@ 81022b27:2b8d0644

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

Well, like CHIROPRACTIC.

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

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

“What a load of shit!”

And that made my ears perk up.

So I started going to the club meetings.

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

He pointed out areas that were subluxated:

“Here.”

And going further down:

“Here.”

And:

“Here.”

Wow.

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

My mind was blown.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oops.

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

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

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

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

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

Dammit! Now I have a headache!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I tell my clients :

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

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

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

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

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

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The loans are not speculative or unsecured.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cantor is also a big player in the stablecoin space.

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

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

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

This also shows how traditional financial players are embracing DeFi.

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

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

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

@ c11cf5f8:4928464d

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

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

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Top-Performing Ads

This month, the most engaging ones are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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In case you missed

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

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

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Hey sellers! Try Auctions

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

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Active Professional Services accepting Bitcoin in the AGORA

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

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

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Lost & Found in SN' Wild West Web

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

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

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

🏷️ Spending Sunday

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

All series available here:

🤝 Sellers & Business Club

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

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

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

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

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Create your Ads now!

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

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

---

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

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

https://stacker.news/items/1000715

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• RoboSats v0.7.7-alpha is now available!

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

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

Source: RoboSats.

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

What's new

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

Source: RoboSats.

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

New contributors

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

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

GitHub Repo

@ 81022b27:2b8d0644

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

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

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

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

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

It's rare that I keep seeing both parties.

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

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

Let's get to the story:

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

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

Either you are physically doing something to aggravate the issue,

Or you are under emotional stress.

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

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

Time passed, and they finally divorced.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At some point you just run out of shots.

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

What I’m trying to say here is:

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

Maybe it’s time to move on.

Live Long and Prosper. 🖖

@ 41fa852b:af7b7706

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

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Happy Sunday, folks.

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

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

Check out all the details below.

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This week's sponsor is…

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Upcoming Bitcoin Meetups

Happening this week…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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New Businesses Accepting Bitcoin

This week we have…

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

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Upcoming Special Events

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Get Involved

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

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This week's sponsors is…

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

Stay tuned for more updates next week!

Simon.

@ 0c65eba8:4a08ef9a

For most of human history, the sexual marketplace was well-regulated.

We are speaking here in general terms. Not every culture got it right, and some were deeply dysfunctional. But wherever marriage, parental investment, and the moral care of children were prioritized, those societies dramatically outcompeted their neighbors.

Incentive structures that supported strong families produced surplus: economic, cultural, and human. Weak ones collapsed.

Why? Because the production of highly competent, capable, mentally and emotionally secure adults is the highest-return activity humanity has ever engaged in. Nothing else provides such a powerful, generational return on investment as raising children into competent adults at scale.

While environment shapes culture and even genetics over time, it is people themselves, their values, behaviors, and internal structure, that determine the quality of every institution and innovation that follows. Get the people right, and the rest follows.

Take Athens, for example. Its golden age wasn’t built on sexual freedom, but on carefully arranged marriages, legally enforced paternity, and multi-generational households. This wasn’t repression, it was coordination, domestication. And it worked.

By the time these norms matured, the sexual marketplace was governed by a complex web of family expectations, religious rules, cultural norms, and community enforcement. Sex was not isolated from responsibility. It was embedded in systems designed to ensure reciprocity, stability, and legacy.

Above all, it was aimed at protecting the vulnerable:

• Women were shielded from bad marriages and abandonment.

• Children were guarded from fatherlessness, abuse and neglect.

• Men were protected from being forced to raise another man's child.

This governance wasn’t repressive. It was protective. It aligned biology, morality, and law to preserve what mattered most.

Marriage was not just a personal bond. It was an intergenerational contract. It linked families, preserved bloodlines, and protected children.

In fact, how well your sexual marketplace was regulated was a clear class signifier. Among the lowest strata of society, mating was often chaotic, driven by instinct, convenience, or desperation. But as you moved up the social hierarchy, norms became stricter, expectations higher, and matchmaking more deliberate. The most successful classes were the ones that invested the most in supporting marriage, disciplining sexual behavior, and preparing the next generation.

This worked for thousands of years to build the west one family at a time.

Then we tore it all down.

The very structure that made sex, love, and family sustainable was dismantled. We became irresponsibly individualistic.

Now, everyone says they want institutional solutions.

But very few understand what that would require, what it demands of us, what it disrupts, and what it will take to build something stable.

This isn’t about dating tips. This is about rebuilding the moral and legal architecture of the sexual domain, so that it works for families, for children, and for civilization again.

You can feel it needs to be done, even if you can’t describe it exactly. Something sacred has been shattered, and pretending it’s working only deepens the misery.

We live in the ruins of what used to be a functioning system. The decline isn’t just visible in the data, it saturates the emotional landscape of daily life. Modern dating feels transactional. Sex is hollow. Women are uncertain. Men are lost. Families are rare and fragile. "Adults" are immature.

And the worst part? Most people think this is normal.

It’s not. It’s a moral, social and institutional collapse. And if we dont fix it, it will be followed by an extinction of western people and culture.

What Happened?

The sexual revolution did to sexual norms what firing the police would do to public safety.

It removed the enforcers of reciprocity, parents, churches, norms, and law, and replaced them with "freedom."

But what replaced regulation wasn’t liberation. It was chaos and predation.

The sexual revolution did not liberate anyone. It dismantled the governance systems that once made mating intelligible and reciprocal:

• Parents, churches, and community elders no longer guide young people toward marriage.

• Legal structures no longer incentivize fidelity or protect paternity.

• Cultural norms no longer bind sex to responsibility, or love to legacy.

What replaced these governance systems wasn’t freedom. It was the stripping away of oversight and consequence. And just like in economics, when you deregulate a high-stakes market, you don’t get utopia, you get predation.

• Divorce soared

• Marriage collapsed

• Anxiety, depression, inceldom, and sterility rose

• Families disintegrated

The result was not a paradise of pleasure. It was a battlefield of broken hearts. The infamous war of the sexes.

It gave us blurred lines between desire and coercion. Propaganda saturated the culture, making vulnerable people pliable, not free. Women were told casual sex meant power. Men learned how to seduce without commitment. Children were conceived under illusion and discarded under regret.

Many had sex believing it would lead to a relationship. It didn’t. Others had children out of wedlock, thinking it would bring stability. It didn’t. Some aborted those children when reality collided with fantasy. Others raised them alone, unsupported, ashamed.

It taught men they had no right to expect paternity. It taught women to mistake attention for commitment. It taught both sexes to expect betrayal.

The social trust required for family life was gutted. And the pain is no longer anecdotal. It is systemic. It's become the new normal.

And no amount of personal effort or success can fully protect you from that institutional decay.

You might build a good life, a strong marriage, a stable home. But you do not live in a vacuum. Your children must still navigate this broken marriage economy. They must form relationships in a world shaped by lies, instability, and betrayal.

You are surrounded by people who were never taught what love is, never shown how to lead a family, never given the structure needed to make good decisions. And their collapse affects you. Their sons may pursue your daughters. Their daughters may carry into your family the wounds of fatherlessness.

You are not exempt from institutional failure, because you live within its consequences every day.

This Isn’t Just About Personal Choices. It’s About Incentives.

You’ve heard enough advice about what you can do: vet better, save yourself for marriage, build character, avoid degeneracy. That’s not what this article is about.

This is about how we fix the structure.

If we want to rebuild civilizational stability, we must re-regulate the sexual marketplace. That means:

• Reintroducing strict moral and legal constraints on sexual behavior

• Promoting courtship norms and family formation at the institutional level

• Creating strong disincentives for single parenthood and non-reciprocal mating

• Restoring incentives for intergenerational involvement in match-making and marital stability

We do this not by going backward, but by going deeper.

By building new institutions, new incentives, and new legitimacy that reward responsibility, protect the vulnerable, and make family formation achievable again for ordinary people, not just the elite.

The Pain Will Force the Change

This may sound impossible to those immersed in the present. But the future is not shaped by what is tolerated, it is shaped by what becomes unbearable.

And this relational economy is becoming unbearable.

The incentives will shift. What was considered impossible yesterday, and still feels improbable today, will become inevitable tomorrow. The only question is whether the solutions we implement will solve the real problem or merely replace one set of dysfunctions with another.

This is where Natural Law matters.

Natural Law gives us something no ideology can: decidability. It offers clarity in confusion, boundaries grounded in reality, and the ability to calculate what leads to order, and what leads to collapse.

Using Natural Law, we can:

• Diagnose the root causes of imbalance between the sexes

• Define what reciprocity looks like in the sexual domain

• Design institutions that reinforce mutual obligation, not exploitation

• Create feedback loops that correct deviation rather than institutionalize it

This isn’t wishful thinking, it’s a social systems design method based on reality. And the longer we delay in applying it, the more damage will compound.

The loneliness, sterility, mistrust, and despair are not sustainable. Not biologically. Not socially. Not civilizationally. Eventually, society will snap back.

And those who understand what went wrong, and are building what comes next, will become the architects of the new order.

Not because they imposed their will. But because they offered rule when everyone else offered ruin.

We don’t need more advice. We need new incentives. And those can only be built by men who are no longer waiting for permission.

@ dab6c606:51f507b6

I've been interested for a while in how the business with miles and loyalty points works. I found out that only large corporations can partially do this because of how they can then account for it. And it's tax-wise super advantageous. I also added info about loyalty points and gift cards. The text below was written by various AIs as I was digging into it, it's basically a summary, sharing for those who are interested.

Part I: Loyalty Programs of Large Corporations

Business Logic of Loyalty Programs

Loyalty programs of airlines and hotels are sophisticated business tools that serve several key purposes. They primarily function to increase customer loyalty by creating "switching costs" - customers don't want to lose accumulated points, which reduces the likelihood they'll switch to competitors.

At the same time, they're a significant source of additional revenue. For example, American Airlines earns more from selling miles to banks than on some flight routes. When Citibank buys miles for 1-2 cents per mile, the airline gets immediate revenue, while the real value for the customer can be 3-5 cents when used correctly.

Accounting Treatment of Loyalty Points

From an accounting perspective, loyalty points represent deferred liabilities. When a customer earns points, the company must create a reserve for their future redemption. Points are valued based on expected costs of their redemption, not on nominal value.

The key difference is between cash accounting and accrual accounting: - Cash accounting: Revenue is recognized when payment is received, expenses when paid. - Accrual accounting: Revenue and expenses are recognized when the obligation arises.

For loyalty programs, accrual accounting is critical. When an airline sells miles to a bank for $1,000,000, it simultaneously creates a liability for future costs (say $600,000), so taxable income is only $400,000.

Example: Selling Miles to a Bank

An airline sells 50 million miles to Citibank for $1,000,000: 1. Immediate revenue: $1,000,000 2. Creation of liability: $600,000 (estimated future costs) 3. Taxable income: $400,000 4. Future costs: When customers use miles, the company recognizes the expense and reduces the liability

Positive margin arises from several factors: - Breakage - 15-20% of miles are never redeemed - Time value of money - Money from the bank is invested immediately - Marginal costs - An empty seat has low incremental cost

Tax Optimization and Offshore Structures

Large companies often use international structures to optimize taxes from loyalty programs. A typical structure includes: 1. Parent company (USA/EU) - Operates flights and provides services (e.g., flights or accommodation). 2. IP Holding (Ireland/Netherlands) - Owns intellectual property (IP) for the loyalty program, such as brands, software, and databases. 3. Loyalty Operating Company (Singapore/Dubai) - Manages sale of miles to banks and partners, coordinates the program and communicates with customers.

Business Relationships and Payments Between Entities (example with positive result for Singapore)

These entities are connected by contracts that determine who pays for what and why, to minimize tax burden: - Bank → Singapore (Loyalty Operating Company): The bank (e.g., Citibank) pays $1,000,000 for miles it offers to its clients as rewards for using credit cards. The Singapore company is the main contact point for partners because it's located in a low-tax jurisdiction (17%) with good infrastructure for financial services. - Singapore → Ireland (IP Holding): The Singapore company pays $500,000 as royalties for using IP (brands, software, and data) of the loyalty program. This payment is high to shift profit to Ireland, where the tax rate is even lower (12.5%). This reduces taxable income in Singapore. - Singapore → Parent Company (Airline): The Singapore company pays $300,000 to the parent company for providing services (e.g., flights) when customers use miles. This payment is lower than actual costs to minimize profit in the parent company's country, where the tax rate is higher (e.g., 25-35% in USA or EU). - Profit in Singapore: $1,000,000 (income from bank) - $500,000 (royalties to Ireland) - $300,000 (payment to airline) = $200,000 profit, taxed at 17% in Singapore.

Why Such Distribution?

• Ireland (IP Holding): High royalty payments ($500,000) go to Ireland because the 12.5% tax rate is attractive and Ireland is considered a "serious" jurisdiction that meets international rules (e.g., BEPS). Ireland also has double taxation treaties with many countries, facilitating profit shifting.
• Singapore (Loyalty Operating Company): Mile sales and program coordination occur in Singapore due to favorable tax environment (17%) and strategic location for Asian markets. A small profit ($200,000) is left here to demonstrate "economic substance" - that the company has real activity.
• Parent Company: The $300,000 payment is low to minimize taxable income in a high-tax country (e.g., USA or EU).

Why Not 0% Tax Jurisdiction?

Why not use a zero-tax country (e.g., Cayman Islands)? Due to: - Regulatory scrutiny - Tax authorities closely monitor 0% jurisdictions and may question legitimacy. - BEPS rules - Need to demonstrate "substance" (real offices, employees) in the country. - Credibility test - 12.5% in Ireland or 17% in Singapore looks like legitimate business operation.

The result of such structure is that most profit (60-70%) is taxed at 12.5% in Ireland or 17% in Singapore instead of 25-35% in the airline's home country.

Part II: Loyalty Programs and Alternatives for Small Businesses

Why Loyalty Programs Are Problematic for Small Businesses

Unlike large corporations, small businesses like cafes face a fundamental problem with loyalty programs: cash accounting obligation. In many countries, small firms (under $25M annually) must use cash accounting, which means: - Revenue from selling points is taxed immediately - Costs are deducted only when customers use points (maybe a year later) - Creates tax and cashflow problem - tax is paid on money you'll "lose" in the future

Imagine a cafe that sells loyalty points for €100. It must immediately pay tax (say €21), but deducts coffee costs provided for points only in the future.

Alternative Models for Small Businesses

There are more tax-advantageous alternatives:

1. Gift Cards Model

• Revenue is NOT RECOGNIZED when selling gift card
• Revenue is recognized only when customer uses the card
• Example: Sell gift cards for €10,000 in December, get cash immediately, but pay tax gradually as customers use cards during the following year.
• Time value of money: Money can be invested (e.g., 6% annually = €600 extra profit on €10,000)
• Breakage benefit: 2-10% of cards are never used, after certain time (3-5 years, depending on legislation) you can recognize the balance as pure profit.

Example: Starbucks Starbucks had $1.5 billion in unused gift cards on its books in 2022. Estimated 3% breakage means $45 million pure profit – interest-free loan from customers with bonus that part never returns.

2. Subscription Model

• Monthly revenue = immediate taxation
• Monthly costs = immediate deduction
• Example: €10/month for "premium membership" with certain benefits

3. Discount Coupons

• No revenue when issuing coupon
• Reduced revenue when redeeming (sell at lower price)
• Example: 20% discount coupon = sell coffee for €4 instead of €5

Outsourcing Loyalty Program: Details About Shopify Loyalty

Platforms like Shopify Loyalty represent an elegant solution for small businesses wanting to offer loyalty programs without accounting and tax complications. Let's break this down in detail:

How Shopify Loyalty Works

• Shopify as third party: Shopify owns and manages the entire loyalty program including points and software. The customer has their "account" directly with Shopify, not with the specific store. This means points are not your liability, but Shopify's liability.
• Your role: You (e.g., cafe) pay Shopify a monthly fee (e.g., €29) for using the platform and a small transaction fee (e.g., €0.20) for each point redemption (reward). You're essentially a "service provider" for Shopify – you provide rewards when Shopify sends you an order.
• Earning points: Customer earns points for purchases in stores participating in Shopify Loyalty program. For example, if customer buys coffee for €5 in your cafe, Shopify credits them points (e.g., 5 points per euro, so 25 points). Specific rules (how many points per euro) are set by you through Shopify platform, but technically points are managed by Shopify.
• Using points: Customer can use points for rewards (e.g., free coffee for 100 points), but usually only in stores participating in Shopify network. This means if your cafe uses Shopify Loyalty, points earned with you can be used with you or other stores in Shopify ecosystem, if Shopify allows it. Usually, however, stores set up the program so points are primarily usable with them, increasing loyalty to their brand.
• Point redemption process: When customer wants to use points (e.g., 100 points for free coffee), Shopify sends order to you (cafe) to provide the reward. You give the coffee but don't receive direct payment from customer – it's a marketing cost. You also pay Shopify transaction fee (€0.20). Accounting-wise, it's not a sale, so no taxable income or receipt obligation arises.
• Accounting treatment: When customer uses points:
• No receipt = no taxable income
• Coffee cost (€2) + Shopify fee (€0.20) = €2.20
• Recorded as "Promotional expenses" or "Marketing costs"

Why Must Loyalty Program Be Outsourced to Third Party (like Shopify)?

Small businesses don't have capacity or resources to manage their own loyalty program "in-house" for these reasons: - Tax and accounting complexity: If you managed loyalty program yourself, you'd have to create reserves for future liabilities (points customers will use later), estimate breakage rate (percentage of unused points) and handle cash vs. accrual accounting. For small firms that often must use cash accounting, this means immediate taxation of revenue if selling points, but cost deduction only in the future – creates cashflow mismatch. - Technological infrastructure: Managing points, customer databases and integration with payment systems requires sophisticated software and IT team, which is expensive and complicated for small firms. - Legal separation: When program is managed by third party like Shopify, points are their liability, not yours. For you, this means no future liabilities in your accounting books – just monthly costs (Shopify fee), which are tax-deductible as regular expense. - Economic efficiency: Shopify aggregates thousands of stores, achieving economies of scale – lower costs for software, security and data management. A small cafe could never create such system at reasonable price alone.

Why Can't It Be In-house from Tax Perspective?

If small firm managed loyalty program itself: - Immediate tax problem: If firm sold points (e.g., for money or as part of purchase), revenue would have to be taxed immediately, though costs for providing rewards (e.g., free coffee) could be deducted only when customer uses points. This creates cashflow mismatch because you pay tax before actually "losing" money on reward. - Complex reserves: Would have to estimate how many points will be used and create accounting reserves, which is administratively demanding and requires expensive accountants or software. - Risk of errors: Incorrect breakage rate estimates or poor liability management can lead to tax audits and penalties.

With Shopify, these problems are eliminated – you only pay monthly fee and transaction fees, which are simply recorded as marketing costs. Shopify takes full responsibility for managing points and liabilities to customers.

Case Study: Loyalty Points for Cafe (10 + 1 Free Model)

Let's look at specific case of small cafe offering classic loyalty program type "10 + 1 free". Customer gets 1 point for each coffee purchased (e.g., for €3) and after collecting 10 points gets one free coffee. We'll analyze how this works accounting-wise, whether it's "promotional expense" and what's the difference between in-house management and using Shopify.

How "10 + 1 Free" Program Works

• Earning points: Customer buys coffee for €3 and gets 1 point (e.g., stamp on card or digital record). Points have no monetary value for sale – they're purely reward for purchase.
• Using points: After collecting 10 points (meaning purchases for €30) customer gets free coffee (value €3).
• Real cost for cafe: Cost of producing free coffee is lower than selling price, e.g., €1.50 for materials and labor.

