥使用安全随机算法在用户受信设备上创建，具有唯一性，并由设备的安全硬件保护。启用高级数据保护时，设备会将之前由苹果保存的云端密钥从苹果的硬件安全模块（HSM）中删除，并生成新的服务密钥，以改用仅存储在用户设备上的密钥来加密云端数据support.apple.comsupport.apple.com。这一过程确保全局 DEK（即各服务的新密钥）仅存在于用户受信设备上，苹果服务器端不再持有其副本。

是否变化及何时变化：在正常使用中，全局 DEK（各服务密钥）的私钥一经生成会保持稳定，用于持续加密解密用户数据，并不会频繁更换。唯有在特定事件下才会轮换或更新密钥，例如用户启用高级数据保护时系统触发的一次性密钥轮换，以及用户后来关闭高级数据保护或怀疑密钥泄露时的情况support.apple.com。苹果文档指出，当用户打开高级数据保护时，设备会启动异步密钥轮换操作，为此前存储于苹果服务器的每个服务创建新的服务密钥support.apple.com。新数据随后使用新密钥加密，旧密钥无法解密新数据support.apple.com。同样地，当用户关闭高级数据保护返回标准保护时，设备会将原本仅存于本地的新密钥上传回苹果HSM，并可恢复使用先前的旧密钥support.apple.com。因此，可以总结：初始启用高级保护时会生成并切换到新的全局 DEK，此后这些密钥保持不变；如用户关闭功能则恢复旧密钥；除非再次启用或发生安全事件，系统通常不会主动更换全局 DEK。

值得注意的是，在极端情况下如果用户怀疑密钥泄露或设备失窃，用户可以选择通过重置整个端到端加密环境（例如先关闭再重新开启高级数据保护）来触发新的 DEK 生成，从而保护云端数据安全。然而，此操作会要求所有设备重新加入信任链，并重新上传数据副本加密后存储。

多设备环境下 DEK 的分发与封装

信任链机制： 苹果使用 iCloud 钥匙串的信任链（又称同步圈，circle of trust）来在多设备间安全同步全局 DEK。启用了高级数据保护后，属于用户 Apple ID 的所有受信设备共同构成一个加密信任链，每台设备都有一对用于同步的非对称椭圆曲线密钥（如 P-384）support.apple.com。当第一台设备生成全局 DEK 后，它会将这些密钥加入自身的 iCloud 钥匙串保护域，并通过 CloudKit 安全地共享给用户的其他设备support.apple.com。具体而言，设备会维护一份受信设备的公钥列表，并使用自身的私钥对列表签名后存储于 iCloud；只有持有用户账户密码或设备私钥者才能读取或篡改这份列表support.apple.com。这一机制保证了只有经过用户授权加入信任链的设备才能获取 DEK，其余任何第三方（包括苹果服务器）都无法读取信任链中的密钥数据support.apple.com。

密钥传递与封装：在多设备场景下，每台设备都会持有全局 DEK（各服务私钥）的一个副本，但这些副本始终以安全加密形式封装后再传输和存储。例如，当用户新增一台受信设备时，新设备会生成自己的同步密钥对并向云端发出加入信任链的请求support.apple.com。已有的一台受信设备（通常是用户主动在其上同意新增设备）会验证该请求并通过 设备间安全信道 传输 DEK 副本给新设备support.apple.com。在此过程中，现有设备会利用新设备的公钥来加密封装 DEK，或双方通过椭圆曲线 Diffie-Hellman（ECDH）协商会话密钥来传递 DEK，从而确保只有目标新设备能解开密钥包装。苹果未公开具体用哪种算法封装，但业界常用方案包括 AES 密钥封装算法（AES-KW） 或 AES-GCM 算法 对会话密钥加密support.apple.comsupport.apple.com。可以推测，Apple 采用了符合 NIST 标准的 AES-256 算法对对称 DEK 进行二次加密包装，并结合设备的非对称密钥进行密钥交换/加密，以实现端到端的安全传递。

本地存储与保护：当设备接收到封装的 DEK 后，会在本地将其解密并安全保存于设备的 Keychain 中。所有 DEK 私钥仅存在于设备的安全隔区中，例如 iPhone 的密钥保存在 Data Protection 类钥匙串项下，并受 Secure Enclave 协处理器保护（访问需通过用户设备解锁）support.apple.com。这样设计保证即使设备遗失或被攻破，未解锁状态下设备上的 DEK 依然难以提取。总之，多设备环境下，每台受信设备都持有全局 DEK 副本，但始终通过端到端加密的方式同步与存储：传输过程中使用公钥加密/会话密钥，存储时依赖设备硬件密钥封装技术（如 Secure Enclave 提供的UID派生密钥）进一步加密，最大程度降低密钥泄露风险。

设备新增、移除与丢失场景下 DEK 和数据的生命周期

新设备加入： 当用户在新设备上登入 iCloud 并启用高级数据保护时，该设备无法直接访问云端受保护数据，需要首先加入信任链。加入流程包括：新设备生成自己的同步密钥对并将公钥提交给苹果云端（CloudKit）support.apple.com；苹果服务器将此请求传达给用户已有的一台受信设备上，提醒用户有新设备申请加入。用户在已有设备上批准请求（需输入密码或通过生物识别验证身份），之后已有设备会将新设备的公钥添加到信任链并再次用自己的私钥和账户密码派生密钥签署信任圈数据support.apple.com。随后，该已有设备通过上述安全信道，将全局 DEK 的加密副本传送给新设备support.apple.com。一旦新设备成功解密获得 DEK，它就加入了受信设备列表，可以像其他设备一样解密云端的端到端加密数据。整个过程确保只有获得用户明示批准的新设备才能获取 DEK support.apple.com。

设备移除与更换：当用户从 Apple ID 中移除某台设备，或设备被抹除/重置时，该设备将不再被视为信任链的一员。此时其他仍在线的受信设备会更新信任链状态，将该设备的身份从受信列表中剔除support.apple.com。需要强调的是，移除设备本身并不会导致全局 DEK 自动更改。被移除的设备虽曾持有 DEK 副本，但一旦不再受信，其无法从苹果服务器获取新的数据更新，而且由于设备已从账户移除或被抹掉，攻击者无法再借此解密云端后续的数据。苹果并未设定在每次设备变动时轮换密钥，这是出于实用性的考虑——频繁更换 DEK 将要求对云端大量数据重新加密，代价高昂。不过，若某台设备遗失且用户怀疑其本地密钥可能泄露，用户可以选择手动采取措施，例如从 iCloud 设置中移除此设备并重置高级数据保护（关闭再开启），从而生成新的 DEK，保护未来的数据安全。

云端数据影响： 当设备移除或失效时，云端已经加密的数据依旧由原来的 DEK 保护，并不会因为设备离开而重新加密。只要用户其他任一受信设备仍保存着该 DEK，便可继续访问此前的数据。被移除的设备由于缺失信任凭证，也无法再从服务器同步到后续新增或修改的任何机密数据（即使攻击者拥有其物理设备，由于密钥受 Secure Enclave 和设备密码保护，也难以提取support.apple.com）。因此，在多设备环境中，云端数据的可访问性取决于至少有一台受信设备存有对应 DEK。只要用户至少有一台设备或有效的恢复方式，数据就可解密使用；反之则数据陷于加密状态无法读取。

失去所有设备：高级数据保护要求用户在失去所有受信设备的极端情况下，借助预先设置的恢复机制取回 DEK。苹果强制要求启用该功能的用户提供至少一种账户恢复方法（例如指定恢复联系人或设置恢复密钥）support.apple.comsupport.apple.com。当用户所有设备均遗失或不可用时，只有通过这些恢复方式才能重获对数据的访问权。具体而言，如果用户提前设置了恢复密钥（一串随机生成的28位字符）并安全保存，那么此时用户可在新设备上登陆 Apple ID，并输入该恢复密钥来恢复数据。苹果服务器会将一份加密的 DEK 备份（ escrow 记录 ）下发到新设备，而新设备利用用户提供的恢复密钥将其解密，提取出全局 DEKsupport.apple.comsupport.apple.com。由于恢复密钥是由用户掌控、苹果不存储明文的要素，只有提供正确密钥的新设备才能解开 escrow 获得 DEK。在成功恢复后，新设备将重建信任链，并可以访问之前端到端加密的所有云端数据。

若用户选择的是恢复联系人，流程类似：用户联系预先设定的可信联系人，由联系人通过其苹果设备生成一个验证代码提供给用户。用户在新设备上输入该代码后，苹果同样将加密的 DEK 备份下发，新设备据此恢复密钥。整个恢复流程依然遵循端到端加密原则：苹果仅充当中转并验证权限，但并不知晓用户的实际 DEK 内容support.apple.com。

不可恢复的情况：如果用户既没有其他受信设备、又未设置任何恢复联系人或恢复密钥，那么全局 DEK 将无法找回，相应的云端数据也就永久处于加密不可读状态support.apple.com。苹果明确表示，若用户丢失所有设备且无恢复方式，公司无法帮助用户恢复这部分端到端加密的数据support.apple.com。这凸显了高级数据保护的一个权衡：安全性增强的同时，数据恢复的责任完全由用户自担。因此用户需谨慎管理受信设备和恢复选项，以避免陷入无法解密个人数据的境地。

DEK 安全性的密码学保障机制

苹果在高级数据保护与 iCloud 钥匙串架构中运用了多种密码学机制来保障 DEK 的机密性和完整性，包括密钥封装、密钥派生、硬件安全模块，以及严格的权限控制：

• 端到端加密与密钥层级化：如上所述，iCloud 采用分层密钥架构对数据加密。以 CloudKit 私有数据库为例，每位用户有一个顶层的 CloudKit 服务密钥对，其私钥用来保护下层对称密钥（如 Zone密钥、Record记录密钥等）support.apple.com。当用户在设备上写入数据时，会生成记录级别的随机对称密钥加密数据字段，再逐层用上级密钥封装这些对称密钥。具体来说，记录密钥用 Zone 密钥加密，Zone 密钥再用全局服务公钥加密（即 DEK 公钥），形成多层密钥封装结构support.apple.com。只有持有最顶层私钥（DEK 私钥）的受信设备才能逐层解开封装，最终解密出用户数据。通过这种分层加密与密钥隔离设计，即使某一层的密钥泄露，攻击者也无法直接获取上层密钥或明文数据。

• AES 密钥封装与封闭式硬件存储：苹果广泛采用了经验证的对称加密算法来封装和存储 DEK。传输过程中的 DEK（或下层对称密钥）通常通过 AES-256 算法加密封装后再上传support.apple.com。一种常用方法是 AES 密钥包装 (AES-KW)，它专门用于用一个对称密钥安全地封装另一个密钥，确保密钥材料在传输中不暴露。与此同时，设备本地的 DEK 私钥会存储在受 Secure Enclave 保护的区域。Secure Enclave 为每台设备提供唯一的硬件 UID 密钥，仅用于解锁设备密钥袋和钥匙串项support.apple.com。也就是说， DEK 私钥本身可能被进一步用设备硬件密钥加密（这相当于在软件密钥之外又加了一道硬件锁）。只有当用户解锁设备并通过身份验证，操作系统才能调用 Secure Enclave 解封这些密钥用于加解密操作。通过AES-GCM 等对称加密结合Secure Enclave 硬件密钥封装，苹果确保 DEK 无论在云端传输还是本地存储，都始终处于加密状态，降低被截获或提取的风险support.apple.com。

• 椭圆曲线密码与密钥交换： 信任链中设备互认和密钥共享依赖椭圆曲线密码算法。每台设备的同步身份密钥对采用强大的 P-256 或 P-384 曲线support.apple.comsupport.apple.com。当新设备加入时，已有设备会利用椭圆曲线数字签名算法 (ECDSA) 对信任链数据签名校验，防止伪造support.apple.com。同时，在设备间传输 DEK 时，可能使用椭圆曲线 Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) 来建立共享密钥，加密传输内容。ECDH 可确保即使通信被窃听，攻击者无法推导出会话密钥，因而无法获取密钥内容。综上，非对称加密和密钥交换协议保证了只有合法设备才能参与密钥同步，新设备的引入需要现有设备用其私钥签名确认，杜绝中间人攻击或伪造信任链的可能。

• 密钥派生函数 (KDF)：在某些步骤中，苹果使用了密钥派生函数强化密码。历史上，iCloud 钥匙串曾要求用户设置 iCloud 安全码时，将用户密码通过 PBKDF2 等KDF算法派生出密钥，用于签名和加密信任圈hackmag.comhackmag.com。即便在新的双重认证架构下，某些场景仍可能涉及KDF——例如恢复密钥或联系人代码很可能通过 KDF 转换为实际用于解密 escrow 密文的密钥材料。这些 KDF 算法引入高强度的盐值和大量迭代运算hackmag.com，增强了抗暴力破解能力，防止弱口令被攻击者猜测。总之，KDF 的应用确保从用户口令/恢复码到加密密钥的映射具有单向性和计算复杂度，进一步保护 DEK 相关流程的安全。

服务器无权获取明文 DEK 的保障

苹果的设计宗旨是在云端架起“盲墙”，确保服务器既无权也无实能接触用户 DEK 的明文，这也是实现“即使云端泄露，用户数据仍安全”的关键：

• 密钥仅存在于用户端： 开启高级数据保护后，所有主要 iCloud 数据类别的加密密钥仅存储于用户受信设备（或用户掌握的恢复载体）中，苹果服务器端不再保存这些密钥support.apple.com。文档明确指出，启用该功能后，苹果“无法读取或访问用户的服务密钥”support.apple.com。即在正常运行过程中，苹果的云服务器从未拥有解锁用户端到端加密数据所需的密钥。服务器所见到的只是由用户设备加密后的数据碎片，对其而言是不可解密的黑箱。

• 云端存储密文及加密元数据：iCloud 服务器虽然需要存储用户数据（如云照片、备忘录的加密内容），但这些内容均已由设备使用 DEK 加密完成。即便是为了提供某些功能，云端保留了少量未加密的元数据（如文件校验和用于重复数据消除），这些元数据也不包含可用于推导 DEK 的信息support.apple.comsupport.apple.com。苹果正在致力于将更多此类元数据也纳入端到端加密范围，以进一步减少明文暴露面support.apple.com。此外，CloudKit 框架要求开发者在模式中明确标记需要加密的字段，未标记的字段（例如排序用的时间戳）即便明文存储，亦不涉及敏感内容support.apple.com。由此，云服务器始终缺乏关于 DEK 或用户敏感数据的明文，一旦发生数据泄露或内部越权，攻击者拿到的也只是高强度加密下的乱码。

• 权限架构防范后门访问：苹果构建的信任链机制也防止了服务器假借授权来获取密钥的可能性。服务器不能私自添加受信设备或篡改信任链，因为每次信任链更新都需要现有设备的私钥签名以及（在老架构下）用户密码派生密钥的二次签名hackmag.comsupport.apple.com。苹果服务器既不持有用户设备私钥，也不知晓用户密码，因此无法伪造这些签名来诱导其他设备信任一个恶意设备。即使在双重认证体系下，服务器在设备加入流程中充当中继，并没有能力绕过用户批准直接将新设备植入圈内support.apple.comsupport.apple.com。这种架构等于为服务器访问用户密钥设置了密码学上的禁区。正如苹果安全白皮书所言，在最坏情形下如果用户丢失对 iCloud 钥匙串和其恢复机制的访问，那么相应的端到端加密数据苹果也无力恢复support.apple.com。苹果通过制度和技术结合，确保即便政府或机构要求提供用户数据，由于公司本身并无解密能力，只能交出加密的内容。

综上所述，Apple 高级数据保护下，全局数据加密密钥的生成由用户设备掌控，借助 iCloud 钥匙串信任链在多设备间安全同步。无论是在设备增加、移除还是用户失去设备的情况下，密钥和数据的生命周期管理均以用户掌控为中心：只要用户保有至少一个密钥载体（设备或恢复方式），数据即可解密使用；反之苹果也无法绕过用户获取密钥明文support.apple.com。苹果通过成熟的加密算法（AES-KW、ECDH 等）、硬件支持（Secure Enclave）、密钥分层与派生策略，实现了“零信任”云存储：服务器对用户密钥一无所知，从而使用户云端数据获得前所未有的保密性提升。

附录

图：高级数据保护下全局 DEK 管理的流程示意图。包含初始启用（设备 A 上生成新密钥并删除苹果服务器密钥）、新设备加入信任链（设备 B 请求并由设备 A 批准传输密钥）、设备移除或丢失（更新信任列表，但密钥通常不变）、以及用户失去所有设备时的恢复流程（通过恢复密钥取回 DEK）。各阶段均保证 DEK 安全不被未授权实体获取。

@ 25f5c1c7:e956c514

I've been exploring ways to retain the strong security guarantees of Proof-of-Work (PoW) while significantly reducing its environmental footprint. Traditional PoW systems are undeniably robust, but their energy demands are a major concern. Delayed Proof-of-Work (DPoW) is my first proposal toward solving this - a concept designed to preserve the integrity and fairness of PoW while operating with a fraction of the hash power.

How it Works

1. A new block is added to the chain.

2. All miners start computing a VDF (Verifiable Delay Function) with the latest block's hash as the input.

3. The VDF is designed to take 4 minutes to complete, enforcing a mandatory idle period.

4. The \~1 minute mining period begins when miners complete the VDF.

5. - Miners compete to find a valid PoW for a new block, which includes the VDF output in the header.

6. The first miner to find a valid hash broadcasts the new block to the network.

7. The block is verified by nodes by checking the VDF's output is correct for the previous block hash, and that the PoW is valid.

8. This cycle of a 4 minute idle period and a brief mining period continues.

Key Advantages

• The idle-mine cycle allows the network to operate with \~1/5 of the hash power of a standard PoW blockchain while still taking advantage of the security properties of PoW.

• During the 4 minute idle period, the blockchain is guaranteed to be static. The predictable delay means blocks are propagated and confirmed in a more synchronised fashion, which could reduce synchronisation issues and orphaned blocks.

Potential Issues

• VDFs can be computed slightly faster on hardware with higher clock speeds or specialised circuits, resulting in some miners having a longer mining period.

• The short mining-window means that miners on faster connections will have a significant advantage over slower connections, as they will be able to propagate a mined block faster.

• The VDF also uses energy, although negligible compared to the amount that algorithms use.

• Miners might redirect their hash power to other cryptocurrencies during the delay period, which would undermine the goal of reducing energy consumption.

• A malicious miner who obtains or predicts the next block could start pre-computing the VDF early, gaining an unfair advantage.

@ 82b30d30:40c6c003

nostr:nevent1qqsyeyycax9qgrr4qvtty4h62x96vc6lydh8yg7jl5er99zg7wlpdrch4np3n nostr:nevent1qqs0sqhtzc4p3vysz5k7l29x2lcnedeys55t7mqp2mz7ugrmw0v725cskvqau nostr:nevent1qqsq74xd6qzp9fp8nt8wqpredynnx9t59w9gmzs69jemwu24vjvx78c7wqsl6 nostr:nevent1qqsx6uaegtvy8y47w4fn4dsa0dzkrkjhmwyz9kgq8zw7s3hcg6fuhqg9yywsj nostr:nevent1qqspze6lekfau8063lcup5z0sq62fjhjgr5qjhqy29th28ghsjdendgpvh0ev nostr:nevent1qqsds5j8zk2cx0z4c7ndmq7pgnhtt9hxxu3ee8lq7j69xkpf68u44xgx0v9ux nostr:nevent1qqs20740qquqtt7mrxsqdhftg6rghselqmz8ewp7xsr4v3ltw8ha64scu0suh nostr:nevent1qqsr6sekrmed9g6m7fussfeg4ye5wupplx2wkrul6u8w7yykq6gs7cgz5lwj9 nostr:nevent1qqsfthry2n8yrevtuu8e83gjz2cjv9yh5p43t992h9dx8zy7xs49npq5rp89x nostr:nevent1qqs2rsq8g63z86vw5ta6rcjhtm94u92hhgdv5u7l6ymhy6nulq4awwq58f2af nostr:nevent1qqsdjqf2rwen0sqxvftqg9r6k6404n6ufhl89rn0kyga890ssx7a9pqhvw9z7 nostr:nevent1qqs9j53hpsdpt08f258hnm2sjrgx2anvd7qdrrvqx6ryppslr6lcqdqnammt4 nostr:nevent1qqsx2cs5gf2mlk4a524k2fk0f2fs80t7ryppe0qxyzvexyyh0z2xq0q9ckpgk 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nostr:nevent1qqs2gxp2p69m4xn0z8fmhg7s7krhcu60yszes3sapa9rz89qt8t6zas56lwvq nostr:nevent1qqs9esesyzs2mq93tkcy3wcvtu85rwj5e4m8dh4mk6zma86zz9vv06scurxue nostr:nevent1qqswprrqxz0smcrzn8qexp480jhkg4zjd0n0uphc2wx8pyte4dfavjqjyg7rn nostr:nevent1qqspltzt54qxxu3yjpazxyssm3s6xl8gwxr5eyvuvl8c8epj02e7dkclx3xy7 nostr:nevent1qqsp5ye5klfkf5fzapwscq26jaq84emcd8lku0q2vdky2spf0rhh2as83nnjn nostr:nevent1qqsxsrjh8m77eh3lpn9kacssn7k0mza4z4e9g68q70mqa78p4xjv2tqx28avg nostr:nevent1qqs2h9sg90jxzs08qancaj08qzeu7hh8lss32ny8uaww5m96xp25uus9z5rkz nostr:nevent1qqs2w7us0ef22ervcpya2rk24q5zcjaccae3d5rh9tt5jphfwax493c9pjs86 nostr:nevent1qqs2zr67e5pca9m3lqjw9w72v2h9507d62eya53n8pysle0fhu7adfqkd6hrq nostr:nevent1qqs87zlw6cas3my02fndu2rnfxyzrayqa7g5ptyhsjr37ewmk9jaqwclnp9n5 nostr:nevent1qqsqwpjhgp02jp878c5ftuuxt6czwf5sxcp25ma7p6y9x0sagpwz4tck0cjrt nostr:nevent1qqsyvtujm282xpmstttexzz2u0jxuts0e88t4vcnvg327vw5ju4x74q4wwjh7 nostr:nevent1qqsx6ulpc88x7nqpur3gagkp5uewn3t3a6qelzflejfy86j2y4pqv8gugmhu9 nostr:nevent1qqs9xgvwqy4ephxmfne62d7vucg6mvt8r9vlajw660eq590xnhrg5agv8q4s4 nostr:nevent1qqs9wpg4d0xd8dksnejdewus562f2t2vepyp8fdm6fft4k8t3j4tasguatjx5 nostr:nevent1qqs8lp0skjc83ky4lysegx3cnzxfvy3myskdfwcqs9v7564970ru29qsyc0np nostr:nevent1qqs2vle2yawtsrfftltp9nnzs65vcl4qjtyakap7qkvzd5mg8va4jjqtys34s nostr:nevent1qqsxm5q0xvnrlseh9x2t4k3cr207hzv9veyyt4vtht04yxlgcjk9cpq60l7jw nostr:nevent1qqsvqez6v63mglzj0xwy5d2tqy4956edvtqctncmmhxthgufefsw6wshuvlza nostr:nevent1qqsvk95ngt7u9jfx8l9det80qx39vrlfgkatn3cz3y5pk0g7qu7p2fctqrd2r nostr:nevent1qqsrknzln82etu0pqzhtakemt4c4thszw7kh9zzc85wx9q7y2ltee7gcl4gpu nostr:nevent1qqspws9jvjsj3lzksqvxtche9tvnz55lvurund04pltq92cyrpm3dzqe4zxzt nostr:nevent1qqsf2cmj0txt9l23a2jx9jr0pwsmsr7js2nztgygknltu3alad8mpxqmkm75p nostr:nevent1qqsdh8zc5ydx4nvv4vxgg40xuatg5vdccdy5pn8nqz4x8gchke6sqns2v5ed2 nostr:nevent1qqsptqnt63mntkthndn8ganaatjh08xqrz6fx8y28r85elgrwfk97qsnasax5 nostr:nevent1qqsqp4l0mw3lm0mznvn37dk7wfxsr3e9fvp220v4zjy7fs5u3km5h6cl2u28m nostr:nevent1qqs09m70m33lkafu89xjfpyjft9p3dmcywjsmm7tx30ppxzwy6t3aaq959lff nostr:nevent1qqswpnrgahzcxnqg886gx9vgvsf7tenxgw9uqmtsv95r38m4xu90zwgaekq5s

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

According to CEO Jamie Dimon, the banking giant will open the door to spot Bitcoin ETFs.

As reported by CNBC, JPMorgan has announced that it will allow its clients to buy Bitcoin, without offering custody services. The bank will give clients access to exchange-traded funds (spot ETFs) on Bitcoin, according to sources familiar with the matter.

During a recent investor event, CEO Jamie Dimon confirmed that the bank will open up to Bitcoin for its clients, while refraining from taking on the responsibility of asset custody. “I am not a fan” of Bitcoin, Dimon clarified during the event.

This decision marks a shift from the position Dimon held in 2017, when he labeled Bitcoin a “fraud,” compared it to the tulip mania bubble, and predicted its imminent collapse. At the time, Dimon had even threatened to fire any JPMorgan employee caught trading Bitcoin, calling such activity “stupid” and against company policy.

Despite this operational turnaround, Dimon continues to personally maintain a skeptical stance toward the cryptocurrency. In a 2024 interview with CNBC, he stated he no longer wanted to discuss Bitcoin publicly, emphasizing that, in his view, it lacks “intrinsic value” and is used for criminal activities such as sex trafficking, money laundering, and ransomware.

These comments from Dimon contrast with the recent optimism shown by JPMorgan analysts regarding Bitcoin’s market prospects. According to reports from the bank, Bitcoin could continue gaining ground at the expense of gold in the second half of the year, driven by rising corporate demand and growing support from various U.S. states.

The post JPMorgan to allow clients to buy Bitcoin ETFs: no custody services appeared first on Atlas21.