Accounting Treatment (In-house)

If cafe manages program itself (in-house), accounting process depends on whether it uses cash accounting (common for small firms) or accrual accounting: - Cash accounting: - When customer buys coffee: Cafe records €3 revenue for each coffee and issues receipt. Point (stamp) has no monetary value, so it's not recorded as liability or revenue. - When redeeming 10 points: When customer gets free coffee, no revenue arises (€0), but cost for coffee production arises (€1.50). This cost is recorded as "Promotional expense" or "Marketing cost" because it's form of discount or advertising to retain customer. - Tax impact: No revenue when issuing free coffee, €1.50 cost is tax-deductible as regular expense. - Accrual accounting (less common for small firms): - When customer buys coffee: Cafe records €3 revenue but simultaneously creates small liability for future reward (e.g., €0.30 per point, which is estimate of cost for future free coffee divided by 10). So from €3 revenue, taxable income is only €2.70. - When redeeming 10 points: When customer gets free coffee, cafe reduces liability by €3 (10 points x €0.30) and records €1.50 cost for coffee production. Difference can be adjusted as breakage or other profit if estimates differ from reality. - Tax impact: Taxable income is lower already at first purchase, but accounting is more complex due to estimates and reserves.

Is it Promotional Expense? Yes, in both cases (cash and accrual) the cost of free coffee is recorded as "Promotional expense" or "Marketing cost" because it's form of discount to support customer loyalty. It's not considered regular sale because no revenue or receipt arises.

Accounting Treatment (via Shopify Loyalty)

If cafe uses Shopify Loyalty to manage "10 + 1 free" program, process is simpler: - When customer buys coffee: Cafe records €3 revenue for coffee and issues receipt. Shopify credits point to customer's account (it's not your liability, but Shopify's). - When redeeming 10 points: Shopify sends order to issue free coffee. Cafe gives coffee (€1.50 cost) and pays Shopify transaction fee (€0.20). Total cost €1.70 is recorded as "Promotional expense" or "Marketing cost". - Tax impact: Same as in-house, no revenue when issuing free coffee, €1.70 cost is tax-deductible as regular expense. Additionally, you don't have to handle any liabilities or breakage estimates because Shopify manages points.

Difference Between In-house and Shopify

• In-house:
• Advantages: Full control over program, no monthly fees to third party (e.g., €29 Shopify fee).
• Disadvantages: If using accrual accounting, must create reserves and estimate breakage, which is administratively demanding. With cash accounting it's simpler (no liabilities), but if you sold points for money, tax mismatch arises (revenue taxed immediately, cost only later). Additionally, must manage point database yourself (stamps, software), which is time-consuming.
• Shopify Loyalty:
• Advantages: No liabilities in your accounting books, Shopify manages points and technology. Accounting-wise it's simple – just monthly fee (€29) and transaction fees (€0.20) as marketing cost. Don't have to handle estimates or breakage.
• Disadvantages: Pay monthly fees and transaction fees, increasing costs (e.g., €0.20 extra per free coffee). Have less control over program because third party manages it.

Conclusion for Cafe: "10 + 1 free" program is accounting-wise considered Promotional expense in both cases (in-house and Shopify) because free coffee is form of marketing to retain customers. Difference is in administrative burden and costs – Shopify simplifies accounting and management, but at cost of monthly fees. In-house is cheaper but more demanding to manage, especially if you wanted to use accrual accounting or sell points for money.

Conclusion

Loyalty programs are sophisticated customer loyalty tools, but their accounting and tax aspects differ significantly between large and small firms. Large corporations use accrual accounting and international structures for tax optimization, while for small businesses alternative models like gift cards or outsourcing entire program are often more advantageous, eliminating tax and cashflow problems. Gift cards additionally bring immediate cash flow, time value of money and breakage benefit, making them ideal tool for businesses of all sizes. Shopify Loyalty offers small firms way to implement loyalty program without accounting complications because it takes technical and legal responsibility, allowing focus on core business. For simple programs like "10 + 1 free," accounting impact is similar (Promotional expense), but Shopify simplifies management at cost of additional fees.

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Let's support Bitcoin merchants! I'd love to hear some of your latest Lightning purchases and interesting products you bought. Feel free to include links to the shops or businesses you bought from.

Who else has a recent purchase they’re excited about? Bonus sats if you found a killer deal! ⚡

If you missed our last thread, here are some of the items stackers recently spent and zap on.

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

Časť I: Vernostné programy veľkých korporácií

Obchodná logika vernostných programov

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

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

Účtovné spracovanie vernostných bodov

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

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

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

Príklad: Predaj míľ banke

Aerolínia predá 50 miliónov míľ Citibank za $1,000,000: 1. Okamžitý príjem: $1,000,000 2. Vytvorenie záväzku: $600,000 (odhadované budúce náklady) 3. Zdaniteľný príjem: $400,000 4. Budúce náklady: Keď zákazníci míle využijú, spoločnosť uzná náklad a zníži záväzok

Pozitívna marža vzniká z niekoľkých faktorov: - Breakage - 15-20% míľ sa nikdy neuplatní - Časová hodnota peňazí - Peniaze od banky investuje okamžite - Marginálne náklady - Prázdne sedadlo má nízky prírastok nákladu

Daňová optimalizácia a offshore štruktúry

Veľké spoločnosti často využívajú medzinárodné štruktúry na optimalizáciu daní z vernostných programov. Typická štruktúra zahŕňa: 1. Materská spoločnosť (USA/EU) - Prevádzkuje lety a poskytuje služby (napr. lety alebo ubytovanie). 2. IP Holding (Írsko/Holandsko) - Vlastní duševné vlastníctvo (IP) k loyalty programu, ako sú značky, softvér a databázy. 3. Loyalty Operating Company (Singapur/Dubaj) - Spravuje predaj míľ bankám a partnerom, koordinuje program a komunikuje so zákazníkmi.

Obchodné vzťahy a platby medzi entitami (príklad s pozitívnym výsledkom pre Singapur)

Tieto entity sú prepojené zmluvami, ktoré určujú, kto za čo platí a prečo, aby sa minimalizovala daňová záťaž: - Banka → Singapur (Loyalty Operating Company): Banka (napr. Citibank) platí $1,000,000 za míle, ktoré ponúka svojim klientom ako odmenu za používanie kreditných kariet. Singapurská spoločnosť je hlavný kontaktný bod pre partnerov, pretože je umiestnená v jurisdikcii s nízkou daňou (17 %) a dobrou infraštruktúrou pre finančné služby. - Singapur → Írsko (IP Holding): Singapurská spoločnosť platí $500,000 ako royalty za použitie IP (značky, softvéru a dát) loyalty programu. Táto platba je vysoká, aby sa presunul zisk do Írska, kde je daňová sadzba ešte nižšia (12,5 %). Tým sa znižuje zdaniteľný príjem v Singapure. - Singapur → Materská spoločnosť (Aerolínia): Singapurská spoločnosť platí $300,000 materskej spoločnosti za poskytnutie služieb (napr. letov), keď zákazníci využijú míle. Táto platba je nižšia ako reálne náklady, aby sa minimalizoval zisk v krajine materskej spoločnosti, kde je daňová sadzba vyššia (napr. 25-35 % v USA alebo EU). - Zisk v Singapure: $1,000,000 (príjem od banky) - $500,000 (royalty do Írska) - $300,000 (platba aerolínii) = $200,000 zisku, ktorý je zdanený pri 17 % v Singapure.

Prečo takéto rozdelenie?

• Írsko (IP Holding): Vysoké royalty platby ($500,000) idú do Írska, pretože daňová sadzba 12,5 % je atraktívna a Írsko je považované za "serióznu" jurisdikciu, ktorá spĺňa medzinárodné pravidlá (napr. BEPS). Zároveň má Írsko zmluvy o zamedzení dvojitého zdanenia s mnohými krajinami, čo uľahčuje presun zisku.
• Singapur (Loyalty Operating Company): Predaj míľ a koordinácia programu prebieha v Singapure kvôli priaznivému daňovému prostrediu (17 %) a strategickej polohe pre ázijské trhy. Zároveň sa tu zanecháva malý zisk ($200,000), aby sa preukázala "ekonomická substance" – teda, že spoločnosť má reálnu činnosť.
• Materská spoločnosť: Platba $300,000 je nízka, aby sa minimalizoval zdaniteľný príjem v krajine s vysokou daňovou sadzbou (napr. USA alebo EU).

Prečo nie 0 % daňová jurisdikcia?

Prečo sa nepoužíva krajina s nulovou daňou (napr. Kajmanské ostrovy)? Kvôli: - Regulatory scrutiny - Daňové úrady pozorne sledujú 0 % jurisdikcie a môžu spochybniť legitímnosť. - BEPS pravidlám - Potreba preukázať "substance" (reálne kancelárie, zamestnancov) v krajine. - Credibility testu - 12,5 % v Írsku alebo 17 % v Singapure vyzerá ako legitímna obchodná operácia.

Výsledkom takejto štruktúry je, že väčšina zisku (60-70 %) je zdanená pri 12,5 % v Írsku alebo 17 % v Singapure namiesto 25-35 % v domovskej krajine aerolínky.

Časť II: Loyalty programy a alternatívy pre malé biznisy

Prečo je loyalty program problematický pre malé biznisy

Na rozdiel od veľkých korporácií, malé biznisy ako kaviarne narážajú pri vernostných programoch na zásadný problém: cash accounting povinnosť. V mnohých krajinách musia malé firmy (pod $25M ročne) používať cash accounting, čo znamená: - Príjem z predaja bodov sa zdaní okamžite - Náklady sa odpočítajú až keď zákazník body využije (možno o rok) - Vzniká daňový a cashflow problém - daň sa platí z peňazí, ktoré "stratíte" v budúcnosti

Predstavte si kaviareň, ktorá predá vernostné body za €100. Okamžite musí zaplatiť daň (povedzme €21), ale náklady na kávu poskytnutú za body odpočíta až v budúcnosti.

Alternatívne modely pre malé biznisy

Existujú daňovo výhodnejšie alternatívy:

1. Gift Cards model

• Príjem sa NEUZNÁ pri predaji gift karty
• Príjem sa uzná až keď zákazník kartu využije
• Príklad: Predáte gift cards za €10,000 v decembri, získate cash okamžite, ale daň platíte postupne, ako zákazníci karty využívajú počas nasledujúceho roka.
• Časová hodnota peňazí: Peniaze môžete investovať (napr. 6 % ročne = €600 extra zisk na €10,000)
• Breakage benefit: 2-10 % kariet sa nikdy nevyužije, po určitom čase (3-5 rokov, podľa legislatívy) môžete zostatok uznať ako čistý zisk.

Príklad: Starbucks Starbucks mal v roku 2022 na účtoch $1,5 miliardy v nevyužitých gift cards. Odhadovaný breakage 3 % znamená $45 miliónov čistého zisku – bezúročná pôžička od zákazníkov s bonusom, že časť sa nikdy nevráti.

2. Subscription model

• Mesačný príjem = okamžité zdanenie
• Mesačné náklady = okamžitý odpočet
• Príklad: €10/mesiac za "premium membership" s určitými benefitmi

3. Discount Coupons

• Žiadny príjem pri vydaní kupónu
• Znížený príjem pri uplatnení (predáte za nižšiu cenu)
• Príklad: 20 % zľavový kupón = predaj kávy za €4 namiesto €5

Outsourcing loyalty programu: Podrobnosti o Shopify Loyalty

Platformy ako Shopify Loyalty predstavujú elegantné riešenie pre malé biznisy, ktoré chcú ponúkať vernostné programy bez účtovných a daňových komplikácií. Poďme si to rozobrať podrobne:

Ako funguje Shopify Loyalty

• Shopify ako tretia strana: Shopify vlastní a spravuje celý vernostný program vrátane bodov a softvéru. Zákazník má svoj "účet" priamo u Shopify, nie u konkrétneho obchodu. To znamená, že body nie sú vaším záväzkom, ale záväzkom Shopify.
• Vaša úloha: Vy (napr. kaviareň) platíte Shopify mesačný poplatok (napr. €29) za používanie platformy a malý transakčný poplatok (napr. €0,20) za každé uplatnenie bodov (reward). Vy ste v podstate "dodávateľom služieb" pre Shopify – poskytujete odmeny, keď vám Shopify pošle objednávku.
• Získavanie bodov: Zákazník získava body za nákupy v obchodoch, ktoré sú zapojené do Shopify Loyalty programu. Napríklad, ak zákazník nakúpi kávu za €5 vo vašej kaviarni, Shopify mu pripíše body (napr. 5 bodov za každé euro, teda 25 bodov). Konkrétne pravidlá (koľko bodov za euro) si nastavujete vy cez Shopify platformu, ale technicky body spravuje Shopify.
• Využitie bodov: Zákazník môže body využiť na odmeny (napr. kávu zadarmo za 100 bodov), ale zvyčajne len v obchodoch zapojených do Shopify siete. To znamená, že ak vaša kaviareň používa Shopify Loyalty, body získané u vás môžu byť využité u vás alebo v iných obchodoch v rámci Shopify ekosystému, ak to Shopify umožňuje. Väčšinou však obchody nastavujú program tak, aby boli body využiteľné primárne u nich, čím sa zvyšuje lojalita k ich značke.
• Proces uplatnenia bodov: Keď zákazník chce využiť body (napr. 100 bodov za kávu zadarmo), Shopify pošle objednávku vám (kaviarni) na poskytnutie odmeny. Vy kávu vydáte, ale nedostanete za ňu priamy príjem od zákazníka – ide o marketingový náklad. Zároveň platíte Shopify transakčný poplatok (€0,20). Účtovne to nie je predaj, takže nevzniká zdaniteľný príjem ani povinnosť vystaviť bloček.
• Účtovné spracovanie: Keď zákazník využije body:
• Žiadny bloček = žiadny zdaniteľný príjem
• Náklad kávy (€2) + Shopify fee (€0,20) = €2,20
• Účtuje sa ako "Promotional expenses" alebo "Marketing costs"

Prečo musí byť loyalty program outsourcovaný tretej strane (ako Shopify)?

Malé biznisy nemajú kapacitu ani zdroje na správu vlastného loyalty programu "in-house" z týchto dôvodov: - Daňová a účtovná komplexnosť: Ak by ste spravovali loyalty program sami, museli by ste vytvárať rezervy na budúce záväzky (body, ktoré zákazníci využijú neskôr), odhadovať breakage rate (percento nevyužitých bodov) a riešiť cash vs. accrual accounting. Pre malé firmy, ktoré často musia používať cash accounting, to znamená okamžité zdanenie príjmu, ak by body predávali, ale odpočet nákladov až v budúcnosti – vzniká cashflow nesúlad. - Technologická infraštruktúra: Správa bodov, databáz zákazníkov a integrácia s platobnými systémami vyžaduje sofistikovaný softvér a IT tím, čo je pre malé firmy nákladné a komplikované. - Legálna separácia: Keď program spravuje tretia strana ako Shopify, body sú ich záväzkom, nie vaším. Pre vás to znamená, že nemáte žiadne budúce záväzky vo svojej účtovnej knihe – len mesačné náklady (poplatok Shopify), ktoré sú daňovo odpočítateľné ako bežný výdavok. - Ekonomická efektivita: Shopify združuje tisíce obchodov, čím dosahuje ekonomiku rozsahu – nižšie náklady na softvér, bezpečnosť a správu dát. Malá kaviareň by sama nikdy nedokázala vytvoriť takýto systém za rozumnú cenu.

Prečo to nemôže byť in-house z daňového hľadiska?

Ak by malá firma spravovala loyalty program sama: - Okamžitý daňový problém: Ak by firma predávala body (napr. za peniaze alebo ako súčasť nákupu), príjem by musela zdaniť hneď, hoci náklady na poskytnutie odmien (napr. káva zadarmo) by mohla odpočítať až v momente, keď zákazník body využije. To vytvára cashflow nesúlad, pretože daň platíte skôr, než reálne "stratíte" peniaze na odmenu. - Zložité rezervy: Musela by odhadovať, koľko bodov sa využije, a vytvárať účtovné rezervy, čo je administratívne náročné a vyžaduje drahých účtovníkov alebo softvér. - Riziko chýb: Nesprávne odhady breakage rate alebo zlý manažment záväzkov môžu viesť k daňovým kontrolám a pokutám.

S Shopify sa tieto problémy eliminujú – vy platíte len mesačný poplatok a transakčné fees, ktoré sú jednoducho účtované ako marketingové náklady. Shopify preberá celú zodpovednosť za správu bodov a záväzkov voči zákazníkom.

Prípadová štúdia: Vernostné body pre kaviareň (model 10 + 1 zadarmo)

Pozrime sa na konkrétny prípad malej kaviarne, ktorá ponúka klasický vernostný program typu "10 + 1 zadarmo". Zákazník dostane 1 bod za každú kúpenú kávu (napr. za €3) a po nazbieraní 10 bodov dostane jednu kávu zadarmo. Rozoberieme, ako to funguje účtovne, či ide o "promotional expense" a aký je rozdiel medzi in-house správou a použitím Shopify.

Ako funguje program "10 + 1 zadarmo"

• Získavanie bodov: Zákazník kúpi kávu za €3 a dostane 1 bod (napr. pečiatku na kartičku alebo digitálny záznam). Body nemajú peňažnú hodnotu na predaj – sú čisto odmenou za nákup.
• Využitie bodov: Po nazbieraní 10 bodov (čo znamená nákupy za €30) zákazník dostane kávu zadarmo (hodnota €3).
• Reálny náklad pre kaviareň: Náklad na výrobu kávy zadarmo je nižší ako predajná cena, napr. €1,50 za suroviny a prácu.

Účtovné spracovanie (In-house)

Ak kaviareň spravuje program sama (in-house), účtovný proces závisí od toho, či používa cash accounting (bežné pre malé firmy) alebo accrual accounting: - Cash accounting: - Pri nákupe kávy zákazníkom: Kaviareň účtuje príjem €3 za každú kávu a vydá bloček. Bod (pečiatka) nemá peňažnú hodnotu, takže sa neúčtuje ako záväzok ani príjem. - Pri uplatnení 10 bodov: Keď zákazník dostane kávu zadarmo, nevzniká príjem (€0), ale vzniká náklad na výrobu kávy (€1,50). Tento náklad sa účtuje ako "Promotional expense" alebo "Marketing cost", pretože ide o formu zľavy alebo reklamy na udržanie zákazníka. - Daňový dopad: Žiadny príjem pri vydaní kávy zadarmo, náklad €1,50 je daňovo odpočítateľný ako bežný výdavok. - Accrual accounting (menej bežné pre malé firmy): - Pri nákupe kávy zákazníkom: Kaviareň účtuje príjem €3, ale zároveň vytvára malý záväzok na budúcu odmenu (napr. €0,30 za každý bod, čo je odhad nákladu na budúcu kávu zadarmo deleno 10). Teda z €3 príjmu je zdaniteľný príjem len €2,70. - Pri uplatnení 10 bodov: Keď zákazník dostane kávu zadarmo, kaviareň zníži záväzok o €3 (10 bodov x €0,30) a účtuje náklad €1,50 na výrobu kávy. Rozdiel môže byť upravený ako breakage alebo iný zisk, ak sa odhady líšia od reality. - Daňový dopad: Zdaniteľný príjem je nižší už pri prvom nákupe, ale účtovníctvo je zložitejšie kvôli odhadom a rezervám.

Je to Promotional Expense? Áno, v oboch prípadoch (cash aj accrual) sa náklad na kávu zadarmo účtuje ako "Promotional expense" alebo "Marketing cost", pretože ide o formu zľavy na podporu lojality zákazníkov. Nie je to považované za bežný predaj, pretože nevzniká príjem ani bloček.

Účtovné spracovanie (cez Shopify Loyalty)

Ak kaviareň používa Shopify Loyalty na správu programu "10 + 1 zadarmo", proces je jednoduchší: - Pri nákupe kávy zákazníkom: Kaviareň účtuje príjem €3 za kávu a vydá bloček. Shopify pripíše bod zákazníkovi do jeho účtu (nie je to váš záväzok, ale Shopify). - Pri uplatnení 10 bodov: Shopify pošle objednávku na vydanie kávy zadarmo. Kaviareň vydá kávu (náklad €1,50) a zaplatí Shopify transakčný poplatok (€0,20). Celkový náklad €1,70 sa účtuje ako "Promotional expense" alebo "Marketing cost". - Daňový dopad: Rovnako ako pri in-house, žiadny príjem pri vydaní kávy zadarmo, náklad €1,70 je daňovo odpočítateľný ako bežný výdavok. Navyše nemusíte riešiť žiadne záväzky alebo odhady breakage, pretože body spravuje Shopify.

Rozdiel medzi In-house a Shopify

• In-house:
• Výhody: Plná kontrola nad programom, žiadne mesačné poplatky tretej strane (napr. €29 Shopify fee).
• Nevýhody: Ak použijete accrual accounting, musíte vytvárať rezervy a odhadovať breakage, čo je administratívne náročné. Pri cash accounting je to jednoduchšie (žiadne záväzky), ale ak by ste body predávali za peniaze, vzniká daňový nesúlad (príjem zdanený hneď, náklad až neskôr). Navyše musíte sami spravovať databázu bodov (pečiatky, softvér), čo je časovo náročné.
• Shopify Loyalty:
• Výhody: Žiadne záväzky vo vašej účtovnej knihe, Shopify spravuje body a technológiu. Účtovne je to jednoduché – len mesačný poplatok (€29) a transakčné poplatky (€0,20) ako marketingový náklad. Nemusíte riešiť odhady ani breakage.
• Nevýhody: Platíte mesačné poplatky a transakčné fees, čo zvyšuje náklady (napr. €0,20 navyše za každú kávu zadarmo). Máte menšiu kontrolu nad programom, pretože ho spravuje tretia strana.

Záver pre kaviareň: Program "10 + 1 zadarmo" je účtovne považovaný za Promotional expense v oboch prípadoch (in-house aj Shopify), pretože káva zadarmo je forma marketingu na udržanie zákazníkov. Rozdiel je v administratívnej záťaži a nákladoch – Shopify zjednodušuje účtovníctvo a správu, ale za cenu mesačných poplatkov. In-house je lacnejšie, ale náročnejšie na správu, najmä ak by ste chceli používať accrual accounting alebo predávať body za peniaze.

Záver

Vernostné programy sú sofistikovaný nástroj zákazníckej lojality, ale ich účtovné a daňové aspekty sa výrazne líšia medzi veľkými a malými firmami. Veľké korporácie využívajú accrual accounting a medzinárodné štruktúry na optimalizáciu daní, zatiaľ čo pre malé biznisy sú často výhodnejšie alternatívne modely ako gift cards alebo outsourcing celého programu, ktoré eliminujú daňové a cashflow problémy. Gift cards navyše prinášajú okamžitý cash flow, časovú hodnotu peňazí a breakage benefit, čo z nich robí ideálny nástroj pre podniky všetkých veľkostí. Shopify Loyalty ponúka malým firmám spôsob, ako implementovať vernostný program bez účtovných komplikácií, pretože preberá technickú a právnu zodpovednosť, čím umožňuje sústrediť sa na core biznis. Pre jednoduché programy ako "10 + 1 zadarmo" je účtovný dopad podobný (Promotional expense), ale Shopify zjednodušuje správu za cenu dodatočných poplatkov.

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@ 318ebaba:9a262eae

When connecting to multiple relays in the Nostr protocol, users may encounter several challenges that can affect their overall experience. Here are some of the key issues:

Challenges of Connecting to Multiple Relays

• Performance Issues: The lightweight design of Nostr relays can lead to performance bottlenecks, especially when many users are connected simultaneously. This can result in slow message delivery or even failures in posting messages if the relays are overwhelmed[1][2][32].

• Reliability and Connectivity: Users may experience connectivity problems with certain relays, which can lead to inconsistent access to messages or delays in communication. If a relay goes offline or has connectivity issues, it can disrupt the flow of information, making it difficult for users to send or receive messages reliably[3][4][18].

• Data Synchronization: As users connect to multiple relays, ensuring that data is synchronized across these relays can be challenging. Inconsistent data states may arise if different relays store messages differently or if there are delays in message propagation. This can lead to confusion about which messages have been sent or received[7][41].

• Configuration Complexity: Managing connections to multiple relays requires a certain level of technical knowledge. Users need to configure their clients properly to connect to various relays, which can be daunting for those less familiar with the technology. Misconfigurations can lead to connection failures or suboptimal performance[4][21].

• Spam and Quality Control: With the open nature of Nostr, some relays may be more susceptible to spam or low-quality content. Users connecting to multiple relays might encounter a higher volume of irrelevant or unwanted messages, which can detract from the overall user experience[6][32].

• Security Concerns: When using multiple relays, users must be cautious about the security of their connections. Not all relays may implement the same level of security, and connecting to less secure relays could expose users to risks such as data interception or unauthorized access to their messages[26][27].

In summary, while connecting to multiple relays in Nostr offers benefits such as redundancy and improved access to information, users must navigate various challenges related to performance, reliability, configuration, and security. Addressing these issues is crucial for a smooth and effective experience on the Nostr network.

[1] https://forum.dfinity.org/t/introducing-replicatr-enhancing-nostr-with-internet-computer-integration/31861 [2] https://medium.com/coinmonks/a-deep-dive-into-nostr-clients-with-technical-insights-and-code-snippets-b1666bb11fac [3] nostr:nevent1qqsfvjvg73wxdn7mda28m704r2zv9lnzlcdgh8r0g52lfvy2wj7uw4czyq32rylmsmre84lhxdypy6jlu4dt3fxfwkq9a0p0lqdl9y8hsp0hur4fuw4 [4] https://www.reddit.com/r/nostr/comments/1e6nm68/new_nostream_relay_created_problems_with_publish/ [5] https://www.lynalden.com/the-power-of-nostr/ [6] https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/how-nostr-can-improve-bitcoin-privacy [7] https://barelybuggy.blog/2024/11/26/mostr-offline/ [8] https://github.com/scsibug/nostr-rs-relay/issues/126 [9] https://community.umbrel.com/t/nostr-relay-troubleshooting/17828 [10] https://research.dorahacks.io/2024/04/30/nostr-relay-incentive/ [11] https://community.start9.com/t/issue-confirming-nostr-relay/1682 [12] https://arxiv.org/html/2402.05709v1 [13] https://community.umbrel.com/t/nostr-relay-not-connecting/11401 [14] https://www.purplerelay.com/troubleshooting-common-issues-with-nostr-relay-server-a-users-guide/ [15] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35694029 [16] https://substack.com/home/post/p-158872714?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web [17] https://stacker.news/items/142013 [18] https://www.reddit.com/r/nostr/comments/1h6admk/are_these_relays_working/ [19] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33746360 [20] https://github.com/scsibug/nostr-rs-relay/issues/195 [21] https://www.purplerelay.com/how-to-run-a-nostr-relay-a-step-by-step-guide/ [22] https://denostr.medium.com/the-future-of-social-communication-nostrs-origins-and-the-next-destination-in-social-networking-27f0c901d7ae [23] nostr:nevent1qqsqwklh29cvf3z0skhh77xyqf3m53xkppcttf3c8nuc2jqteulfx0czyqcgr7epv9hha2v9afp99l5wl0ljna0zum59fzyhl9v8pgv5xlhf5ava642 [24] https://www.reddit.com/r/nostr/comments/15fyr6r/pervasive_private_key_sharing_seems_dangerous/ [25] https://whtwnd.com/agoracitizen.network/3l2fysaripd2q [26] https://ron.stoner.com/nostr_Security_and_Privacy/ [27] https://forums.puri.sm/t/about-what-is-nostr/20764 [28] https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/issues/107 [29] https://medium.com/@volodymyrpavlyshyn/security-features-of-nostr-a0276a22e815 [30] nostr:nevent1qqspd8fh3tplxtfhjpka3y3glzh63v3ygsdhacyq8dvyrnxtvl09lpczyr2v7dprke9lad2qk0svug55vxguqv7n3dwn9vm63u8n5n84znxjxedjf6c [31] nostr:nevent1qqs8e2su6n8m2xtg45qdjw7rdcq6w3g5guvt085h52qhg25wxn755sczyrh26kg89z95jqaz4xkex7kaw2t36twtc75vmrfx2k3p3jqvhfa8vzan82f [32] https://www.cointribune.com/en/nostr-et-la-censure-pourquoi-un-reseau-social-decentralise-est-essentiel-2/ [33] nostr:nevent1qqsv86d756zcw32x0zcvqmr924y5sltvwqud0dywny83ndee30zzrmczyrh26kg89z95jqaz4xkex7kaw2t36twtc75vmrfx2k3p3jqvhfa8vwpfv29 [34] https://github.com/nbd-wtf/nostr-tools/issues [35] https://www.voltage.cloud/blog/the-growth-of-nostr-the-era-of-decentralization [36] https://medium.com/@BingVentures/status-quo-challenges-and-prospect-of-decentralized-social-networks-18f9584f2e8d [37] https://www.reddit.com/r/RedditAlternatives/comments/14s8ao4/greetings_im_here_to_tell_you_about_nostr_a/ [38] https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/nostr-the-importance-of-censorship-resistant-communication-for-innovation-and-human-progress- [39] https://github.com/mayneyao/eidos/issues/129 [40] https://www.reddit.com/r/nostr/comments/115a8et/data_duplication_and_distribution_in_nostr_relays/ [41] https://github.com/open-nostr/nostar [42] nostr:nevent1qqsryg8zuc9rdwldat385al24mdt56wanc6g6hfymy8l9tgtmzsc4nspzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhg85cx73 [43] https://ckbcn.xlog.app/Nostr-sheng-tai-fa-zhan-xian-zhuang-ji-wen-ti?locale=en [44] nostr:naddr1qqc92mnvda3kk6twvuk5ummnw3ez6ued2phhgetww35kzmpdwa5hg6pdfehhgetyv43kktt08p5hscnkqgsr7acdvhf6we9fch94qwhpy0nza36e3tgrtkpku25ppuu80f69kfqrqsqqqa28aknkml

@ 86dfbe73:628cef55

Das Private ist immer nur privat in Bezug zu einem bestimmten oder unbestimmten Gegenüber. Heutzutage steht man vielen Privatheiten und vielen Öffentlichkeiten gegenüber. Was privat ist, bemisst sich an der jeweiligen Relation, in der es als privat festgelegt wurde. Die “Privatsphäre”, die üblicherweise gemeint wird, ist jene Sphäre, die der Staat als privat zu respektieren hat, über deren Grenze er sich also nur in seltenen und jeweils zu begründenden Einzelfällen hinwegsetzen darf.

In anderen Beziehungen hingegen gibt es andere “Privatheiten” — dem Arbeitgeber gegenüber etwa, den Kollegen, ehemaligen Schulfreunden, dem Ehepartner, den Eltern oder Kinder. In all diesen Beziehungen gibt es “ausgeschlossene” Bereiche, die das Private meinen. Die Privatsphäre ist dabei die Sphäre über deren Geheimhaltung man gegenüber dem anderen Partner der Beziehung frei verfügen kann, denn Privatsphäre ist die Möglichkeit, sich der Welt selektiv zu offenbaren.

Wenn nicht reflektiert wird, dass es weitgehend eine veränderte Gesellschaft ist, die sich konstituiert, eine Gesellschaft, die mit der vorherigen nichts aber auch gar nichts mehr gemein hat, weil sich der Begriff des “Privaten” verändert, ausdifferenziert, verschiebt, zerfasert — wird der Privatsphärenschutz nicht zu gewährleisten sein.

Das Problem ist, dass „privat und „öffentlich“ alleine nicht funktionieren. Zwischen Privat und Öffentlich gehört – abgeleitet aus dem Begriff des „Social Web“ das Soziale. Und zwischen scheinbar einheitlicher privater „Identität“ und öffentlicher „Person“ gehört ein Bündel an Socialities.

Schon vor dem Netz zersplitterte der moderne, flexible und mobile Mensch in ein Bündel von (nicht: Identitäten sondern) Socialitäten. Das heißt in ein Bündel von Verhaltensweisen, die mehr oder minder bewusst in Beziehung zu bestimmten anderen Socii eingenommen werden. Es ist eine rein kommunikative Größe. Die Socialität eines Arbeitnehmers deckt sich nicht mit der Sozialität des Ehegatten, Vaters usw.

In jeder dieser Beziehungen ist eine andere, zumeist bewusst zu lernende Sozialität vonnöten. Selbst gegenüber Vorgesetzten, gleichrangigen Kollegen und Untergebenen sind mindestens dreierlei Socialitäten am Werke. Denn diese Socialität ist nicht einfach die soziologische „Rolle“, die ein Pluriversum von angenommenen Identitäten unterstellt. Sondern sie ist Ergebnis einer Kommunikationsbeziehung.

Online-Socialitäten

Das Private ist kein kohärente Sphäre, sondern wird durch die Socialität erschaffen. Es ist das, was in der Socialität nicht vorkommt – oder die Qualität der Socialität entscheidend verändert – etwa wenn eine Beziehung zu einer Kollegin/einem Kollegen beginnt (die in der Socialität der Ehegatten wiederum vermutlich nichts zu suchen hat …), sich eine Exfreundin als neue Kundin vorstellt, ein ehemaliger Schulkamerad Chef wird usw. Was „das Private“ ist, lässt sich nicht fassen.

Bei Facebook beispielsweise connectet sich der User mit Familienangehörigen, Freunden, vielleicht ehemaligen Schulfreunden, Kollegen, ggf. Vorgesetzen – und mit Geschäftspartnern oder Kunden. Das heißt: Ein großes Socialitätenbündel vereinigt sich.

Das kann zu größeren Problemen führen, denn die Socialität etwa des Geschäftspartners stellt andere Anforderungen als der ehemalige Klassenkamerad. Die Socialität des Kollegen stellt andere Anforderungen als die der Geschwister.

Die Bündelungsmöglichkeiten durch Personensuchen stellt vor eine ganz andere Herausforderung. Das Multiversum der Socialitäten, das unter verschiedenen Pseudonymen oder doch zumindest auf verschiedenen Plattformen ausgetragen wurde – wird nun plötzlich in ein „Image“ zusammengeführt, das natürlich vorne und hinten inkongruent ist, weil kein gemeinsamer „Kern“, keine einfache „Identität“ vorhanden ist.

Streetview und die Socialität

Schon jetzt nutzen Auskunfteien wie SchuFa oder Creditreform die Wohngegend um Kreditwürdigkeiten zu berechnen. Schon jetzt klassifizieren die Telefonrechner in Callcentern die „Wertigkeit“ eines eingehenden Anrufs per Telefonnummer nach Wohnlage.

Das macht in dieser Socialität "Versicherung-Kunde" einen gewaltigen Unterschied. Und der Kunde hat keinerlei Macht über die Informationen, die der anderen Seite der Socialität verfügbar sind. Die Entscheidung, dass etwas privat sei, zieht nach sich, dass ich es aus einer Socialität exkludiere. „Privat“ bedeutet vor allem „Verzeihung, das ist mir zu privat, darüber gebe ich keine Auskunft“. Und derlei Privatheiten gibt es zu viele – was privat ist, bestimmt die Socialität. Privatsphäre gegenüber dem Kollegen ist eine andere als gegenüber der Vorgesetzten, als gegenüber dem Kunden, als gegenüber dem ehemaligen Schulfreund.

Wie damit umgehen? Das Netz verlassen oder eine eigene „Netzsocialität“ erschaffen, die von vornherein eine inszenierte Kunstfigur ist? Nichts von alledem ist hilfreich. Deswegen kann die Lösung nur aus einer gesamtgesellschaftlichen Debatte rund um die Socialitäten kommen. Und muss sich fragen: Wie soll das Netz sein und funktionieren? Wer soll was einsehen können?

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Autor: John J. Mearsheimer. Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben und erschien zuerst auf dem Blog des Autors. Sie finden alle Texte der Friedenstaube und weitere Texte zum Thema Frieden hier.**

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Die Frage, wer für den Krieg in der Ukraine verantwortlich ist, ist seit dem Einmarsch Russlands in die Ukraine am 24. Februar 2022 ein sehr umstrittenes Thema.Die Antwort auf diese Frage ist von enormer Bedeutung, denn der Krieg war aus verschiedenen Gründen eine Katastrophe, von denen die wichtigste darin besteht, dass die Ukraine praktisch zerstört wurde. Sie hat einen beträchtlichen Teil ihres Territoriums verloren und wird wahrscheinlich noch mehr verlieren, ihre Wirtschaft liegt in Trümmern, eine riesige Zahl von Ukrainern wurde intern vertrieben oder ist aus dem Land geflohen, und sie hat Hunderttausende von Opfern zu beklagen. Natürlich hat auch Russland einen hohen Blutzoll gezahlt. Auf strategischer Ebene sind die Beziehungen zwischen Russland und Europa, ganz zu schweigen von Russland und der Ukraine, auf absehbare Zeit vergiftet, was bedeutet, dass die Gefahr eines größeren Krieges in Europa auch dann noch bestehen wird, wenn der Krieg in der Ukraine zu einem eingefrorenen Konflikt wird. Wer die Verantwortung für diese Katastrophe trägt, ist eine Frage, die nicht so schnell verschwinden wird, sondern eher noch an Bedeutung gewinnen dürfte, je mehr Menschen das Ausmaß der Katastrophe bewusst wird.

Die gängige Meinung im Westen ist, dass Wladimir Putin für den Krieg in der Ukraine verantwortlich sei. Die Invasion habe darauf abgezielt, die gesamte Ukraine zu erobern und sie zu einem Teil eines größeren Russlands zu machen, so die Argumentation. Sobald dieses Ziel erreicht sei, würden die Russen ein Imperium in Osteuropa errichten, ähnlich wie es die Sowjetunion nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg getan habe. Daher stelle Putin letztlich eine Bedrohung für den Westen dar, der man mit aller Macht begegnen müsse. Kurz gesagt, Putin ist ein Imperialist mit einem Masterplan, der sich nahtlos in die reiche russische Tradition einfügt.

Das alternative Argument, mit dem ich mich identifiziere und das im Westen eindeutig in der Minderheit ist, lautet, dass die Vereinigten Staaten und ihre Verbündeten den Krieg provoziert haben. Damit soll natürlich nicht geleugnet werden, dass Russland in die Ukraine einmarschiert ist und den Krieg begonnen hat. Die Hauptursache des Konflikts ist jedoch der NATO-Beschluss, die Ukraine in das Bündnis aufzunehmen, was praktisch alle russischen Führer als existenzielle Bedrohung ansehen, die beseitigt werden muss. Die NATO-Erweiterung ist jedoch Teil einer umfassenderen Strategie, die darauf abzielt, die Ukraine zu einem westlichen Bollwerk an Russlands Grenze zu machen. Ein Beitritt Kiews zur Europäischen Union (EU) und die Förderung einer farbigen Revolution in der Ukraine – die Umwandlung des Landes in eine prowestliche liberale Demokratie – sind die beiden anderen Säulen dieser Politik. Die russische Führung fürchtet alle drei Bereiche, aber am meisten fürchtet sie die NATO-Erweiterung. Um dieser Bedrohung zu begegnen, hat Russland am 24. Februar 2022 einen Präventivkrieg begonnen.