@ 502ab02a:a2860397

แหม่ ต้องรีบแวะมาเขียนไว้ก่อน ของกำลังร้อนๆ #ตัวหนังสือมีเสียง เพลง ลานกรองมันส์ นั้นเรื่องที่มาที่ไปน่าจะไปตามอ่านในเพจ ลานกรองมันส์ ได้ครับ recap คร่าวๆคือมันคือ พื้นที่สร้างสรรค์ที่เปิดให้มาทำกิจกรรมต่างๆนานากันได้ครับ

วันนี้เลยจะมาเล่าเรื่องวิธีการใช้คำ ซึ่งมันส์ดีตามชื่อลาน ฮาๆๆๆ ผมตั้งโจทย์ไว้เลยว่า ต้องมีคำว่า ลานกรองมันส์ แน่ๆแล้ว เพราะเป็นชื่อสถานที่ จากนั้นก็เอาคำว่า ลานกองมัน มาแตกขยายความเพราะมันคือต้นกำเนิดเดิมของพื้นที่นั้น คือเป็นลานที่เอาหัวมันมากองกันเอาไว้ รอนำไปผลิตต่อเป็นสินค้าการเกษตรต่างๆ

ตอนนี้เขาเลิกทำไปแล้ว จึงกลายมาเป็น ลานกรองมันส์ ที่เอาชื่อเดิมมาแปลง

เมื่อได้คำหลักๆแล้วผมก็เอาพยัญชนะเลย ลอลิง กอไก่ มอม้า คือตัวหลักของเพลง

โทนดนตรีไม่ต้องเลือกเลยหนีไม่พ้นสามช่าแน่นอน โทนมันมาตั้งแต่เริ่มคิดจะเขียนเลยครับ ฮาๆๆๆ

ผมพยายามแบ่งวรรคไว้ชัดๆ เผื่อไว้เลยว่าอนาคตอาจมีการทำดนตรีแบบแบ่งกันร้อง วรรคของมันเลยเป็น หมู่ เดี่ยว หมู่ เดี่ยว หมู่ เดี่ยว หมู่ แบบสามโทนเลย

ท่อนหมู่นั้น คิดแบบหลายชั้นมากครับ โดยเฉพาะคำว่า มัน เอามันมากอง มันที่ว่าได้ทั้งเป็นคำกิริยา คือ เอามันมากองๆ หรือ มันที่ว่าอาจหมายถึงตัวความฝันเองเป็นคำลักษณะนามเรียกความฝัน "ลานกรองมันส์ เรามาลองกัน มาร่วมกันมอง ลานกรองมันส์ มาร่วมสร้างฝัน เอามันมากอง"

หรือแม้แต่ท่อนต่างๆ ก็เล่นคำว่า มัน กอง เพื่อให้รู้สึกย้ำท่อนหมู่ ที่มีคำว่ามัน เป็นพระเอกหลายหน้า ทั้งความสนุก ทั้งลักษณะนามความฝัน ทั้งกิริยา "ทุกคน ต่างมี ความฝัน เอามา รวมกัน ให้มันเป็นกอง"

อีกท่อนที่ชอบมากตอนเขียนคือ ทำที่ ลานกรองมันส์ idea for fun everyone can do เพราะรู้สึกว่า การพูดภาษาอังกฤษสำเนียงไทยๆ มันตูดหมึกดี ฮาๆๆๆๆ

หัวใจของเพลงคือจะบอกว่า ใครมีฝันก็มาเลย มาทำฝันกัน เรามีที่ให้คุณ ไม่ต้องกลัวอะไรที่จะทำฝันของตัวเอง เล็กใหญ่ ผิดถูก ขอให้ทำมัน อย่าให้ใครหยุดฝันของคุณ นอกจากตัวคุณเอง

เพลงนี้ไม่ได้ลงแพลทฟอร์ม เพราะส่งมอบให้ทาง ลานกรองมันส์เขาครับ ใช้ตามอิสระไปเลย ดังนั้นก็อาจต้องฟังในโพสนี้ หรือ ในยูทูปนะครับ https://youtu.be/W-1OH3YldtM?si=36dFbHgKjiI_9DI8

เนื้อเพลง "ลานกรองมันส์"

ลานกรองมันส์ ขอเชิญทุกท่าน มามันกันดู นะโฉมตรู มาลองดูกัน อ๊ะ มาลันดูกอง

มีงาน คุยกัน สังสรรค์ ดื่มนม ชมจันทร์ ปันฝัน กันเพลิน ทุกคน ต่างล้วน มีดี เรานั้น มีที่ พี่นี้มีโชว์ เอ้า

ลานกรองมันส์ เรามาลองกัน มาร่วมกันมอง ลานกรองมันส์ มาร่วมสร้างฝัน เอามันมากอง

จะเล็ก จะใหญ่ ให้ลอง เราเป็น พี่น้อง เพื่อนพ้อง ต้องตา ทุกคน ต่างมี ความฝัน เอามา รวมกัน ให้มันเป็นกอง เอ้า

ลานกรองมันส์ เรามาลองกัน มาร่วมกันมอง ลานกรองมันส์ มาร่วมสร้างฝัน เอามันมากอง

ชีวิต เราคิดเราทำ ทุกสิ่งที่ย้ำ คือทำสุดใจ จะเขียน จะเรียน จะรำ ทำที่ ลานกรองมันส์ idea for fun everyone can do

ลานกรองมันส์ เรามาลองกัน มาร่วมกันมอง ลานกรองมันส์ มาร่วมสร้างฝัน เอามันมากอง

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@ 1817b617:715fb372

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@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Donald Trump’s recent four-day visit took the President to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. This visit has intertwined diplomatic relations with business interests, while simultaneously influencing the bitcoin market.

In Qatar, the President met with Emir Tanim bin Hamad Al Thani, resulting in over $243 billion in deals including major defense agreements, according to Bloomberg.

On May 15, the President made his visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi alongside Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan. This occurs as the Trump family expands its business presence in the Middle East.

The Trump Organization is developing luxury properties across the region, including Trump Tower Dubai, real estate projects in Riyadh, and development in Jeddah and Oman.

Donald Trump and Mohammed bin Salman in King Khalid International Airport — NBCNews

Eric Trump publicly announced construction plans for Trump Tower Dubai just last month, highlighting the family’s ongoing commercial footprint in the region.

These business connections extend into the digital asset ecosystem as UAE-backed investment firm MGX recently announced it would use USD1, World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin to support a $2 billion investment in Binance, the world’s largest digital asset exchange, according to APNews.

This connection between Trump-aligned interests and major digital asset investments creates a potential avenue for market influence. 

Historically, stability in the Middle East, especially among oil-rich nations, reduces global market volatility. This encourages risk appetite among investors, often leading to increased allocations to digital assets like bitcoin.

Middle East diplomacy directly affects global oil prices. Stable oil prices can lower inflation expectations and lead to interest rate cuts by the Fed. Lower rates lead to an increase in liquidity, having positive effects on bitcoin, an asset that benefits from money printing.

Related: Fed Rate Cuts Could Lead to Major Price Swings for Bitcoin

On the investment front, Abu Dhabi’s Wealth Fund, Mubadala Investment Company, has been focused on increasing their shares in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).

According to a 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Mubdala held 8.7 million IBIT shares, totaling $408.5 million as of March 31, 2025. 

The Abu Dhabi Wealth Fund increased its shares by 500,000 since its last filing in December of 2024.

Back in March, the United States created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The executive order states that the U.S. will not sell the bitcoin they already hold, and will create budget-neutral ways to increase their holdings.

The time has come where governments and wealth funds alike are jumping on board the Bitcoin train.

Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East illustrates how financial, diplomatic, and personal interests are becoming increasingly intertwined with Bitcoin and digital assets, serving as a new axis of influence in the U.S.-Middle East relations.

The combination of diplomatic progress and business expansion has heightened short-term volatility and trading volumes in the bitcoin market.

Trump’s business and digital asset ties in the region may further boost institutional interest and create an opportunity for more players to enter the market.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Bahrain-based Al Abraaj Restaurants Group has made history by becoming the first publicly-traded company in the Middle East to add bitcoin to its corporate treasury. This is a major step forward for regional bitcoin adoption.

On May 15, 2025, Al Abraaj Restaurants Group, a well-known restaurant chain listed on the Bahrain Bourse, announced it had bought 5 bitcoin (BTC) as part of a new treasury strategy. This makes the company the first in Bahrain, the GCC and the Middle East to officially hold bitcoin as a reserve asset.

Al Abraaj adds bitcoin to its treasury — Zawya

This is a growing trend globally where companies are treating bitcoin not just as an investment but as a long-term store of value. Major companies like Strategy, Tesla and Metaplanet have already done this — and now Al Abraaj is following suit.

Metaplanet recently added 1,241 BTC to its treasury, boosting the company’s holdings above El Salvador’s.

Related: Metaplanet Overtakes El Salvador in Bitcoin Holdings After $126M Purchase

“Our initiative towards becoming a Bitcoin Treasury Company reflects our forward-thinking approach and dedication to maximizing shareholder value,” said Abdulla Isa, Chairman of the Bitcoin Treasury Committee at Al Abraaj.

Al Abraaj’s move is largely inspired by Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy, the world’s largest corporate holder of bitcoin. Saylor’s strategy of allocating billions to bitcoin has set a model that other companies — now including Al Abraaj — are following.

A photo shared by the company even showed a meeting between an Al Abraaj representative and Saylor, with the company calling itself the “MicroStrategy of the Middle East”.

“We believe that Bitcoin will play a pivotal role in the future of finance, and we are excited to be at the forefront of this transformation in the Kingdom of Bahrain,” Isa added.

To support its bitcoin initiative, Al Abraaj has partnered with 10X Capital, a New York-based investment firm that specializes in digital assets.

10X Capital has a strong track record in bitcoin treasury strategies, and recently advised Nakamoto Holdings on a $710 million deal — the largest of its kind.

With 10X’s help, Al Abraaj looks to raise more capital and increase its bitcoin holdings over time to maximize bitcoin-per-share for its investors. The company will also develop Sharia-compliant financial instruments so Islamic investors can get exposure to bitcoin in a halal way.

“Bahrain continues to be a leader in the Middle East in Bitcoin adoption,” said Hans Thomas, CEO of 10X Capital. He noted, with a combined GDP of $2.2 trillion and over $6 trillion in sovereign wealth, the GCC now has its first publicly listed bitcoin treasury company.

This is not just a first for Al Abraaj — it’s a first for the region. Bahrain has been positioning itself as a fintech hub and Al Abraaj’s move will encourage more non-fintech companies in the region to look into bitcoin.

The company said the decision was made after thorough due diligence and is in line with the regulations set by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). Al Abraaj will be fully compliant with all digital asset transaction rules, including transparency, security and governance.

A special Bitcoin Committee has been formed to oversee the treasury strategy. It includes experienced bitcoin investors, financial experts and portfolio managers who will manage risk, monitor market conditions and ensure best practices in custody and disclosure.

The initial purchase was 5 BTC, but Al Abraaj sees this as just the beginning. The company stated that there are plans in motion to allocate a significant portion of their treasury into bitcoin over time.

According to the company’s reports, Al Abraaj is financially sound with $12.5 million in EBITDA in 2024. This strong financial foundation gives the company the confidence to explore new strategies like bitcoin investment.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Steak ‘n Shake recently made headlines by officially accepting bitcoin payments via the Lightning Network across all its U.S. locations. The integration of Bitcoin payments at over 500 locations is a monumental moment for both the fast food industry and the broader retail sector.

This is not just something that Steak ‘n Shake is testing in a handful of locations, they are doing a full-scale rollout, fully embracing Bitcoin. 

With more than 100 million customers a year, Steak ‘n Shake’s integration of Lightning—Bitcoin’s fast, low-fee payment layer—makes it easier than ever to use Bitcoin in day-to-day life. Buying a burger and a shake with sats? That’s now a real option.

The process is straightforward. Customers simply scan a Lightning QR code at the register, completing their payment in seconds, while Steak ‘n Shake receives instant USD conversion, ensuring price stability and ease of use.

So what does this mean for Bitcoin and E-commerce?

For starters, Steak ‘n Shake becomes the first of eventually many to fully embrace a digital world. As Bitcoin continues to grow, consumers will continue to realize the benefits of saving in a currency that is truly scarce and decentralized.

This is a huge step forward for Bitcoin as it shows it is not just for holding, it’s for spending, too. And by using the Lightning Network, Steak n’ Shake is helping prove that Bitcoin can scale for everyday transactions. 

This now creates a seamless checkout experience, making bitcoin a viable alternative to credit cards and cash.

More importantly, it signals a significant shift in mainstream attitudes towards Bitcoin. As a well-known brand across America, this move serves as a powerful endorsement, likely to influence other chains and retailers to consider similar integrations.

Related: Spar Supermarket in Switzerland Now Accepts Bitcoin Via Lightning

What can this mean for your business? 

Accepting bitcoin as payment can open the door to a new demographic of tech-savvy, financially engaged consumers who prefer digital assets.

As we know, companies that adopt Bitcoin receive a fascinating amount of love from the Bitcoin community and I would assume Steak n’ Shake will be receiving the same amount of attention.

From a business perspective, accepting bitcoin has become more than just a payment method—it’s a marketing tool. It sets your business apart and gets people talking. And in a crowded market, that kind of edge matters.

Steak ‘n Shake’s embrace of Bitcoin is likely to accelerate the adoption of digital assets in both physical retail and e-commerce.

As more businesses witness the operational and marketing benefits, industry experts anticipate a ripple effect that will increase interaction between consumers and digital currencies, further regulatory clarity, and bring continued innovation in payment technology.

Steak ‘n Shake’s nationwide Bitcoin payments rollout is more than a novelty. It’s a pivotal development for digital payments, setting a precedent for other retailers and signaling the growing integration of digital assets into everyday commerce.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Panama City may be the next Latin American city to adopt bitcoin, after El Salvador.

Panama City Mayor Mayer Mizrachi has got the bitcoin world excited after hinting that the city might have a bitcoin reserve. The speculation started on May 16 when Mizrachi posted a simple but powerful message on X:

Two words. That’s it. What makes it special is that it came after a high-profile meeting with Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert, two key figures behind El Salvador’s bitcoin strategy.

Keiser is an advisor to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele and Herbert leads the country’s Bitcoin Office.

El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender back in 2021. Since then, it has been building a national bitcoin reserve, currently holding 6,179 BTC worth around $640 million. It’s also using geothermal energy to power bitcoin mining in an eco-friendly way.

El Salvador’s bitcoin treasury — Bitcoin.gob.sv

Mizrachi’s meeting with Keiser and Herbert was about how Panama could do the same. While the details of the conversation are private, Keiser shared on social media that the two countries will play a big role in the future of Bitcoin.

“Bitcoin is transforming Central America,” Keiser wrote. “El Salvador’s geothermal & Panama’s hydro-electric will power the Bitcoin revolution.”

Max Keiser on X

Panama with its hydroelectric power could be a hub for green bitcoin mining.

Mizrachi has not announced a bitcoin reserve plan nor submitted a proposal to the National Assembly. But his post and public appearances suggest it’s being considered.

He will be speaking at the upcoming Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Las Vegas just days after his social media post. Many expect he will share more about Panama City’s bitcoin plans during his talk.

If Mizrachi pushes for a bitcoin reserve, he will need to work with national lawmakers to pass new legislation. So far, there is no evidence of that.

Even without a bitcoin reserve, Panama City is already going big on digital assets.

In April 2025, the city council approved a measure to allow residents to pay taxes, fees, fines and permits with digital currencies. Supported tokens are bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT).

To comply with financial laws, the city has partnered with a bank that instantly converts these digital assets into U.S. dollars. According to Mizrachi, this way it’s easier for residents to use digital assets and the city’s financial operations will be transparent and legal.

Another part of the meeting with El Salvador’s advisors was education.

Stacy Herbert confirmed that Panama City will be integrating El Salvador’s financial literacy book, “What is Money?” into their digital library system. The goal is to help students, teachers and the general public understand bitcoin and digital currencies in modern finance.

This is a trend in Latin America where countries are looking for alternatives to traditional banking systems. Inflation, economic instability and the rise of decentralized finance are forcing governments to look into new financial tools.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ bf47c19e:c3d2573b

Originalni tekst na bitcoin-balkan.com.

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Pregled sadržaja

1. Šta je finansijski samo-suverenitet?
2. Zašto smo prestali da koristimo zlatni standard?
3. Šta fali tradicionalnoj valuti i centralnim bankama?
4. Kako mogu ljudi da mi ukradu novac ako je u banci?
5. Kako ljudi koriste moje finansijske podatke protiv mene?
6. Kako ljudi kontrolišu sa kim obavljam transakcije?
7. Kako da povratimo svoj finansijski samo-suverenitet?
8. Kako Bitcoin funkcioniše?
9. Pa onda, zašto Bitcoin?
10. Po čemu je Bitcoin bolji od sistema tradicionalnih valuta?
11. Kako Bitcoin štiti od Inflacije?
12. Kako Bitcoin štiti od Zaplene?
13. Kako Bitcoin štiti Privatnost?
14. Kako Bitcoin štiti od Cenzure?
15. Šta će vlada i banke učiniti sa Bitcoin-om?
16. Da li je vrednost Bitcoin-a nestabilna?
17. Da li je Bitcoin novac?
18. Bitcoin kao Zaliha Vrednosti
19. Bitcoin kao Sredstvo Razmene
20. Bitcoin kao Obračunska Jedinica
21. Bitcoin kao Sistem Kontrole
22. Šta je sa „Sledećim Bitcoin-om“?
23. Na kraju

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Kratki uvod u bezbednost, privatnost i slobodu vašeg novca.

Pre nego što saznate kako morate znati zašto.

Šta je finansijski samo-suverenitet?

Zamislite da u ruci imate zlatni novčić, jedan od najjednostavnijih i najčistijih oblika finansijskog samo-suvereniteta.

Da biste držali taj zlatni novčić, ne morate da se složite sa bilo kojim Uslovima korišćenja ili Politikom privatnosti, da se pridržavate bilo kojih KYC ili AML propisa, da pokažete ličnu kartu, da navedete svoje ime ili jedinstveni matični broj.

Samo ga držite u ruci i njime možete platiti bilo šta, davanjem tog novčića nekom drugom da ga drži u ruci. To je čista sloboda.

Pored slobode onoga što kupujete svojim novčićem, niko ne može magično znati kome plaćate ili koju robu/usluge kupujete tim zlatni novčićem, jer vaša privatnost nije ugrožena sa zlatom.

A pošto imate svoju privatnost, niko ne može znati za vaše transakcije, pa niko ne može da odluči da ograniči ili kontroliše za šta koristite taj zlatni novčić.

Hiljadama godina zlato je bilo globalni standard novca.

Svi su održavali svoj finansijski samo-suverenitet, a privatnost i sloboda svačijeg novca su poštovani.

Zaista je bilo tako jednostavno.

Zašto smo prestali da koristimo zlatni standard?

Trenutni globalni bankarski sistem i sistem tradicionalnih valuta, bankari su vrlo polako implementirali u proteklih 100+ godina.

Udružili su se sa svetskim vladama koje su svima oduzele zlato pod pretnjom nasilja.

Na primer, nakon što je Federalna banka rezervi osnovana u SAD-u 1913. godine, američka vlada je nasilno oduzela svo zlato 1933. godine, prisiljavajući sve da koriste nove centralne banke i sistem novčanica Federalnih rezervi.

„Dostavite svoje celokupno zlato u naše sefove u zamenu za bezvredni papir, ili ćemo upotrebiti silu nad vama.“

Banke su u početku zamenile zlatni standard papirnim priznanicama zvane zlatni sertifikati, ali nakon što je prošlo dovoljno vremena, banke su u osnovi jednostavno prestale da ih otkupljuju za zlato.

Zlatni sertifikati izdavani od banaka (novčanice ili „gotovina“) u tom trenutku bili su samo bezvredni papir, ali zbog vladine pretnje nasiljem, svi su bili primorani da nastave da koriste novčanice Federalnih rezervi.

Od skora, banke koriste digitalnu bazu podataka, u kojoj doslovno mogu stvoriti novac ni iz čega, čak i da ga ne moraju štampati na papiru.

Predsednik Federalnih rezervi priča kako oni „štampaju“ novac.

Oni su učvrstili svoju moć da manipulišu i naduvaju globalnu novčanu masu, nadgledaju finansijske transakcije svih i kontrolišu protok svih tradicionalnih valuta u svom bankarskom sistemu.

Banke sada kontrolišu sve.

Jednom kada su centralni bankari uspešno preuzeli kontrolu nad novčanom masom u svetu, zajedno sa sposobnošću svih da slobodno vrše transakcije i trguju, svet je kolektivno izgubio bezbednost, slobodu i privatnost svog novca.

Šta fali tradicionalnoj valuti i centralnim bankama?

Nakon impelentacije trenutnog globalnog bankarskog sistema i sistema tradicionalnih valuta, svetu nije preostao drugi izbor nego da veruje bankarima i političarima da vode globalni finansijski sistem na pošten način.

„Koren problema tradicionalne valute je potpuno poverenje potrebno za njeno funkcionisanje. Centralnoj banci se mora verovati da neće devalvirati valutu, ali istorija tradicionalnih valuta je puna kršenja tog poverenja. Bankama se mora verovati da čuvaju naš novac i prenose ga elektronskim putem, ali ga daju u talasima kreditnih balona sa malim delićem rezerve. ““ — Satoshi Nakamoto

Istorija zloupotrebe tradicionalnih valuta može se grupisati u 3 kategorije:

• Bezbednost. Loši ljudi kradu vaš novac ili vrednost vašeg novca, ponekad na očigledne načine, ponekad na podle načine.

• Privatnost. Loši ljudi nadgledaju sve vaše privatne finansijske transakcije, i koriste vaše lične finansijske podatke protiv vas.

• Sloboda. Loši ljudi kontrolišu na koji način možete da trošite sopstveni novac, sa kim možete da obavljate transakcije, koliko možete da potrošite itd.

Kako mogu ljudi da mi ukradu novac ako je u banci?

Evo nekoliko primera:

• Krađa inflacijom: Ovo je primarni način na koji banke kradu vaš novac i jedan od najpodlijih. Kada centralne banke izdaju novi novac, bilo štampanjem na bezvrednom papiru, ili samo dodavanjem knjigovodstvenog unosa u bazu podataka koju kontrolišu, one naduvaju globalnu novčanu masu. Inflacija krade kupovnu moć svih koji drže deo te valute, jednostavno zato što je sada više te valute u opticaju. Zlato se ne može stvoriti, pa su bankari umesto toga izmislili sistem papirnog novca.

• Krađa zaplenom: Ovo je jedan od načina na koji vlade mogu ukrasti vaš novac. Da li ste ikada čuli za zaplenu imovine? Ako policajac posumnja da je vaša imovina korišćena u krivičnom delu, može je zapleniti, a vi se morate boriti da biste povratili vašu ukradenu imovinu. Ili, drugi primer: Pokušajte da uđete u zemlju sa više od 10.000 USD u džepu, a ne da je prijavite, i pogledajte šta će se dogoditi. Sve je isto: krađa od strane drugih ljudi sa oružjem.

• Krađa putem oporezivanja: Ovo je još jedan način na koji vam vlade kradu novac. Ne sporim da li je oporezivanje etično ili ne, samo konstatujem činjenicu da vaša vlada može da primora vašu banku da im da vaš novac, a ovo je bezbednostna ranjivost. Da bi novac bio siguran, mora biti nezaplenjiv, a vlade mogu da zaplene vaše bankovne račune.

Kako ljudi koriste moje finansijske podatke protiv mene?

Ako fizičku tradicionalnu valutu predate drugoj osobi, u obliku papirnog novca ili kovanica, relativno je lako zaštititi privatnost svoje transakcije, baš kao što bi bilo da koristite zlatnike.

Međutim, ako koristite kreditne kartice, debitne kartice, bankovne transfere, PayPal, Venmo, LINE Pay, WeChat Pay ili bilo koju drugu mrežu za plaćanje koja je centralno kontrolisana, aktivno pristajete da se odreknete privatnosti podataka svih svojih privatnih finansijskih transakcija i sve ih dajete poverljivoj trećoj strani.

Kada su svi podaci i metapodaci vaših finansijskih transakcija prijavljeni u centralnu bazu podataka, onaj ko ima pristup toj bazi podataka može da koristi vaše podatke protiv vas.

Evo nekoliko osnovnih primera:

• Ako ste kupili robu rizičnog životnog stila poput cigareta, banka može reći vašoj osiguravajućoj kompaniji da poveća vaše osiguranje.
• Ako ste kupili nešto što je ilegalno, poput droga za rekreaciju, vaša banka može reći vašoj vladi da vas zakonski goni.

Ali u slučaju nekih represivnih vlada, oni su to odveli do ekstrema. Oni centralno prikupljaju sve finansijske transakcije i druge podatke svih svojih građana i stvorili su totalitarni Sistem Socijalnih Bodova (eng. Social Credit Score):

Prepoznavanje lica je jedan od elemenata kineskih napora za praćenje

Zapisi George Orwell-a već su postali stvarnost u Kini zbog sistema tradicionalnih valuta centralne banke i platnih mreža koje su izgrađene na njemu.

Ako mislite da se to neće dogoditi u vašoj zemlji, razmislite ponovo.

To se dešava vrlo polako, ali na kraju će sve svetske vlade primeniti Sistem Socijalnih Bodova, dok je Kina to tek prva učinila.

Kako ljudi kontrolišu sa kim obavljam transakcije?

U prvom primeru sa zlatnim novčićem, kada ga predate nekom drugom kao plaćanje za robu ili uslugu, ne postoji centralizovana evidencija vaše platne transakcije i imate savršenu privatnost.

Međutim, u centralnom bankarskom sistemu, budući da banka ima i znanje o podacima o vašim transakcijama i moć da kontroliše vaša sredstva, oni mogu proceniti niz pravila da bi odlučili da li žele da dozvole vašu transakciju ili da to odbiju, takođe kao i izvršenje te odluke kontrolišući vaša sredstva.

Tako su vlade naoružale tradicionalne valute i ​​centralni bankarski sistem kao Sistem Kontrole nad svojim građanima.

Da rezimiramo: Pošto ste se odrekli bezbednosti i privatnosti svog novca, izgubili ste i svoju finansijsku slobodu.

“Privatnost nije o tome da nešto treba sakriti. Privatnost je o tome da nešto treba zaštititi.” — Edward Snowden

Kako da povratimo svoj finansijski samo-suverenitet?

Pokret Cypherpunk pokrenuli su pojedinci koji su shvatili važnost zaštite privatnosti i slobode pojedinačnih korisnika na Internetu.

Cypherpunk-ovi su verovali da se gore opisani problemi mogu rešiti samo potpuno novim novčanim sistemom, koji poštuje i štiti bezbednost, privatnost i slobodu pojedinca.

Mnogi od Cypherpunk-era pokušali su da izgrade nove etičke sisteme e-gotovine koji bi mogli da zamene tradicionalne valute i centralno bankarstvo.

Bilo je mnogo teških računarskih problema koje je trebalo prevazići u stvaranju tako istinski decentralizovanog sistema, i ako su neki od njih bili blizu cilja, svi su propali.

Odnosno, sve dok jedan pseudonim Cypherpunk-a to konačno nije shvatio 2008. godine: kombinacijom digitalnih potpisa, distribuirane knjige i peer-to-peer mreže, rođen je Bitcoin.

Kako Bitcoin funkcioniše?

Baš kao što ne treba da znate kako Internet funkcioniše da bi gledali slike mačaka na Internetu, razumevanje tehničke složenosti načina na koji Bitcoin radi „ispod haube“ nije neophodno da biste ga koristili i postigli sopstveni finansijski samo-suverenitet.

Važna stvar koju želim da saznate iz ovog članka je da iako većina novih tehnologija u početku ima loše korisničko iskustvo, Bitcoin svesno i vrlo namerno ne žrtvuje svoje osnovne filozofske principe da bi brže pridobio nove korisnike, ili da bi poboljšao korisničko iskustvo.

Najpametniji Cypherpunk-ovi rade na poboljšanju korisničkog iskustva.

Tehnologija će se sa vremenom poboljšavati, baš kao i za Internet.

Pa onda, zašto Bitcoin?

Reći ću vam zašto:

Jer Bitcoin poštuje bezbednost, privatnost i slobodu pojedinca.

Po čemu je Bitcoin bolji od sistema tradicionalnih valuta?

Za početak, Bitcoin nema Uslove korišćenja, Politiku privatnosti i Propise o usklađenosti sa KYC/AML. (Know Your Costumer & Anti-money Laundering)

Bitcoin je uspešan primer implementacije kripto-anarhije, gde su jedina pravila kriptografija, matematika i jak skup konsenzusnih pravila.

To je distribuirani i nepoverljivi sistem zasnovan na finansijskim podsticajima i nijedna osoba ili centralizovani entitet ne može da kontroliše Bitcoin.

Ono što je najvažnije, Bitcoin vam omogućava da odustanete od tradicionalnih valuta, sistema delimičnih rezervi i centralnog bankarstva rešavanjem osnovnih problema poverenja:

• Sigurnost od inflacije korišćenjem fiksnog snabdevanja
• Sigurnost od zaplene korišćenjem ključeva za kontrolu sredstava
• Privatnost plaćanja korišćenjem pseudonimnih identiteta
• Sloboda protiv cenzure korišćenjem peer to peer mreže

Kako Bitcoin štiti od Inflacije?