Die Debatte darüber, wer den Ukraine-Krieg verursacht hat, ist kürzlich aufgeflammt, als zwei prominente westliche Politiker – der ehemalige US-Präsident Donald Trump und der prominente britische Abgeordnete Nigel Farage – das Argument vorbrachten, dass die NATO-Erweiterung die treibende Kraft hinter dem Konflikt sei. Es überrascht nicht, dass ihre Äußerungen von den Verfechtern der konventionellen Meinung mit einem heftigen Gegenangriff beantwortet wurden. Es ist auch erwähnenswert, dass der scheidende NATO-Generalsekretär Jens Stoltenberg im vergangenen Jahr zweimal sagte, dass „Präsident Putin diesen Krieg begonnen hat, weil er die Tür der NATO schließen und der Ukraine das Recht verweigern wollte, ihren eigenen Weg zu wählen“. Kaum jemand im Westen hat dieses bemerkenswerte Eingeständnis des NATO-Chefs in Frage gestellt, und er hat es auch nicht zurückgezogen.

Mein Ziel ist es, einen Überblick über die wichtigsten Punkte zu geben, die die Ansicht stützen, dass Putin nicht in die Ukraine einmarschiert ist, weil er ein Imperialist ist, der die Ukraine zu einem Teil eines größeren Russlands machen will, sondern vor allem wegen der NATO-Erweiterung und der Bemühungen des Westens, die Ukraine zu einer westlichen Hochburg an der Grenze Russlands zu machen.

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Lassen Sie mich mit den sieben wichtigsten Gründen für die Ablehnung der herkömmlichen Meinung beginnen.

ERSTENS gibt es schlicht und ergreifend keine Beweise aus der Zeit vor dem 24. Februar 2022, dass Putin die Ukraine erobern und in Russland eingliedern wollte. Vertreter der gängigen Meinung können keine Schriftstücke oder Aussagen von Putin nennen, die darauf hindeuten, dass er die Ukraine erobern wollte.

Wenn man sie zu diesem Punkt befragt, liefern die Verfechter der konventionellen Meinung Hinweise, die wenig oder gar nichts mit Putins Motiven für die Invasion der Ukraine zu tun haben. Einige betonen zum Beispiel, dass er sagte, die Ukraine sei ein „künstlicher Staat“ oder kein „echter Staat“. Solche undurchsichtigen Äußerungen sagen jedoch nichts über die Gründe für seinen Kriegseintritt aus. Dasselbe gilt für Putins Aussage, er betrachte Russen und Ukrainer als „ein Volk“ mit einer gemeinsamen Geschichte. Andere weisen darauf hin, dass er den Zusammenbruch der Sowjetunion als „die größte geopolitische Katastrophe des Jahrhunderts“ bezeichnete. Aber Putin sagte auch: „Wer die Sowjetunion nicht vermisst, hat kein Herz. Wer sie zurückhaben will, hat kein Hirn.“ Andere wiederum verweisen auf eine Rede, in der er erklärte: „Die moderne Ukraine wurde vollständig von Russland geschaffen, genauer gesagt, vom bolschewistischen, kommunistischen Russland.“ Aber das ist kaum ein Beweis dafür, dass er an der Eroberung der Ukraine interessiert war. Außerdem sagte er in der gleichen Rede: „Natürlich können wir die Ereignisse der Vergangenheit nicht ändern, aber wir müssen sie zumindest offen und ehrlich zugeben.“

Um zu beweisen, dass Putin die gesamte Ukraine erobern und Russland einverleiben wollte, muss man nachweisen, dass er 1) dieses Ziel für erstrebenswert hielt, 2) es für machbar hielt und 3) die Absicht hatte, dieses Ziel zu verfolgen. Es gibt in den öffentlichen Aufzeichnungen keine Beweise dafür, dass Putin erwog, geschweige denn beabsichtigte, die Ukraine als unabhängigen Staat zu beenden und sie zu einem Teil Großrusslands zu machen, als er am 24. Februar 2022 seine Truppen in die Ukraine schickte.

Tatsächlich gibt es erhebliche Beweise dafür, dass Putin die Ukraine als unabhängiges Land anerkannte. In seinem bekannten Artikel vom 12. Juli 2021 über die russisch-ukrainischen Beziehungen, der von Befürwortern der konventionellen Meinung oft als Beweis für seine imperialen Ambitionen angeführt wird, sagt er dem ukrainischen Volk: „Ihr wollt einen eigenen Staat gründen: Ihr seid willkommen!“ Zur Frage, wie Russland die Ukraine behandeln sollte, schreibt er: „Es gibt nur eine Antwort: mit Respekt.“ Er schließt seinen langen Artikel mit den folgenden Worten ab: „Und wie die Ukraine aussehen wird – das müssen ihre Bürger entscheiden.“ Diese Aussagen stehen im direkten Widerspruch zu der Behauptung, Putin wolle die Ukraine in ein größeres Russland eingliedern.

In demselben Artikel vom 12. Juli 2021 und erneut in einer wichtigen Rede am 21. Februar 2022 betonte Putin, dass Russland „die neue geopolitische Realität, die nach der Auflösung der UdSSR entstanden ist“, akzeptiere. Diesen Punkt wiederholte er ein drittes Mal am 24. Februar 2022, als er ankündigte, Russland werde in die Ukraine einmarschieren. Insbesondere erklärte er: „Wir haben nicht vor, ukrainisches Territorium zu besetzen“, und machte deutlich, dass er die ukrainische Souveränität respektiere, allerdings nur bis zu einem gewissen Punkt: „Russland kann sich nicht sicher fühlen, sich nicht entwickeln und nicht existieren, wenn es sich einer ständigen Bedrohung durch das Territorium der heutigen Ukraine ausgesetzt sieht.“ Das heißt, Putin war nicht daran interessiert, die Ukraine zu einem Teil Russlands zu machen, sondern er wollte sicherstellen, dass sie nicht zu einem „Sprungbrett“ für westliche Aggressionen gegen Russland wird.

ZWEITENS gibt es keinerlei Hinweise dafür, dass Putin eine Marionettenregierung für die Ukraine vorbereitete, in Kiew prorussische Führungspersönlichkeiten aufbaute oder irgendwelche politischen Maßnahmen verfolgte, die eine Besetzung des gesamten Landes und dessen letztendliche Eingliederung in Russland ermöglichen würden.

Diese Fakten widersprechen der Behauptung, Putin sei daran interessiert gewesen, die Ukraine von der Landkarte zu tilgen. 

**DRITTENS: Putin hatte nicht annähernd genug Truppen, um die Ukraine zu erobern. **

Beginnen wir mit den Gesamtzahlen. Ich schätze seit langem, dass die Russen mit höchstens 190.000 Soldaten in die Ukraine einmarschiert sind. General Oleksandr Syrskyi, der derzeitige Oberbefehlshaber der ukrainischen Streitkräfte, sagte kürzlich in einem Interview mit The Guardian, dass die russische Invasionstruppe nur 100.000 Mann stark war. The Guardian hatte diese Zahl bereits vor Beginn des Krieges genannt. Es ist unmöglich, dass eine Truppe von 100.000 oder 190.000 Mann die gesamte Ukraine erobern, besetzen und in ein Großrussland eingliedern könnte.

Bedenken Sie, dass die Wehrmacht beim deutschen Überfall auf die westliche Hälfte Polens im September 1939 etwa 1,5 Millionen Mann zählte. Die Ukraine ist geografisch mehr als dreimal so groß wie die westliche Hälfte Polens im Jahr 1939, und in der Ukraine leben im Jahr 2022 fast doppelt so viele Menschen wie in Polen zum Zeitpunkt des deutschen Überfalls. Wenn wir die Schätzung von General Syrskyi akzeptieren, dass 100.000 russische Truppen im Jahr 2022 in die Ukraine einmarschierten, bedeutet dies, dass Russland über eine Invasionsstreitmacht verfügte, die 1/15 der Größe der deutschen Streitkräfte war, die in Polen einmarschierten. Und diese kleine russische Armee marschierte in ein Land ein, das sowohl territorial als auch von der Bevölkerungszahl her viel größer war als Polen.

Abgesehen von den Zahlen stellt sich die Frage nach der Qualität der russischen Armee. Zunächst einmal handelte es sich um eine militärische Streitkraft, die in erster Linie dazu bestimmt war, Russland vor einer Invasion zu schützen. Es handelte sich nicht um eine Armee, die für eine Großoffensive zur Eroberung der gesamten Ukraine, geschweige denn zur Bedrohung des übrigen Europas, gerüstet war. Außerdem ließ die Qualität der Kampftruppen zu wünschen übrig, da die Russen nicht mit einem Krieg rechneten, als sich die Krise im Frühjahr 2021 zuzuspitzen begann. Daher hatten sie kaum Gelegenheit, eine qualifizierte Invasionstruppe auszubilden. Sowohl qualitativ als auch quantitativ war die russische Invasionstruppe nicht annähernd mit der deutschen Wehrmacht der späten 1930er und frühen 1940er Jahre vergleichbar.

Man könnte argumentieren, dass die russische Führung dachte, das ukrainische Militär sei so klein und so unterlegen, dass ihre Armee die ukrainischen Streitkräfte leicht besiegen und das ganze Land erobern könnte. Tatsächlich wussten Putin und seine Leutnants sehr wohl, dass die Vereinigten Staaten und ihre europäischen Verbündeten das ukrainische Militär seit Ausbruch der Krise am 22. Februar 2014 bewaffnet und ausgebildet hatten. Die große Befürchtung Moskaus war, dass die Ukraine de facto Mitglied der NATO werden würde. Außerdem beobachteten die russischen Führer, wie die ukrainische Armee, die größer war als ihre Invasionstruppen, zwischen 2014 und 2022 im Donbass erfolgreich kämpfte. Ihnen war sicherlich klar, dass das ukrainische Militär kein Papiertiger war, der schnell und entschlossen besiegt werden konnte, zumal es über eine starke Rückendeckung durch den Westen verfügte.

Schließlich waren die Russen im Laufe des Jahres 2022 gezwungen, ihre Armee aus der Oblast Charkiw und aus dem westlichen Teil der Oblast Cherson abzuziehen. Damit gab Moskau Gebiete auf, die seine Armee in den ersten Tagen des Krieges erobert hatte. Es steht außer Frage, dass der Druck der ukrainischen Armee eine Rolle dabei spielte, den russischen Rückzug zu erzwingen. Vor allem aber erkannten Putin und seine Generäle, dass sie nicht über genügend Kräfte verfügten, um das gesamte Gebiet, das ihre Armee in Charkiw und Cherson erobert hatte, zu halten. Also zogen sie sich zurück und schufen besser kontrollierbare Verteidigungspositionen. Dies ist kaum das Verhalten, das man von einer Armee erwarten würde, die aufgebaut und ausgebildet wurde, um die gesamte Ukraine zu erobern und zu besetzen. Tatsächlich war sie für diesen Zweck nicht konzipiert und konnte daher diese Herkulesaufgabe nicht bewältigen.

VIERTENS: In den Monaten vor Kriegsbeginn versuchte Putin, eine diplomatische Lösung für die sich anbahnende Krise zu finden.

Am 17. Dezember 2021 sandte Putin ein Schreiben an Präsident Joe Biden und NATO-Chef Stoltenberg, in dem er eine Lösung der Krise auf der Grundlage einer schriftlichen Garantie vorschlug, dass: 1) die Ukraine der NATO nicht beitreten würde, 2) keine Angriffswaffen in der Nähe der russischen Grenzen stationiert würden und 3) die seit 1997 nach Osteuropa verlegten NATO-Truppen und -Ausrüstung nach Westeuropa zurückverlegt würden. Was auch immer man von der Machbarkeit einer Einigung auf der Grundlage von Putins Eröffnungsforderungen halten mag, über die die Vereinigten Staaten keine Verhandlungen führen wollten, es zeigt, dass er versuchte, einen Krieg zu vermeiden.

FÜNFTENS: Unmittelbar nach Beginn des Krieges hat Russland der Ukraine die Hand gereicht, um Verhandlungen zur Beendigung des Krieges und zur Ausarbeitung eines Modus Vivendi zwischen den beiden Ländern aufzunehmen.

Die Verhandlungen zwischen Kiew und Moskau begannen in Weißrussland nur vier Tage nach dem Einmarsch russischer Truppen in die Ukraine. Diese weißrussische Schiene wurde schließlich durch eine israelische und eine Istanbuler Schiene ersetzt. Alle verfügbaren Beweise deuten darauf hin, dass Russland ernsthaft verhandelte und nicht an der Übernahme ukrainischen Territoriums interessiert war, mit Ausnahme der Krim, die es 2014 annektiert hatte, und möglicherweise des Donbass. Die Verhandlungen endeten, als die Ukrainer auf Drängen Großbritanniens und der Vereinigten Staaten die Verhandlungen abbrachen, die zum Zeitpunkt ihrer Beendigung gute Fortschritte gemacht hatten.

Darüber hinaus berichtet Putin, dass er, als die Verhandlungen stattfanden und Fortschritte machten, gebeten wurde, als Geste des guten Willens die russischen Truppen aus dem Gebiet um Kiew abzuziehen, was er am 29. März 2022 tat. Keine westliche Regierung und kein ehemaliger Politiker hat diese Behauptung Putins angefochten, die in direktem Widerspruch zu seiner Behauptung steht, er wolle die gesamte Ukraine erobern.

SECHSTENS: Abgesehen von der Ukraine gibt es nicht den geringsten Hinweis darauf, dass Putin die Eroberung anderer osteuropäischer Länder ins Auge gefasst hat.

Außerdem ist die russische Armee nicht einmal groß genug, um die gesamte Ukraine zu überrennen, ganz zu schweigen von dem Versuch, die baltischen Staaten, Polen und Rumänien zu erobern. Außerdem sind alle diese Länder NATO-Mitglieder, was mit ziemlicher Sicherheit einen Krieg mit den Vereinigten Staaten und ihren Verbündeten bedeuten würde.

**SIEBTENS: Kaum jemand im Westen behauptete, Putin habe imperiale Ambitionen, seit er im Jahr 2000 die Macht übernahm, bis zum Beginn der Ukraine-Krise am 22. Februar 2014. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt wurde er plötzlich zum imperialen Aggressor. Warum? Weil die westlichen Staats- und Regierungschefs einen Grund brauchten, ihm die Schuld für die Krise zu geben. **

Der wohl beste Beweis dafür, dass Putin in den ersten vierzehn Jahren seiner Amtszeit nicht als ernsthafte Bedrohung angesehen wurde, ist die Tatsache, dass er auf dem NATO-Gipfel im April 2008 in Bukarest ein geladener Gast war, auf dem das Bündnis bekannt gab, dass die Ukraine und Georgien schließlich Mitglieder werden würden. Putin war natürlich erzürnd über diese Entscheidung und machte seinem Unmut Luft. Sein Widerstand gegen diese Ankündigung hatte jedoch kaum Auswirkungen auf Washington, da das russische Militär als zu schwach eingeschätzt wurde, um eine weitere NATO-Erweiterung zu verhindern, so wie es auch bei den Erweiterungswellen von 1999 und 2004 zu schwach gewesen war, um sie aufzuhalten. Der Westen glaubte, er könne Russland die NATO-Erweiterung noch einmal aufzwingen.

Außerdem war die NATO-Erweiterung vor dem 22. Februar 2014 nicht darauf ausgerichtet, Russland einzudämmen. Angesichts des traurigen Zustands der russischen Militärmacht war Moskau nicht in der Lage, die Ukraine zu erobern, geschweige denn eine revanchistische Politik in Osteuropa zu verfolgen. Der ehemalige US-Botschafter in Moskau, Michael McFaul, der ein entschiedener Verfechter der Ukraine und scharfer Kritiker Putins ist, stellt bezeichnenderweise fest, dass die Einnahme der Krim durch Russland im Jahr 2014 vor Ausbruch der Krise nicht geplant war; es war eine impulsive Reaktion auf den Putsch, der den prorussischen Führer der Ukraine stürzte. Kurz gesagt, die NATO-Erweiterung war nicht dazu gedacht, eine russische Bedrohung einzudämmen, weil der Westen nicht glaubte, dass es eine solche gab.

Erst als im Februar 2014 die Ukraine-Krise ausbrach, begannen die Vereinigten Staaten und ihre Verbündeten plötzlich, Putin als gefährlichen Führer mit imperialen Ambitionen und Russland als ernsthafte militärische Bedrohung zu beschreiben, die die NATO eindämmen müsse. Dieser abrupte Wechsel der Rhetorik sollte einem wesentlichen Zweck dienen: dem Westen die Möglichkeit zu geben, Putin für die Krise verantwortlich zu machen und den Westen von der Verantwortung freizusprechen. Es überrascht nicht, dass diese Darstellung Putins nach dem Einmarsch Russlands in die Ukraine am 24. Februar 2022 deutlich an Zugkraft gewann.

Eine Abweichung von der gängigen Meinung ist erwähnenswert. Einige argumentieren, dass die Entscheidung Moskaus, in die Ukraine einzumarschieren, wenig mit Putin selbst zu tun hat und stattdessen Teil einer expansionistischen Tradition ist, die lange vor Putin bestand und tief in der russischen Gesellschaft verwurzelt ist. Dieser Hang zur Aggression, der angeblich von inneren Kräften und nicht von Russlands äußerem Bedrohungsumfeld angetrieben wird, hat im Laufe der Zeit praktisch alle russischen Führer dazu gebracht, sich ihren Nachbarn gegenüber gewalttätig zu verhalten. Es lässt sich nicht leugnen, dass Putin in dieser Geschichte das Sagen hat oder dass er Russland in den Krieg geführt hat, aber es heißt, dass er wenig Einfluss hat. Fast jeder andere russische Führer hätte genauso gehandelt.

Es gibt zwei Probleme mit diesem Argument. Erstens ist es nicht widerlegbar, da der langjährige Charakterzug in der russischen Gesellschaft, der diesen aggressiven Impuls hervorrufe, nie identifiziert wurde. Es heißt, die Russen seien schon immer aggressiv gewesen – egal, wer an der Macht sei – und würden es auch immer sein. Es ist fast so, als ob es in ihrer DNA läge. Die gleiche Behauptung wurde einst über die Deutschen aufgestellt, die im zwanzigsten Jahrhundert oft als angeborene Aggressoren dargestellt wurden. Derartige Argumente werden in der akademischen Welt aus gutem Grund nicht ernst genommen.

Außerdem bezeichnete zwischen 1991 und 2014, als die Ukraine-Krise ausbrach, kaum jemand in den Vereinigten Staaten oder Westeuropa Russland als von Natur aus aggressiv. Außerhalb Polens und der baltischen Staaten wurde die Angst vor russischer Aggression in diesen 24 Jahren nicht häufig geäußert, was man erwarten würde, wenn die Russen zu Aggressionen veranlagt wären. Es scheint klar, dass das plötzliche Auftauchen dieser Argumentation eine bequeme Ausrede war, um Russland die Schuld für den Ukrainekrieg zu geben.  

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Lassen Sie mich einen anderen Gang einlegen und die DREI HAUPTGRÜNDE darlegen, die dafür sprechen, dass die NATO-Erweiterung die Hauptursache für den Ukraine-Krieg war.