Jedno od najkritičnijih pravila konsenzusa o Bitcoin-u je da može postojati najviše 21,000,000 Bitcoin-a.

Nakon izdavanja svih Bitcoin-a, nikada više ne može doći do stvaranja novih Bitcoin-a.

Stoga je Bitcoin deflaciona valuta, koja sprečava ljude da ukradu vaš novac ili njegovu vrednost naduvavanjem novčane mase.

Monetarna Inflacija Bitcoin-a

Kako Bitcoin štiti od Zaplene?

Bitcoin se može preneti samo pomoću kriptografskog privatnog ključa koji kontroliše sredstva.

Nijedan bitcoin nikada ne izadje van sistema.

Nijedna vlada, banka ili sudski nalog ne mogu zapleniti ta sredstva.

Jednostavno ne postoji način da se takva odredba ili naredba sprovede od bilo kog „organa vlasti“, jer Bitcoin ne priznaje nijedno „ovlašćenje“ u svom sistemu.

Bitcoin je potpuno samo-suveren sistem i zbog svoje distribuirane prirode ne može se ugasiti.

Postoji zbog sopstvenih zasluga, samo zato što ljudi veruju u to.

Kako Bitcoin štiti Privatnost?

Bitcoin ne traži vaše ime ili druge detalje koji mogu lično da vas identifikuju.

Vaš identitet je kriptografski, a ne vaše stvarno ime.

Dakle, vaš identitet izgleda otprilike kao 1vizSAISbuiKsbt9d8JV8itm5ackk2TorC, a ne kao „Stefan Petrovič“.

Pored toga, niko ne zna ko kontroliše sredstva na datoj Bitcoin adresi, a nova tehnologija se neprestano razvija kako bi se poboljšala privatnost Bitcoin-a.

Kako Bitcoin štiti od Cenzure?

Peer-to-peer Bitcoin mreža je u potpunosti distribuirana.

To znači da ako jedan čvor pokuša da cenzuriše vašu transakciju, neće uspeti ukoliko * svaki * čvor(Node) ne izvrši cenzuru vaše transakcije.

Šta će vlada i banke učiniti sa Bitcoin-om?

Neke zemlje su pokušale da ga regulišu, kontrolišu, isključe itd., ali nijedna od njih nije uspela.

Čini se da uglavnom samo žele da koriste postojeći sistem centralnih banaka da bi kontrolisali kako ljudi trguju tradicionalnim valutama za Bitcoin, i naravno žele da oporezuju Bitcoin na bilo koji mogući način.

Evo nekoliko uobičajenih tvrdnji vlada i banaka o Bitcoin-u:

Evropska centralna banka kaže da Bitcoin nije valuta i upozorava da je vrlo nestabilna.

„Bitcoin, izgleda samo kao prevara“, rekao je gospodin Tramp. „Ne sviđa mi se jer je to još jedna valuta koja se takmiči sa dolarom.“

Da li je vrednost Bitcoin-a nestabilna?

Ako umanjite grafikon cena, videćete da Bitcoin-u neprekidno raste vrednost od kada je stvoren, trgujući sa manje od 0,01 USD i polako se penje na preko 60.000 USD na nedavnom vrhuncu početkom 2021. godine.

Cena Bitcoina od 2011. godine

To je zato što je njegova ponuda fiksna i ljudi cene njegovu nestašicu.

Sa većom potražnjom i fiksnom ponudom, cene vremenom rastu.

Kako godine odmiču, njegova vrednost će se povećavati kako novi korisnici počinju da drže Bitcoin. (U svetu Bitcoina držanju kažemo HODL. Drži bitcoin. Hodl bitcoin.)

Da li je Bitcoin novac?

Da biste odgovorili na pitanje da li je Bitcoin novac ili ne, prvo morate definisati pojam „novac“.

Nažalost, reč „novac“ koristimo da bismo opisali nekoliko vrlo različitih komplikovanih koncepata, koji su svi potpuno odvojeni.

Termin „novac“ se zapravo odnosi na:

• Zaliha Vrednosti (Store of Value)
• Sredstvo Razmene ( Medium of Exchange)
• Obračunska Jedinica (Unit of Account)
• Sistem Kontrole (System Control)

Bitcoin kao Zaliha Vrednosti

Ovaj tweet to savršeno objašnjava:

Sinov prijatelj: “Matt, šta će se dogoditi ako novčić od 1 funte usitnite na pola?”

Dobijaš dva komada bezvrednog metala. Ako zlatnik usitnite na pola, dobićete dva zlatnika, od kojih svaki vredi polovinu onoga što je novčić bio.

Sin: „… isto tako kao sa zlatom jeste sa bitcoinima“.

Bitcoin je potpuno deljiv i deluje kao izvrsna zaliha vrednosti, baš kao što je i zlato već hiljadama godina.

Bitcoin kao Sredstvo Razmene

Bitcoin je dobro služio kao sredstvo razmene za svoje rane korisnike.

Ali skaliranje Bitcoin-a na globalni nivo koji bi mogao da posluži svim ljudima je veliki izazov, jer se osnovna „blockchain“ tehnologija ne skalira na globalni nivo.

Da bi rešio ovaj problem skaliranja, Satoshi je izumeo koncept kanala plaćanja, a u kombinaciji sa malo pomoći drugih briljantnih računarskih naučnika Cipherpunk-a koji su poboljšali koncept tokom poslednjih 10 godina, sada imamo mrežu Lightning, koja omogućava da se Bitcoin koristi kao odlično Sredstvo Razmene, koje se vremenom može proširiti na globalni nivo.

Bitcoin kao Obračunska Jedinica

Najmanja obračunska jedinica Bitcoin-a nazvana je po njenom tvorcu, Satoshi-u.

Jedan Bitcoin je jednak 100.000.000 Satoshi-a.

Na kraju, kako se robe i usluge sve češće razmenjuju za Bitcoin, sve više ljudi će koristiti Bitcoin ili „Sats“ kao obračunsku jedinicu.

Konvertor Bitcoin - Satoshi

Bitcoin kao Sistem Kontrole

Budući da je Bitcoin dizajniran da poštuje i štiti ljudska prava pojedinca, posebno bezbednost, privatnost i slobodu novca; ne bi bio dobar Sistem Kontrole i ne može se koristiti za ugnjetavanje ljudi, kao što se dešava sa tradicionalnim valutama i sistemima centralnog bankarstva koji to trenutno vrlo dobro rade.

Šta je sa „Sledećim Bitcoin-om“?

Kao što može biti samo jedan „globalni“ Internet, tako može biti i samo jedan globalni novac, a stigao je i novi Bitcoin Standard.

Sve ostalo je ili direktna prevara ili gubljenje vremena.

Ako bi neko želeo da vam proda „Sledeće Zlato“, da li biste ga kupili?

Na kraju

Nadam se da vam je ovaj članak pomogao da razumete zašto je Bitcoin stvoren i kako može da pomogne svetu da se oslobodi tradicionalnih valuta i sistema centralnog bankarstva koji je veoma duboko integrisan u naše trenutno društvo.

Evo nekoliko misli koje treba poneti sa sobom:

• Bitcoin nije izmišljen radi zarade, već je izmišljen da bi promenio svet.
• Bitcoin će to učiniti poštujući korisnikovu bezbednost, privatnost i slobodu.
• Bitcoin se već koristi kao novac, na nekoliko načina na koji se novac može koristiti.
• Bitcoin nije nestabilan, njegova vrednost vremenom polako raste (odzumirajte).
• Bitcoin ima mnogo kopija i prevaranata koji će pokušati da vam prodaju svoju kopiju Bitcoin-a. Ne zavaravajte se lažnim Bitcoin-om baš kao što vas ne bi prevarili ni Lažnim Zlatom.
• Bitcoin će postati najveći prenos bogatstva u našem životu, tako da ćete možda želeti da ih uzmete pre nego kasnije.
• Ostanite skromni i skupljajte satošije.

@ 7460b7fd:4fc4e74b

背景：WhatsApp的号码验证与运营商合作关系

作为一款基于手机号码注册的即时通信应用，WhatsApp的账号验证严重依赖全球电信运营商提供的短信或电话服务。这意味着，当用户注册或在新设备登录WhatsApp时，WhatsApp通常会向用户的手机号码发送SMS短信验证码或发起语音电话验证。这一流程利用了传统电信网络的基础设施，例如通过SS7（信令系统7）协议在全球范围内路由短信和电话securityaffairs.com。换句话说，WhatsApp把初始账户验证的安全性建立在电信运营商网络之上。然而，这种依赖关系也带来了隐患：攻击者可以利用电信网络的漏洞来拦截验证码。例如，研究人员早在2016年就演示过利用SS7协议漏洞拦截WhatsApp和Telegram的验证短信，从而劫持用户账户的攻击方法securityaffairs.com。由于SS7协议在全球范围内连接各国运营商，一个运营商的安全缺陷或恶意行为都可能被不法分子利用来获取他网用户的短信验证码securityaffairs.com。正因如此，有安全专家指出，仅依赖短信验证不足以保障账户安全，WhatsApp等服务提供商需要考虑引入额外机制来核实用户身份securityaffairs.com。

除了技术漏洞，基于电信运营商的验证还受到各地政策和网络环境影响。WhatsApp必须与全球各地运营商“合作”，才能将验证码送达到用户手机。然而这种“合作”在某些国家可能并不顺畅，典型例子就是中国。在中国大陆，国际短信和跨境电话常受到严格管控，WhatsApp在发送验证码时可能遭遇拦截或延迟sohu.com。因此，理解WhatsApp在中国的特殊联网和验证要求，需要将其全球验证机制与中国的电信政策和网络审查环境联系起来。下文将深入探讨为什么在中国使用WhatsApp进行号码验证时，必须开启蜂窝移动数据，并分析其中的技术逻辑和政策因素。

中国环境下的特殊问题：为何必须开启蜂窝数据？

中国的网络审查与封锁： WhatsApp自2017年起就在中国大陆遭遇严格封锁。起初，WhatsApp在华的服务受到**“GFW”（防火长城）**的部分干扰——例如曾一度只能发送文本消息，语音、视频和图片消息被封锁theguardian.com。到2017年下半年，封锁升级，很多用户报告在中国完全无法使用WhatsApp收发任何消息theguardian.com。中国官方将WhatsApp与Facebook、Telegram等西方通信平台一同屏蔽，视作对国家网络主权的挑战theguardian.com。鉴于此，在中国境内直接访问WhatsApp的服务器（无论通过Wi-Fi还是本地互联网）都会被防火长城所阻断。即使用户收到了短信验证码，WhatsApp客户端也无法在没有特殊连接手段的情况下与服务器完成验证通信。因此，单纯依赖Wi-Fi等本地网络环境往往无法完成WhatsApp的注册或登陆。很多用户经验表明，在中国使用WhatsApp时需要借助VPN等工具绕过审查，同时尽可能避免走被审查的网络路径sohu.com。

强制Wi-Fi热点与连接策略： 除了国家级的封锁，用户所连接的局域网络也可能影响WhatsApp验证。许多公共Wi-Fi（如机场、商场）采取强制门户认证（captive portal），用户需登录认证后才能上网。对此，WhatsApp在客户端内置了检测机制，当发现设备连入这类强制Wi-Fi热点而无法访问互联网时，会提示用户忽略该Wi-Fi并改用移动数据faq.whatsapp.com。WhatsApp要求对此授予读取Wi-Fi状态的权限，以便在检测到被拦截时自动切换网络faq.whatsapp.com。对于中国用户来说，即便所连Wi-Fi本身联网正常，由于GFW的存在WhatsApp依然可能视之为“不通畅”的网络环境。这也是WhatsApp官方指南中强调：如果Wi-Fi网络无法连接WhatsApp服务，应直接切换到手机的移动数据网络faq.whatsapp.com。在中国，由于本地宽带网络对WhatsApp的封锁，蜂窝数据反而成为相对可靠的通道——尤其在搭配VPN时，可以避开本地ISP的审查策略，实现与WhatsApp服务器的通信sohu.com。

国际短信的运营商限制： 使用移动数据还有助于解决短信验证码接收难题。中国的手机运营商出于防垃圾短信和安全考虑，默认对国际短信和境外来电进行一定限制。许多中国用户发现，注册WhatsApp时迟迟收不到验证码短信，原因可能在于运营商将来自国外服务号码的短信拦截或过滤sohu.com。例如，中国移动默认关闭国际短信接收，需要用户主动发送短信指令申请开通sohu.com。具体而言，中国移动用户需发送文本“11111”到10086（或10085）来开通国际短信收发权限；中国联通和电信用户也被建议联系运营商确认未屏蔽国际短信sohu.com。若未进行这些设置，WhatsApp发送的验证码短信可能根本无法抵达用户手机。在这种情况下，WhatsApp提供的备用方案是语音电话验证，即通过国际电话拨打用户号码并播报验证码。然而境外来电在中国也可能遭到运营商的安全拦截，特别是当号码被认为可疑时zhuanlan.zhihu.com。因此，中国用户经常被建议开启手机的蜂窝数据和漫游功能，以提高验证码接收的成功率sohu.com。一方面，开启数据漫游意味着用户准备接受来自境外的通信（通常也包含短信/电话）；另一方面，在数据联网的状态下，WhatsApp可以尝试通过网络直接完成验证通信，从而减少对SMS的依赖。

移动数据的网络路径优势： 在实际案例中，一些中国WhatsApp用户报告仅在开启蜂窝数据的情况下才能完成验证。这可能归因于蜂窝网络和宽带网络在国际出口上的差异。中国移动、联通等运营商的移动数据可能走与宽带不同的网关路由，有时对跨境小流量的拦截相对宽松。此外，WhatsApp在移动数据环境中可以利用一些底层网络特性。例如，WhatsApp可能通过移动网络发起某些专用请求或利用运营商提供的号码归属地信息进行辅助验证（虽然具体实现未公开，但这是业界讨论的可能性）。总之，在中国特殊的网络环境下，开启蜂窝数据是确保WhatsApp验证流程顺利的重要一步。这一步不仅是为了基本的互联网连接，也是为了绕开种种对国际短信和应用数据的拦截限制，从而与WhatsApp的全球基础设施建立必要的通讯。

PDP Context与IMSI：移动网络验证的技术细节

要理解为什么移动数据对WhatsApp验证如此关键，有必要了解移动通信网络中的一些技术细节，包括PDP Context和IMSI的概念。

PDP Context（分组数据协议上下文）： 当手机通过蜂窝网络使用数据（如4G/5G上网）时，必须先在运营商核心网中建立一个PDP上下文。这实际上就是申请开启一个数据会话，运营商将为设备分配一个IP地址，并允许其通过移动核心网访问互联网datascientest.com。PDP上下文包含了一系列参数（例如APN接入点名称、QoS等级等），描述该数据会话的属性datascientest.comdatascientest.com。简单来说，激活蜂窝数据就意味着创建了PDP上下文，设备获得了移动网络网关分配的IP地址，可以收发数据包。对于WhatsApp验证而言，只有在建立数据连接后，手机才能直接与WhatsApp的服务器交换数据，例如提交验证码、完成加密密钥协商等。如果仅有Wi-Fi而蜂窝数据关闭，且Wi-Fi环境无法连通WhatsApp服务器，那么验证过程将陷入停滞。因此，在中国场景下，开启蜂窝数据（即建立PDP数据通路）是WhatsApp客户端尝试绕过Wi-Fi限制、直接通过移动网络进行验证通信的前提faq.whatsapp.comsohu.com。值得一提的是，PDP Context的建立也表明手机在运营商网络上处于活跃状态，这对于某些验证机制（比如后述的闪信/闪呼）来说至关重要。

IMSI与MSISDN： IMSI（国际移动用户标识）和MSISDN（移动用户号码，即手机号码）是运营商网络中两个密切相关但不同的标识。IMSI是存储在SIM卡上的一串唯一数字，用于在移动网络中标识用户身份netmanias.com。当手机接入网络时，它向运营商提供IMSI以进行鉴权，运营商据此知道“是哪张SIM”的请求netmanias.com。而MSISDN则是我们平常说的手机号，用于在语音通话和短信路由中定位用户，也存储在运营商的HLR/HSS数据库中netmanias.com。运营商通过IMSI<->MSISDN的对应关系，将来自全球的短信/电话正确路由到用户手机上。WhatsApp的验证短信或电话本质上就是通过目标号码(MSISDN)寻找所属运营商网络，由该网络根据IMSI定位用户终端。一般情况下，WhatsApp应用并不直接接触IMSI这种信息，因为IMSI属于运营商网络的内部标识。然而，IMSI的存在仍然对安全产生影响。例如，**SIM卡交换（SIM Swap）**欺诈发生时，攻击者获得了受害者号码的新SIM卡，新SIM卡会有不同的IMSI，但MSISDN保持原号码不变。运营商会将原号码映射到新的IMSI，这样验证码短信就发送到了攻击者手中的SIM上。对WhatsApp而言，除非有机制检测IMSI变动，否则无法察觉用户号码背后的SIM已被盗换。部分应用在检测到SIM变化时会提示用户重新验证，这需要读取设备的IMSI信息进行比对。然而，在现代智能手机中，获取IMSI通常需要特殊权限，WhatsApp并未明确说明它有此类检测。因此，从WhatsApp角度，IMSI更多是网络侧的概念，但它提醒我们：电信级身份验证依赖于SIM的有效性。只有当正确的IMSI在网络注册、并建立了PDP数据上下文时，WhatsApp的后台服务才能确认该SIM对应的号码目前“在线”，进而可靠地发送验证信号（短信或电话）到该设备。

移动网络的信号辅助验证： 有观点认为，一些OTT应用可能利用移动网络提供的附加服务来辅助号码验证。例如，某些运营商提供号码快速验证API，当应用检测到设备在移动数据网络中时，可以向特定地址发起请求，由运营商返回当前设备的号码信息（通常通过已经建立的PDP通道）。Google等公司在部分国家与运营商合作过类似服务，实现用户免输入验证码自动完成验证。但就WhatsApp而言，没有公开证据表明其使用了运营商提供的自动号码识别API。即便如此，WhatsApp鼓励用户保持移动网络在线的做法，隐含的意义之一可能是：当手机处于蜂窝网络且数据畅通时，验证码通过率和验证成功率都会显著提升。这既包括了物理层面短信、电话能否送达，也涵盖了数据层面应用和服务器能否互通。

Flash Call机制：WhatsApp验证的新方案

针对传统SMS验证码容易被拦截、延迟以及用户体验不佳的问题，WhatsApp近年来引入了一种Flash Call（闪呼）验证机制fossbytes.com。所谓闪呼，即应用在用户验证阶段向用户的手机号发起一个非常短暂的来电：用户无需真正接听，WhatsApp会自动结束这通电话，并根据通话记录来确认是否拨通fossbytes.com。

原理与流程： 当用户选择使用闪呼验证（目前主要在Android设备上可用），WhatsApp会请求权限访问用户的通话记录fossbytes.com。随后应用拨打用户的号码，一般是一个预先设定的特定号码或号码段。由于WhatsApp后台知道它拨出的号码及通话ID，只要该未接来电出现在用户手机的通话日志中，应用即可读取并匹配最后一通来电的号码是否符合验证要求，从而确认用户持有这个号码fossbytes.com。整个过程用户无需手动输入验证码，验证通话在数秒内完成。相比6位数字短信验证码需要用户在短信和应用间切换输入，闪呼方式更加快捷无缝fossbytes.com。

优缺点分析： 闪呼验证的优势在于速度快且避免了SMS可能的延迟或拦截。一些分析指出闪呼将成为取代SMS OTP（一次性密码）的新趋势，Juniper Research预测2022年用于验证的闪呼次数将从2021年的六千万猛增到五十亿次subex.comglobaltelcoconsult.com。对于WhatsApp这样全球用户庞大的应用，闪呼可以节约大量SMS网关费用，并绕开部分运营商对国际SMS的限制。然而，闪呼也有局限：fossbytes.com首先，iOS设备由于系统安全限制，应用无法访问通话记录，因此iPhone上无法使用闪呼验证fossbytes.com。这意味着苹果用户仍需使用传统短信验证码。其次，为实现自动匹配来电号码，用户必须授予读取通话记录的权限，这在隐私上引发一些担忧fossbytes.comfossbytes.com。WhatsApp声称不会将通话记录用于验证以外的用途，号码匹配也在本地完成fossbytes.com，但考虑到母公司Meta的隐私争议，部分用户依然顾虑。第三，闪呼验证依赖语音通话路线，同样受制于电信网络质量。如果用户所处网络无法接通国际来电（比如被运营商拦截境外短振铃电话），闪呼也无法成功。此外，从运营商角度看，闪呼绕过了A2P短信计费，可能侵蚀短信营收，一些运营商开始研究识别闪呼流量的策略wholesale.orange.com。总体而言，闪呼机制体现了WhatsApp希望减轻对短信依赖的努力，它在许多国家提升了验证体验，但在中国等特殊环境，其效果仍取决于本地语音网络的开放程度。值得注意的是，中国运营商对于境外电话，尤其是这种**“零响铃”未接来电**也有防范措施，中国电信和联通用户就被建议如需接收海外来电验证，应联系客服确保未拦截海外来电hqsmartcloud.com。因此，即便WhatsApp支持闪呼，中国用户若未开启移动语音漫游或运营商许可，仍然难以通过此途径完成验证。

与SIM Swap安全性的关系： 从安全角度看，闪呼并未实质提升抵御SIM交换攻击的能力。如果攻击者成功将受害者的号码转移至自己的SIM卡上（获取新IMSI），那么无论验证码以短信还是闪呼方式发送，都会到达攻击者设备。闪呼机制能防御的是部分恶意拦截短信的行为（如恶意网关或木马读取短信），但对社工换卡没有太大帮助。WhatsApp早已提供两步验证（即设置6位PIN码）供用户自行启用，以防号码被他人重新注册时需要额外密码。然而大量用户未开启该功能。因此，闪呼更多是从用户体验和成本出发的改良，而非针对高级别攻击的防护机制。正如前文所述，真正要防御SIM Swap和SS7漏洞等系统性风险，依赖运营商的号码验证本身就是薄弱环节，需要引入更高级的身份认证手段。

SIM卡交换攻击的风险与运营商信任问题

WhatsApp和Telegram一类基于手机号认证的应用普遍面临一个安全挑战：手机号码本身并非绝对安全的身份凭证。攻击者可以通过一系列手段取得用户的号码控制权，其中SIM交换（SIM Swap）是近年高发的欺诈手法。SIM Swap通常由不法分子冒充用户，诱骗或贿赂运营商客服将目标号码的服务转移到攻击者的新SIM卡上keepnetlabs.com。一旦成功，所有发往该号码的短信和电话都转由攻击者接收，原机主的SIM卡失效。对于依赖短信/电话验证的应用来说，这意味着攻击者可以轻易获取验证码，从而重置账户并登录。近年来全球SIM Swap案件呈上升趋势，许多在线服务的账号被此攻破rte.ie。

WhatsApp并非未知晓此风险。事实上，WhatsApp在其帮助中心和安全博客中多次提醒用户开启两步验证PIN，并强调绝不向他人透露短信验证码。然而，从系统设计上讲，WhatsApp仍将信任根基放在运营商发送到用户手机的那串数字验证码上。一旦运营商端的安全被绕过（无论是内部员工作恶、社工欺诈，还是SS7网络被黑客利用securityaffairs.com），WhatsApp本身无法辨别验证码接收者是否是真正的用户。正如安全研究所Positive Technologies指出的那样，目前主要的即时通讯服务（包括WhatsApp和Telegram）依赖SMS作为主要验证机制，这使得黑客能够通过攻击电信信令网络来接管用户账户securityaffairs.com。换言之，WhatsApp被迫信任每一个参与短信/电话路由的运营商，但这个信任链条上任何薄弱环节都可能遭到利用securityaffairs.com。例如，在SIM Swap攻击中，运营商本身成为被欺骗的对象；而在SS7定位拦截攻击中，全球互联的电信网成为攻击面。在中国的场景下，虽然主要威胁来自审查而非黑客，但本质上仍是WhatsApp无法完全掌控电信网络这一事实所导致的问题。

应对这些风险，WhatsApp和Telegram等采用了一些弥补措施。除了提供用户自行设定的二次密码，两者也开始探索设备多因子的概念（如后文Telegram部分所述，利用已有登录设备确认新登录）。然而，对绝大多数首次注册或更换设备的用户来说，传统的短信/电话验证仍是唯一途径。这就是为什么在高安全需求的行业中，SMS OTP正逐渐被视为不充分securityaffairs.com。监管机构和安全专家建议对涉敏感操作采用更强验证，如专用身份应用、硬件令牌或生物识别等。WhatsApp作为大众通信工具，目前平衡了易用性与安全性，但其依赖电信运营商的验证模式在像中国这样特殊的环境下，既遇到政策阻碍，也隐藏安全短板。这一点对于决策制定者评估国外通信应用在华风险时，是一个重要考量：任何全球运营商合作机制，在中国境内都可能因为**“最后一公里”由中国运营商执行**而受到影响。无论是被拦截信息还是可能的监控窃听，这些风险都源自于底层通信网的控制权不在应用服务商手中。

Telegram登录机制的比较

作为对比，Telegram的账号登录机制与WhatsApp类似，也以手机号码为主要身份标识，但在具体实现上有一些不同之处。

多设备登录与云端代码： Telegram从设计上支持多设备同时在线（手机、平板、PC等），并将聊天内容储存在云端。这带来的一个直接好处是：当用户在新设备上登录时，Telegram会优先通过已登录的其他设备发送登录验证码。例如，用户尝试在电脑上登录Telegram，Telegram会在用户手机上的Telegram应用里推送一条消息包含登录码，而不是立即发短信accountboy.comaccountboy.com。用户只需在新设备输入从老设备上收到的代码即可完成登录。这种机制确保了只要用户至少有一个设备在线，就几乎不需要依赖运营商短信。当然，如果用户当前只有一部新设备（例如换了手机且旧设备不上线），Telegram才会退而求其次，通过SMS发送验证码到手机号。同时，Telegram也允许用户选择语音电话获取验证码，类似于WhatsApp的语音验证。当用户完全无法收到SMS时（比如在中国这种场景），语音呼叫常常比短信更可靠seatuo.com。

两步验证密码： 与WhatsApp一样，Telegram提供可选的两步验证密码。当启用此功能后，即使拿到短信验证码，仍需输入用户设置的密码才能登录账户quora.com。这对抗SIM Swap等攻击提供了另一层防线。不过需要指出，如果用户忘记了设置的Telegram密码且没有设置信任邮箱，可能会永久失去账号访问，因此开启该功能在中国用户中接受度一般。

登录体验与安全性的取舍： Telegram的登录流程在用户体验上更加灵活。多设备下无需每次都收验证码，提高了便利性。但从安全角度看，这种“信任已有设备”的做法也有隐患：如果用户的某个设备落入他人之手并未及时登出，那么该人有可能利用该设备获取新的登录验证码。因此Telegram会在应用中提供管理活动会话的功能，用户可随时查看和撤销其它设备的登录状态telegram.org。总体而言，Telegram和WhatsApp在初始注册环节同样依赖短信/电话，在这一点上，中国的网络环境对两者影响相似：Telegram在中国同样被全面封锁，需要VPN才能使用，其短信验证码发送也会受到运营商限制。另外，Telegram曾在2015年因恐怖分子利用该平台传递信息而被中国当局重点关注并屏蔽，因此其国内可达性甚至比WhatsApp更低。许多中国用户实际使用Telegram时，通常绑定国外号码或通过海外SIM卡来收取验证码，以绕开国内运营商的限制。

差异总结： 简而言之，Telegram在登录验证机制上的主要优势在于已有会话协助和云端同步。这使得老用户换设备时不依赖国内短信通道即可登录（前提是原设备已登录并可访问）。WhatsApp直到最近才推出多设备功能，但其多设备模式采用的是端到端加密设备链路，需要主手机扫码授权，而非像Telegram那样用账号密码登录其它设备。因此WhatsApp仍然强绑定SIM卡设备，首次注册和更换手机号时逃不开运营商环节。安全方面，两者的SMS验证所面临的系统性风险（如SS7攻击、SIM Swap）并无本质区别，都必须仰仗运营商加强对核心网络的保护，以及用户自身启用附加验证措施securityaffairs.comkeepnetlabs.com。

结论

对于希望在中国使用WhatsApp的用户来说，“开启蜂窝数据”这一要求背后体现的是技术与政策交织的复杂现实。一方面，蜂窝数据承载着WhatsApp与其全球服务器通信的关键信道，在中国的受限网络中提供了相对可靠的出路faq.whatsapp.comsohu.com。另一方面，WhatsApp的号码验证机制深深植根于传统电信体系，必须经由全球运营商的“协作”才能完成用户身份确认securityaffairs.com。而在中国，这种协作受到防火长城和运营商政策的双重阻碍：国际短信被拦截、国际数据被阻断。为克服这些障碍，WhatsApp既采取了工程上的应对（如检测强制Wi-Fi并提示使用移动网络faq.whatsapp.com），也引入了诸如闪呼验证等新方案以减少对短信的依赖fossbytes.com。但从根本上说，只要注册流程离不开手机号码，这种与电信运营商的捆绑关系就无法割舍。由此带来的安全问题（如SIM Swap和信令网络漏洞）在全球范围内敲响警钟securityaffairs.comkeepnetlabs.com。

对于从事安全研究和政策评估的人士，这篇分析揭示了WhatsApp在中国遇到的典型困境：技术系统的全球化与监管环境的本地化冲突。WhatsApp全球统一的验证框架在中国水土不服，不得不通过额外的设置和手段来“曲线救国”。这既包括让用户切换网络、配置VPN等绕过审查，也包括思考未来是否有必要采用更安全独立的验证方式。相比之下，Telegram的机制给出了一种启示：灵活运用多设备和云服务，至少在一定程度上降低对单一短信渠道的依赖。然而，Telegram自身在中国的处境表明，再优雅的技术方案也难以直接对抗高强度的网络封锁。最终，无论是WhatsApp还是Telegram，要想在受限环境下可靠运作，都需要技术与政策的双管齐下：一方面提高验证与登录的安全性和多样性，另一方面寻求运营商和监管层面的理解与配合。

综上所述，WhatsApp要求中国用户开启蜂窝数据并非偶然的臆想，而是其全球运营商合作验证机制在中国受阻后的务实选择。这一要求折射出移动通信应用在跨境运营中面临的挑战，也提醒我们在设计安全策略时必须考虑底层依赖的信任假设。对于个人用户，最实际的建议是在使用此类应用时提前了解并遵循这些特殊设置（如开通国际短信、启用数据漫游），并善用应用自身的安全功能（如两步验证）来保护账户免遭社工和网络攻击keepnetlabs.com。对于监管和运营商，则有必要权衡安全审查与用户便利之间的平衡，在可控范围内为可信的全球服务留出技术通道。在全球通信愈加融合的时代，WhatsApp的中国验证问题或许只是一个缩影，背后涉及的既有网络安全考量，也有数字主权与国际合作的议题，值得持续深入研究和关注。

faq.whatsapp.comfossbytes.comtheguardian.comsecurityaffairs.comsecurityaffairs.comkeepnetlabs.comdatascientest.comnetmanias.comsohu.comsohu.com

@ 000002de:c05780a7

I'm mostly curious about how Tapper can do this with a straight face.

https://stacker.news/items/986926

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

JPMorgan Chase, the biggest bank in the U.S., is now allowing its clients to buy bitcoin — a big change of heart for an institution whose CEO, Jamie Dimon, has been a long-time critic of the scarce digital asset.

Dimon made the announcement on the bank’s investor day, which came as a shift in JPMorgan’s approach to digital assets. “We are going to allow you to buy it,” he said. “We’re not going to custody it. We’re going to put it in statements for clients.”

That means clients can buy BTC through JPMorgan but the bank won’t hold or store the digital asset. Instead it will provide access and include the BTC purchases in client statements.

According to multiple reports and posts, JPMorgan has been blocking transactions from digital asset exchanges, with several people complaining about their experience on social media.

Source

Source

There is even an official notice on the company’s UK website that explicitly says customers cannot use their funds to purchase digital assets.

JPMorgan Chase UK website — Source

It’s a big change because Dimon has been one of Bitcoin’s biggest critics. Over the years he’s called it “worthless”, a “fraud” and even compared it to a “pet rock”.

He’s repeatedly expressed concern over digital assets’ use in illegal activities such as money laundering, terrorism, sex trafficking and tax evasion. A role that his critics say the U.S. dollar is playing on a much larger scale.

Related: Jamie Dimon Would “Close Down” Bitcoin If He Had Government Role

“The only true use case for it is criminals, drug traffickers … money laundering, tax avoidance,” he told lawmakers during a Senate hearing in 2023. At the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, he doubled down, “Bitcoin does nothing. I call it the pet rock.”

Despite his personal views, Dimon says the bank is responding to client demand. “I don’t think you should smoke, but I defend your right to smoke,” he said. “I defend your right to buy bitcoin.”

It’s worth noting JPMorgan isn’t fully embracing digital assets. The bank won’t be offering direct custody services or launching its own exchange.

Instead, it’s offering access to digital asset exchanges. There are even reports that the bank also plans to facilitate access to bitcoin ETFs and possibly other investment vehicles. Until recently, JPMorgan had limited its bitcoin exposure to futures-based products.

Other big financial firms have already taken similar steps.

Morgan Stanley, for example, has been offering some clients access to bitcoin ETFs since August 2024. Its CEO, Ted Pick, said earlier this year that the firm is working closely with regulators to explore ways to get into the digital assets space.

Dimon does like blockchain, though — the technology that underpins it. JPMorgan has its own blockchain projects including JPM Coin and recently ran a test transaction on a public blockchain of tokenized U.S. Treasuries.

Many criticize this view, saying that the most powerful aspect of Bitcoin is its decentralization. So, a centralized blockchain is just useless. This might be the reason Dimon has grown weary of all JPMorgan’s blockchain initiatives, because they offered nothing of value.

He said he might have given blockchain too much credit during his investor day comments: “We have been talking about blockchain for 12 to 15 years,” he said. “We spend too much on it. It doesn’t matter as much as you all think.”

@ 7e6f9018:a6bbbce5

Governments and the press often publish data on the population’s knowledge of Catalan. However, this data only represents one stage in the linguistic process and does not accurately reflect the state of the language, since a language only has a future if it is used. Knowledge is a necessary step toward using a language, but it is not the final stage — that stage is actual use.

So what is the state of Catalan usage? If we look at data on regular use, we see that the Catalan language has remained stagnant over the past hundred years, with nearly the same number of regular speakers. In 1930, there were around 2.5 million speakers, and in 2018, there were 2.7 million.

Regular use of Catalan in Catalonia, in millions of speakers. The dotted segments are an estimate of the trend, based on the statements of Joan Coromines and adjusted according to Catalonia’s population growth.

These figures wouldn’t necessarily be negative if the language’s integrity were strong, that is, if its existence weren’t threatened by other languages. But the population of Catalonia has grown from 2.7 million in 1930 to 7.5 million in 2018. This means that today, regular Catalan speakers make up only 36% of Catalonia’s population, whereas in 1930, they represented 90%.

Regular use of Catalan in Catalonia, as a percentage of speakers. The dotted segments are an estimate of the trend, based on the statements of Joan Coromines and adjusted according to Catalonia’s population growth.

The language that has gained the most ground is mainly Spanish, which went from 200,000 speakers in 1930 to 3.8 million in 2018. Moreover, speakers of other foreign languages (500,000 speakers) have also grown more than Catalan speakers over the past hundred years.

Notes, Sources, and Methodology

The data from 2003 onward is taken from Idescat (source). Before 2003, there are no official statistics, but we can make interpretations based on historical evidence. The data prior to 2003 is calculated based on two key pieces of evidence:

• 1st Interpretation: In 1930, 90% of the population of Catalonia spoke Catalan regularly. Source and evidence: The Romance linguist Joan Coromines i Vigneaux, a renowned 20th-century linguist, stated in his 1950 work "El que s'ha de saber de la llengua catalana" that "In this territory [Greater Catalonia], almost the entire population speaks Catalan as their usual language" (1, 2).\ While "almost the entire population" is not a precise number, we can interpret it quantitatively as somewhere between 80% and 100%. For the sake of a moderate estimate, we assume 90% of the population were regular Catalan speakers, with the remaining 10% being immigrants and officials of the Spanish state.

• 2nd Interpretation: Regarding population growth between 1930 and 1998, on average, 60% is due to immigration (mostly adopting or already using Spanish language), while 40% is natural growth (likely to acquire Catalan language from childhood). Source and evidence: Between 1999 and 2019, when more detailed data is available, immigration accounted for 68% of population growth. From 1930 to 1998, there was a comparable wave of migration, especially between 1953 and 1973, largely of Spanish-speaking origin (3, 4, 5, 6). To maintain a moderate estimate, we assume 60% of population growth during that period was due to immigration, with the ratio varying depending on whether the period experienced more or less total growth.

@ f1989a96:bcaaf2c1

Good morning, readers!

Today, we begin in China, where the central bank injected $138 billion into the economy and expanded the money supply by 12.5% year-over-year. As the regime eases monetary conditions to prop up a decelerating economy, Chinese citizens are rushing to preserve their savings, evidenced by Bitcoin/CNY trading activity jumping over 20% on the news. But while some escape to harder money, others remain trapped. In Hunan, an elderly Chinese woman died outside a bank after being forced to appear in person in order to withdraw her own money for medical care.\ \ In Central America, Salvadoran President Bukele revived a “foreign agents” bill that would impose a 30% tax on foreign-funded NGOs, threatening to financially crush organizations that hold those in power accountable and protect journalists and civil society. The proposal mirrors laws used in Russia, China, Belarus, and beyond to suppress dissent. And it arrives amid Bukele’s authoritarian drift and increasing threats to independent journalists.\ \ In open-source news, we highlight a new tool called ChapSmart, a Bitcoin-powered remittance service that allows users to send Bitcoin to citizens and families in Tanzania and have it disbursed in Tanzanian shillings (TZS) via M-PESA. This tool is increasingly helpful as the Tanzanian regime tightens control over foreign currency, mandating that all transactions be conducted in TZS. ChapSmart provides an accessible way for nonprofits and dissidents to access value from abroad using Bitcoin.\ \ We end with an Ask Me Anything (AMA) with Bitcoin educator Anita Posch on Stacker News, who shares her thoughts, experiences, and views from her time conducting Bitcoin education in authoritarian regimes in Africa. We also feature an article from Togolese human rights advocate Farida Nabourema, who critiques Nigeria’s new investment act for classifying Bitcoin as a security and for the regulatory hurdles this will impose on the grassroots adoption of freedom tech in the country.

Be sure to tune in next week at 2 p.m. Oslo time on Wednesday, May 28, as the Oslo Freedom Forum’s Freedom Tech track airs on Bitcoin Magazine’s livestream channels, headlined by speakers Ziya Sadr, Abubakr Nur Khalil, Amiti Uttarwar, Calle, Sarah Kreps, Ben Perrin, and many more.

Now, let’s read on!

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GLOBAL NEWS

El Salvador | Bukele Reintroduces Foreign Agents Bill

In El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele revived a controversial “foreign agents” bill that threatens to severely restrict the finances and operations of NGOs. While the bill is not finalized, Bukele shared on X that the proposal would impose a 30% tax on donations to NGOs receiving foreign funding. This punitive financial measure alone would severely restrict Salvadoran organizations that protect independent journalism, advocate for human rights, and hold the government accountable. In neighboring Nicaragua, a similar foreign agents law has enabled the closure of more than 3,500 NGOs. El Salvador’s foreign agents bill arrives alongside other alarming moves, including arrest warrants against El Faro journalists, the arrest of human rights lawyer Ruth López, and the detention of more than 200 Venezuelan migrants under dubious claims of gang affiliation.

China | Injects Billions to Stabilize Economy

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has injected $138 billion in liquidity through interest rate cuts and a 0.5% reduction in banks’ reserve requirements, in effect expanding the money supply by 12.5% year-over-year. While the state eases monetary conditions to prop up a fragile system, ordinary citizens are left scrambling to preserve the value of their savings. Bitcoin/CNY trading volumes jumped over 20% in response, as people sought refuge from a weakening yuan. But while some can quietly escape to harder money, others are trapped in a system that treats access to money as a privilege. In Hunan, an elderly woman in a wheelchair died outside a bank after being forced to appear in person to withdraw her own money for medical care. Too weak to pass mandatory facial recognition scans, she collapsed after repeated failed attempts.

World | Authoritarian Regimes Lead CBDC Push, Study Finds

A new international study from the Nottingham Business School, part of Nottingham Trent University in England, set out to understand what is driving countries to pursue central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Researchers found the answer lies mostly in political motives. Analyzing 68 countries, the report revealed that authoritarian governments are pushing CBDCs most aggressively, using their centralized power to hastily roll out CBDCs that can monitor transactions, restrict the movement of money, and suppress dissent. On the other hand, the report found democracies are moving more cautiously, weighing concerns over privacy, transparency, and public trust. The study also noted a correlation: countries with high levels of perceived corruption are more likely to explore CBDCs, often framing them as tools to fight illicit finance. These findings are consistent with HRF’s research, revealing nearly half the global population lives under an authoritarian regime experimenting with a CBDC.

Thailand | Plans to Issue New “Investment Token”

Thailand’s Ministry of Finance plans to issue 5 billion baht ($151 million) worth of “G-Tokens,” a new digital investment scheme that allows Thais to buy government bonds for as little as 100 baht ($3). Officials claim the project will democratize access to state-backed investments and offer higher returns than traditional bank deposits. But in a country rapidly advancing central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure, this initiative raises apparent concerns. The move closely follows Thailand’s repeated digital cash handouts via a state-run wallet app, which restricts spending, tracks user behavior, and enforces expiration dates on money, all clear hallmarks of a CBDC. Luckily, the Thai government postponed the latest handout, but the infrastructure remains. Framing this project as inclusionary masks the reality: Thailand is building state-run digital systems that give the regime more power over citizens’ savings and spending.

Russia | Outlaws Amnesty International

Russia officially banned Amnesty International, designating it as an “undesirable organization” and criminalizing cooperation with the global human rights group. Russian officials claim Amnesty promotes “Russophobic projects” and undermines national security. This adds to the Kremlin’s assault on dissent, targeting human rights advocates, independent journalists, and civil society in the years since the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The designation exposes anyone financially, publicly, or privately supporting Amnesty’s work to prosecution and imprisonment up to five years. With more than 220 organizations now blacklisted, Russia is systematically cutting off avenues for international accountability and isolating Russians from external support.

BITCOIN AND FREEDOM TECH NEWS

ChapSmart | Permissionless Remittances in Tanzania

ChapSmart is a Bitcoin-powered remittance service that allows users to send money to individuals and families in Tanzania while having it disbursed in Tanzanian shillings (TZS) via M-PESA. With ChapSmart, no account is needed: just enter your name, email, and the recipient’s M-Pesa details. Choose how much USD to send, pay in bitcoin via the Lightning Network, and ChapSmart delivers Tanzanian shillings instantly to the recipient's M-Pesa account with zero fees. This tool is especially useful as Tanzania’s regime enacts restrictions on foreign currencies, banning most citizens from quoting prices or accepting payment in anything other than TZS. ChapSmart offers a practical and accessible way for families, nonprofits, and individuals to access value from abroad using Bitcoin, even as the state tries to shut out financial alternatives.

Bitkey | Multisignature for Families Protecting Wealth from State Seizure

Decades ago, Ivy Galindo’s family lost their savings overnight when the Brazilian government froze citizens’ bank accounts to “fight inflation.” That moment shaped her understanding of financial repression and why permissionless tools like Bitcoin are essential. When her parents later chose to start saving in Bitcoin, Ivy knew a wallet with a single private key wasn’t enough, as it can be lost, stolen, or handed over under pressure or coercion from corrupt law enforcement or state officials. Multisignature (multisig) wallets, which require approval from multiple private keys to move funds, offer stronger protection against this loss and coercion and eliminate any single points of failure in a Bitcoin self-custody setup. But multisig setups are often too technical for everyday families. Enter Bitkey. This multisig device offered Ivy’s family a simple, secure way to share custody of their Bitcoin in the face of financial repression. In places where wealth confiscation and frozen bank accounts are a lived reality, multisignature wallets can help families stay in full control of their savings.

Parasite Pool | New Zero-Fee, Lightning Native Bitcoin Mining Pool

Parasite Pool is a new open-source Bitcoin mining pool built for home miners who want to contribute to Bitcoin’s decentralization without relying on the large and centralized mining pools. It charges zero fees and offers Lightning-native payouts with a low 10-satoshi threshold, allowing individuals to earn directly and instantly. Notably, it has a “pleb eat first” reward structure, which allocates 1 BTC to the block finder and splits the remaining 2.125 BTC plus fees among all non-winning participants via Lightning. This favors small-scale miners, who can earn outsized rewards relative to their hashpower, inverting the corporate bias of legacy mining pools. This makes Parasite Pool especially attractive for small scale miners, such as those operating in authoritarian contexts who need to mine discreetly and independently. In turn, these very same miners contribute to the Bitcoin network’s resistance to censorship, regulatory capture, and corporate control, ensuring it remains a tool for freedom and peaceful resistance for those who need it most. Learn more about the mining pool here.

Cake Wallet | Implements Payjoin V2

Cake Wallet, a non-custodial, privacy-focused, and open-source mobile Bitcoin wallet, released version 4.28, bringing Payjoin V2 to its user base. Payjoin is a privacy technique that allows two users to contribute an input to a Bitcoin transaction, breaking the common chain analysis heuristic that assumes a sender owns all inputs. This makes it harder for dictators to trace payments or link the identities of activists or nonprofits. Unlike the original Payjoin, which required both the sender and recipient to be online and operate a Payjoin server, Payjoin v2 removes both barriers and introduces asynchronous transactions and serverless communication. This means users can now conduct private transactions without coordination or technical setup, making private Bitcoin transactions much more accessible and expanding the tools dissidents have to transact in the face of censorship, extortion, and surveillance. HRF is pleased to have sponsored the Payjoin V2 specification with a bounty and is happy to see this functionality now in the wild.

Mi Primer Bitcoin | Receives Grant from startsmall

Mi Primer Bitcoin, a nonprofit organization supporting independent Bitcoin education in Central America, announced that it received a $1 million grant from Jack Dorsey’s startsmall public fund. This support will accelerate Mi Primer Bitcoin’s impartial, community-led, Bitcoin-only education. The initiative has trained tens of thousands of students while supporting over 65 grassroots projects across 35+ countries through its Independent Bitcoin Educators Node Network, pushing financial freedom forward where needed most. The Mi Primer Bitcoin (MPB) team stresses the importance of remaining free from government or corporate influence to preserve the integrity of their mission. As founder John Dennehy puts it, “Education will be captured by whoever funds it… We need to create alternative models for the revolution of Bitcoin education to realize its full potential.” MPB has been adopted by many education initiatives working under authoritarian regimes.

Phoenix Wallet | Introduces Unlimited BOLT 12 Offers and Manual Backup Options

Phoenix Wallet, a mobile Bitcoin Lightning wallet, introduced support for unlimited BOLT 12 offers in its v2.6.0 update, allowing users to generate as many reusable Lightning invoices as they like. These offers, which function like static Bitcoin addresses, remain permanently valid and can now include a custom description and amount — ideal for nonprofits or dissidents who need to receive regular donations discreetly. The update also introduces manual export and import of the payments database on Android, enabling users to securely transfer their payment history to new devices. These updates strengthen Phoenix’s position as one of the most user-friendly and feature-complete non-custodial Lightning wallets. BOLT 12 — once a pipe dream — is now a usable activist tool on popularly accessible mobile wallets.

RECOMMENDED CONTENT

Bitcoin Is Not a Security: Why Nigeria’s New Investment and Security Act Misses the Mark by Farida Nabourema

In this article, Togolese human rights advocate Farida Nabourema critiques Nigeria’s 2025 Investment and Securities Act for classifying Bitcoin as a security. Nabourema argues this approach is flawed, economically damaging, disconnected from the realities of Bitcoin usage and innovation across Africa, and an attempt to constrict a human rights tool. She warns that this regulatory framework risks stifling builders and harming the very communities that Bitcoin is helping in a context of widespread currency devaluations, inflation, and exclusion. Read it here.

Ask Me Anything with Anita Posch on Stacker News

After spending five months traveling through countries like Kenya and Zimbabwe, Bitcoin for Fairness Founder Anita Posch joined Stacker News for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) to discuss her view on Bitcoin adoption across the continent. She highlighted major progress since 2020, noting that several grassroots initiatives she supported have become self-sufficient and are now running their own education programs. Despite persistent challenges, like wallet usability, high on-chain fees, and Bitcoin’s misunderstood reputation, she shared stories of real-life impact, including cross-border remittances using mobile airtime and widespread Lightning use via apps like Tando in Kenya. Read the full conversation here.

If this article was forwarded to you and you enjoyed reading it, please consider subscribing to the Financial Freedom Report here.

Support the newsletter by donating bitcoin to HRF’s Financial Freedom program via BTCPay.\ Want to contribute to the newsletter? Submit tips, stories, news, and ideas by emailing us at ffreport @ hrf.org

The Bitcoin Development Fund (BDF) is accepting grant proposals on an ongoing basis. The Bitcoin Development Fund is looking to support Bitcoin developers, community builders, and educators. Submit proposals here.

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@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, has entered the Bitcoin space with a $1.08 million investment in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF. This is a big deal for both Wall Street and the Bitcoin world.

Blackstone has made its first direct investment in bitcoin through regulated financial products. A May 20, 2025, SEC filing revealed that the firm purchased 23,094 shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

BlackStone has bought 23,094 shares of BlackRock’s IBIT — SEC

While $1.08 million is a small drop in the bucket compared to Blackstone’s $1.2 trillion in assets under management, this is a big deal for the private equity giant which has been skeptical of bitcoin in the past.

In 2019, the company’s CEO, Steve Schwarzman, said he didn’t understand Bitcoin. “I was raised in a world where someone needs to control currencies,” he said, admitting he struggled to understand the technology.

Fast forward to 2025, and it is now one of the many institutional investors taking bitcoin seriously — but doing so through cautious, regulated channels.

The investment was made through Blackstone’s $2.63 billion Alternative Multi-Strategy Fund (BTMIX), which invests in a wide range of financial instruments.

Instead of buying bitcoin directly, Blackstone chose to get exposure through a bitcoin ETF — which is how many large institutions are approaching the digital asset. Spot Bitcoin ETFs like IBIT allow investors to track the price of bitcoin without having to hold the digital asset itself.

There are several advantages to this approach. ETFs trade like stocks, are regulated by the SEC and take care of complex issues like custody and compliance. This makes them more attractive for firms that are new to Bitcoin or still wary of the risks.

Related: Bitcoin ETFs Provide Convenient Price Exposure, But At What Cost?

Blackstone’s choice of a bitcoin ETF shows how effective these products are at connecting traditional finance to the digital age.

In addition to IBIT, Blackstone also disclosed smaller investments in two other digital-asset-related companies:

• 9,889 shares of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), valued at about $181,166.
• 4,300 shares of Bitcoin Depot Inc. (BTM), a bitcoin ATM operator, worth approximately $6,300.

Together, these are a tiny fraction of Blackstone’s portfolio but show growing interest and exploration into the space.

Since its launch in January 2024, BlackRock’s IBIT ETF has become the top-performing Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. As of mid-May 2025, the fund has seen over $46.1 billion in net inflows with no outflows since early April.

IBIT is ahead of other major ETFs like Fidelity’s FBTC and ARK’s 21Shares Bitcoin ETF.

But the trend is clear: big firms are getting comfortable with regulated bitcoin products. Industry insiders see Blackstone’s move as part of a broader shift in institutional sentiment towards bitcoin.

This is a small investment but it matters because of who is making it. Blackstone is known for being conservative and risk-averse.

Its decision to put even a tiny amount of capital into Bitcoin ETFs means tradfi companies are getting more confident in bitcoin as an asset class. Blackstone is dipping its toe in the water, and even a small step is significant given its size and influence.

@ 7e6f9018:a6bbbce5

Per les xarxes socials es parla amb efusivitat de que Bitcoin arribarà a valer milions de dòlars. El mateix Hal Finney allà pel 2009, va estimar el potencial, en un cas extrem, de 10 milions $:

\> As an amusing thought experiment, imagine that Bitcoin is successful and becomes the dominant payment system in use throughout the world. Then the total value of the currency should be equal to the total value of all the wealth in the world. Current estimates of total worldwide household wealth that I have found range from $100 trillion to $300 trillion. Withn 20 million coins, that gives each coin a value of about $10 million. <https://satoshi.nakamotoinstitute.org/emails/bitcoin-list/threads/4/>

No estic d'acord amb els càlculs del bo d'en Hal, ja que no consider que la valoració d'una moneda funcioni així. En qualsevol cas, el 2009 la capitalització de la riquesa mundial era de 300 bilions $, avui és de 660 bilions $, és a dir ha anat pujant un 5,3% de manera anual, $$(660/300)^{1/15} = 1.053$$

La primera apreciació amb aquest augment anual del 5% és que si algú llegeix aquest article i té diners que no necessita aturats al banc (estalvis), ara és bon moment per començar a moure'ls, encara sigui amb moviments defensius (títols de deute governamental o la propietat del primer habitatge). La desagregació per actius dels 660 bilions és:

1. Immobiliari residencial = 260 bilions $

2. Títols de deute = 125 bilions $

3. Accions = 110 bilions

4. Diners fiat = 78 bilions $

5. Terres agrícoles = 35 bilions $

6. Immobiliari comercial = 32 bilions $

7. Or = 18 bilions $

8. Bitcoin = 2 bilions $

La riquesa mundial és major que 660 bilions, però aquests 8 actius crec que són els principals, ja que s'aprecien a dia d'avui. El PIB global anual és de 84 bilions $, que no són bromes, però aquest actius creats (cotxes, ordinadors, roba, aliments...), perden valor una vegada produïts, aproximant-se a 0 passades unes dècades.

Partint d'aquest nombres com a vàlids, la meva posició base respecte de Bitcoin, ja des de fa un parell d'anys, és que te capacitat per posar-se al nivell de capitalització de l'or, perquè conceptualment s'emulen bé, i perquè tot i que Bitcoin no té un valor tangible industrial com pot tenir l'or, sí que te un valor intangible tecnològic, que és pales en tot l'ecosistema que s'ha creat al seu voltant:

• Creació de tecnologies de pagament instantani: la Lightning Network, Cashu i la Liquid Network.

• Producció d'aplicacions amb l'íntegrament de pagaments instantanis. Especialment destacar el protocol de Nostr (Primal, Amethyst, Damus, Yakihonne, 0xChat...)