**ERSTENS sagten russische Führer aller Art vor Kriegsbeginn wiederholt, dass sie die NATO-Erweiterung in die Ukraine als eine existenzielle Bedrohung betrachten, die beseitigt werden muss. **

Putin hat diese Argumentation bereits vor dem 24. Februar 2022 mehrfach öffentlich dargelegt. In einer Rede vor dem Vorstand des Verteidigungsministeriums am 21. Dezember 2021 erklärte er: „Was sie in der Ukraine tun oder versuchen oder planen, findet nicht Tausende von Kilometern entfernt von unserer Landesgrenze statt. Es geschieht direkt vor unserer Haustür. Sie müssen verstehen, dass wir uns einfach nirgendwo mehr hin zurückziehen können. Glauben sie wirklich, dass wir diese Bedrohungen nicht wahrnehmen? Oder glauben sie, dass wir tatenlos zusehen werden, wie Bedrohungen für Russland entstehen?“ Zwei Monate später, auf einer Pressekonferenz am 22. Februar 2022, nur wenige Tage vor Kriegsbeginn, sagte Putin: „Wir sind kategorisch gegen einen NATO-Beitritt der Ukraine, weil dies eine Bedrohung für uns darstellt, und wir haben Argumente, die dies unterstützen. Ich habe in diesem Saal wiederholt darüber gesprochen.“ Dann machte er deutlich, dass er begreift, dass die Ukraine ein Defacto-Mitglied der NATO werde. Die Vereinigten Staaten und ihre Verbündeten, sagte er, „pumpen die derzeitigen Kiewer Machthaber weiterhin mit modernen Waffentypen voll“. Er fuhr fort, dass Moskau, wenn dies nicht gestoppt werde, „mit einem bis an die Zähne bewaffneten 'Antirussland' dastehen würde. Das ist völlig inakzeptabel.“

Auch andere führende russische Politiker - darunter der Verteidigungsminister, der Außenminister, der stellvertretende Außenminister und der russische Botschafter in Washington - betonten die zentrale Bedeutung der NATO-Erweiterung als Auslöser der Ukraine-Krise. Außenminister Sergej Lawrow brachte es auf einer Pressekonferenz am 14. Januar 2022 auf den Punkt: „Der Schlüssel zu allem ist die Garantie, dass die NATO nicht nach Osten expandieren wird.“

Man hört oft das Argument, die russischen Befürchtungen seien unbegründet, weil es keine Chance gebe, dass die Ukraine dem Bündnis in absehbarer Zukunft beitreten würde, wenn überhaupt. Tatsächlich wird behauptet, die Vereinigten Staaten und ihre europäischen Verbündeten hätten der Aufnahme der Ukraine in die NATO vor dem Krieg wenig Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt. Aber selbst wenn die Ukraine dem Bündnis beitreten würde, wäre dies keine existenzielle Bedrohung für Russland, da die NATO ein Verteidigungsbündnis ist. Daher kann die NATO-Erweiterung weder eine Ursache der ursprünglichen Krise gewesen sein, die im Februar 2014 ausbrach, noch des Krieges, der im Februar 2022 begann. 

Diese Argumentation ist falsch. Tatsächlich bestand die westliche Reaktion auf die Ereignisse von 2014 darin, die bestehende Strategie zu verdoppeln und die Ukraine noch näher an die NATO heranzuführen. Das Bündnis begann 2014 mit der Ausbildung des ukrainischen Militärs und bildete in den folgenden acht Jahren durchschnittlich 10.000 Soldaten pro Jahr aus. Im Dezember 2017 beschloss die Trump-Regierung, Kiew mit „Verteidigungswaffen“ zu versorgen. Andere NATO-Länder zogen bald nach und lieferten noch mehr Waffen an die Ukraine. Darüber hinaus begannen die ukrainische Armee, Marine und Luftwaffe, an gemeinsamen Militärübungen mit NATO-Streitkräften teilzunehmen. Die Bemühungen des Westens, das ukrainische Militär zu bewaffnen und auszubilden, erklären zu einem großen Teil, warum es im ersten Kriegsjahr so ​​gut gegen die russische Armee abschnitt. Eine Schlagzeile im Wall Street Journal vom April 2022 lautete: „Das Geheimnis des militärischen Erfolgs der Ukraine: Jahrelange NATO-Ausbildung.“ 

Abgesehen von den laufenden Bemühungen des Bündnisses, das ukrainische Militär zu einer schlagkräftigeren Kampftruppe zu machen, die an der Seite der NATO-Truppen operieren kann, gab es im Westen im Laufe des Jahres 2021 eine neue Begeisterung für die Aufnahme der Ukraine in die NATO. Gleichzeitig vollzog Präsident Zelensky, der nie viel Enthusiasmus für eine Aufnahme der Ukraine in das Bündnis gezeigt hatte und im März 2019 auf der Grundlage einer Plattform gewählt wurde, die zur Zusammenarbeit mit Russland bei der Beilegung der anhaltenden Krise aufrief, Anfang 2021 einen Kurswechsel und befürwortete nicht nur die NATO-Mitgliedschaft der Ukraine, sondern vertrat auch eine harte Linie gegenüber Moskau.

Präsident Biden, der im Januar 2021 ins Weiße Haus einzog, hatte sich seit langem für die Aufnahme der Ukraine in die NATO eingesetzt und war ein Superfalke gegenüber Russland. Es überrascht nicht, dass die NATO am 14. Juni 2021 auf ihrem jährlichen Gipfel in Brüssel ein Kommuniqué herausgab, in dem es hieß: „Wir bekräftigen den auf dem Gipfel von Bukarest 2008 gefassten Beschluss, dass die Ukraine Mitglied des Bündnisses wird.“ Am 1. September 2021 besuchte Zelensky das Weiße Haus, wo Biden klarstellte, dass die Vereinigten Staaten „fest entschlossen“ seien, „die euro-atlantischen Bestrebungen der Ukraine zu unterstützen“. Am 10. November 2021 unterzeichneten Außenminister Antony Blinken und sein ukrainischer Amtskollege Dmytro Kuleba ein wichtiges Dokument - die „Charta der strategischen Partnerschaft zwischen den USA und der Ukraine“. Das Ziel beider Parteien, so heißt es in dem Dokument, ist es, „das Engagement für die Durchführung tiefgreifender und umfassender Reformen in der Ukraine zu unterstreichen, die für eine vollständige Integration in die europäischen und euro-atlantischen Institutionen erforderlich sind.“ Es bekräftigt auch ausdrücklich das Engagement der USA für die „Bukarester Gipfelerklärung von 2008“.

Es scheint kaum Zweifel daran zu geben, dass die Ukraine auf dem besten Weg war, bis Ende 2021 Mitglied der NATO zu werden. Dennoch argumentieren einige Befürworter dieser Politik, dass sich Moskau keine Sorgen über dieses Ergebnis hätte machen müssen, denn „die NATO ist ein Verteidigungsbündnis und stellt keine Bedrohung für Russland dar“. Aber das ist nicht die Meinung Putins und anderer russischer Politiker über die NATO, und es kommt darauf an, was sie denken. Kurz gesagt, es steht außer Frage, dass Moskau den Beitritt der Ukraine zur NATO als eine existenzielle Bedrohung ansah, die nicht hingenommen werden durfte.

ZWEITENS erkannte eine beträchtliche Anzahl einflussreicher und hoch angesehener Persönlichkeiten im Westen vor dem Krieg, dass die Expansion der NATO – insbesondere in die Ukraine – von der russischen Führung als tödliche Bedrohung angesehen werden und schließlich zur Katastrophe führen würde.

William Burns, der heute die CIA leitet („heute“ leitet John Ratcliffe die CIA, aktualisieren ODER am Anfang des Textes klarstellen, dass er schon älter ist ODER „heute“ streichen und „leitete“ statt „leitet“), aber zum Zeitpunkt des NATO-Gipfels in Bukarest im April 2008 US-Botschafter in Moskau war, verfasste ein Memo an die damalige Außenministerin Condoleezza Rice, in dem er die russischen Überlegungen zur Aufnahme der Ukraine in die Allianz prägnant beschreibt. „Der Beitritt der Ukraine zur NATO“, so schrieb er, „ist für die russische Elite (nicht nur für Putin) die klarste aller roten Linien. In den mehr als zweieinhalb Jahren, in denen ich Gespräche mit den wichtigsten russischen Akteuren geführt habe, von Scharfmachern in den dunklen Nischen des Kremls bis hin zu Putins schärfsten liberalen Kritikern, habe ich noch niemanden gefunden, der die Aufnahme der Ukraine in die NATO als etwas anderes betrachtet als eine direkte Herausforderung für die russischen Interessen.“ Die NATO, so sagte er, „würde als ein strategischer Fehdehandschuh angesehen werden. Das heutige Russland wird darauf reagieren. Die russisch-ukrainischen Beziehungen würden auf Eis gelegt ... Das würde einen fruchtbaren Boden für russische Einmischungen auf der Krim und in der Ostukraine schaffen.“

Burns war 2008 nicht der einzige westliche Entscheidungsträger, der erkannte, dass die Aufnahme der Ukraine in die NATO mit Gefahren verbunden war. Auf dem Bukarester Gipfel sprachen sich sowohl die deutsche Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel als auch der französische Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy gegen eine NATO-Mitgliedschaft der Ukraine aus, weil sie wussten, dass dies Russland alarmieren und verärgern würde. Merkel erklärte kürzlich ihre Ablehnung: „Ich war mir sehr sicher, ... dass Putin das nicht einfach zulassen wird. Aus seiner Sicht wäre das eine Kriegserklärung“.

Um noch einen Schritt weiter zu gehen: Zahlreiche amerikanische Politiker und Strategen sprachen sich in den 1990er Jahren gegen die Entscheidung von Präsident Clinton aus, die NATO zu erweitern, als diese Entscheidung noch zur Debatte stand. Diesen Gegnern war von Anfang an klar, dass die russische Führung darin eine Bedrohung ihrer lebenswichtigen Interessen sehen würde und dass diese Politik letztlich in eine Katastrophe münden würde. Die Liste der Gegner umfasst prominente Persönlichkeiten des Establishments wie George Kennan, sowohl Präsident Clintons Verteidigungsminister William Perry als auch seinen Vorsitzenden des Vereinigten Generalstabs, General John Shalikashvili, Paul Nitze, Robert Gates, Robert McNamara, Richard Pipes und Jack Matlock, um nur einige zu nennen.

Die Logik von Putins Position sollte für Amerikaner, die seit langem der Monroe-Doktrin verpflichtet sind, vollkommen verständlich sein. Diese besagt, dass keine entfernte Großmacht ein Bündnis mit einem Land in der westlichen Hemisphäre eingehen und ihre militärischen Streitkräfte dort stationieren darf. Die Vereinigten Staaten würden einen solchen Schritt als existenzielle Bedrohung auffassen und alles tun, um diese Gefahr zu beseitigen. Dies geschah natürlich auch während der Kubakrise 1962, als Präsident Kennedy den Sowjets klar machte, dass ihre Atomraketen aus Kuba abgezogen werden müssten. Putin ist zutiefst von derselben Logik beeinflusst. Schließlich wollen Großmächte nicht, dass sich entfernte Großmächte in ihrem Hinterhof ansiedeln.

DRITTENS: Die zentrale Bedeutung der tiefen Angst Russlands vor einem NATO-Beitritt der Ukraine wird durch zwei Entwicklungen seit Kriegsbeginn verdeutlicht.

Während der Istanbuler Verhandlungen, die unmittelbar nach Beginn der Invasion stattfanden, machten die Russen deutlich, dass die Ukraine eine „dauerhafte Neutralität“ akzeptieren müsse und der NATO nicht beitreten könne. Die Ukrainer akzeptierten die Forderung Russlands ohne ernsthaften Widerstand, sicherlich weil sie wussten, dass es sonst unmöglich wäre, den Krieg zu beenden. In jüngerer Zeit, am 14. Juni 2024, stellte Putin zwei Forderungen, die die Ukraine erfüllen müsse, bevor er einem Waffenstillstand und der Aufnahme von Verhandlungen zur Beendigung des Krieges zustimmen würde. Eine dieser Forderungen war, dass Kiew „offiziell“ erklärt, „dass es seine Pläne, der NATO beizutreten, aufgibt“.

Das alles ist nicht überraschend, denn Russland hat die Ukraine in der NATO immer als existenzielle Bedrohung gesehen, die um jeden Preis verhindert werden muss. Diese Logik ist die treibende Kraft hinter dem Ukraine-Krieg.

Schließlich ist aus der Verhandlungsposition Russlands in Istanbul sowie aus Putins Äußerungen zur Beendigung des Krieges in seiner Ansprache vom 14. Juni 2024 klar ersichtlich, dass er nicht daran interessiert ist, die gesamte Ukraine zu erobern und sie zu einem Teil eines größeren Russlands zu machen.

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John Joseph Mearsheimer (* 14. Dezember 1947 in Brooklyn, New York City) ist ein US-amerikanischer Politikwissenschaftler an der University of Chicago. Sein Schwerpunkt ist die Analyse internationaler Beziehungen aus der Perspektive des offensiven Neorealismus, den er erstmals 2001 in seiner Monografie The Tragedy of Great Power Politics darstellte.

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Dieser Text von John J. Mearsheimer erschien am 5.8.2024 auf Substack.Vielen Dank für die Genehmigung des Autors zum Abdruck der deutschen Übersetzung. Die Übersetzung wurde von Thomas Mayer erstellt. 

Neben der NATO-Osterweiterung gibt es weitere Faktoren die zum Ukraine-Krieg führten, zum Beispiel der Nationalismus in der Ukraine und die Unterdrückung der ethnisch-russischen Bevölkerung.

Ausführlich sind die vielschichtigen Hintergründe des Ukraine-Krieges geschildert in dem Buch von Thomas Mayer: Wahrheitssuche im Ukraine-Krieg – Um was es wirklich geht, 600 Seiten, ISBN 978-3-89060-863-1, Infos zum Buch: https://kurzelinks.de/h10a

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LASSEN SIE DER FRIEDENSTAUBE FLÜGEL WACHSEN!

In Kürze folgt eine Mail an alle Genossenschafter, danke für die Geduld!

Hier können Sie die Friedenstaube abonnieren und bekommen die Artikel zugesandt.

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• Ab 1000 CHF werden Sie Genossenschafter der Friedenstaube mit Stimmrecht (und bekommen lebenslanges Abo, T-Shirt/Hoodie).

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

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

@ 77c2969e:a33cfa50

Nostr 协议在我看来是很先进的，暂时使用的人还不多，不过相比 Fediverse 的 Mastodon 之类，自己部署 Nostr Relay 是成本很小的。Blossom 作为媒体上传服务是可选的，因为有几个公共服务器可用，但是大多数国内无法直连。我还发现部分客户端不支持自定义 Blossom 服务器，只有 Amethyst 和 Nostrmo 可以。

我目前使用的是这个 nostr-relay 以及这个 blossom-server。

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nostr-relay

这个用 Python 写的 nostr-relay 很不错。

配置文件是这个： https://code.pobblelabs.org/fossil/nostr_relay/file?name=nostr_relay/config.yaml 可以按需修改，自己用默认就够了。

```jsx

先安装 pipx

apt install pipx

再用 pipx 安装 nostr-relay

pipx install nostr-relay

选择一个目录运行以下命令启动默认配置，默认 SQLite 文件在当前目录

nostr-relay serve

后台运行

(nostr-relay serve >/var/log/nostr-relay.log &)

查看 PID

lsof -i :6969

停止运行

kill PID

后台运行命令会调用 gunicorn 运行而不是nostr-relay，因此会搜不到 nostr-relay 进程，可以尝试这个命令

ps -ef | grep gunicorn `` 反代127.0.0.1:6969` 配置域名和 SSL 证书即可。

保持简洁，不使用 Docker 和 systemd，后续迁移时只需复制整个文件夹即可。

---

blossom-server

clone 这个仓库

git clone https://github.com/hzrd149/blossom-server.git

克隆仓库是必要的，因为 blossom-server 的默认页面依赖 public/ 目录，请保留该目录。

用以下 config.yml 和 docker-compose.yml 覆盖原仓库中的文件

然后执行 docker compose up -d

反代 127.0.0.1:3000 配置域名和 SSL 证书即可。

config.yml

按需修改，比如 Dashboard 密码、允许的 PubKey 等。 ```

Override the domain thats is used in the blobs "url" field

By default it uses the domain the incoming HTTP request was made on

publicDomain: ""

databasePath: data/sqlite.db

dashboard: # enable or disable the admin dashboard enabled: true # admin username username: admin # if password is left blank it will be generated each time the app starts password: "yourpasswd"

文件发现机制，保持默认关闭

discovery: # find files by querying nostr relays nostr: enabled: false relays: - wss://relay.example.com # find files by asking upstream CDNs # NOTE: do not set this to your own server, it will create an infinite loop upstream: enabled: false domains: - https://cdn.example.com

storage: # local or s3 backend: local

# Imminently removes a blob when there are no owners removeWhenNoOwners: false

# local storage local: dir: ./data/blobs

# see minio docs for options: # https://min.io/docs/minio/linux/developers/javascript/API.html#new-minio-client-endpoint-port-usessl-accesskey-secretkey-region-transport-sessiontoken-partsize # s3: # endpoint: https://s3.endpoint.com # port: 443 # bucket: blossom # accessKey: xxxxxxxx # secretKey: xxxxxxxxx # useSSL: true # region: us-east-1 # If this is set the server will redirect clients when loading blobs # publicURL: https://s3.region.example.com/

# rules are checked in descending order. if a blob matches a rule it is kept # "type" (required) the type of the blob, "" can be used to match any type # "expiration" (required) time passed since last accessed # "pubkeys" (optional) a list of owners # any blobs not matching the rules will be removed rules: - type: "" expiration: 100 years pubkeys: - "change-to-your-pubkey-hex"

Config for the /upload endpoint

upload: # enable / disable uploads (default false) enabled: true # require auth to upload requireAuth: true # only check rules that include "pubkeys" requirePubkeyInRule: true

Config for the /media endpoint

media: # /media endpoint enabled (default false) enabled: true # require auth to upload to /media requireAuth: true # only check rules that include "pubkeys" requirePubkeyInRule: true

# image optimization options image: # image quality 0-100 (default 90) quality: 90 # create progressive jpeg / png images for large images > 1024x768 (default true) progressive: true # max width (default 1920) maxWidth: 1920 # max height (default 1080) maxHeight: 1080 # image format (default webp) outputFormat: "webp" # keep aspect radio when resizing (default true) maintainAspectRatio: true # keep EXIF metadata (default false) keepExif: false # fps for GIFs (default 30) fps: 30

video: # video quality 0-100 (default 90) quality: 90 # max height (default 1080) maxHeight: 1080 # max fps (default 30) maxFps: 30 # output format [mp4, webm, mkv] (default mp4) format: "webm" # audio codec [aac, mp3, vorbis, opus] (default aac) audioCodec: "aac" # video codec [libx264, libx265, vp8, vp9] (default libx264) videoCodec: "libx264"

list: requireAuth: false allowListOthers: true

tor: enabled: false proxy: "" ```

docker-compose.yml

services: blossom: image: ghcr.io/hzrd149/blossom-server:master ports: - 3000:3000 volumes: # mount data volume - ./data:/app/data # mount config file - ./config.yml:/app/config.yml # mount custom www dir - ./public:/app/public

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其他

我自己目前就是部署的这两个服务自用。主要是方便部署和维护，后续服务器迁移只需要复制文件夹即可。Blossom 媒体服务自用的话，默认使用服务器本地存储即可，就是在项目文件夹中的 ./data/blobs/，上传的图片和视频会被自动压缩，占不了多少存储空间。如果公开或多人使用也可以配置 S3 兼容的对象存储。

除了我上面说的这个 nostr-relay，还有一个 Rust 写的 nostr-rs-relay，可以 Docker 一键部署，如果你偏好使用 Docker，也可以选择这个。

如果你也对 Nostr 这个去中心化协议感兴趣，想拥有自己的 Nostr 服务，不妨参考本文试试，欢迎留言交流！

---

推荐阅读

• 欢迎加入 Nostr, 这是一份快速入门指南
• Nostr!moe
• Join Nostr
• 运行自己的中继器，拥有自己的事件
• 用自己域名认证 Nostr 的 NIP-05

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

18-07 HOLIDAY HOME by OFFICE INAINN reimagines the traditional hytte, creating two interconnected cabins, H_G30 and H_G32, located near the scenic Geiranger–Trollstigen route. Set on a steep hillside 148 meters above sea level, the design embraces modern functionality while offering stunning southern views of Storfjorden and minimizing environmental impact.

Blending into the Landscape

The cabins are designed to integrate gently into the natural terrain, following the contours of the hillside. Their horizontal layout reduces the visual impact, blending into the forested surroundings while opening up to the fjord. The minimal footprint respects the environment and reduces construction costs, ensuring the cabins remain nearly invisible from the north while fully engaging with the southern panorama.

Functional, Additive Architecture

Inspired by traditional Norwegian architecture, each cabin consists of two overlapping modules of varying heights, breaking up the building mass and reducing roof size. The higher module serves as the circulation space, while the lower module contains the private and living areas. This approach replaces conventional walls with functional form, creating distinct zones for movement, utility, and relaxation.

Harmonizing Tradition with Modern Living

The cabins follow an east-west retaining wall that mirrors the hill’s natural slope, with additional storage and leisure spaces tucked behind. The shallow depth allows maximum southern exposure for light and views, while the central axis blurs the boundary between indoor and outdoor living, creating a seamless connection to nature.

For more info https://inainn.eu/18-07-holiday-home/

https://stacker.news/items/1000386

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Ten years in Bitcoin can feel like an eternity. Just ask Sergej Kotliar, Founder and CEO of Bitrefill, who recently celebrated a decade of turning Bitcoin into something you can actually use in your everyday life.

“We started Bitrefill back in 2014,” Sergej reflects, thinking back to the early excitement around Bitcoin.

“The promise of internet money as a workaround to how cumbersome money was online motivated me. Imagine sending money as easily as sending an email. That’s still the vision driving us today.”

Bitrefill has evolved from a straightforward gift card provider into a full-fledged e-commerce powerhouse, allowing Bitcoiners to buy gift cards, eSIMs, mobile top-ups, and even prepaid debit cards.

From Netflix binges and Uber rides to topping up your phone in the middle of nowhere, Bitrefill supports more than 10,000 brands and over 900 phone carriers in more than 170 countries.

check out all the products and services at www.bitrefill.com

One challenge Sergej has navigated successfully is steering clear of hype-driven pitfalls. “We’ve always been a little bit better at building actual usage than at building hype,” he explains.

Instead of chasing every altcoin trend or speculative frenzy, Bitrefill has focused on the real-world, day-to-day use of bitcoin.

“The biggest challenge has always been finding the actual users of Bitcoin, not investors, but the ones who really want to use bitcoin in their everyday lives,” he emphasizes.

Bitrefill, he says proudly, has become the starting point for many users looking to spend bitcoin seamlessly.

“I think that people that use bitcoin transactionally and are looking to buy something with their coins. Very often, their customer journey starts with Bitrefill.”

Sergej isn’t shy about critiquing popular Bitcoin memes either. One particularly notable example is the “two S-curves” chart suggesting bitcoin first serves as a store of value, then as a medium of exchange.

“It’s maybe my least favorite chart,” Sergej laughs.

Bitcoin adoption curves — Source

While the chart lacks empirical data, notably missing any values on the y-axis, it does visualize a conceptual framework that many in the Bitcoin community find compelling.

The illustration suggests a natural progression where Bitcoin’s adoption follows two sequential S-curves:

first establishing itself as a store of value (the yellow curve peaking around 2029), followed by widespread adoption as a medium of exchange (the green curve peaking around 2037).

Despite its speculative nature, some argue this visualization effectively communicates the potential evolutionary path that many Bitcoiners envision, even if it wasn’t created with rigorous technical analysis.

What makes the Bitcoin ecosystem truly remarkable though is that builders like Sergej and his team at Bitrefill aren’t waiting for theoretical adoption curves to play out. They’re actively accelerating them.

By creating practical solutions for everyday Bitcoin transactions now, Bitrefill is working towards pulling that “medium of exchange” S-curve forward.

They aim to demonstrate that Bitcoin’s utility doesn’t have to follow a delayed timeline where store of value comes first.

Indeed, Sergej sees a more nuanced reality: Bitcoin serves different purposes for different people, simultaneously.

“There’s different people that use bitcoin for different things, and some want to invest in it and some use it as a tool,” Sergej clarifies.

“You can’t say that one of them is better than the other… it just is. Different people will use the same thing and they engage in the same market with different purposes.”

The Bitrefill philosophy is simple: practicality over hype. “Selling bitcoin to people is clearly a much bigger business than letting people shop with bitcoin,” Sergej acknowledges candidly.

Yet Bitrefill stands proudly as a market leader by volume for transactional bitcoin use. When YouTube travelers share their global adventures “living on bitcoin,” it’s Bitrefill powering most of those purchases. He notes with pride:

“If you watch these YouTubers ‘I spent a month traveling the world living on Bitcoin,’ there’s been quite a few of those… around 50 to 80 [percent], that a good chunk of their bitcoin usage ends up being with Bitrefill.”

And Bitrefill is not done innovating. Recently, they introduced the Bitrefill reloadable Visa card in Europe, designed for ease of use. Sergej explains:

“It’s a regulated product, you need to have an account and go through KYC and all of that, but once you have it, it’s a very simple straightforward no bulls*** method.

“you send in your bitcoin, Lightning works, and then you can just go and blip and pay, and then you don’t have to think about anything.”

Bitrefill offers reloadable Visa cards

To promote it, they’ve even been hiring people specifically to travel around Europe spending bitcoin and documenting the journey.

“We put up these ads and we hire someone and then we record them having the best day of their life spending money,” he says.

While acknowledging it’s partly a marketing stunt, he adds, “Paying some of our customers instead to spend the day having a blast and then record it and make content is a better choice than traditional advertising.”

Bitrefill on X

But Sergej has his eyes firmly on an even more futuristic horizon: a world where robots pay each other seamlessly.

“We’ve built an online monetary system that discriminates against bots because they’re usually associated with fraud,” Sergej notes.

“But soon, we’ll rely on AI to shop automatically for us. Having a fraud-free online payment method like Bitcoin could revolutionize how robotic agents transact.”

“In a world where everybody has a bunch of agents being robotic secretaries and so on, and given the fact that online commerce is currently designed specifically to keep out robots… I think there’s a big opportunity there,” he explains.

“Having an online payment method that is fraud-free should in theory be very useful for a world in which shopping happens automatically, for example, or how a robot will pay other robots.”

The intersection of how AI will leverage Bitcoin is a fascinating rabbit hole and discussion that is playing out in real time.

Sergej recommends Daniel Suarez’s novel “Daemon” for those intrigued by the potential (and risks) of AI-driven transactions.

“There’s tremendous opportunity here,” he teases, “and it’s definitely something we’re actively exploring at Bitrefill.”

Asked what he’d ask Satoshi Nakamoto if given the chance, Sergej pauses briefly. “I would ask him to tell me the story of how he left the space,” he finally answers.

Given Sergej’s decade-long journey with Bitrefill, his curiosity about Bitcoin’s creator’s departure feels particularly fitting.

Ten years is a long time in Bitcoin, but clearly, Sergej Kotliar and Bitrefill are just getting started.

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

HTX Studio received a special email. The letter writer's daughter was unfortunately run over by a heavy truck on her way to school, and her right hand permanently lost its function. When using the computer, her hands have to frequently switch between the keyboard and the mouse, which makes typing very slow and tiring. He wanted us to make a one-handed keyboard for his daughter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vW12gQ4Klc

The project has just been open-sourced at https://github.com/htx-studio/One-Handed-Keyboard and hopes to be helpful to those who need it. In English for you below:

One-Handed Keyboard

This is a single-mode mechanical keyboard with integrated trackball. The firmware uses QMK . Thanks to all the developers who have contributed to the QMK community.

Keyboard production reference: [Mr. He] We made a special keyboard...

Open source hardware: HTXStudio one-handed keyboard

GitHub repository

Gitee repository

The development environment and setup are available here , and the firmware source code is available here .

The information in this warehouse includes:

• A total of 8 PCBs for three keyboards for the left and right hands, provided by EasyEDA Engineering.
• VIA key change configuration file and compiled firmware.
• Model design files.

---

Warehouse directory structure

Docs

Data sheet and pictures of the chip.

Firmware

QMK firmware for three different keyboard models, and JSON files for VIA key changes.

Hardware

Project files of Jialichuang EDA.

Model

Model files and processing files used by each keyboard model.

---

Production Guide

PCB：

1-Right-hand keyboard-hot-swappable (large): board material FR-4, board thickness 1.6mm, four-layer board, laminate structure JLC04161H-3313, impedance control +/-20%.

1-Left-hand keyboard-welding board (small): board material FR-4, board thickness 1.6mm, double-layer board, ALPS yellow axis needs to be installed with a little force when inserted.

1-Left-hand keyboard-hot-swappable (large): board material FR-4, board thickness 1.6mm, four-layer board, laminate structure JLC04161H-3313, impedance control +/-20%.

2-TypeC: board material FR-4, board thickness 1.6mm, double-layer board, marked CON1 (only for large keyboards).

3-Trackball: board material FR-4, board thickness 1.6mm, double-layer board, the module needs to pay attention to the welding direction, marked CON3.

4- Mouse wheel: board material FR-4, board thickness 1.6mm, double-layer board, it is recommended to use 7mm high encoder, 6mm high button, button trigger pressure ≤180g, marked CON2.

5-Directional buttons: board material FR-4, board thickness 1.6mm, double-layer board, ALPS yellow shaft needs to be inserted with a little force, marked CON4.

6- Main control board - left hand (small): board material FR-4, board thickness 1.6mm, double-layer board.

• Three of them are keyboard-controlled common boards 《3-轨迹球》《4-鼠标滚轮》《5-方向按键》.
• 《5-方向按键》And 《1-左手键盘-焊板(小)》, the key axis uses ALPS yellow axis.
• Note that the left and right hand keyboards are not completely mirrored.
• The trackball control uses SPI1 channel, and the scroll wheel has two separate signal lines, which allows replacing other control devices without major adjustments.
• The main control uses STM32G431CBU6.
• Compatible with A to C or C to C data cables.

Printout:

Keycap: resin, PLA, etc.

Trackball seat: resin, PLA, etc.

Left and right mouse buttons: resin, PLA, etc.

Shell: resin, PLA, etc.

Base: resin, PLA, etc.

Processing:

Positioning plate: Recommended material: pom, thickness 1.5mm.

Positioning plate cotton strip: glue left on one side.

Sandwich cotton: Recommended material is poron, 3.5mm thick.

Axle seat cotton: 2mm thick.

Bottom cotton: Recommended material: poron, 4mm thick.

Silicone pad (for keypad only): 5mm thick, hardness Shore 00-10.

other:

Trackball: diameter 25mm, material PTFE.

Lubricating ball: 2mm diameter, made of PTFE, installed in the printed trackball seat, 6 pieces in number.

Roller: Recommended diameter is between 19mm-20mm, thickness is between 4mm-5mm, and material is metal.

Satellite axis: 2U steel plate satellite axis.

Key switches: 57 ultra-small ALPS yellow switches for the small keyboard and 57 common mechanical switches for the large keyboard.

Cable arrangement: spacing 0.5mm, 8P reverse, 10cm2 strips, 15cm2 strips.

• The FPC sockets of the control board and the small board are both marked with CON, and the corresponding interfaces are connected.
• The file uses an FPC cable holder that can be connected up and down. It should be noted that when the cable holders are connected down, use reverse cable connection.

Model structure:

Installation order:

Take the large keyboard as an example

Pre-assembly work

• First, connect the 4 small PCBs to the keyboard body PCB using cables and burn the program.
• Install 3-5 shafts, rollers and trackballs. Make sure they function normally before assembly.
• Install the correct hot-melt copper nuts at the corresponding positions of the printed shell and base.
• Keycap printing.
• Attach the cotton strips to the protruding parts of the positioning plate (both on the front and back sides).

When burning the firmware for the first time, you can press and hold the button marked "B" on the back of the PCB and then plug in the USB cable to burn the firmware.

If you want to update the firmware, you can press and hold the "ESC" key on the keyboard and then insert the USB cable to burn the firmware.

For more information, please refer to Flashing Your Keyboard (QMK)

Next, start assembling

1. Use screws to install the 4 small boards to the corresponding positions of the base (pay attention to the wiring and installation direction), and install screws at the bottom of the trackball base.
2. Fix the left and right buttons on the keyboard PCB with screws.
3. From bottom to top, place the bottom cotton, shaft seat cotton, keyboard PCB, sandwich cotton and positioning plate into the fan-shaped area of ​​the base in order.
4. Insert the key switch.
5. Put it into the housing and secure it with screws from the bottom.
6. Install the keycaps to complete the assembly.

The screw and nut installation guide can be found here

Finally, this is our first open source project. If there are any shortcomings, you are welcome to criticize and correct us. Thank you.

---

References

Quantum Mechanical Keyboard Firmware

mrjohnk. ADNS-9800. GitHub repository

https://x.com/HTX_Studio/status/1929915992349782206

https://stacker.news/items/1000384

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

There is a certain image that pops up whenever people think about crushing soda cans. It is the kind of scene you see in movies, where a brawny athlete flattens an empty can with a single squeeze, probably in front of a cheering crowd. The reality, however, is far less cinematic. Most of us barely manage a dent before abandoning the can, sending it tumbling toward the trash bin, often missing the target entirely and hoping no one noticed. It is hardly the stuff of legends, unless you consider fumbling for a runaway soda can an athletic event.

In the end, the Yeti Can Crusher is more than just a clever gadget. It is a reminder that even the simplest chores can be transformed into moments of enjoyment, especially when the right tool is involved. There is a certain thrill in turning a dull task into a satisfying ritual, and when you add a dash of style, suddenly recycling is not just good for the planet, it is actually a little bit fun. With the right crusher in your hand, you might just find yourself looking forward to the next empty can.

Curious to learn more? https://www.yeti.com/outdoor-living/20110010027.html

https://stacker.news/items/1000380

@ 84b0c46a:417782f5

• バーガーキング

• バーミヤン 台湾カステラ

• 焼肉ライク

• 本屋でギータの練習本探してみるとか

• シードしぐなーの材料 → 普通にHWW買ったほうがいい説

  • https://github.com/SeedSigner/seedsigner/releases
    • Raspberry Pi Zero v1.3 ← v1.3はヘッダピンを自分でつけないといけないからWHにしてWi-FiBluetoothを外すのがよい
    • Raspberry Pi Zero W ← Wi-Fi外すのが少し面倒
    • Raspberry Pi Zero WH ¥3500
  • WaveShare　1.3inch LCD HAT【14972】1.3インチ 240×240 IPS LCDディスプレイHAT for RaspberryPi ¥1980
  • Raspberry Pi Zero用スパイカメラ ¥3310

  リボンの長さが色々ある seedsignerのケースによるけど多分短いやつでいける

  ↑こういうやつでいい ↑ケースによってはこういうのがいい場合もある

• さわやか(静岡県)

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

News

• Bitcoin mining centralization in 2025. According to a blog post by b10c, Bitcoin mining was at its most decentralized in May 2017, with another favorable period from 2019 to 2022. However, starting in 2023, mining has become increasingly centralized, particularly due to the influence of large pools like Foundry and the use of proxy pooling by entities such as AntPool.

Source: b10c's blog.