• Industria energètica: permet estabilitzar xarxes elèctriques i emprar energia malbaratada (flaring gas), amb la generació de demanda de hardware i software dedicat.

• Educació financera i defensa de drets humans. És una eina de defensa contra governs i estats repressius. La Human Rights Foundation fa una feina bastant destacada d'educació.

Ara posem el potencial en nombres:

• Si iguala l'empresa amb major capitalització, que és Apple, arribaria a uns 160 mil dòlars per bitcoin.

• Si iguala el nivell de l'or, arribaria a uns 800 mil dòlars per bitcoin.

• Si iguala el nivell del diner fiat líquid, arribaria a un 3.7 milions de dòlars per bitcoin.

Crec que igualar la capitalització d'Apple és probable en els pròxims 5 - 10 anys. També igualar el nivell de l'or en els pròxims 20 anys em sembla una fita possible. Ara bé, qualsevol fita per sota d'aquesta capitalització ha d'implicar tota una serie de successos al món que no sóc capaç d'imaginar. Que no vol dir que no pugui passar.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Austin, Texas – May 22, 2025 — Jippi, a pioneering mobile augmented reality (AR) game developer, is set to transform Bitcoin education with the launch of its flagship game at the Bitcoin Conference 2025, held at The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas from May 27-29.

In collaboration with six leading Bitcoin companies—Bitcoin Well, Beyond The Checkout, Bitcoin Trading Cards, Geyser, SHAmory, and 21M Communications—Jippi introduces an innovative blend of outdoor adventure, Bitcoin rewards, and gamified financial education designed to captivate.

At the Bitcoin Conference, Jippi’s six partners have sponsored custom “Bitcoin Beasts” tied to specific locations around The Venetian. Each sponsored Beast offers players exclusive rewards and trivia, transforming brand interactions into immersive, non-intrusive experiences.

With an expected attendance of over 30,000 at the conference, sponsors gain unparalleled exposure to a tech-savvy, Bitcoin-centric audience.  Players will be rewarded 1k sats for each catch, making the total reward for catching them all 6k sats.

Jippi is redefining how young adults engage with Bitcoin by combining the thrill of location-based AR gameplay, reminiscent of Pokémon GO, with real-world bitcoin rewards (sats) and bite-sized lessons on sound money principles.

Players explore real-world locations to hunt digital creatures called Bitcoin Beasts, answering Bitcoin-related trivia to capture them and earn sats, the smallest unit of bitcoin.

The game’s seamless integration of education and entertainment makes learning about Bitcoin fun, accessible, and rewarding.

“We’re meeting Gen Z where they are—90% play mobile games, and 70% expect rewards for their time,” said Oliver Porter, Founder and CEO of Jippi.

“Jippi backdoors Bitcoin education through an immersive, reward-driven experience while offering our partners a unique branding opportunity. It’s a win-win for players, sponsors, and the Bitcoin ecosystem.”

“Jippi’s mission to gamify Bitcoin education is a game-changer for onboarding the next generation,” said Adam O’Brien, CEO of Bitcoin Well, a leading automatic self-custody Bitcoin platform and “Beast” sponsor.

“Their AR game makes learning about Bitcoin intuitive and engaging, aligning perfectly with our vision of financial empowerment. From a branding perspective, partnering with Jippi to engage and acquire new customers is a no brainer.”

In March 2025, Jippi clinched the top prize in PlebLab’s prestigious Top Builder competition, a three-month hackathon designed to spotlight innovative Bitcoin startups.

Backed by over a year of development, on-site surveys, and university testing, Jippi is a leading innovator in the Bitcoin industry looking to onboard the next generation.

Jippi invites brands, investors, and media to explore sponsorship and investment opportunities. Visit Jippi’s Partnerships Page for sponsorship details or Jippi’s Timestamp Page for investment inquiries. 

For media inquiries, please contact Phil@21mcommunications.com

About Jippi

Jippi is a mobile AR gaming company dedicated to making Bitcoin education accessible and engaging. By combining location-based gameplay with bitcoin rewards and financial literacy, Jippi empowers the next generation to embrace sound money principles. Learn more at https://jippi.app. 

Bitcoin Beast Sponsors

About Bitcoin Well

Beast #1 – Bitcoin Well – All bitcoin bought at Bitcoin Well are delivered directly to your personal bitcoin wallet. Your Bitcoin Well account gives you the convenience of modern banking, with the benefits of bitcoin. Join the platform that enables independence at bitcoinwell.com.

About Bitcoin Trading Cards

Beast #2 – Bitcoin Trading Cards – Bitcoin Trading Cards is bringing Bitcoin to the masses one pack at a time, making your Bitcoin journey fun and exciting for everyone.

About Beyond The Checkout

Beast #3 – Beyond The Checkout – Beyond The Checkout transforms everyday products into Bitcoin-powered experiences — rewarding customers, collecting real-time insights, and redefining post-purchase engagement.

About Geyser 

Beast #4 – Geyser – Geyser is a Bitcoin-native crowdfunding platform enabling grassroots projects to raise funds via Lightning, globally and permissionlessly.

About SHAmory

Beast #5 – SHAmory – We make Bitcoin fun for all ages! Explore our bitcoin games, books, and more today at shamory.com.

About 21M Communications

Beast #6 – 21 Communications – 21 Communications helps Bitcoin companies get the media attention they deserve. As a Bitcoin-only PR Agency, 21M Comms believes Bitcoin is imperative and is committed to supporting the companies that are advancing the mission.

About Bitcoin Conference 2025

The Bitcoin Conference is the world’s largest gathering of Bitcoin enthusiasts, industry leaders, and innovators. Held annually, it showcases cutting-edge developments in the Bitcoin ecosystem. For more information, visit www.bitcoinconference.com.

@ 0b118e40:4edc09cb

My week started off with a lovely message from a friend : “I often think about you. Especially during times when it requires me to be more resilient and have faith in myself. I always carry your note in the book you gave me, “what the dog saw” And it always gives me courage and I send a little prayer your way”.

This friend of mine was dealing with the undercurrent of discrimination in my alma mater when we first met, and I helped out. It's something anybody would have done, but surprisingly, nobody else showed up. We’ve stayed in touch over the years, and my friend went on to help a lot of other people along the way.

I don’t remember what I wrote in that note. It’s something I tend to do (write notes, give books, write notes in books). But the message boomeranged back to me at a time when I needed to hold the line. To keep the faith.

Most of us don’t talk about our struggles. And sometimes the smallest act, which could just be a kind word or a reminder of the person you are, can carry farther than we imagine.

On the act of giving

There’s a book called Give and Take by Adam Grant. I picked it up hoping to learn how to take, because it’s always been easier to give and harder to accept help. But what I learned was something else entirely.

Grant studied over 30,000 people across different companies and grouped them into three types: * Givers * Matchers * Takers

Based on his studies, givers often finish last... They struggle the most. They burn out. They get overlooked. They’re too trusting.

But oddly, they also rise to the very top.

Matchers are the scorekeepers, the “I’ll help you if you help me” kind. They make up most of the population. The fascinating thing about tit-for-tat is that if someone’s kind, they reciprocate. But if someone acts like a jerk, they return the energy, and over time, it becomes a pool of spoiled milk. Matchers are a lukewarm, forgettable kind of network.

Takers are the ones chasing attention, always aligning themselves with whoever looks powerful. They tend to float toward status and soak up what they can. But they often portray themselves as kind and giving.

One example Grant shared was Enron's Kenneth Lay, who was at the center of one of the biggest corporate scandals in U.S. history. He hung around wherever he’d get seen or validated. He funded both Bush and Clinton, hedging his bets on who might win by securing proximity. Sadly, when Enron crumbled, he died of a heart attack before his prison sentencing.

Most people steer clear from takers because they are just exhausting. And takers often collapse under the weight of their own games.

But takers aren’t the lowest performers. That spot belongs to a certain kind of giver—the self-neglecting kind. The ones with no boundaries, no clarity, and no self-awareness. They give in to avoid conflict, to feel worthy, or because they don’t know how to say no. And when life breaks them, they point fingers.

Then there’s the other kind of giver. The ones who build trust and build people up without asking for a receipt.

These givers: 1. Give without expectation, from a place of purpose 2. Build and uplift others without seeking credit 3. Set boundaries and walk away when giving turns into draining

This group of givers rarely talk much about what they do for others. But when you hear about it or see it, it stays with you. It makes you want to show up a little better.

Why open source environments feels like home

The more I thought about it, the more I saw how deeply open source reflects that kind of giving that ends up right at the top.

In open source, you don’t last if it’s just about ego. You can’t fake it. There are no titles, no awards. You either show up to build and help, or you don’t.

People who give without needing to be seen are the ones the community leans on. You can tell when someone’s pretending to care. It’s in their tone, their urgency and their sense of transaction. The genuine ones don’t need to brand themselves as generous. They just are.

Open source works because giving is the default setting. The work speaks volumes and generosity compounds. The system filters for people who show up with purpose and stay consistent.

It’s also why the ones who whine, posture, or manipulate rarely last. They might call themselves givers, but they’re not fooling anyone who’s actually doing the work.

Adam Grant found that for giver cultures to thrive, takers have to be removed. They need to be pruned. Because takers poison the well. They drain givers, shift the culture from contribution to calculation, and unravel the trust that holds open systems together.

When hope boomerangs

That note is something I don’t remember writing. But it found its way back to me, and it was a good reminder to take my own advice and keep the faith.

And maybe that’s the point.

You do a small thing. And years later, it circles back when it matters most. Not because you expected it. But because you mattered.

According to Grant, givers do best when they combine generosity with grit and strategy. They create networks built on goodwill, which eventually open doors others don’t even know exist.

So if you’re wondering where I’m going with this, do something genuinely kind for someone today. Even if it’s as simple as sending a kind note. Not for you to be seen or heard. And not for you to keep scores.

But, just because.

@ da8b7de1:c0164aee

Technológiai és fejlesztési hírek

• Észtország SMR-tervei:

Észtország hivatalosan elindította a nemzeti tervezési folyamatot és a környezeti hatásvizsgálatot egy 600 MW-os kis moduláris reaktor (SMR) atomerőmű létesítésére, GE Hitachi BWRX-300 technológiával. A projektet a Fermi Energia vezeti, a lakosság körében mérsékelt támogatottság mellett. Az építési engedélykérelem benyújtását 2029-re tervezik, a cél az ország energiabiztonságának és klímacéljainak erősítése.

• Olkiluoto-1 csökkentett teljesítménnyel üzemel:

Finnországban az Olkiluoto-2 egységben a generátor rotorjának cseréje miatt a termelés májusban újraindul, de a teljesítményt 735 MW-ra korlátozzák (a teljes kapacitás 890 MW). A csökkentett teljesítmény 2026-ig marad érvényben. Az Olkiluoto-1 egység normálisan működik, az Olkiluoto-3 pedig éves karbantartáson van.

Ipari és pénzügyi fejlemények

• Kanada–Argentína nehézvíz-együttműködés:

A kanadai Candu Energy (AtkinsRéalis) és az argentin Nemzeti Atomenergia Bizottság (CNEA) memorandumot írt alá a nehézvíz-termelés fellendítéséről. Ez magában foglalja az argentin PIAP nehézvízgyár újraindítását és potenciálisan új üzemek építését Kanadában. A fejlesztés támogatja a meglévő és tervezett CANDU reaktorok működését világszerte, és illeszkedik a COP28 utáni globális nukleáris bővüléshez.

• USA: nukleáris adókedvezményekért folyó lobbizás:

Az amerikai nukleáris ipar intenzív lobbitevékenységet folytat, hogy megőrizze a Biden-adminisztráció által bevezetett, az Inflációcsökkentő Törvény (IRA) szerinti nukleáris adókedvezményeket. Az új, republikánus többségű költségvetési törvényjavaslat jelentősen lerövidítené a tiszta energia (szél, nap, akkumulátor) támogatásokat, de a nukleáris ipar számára bizonyos kedvezmények megmaradnának, bár a 45U nukleáris adókedvezmény is három évvel korábban, 2031-ben lejárhat.

• Háztartási és ipari érdekek:

Az amerikai ház költségvetési törvényjavaslata megszüntetné a legtöbb tiszta energiához kapcsolódó adókedvezményt, kivéve néhány nukleáris projektet, és szigorítaná a kínai kapcsolatokkal rendelkező projektek támogatását. Ez várhatóan visszaveti a megújuló energiaipar beruházásait, miközben a nukleáris szektor relatív pozíciója javulhat.

Politikai és társadalmi fejlemények

• Tajvan: népszavazás a nukleáris energia sorsáról:

Tajvan parlamentje megszavazta, hogy népszavazást tartsanak a Maanshan atomerőmű újraindításáról, miután az ország utolsó működő reaktorát is leállították. A referendum nem azonnali újraindításról szól, hanem arról, hogy a lakosság döntsön a meghosszabbításról, ha a hatóságok biztonságosnak találják az üzemet.

• Pennsylvania kormányzója a nukleáris energia mellett:

Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania kormányzója, a „Lightning Plan” keretében hangsúlyozta, hogy az állam energiabiztonsága és gazdasági fejlődése érdekében kulcsszerepet szán a nukleáris energiának, valamint más megbízható energiaforrásoknak. A terv célja a munkahelyteremtés, a fogyasztói költségek csökkentése és az engedélyezési folyamatok gyorsítása.

• TMI névváltás:

Az amerikai Nukleáris Szabályozó Hatóság (NRC) jóváhagyta a Three Mile Island (TMI) atomerőmű nevének megváltoztatását Christopher M. Crane-re, az Exelon volt vezérigazgatójának emlékére. A létesítmény a jövőben a Microsoft AI műveleteit is ellátja majd árammal, és 2028-tól 835 MW szén-dioxid-mentes áramot termelhet.

Nemzetközi szakmai események

• NEA konferencia Londonban:

Az OECD NEA 2025. június 18–19-én Londonban rendezi meg az „Excellence in Nuclear Construction” nemzetközi konferenciát. A rendezvény célja, hogy a nukleáris ipar szereplői megosszák tapasztalataikat a nukleáris beruházások gyorsabb, kiszámíthatóbb és költséghatékonyabb megvalósítása érdekében, különös tekintettel a mérnöki, beszerzési és kivitelezési (EPC) kihívásokra.

---

Hivatkozások

• https://www.nucnet.org
• https://www.world-nuclear-news.org
• https://www.neimagazine.com
• https://www.oecd-nea.org
• https://www.iaea.org
• https://www.reuters.com/business/energy
• https://www.utilitydive.com
• https://www.atkinsrealis.com
• https://www.candu.com

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

A group of users has filed a class action lawsuit against Coinbase, claiming that its identity verification checks violate the state’s biometric privacy law.

According to plaintiffs Scott Bernstein, Gina Greeder, and James Lonergan in the lawsuit filed on May 13 in a federal court, Coinbase’s “indiscriminate collection” of facial biometric data for Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements breaches Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).

The group argued that the exchange failed to notify users in writing about the collection, storage, or sharing of their biometric data, as well as the purpose and retention schedule for such data. “Coinbase does not publicly provide a retention schedule or guidelines for permanently destroying Plaintiffs’ biometric identifiers as specified by BIPA,” they alleged.

The complaint claims that Coinbase requires users to verify their identity by uploading a government-issued ID and a selfie, which is then sent to third-party facial recognition software to scan and extract facial geometry. This process captures biometric identifiers without the users’ informed written consent, thus violating BIPA, according to the lawsuit.

Additionally, the group alleged that Coinbase unlawfully shared biometric data with third-party verification providers such as Jumio, Onfido, Au10tix, and Solaris without users’ consent. “Coinbase ‘obtains’ biometric data in violation of [BIPA] because it explicitly directed the Third Party Verification Providers to use its software to verify and authenticate users, including Plaintiffs, and its software does so by collecting biometric data,” the complaint read.

The group also stated that over 10,000 individuals have filed arbitration demands on these issues with the American Arbitration Association, but Coinbase allegedly refused to pay the required arbitration fees, causing the claims to be dismissed.

Legal demands

The lawsuit brings three counts of biometric privacy law violations and one count of consumer fraud under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. The group seeks $5,000 for each intentional or reckless violation, $1,000 for each negligent violation, along with injunctive relief and litigation costs.

Coinbase was also recently hit by at least six lawsuits following the May 15 disclosure that some of its customer support agents were allegedly bribed to leak user data.

The post Lawsuit against Coinbase for biometric privacy violations in Illinois appeared first on Atlas21.

@ 7e6f9018:a6bbbce5

Over the last decade, birth rates in Spain have dropped by 30%, from 486,000 births in 2010 to 339,000 in 2020, a decline only comparable to that seen in Japan and the Four Asian Tigers.

The main cause seems to stem from two major factors: (1) the widespread use of contraceptive methods, which allow for pregnancy control without reducing sexual activity, and (2) women's entry into the labor market, leading to a significant shift away from traditional maternal roles.

In this regard, there is a phenomenon of demographic inertia that I believe could become significant. When a society ages and the population pyramid inverts, the burden this places on the non-dependent population could further contribute to a deeper decline in birth rates.

The more resources (time and money) non-dependent individuals have to dedicate to the elderly (dependents), the less they can allocate to producing new births (also dependents):

• An only child who has to care for both parents will bear a burden of 2 (2 ÷ 1).
• Three siblings who share the responsibility of caring for their parents will bear a burden of 0.6 (2 ÷ 3).

This burden on only children could, in many cases, be significant enough to prevent them from having children of their own.

In Spain, the generation of only children reached reproductive age in 2019(*), this means that right now the majority of people in reproductive age in Spain are only child (or getting very close to it).

If this assumption is correct, and aging feeds on itself, then, given that Spain has one of the worst demographic imbalances in the world, this phenomenon is likely to manifest through worsening birth rates. Spain’s current birth rate of 1.1 may not yet have reached its lowest point.

(*)Birth rate table and the year in which each generation reaches 32 years of age, Spain.

| Year of birth | Birth rate | Year in which the generation turns 32 | | ------------------ | -------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | 1971 | 2.88 | 2003 | | 1972 | 2.85 | 2004 | | 1973 | 2.82 | 2005 | | 1974 | 2.81 | 2006 | | 1975 | 2.77 | 2007 | | 1976 | 2.77 | 2008 | | 1977 | 2.65 | 2009 | | 1978 | 2.54 | 2010 | | 1979 | 2.37 | 2011 | | 1980 | 2.21 | 2012 | | 1981 | 2.04 | 2013 | | 1982 | 1.94 | 2014 | | 1983 | 1.80 | 2015 | | 1984 | 1.72 | 2016 | | 1985 | 1.64 | 2017 | | 1986 | 1.55 | 2018 | | 1987 | 1.49 | 2019 | | 1988 | 1.45 | 2020 | | 1989 | 1.40 | 2021 | | 1990 | 1.36 | 2022 | | 1991 | 1.33 | 2023 | | 1992 | 1.31 | 2024 | | 1993 | 1.26 | 2025 | | 1994 | 1.19 | 2026 | | 1995 | 1.16 | 2027 | | 1996 | 1.14 | 2028 | | 1997 | 1.15 | 2029 | | 1998 | 1.13 | 2030 | | 1999 | 1.16 | 2031 | | 2000 | 1.21 | 2032 | | 2001 | 1.24 | 2033 | | 2002 | 1.25 | 2034 | | 2003 | 1.30 | 2035 | | 2004 | 1.32 | 2036 | | 2005 | 1.33 | 2037 | | 2006 | 1.36 | 2038 | | 2007 | 1.38 | 2039 | | 2008 | 1.44 | 2040 | | 2009 | 1.38 | 2041 | | 2010 | 1.37 | 2042 | | 2011 | 1.34 | 2043 | | 2012 | 1.32 | 2044 | | 2013 | 1.27 | 2045 | | 2014 | 1.32 | 2046 | | 2015 | 1.33 | 2047 | | 2016 | 1.34 | 2048 | | 2017 | 1.31 | 2049 | | 2018 | 1.26 | 2050 | | 2019 | 1.24 | 2051 | | 2020 | 1.19 | 2052 |

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Tokyo-listed investment firm Metaplanet has officially surpassed El Salvador in bitcoin holdings after its biggest-ever single purchase of the scarce digital asset.

On May 12, 2025, the company announced it had bought 1,241 Bitcoin (BTC) for approximately $123.8 million, or ¥18.4 billion. The average price per coin was about $102,111, marking the firm’s largest purchase to date.

This latest buy brings Metaplanet’s total bitcoin reserves to 6,796 BTC, worth over $700 million.

Metaplanet on X

That puts Metaplanet ahead of El Salvador, the Central American nation that made headlines in 2021 for adopting bitcoin as legal tender. According to its National Bitcoin Office, El Salvador currently holds 6,174 BTC, worth roughly $642 million.

El Salvador bitcoin holdings — bitcoin.gob.sv

“Metaplanet now holds more bitcoin than El Salvador. From humble beginnings to rivaling nation-states, we’re just getting started,” said CEO Simon Gerovich on X after the company’s announcement.

The Japanese investment company started its bitcoin treasury strategy in April 2024 and has become the largest corporate holder of bitcoin in Asia and 11th globally. It aims to hold 10,000 BTC by the end of 2025.

Metaplanet is now the 11th largest corporate holder of bitcoin — BitcoinTreasuries

To fund these purchases, the firm has turned to bond issuances, including zero-percent bonds. In early May, Metaplanet issued $25 million worth of 0% bonds under its EVO FUND program to finance bitcoin buys without diluting shares or taking on traditional debt.

And Metaplanet’s strategy seems to be working. Its BTC Yield — a proprietary metric that measures bitcoin accumulation per share — is 38% for Q2 2025 so far. In previous quarters, the firm reported 95.6% in Q1 and a whopping 309.8% in Q4 2024.

The stock price has also gone up 1,800% since May 2024 and 51% in 2025 alone, currently trading above 550 JPY.

Metaplanet is often called “Japan’s MicroStrategy”, a reference to the U.S.-based company Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) led by Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor. Strategy is the world’s largest corporate bitcoin holder with over 568,840 BTC in its coffers, worth more than $58 billion.

Like Strategy, Metaplanet is using creative financing tools such as convertible bonds and non-dilutive bond issuance to build a big bitcoin treasury. These financial instruments give the company the ability to fund further bitcoin purchases without diluting shareholders’ value.

Metaplanet is buying bitcoin very rapidly. This has become a trend in the corporate world, where private companies are challenging nation-states in the digital asset space.

Unlike governments which face regulatory and political hurdles, corporations like Metaplanet can move quickly and decisively. Since 2020 over 80 publicly traded companies have collectively bought more than 632,000 BTC worth over $65 billion.

This is a fundamental shift in how companies manage their treasuries — moving away from cash or bonds and towards the digital scarcity that bitcoin presents.

This creates a new form of financial power where corporations can hold a significant portion of a finite asset, unlike fiat currencies which governments can print to infinity.

@ 4fa5d1c4:fd6c6e41

🧠 Entwickelt von OECD & EU-Kommission – jetzt zur Rückmeldung freigegeben:\ 👉 https://ailiteracyframework.org/

Das Framework beschreibt vier zentrale Domänen der KI-Kompetenz – jede mit einem klaren Profil aus Wissen, Fertigkeiten und Haltungen. Diese lassen sich hervorragend mit den vier Kompetenzbereichen verbinden:

🔹 Engaging with AI ↔ 🟢 Verstehen

Lernende erkennen KI in ihrem Alltag, verstehen ihre technischen Grundlagen (📘 Knowledge) und entwickeln die Fähigkeit, Ausgaben kritisch zu analysieren (🛠️ Skills), begleitet von einer neugierigen und verantwortungsbewussten Einstellung (🧭 Attitudes).

🔹 Creating with AI ↔ 🔵 Anwenden

Durch den kreativen Einsatz generativer KI entstehen neue Lernprodukte. Benötigt werden technisches Verständnis (📘 z. B. zu Trainingsdaten), Anwendungskompetenz (🛠️ z. B. Promptgestaltung), sowie eine innovationsorientierte Haltung (🧭 Ownership, Urheberrecht, Attribution).

🔹 Managing AI ↔ 🟠 Reflektieren

Hier geht es um bewusste Entscheidungen: Wann ist KI sinnvoll? Wie wirken sich ihre Vorschläge auf mein Denken aus? Das verlangt (📘) Orientierungswissen, (🛠️) strategisches Problemlösen und (🧭) eine ethisch begründbare Reflexion.

🔹 Designing AI ↔ 🟣 Gestalten

Lernende analysieren und entwerfen KI-Systeme: Welche Daten nutze ich? Wer profitiert? Mit welchen Folgen? Die Verbindung aus (📘) systemischem Wissen, (🛠️) Gestaltungskompetenz und (🧭) ethischer Haltung eröffnet Bildungsräume im digitalen Wandel.

📬 Rückmeldungen zum Entwurf sind willkommen – eure Expertise aus der Praxis zählt!

👉 [https://teachai.org/ailiteracy/review](https://teachai.org/ailiteracy/review)

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

May 13, 2025 – We are proud to announce that My First Bitcoin has received a $1 million grant from #startsmall. With this financial support from Jack Dorsey’s philanthropic initiative, we will continue to serve grassroots Bitcoin education initiatives worldwide.

This grant accelerates our work in the creation and distribution of free and open-source Bitcoin education materials and infrastructure.

It will not only help us improve existing resources, such as the Bitcoin Diploma, Bitcoin Intro Course, and teacher training workshops, but also to scale our digital platforms like our Online School and Community Hub. 

As a non-profit, founded in 2021, we have grown from a local project into a global movement. Besides creating curricula and frameworks, our team has directly taught tens of thousands of in-person students, as we workshop and refine our materials based on real world feedback.

In 2023, we launched the Independent Bitcoin Educators Node Network, providing a space for others to join us on our mission. The network spans 65+ projects from 35+ countries, including circular economies, meetup organizers and other grassroots projects.

All commit to the same six pillars: that their education is independent, impartial, community-led, Bitcoin-only, quality, and focused on empowerment over profit.

While we support that network, it is now self-governing. We always seek to give power-to, rather than have power-over.

John Dennehy, founder and Executive Director of My First Bitcoin, explains:

“The revolution of Bitcoin education is that it teaches students HOW to think, not WHAT to think. Funding from sources with their own incentives is the greatest vulnerability that threatens that. Education will be captured by whoever funds it.

“We will never take any government money and frequently turn down funding from corporations and companies. The subtle influence of funding has ruined fiat education and we need to create alternative models for the revolution of Bitcoin education to realize its full potential.”

Funding for Bitcoin education must be transparent.

This grant is a huge win for all of us. For Bitcoin itself, but even more for Independent Bitcoin Education as a whole. It enables us to serve the global community better than ever before. It shows everyone what can be achieved if you stay close to your values.

“My First Bitcoin is a proof-of-concept for all independent Bitcoin educators that if you stay on the mission, even when it’s challenging, then you will come out the other side even stronger,” added Dennehy.

Arnold Hubach, Director of Communications of My First Bitcoin, continued:

“Open source money deserves open source education. Over the past few years, we’ve seen growing demand for our resources around the world, and we remain committed to serving everyone in the Bitcoin space who needs support.

“This funding enables us to plan further into the future and continue being the first-stop provider of free educational tools.”

We’re grateful to #startsmall for believing in our mission and for understanding that Bitcoin education should always be free from external influence. We’re also grateful to the community for helping us arrive at this point where we are ready to receive such a grant.

You lead us to where we are today. You have been our primary funding source. You will continue to lead us forward.

We will always serve the community.

We’re also grateful for our amazing team and their proof of work. The grant will accelerate the work that they are already doing, such as curricula development, teacher training programs, the expansion of the global network, building online platforms, and providing in-person classes.