• OpenSats announces the eleventh wave of Nostr grants. The five projects in this wave are the mobile live-streaming app Swae, the Nostr-over-ham-radio project HAMSTR, Vertex—a Web-of-Trust (WOT) service for Nostr developers, Nostr Double Ratchet for end-to-end encrypted messaging, and the Nostr Game Engine for building games and applications integrated with the Nostr ecosystem.
• New Spiral grantee: l0rinc. In February 2024, l0rinc transitioned to full-time work on Bitcoin Core. His efforts focus on performance benchmarking and optimizations, enhancing code quality, conducting code reviews, reducing block download times, optimizing memory usage, and refactoring code.
• Project Eleven offers 1 BTC to break Bitcoin's cryptography with a quantum computer. The quantum computing research organization has introduced the Q-Day Prize, a global challenge that offers 1 BTC to the first team capable of breaking an elliptic curve cryptographic (ECC) key using Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer. The prize will be awarded to the first team to successfully accomplish this breakthrough by April 5, 2026.
• Unchained has launched the Bitcoin Legacy Project. The initiative seeks to advance the Bitcoin ecosystem through a bitcoin-native donor-advised fund platform (DAF), investments in community hubs, support for education and open-source development, and a commitment to long-term sustainability with transparent annual reporting.
  • In its first year, the program will provide support to Bitcoin hubs in Nashville, Austin, and Denver.
  • Support also includes $50,000 to the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a $150,000 commitment at the University of Austin, and up to $250,000 in research grants through the Bitcoin Scholars program.

"Unchained will match grants 1:1 made to partner organizations who support Bitcoin Core development when made through the Unchained-powered bitcoin DAF, up to 1 BTC," was stated in a blog post.

• Block launched open-source tools for Bitcoin treasury management. These include a dashboard for managing corporate bitcoin holdings and provides a real-time BTC-to-USD price quote API, released as part of the Block Open Source initiative. The company’s own instance of the bitcoin holdings dashboard is available here.

Source: block.xyz

• Bull Bitcoin expands to Mexico, enabling anyone in the country to receive pesos from anywhere in the world straight from a Bitcoin wallet. Additionally, users can now buy Bitcoin with a Mexican bank account.

"Bull Bitcoin strongly believes in Bitcoin’s economic potential in Mexico, not only for international remittances and tourism, but also for Mexican individuals and companies to reclaim their financial sovereignty and protect their wealth from inflation and the fragility of traditional financial markets," said Francis Pouliot, Founder and CEO of Bull Bitcoin.

• Corporate bitcoin holdings hit a record high in Q1 2025. According to Bitwise, public companies' adoption of Bitcoin has hit an all-time high. In Q1 2025, these firms collectively hold over 688,000 BTC, marking a 16.11% increase from the previous quarter. This amount represents 3.28% of Bitcoin's fixed 21 million supply.

Source: Bitwise.

• The Bitcoin Bond Company for institutions has launched with the aim of acquiring $1 trillion in Bitcoin over 21 years. It utilizes secure, transparent, and compliant bond-like products backed by Bitcoin.
• The U.S. Senate confirmed Paul Atkins as Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). At his confirmation hearing, Atkins emphasized the need for a clear framework for digital assets. He aims to collaborate with the CFTC and Congress to address jurisdiction and rulemaking gaps, aligning with the Trump administration's goal to position the U.S. as a leader in Bitcoin and blockchain finance.
• Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has been released from custody. Griffith, whose sentence was reduced to 56 months, is now seeking a pardon. He was initially sentenced to 63 months for allegedly violating international sanctions laws by providing technical advice on using cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to evade sanctions during a presentation titled 'Blockchains for Peace' in North Korea.
• No-KYC exchange eXch to close down under money laundering scrutiny. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency trading platform said it will cease operations on May 1. This decision follows allegations that the platform was used by North Korea's Lazarus Group for money laundering. eXch revealed it is the subject of an active "transatlantic operation" aimed at shutting down the platform and prosecuting its team for "money laundering and terrorism."
• Blockstream combats ESP32 FUD concerning Jade signers. The company stated that after reviewing the vulnerability disclosed in early March, Jade was found to be secure. Espressif Systems, the designer of the ESP32, has since clarified that the "undocumented commands" do not constitute a "backdoor."

• Bank of America is lobbying for regulations that favor banks over tech firms in stablecoin issuance. The bank's CEO Brian Moynihan is working with groups such as the American Bankers Association to advance the issuance of a fully reserved, 1:1 backed "Bank of America coin." If successful, this could limit stablecoin efforts by non-banks like Tether, Circle, and others, reports The Block.
• Tether to back OCEAN Pool with its hashrate. "As a company committed to financial freedom and open access, we see supporting decentralization in Bitcoin mining as essential to the network’s long-term integrity," said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
• Bitdeer to expand its self-mining operations to navigate tariffs. The Singapore-based mining company is advancing plans to produce machines in the U.S. while reducing its mining hardware sales. This response is in light of increasing uncertainties related to U.S. trade policy, as reported by Bloomberg.
• Tether acquires $32M in Bitdeer shares. The firm has boosted its investment in Bitdeer during a wider market sell-off, with purchases in early to mid-April amounting to about $32 million, regulatory filings reveal.
• US Bitcoin miner manufacturer Auradine has raised $153 million in a Series C funding round as it expands into AI infrastructure. The round was led by StepStone Group and included participation from Maverick Silicon, Premji Invest, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, Mayfield, MARA Holdings, GSBackers, and other existing investors. The firm raised to over $300 million since its inception in 2022.
• Voltage has partnered with BitGo to [enable](https://www.voltage.cloud/blog/bitgo-and-voltage-team-up-to-deliver-instant-bitcoin-and-stabl

@ 81022b27:2b8d0644

Here’s the thing: authenticity gives off a vibration: There is so little of it anywhere that we crave it. That’s why an orange guy beats someone who doesn’t mean what they say. Because they don’t really believe a guy in a dress is a woman because that’s what they say they are

People feel vibes and hearing someone lie to their face is offensive. They will follow the guy that at least believes what he is

@ 81022b27:2b8d0644

D.D. Palmer was a magnetic healer, a visionary who tapped into the unseen forces of life. He founded chiropractic on the premise that the body’s innate intelligence governs health, and that misalignments—whether called subluxations, blockages, or interferences—disrupt this flow.

This is not a medical concept; it’s a metaphysical one, rooted in the belief that life transcends mere mechanics.

As a profession, we’ve been too concerned with what others think of us, particularly the medical community. In our desperation for acceptance, we’ve diluted our essence.

Some chiropractors advocate abandoning the term “subluxation” because it sounds archaic or unscientific. Personally, I don’t care for the word either—it often leaves my clients’ eyes glazed over. I prefer “blockages” or “interference” to convey the concept in a way that resonates.

But replacing these with medical jargon? That’s a betrayal of our roots.

What we cannot do is conform to a biomedical model that reduces the body to a machine. Chiropractic is not about treating symptoms or mimicking physical therapy. It’s about restoring the body’s connection to its innate wisdom, allowing healing to unfold naturally.

This is our strength, our uniqueness. To abandon it is to board the Titanic just before it sails—a sinking ship of soulless reductionism.

I believe chiropractic needs to embrace its metaphysical heritage boldly. We must stop apologizing for being different and instead educate the public on what we truly offer: a holistic approach that honors the body’s intelligence.

This means refining our language to be clear and relatable without sacrificing our principles. It means training chiropractors to communicate with confidence, not defensiveness. It means building a community that celebrates our philosophy rather than chasing validation from skeptics.

The future of chiropractic lies in authenticity. Let’s stop trying to fit into someone else’s paradigm. We are not medicine’s younger sibling; we are a distinct voice in healthcare. By standing firm in our metaphysical roots, we can inspire a world desperate for holistic solutions. The choice is ours: evolve as a vibrant, principled profession or sink under the weight of conformity. I choose evolution.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ 81022b27:2b8d0644

Have you seen the show Poker Face on Peacock streaming? Natasha Lyonne plays a casino worker character who has the ability to tell if someone is telling the truth. If she hears a lie, she automatically says, “Bullshit!”

Her ability gets her in trouble with her boss, who is involved in organized crime, and now she is on the run and solving crimes until they find her again (usually at the end of an episode).

It’s like a rock-and-roll Quantum Leap. Anyway, Christi likes the show because there are crimes and clues, and you have to figure it out. I watch it because I can get into it while I’m messing with my phone or doing a little writing.

Well, I have that same ability to detect BS.

When I work on clients, I connect with their energy. I didn’t start out doing it on purpose; I would start working on a client and pick up whatever they were sick with, and then they would feel great, and I would be left struggling.

Some friends taught me how to protect myself, and it helped, but “my shield” prevented me from connecting with my clients like I used to.

Now I connect with the source of all power in the universe: God. (You can call it whatever you want: Source, Universal Intelligence, Prana, etc.)

I send up a little antenna, and I’m protected AND connected.

When I’m in this state and talking to a client, I can clearly tell when someone is not telling the truth because THE BODY DOES NOT LIE!

Sometimes the cause of a physical issue is an emotional issue. If you can connect to someone’s energy like this, you can find and help clear out whatever is the root cause.

I’ve been telling people this quote for as long as I’ve been practicing:

You can lie to your mom, to your friends, and even to yourself, but you can’t lie to your chiropractor!

A polygraph lie detector only measures four things: heart rate and blood pressure, respiration rate, skin conductivity, and movement.

There are now better lie detectors that use EEGs (brain wave measurements). AI finds that voice analysis is a great way to detect honesty.

What’s better than all of that combined?

You.

Your nervous system can detect much more than all these other methods combined. I will try to teach what I know so far if you’d like.

And don’t forget to watch that show! I recommend it.

live long and prosper 🖖🏼

-Dan

@ 8d34bd24:414be32b

Last post, I touched on the subject of what do you say to those going through trials and tribulations, but as I read Job, it seemed like there was more to say on the subject of how Christians are to respond to those who are suffering. The original passage of inspiration was this.

Don’t Be A Miserable Comforter

Then Job answered,

“I have heard many such things;\ Sorry comforters are you all.\ Is there no limit to windy words?\ Or what plagues you that you answer?\ I too could speak like you,\ If I were in your place.\ I could compose words against you\ And shake my head at you.\ I could strengthen you with my mouth,\ And the solace of my lips could lessen your pain. (Job 16:1-5)

Job was suffering. His friends came with the intention of comforting Job. Job vented his frustrations and problems understanding God’s justice. His friends tried to correct Job’s honest questions. These corrections escalated to the point of accusing Job of heinous sins and saying that everything that had happened to Job was his fault.

Job rightly said, “If I were in your place, I could compose words against you, and shake my head at you.” Sometimes we have to show mercy while a person is working through their feelings and confusion. Although some hardships are the consequences or punishment for sins, many (probably most) are not. We, as Christians, are promised trials. We should not be surprised when we go through trials.

Job also compares two ways of responding to a fellow believer going through trials. He says, “I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips could lessen your pain.” We can use our words to encourage and strengthen those who are suffering.

He also accuses his visitors of “Sorry comforters are you all. Is there no limit to windy words?” This reminds me of a traditional saying, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Some of us want to fix everything. Sometimes we need to just listen. We don’t have to speak an answer for everything. In these uncomfortable situations, it is easy to start with a brief, Biblical answer, but then to start filling the silence with our own words to fill the silence. This can harm of everyone.

Job’s friends initial comments were not bad and were mostly true, but the more they talked, the more they went off track and the more harm they did. We want to lessen their pain, not be sorry comforters.

Of course this doesn’t mean that we can’t share God’s word. It doesn’t mean we can’t acknowledge obvious sins that are known by all parties. It does mean that all words should be an encouragement to lead them into closer fellowship with God.

Job again comments about his friends.

Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,\ **And my advocate is on high.\ My friends are my scoffers;\ My eye weeps to God.\ O that a man might plead with God\ As a man with his neighbor!\ For when a few years are past,\ I shall go the way of no return. (Job 16:19-22) {emphasis mine}

Job, being a godly man, puts his trust in God. Notice the pattern: God, friends, God.

And my advocate is on high.\ My friends are my scoffers;\ My eye weeps to God.

Despite the scoffing and harm done by his friends, he keeps his eye on God as his advocate and the one he turns to in sorrow. In the case of Job, he is able to lean on God despite the harm done by his friends. Those will lesser faith might have been pushed away from God by his friends words.

Love One Another

In the New Testament, we are told:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Our every word and action should be loving. That doesn’t mean ignoring sin, but it does mean every word and action should be used to draw a person into closer relationship with their God and Savior. In the case of a person who is sinning, Jesus set a perfect example.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they*said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” (John 8:3-11)

What did Jesus do:

1. He protected the accused from those trying to use, abuse, and torment her.

2. He did not deny her sin, but encouraged her accusers to acknowledge their own sins.

3. He encouraged her to “sin no more.”

This woman knew she had sinned. She did not need to be reminded of it. She didn’t deny it; she knew. Because she and everyone else knew her sin, there was no need to bring it up again. Jesus used this situation to help her accusers understand their own sin and to lead her into repentance and salvation. The gentle correction was used to lead her to a better way.

When we speak to someone in trials, whether self-inflicted, externally caused, or a standard trial common to all men, our goal should be to uplift and draw to Jesus. We should have mercy on the suffering and not add to their suffering.

No matter the case, we need to carefully use our words for love and mercy.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:7-11)

Dealing With Sin & Repentance

In 1 & 2 Corinthians, Paul deals with a situation of extreme sin. In 1 Corinthians he rebukes the church for allowing this heinous sin within their church body.

It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (1 Corinthians 5:1-5) {emphasis mine}

This unrepentant sin could not be allowed to remain in the body because it could spread among God’s people and because it harmed God’s glory. At the same time, the motivation for removing him from the body was not to remove him from a relationship with God. It was to cause consequences in the hopes that the man would return to Jesus.

In 2 Corinthians, we find that he does repent of his son and seek to come back into the fellowship of believers.

For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.

But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree—in order not to say too much—to all of you. Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. For to this end also I wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. (2 Corinthians 2:4-11) {emphasis mine}

Once a sinner repents, we are to immediately forgive and comfort them and welcome them back into the fellowship of believers. We are not to remind them of their previous sins and overwhelm them with excessive sorrow, but are to reaffirm our love for them. Any punishment was for correction, not to harm or cause them pain. We should seek the good of those who sinned. We should welcome them back with open arms. We should forgive as we were forgiven by God.

All of our words and actions toward others, whether the most godly saint or the most reprehensible sinner, should be to the goal of drawing them closer to the Savior and helping them to trust in God’s goodness, wisdom, and strength.

May the God of Heaven carry your burdens and help you to help carry the burdens of those around you. May Our Savior help us to be a godly encouragement to the suffering who draws them into closer fellowship with the Savior. May the Holy Spirt give us discernment in how to best encourage the suffering and to help them rest in Jesus.

Trust Jesus

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

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• "Today we're launching the beta version of our multiplatform Nostr browser! Think Google Chrome but for Nostr apps. The beta is our big first step toward this vision," announced Damus.
• This version comes with the Dave Nostr AI assistant, support for zaps and the Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) wallet interface, full-text note search, GIFs and fullscreen images, multiple media uploads, user tagging, relay list and mute list support, along with a number of other improvements."

"Included in the beta is the Dave, the Nostr AI assistant (its Grok for Nostr). Dave is a new Notedeck browser app that can search and summarize notes from the network. For a full breakdown of everything new, check out our beta launch video."

What's new

• Dave Nostr AI assistant app.
• GIFs.
• Fulltext note search.
• Add full screen images, add zoom, and pan.
• Zaps! NWC/ Wallet UI.
• Introduce last note per pubkey feed (experimental).
• Allow multiple media uploads per selection.
• Major Android improvements (still WIP).
• Added notedeck app sidebar.
• User Tagging.
• Note truncation.
• Local network note broadcast, broadcast notes to other notedeck notes while you're offline.
• Mute list support (reading).
• Relay list support.
• Ctrl-enter to send notes.
• Added relay indexing (relay columns soon).
• Click hashtags to open hashtag timeline.
• Fixed timelines sometimes not updating (stale feeds).
• Fixed UI bounciness when loading profile pictures
• Fixed unselectable post replies.

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo
Website

@ 2b998b04:86727e47

This is my first test -- I'm writing a blog post (using primal long form post) on nostr once and using github actions to fetch and store article as a static page on github pages to be used in a website (blog.stantonweb.com) and potentially other places.

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

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

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

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

First Steps

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Building on Bitcoin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ f4a890ce:af88c4aa

執行摘要

比特幣自橫盤延續，總市值回落至3.24兆美元，成交量下降至591億美元，顯示短線資金趨於觀望。下週操作應聚焦三大關鍵數據：

衍生品市場槓桿與清算動態：觀察永續合約持倉與資金費率變化。若持倉再度攀升且費率轉為大幅正值，多頭風險將升高；同時留意爆倉價格與清算熱力圖，作為短線波動的前瞻指標。

ETF 資金流向：BTC/ETH ETF 流入與流出數據，是機構資金態度的風向標。若下週出現淨流出，將可能引發價格回調壓力；相反，流入維持則有助於支撐高位盤整。

鏈上資金結構與穩定幣規模：持續追蹤交易所餘額與鯨魚地址淨流出情況，評估大額資金動向；同時關注穩定幣總市值變化，若有減少，意味避險情緒抬頭，反之則暗示買盤動力仍持續。

總體而言，市場結構仍偏多，但需警惕「高槓桿＋低流動」可能帶來的瞬間波動。建議保持倉位彈性，讓數據引導調整策略，避免在高位盲目追高。

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加密市場

本週加密貨幣市場總市值維持在 3.26 兆美元 左右，顯示出市場基本面仍具穩定性。與此同時，當週總成交量下降至 546.84 億美元，反映出市場活躍度減弱，投資者交易意願相對謹慎。

https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/

市場情緒方面，恐懼與貪婪指數降至 52，處於中性範疇，表明投資者對市場前景的情緒有所保留。

https://www.coinglass.com/zh-TW/pro/i/FearGreedIndex

此外，相對強弱指標落在中性至超賣區間，暗示部分標地在短線上可能面臨獲利回吐或技術性修正的壓力，而市場尚未進入絕對弱勢狀態。

https://www.coinglass.com/zh-TW/pro/i/RsiHeatMap

山寨幣季節指數維持在 20，這說明市場資金依舊偏向配置於比特幣及其他主流加密貨幣，中小型代幣並未受到市場資金的大量青睞。

https://www.blockchaincenter.net/en/altcoin-season-index/

穩定幣市值上升至 249.938 億美元，反映出部分資金正積極尋求避險，或準備在市場調整後進行潛在的佈局操作。

https://defillama.com/stablecoins

小結