We will continue to lead by example, we will continue to push the limits, and we will continue to reimagine what’s possible.

We do not seek to please power in this world, we seek to create a proof-of-concept for a better one where the individual is empowered and able to think critically.

If you are an educator in need of tools or infrastructure; please contact us.

If you can help us continue to build out these tools and maintain this growing global movement; please contact us.

If you are aligned with our mission and are a supporter of independent Bitcoin education, please donate.

We work for the public. In public.

@ 975e4ad5:8d4847ce

The Risks of Offline Storage

Keeping your seed phrase offline – on paper, in a safe, or on a USB drive – seems secure, but it comes with significant risks:

• Fire or Flood: A disaster could destroy your home, along with the paper or device storing your seed phrase.

• Theft: Someone could find your seed phrase in your safe or a hidden spot at home.

• Natural Disasters or War: If you’re forced to leave your home, you might lose access to your seed phrase, effectively locking you out of your assets.

• Human Error: You could accidentally lose, damage, or misplace the paper or device holding your seed phrase.

These vulnerabilities make offline storage less reliable, especially if you don’t have backups or can’t access them in an emergency.

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The Benefits of Online Storage

When done right, online storage addresses these issues. The primary advantage is accessibility: you can retrieve your seed phrase from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection and the necessary credentials. This is invaluable if you’re away from home or in a crisis.

The key to making online storage safe? Encryption.

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How to Store Your Seed Phrase Online Securely

1. Choose a Secure Platform\ Upload your encrypted seed phrase to a reputable cloud storage service like Google Drive, Dropbox, or Proton Drive, which offers built-in encryption. Ensure you use a strong password and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for your account.

2. Encrypt Your Seed Phrase\ Before uploading, encrypt your seed phrase using a tool with strong encryption, such as AES-256. Here are some easy options:

3. VeraCrypt: A free tool that lets you create an encrypted file or container. Save your seed phrase in a text file, add it to an encrypted container, and set a password only you know.

4. GPG (GnuPG): This tool allows you to encrypt text files using public and private keys. Generate a key pair and store the private key securely (e.g., on an offline USB drive).

5. 7-Zip: A popular compression tool that supports AES-256 encryption. Create an encrypted archive with your seed phrase and set a strong password.

6. Keep the Decryption Key in Your Head\ The password or decryption key should be something only you know. Avoid writing it down to prevent unauthorized access.

7. Disguise the File\ Even if someone sees your encrypted file, they shouldn’t suspect what it contains. Name the file something generic, like “family_recipes.txt,” instead of “seed_phrase.txt.”

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Why Encryption Matters

Encryption ensures that even if someone gains access to your file, they can’t read your seed phrase without the decryption key. AES-256, for example, is an industry-standard encryption method considered virtually unbreakable with a strong password. This means that even if a hacker accesses your cloud storage, they can’t use your seed phrase.

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Practical Tips for Maximum Security

• Split Your Seed Phrase: For added protection, divide your seed phrase into multiple parts and store them in separate encrypted files on different platforms.

• Test Your Access: Periodically check that you can log into your cloud storage and decrypt your file to avoid surprises.

• Use a Strong Password: Choose a password longer than 12 characters, combining letters, numbers, and special characters.

• Create Backups: Store multiple encrypted copies on different platforms for extra redundancy.

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Conclusion

Storing your seed phrase online isn’t reckless if you do it right. With proper encryption and a secure platform, you can combine the convenience of global access with a high level of protection. Offline methods have their risks, but secure online storage ensures your assets are safe and accessible, no matter where you are.

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

I. Historical Foundations of U.S. Monetary Architecture

The early monetary system of the United States was built atop inherited commodity money conventions from Europe’s maritime economies. Silver and gold coins—primarily Spanish pieces of eight, Dutch guilders, and other foreign specie—formed the basis of colonial commerce. These units were already integrated into international trade and piracy networks and functioned with natural compatibility across England, France, Spain, and Denmark. Lacking a centralized mint or formal currency, the U.S. adopted these forms de facto.

As security risks and the practical constraints of physical coinage mounted, banks emerged to warehouse specie and issue redeemable certificates. These certificates evolved into fiduciary media—claims on specie not actually in hand. Banks observed over time that substantial portions of reserves remained unclaimed for years. This enabled fractional reserve banking: issuing more claims than reserves held, so long as redemption demand stayed low. The practice was inherently unstable, prone to panics and bank runs, prompting eventual centralization through the formation of the Federal Reserve in 1913.

Following the Civil War and unstable reinstatements of gold convertibility, the U.S. sought global monetary stability. After World War II, the Bretton Woods system formalized the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency. The dollar was nominally backed by gold, but most international dollars were held offshore and recycled into U.S. Treasuries. The Nixon Shock of 1971 eliminated the gold peg, converting the dollar into pure fiat. Yet offshore dollar demand remained, sustained by oil trade mandates and the unique role of Treasuries as global reserve assets.

II. The Structure of Fiduciary Media and Treasury Demand

Under this system, foreign trade surpluses with the U.S. generate excess dollars. These surplus dollars are parked in U.S. Treasuries, thereby recycling trade imbalances into U.S. fiscal liquidity. While technically loans to the U.S. government, these purchases act like interest-only transfers—governments receive yield, and the U.S. receives spendable liquidity without principal repayment due in the short term. Debt is perpetually rolled over, rarely extinguished.

This creates an illusion of global subsidy: U.S. deficits are financed via foreign capital inflows that, in practice, function more like financial tribute systems than conventional debt markets. The underlying asset—U.S. Treasury debt—functions as the base reserve asset of the dollar system, replacing gold in post-Bretton Woods monetary logic.

III. Emergence of Tether and the Parastatal Dollar

Tether (USDT), as a private issuer of dollar-denominated tokens, mimics key central bank behaviors while operating outside the regulatory perimeter. It mints tokens allegedly backed 1:1 by U.S. dollars or dollar-denominated securities (mostly Treasuries). These tokens circulate globally, often in jurisdictions with limited banking access, and increasingly serve as synthetic dollar substitutes.

If USDT gains dominance as the preferred medium of exchange—due to technological advantages, speed, programmability, or access—it displaces Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) not through devaluation, but through functional obsolescence. Gresham’s Law inverts: good money (more liquid, programmable, globally transferable USDT) displaces bad (FRNs) even if both maintain a nominal 1:1 parity.

Over time, this preference translates to a systemic demand shift. Actors increasingly use Tether instead of FRNs, especially in global commerce, digital marketplaces, or decentralized finance. Tether tokens effectively become shadow base money.

IV. Interaction with Commercial Banking and Redemption Mechanics

Under traditional fractional reserve systems, commercial banks issue loans denominated in U.S. dollars, expanding the money supply. When borrowers repay loans, this destroys the created dollars and contracts monetary elasticity. If borrowers repay in USDT instead of FRNs:

• Banks receive a non-Fed liability (USDT).
• USDT is not recognized as reserve-eligible within the Federal Reserve System.
• Banks must either redeem USDT for FRNs, or demand par-value conversion from Tether to settle reserve requirements and balance their books.

This places redemption pressure on Tether and threatens its 1:1 peg under stress. If redemption latency, friction, or cost arises, USDT’s equivalence to FRNs is compromised. Conversely, if banks are permitted or compelled to hold USDT as reserve or regulatory capital, Tether becomes a de facto reserve issuer.

In this scenario, banks may begin demanding loans in USDT, mirroring borrower behavior. For this to occur sustainably, banks must secure Tether liquidity. This creates two options: - Purchase USDT from Tether or on the secondary market, collateralized by existing fiat. - Borrow USDT directly from Tether, using bank-issued debt as collateral.

The latter mirrors Federal Reserve discount window operations. Tether becomes a lender of first resort, providing monetary elasticity to the banking system by creating new tokens against promissory assets—exactly how central banks function.

V. Structural Consequences: Parallel Central Banking

If Tether begins lending to commercial banks, issuing tokens backed by bank notes or collateralized debt obligations: - Tether controls the expansion of broad money through credit issuance. - Its balance sheet mimics a central bank, with Treasuries and bank debt as assets and tokens as liabilities. - It intermediates between sovereign debt and global liquidity demand, replacing the Federal Reserve’s open market operations with its own issuance-redemption cycles.

Simultaneously, if Tether purchases U.S. Treasuries with FRNs received through token issuance, it: - Supplies the Treasury with new liquidity (via bond purchases). - Collects yield on government debt. - Issues a parallel form of U.S. dollars that never require redemption—an interest-only loan to the U.S. government from a non-sovereign entity.

In this context, Tether performs monetary functions of both a central bank and a sovereign wealth fund, without political accountability or regulatory transparency.

VI. Endgame: Institutional Inversion and Fed Redundancy

This paradigm represents an institutional inversion:

• The Federal Reserve becomes a legacy issuer.
• Tether becomes the operational base money provider in both retail and interbank contexts.
• Treasuries remain the foundational reserve asset, but access to them is mediated by a private intermediary.
• The dollar persists, but its issuer changes. The State becomes a fiscal agent of a decentralized financial ecosystem, not its monetary sovereign.

Unless the Federal Reserve reasserts control—either by absorbing Tether, outlawing its instruments, or integrating its tokens into the reserve framework—it risks becoming irrelevant in the daily function of money.

Tether, in this configuration, is no longer a derivative of the dollar—it is the dollar, just one level removed from sovereign control. The future of monetary sovereignty under such a regime is post-national and platform-mediated.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

American Bitcoin, a bitcoin mining company backed by President Donald Trump’s sons, is going public in a new merger deal with Gryphon Digital Mining. Investors and political observers are taking notice as it presents a mixture of Bitcoin, Wall Street and the Trump brand.

This reverse merger allows for American Bitcoin Corporation to become a publicly traded company. This will happen through a stock-for-stock merger with Gryphon Digital Mining, a small-cap bitcoin miner already listed on the Nasdaq.

Once the deal is done, the new company will be called American Bitcoin and will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ABTC. The merger is expected to close in the 3rd quarter of 2025.

Eric Trump, who will be the Co-Founder and the Chief Strategy Officer, said:

“Our vision for American Bitcoin is to create the most investable Bitcoin accumulation platform in the market.”

The Trump family’s involvement has gotten a lot of attention. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. launched American Bitcoin in March this year with digital asset infrastructure company Hut 8, which owns 80% of American Bitcoin.

American Bitcoin leadership team — Hut 8 presentation

After the merger, American Bitcoin shareholders — including the Trump brothers and Hut 8 — will own about 98% of the new company. Gryphon shareholders will own 2% even though Gryphon is the public company facilitating the merger.

Instead of an IPO (Initial Public Offering), American Bitcoin is going public through what’s called a reverse merger. This means it will take over Gryphon’s public listing.

This is often faster and simpler than a traditional IPO. It allows American Bitcoin to access public capital markets while maintaining operational and strategic control.

Hut 8 CEO Asher Genoot said the merger is a big step forward for the company. “By taking American Bitcoin public, we expect to unlock direct access to dedicated growth capital independent of Hut 8’s balance sheet,” Genoot said.

The announcement sent Gryphon’s stock soaring. Shares rose over 280% and Hut 8’s stock went up over 11%. Clearly investors are interested in bitcoin-focused public companies when the asset itself is close to its previous all-time high.

But not everyone is buying. Some investors and analysts are questioning what Gryphon is actually bringing to the table. Gryphon won’t have a seat on the board or any representation in the new management team. Their role seems to be just to provide the public listing.

Many questions remain unanswered because there are no details on mining operations and what Gryphon’s role is beyond the merger.

American Bitcoin’s goal goes far beyond just mining bitcoin. It wants to become a national bitcoin reserve builder and a major player in that space by storing large amounts of bitcoin as a strategic asset.

The company plans to take “capital-light” advantage of Hut 8’s existing infrastructure, so there won’t be any need to build massive new data centers. Hut 8 already manages over 1,000 megawatts of energy capacity, and apparently, they will handle all the mining operations.

This is happening at a tough time for the mining industry in the U.S. and globally.

Profit margins are shrinking, and companies are really feeling the pinch of high operational costs. Hut 8 just reported a 58% drop in revenue and a $134 million net loss for the first quarter of 2025.

@ 90152b7f:04e57401

Wikileaks - C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 002018 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR GOLDBERGER/SHAMPAINE/BELGRADE; NSC FOR ABRAMS/WATERS; TREASURY FOR SZUBIN/GRANT/HARRIS/NUGENT/HIRSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/17 TAGS: ECON, EFIN, KFTN, KWBG, IS

2007 September 26

SUBJECT: ISRAELI BANK CUTOFF PORTENDS GAZA BANK CLOSURES AND MORE PRIVATE SECTOR DIFFICULTIES Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles,

Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 1. 1. (SBU) Summary. Bank Hapoalim's decision to sever ties with banks in Gaza, and an expected move by Israel Discount Bank to do the same, could result in cash shortages, bank closures, and a suspension of commercial imports into Gaza, most of which are food, according to Palestinian banking sector representatives. Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) Governor George Abed is discussing possible solutions with his Israeli counterpart and other Israeli officials. Banks operating in the West Bank are attempting to ascertain the impact on their activities. End summary.

----------------

Threat Made Real

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2. (SBU) Bank Hapoalim announced September 25 that it is severing its ties with banks operating in the Gaza Strip, according to local press reports. The bank reportedly decided to take this action after the GOI designated Gaza a "hostile entity." Since the formation of the Hamas-led government in March 2006, Bank Hapoalim and the Israel Discount Bank (IDB) have warned that they intended to terminate their correspondent bank relationship with banks operating in the West Bank and Gaza. Both banks provide check clearing services and coordinate cash transfers, operations considered vital to the Palestinian banking sector.

--------------

Damage Control

--------------

3. (C) PMA Governor Abed told Econoff September 26 that Bank Hapoalim's decision was "not a surprise" and the PMA "is dealing with it." He explained that he had spoken to Bank of Israel Governor Fischer September 25 and is also in contact with GOI Ministry of Finance officials. Abed said that he believes the GOI is seeking to find a solution because it wants to maintain economic and financial relations with Palestinians. If IDB follows Bank Hapoalim's lead, as expected, Abed fears that the banking sector in Gaza could shutdown. Already in steep decline, banking activity there comprises only 18-20 percent of total deposits and about 15 percent of total loan portfolios of banks operating in the West Bank and Gaza, according to Abed.

4. (C) Arab Bank General Manager Mazen Abu Hamdan and Cairo-Amman Bank Regional Manager Joseph Nesnas told Econoff separately September 26 that IDB does much more business with Gaza banks than Bank Hapoalim, so if IDB severs its ties, the impact will be even more severe. Both said they will close their Gaza branch offices if IDB takes this action. Arab Bank's correspondent account is with the IDB. Both Abu Hamdan and Nesnas said they are uncertain as to exactly how and when Bank Hapoalim will implement its decision, and what the consequences will be for banks in the West Bank. Abu Hamdan suggested that Bank Hapoalim may continue to clear Gaza-origin checks in the short-term with Israeli beneficiaries, but will very soon refuse to accept any checks drawn from Gaza branches.

---------------------------------------

Cash Shortage to Further Restrict Trade

---------------------------------------

5. (C) Abed noted that Gaza merchants frequently pay cash for imports, often upon receipt of the goods at the designated crossing. If banks close, Abed continued, cash payments will be even more common. If cash transfers to Gaza are suspended, however, cash will be hoarded and increasingly unavailable to conduct trade. (Note: According to the UN, 86 percent of commercial imports into Gaza are food.) Abed and Abu Hamdan noted separately that a cash cutoff will also adversely affect the payment of PA salary payments to Gaza-based employees. Banks in Gaza need about NIS 150 million each month to make PA salary payments.

---------------------------------

Hamas Not Guarding Cash Transfers

---------------------------------

6. Abed refuted a press report alleging that Hamas is now guarding cash shipments once they enter Gaza. He said he is aware that of one instance when a bank notified Hamas of a JERUSALEM 00002018 002 OF 002 shipment, and Hamas Executive Forces may have shadowed the cash movement in reply, but in all other cases the banks handle their own security arrangements and do not communicate with Hamas. WALLES

@ b8851a06:9b120ba1

The global financial system is creaking under its own weight. The IMF is urging banks to shore up capital, cut risk, and brace for impact. Basel III is their answer, a last-ditch effort to reinforce a brittle foundation.

But behind the scenes, a quieter revolution is under way.

Bitcoin, the world’s first stateless digital asset, is no longer on the sidelines. It’s entering the Basel conversation: not by invitation, but by inevitability.

Basel III: The System’s Self-Diagnosis

Basel III is more than a technical rulebook. It’s a confession: an admission that the global banking system is vulnerable. Created in the aftermath of 2008, it calls for: • Stronger capital reserves: So banks can survive losses. • Lower leverage: To reduce the domino effect of overexposure. • Liquidity buffers: To weather short-term shocks without collapsing.

But here’s the kicker: these rules are hostile to anything outside the fiat system. Bitcoin gets hit with a punitive 1,250% risk weight. That means for every $1 of exposure, banks must hold $1 in capital. The message from regulators? “You can hold Bitcoin, but you’ll pay for it.”

Yet that fear: based framing misses a bigger truth: Bitcoin doesn’t just survive in this environment. It thrives in it.

Bitcoin: A Parallel System, Built on Hard Rules

Where Basel III imposes “fiat discipline” from the top down, Bitcoin enforces it from the bottom up: with code, math, and transparency.

Bitcoin is not just a hedge. It’s a structural antidote to systemic fragility.

Volatility: A Strategic Asset

Yes, Bitcoin is volatile. But in a system that devalues fiat on a schedule, volatility is simply the cost of freedom. Under Basel III, banks are expected to build capital buffers during economic expansions.

What asset allows you to build those buffers faster than Bitcoin in a bull market?

When the cycle turns, those reserves act as shock absorbers: converting volatility into resilience. It’s anti-fragility in motion.

Liquidity: Real, Deep, and Global

Bitcoin settled over $19 trillion in transactions in 2024. That’s not hypothetical liquidity. it’s real, measurable flow. Unlike traditional high-quality liquid assets (HQLAs), Bitcoin is: • Available 24/7 • Borderless • Not dependent on central banks

By traditional definitions, Bitcoin is rapidly qualifying for HQLA status. Even if regulators aren’t ready to admit it.

Diversification: Breaking the Fiat Dependency

Basel III is designed to pull banks back into the fiat matrix. But Bitcoin offers an escape hatch. Strategic Bitcoin reserves are not about speculation, they’re insurance. For family offices, institutions, and sovereign funds, Bitcoin is the lifeboat when the fiat ship starts taking on water.

Regulatory Realignment: The System Reacts

The Basel Committee’s new rules on crypto exposures went live in January 2025. Around the world, regulators are scrambling to define their stance. Every new restriction placed on Bitcoin only strengthens its legitimacy, as more institutions ask: Why so much resistance, if it’s not a threat?

Bitcoin doesn’t need permission. It’s already being adopted by over 150 public companies, forward-looking states, and a new class of self-sovereign individuals.

Conclusion: The Real Question

This isn’t just about Bitcoin fitting into Basel III.

The real question is: How long can Basel III remain relevant in a world where Bitcoin exists?

Bitcoin is not the risk. It’s the reality check. And it might just be the strongest capital buffer the system has ever seen.

Gradually then suddenly.

@ 21335073:a244b1ad

Someone asked for my thoughts, so I’ll share them thoughtfully. I’m not here to dictate how to promote Nostr—I’m still learning about it myself. While I’m not new to Nostr, freedom tech is a newer space for me. I’m skilled at advocating for topics I deeply understand, but freedom tech isn’t my expertise, so take my words with a grain of salt. Nothing I say is set in stone.

Those who need Nostr the most are the ones most vulnerable to censorship on other platforms right now. Reaching them requires real-time awareness of global issues and the dynamic relationships between governments and tech providers, which can shift suddenly. Effective Nostr promoters must grasp this and adapt quickly.

The best messengers are people from or closely tied to these at-risk regions—those who truly understand the local political and cultural dynamics. They can connect with those in need when tensions rise. Ideal promoters are rational, trustworthy, passionate about Nostr, but above all, dedicated to amplifying people’s voices when it matters most.

Forget influencers, corporate-backed figures, or traditional online PR—it comes off as inauthentic, corny, desperate and forced. Nostr’s promotion should be grassroots and organic, driven by a few passionate individuals who believe in Nostr and the communities they serve.

The idea that “people won’t join Nostr due to lack of reach” is nonsense. Everyone knows X’s “reach” is mostly with bots. If humans want real conversations, Nostr is the place. X is great for propaganda, but Nostr is for the authentic voices of the people.

Those spreading Nostr must be so passionate they’re willing to onboard others, which is time-consuming but rewarding for the right person. They’ll need to make Nostr and onboarding a core part of who they are. I see no issue with that level of dedication. I’ve been known to get that way myself at times. It’s fun for some folks.

With love, I suggest not adding Bitcoin promotion with Nostr outreach. Zaps already integrate that element naturally. (Still promote within the Bitcoin ecosystem, but this is about reaching vulnerable voices who needed Nostr yesterday.)

To promote Nostr, forget conventional strategies. “Influencers” aren’t the answer. “Influencers” are not the future. A trusted local community member has real influence—reach them. Connect with people seeking Nostr’s benefits but lacking the technical language to express it. This means some in the Nostr community might need to step outside of the Bitcoin bubble, which is uncomfortable but necessary. Thank you in advance to those who are willing to do that.

I don’t know who is paid to promote Nostr, if anyone. This piece isn’t shade. But it’s exhausting to see innocent voices globally silenced on corporate platforms like X while Nostr exists. Last night, I wondered: how many more voices must be censored before the Nostr community gets uncomfortable and thinks creatively to reach the vulnerable?

A warning: the global need for censorship-resistant social media is undeniable. If Nostr doesn’t make itself known, something else will fill that void. Let’s start this conversation.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Bitcoin-focused investment firm Twenty One Capital has made headlines after buying 4,812 BTC worth $458.7 million, making it the third-largest corporate holder of the scarce digital asset.

The move is a big and public one towards becoming the “ultimate Bitcoin investment vehicle” according to its leadership, and is turning heads in both bitcoin and tradfi world.

Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin, bought the bitcoin on behalf of Twenty One Capital.

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 13, Tether acquired the bitcoin on May 9 at an average price of $95,319 per coin.

Twenty One Capital was launched in April 2025 through a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners, a Cayman Islands-based firm affiliated with Wall Street giant Cantor Fitzgerald. The company is backed by Tether, Bitfinex exchange and Japanese investment giant SoftBank.

Related: Cantor Fitzgerald, Tether and SoftBank Launch $3B Bitcoin Venture

The firm is led by Jack Mallers, founder of the bitcoin payments app Strike, who has been vocal about bitcoin business models.

“We want to be the ultimate vehicle for the capital markets to participate in Bitcoin… building on top of Bitcoin,” said Mallers in an interview. “So we are a Bitcoin business at our core.”

At launch, Twenty One Capital had 31,500 bitcoin on the balance sheet with plans to get to at least 42,000 BTC.

The breakdown of that initial allocation was 23,950 BTC from Tether, 10,500 BTC from SoftBank and about 7,000 BTC from Bitfinex—all to be converted into equity at $10 per share.

The company is openly modeling its strategy after what Bitcoiners call “Saylorization”—a term coined after Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, who started large-scale bitcoin accumulation by corporations in 2020.

“Twenty One Capital isn’t just stacking sats,” said Bitcoin advocate Max Keiser, “It’s leading a generational shift in corporate capital allocation … Jack Mallers is taking the Saylor playbook and turning it into an arms race.”

The strategy is simple: use bitcoin per share as a metric instead of earnings per share, prioritize bitcoin accumulation over short-term profits, and use the capital markets to fund purchases. Mallers said:

“We do intend to raise as much capital as we possibly can to acquire bitcoin. We will never have bitcoin per share negative… Our intent is to make sure when you are a shareholder of Twenty One that you are getting wealthier in Bitcoin terms.”

The bitcoin purchase was made at a time of growing market momentum.

On May 14, bitcoin hit $105,000 briefly before settling at around $104,000—a 7.5% gain in the past week. Retail buying has also picked up, with purchases under $10,000 up 3.4% over two weeks, suggesting continued bullishness.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Singapore, May 14, 2025 — NEUTRON, the leading Lightning Network infrastructure provider in Asia, is announcing a new partnership with Cobo, a globally trusted digital asset custody platform.

Through this collaboration, Cobo will integrate Neutron’s Lightning Network API, enabling real-time, cost-effective Bitcoin transactions across its services.

Neutron’s mission is to make the Lightning Network the financial backbone for modern Bitcoin use, bridging traditional finance with Bitcoin’s borderless, decentralized economy.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Cobo, a trusted leader in custodial services, to further accelerate Bitcoin infrastructure across Asia,” said Albert Buu, CEO of Neutron. 

“At Neutron, we are committed to providing enterprise businesses with easy and efficient integration into the Lightning Network, enabling next-generation global real-time settlement solutions.

“This partnership will not only drive innovation but also empower businesses across Asia with the fast, secure, and cost-effective benefits of Bitcoin payments.”

Neutron: The Lightning Engine for Bitcoin Adoption

Neutron provides a comprehensive API suite that allows businesses to instantly access the power of the Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s second-layer protocol designed for high-speed, scalable, and low-fee payments.

The integration is part of Neutron’s broader vision to equip forward-thinking institutions with the tools needed to participate in the next generation of Bitcoin utility.

Lightning-Powered Custody for the Next Era of Finance

Cobo’s integration of Neutron’s API gives institutional clients an additional option for BTC settlement, making Lightning Network access more programmable and easier to integrate within their existing systems.

“At Cobo, we’ve built our custody platform to combine uncompromising security with the scalability institutions need to grow,” said Dr. Changhao Jiang, CTO and Co-Founder of Cobo.

“Integrating Neutron’s Lightning Network API allows us to offer real-time, low-cost Bitcoin settlement at scale without compromising on trust or performance. Together, we’re laying the groundwork for faster, more efficient Bitcoin infrastructure across Asia.”

About Neutron

Neutron is Asia’s leading Bitcoin infrastructure company, helping businesses and individuals unlock the power of the Lightning Network, specializing in Lightning-as-a-Service.

nThrough its scalable API platform, mobile app, and lending product, Neutron empowers businesses and individuals to send, receive, save, and build with Bitcoin.
Want to bring Lightning into your product or platform? Reach out to our team at sales@neutron.me or visit us at www.neutron.me

About Cobo

Cobo is a trusted leader in digital asset custody and wallet infrastructure, providing an all-in-one platform for organizations and developers to easily build, automate, and scale their digital asset businesses securely.

Founded in 2017 by blockchain pioneers and headquartered in Singapore, Cobo is trusted by more than 500 leading digital asset businesses globally, safeguarding billions of dollars in assets.

Today, Cobo offers the industry’s only unified wallet platform that integrates all four digital asset wallet technologies – Custodial Wallets, MPC Wallets, Smart Contract Wallets, and Exchange Wallets.

Committed to the highest security standards and regulatory compliance, Cobo has a zero-incident track record and holds ISO 27001, SOC2 (Type 1 and Type 2) certifications, as well as licenses in multiple jurisdictions.

Recognized for its industry-leading innovations, Cobo has received accolades from prestigious entities such as Hedgeweek and Global Custodian. For more information, please visit www.cobo.com

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Ukraine is reportedly about to make history by becoming the first country in Europe to have a national bitcoin reserve, a move aimed at strengthening its economy during the war with Russia.

The plan is still in its early stages and Binance, the world’s largest digital asset exchange, is involved.

According to Incrypted, a Ukrainian digital asset news outlet, Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, First Deputy Chairman of the Finance, Tax and Customs Policy Committee, confirmed that the draft law is almost ready and will be submitted to the parliament soon.

“We will soon submit a draft law from the industry allowing the creation of crypto reserves,” Zheleznyak told Incrypted.

Earlier discussions mentioned a broader “crypto reserve” but the current plan is focused on bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset. If approved, the law will allow the National Bank of Ukraine to hold bitcoin as part of the country’s official reserves.

Since the war with Russia started, Ukraine has become one of the most bitcoin-friendly countries in the world.

In 2022 and 2023 Ukraine raised over $100 million in digital asset donations for defense and humanitarian purposes. A report from Chainalysis ranked the country among the top 10 countries for bitcoin adoption globally.

A rather vague and unconfirmed report by BitcoinTreasuries.net states that “holdings of public officials” currently stand at 46,351 BTC.

Ukraine bitcoin holdings as reported by BitcoinTreasuries

Supporters of the bitcoin reserve say it will help Ukraine protect its economy from war-related instability, inflation and currency depreciation.

By going digital, the government is looking for modern tools to strengthen its financial system in uncertain times. This is not just about storing bitcoin, it’s about establishing clear laws for digital assets ownership, management and use.

Binance is playing an advisory role in the project. The company has worked with Ukraine on digital asset education and regulations in the past and is now helping to shape the legal framework for the bitcoin reserve.

Kirill Khomyakov, Binance’s regional head for Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa, confirmed the company’s support, but warned it won’t be fast or easy.

“The creation of such a reserve will require significant changes in legislation,” Khomyakov said. “Another positive aspect is that this initiative will likely lead to greater clarity in the regulation of crypto assets in Ukraine.”

Despite the support from some officials, there are legal hurdles. Ukrainian laws don’t allow bitcoin to be in the official reserves. So the government needs to pass new laws for it to happen.

Efforts to legalize bitcoin in general have been going on for years. In 2021, a draft law on virtual assets was approved by Finance Committee but was withdrawn after the President’s Office and financial regulators objected.

Up to now, over 80 amendments have been proposed, showing how complicated the process is.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation is leading a larger reform that could introduce rules for digital asset exchanges, tax laws and anti-money laundering standards in the country.

Ukraine isn’t alone in considering bitcoin as a national reserve asset. In March 2025, the U.S. announced its own Strategic Bitcoin Reserve using BTC seized in criminal cases.

@ b04082ac:29b5c55b

Money has always been more than a medium of exchange. It reflects what societies value, how they organize trust, and what they choose to remember. This article explores the idea that money functions as a form of collective memory, and how Bitcoin may be restoring this role in a new way.

The Asante Example

In the Asante Empire, which flourished in West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries, gold dust served as the primary medium of exchange. To measure it, traders used ornate spoons made of brass. These spoons were often carved with birds, animals, or abstract symbols. They were not currency themselves, but tools used to handle gold dust accurately.

Importantly, these spoons also carried meaning. Symbols and proverbs embedded in the spoons conveyed lessons about honesty, community, and continuity. For example, the Sankofa bird, shown turning its head backward to retrieve an egg from its back, represented the proverb, “It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.” This was a reminder to learn from the past.

The spoons reflect an understanding that money and its instruments are not just practical tools. They are cultural artifacts that store shared values. In the Asante context, even measurement was ritualized and tied to ethics and memory.

Money as a Cultural Medium

This connection between money and cultural meaning is not unique to the Asante Empire. Modern fiat currencies also carry symbols, phrases, and designs that reflect national identity and political values.

The U.S. dollar includes Latin phrases and national symbols meant to convey stability and purpose. The British pound features royal iconography, reinforcing the idea of continuity and sovereignty. When the euro was introduced, it deliberately avoided specific national references. Itsdesign used bridges and windowsto suggest openness and cooperation across the continent.

These design choices show that societies still embed meaning into their money. Even in a digital or fiat context, money is used to transmit a story about who we are, where authority lies, and what we value.

The Fragility of Fiat Memory

While fiat money carries cultural symbols, the narratives behind those symbols can be fragile.

In 2021, the central bank of the Philippines removed democratic leaders from its banknotes,triggering public criticism. In the United States, attempts to replace Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20 billfaced repeated delays. These examples show how political control over money includes control over what stories are told and remembered.

Unlike objects passed down through generations, fiat memory can be edited or erased. In this sense, it is vulnerable. The meaning encoded in fiat systems can shift depending on who holds power.

Bitcoin as a New Form of Memory

Bitcoin is described as digital money. But it also introduces a different model of how societies can record value and preserve meaning.

The Bitcoin network launched in 2009 with a small message embedded in its first block: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” This was a reference to a newspaper headline that day and a clear sign of protest against financial bailouts, centralized monetary policy, and forever wars.

This moment marked the beginning of a system where memory is stored differently. Instead of relying on governments or institutions, Bitcoin stores its history on a public ledger maintained by a decentralized network of participants. Its memory is not symbolic or political; it is structural. Every transaction, every block, is preserved through time-stamped computation and consensus.

No single authority can change it. The rules are clear and publicly auditable. In this way, Bitcoin offers a version of money where memory is both neutral and resilient.

Cultural Expression and Community Values

Even though Bitcoin lacks the traditional symbols found on banknotes, it has developed its own culture. Phrases like “Don’t trust, verify” or “Stay humble, stack sats” are shared widely in the Bitcoin community. These ideas reflect a focus on self-responsibility, verification, and long-term thinking.

These proverbs can be compared to the carved messages on the Asante spoons. While the contexts are very different, the underlying idea is similar: a community using language and symbols to reinforce its shared values.

Bitcoin also has a well established and growing art scene. Bitcoin conferences often feature dedicated sections for art inspired by the protocol and its culture. Statues of Satoshi Nakamoto have been installed in cities like Budapest, Lugano, and Fornelli. These physical works reflect the desire to link Bitcoin’s abstract values to something tangible.

Looking Back to Look Forward

The Asante example helps us see that money has long been tied to memory and meaning. Their spoons were practical tools but also cultural anchors. Bitcoin, while new and digital, may be playing a similar role.

Instead of relying on political symbols or national myths, Bitcoin uses code, transparency, and global consensus to create trust. In doing so, it offers a way to preserve economic memory that does not depend on power or politics.

It’s still early to know what kind of legacy Bitcoin will leave. But if it succeeds, it may not just change how money works. It may also change how civilizations remember.

@ 40bdcc08:ad00fd2c

Introduction

Bitcoin’s OP_RETURN opcode, a mechanism for embedding small data in transactions, has ignited a significant debate within the Bitcoin community. Originally designed to support limited metadata while preserving Bitcoin’s role as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, OP_RETURN is now at the center of proposals that could redefine Bitcoin’s identity. The immutable nature of Bitcoin’s timechain makes it an attractive platform for data storage, creating tension with those who prioritize its monetary function. This discussion, particularly around Bitcoin Core pull request #32406 (GitHub PR #32406), highlights a critical juncture for Bitcoin’s future.

What is OP_RETURN?

Introduced in 2014, OP_RETURN allows users to attach up to 80 bytes of data to a Bitcoin transaction. Unlike other transaction outputs, OP_RETURN outputs are provably unspendable, meaning they don’t burden the Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) set—a critical database for Bitcoin nodes. This feature was a compromise to provide a standardized, less harmful way to include metadata, addressing earlier practices that embedded data in ways that bloated the UTXO set. The 80-byte limit and restriction to one OP_RETURN output per transaction are part of Bitcoin Core’s standardness rules, which guide transaction relay and mining but are not enforced by the network’s consensus rules (Bitcoin Stack Exchange).

Standardness vs. Consensus Rules

Standardness rules are Bitcoin Core’s default policies for relaying and mining transactions. They differ from consensus rules, which define what transactions are valid across the entire network. For OP_RETURN: - Consensus Rules: Allow OP_RETURN outputs with data up to the maximum script size (approximately 10,000 bytes) and multiple outputs per transaction (Bitcoin Stack Exchange). - Standardness Rules: Limit OP_RETURN data to 80 bytes and one output per transaction to discourage excessive data storage and maintain network efficiency.

Node operators can adjust these policies using settings like -datacarrier (enables/disables OP_RETURN relay) and -datacarriersize (sets the maximum data size, defaulting to 83 bytes to account for the OP_RETURN opcode and pushdata byte). These settings allow flexibility but reflect Bitcoin Core’s default stance on limiting data usage.

The Proposal: Pull Request #32406

Bitcoin Core pull request #32406, proposed by developer instagibbs, seeks to relax these standardness restrictions (GitHub PR #32406). Key changes include: - Removing Default Size Limits: The default -datacarriersize would be uncapped, allowing larger OP_RETURN data without a predefined limit. - Allowing Multiple Outputs: The restriction to one OP_RETURN output per transaction would be lifted, with the total data size across all outputs subject to a configurable limit. - Deprecating Configuration Options: The -datacarrier and -datacarriersize settings are marked as deprecated, signaling potential removal in future releases, which could limit node operators’ ability to enforce custom restrictions.

This proposal does not alter consensus rules, meaning miners and nodes can already accept transactions with larger or multiple OP_RETURN outputs. Instead, it changes Bitcoin Core’s default relay policy to align with existing practices, such as miners accepting non-standard transactions via services like Marathon Digital’s Slipstream (CoinDesk).

Node Operator Flexibility

Currently, node operators can customize OP_RETURN handling: - Default Settings: Relay transactions with one OP_RETURN output up to 80 bytes. - Custom Settings: Operators can disable OP_RETURN relay (-datacarrier=0) or adjust the size limit (e.g., -datacarriersize=100). These options remain in #32406 but are deprecated, suggesting that future Bitcoin Core versions might not support such customization, potentially standardizing the uncapped policy.

Arguments in Favor of Relaxing Limits

Supporters of pull request #32406 and similar proposals argue that the current restrictions are outdated and ineffective. Their key points include: - Ineffective Limits: Developers bypass the 80-byte limit using methods like Inscriptions, which store data in other transaction parts, often at higher cost and inefficiency (BitcoinDev Mailing List). Relaxing OP_RETURN could channel data into a more efficient format. - Preventing UTXO Bloat: By encouraging OP_RETURN use, which doesn’t affect the UTXO set, the proposal could reduce reliance on harmful alternatives like unspendable Taproot outputs used by projects like Citrea’s Clementine bridge. - Supporting Innovation: Projects like Citrea require more data (e.g., 144 bytes) for security proofs, and relaxed limits could enable new Layer 2 solutions (CryptoSlate). - Code Simplification: Developers like Peter Todd argue that these limits complicate Bitcoin Core’s codebase unnecessarily (CoinGeek). - Aligning with Practice: Miners already process non-standard transactions, and uncapping defaults could improve fee estimation and reduce reliance on out-of-band services, as noted by ismaelsadeeq in the pull request discussion.

In the GitHub discussion, developers like Sjors and TheCharlatan expressed support (Concept ACK), citing these efficiency and innovation benefits.

Arguments Against Relaxing Limits

Opponents, including prominent developers and community members, raise significant concerns about the implications of these changes: - Deviation from Bitcoin’s Purpose: Critics like Luke Dashjr, who called the proposal “utter insanity,” argue that Bitcoin’s base layer should prioritize peer-to-peer cash, not data storage (CoinDesk). Jason Hughes warned it could turn Bitcoin into a “worthless altcoin” (BeInCrypto). - Blockchain Bloat: Additional data increases the storage and processing burden on full nodes, potentially making node operation cost-prohibitive and threatening decentralization (CryptoSlate). - Network Congestion: Unrestricted data could lead to “spam” transactions, raising fees and hindering Bitcoin’s use for financial transactions. - Risk of Illicit Content: The timechain’s immutability means data, including potentially illegal or objectionable content, is permanently stored on every node. The 80-byte limit acts as a practical barrier, and relaxing it could exacerbate this issue. - Preserving Consensus: Developers like John Carvalho view the limits as a hard-won community agreement, not to be changed lightly.

In the pull request discussion, nsvrn and moth-oss expressed concerns about spam and centralization, advocating for gradual changes. Concept NACKs from developers like wizkid057 and Luke Dashjr reflect strong opposition.

Community Feedback

The GitHub discussion for pull request #32406 shows a divided community: - Support (Concept ACK): Sjors, polespinasa, ismaelsadeeq, miketwenty1, TheCharlatan, Psifour. - Opposition (Concept NACK): wizkid057, BitcoinMechanic, Retropex, nsvrn, moth-oss, Luke Dashjr. - Other: Peter Todd provided a stale ACK, indicating partial or outdated support.

Additional discussions on the BitcoinDev mailing list and related pull requests (e.g., #32359 by Peter Todd) highlight similar arguments, with #32359 proposing a more aggressive removal of all OP_RETURN limits and configuration options (GitHub PR #32359).

| Feedback Type | Developers | Key Points | |---------------|------------|------------| | Concept ACK | Sjors, ismaelsadeeq, others | Improves efficiency, supports innovation, aligns with mining practices. | | Concept NACK | Luke Dashjr, wizkid057, others | Risks bloat, spam, centralization, and deviation from Bitcoin’s purpose. | | Stale ACK | Peter Todd | Acknowledges proposal but with reservations or outdated support. |

Workarounds and Their Implications

The existence of workarounds, such as Inscriptions, which exploit SegWit discounts to embed data, is a key argument for relaxing OP_RETURN limits. These methods are costlier and less efficient, often costing more than OP_RETURN for data under 143 bytes (BitcoinDev Mailing List). Supporters argue that formalizing larger OP_RETURN data could streamline these use cases. Critics, however, see workarounds as a reason to strengthen, not weaken, restrictions, emphasizing the need to address underlying incentives rather than accommodating bypasses.

Ecosystem Pressures

External factors influence the debate: - Miners: Services like Marathon Digital’s Slipstream process non-standard transactions for a fee, showing that market incentives already bypass standardness rules. - Layer 2 Projects: Citrea’s Clementine bridge, requiring more data for security proofs, exemplifies the demand for relaxed limits to support innovative applications. - Community Dynamics: The debate echoes past controversies, like the Ordinals debate, where data storage via inscriptions raised similar concerns about Bitcoin’s purpose (CoinDesk).

Bitcoin’s Identity at Stake

The OP_RETURN debate is not merely technical but philosophical, questioning whether Bitcoin should remain a focused monetary system or evolve into a broader data platform. Supporters see relaxed limits as a pragmatic step toward efficiency and innovation, while opponents view them as a risk to Bitcoin’s decentralization, accessibility, and core mission. The community’s decision will have lasting implications, affecting node operators, miners, developers, and users.

Conclusion

As Bitcoin navigates this crossroads, the community must balance the potential benefits of relaxed OP_RETURN limits—such as improved efficiency and support for new applications—against the risks of blockchain bloat, network congestion, and deviation from its monetary roots. The ongoing discussion, accessible via pull request #32406 on GitHub (GitHub PR #32406). Readers are encouraged to explore the debate and contribute to ensuring that any changes align with Bitcoin’s long-term goals as a decentralized, secure, and reliable system.

@ d61f3bc5:0da6ef4a

I remember the first gathering of Nostr devs two years ago in Costa Rica. We were all psyched because Nostr appeared to solve the problem of self-sovereign online identity and decentralized publishing. The protocol seemed well-suited for textual content, but it wasn't really designed to handle binary files, like images or video.

The Problem

When I publish a note that contains an image link, the note itself is resilient thanks to Nostr, but if the hosting service disappears or takes my image down, my note will be broken forever. We need a way to publish binary data without relying on a single hosting provider.

We were discussing how there really was no reliable solution to this problem even outside of Nostr. Peer-to-peer attempts like IPFS simply didn't work; they were hopelessly slow and unreliable in practice. Torrents worked for popular files like movies, but couldn't be relied on for general file hosting.

Awesome Blossom

A year later, I attended the Sovereign Engineering demo day in Madeira, organized by Pablo and Gigi. Many projects were presented over a three hour demo session that day, but one really stood out for me.

Introduced by hzrd149 and Stu Bowman, Blossom blew my mind because it showed how we can solve complex problems easily by simply relying on the fact that Nostr exists. Having an open user directory, with the corresponding social graph and web of trust is an incredible building block.

Since we can easily look up any user on Nostr and read their profile metadata, we can just get them to simply tell us where their files are stored. This, combined with hash-based addressing (borrowed from IPFS), is all we need to solve our problem.

How Blossom Works

The Blossom protocol (Blobs Stored Simply on Mediaservers) is formally defined in a series of BUDs (Blossom Upgrade Documents). Yes, Blossom is the most well-branded protocol in the history of protocols. Feel free to refer to the spec for details, but I will provide a high level explanation here.

The main idea behind Blossom can be summarized in three points:

1. Users specify which media server(s) they use via their public Blossom settings published on Nostr;
2. All files are uniquely addressable via hashes;
3. If an app fails to load a file from the original URL, it simply goes to get it from the server(s) specified in the user's Blossom settings.

Just like Nostr itself, the Blossom protocol is dead-simple and it works!

Let's use this image as an example:

If you look at the URL for this image, you will notice that it looks like this:

blossom.primal.net/c1aa63f983a44185d039092912bfb7f33adcf63ed3cae371ebe6905da5f688d0.jpg

All Blossom URLs follow this format:

[server]/[file-hash].[extension]

The file hash is important because it uniquely identifies the file in question. Apps can use it to verify that the file they received is exactly the file they requested. It also gives us the ability to reliably get the same file from a different server.

Nostr users declare which media server(s) they use by publishing their Blossom settings. If I store my files on Server A, and they get removed, I can simply upload them to Server B, update my public Blossom settings, and all Blossom-capable apps will be able to find them at the new location. All my existing notes will continue to display media content without any issues.

Blossom Mirroring

Let's face it, re-uploading files to another server after they got removed from the original server is not the best user experience. Most people wouldn't have the backups of all the files, and/or the desire to do this work.

This is where Blossom's mirroring feature comes handy. In addition to the primary media server, a Blossom user can set one one or more mirror servers. Under this setup, every time a file is uploaded to the primary server the Nostr app issues a mirror request to the primary server, directing it to copy the file to all the specified mirrors. This way there is always a copy of all content on multiple servers and in case the primary becomes unavailable, Blossom-capable apps will automatically start loading from the mirror.

Mirrors are really easy to setup (you can do it in two clicks in Primal) and this arrangement ensures robust media handling without any central points of failure. Note that you can use professional media hosting services side by side with self-hosted backup servers that anyone can run at home.

Using Blossom Within Primal

Blossom is natively integrated into the entire Primal stack and enabled by default. If you are using Primal 2.2 or later, you don't need to do anything to enable Blossom, all your media uploads are blossoming already.

To enhance user privacy, all Primal apps use the "/media" endpoint per BUD-05, which strips all metadata from uploaded files before they are saved and optionally mirrored to other Blossom servers, per user settings. You can use any Blossom server as your primary media server in Primal, as well as setup any number of mirrors:

## Conclusion

For such a simple protocol, Blossom gives us three major benefits:

1. Verifiable authenticity. All Nostr notes are always signed by the note author. With Blossom, the signed note includes a unique hash for each referenced media file, making it impossible to falsify.
2. File hosting redundancy. Having multiple live copies of referenced media files (via Blossom mirroring) greatly increases the resiliency of media content published on Nostr.
3. Censorship resistance. Blossom enables us to seamlessly switch media hosting providers in case of censorship.

Thanks for reading; and enjoy! 🌸

@ c7e8fdda:b8f73146

🌍 Too Young. Too Idealistic. Too Alive. A message came in recently that stopped me cold.

It was from someone young—16 years old—but you’d never guess it from the depth of what they wrote. They spoke of having dreams so big they scare people. They’d had a spiritual awakening at 14, but instead of being nurtured, it was dismissed. Surrounded by people dulled by bitterness and fear, they were told to be realistic. To grow up. To face “reality.”

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

And that reality, to them, looked like a life that doesn’t feel like living at all.

They wrote that their biggest fear wasn’t failure—it was settling. Dimming their fire. Growing into someone they never chose to be.

And that—more than anything—scared them.

They told me that my book, I Don’t Want to Grow Up, brought them to tears because it validated what they already knew to be true. That they’re not alone. That it’s okay to want something different. That it’s okay to feel everything.

It’s messages like this that remind me why I write.

As many of you know, I include my personal email address at the back of all my books. And I read—and respond to—every single message that comes in. Whether it’s a few sentences or a life story, I see them all. And again and again, I’m reminded: there are so many of us out here quietly carrying the same truth.

Maybe you’ve felt the same. Maybe you still do.

Maybe you’ve been told your dreams are too big, too unrealistic. Maybe people around you—people who love you—try to shrink them down to something more “manageable.” Maybe they call it protection. Maybe they call it love.

But it feels like fear.

The path you wish to walk might be lonelier at first. It might not make sense to the people around you. But if it lights you up—follow it.

Because when you do, you give silent permission to others to do the same. You become living proof that another kind of life is possible. And that’s how we build a better world.

So to the person who wrote to me—and to every soul who feels the same way:

Keep going. Keep dreaming. Keep burning. You are not too young. You are not too idealistic. You are just deeply, radically alive.

And that is not a problem. That is a gift.

—

 If this speaks to you, my book I Don’t Want to Grow Up was written for this very reason—to remind you that your wildness is sacred, your truth is valid, and you’re not alone. Paperback/Kindle/Audiobook available here: scottstillmanblog.com

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. https://connect-test.layer3.press/articles/041a2dc8-5c42-4895-86ec-bc166ac0d315

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

KYC database of Coinbase, the largest U.S. digital asset exchange, has been breached and up to 1% of monthly active users, or around 100,000 customers, have had their personal info stolen.

Hackers reportedly bribed overseas customer support agents and contractors to leak internal company info and user data. They then demanded $20 million and threatened to release the stolen data if Coinbase didn’t pay.

Instead of paying the ransom, Coinbase said no and is setting up a $20 million reward fund for anyone who can help catch the hackers.

“They then tried to extort Coinbase for $20 million to cover this up. We said no,” the company said in a blog post. “Instead of paying the $20 million ransom, we’re establishing a $20 million reward fund.”

So what’s been stolen? The breach, which was first disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), did not involve any theft of customer funds, login credentials, private keys or wallets.

But the hackers did get:

• Full names
• Addresses
• Phone numbers
• Email addresses
• Last 4 digits of Social Security numbers
• Bank account numbers and some bank identifiers
• Government ID images (driver’s licenses, passports, etc.)
• Account balances and transaction history
• Internal corporate documents and training materials

Coinbase says Prime accounts were not affected and no passwords or 2FA codes were stolen.

According to Coinbase, the attackers targeted outsourced support agents in countries like India. They were offering cash bribes in exchange for access to the company’s internal customer support tools.

“What these attackers were doing was finding Coinbase employees and contractors based in India who were associated with our business process outsourcing or support operations, that kind of thing, and bribing them in order to obtain customer data,” said Philip Martin, Coinbase’s Chief Security Officer.

Coinbase said it first saw suspicious activity in January 2025 but didn’t get a direct email from the threat actors until May 11. The email had evidence of stolen data and the ransom demand.

Coinbase quickly launched an investigation, fired all the involved support agents and notified law enforcement. It also started notifying users via email on May 15.

The Coinbase data breach has hit it hard, financially and publicly. The company estimates it will spend $180-$400 million on security upgrades, reimbursements and other remediation.

Coinbase’s stock also took a hit, dropping 6.4% after the news broke, before rebounding.

Analysts say this couldn’t have come at a worse time, as Coinbase is about to be added to the S&P 500 index – a big deal for any publicly traded company.

It’s definitely an unfortunate timing. “This may push the industry to adopt stricter employee vetting and introduce some reputational risks,” said Bo Pei, analyst at U.S. Tiger Securities.

Coinbase will reimburse any customers who were tricked into sending their digital assets to the attackers as part of social engineering scams. They’ve also introduced new security measures:

• Extra ID verification for high-risk withdrawals
• Scam-awareness prompts
• A new U.S.-based support center
• Stronger insider threat monitoring
• Simulation testing for internal systems

Affected customers have already been notified and the exchange is working with U.S. and international law enforcement to track down the attackers.

This is part of a larger trend in the digital assets world. Earlier this year, Bybit, another exchange, was hit with a $1.5 billion theft, dubbed the biggest digital asset heist in history.

Research from Chainalysis shows over $2.2 billion was stolen from digital asset platforms in 2024 alone.

@ f7d424b5:618c51e8

Listen to the new episode here!

Finally some good news. Good new games, worthwhile remakes, and bloggers facing the consequences of their actions. Gaming is healing. Let's talk about it!

Stuff cited:

• Expedition 33 reviews

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• Discuss this episode on OUR NEW FORUM
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Reminder that this is a Value4Value podcast so any support you can give us via a modern podcasting app is greatly appreciated and we will never bow to corporate sponsors!

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) are not rushing to stack sats, and Oliver Porter, Founder & CEO of Jippi, understands the challenge better than most. His strategy revolves around adapting Bitcoin education to fit seamlessly into the digital lives of young adults.

“We need to meet them where they are,” Oliver explains. “90% of Gen Z plays games. 70% expect to earn rewards.”

So, what will effectively introduce them to Bitcoin? In Oliver’s mind, the answer is simple: games that don’t feel preachy but still plant the orange pill.

Learn more at Jippi.app

That’s exactly what Jippi is. Based in Austin, Texas, the team has created a mobile augmented reality (AR) game that rewards players in bitcoin and sneakily teaches them why sound money matters.

“It’s Pokémon GO… but for sats,” Oliver puts it succinctly.

Jippi is like Pokemon Go, but for sats

Oliver’s Bitcoin journey, like many in the space, began long before he was ready. A former colleague had tried planting the seed years earlier, handing him a copy of The Bitcoin Standard. But the moment passed.

It wasn’t until the chaos of 2020 when lockdowns hit, printing presses roared, and civil liberties shrank that the message finally landed for him.

“The government got so good at doing reverse Robin Hood,” Oliver explains. “They steal from the working population and reward the rich.”

By 2020, though, the absurdity of the covid hysteria had caused his eyes to be opened and the orange light seemed the best path back to freedom.

He left the UK for Austin “one of the best places for Bitcoiners,” he says, and dove headfirst into the industry, working at Swan for a year before founding Jippi on PlebLab’s accelerator program.

Jippi’s flagship game lets players roam their cities hunting digital creatures, Bitcoin Beasts, tied to real-world locations. Catching them requires answering Bitcoin trivia, and the reward is sats.

No jargon. No hour-long lectures. Just gameplay with sound money principles woven right in.

The model is working. At a recent hackathon in Austin, Jippi beat out 14 other teams to win first place and $15,000 in prize money.

Oliver of Jippi won Top Builder Season 2 — PlebLab on X

“We’re backdooring Bitcoin education,” Oliver admits. “And while we’re at it, encouraging people to get outside and touch grass.”

Not everyone’s been thrilled. When Jippi team members visited one of the more liberal-leaning places in Texas, UT Austin, to test interest in Bitcoin, they found some seriously committed no-coiners on the campus.

“One young woman told me, ‘I would rather die than talk about Bitcoin,'” Oliver recalls, highlighting the cultural resistance that’s built up among younger demographics.

This resistance is backed by hard data. According to Oliver, some of the Bitcoin podcasters they met with in the space to do market research reported that less than 1% of their listeners are from Gen Z and that number is dropping.

“Unless we find a way to capture their interest in a meaningful way, there’s going to be a big problem around trying to sway Gen Z away from the siren call of s***coins and crypto casinos and towards Bitcoin,” Oliver warns.

Jippi’s next big move is Las Vegas, where they’ll launch the Beast Catch experience at the Venetian during a major Bitcoin event. To mark the occasion, they’re opening up six limited sponsorship spots for Bitcoin companies, each one tied to a custom in-game beast.

Jippi looks to launch a special event at Bitcoin 2025

“It’s real estate inside the game,” Oliver explains. “Brands become allies, not intrusions. You get a logo, company name, and call to action, so we can push people to your site or app.”

Bitcoin Well—an automatic self-custody Bitcoin platform—has claimed Beast #1. Only five exclusive spots remain for Bitcoin companies to “beastify their brand” through Jippi’s immersive AR game.

“I love the Jippi mission. I think gamified learning is how we will onboard the next generation and it’s exciting to see what the Jippi team is doing! I love working with bitcoiners towards our common mission – bullish!” said Adam O’Brien, Bitcoin Well CEO.

Jippi’s sponsorship model is simple: align incentives, respect users, and support builders. Instead of throwing ad money at tech giants, Bitcoin companies can connect with new users naturally while they’re having fun and earning sats in the process.

For Bitcoin companies looking to reach a younger demographic, this represents a unique opportunity to showcase their brand to up to 30,000 potential customers at the Vegas event.

Jippi Bitcoin Beast partnership

While Jippi’s current focus is simple, get the game into more cities, Oliver sees a future where AR glasses and AI help personalize Bitcoin education even further.

“The magic is going to really happen when Apple releases the glasses form factor,” he says, describing how augmented reality could enhance real-world connections rather than isolate users.

In the longer term, Jippi aims to evolve from a free-to-play model toward a pay-to-play version with higher stakes. Users would form “tribes” with friends to compete for substantial bitcoin prizes, creating social connections along with financial education.

Unlike VC-backed startups, Jippi is raising funds pleb style via Timestamp, an open investment platform for Bitcoin companies.

“You don’t have to be an accredited investor,” Oliver explains. “You’re directly supporting the parallel Bitcoin economy by investing in Bitcoin companies for equity.”

Anyone can invest as little as $100. Perks include early access, exclusive game content, and even creating your own beast design with your name/pseudonym and unique game lore. Each investment comes with direct ownership of an early-stage Bitcoin company like Jippi.

For Oliver, this is more than just a business. It’s about future-proofing Bitcoin adoption and ensuring Satoshi’s vision lives on, especially as many people are lured by altcoins, NFTs, and social media dopamine.

“We’re on the right side of history,” he says firmly. “I want my grandkids to know that early on in the Bitcoin revolution, games like Jippi helped make it stick.”

In a world increasingly absorbed by screens and short attention spans, Jippi’s combination of outdoor play, sats rewards, and Bitcoin education might be exactly the bridge Gen Z needs.

Interested in sponsoring a Beast or investing in Jippi? Reach out to Jippi directly by heading to their partnerships page on their website or visit their Timestamp page to invest in Jippi today.

@ 58537364:705b4b85

“สุขเวทนา” ที่แท้ก็คือ “มายา”
เป็นเหมือนลูกคลื่นลูกหนึ่ง
ที่เกิดขึ้นเพราะน้ำถูกลมพัด
เดี๋ยวมันก็แตกกระจายไป

---

หากต้องการจะมีชีวิตอย่างเกษมแล้ว
ก็ต้องอาศัยความรู้เรื่อง อนิจจัง ทุกขัง อนัตตา ให้สมบูรณ์
มันจะต่อต้านกันได้กับอารมณ์ คือ รูป เสียง กลิ่น รส สัมผัส ที่มากระทบ
ไม่ให้ไปหลงรัก หรือหลงเกลียด

เรื่องวุ่นวายมีอยู่ ๒ อย่างเท่านั้น

1. ไปหลงรัก อย่างหนึ่ง
2. ไปหลงเกลียด อย่างหนึ่ง

ซึ่งเป็นเหตุให้หัวเราะและต้องร้องไห้
ถ้าใครมองเห็นว่า หัวเราะก็กระหืดกระหอบ มันเหนื่อยเหมือนกัน
ร้องไห้ก็กระหืดกระหอบ เหมือนกัน
สู้อยู่เฉย ๆ ดีกว่า อย่าต้องหัวเราะ อย่าต้องร้องไห้
นี่แหละ! มันเป็นความเกษม

เราอย่าได้ตกไปเป็นทาสของอารมณ์
จนไปหัวเราะหรือร้องไห้ตามที่อารมณ์มายั่ว
เราเป็นอิสระแก่ตัว หยุดอยู่ หรือเกษมอยู่อย่างนี้ดีกว่า

---

ใช้ อนิจจัง ทุกขัง อนัตตา เป็นเครื่องมือกำกับชีวิต

• รูป เสียง กลิ่น รส สัมผัส เป็น มายา เป็น illusion
• "ตัวกู-ของกู" ก็เป็น illusion
• เพราะ "ตัวกู-ของกู" มันเกิดมาจากอารมณ์
• "ตัวกู-ของกู" เป็นมายา อารมณ์ทั้งหลายก็เป็นมายา

เห็นได้ด้วยหลัก อนิจจัง ทุกขัง อนัตตา
...ความทุกข์ก็ไม่เกิด

---

เราจะตัดลัดมองไปดูสิ่งที่เป็น “สุขเวทนา”

สุขเวทนา คือ ความสุขสนุกสนาน เอร็ดอร่อย
ที่เป็นสุขนั้นเรียกว่า “สุขเวทนา”

แต่สุขเวทนา เป็นมายา
เพราะมันเป็นเหมือนลูกคลื่นที่เกิดขึ้นเป็นคราว ๆ
ไม่ใช่ตัวจริงอะไร

ที่พูดดังนี้ก็เพราะว่า
ในบรรดาสิ่งทั้งปวงในโลกทั้งหมดทุกโลก
ไม่ว่าโลกไหน มันมีค่าอยู่ก็ตรงที่ให้เกิดสุขเวทนา

ลองคิดดูให้ดีว่า...
- ท่านศึกษาเล่าเรียนทำไม?
- ท่านประกอบอาชีพ หน้าที่การงานทำไม?
- ท่านสะสมทรัพย์สมบัติ เกียรติยศ ชื่อเสียง พวกพ้องบริวารทำไม?

มันก็เพื่อสุขเวทนาอย่างเดียว
เพราะฉะนั้น แปลว่า อะไร ๆ มันก็มารวมจุดอยู่ที่สุขเวทนาหมด

ฉะนั้น ถ้าเรามีความรู้ในเรื่องนี้
จัดการกับเรื่องนี้ให้ถูกต้องเพียงเรื่องเดียวเท่านั้น
ทุกเรื่องมันถูกหมด

เพราะฉะนั้น จึงต้องดูสุขเวทนาให้ถูกต้องตามที่เป็นจริงว่า
มันก็เป็น “มายา” ชนิดหนึ่ง

เราจะต้องจัดการให้สมกันกับที่มันเป็นมายา
ไม่ใช่ว่า จะต้องไปตั้งข้อรังเกียจ เกลียดชังมัน
อย่างนั้นมันยิ่ง บ้าบอที่สุด

ถ้าเข้าไปหลงรัก หลงเป็นทาสมัน
ก็เป็นเรื่อง บ้าบอที่สุด

แต่ว่าไปจัดการกับมันอย่างไรให้ถูกต้อง
นั้นแหละเป็นธรรมะ
เป็น ลูกศิษย์ของพระพุทธเจ้า
ที่จะเอาชนะความทุกข์ได้ และไม่ต้องเป็น โรคทางวิญญาณ

---

สุขเวทนา ที่แท้ก็คือ มายา

มันก็ต้องทำโดยวิธีที่พิจารณาให้เห็นว่า
“สุขเวทนา” นี้ ที่แท้ก็คือ “มายา”

เป็นเหมือน ลูกคลื่นลูกหนึ่ง
ที่เกิดขึ้นเพราะ น้ำถูกลมพัด

หมายความว่า
เมื่อ รูป เสียง กลิ่น รส ฯ เข้ามา
แล้ว ความโง่ คือ อวิชชา โมหะ ออกรับ
กระทบกันแล้วเป็นคลื่น

กล่าวคือ สุขเวทนาเกิดขึ้นมา
แต่ เดี๋ยวมันก็แตกกระจายไป

---

ถ้ามองเห็นอย่างนี้แล้ว
เราก็ไม่เป็นทาสของสุขเวทนา
เราสามารถ ควบคุม จะจัด จะทำกับมันได้
ในวิธีที่ ไม่เป็นทุกข์

• ตัวเองก็ไม่เป็นทุกข์
• ครอบครัวก็ไม่เป็นทุกข์
• เพื่อนบ้านก็ไม่เป็นทุกข์
• คนทั้งโลกก็ไม่พลอยเป็นทุกข์
  เพราะมีเราเป็นมูลเหตุ

ถ้าทุกคนเป็นอย่างนี้
โลกนี้ก็มีสันติภาพถาวร
เป็นความสุขที่แท้จริงและถาวร

นี่คือ อานิสงส์ของการหายโรคโดยวิธีต่าง ๆ กัน
ไม่เป็นโรค “ตัวกู” ไม่เป็นโรค “ของกู”

---

พุทธทาสภิกขุ
ที่มา : คำบรรยายชุด “แก่นพุทธศาสน์”
ปีพุทธศักราช ๒๕๐๔
ครั้งที่ ๑
หัวข้อเรื่อง “ใจความทั้งหมดของพระพุทธศาสนา”
ณ ศิริราชพยาบาล มหาวิทยาลัยมหิดล
เมื่อวันที่ ๑๗ ธันวาคม ๒๕๐๔

@ 68d6e729:e5f442ac

The Adapter Pattern in TypeScript

What is the Adapter Pattern?

The Adapter Pattern is a structural design pattern that allows objects with incompatible interfaces to work together. It acts as a bridge between two interfaces, enabling integration without modifying existing code.

In simple terms: it adapts one interface to another.

Real-World Analogy

Imagine you have a U.S. laptop charger and you travel to Europe. The charger plug won't fit into the European socket. You need a plug adapter to convert the U.S. plug into a European-compatible one. The charger stays the same, but the adapter allows it to work in a new context.

When to Use the Adapter Pattern

• You want to use an existing class but its interface doesn't match your needs.
• You want to create a reusable class that cooperates with classes of incompatible interfaces.
• You need to integrate third-party APIs or legacy systems with your application.

Implementing the Adapter Pattern in TypeScript

Let’s go through a practical example.

Scenario

Suppose you’re developing a payment system. You already have a PaymentProcessor interface that your application uses. Now, you want to integrate a third-party payment gateway with a different method signature.

Step 1: Define the Target Interface

javascript ts CopyEdit// The interface your application expects interface PaymentProcessor { pay(amount: number): void; }

Step 2: Create an Adaptee (incompatible class)

javascript ts CopyEdit// A third-party library with a different method class ThirdPartyPaymentGateway { makePayment(amountInCents: number): void { console.log(`Payment of $${amountInCents / 100} processed via third-party gateway.`); } }

Step 3: Implement the Adapter

```javascript ts CopyEdit// Adapter makes the third-party class compatible with PaymentProcessor class PaymentAdapter implements PaymentProcessor { private gateway: ThirdPartyPaymentGateway;

constructor(gateway: ThirdPartyPaymentGateway) { this.gateway = gateway; }

pay(amount: number): void { const amountInCents = amount * 100; this.gateway.makePayment(amountInCents); } } ```

Step 4: Use the Adapter in Client Code

```javascript ts CopyEditconst thirdPartyGateway = new ThirdPartyPaymentGateway(); const adapter: PaymentProcessor = new PaymentAdapter(thirdPartyGateway);

// Application uses a standard interface adapter.pay(25); // Output: Payment of $25 processed via third-party gateway. ```

Advantages of the Adapter Pattern

• Decouples code from third-party implementations.
• Promotes code reuse by adapting existing components.
• Improves maintainability when dealing with legacy systems or libraries.

Class Adapter vs Object Adapter

In languages like TypeScript, which do not support multiple inheritance, the object adapter approach (shown above) is preferred. However, in classical OOP languages like C++, you may also see class adapters, which rely on inheritance.

Conclusion

The Adapter Pattern is a powerful tool in your design pattern arsenal, especially when dealing with incompatible interfaces. In TypeScript, it helps integrate third-party APIs and legacy systems seamlessly, keeping your code clean and extensible.

By learning and applying the Adapter Pattern, you can make your applications more robust and flexible—ready to adapt to ever-changing requirements. https://fox.layer3.press/articles/cdd71195-62a4-420b-9e24-e23d78b27452

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Key Takeaways

Lyn Alden unpacks the complex interplay of global trade imbalances, the dollar’s entrenched reserve currency status, and America’s eroded industrial base, arguing that aggressive tariffs under Trump have backfired by hurting U.S. businesses without reversing decades of offshoring. She illustrates how China has rapidly ascended the value chain, dominating key industries and making it nearly impossible for the U.S. to build a trade coalition against them. Despite the U.S.’s massive debt and persistent global demand for dollars, cracks are forming in the system as nations explore alternative payment systems and neutral reserve assets like gold and Bitcoin. Lyn emphasizes that Bitcoin’s most effective path to integration is through grassroots and corporate adoption, not government-led initiatives, and warns that unless the U.S. urgently scales its energy and industrial capacity, it risks falling further behind China’s unmatched pace of growth and infrastructure dominance.

Best Quotes

• "The trade deficit is often described as us sending out pieces of paper and getting goods and services, which sounds like a really good deal."
• "It's better to correct these imbalances from a position of strength, not weakness."
• "All that debt creates inflexible demand for dollars. There’s literally way more demand than dollars in the system."
• "China became the largest auto exporter in the world in just four years."
• "Bitcoin isn’t changing to fit into the global financial system. The global financial system is changing to fit Bitcoin."
• "Individuals, small businesses, corporations—these are the real drivers of Bitcoin adoption. Not governments."

Conclusion

This episode offers a sobering look at America’s trade and currency dilemmas, with Lyn Alden explaining why quick policy fixes like tariffs can’t reverse decades of deindustrialization tied to the dollar’s reserve status. She highlights the rise of neutral reserve assets like gold and Bitcoin as important hedges, stressing that grassroots and corporate adoption will be more effective than government-led efforts. Lyn also warns that without a major push to expand energy production, the U.S. risks falling behind in an AI-driven, hardware-centric world, urging strategic humility and innovation to navigate the shifting global order.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
0:31 - Triffin's dilemma
8:10 - Debt leverage
11:04 - Fold & Bitkey
12:41 - Trump's goals and tariff policy
19:54 - Unchained
20:24 - China is not weak
30:07 - Energy
37:15 - AI/robots
41:11 - SBR
48:47 - Bitcoin credit products
52:40 - Eventful week for bitcoin

Transcript

(00:00) They ramped up tariffs super high, super quickly. In many cases, were so high that they hurt us as much as some of our trade adversaries. China has ramped up to like unfathomable degrees. Nuclear, solar, pretty much everything that they can throw money at they're building. The trade is often described as us sending out pieces of paper and getting goods and services, which sounds like a really good deal.
(00:19) They take those slips of paper and then they buy our stocks. They buy our corporate bonds and government bonds. And so they end up owning a larger and larger share of corporate America. got the headphone hair. I'm all out of whack, Lynn. It's been a long week here in Austin. Yeah, I can imagine. It's been a long time since we've talked on the show. It's been two years.
(00:41) I was checking, which is a astonishing to me. But no better time than now. Uh I think quite literally based off of all the conversations we've had uh over the years. I mean, your famous saying, nothing stops this train. I think we're coming to a juncture where that's becoming abundantly clear. and you wrote uh a newsletter earlier this week, I believe you sent it out Sunday, that basically highlighted the crux of the problem, which is the dollar reserve status and the almost impossible task that Trump would like to accomplish, but
(01:21) likely isn't the case, which is sort of solving Triffin's dilemma of reshoring manufacturing while keeping US dollar dominance. So I think diving into this from first principles would be great. Sure. Yeah. And that's that's the um I can imagine the administration's challenge of trying to communicate this because uh the intricacies of how trade deficits and the reserve currency kind of pair together is very wonkish.
(01:46) It it kind of has this like academic quality to it that doesn't go over well uh in kind of political oriented speeches. Um like I would I would be terrible at a political rally for example when I try to explain any of this. Um and so we kind of have this situation where um and this was outlined back during the Breton Wood system by Triffin as you mentioned uh which is that having the reserve currency does come with a bunch of benefits um you know historically called a extraordin uh exorbitant privilege um but then it has certain costs to
(02:15) maintain it and those costs can vary a bit depending on how the system structure. So for example back in the Bretton Woods era the cost was that we kept draining our gold reserves. uh we basically had to kind of keep paying out our go gold gold reserves to maintain that part of the system and in the current formation uh instead we kind of pay for it with our industrial base.
(02:36) We keep kind of sending out little parts of our industrial base over time to maintain the the global reserve currency status. And there's a few reasons for that. One is that um because unlike every other fiat currency, the dollar has all these extra demands for it by countries all around the world. um all these different purposes.
(02:55) um there's this extra demand for dollars which sounds good on the surface and as for Americans for example we have tons of import power when we go on vacations to the rest of the world it's you know we have pretty strong purchasing power compared to when they come to the US um these things seem good on the surface but it also means that it's pretty expensive to manufacture lower margin things here at home uh and so we have this kind of situation where our imports are very strong our exports uh especially lower margin stuff is less uh
(03:22) competitive whereas we can still be competitive competitive on really high margin stuff, you know, technology, finance, healthcare, that kind of thing. Um, and then the other aspect is that even if you could somehow solve that, there's the more fundamental problem, which is that the whole world needs dollars uh for the you know, global reserve currency status to use it for international contract pricing, crossber financing, one side of every trade pair that they do, all these different purposes as a reserve asset. Um uh and
(03:51) when you step back and say, "Well, how do they get all those dollars if they're all using dollars? How did all those dollars get out there?" And the answer is trade deficits. Um basically that overvalued aspect forces open the US trade deficit. And every year we send out hundreds of billions or sometimes a trillion dollars in net outflows.
(04:10) And over years and decades, these have accumulated out there. And so, uh, kind of the way it works is that if you want to fix the trade deficit, which I've been I've been writing about since 2019, I think that's a I think that's a valid mandate to do. Um, unfortunately does come with trade-offs.
(04:26) Uh, some of the some of the benefits that that you know that we enjoy at the cost of the trade deficit. Um, if you do want to kind of fix that imbalance, it comes up, you know, with with basically giving away at least some of those benefits and prioritizing that that industrial base a bit more. And one of the dynamics that you highlighted in your newsletter, which makes sense, but wasn't very clear to me before, is that via these deficits, we flood international markets with dollars because we're sending parts of our industrial base over there. But then
(05:00) it's like cyclical. They take those dollars and then reinvest them in US financial assets. So it has this sort of flow where it goes out but then it comes back in into the financialized economy via equities and real estate and other such assets and that is good for asset owners here in the United States.
(05:19) But again I think that's is part of the bag of mandate is that sort of cycle has led to this large wealth gap in the United States that they're trying to fix. Yeah. Exactly. Um and so basically the opposite side of a current account deficit which is basically so the trade deficit plus things like interest and dividends.
(05:39) Um so we run a structural current account deficit and the opposite side of that is a capital account surplus. Um which is that funds flow in the rest of the world and buy our financial assets. Uh and so it's the the trade deficit is often described as us sending out pieces of paper and getting goods and services which sounds like a really good deal.
(05:57) Um but then the extra step of that that you mentioned is that they take those slips of paper or really those electronic digits that they have and then they buy our stocks, they buy our real estate, they buy our private equity, they they buy our corporate bonds and government bonds and so they end up owning a larger and larger share of corporate America as part of their kind of accumulated uh trade surpluses uh and reserve assets and uh international private assets.
(06:22) Um, and the kind of the consequence of this, if you kind of like view the foreign sector as an intermediary, we're basically constantly kind of taking economic vibrancy out of, you know, Michigan and Ohio and, uh, you know, rural Pennsylvania where the steel m

@ 52b4a076:e7fad8bd

Introduction

Me and Fishcake have been working on infrastructure for Noswhere and Nostr.build. Part of this involves processing a large amount of Nostr events for features such as search, analytics, and feeds.

I have been recently developing nosdex v3, a newer version of the Noswhere scraper that is designed for maximum performance and fault tolerance using FoundationDB (FDB).

Fishcake has been working on a processing system for Nostr events to use with NB, based off of Cloudflare (CF) Pipelines, which is a relatively new beta product. This evening, we put it all to the test.

First preparations

We set up a new CF Pipelines endpoint, and I implemented a basic importer that took data from the nosdex database. This was quite slow, as it did HTTP requests synchronously, but worked as a good smoke test.

Asynchronous indexing

I implemented a high-contention queue system designed for highly parallel indexing operations, built using FDB, that supports: - Fully customizable batch sizes - Per-index queues - Hundreds of parallel consumers - Automatic retry logic using lease expiration

When the scraper first gets an event, it will process it and eventually write it to the blob store and FDB. Each new event is appended to the event log.

On the indexing side, a Queuer will read the event log, and batch events (usually 2K-5K events) into one work job. This work job contains: - A range in the log to index - Which target this job is intended for - The size of the job and some other metadata

Each job has an associated leasing state, which is used to handle retries and prioritization, and ensure no duplication of work.

Several Workers monitor the index queue (up to 128) and wait for new jobs that are available to lease.

Once a suitable job is found, the worker acquires a lease on the job and reads the relevant events from FDB and the blob store.

Depending on the indexing type, the job will be processed in one of a number of ways, and then marked as completed or returned for retries.

In this case, the event is also forwarded to CF Pipelines.

Trying it out

The first attempt did not go well. I found a bug in the high-contention indexer that led to frequent transaction conflicts. This was easily solved by correcting an incorrectly set parameter.

We also found there were other issues in the indexer, such as an insufficient amount of threads, and a suspicious decrease in the speed of the Queuer during processing of queued jobs.

Along with fixing these issues, I also implemented other optimizations, such as deprioritizing Worker DB accesses, and increasing the batch size.

To fix the degraded Queuer performance, I ran the backfill job by itself, and then started indexing after it had completed.

Bottlenecks, bottlenecks everywhere

After implementing these fixes, there was an interesting problem: The DB couldn't go over 80K reads per second. I had encountered this limit during load testing for the scraper and other FDB benchmarks.

As I suspected, this was a client thread limitation, as one thread seemed to be using high amounts of CPU. To overcome this, I created a new client instance for each Worker.

After investigating, I discovered that the Go FoundationDB client cached the database connection. This meant all attempts to create separate DB connections ended up being useless.

Using OpenWithConnectionString partially resolved this issue. (This also had benefits for service-discovery based connection configuration.)

To be able to fully support multi-threading, I needed to enabled the FDB multi-client feature. Enabling it also allowed easier upgrades across DB versions, as FDB clients are incompatible across versions:

FDB_NETWORK_OPTION_EXTERNAL_CLIENT_LIBRARY="/lib/libfdb_c.so" FDB_NETWORK_OPTION_CLIENT_THREADS_PER_VERSION="16"

Breaking the 100K/s reads barrier

After implementing support for the multi-threaded client, we were able to get over 100K reads per second.

You may notice after the restart (gap) the performance dropped. This was caused by several bugs: 1. When creating the CF Pipelines endpoint, we did not specify a region. The automatically selected region was far away from the server. 2. The amount of shards were not sufficient, so we increased them. 3. The client overloaded a few HTTP/2 connections with too many requests.

I implemented a feature to assign each Worker its own HTTP client, fixing the 3rd issue. We also moved the entire storage region to West Europe to be closer to the servers.

After these changes, we were able to easily push over 200K reads/s, mostly limited by missing optimizations:

It's shards all the way down

While testing, we also noticed another issue: At certain times, a pipeline would get overloaded, stalling requests for seconds at a time. This prevented all forward progress on the Workers.

We solved this by having multiple pipelines: A primary pipeline meant to be for standard load, with moderate batching duration and less shards, and high-throughput pipelines with more shards.

Each Worker is assigned a pipeline on startup, and if one pipeline stalls, other workers can continue making progress and saturate the DB.

The stress test

After making sure everything was ready for the import, we cleared all data, and started the import.

The entire import lasted 20 minutes between 01:44 UTC and 02:04 UTC, reaching a peak of: - 0.25M requests per second - 0.6M keys read per second - 140MB/s reads from DB - 2Gbps of network throughput

FoundationDB ran smoothly during this test, with: - Read times under 2ms - Zero conflicting transactions - No overloaded servers

CF Pipelines held up well, delivering batches to R2 without any issues, while reaching its maximum possible throughput.

Finishing notes

Me and Fishcake have been building infrastructure around scaling Nostr, from media, to relays, to content indexing. We consistently work on improving scalability, resiliency and stability, even outside these posts.

Many things, including what you see here, are already a part of Nostr.build, Noswhere and NFDB, and many other changes are being implemented every day.

If you like what you are seeing, and want to integrate it, get in touch. :)

If you want to support our work, you can zap this post, or register for nostr.land and nostr.build today.

@ e5fa3d8c:44057ac9

This post has been deleted.

@ 4e7c1e83:1c2939b5

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@ 58937958:545e6994

Since it's Bitcoin Pizza Day, I made a Bitcoin pizza!

To give it a Japanese twist, I made it a mentaiko pizza (※ mentaiko = spicy cod roe, a popular Japanese ingredient often used in pasta or rice dishes). For the Bitcoin logo, I used a salmon terrine.

Salmon Terrine

I cut out the "B" logo using hanpen (※ hanpen = a soft, white Japanese fish cake made from fish paste and yam). Tip: You can also cut a colored plastic folder into the "B" shape and place it on top as a stencil — makes it easier!

I blended salmon, hanpen, milk, egg, and a bit of salt in a food processor, poured it into a container, and baked it in a water bath.

Pizza Dough

I mixed bread flour, dry yeast, salt, olive oil, and water, then kneaded it with determination! Let it rise for about an hour until fluffy.

Mentaiko Mayo Topping

I mixed mentaiko, mayonnaise, and soy sauce.

I spread out the dough, added the mentaiko mayo, cheese, and corn, then baked it. Halfway through, I added thin slices of mochi (rice cake). After baking, I topped it with seaweed and the salmon terrine to finish!

Lots to reflect on

About the Terrine

In the video, you’ll see I divided the terrine into two portions. I was worried that the salmon and hanpen parts might end up looking too similar in color, making the “B” logo hard to see.

So for one half, I added ketchup, thinking: “Maybe this will make the red more vibrant?” But even with the ketchup, it didn’t change much.

The Mochi

I accidentally bought thinly sliced mochi, but I realized it might burn too easily as a pizza topping. Regular mochi with standard thickness is probably better.

I added the mochi halfway through baking, opening the oven once, but now I’m thinking that might have lowered the oven temp too much.

Lessons Learned

This was my first and only attempt—no test run beforehand— so I ended up with a long list of lessons learned. In the future, I should definitely do a trial version first… But you know… salmon and mentaiko are expensive! (excuses, excuses)

Cheese

I wanted to do that Instagram-worthy cheese pull moment, but nope. No stretch. None at all. I think that kind of thing needs a totally different kind of cheese or prep. Will have to experiment more.

Taste Test

Actually really good. I usually don’t eat mentaiko mayo myself, and I’m a Margherita pizza fan at heart. But this was surprisingly nice. A little rich in flavor—made me crave a bowl of rice. Next time, I might skip the soy sauce to tone it down a bit.

nostr:nevent1qqsrhularycewltxz88e9wrwutkqu5pkylh3vxrmys2e0nuh7c2h06qgqp9zc

@ d0aa74cd:603d35cd

CLI #Haskell

https://photonsphere.org/post/2025-05-03-command-line-energy-prices-haskell/