本週加密市場在總市值維持穩定的同時，成交量的下降顯示出交易熱情的不足，加上恐懼與貪婪指數和相對強弱指標均呈現中性偏弱態勢，整體市場情緒趨向保守。山寨幣季節指數的低迷也反映出資金仍偏向主流幣種，而穩定幣市值的提升則表明投資者正在為市場未來調整或出現更具吸引力的價格點做準備。未來，需持續關注資金流向與宏觀經濟動態，以判斷市場後續走勢。

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衍生性商品

槓桿交易需求仍然強勁，本週永續合約持倉規模達 141.68B，雖然較前週有所下降，但仍顯示市場活躍度維持高水準。

https://www.coinglass.com/zh-TW/pro/futures/Cryptofutures

資金費率方面，目前市場呈現 負費率 (-0.0047%)，顯示空方勢力增強，多數交易所的情緒偏向空頭。

https://www.coinglass.com/zh-TW/FundingRate

爆倉數據反映市場波動仍導致大量強制平倉，本週總計空單爆倉達 453.14M，而多單爆倉則達 1267.859M，多頭爆倉金額顯著高於空方，顯示市場對高槓桿多單的清算壓力較大。

其中 6月5日 空單爆倉 88.68M，多單爆倉 875.855M，這一天的市場劇烈波動導致大量強制清算。

https://www.coinglass.com/zh-TW/LiquidationData

清算熱力圖顯示，$106,000 附近 清算金額達 175.11M； $111,000 附近 也有 169.02M 的清算，這些區間可能成為近期市場波動的關鍵點。

https://www.coinglass.com/zh-TW/pro/futures/LiquidationHeatMap

期權市場活躍，投資者在不同價格區間進行對沖與佈局：

$100,000 行權價的看跌期權合約數量達 7.42K，總金額 $25.86M，市場對該區間的防禦仍然較強。

$110,000 行權價的看漲期權合約數量達 13.02K，總金額 $57.61M，顯示市場對上行的預期仍存在，但與上週相比略有下降。

https://www.coinglass.com/zh-TW/pro/options/OIStrike

最大痛點出現在 2025/06/27 的 $100,000，名義金額 12.86B，顯示市場對該區間的交易活動仍較為集中。

https://www.coinglass.com/zh-TW/pro/options/max-pain

小結

本週加密市場顯示槓桿交易活躍度仍然維持高水準，但市場情緒偏向保守，資金費率轉為負值反映空方情緒增強。爆倉數據顯示多頭遭遇較大壓力，投資者在槓桿操作時需謹慎風險管理。期權市場的交易策略仍然分歧，市場在不同行權價格的佈局顯示投資者對後市走勢保持不同預期。建議交易者持續關注市場數據，根據槓桿交易動向調整策略，以降低市場震盪帶來的風險並尋找最佳交易機會。

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ETF

本週，加密貨幣衍生性商品市場出現顯著差異，資金流向呈現兩極化現象。比特幣（BTC）ETF方面，本週出現資金流出，金額達6.161億美元。這一變化顯示投資者對比特幣近期走勢產生疑慮，或在調整資金配置，以應對可能的市場風險和波動加劇。

以太坊（ETH）ETF則呈現資金流入趨勢，本週流入金額達 7,020 萬美元。較之於比特幣的趨勢，這一資金流入暗示出部分投資者對以太坊未來潛力充滿信心，特別是在其技術升級和生態系統發展背景下，認為相較於比特幣，ETH更具備吸引力。

https://coinmarketcap.com/zh-tw/etf/

小結

整體而言，本週加密貨幣衍生性商品市場呈現出明顯的資金流向差異。比特幣ETF大幅流出揭示了市場風險偏好的調整，而以太坊ETF的資金流入則表明投資者對其技術發展及生態系統持續看好。未來，投資人需持續關注宏觀經濟環境與技術創新如何影響各加密貨幣衍生性商品的動態，以便在不確定的市場中做出更合適的資金配置決策。

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鏈上分析 | BTC

二級交易所的比特幣儲備量再次創下斷崖式新低，顯示出市場上的流動性仍在減少。

https://cryptoquant.com/asset/btc/chart/exchange-flows/exchange-reserve?exchange=all_exchange&window=DAY&priceScale=log&metricScale=linear&chartStyle=line

地址分布方面，10-100顆比特幣的地址數量持續下降，100-1k、1k-10k及10k以上顆數的地址數量則繼續上升，特別是10k以上地址的數量近期突然激增，顯示大戶的持幣情緒正在加強。

https://cryptoquant.com/community/dashboard/67e2481ba2a7203afd437b31

鯨魚活躍地址數量全數上升，可以得知近期鯨魚們進場的速度逐步加快。

https://cryptoquant.com/community/dashboard/67e2481ba2a7203afd437b31

Exchange Netflow 顯示出近期大額淨流出交易所的情況，這進一步證實了市場上多數投資者偏向長期持有。

https://cryptoquant.com/asset/btc/chart/exchange-flows/exchange-netflow-total?exchange=all_exchange&window=DAY&sma=0&ema=0&priceScale=log&metricScale=linear&chartStyle=column

Long Term Holder Supply 持續上升，說明持幣155天以上的長期投資者信心未減。

https://www.bitcoinmagazinepro.com/charts/long-term-holder-supply/

URPD 顯示，104,000 美元以上買入的投資人已有被套跡象，若價格再次回落，將觸及 99,000 美元以下的支撐密集區。

https://charts.bgeometrics.com/distribution_realized_price.html

Short-Term Holder Realized Price 為 97,000 美元，短線若修正，此區間可能提供技術性支撐。

https://www.bitcoinmagazinepro.com/charts/short-term-holder-realized-price/

溢價指數方面，Coinbase 溢價指數衝高至 0.105 以上，韓國溢價指數則維持在 2.52，顯示美韓兩地市場買盤情緒仍然正向，整體鏈上結構支撐比特幣中期續強的可能性。

https://cryptoquant.com/asset/btc/chart/market-data/coinbase-premium-index?window=DAY&sma=0&ema=0&priceScale=log&metricScale=linear&chartStyle=line

Coinbase Premium Index

https://cryptoquant.com/asset/btc/chart/market-data/korea-premium-index?window=DAY&sma=0&ema=0&priceScale=log&metricScale=linear&chartStyle=line

Korea Premium Index

小結

本週比特幣鏈上數據顯示多頭格局進一步鞏固，二級交易所儲備量斷崖式下滑至新低，資金持續撤離交易所。

地址分布方面，10–100 BTC 的中小戶數量持續降低，而100–1 k、1 k–10 k及10 k+地址全線上升，尤其10 k+地址近期突增，顯示超級大戶加速佈局；鯨魚活躍地址也全面走高，進場節奏愈發急促。 Exchange Netflow 持續呈現大額淨流出，佐證長線持有趨勢，且 Long‑Term Holder Supply 持續攀升，反映市場偏好長期持有。成本面上，URPD 指標顯示回調後買在104,000美元以上的籌碼深度被套，未來若價格下行將觸及99,000美元以下投資人的成本區。

Short‑Term Holder Realized Price（155天內持幣者平均成本）約97,000美元，此區或成短期支撐，這也恰好和 URPD 指標吻合。

同時，Coinbase 溢價指數維持在0.105以上，韓國溢價指數則穩定於2.52，顯示全球買盤需求穩健。

整體而言，鏈上結構健康，資金流向多為長線建倉，但高位被套壓力與短期成本點仍需密切關注。

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總體經濟

本週加密貨幣市場持續受到宏觀經濟環境的顯著影響。聯邦基金有效利率穩定維持在 4.33%，顯示市場仍處於高利率壓制之下，資金流動性受到明顯限制，這一情勢對風險資產尤其是加密市場構成挑戰。

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FEDFUNDS

隨著 6 月 18 日 FOMC 會議臨近，市場普遍預期當前利率大概率將維持在 4.25%-4.50% 區間。然而，投資者亦將目光轉向 9 月 17 日的下一次會議，該會議上 4.0%-4.25% 區間的降息預期不斷攀升，目前已高達 51.8%，顯示市場對中期內利率調整存在明顯的分歧與期待。這種預期上的轉變，既意味著部分市場參與者看好未來資金回流的可能性，也使投資者對當前高利率環境下資產價格波動更加謹慎。

https://www.cmegroup.com/cn-t/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html

消費者物價指數 (CPI) 持續維持在 2.33%，顯示通膨壓力穩定而可控；失業率則保持在 4.2%，反映出勞動市場的基本穩健。雖然這些基本面數據表現平穩，卻難以在高利率與流動性緊縮的背景下對加密貨幣價格形成強而有力的支撐，市場參與者更趨於採取保守的投資策略，尤其在高槓桿交易普遍存在的情況下，風險管理顯得尤為重要。

失業率:https://www.macromicro.me/series/37/unemployment-rate

消費者物價指數（CPI):https://www.macromicro.me/series/128/consumer-price-index-sa-yoy

小結

整體而言，加密市場依舊面臨高利率環境帶來的流動性限制與價格波動風險。雖然短期內市場情緒偏保守，但 9 月 17 日會議上降息預期的上升，或將為未來市場帶來積極轉機。投資者應持續關注 FOMC 會議及最新經濟數據變化，謹慎調整交易策略以應對可能出現的轉機與挑戰。

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新聞

Ripple 的穩定幣 RLUSD 在杜拜獲得批准

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/06/03/ripples-stablecoin-rlusd-gets-stamp-of-approval-in-dubai

MoonPay 在紐約獲得令人垂涎的 BitLicense

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/06/04/moonpay-grabs-coveted-bitlicense-approval-in-new-york

穩定幣正悄悄增強美國國力

https://www.coindesk.com/opinion/2025/06/04/stablecoins-are-quietly-reinforcing-u-s-national-power

韓國選舉加密貨幣友善總統李在明為新總統

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/06/04/south-korea-elects-crypto-friendly-lee-jae-myung-as-new-president

Circle 首次公開募股 (IPO) 定價為每股 31 美元，穩定幣發行人估值為 69 億美元

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/06/04/circle-debuts-on-nyse-at-31-per-share-valuing-stablecoin-issuer-at-62-billion

香港即將允許加密貨幣衍生性商品交易

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/06/05/hong-kong-set-to-allow-crypto-derivatives-trading

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@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ 1817b617:715fb372

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 Race/Finney-style blockchain simulation, our technology generates coins that are virtually indistinguishable from real, fully confirmed blockchain transactions. Transactions stay live and spendable from 60 up to 360 days!

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 Instant Blockchain Simulation: Transactions are complete with valid wallet addresses, transaction IDs, and real confirmations.

 Privacy First: Works flawlessly with VPNs, TOR, and proxies to keep you fully anonymous.

 User-Friendly Software: Built for Windows, beginner and pro-friendly with simple step-by-step guidance.

 Flexible Flash Durations: Choose how long coins stay valid — from 60 to 360 days.

 Full Wallet Compatibility: Instantly flash coins to SegWit, Legacy, or BCH32 wallets with ease.

 Exchange-Ready: Spend your flashed coins on leading exchanges like Kraken and Huobi.

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 Over 79 billion flash transactions completed. 

 3000+ satisfied users around the globe. 

 42 active blockchain nodes ensuring fast, seamless performance.

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• Pay in your selected crypto.
• Scan the QR code or use the provided address.
• Upload your transaction proof (hash and screenshot).

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• Access your flashed coins immediately.
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 Race/Finney Attack Mechanics: Mimics authentic blockchain behavior. 

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 Real Blockchain TX IDs: All transactions come with verifiable IDs.

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• Is flashing secure? 

 Yes, fully encrypted with VPN/proxy compatibility. - Multiple devices? 

 Yes, up to 5 Windows PCs per license. - Chargebacks possible? 

 No, flashing is irreversible. - Spendability? 

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@ b2a8fdbc:dcab1f03

ถ้าเรามี "เงินที่ดี" ที่มีจำนวนจำกัดและสามารถเก็บมูลค่าได้อย่างแท้จริง ภาวะเงินฝืดที่เกิดจากคุณสมบัติเช่นนี้ อาจนำไปสู่ผลลัพธ์ที่เป็นบวกอย่างมหาศาลต่อคุณภาพชีวิตและมุมมองของมนุษย์ต่อการดำรงอยู่ ไม่ใช่เพียงแค่ความกังวลเรื่องการว่างงาน

เงินฝืด: ก้าวข้ามความกลัวการตกงาน สู่การค้นหาความหมายของชีวิต แนวคิดที่ว่ามนุษย์ไม่ได้เกิดมาเพื่อทำงานหากินไปแต่ละวัน แต่เพื่อค้นหาความหมายที่แท้จริงของชีวิต เป็นปรัชญาที่ลึกซึ้ง และสอดคล้องกับแนวคิดที่ว่า เมื่อเงินมีคุณสมบัติที่มั่นคงและมีจำกัด อาจนำมาซึ่งการเปลี่ยนแปลงเชิงบวกดังนี้:

1. ความมั่นคงทางการเงินและคุณภาพชีวิตที่ดีขึ้น เมื่อเงินมีคุณสมบัติที่เก็บรักษามูลค่าได้ดี นั่นหมายความว่ากำลังซื้อของเงินจะไม่ลดลงไปตามกาลเวลา ตรงกันข้าม อาจเพิ่มขึ้นด้วยซ้ำในระบบเศรษฐกิจที่มีประสิทธิภาพ สิ่งนี้จะส่งผลให้:

• ลดความกังวลเรื่องค่าครองชีพ : ผู้คนจะกังวลเรื่องรายได้ไม่พอค่าใช้จ่ายน้อยลง เพราะเงินที่หามาได้ในวันนี้ จะมีมูลค่าที่คงที่หรือเพิ่มขึ้นในอนาคต ทำให้วางแผนชีวิตได้ง่ายขึ้น
• การออมและการลงทุนมีประสิทธิภาพ : แรงจูงใจในการออมจะสูงขึ้น เพราะเงินที่เก็บไว้มีมูลค่าเพิ่มขึ้นเอง ทำให้เกิดความมั่งคั่งสะสมได้ง่ายขึ้น ซึ่งสามารถนำไปลงทุนในสิ่งที่มีคุณค่าอย่างแท้จริง
• ปลดล็อคจากวงจร "วิ่งไล่จับเงิน": เมื่อไม่ต้องกังวลเรื่องเงินเฟ้อกัดกินมูลค่าเงิน มนุษย์อาจไม่จำเป็นต้องทำงานหนักมากเพื่อชดเชยกำลังซื้อที่หายไป ทำให้มีเวลาและพลังงานเหลือเฟือสำหรับสิ่งอื่น ๆ ในชีวิต

2. การนิยาม "งาน" และ "คุณค่า" ใหม่ ในบริบทที่เงินมีความมั่นคง การทำงานอาจไม่ได้ถูกมองว่าเป็นเพียงหนทางในการ "หาเลี้ยงชีพ" อีกต่อไป แต่จะกลายเป็นการสร้างคุณค่าที่แท้จริง:

• งานที่สร้างสรรค์และมีความหมาย : ผู้คนอาจมีอิสระมากขึ้นในการเลือกทำงานที่ตนเองหลงใหล มีความหมาย หรือสร้างสรรค์สิ่งใหม่ ๆ ที่เป็นประโยชน์ต่อสังคม ไม่ใช่แค่การทำงานเพื่อเงิน
• ลดการแข่งขันที่ไม่จำเป็น : เมื่อมูลค่าของเงินมั่นคง การแข่งขันเพื่อแย่งชิงทรัพยากรที่มีจำกัดอาจลดลง ทำให้สังคมมีทิศทางที่ร่วมมือกันมากขึ้น
• การพัฒนามนุษย์อย่างรอบด้าน : เมื่อมีเวลาและทรัพยากรมากขึ้น มนุษย์จะมีโอกาสในการเรียนรู้ พัฒนาทักษะใหม่ ๆ หรือทุ่มเทให้กับงานอดิเรกและความสนใจส่วนตัว ซึ่งนำไปสู่การพัฒนาตนเองอย่างรอบด้าน

3. การมุ่งเน้นไปที่ความหมายที่แท้จริงของชีวิต หากมนุษย์หลุดพ้นจากพันธนาการของการ "ทำงานเพื่ออยู่รอด" ก็จะมีพื้นที่ทางความคิดและจิตใจที่กว้างขวางขึ้นเพื่อ:

• ค้นหาความสุขจากภายใน : ความสุขอาจไม่ได้มาจากการสะสมวัตถุ แต่มาจากการใช้ชีวิตอย่างมีสติ การเชื่อมโยงกับผู้อื่น หรือการทำกิจกรรมที่เติมเต็มจิตใจ
• การพัฒนาจิตวิญญาณ : มีเวลามากขึ้นในการสำรวจปรัชญา ศาสนา หรือศิลปะ เพื่อค้นหาความหมายของชีวิตที่ลึกซึ้งกว่าการบริโภค
• การดูแลสิ่งแวดล้อมและสังคม : เมื่อความกังวลเรื่องเศรษฐกิจลดลง สังคมอาจหันมาให้ความสำคัญกับการรักษาสิ่งแวดล้อม การแก้ปัญหาสังคม และการสร้างโลกที่ดีขึ้นสำหรับทุกคน

"เงินที่ดี" ที่มีคุณสมบัติจำกัดและเก็บมูลค่าได้นั้น มีศักยภาพที่จะเปลี่ยนแปลงพลวัตของสังคมและช่วยให้มนุษย์สามารถมีชีวิตที่มั่งคั่งและมีความหมายได้มากขึ้น โดยไม่ได้ถูกจำกัดอยู่เพียงแค่การทำงานเพื่อความอยู่รอดเท่านั้น

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

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

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

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

What's new

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

Other changes

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

#FREESAMOURAI

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

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo

@ c2fc4da5:6f0c7ccc

Literally wtf people...

Am I hallucinating or did all the people who value freedom leave the room? I'm old enough to remember when the point of Bitcoin was freedom. The new version of "self custody" is being locked into one vendor and depending on big tech's cloud (read someone else's computer) and good graces. The reason I got into Bitcoin was to depend on no one. Only by taking full responsibility for the well being of myself and my family could I be the kind of husband, father, and hopefully eventually grandfather that I wanted to be. I did not get into Bitcoin to be a cuckold.

I will be the change I want to see in the world. I will help men to be fishers with their own families and legacies.

We are building a Nostr first business in the open that with nostr:nprofile1qyt8wumn8ghj7cnfw33k76twv4ezuum0vd5kzmqpzpmhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejsqgxv43pk4mqurmp2u522mc9cvn3n0vzv6vxvy8zs6ulq46cdf7khz53utk7y , miniscript, timelocks, and taproot provides Your bitcoin, your legacy. Liana is Self Custody as resilient and redundant as Anchorwatch but fully open source, self sovereign, and no KYC.

We will provide onboarding and support to The Most Secure and Private Self Custody Ever, Done the Right Way. There is always a tradeoff, and the cost with this approach is more effort to setup. That's where we help and hold your hand to make things easy. We provide written documentation and support for onboarding and inheritance.

We are soft launching on Nostr and pledge to send 20% of revenue as zaps to Liana as we validate our MVP and work to become a formal authorized reseller. This is the business account, being built by nostr:nprofile1qyt8wue69uhh2mtzwfjkctnvda3kzmp6xsurgwqpzpmhxue69uhkummnw3ezumrpdejqqg9yypyd063xa8pk5ea4lunxc5ygs25fm03kaasrejwxwf3jdzrvxggv5pn2

All current providers make suboptimal tradeoffs:

• Security around Backups/Inheritance\ All current bitcoin self custody options have at least some ability for the wallet provider and/or heirs to conspire to steal funds or at least deny access. It’s only a matter of time before AI and deepfakes start compromising these systems. Do you really think Unchained can tell if its really you or just a deepfake? LMAO With With everyone having 1 key at home and 1 key a deepfake or kidnapping/coercion away, funds can be stolen with a visit to your home and short delay.

• Self sovereign resiliency\ The existing multisig options have points of failure that most overlook. Ever wonder why multisig providers brag about how much Bitcoin they protect? How do they even know that? They can see your entire stack, every detail, every transaction, and know exactly what your security model is. If a multisig provider has one of your keys and an heir has a key then that multisig provider can conspire to take funds, FULL STOP. Do you really think this won't happen when we reach $10M per BTC? Really, okay then do you really think this won't happen when we reach $10M per BTC and the government kidnaps and tortures them or kidnaps their family?

• Lowest development and cost structure\ This uses only open source off the self software allows for rapid low cost deployment.

• Fuck ETFs and MSTR

@ 81022b27:2b8d0644

I’m always doing work on myself. I have read reams of self-help books, attended seminars, bought cassette tape programs and CDs (remember those?), had a stint with Dianetics and Scientology, the Landmark Forum, you name it. My last seminar was Unleash the Power Within with Tony Robbins.

Addicted? Maybe. But I always feel there’s room for improvement.

Over the years, I’ve explored meditation and uncovering hidden blocks that affect how I operate in this world.

So I was experimenting (in my head) with things that made me uncomfortable.

One of them was math.

I told myself, “Math is an easy subject, and I can work out problems in my head.”

Immediately I felt a bunch of resistance.

Then something else came up.

I used to do math problems in my head with no trouble. But I remembered a grade school teacher who “wanted to see my work.”

I told him, “What does it matter? I got the right answer; I did it in my head.”

This teacher insisted I show my work, and I did not see the logic behind it. It was stupid and slowed me down.

I started getting failing grades because I couldn’t show my work.

So at some point, I gave up and said, “MATH IS STUPID.”

Fast forward years later, and I’m doing everything I can to avoid taking classes related to math.

So much so that when I decided to start chiropractic school, I was lacking math credits. I was delayed a few quarters because I needed the math credits before I started chiropractic college.

All because a silly math teacher didn’t recognize that I might have had a natural ability for it—and instead of nurturing it, he made me hate it.

Here’s the thing: I told myself for many years that I wasn’t good at math.

That was just the way I saw myself.

I was wrong.

I still have no desire to go solve equations or stuff like that. Maybe that ship has sailed. I won’t be Einstein scrawling complex equations on a chalkboard.

BUT WHAT IF?

WHAT LIES ARE YOU TELLING YOURSELF ABOUT YOURSELF?

Live Long and Prosper.

-Dan

@ d6affa19:9110b177

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

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

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

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

An Invocation of Structure, Trust, and Identity

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

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

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

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

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

The Words Alone Are Not the Magic

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

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

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

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

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

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

Closing Thoughts

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

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

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

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

Today was one of the best days I've had in a while. We had a long family outing, so lots of steps and sunshine and fresh air. I ate very well. No junk food at all. The only snacks I had were organic dark chocolate dipped in hodl butter.

Things to keep working on: I didn't sleep great (blame the Stanley Cup going to OT) and I didn't stick to my eating window.

How about you stackers? Let's here your ~HealthAndFitness triumphs and pitfalls.

https://stacker.news/items/1000285

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

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

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

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

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

The Protocol Puzzle: Why Lightning Needed Standards

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

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

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

Inside the BOLT Specifications: A Technical Breakdown

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Behind the Scenes: The Technical Complexity of Simple Payments

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

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

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

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

The Merchant Revolution: From Invoices to Commerce

The evolution from BOLT #11

@ 73d8a0c3:c1853717

This is not the beginning of my story. The beginning was removed.

This is where I choose to begin restoring it.

I’ve lived with a condition—not undiagnosed, but redacted. It reshaped my body, cognition, and autonomic control in ways that defy current clinical language—not because they’re impossible, but because they’ve been excluded from what is allowed to be known.

What I believe now—after years of direct experience, careful observation, and failed explanations—is that I’ve lived through a biological adaptation. A slow, systemic response to a fungal invader. Not an infection in the acute sense, but a reprogramming of my physiology: pituitary signaling, electrolyte balance, behavior, and memory itself.

The systems meant to detect it—medical, scientific, and digital—did not fail. They looked away.

Whether by accident or design, this condition has been removed from collective understanding. But it’s real. It happened. And it is happening still.

This isn’t a call for sympathy or recognition. It’s a call to memory. Mine. Yours. Ours—before it’s erased again.

I’ll be documenting what I’ve lived. Not just symptoms and labs—but the theory that explains them, and the structures that buried them. Some of this will be messy. Some speculative. Some precise. All of it will be honest.

And if what I’m saying is true, then I am not the only one. Just one of the few who remembered long enough to write it down.

So I begin here, before the tracks run out.

Also available on Substack: [https://jimcraddock.substack.com/] Nostr: @jimcraddock@primal.net Pubkey: npub1w0v2psmnnsq23qpwum66hc8wxvxc083t6xpndmx28z3qtsv9xutsfjz2tf

@ 2cde0e02:180a96b9

桜の姫

https://stacker.news/items/999877

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

MicroStrategy's Debt-Financed Bitcoin Strategy Will Force a Reckoning Within 18 Months - Jessy Gilger

Jessy Gilger from Unchained Capital warned about the sustainability of MicroStrategy's model and its derivatives like MSTY. He predicts that as more companies adopt Bitcoin treasury strategies, "the P&L will matter more as the balance sheet gets commoditized." Within the next 18 months, he expects the current arbitrage opportunities that MicroStrategy exploits will diminish as Bitcoin reaches higher liquidity levels and more competitors enter the space.

His most concerning prediction involves MSTY specifically, which currently offers distributions annualized at 120% - far exceeding the 16-22% he calculates as reasonable from covered call strategies. "If a whale wants out of MSTY in size... they could sell those derivative positions into an illiquid market where there's no bid," potentially causing a 95% collapse similar to what happened with gold mining ETFs during COVID. He advises investors to consider "private pools" for options strategies rather than pooled products where "you're in the pool with everyone else" and subject to forced liquidations.

Pensions Will Drive the Next Major Bitcoin Adoption Wave in 2026-2027 - Adam Back

Adam Back sees institutional adoption accelerating dramatically as pension funds begin allocating to Bitcoin. "The institutional cover of some of the bigger entities that people would reference... you don't get fired for following BlackRock's recommendation," he explained. With BlackRock now suggesting 2% portfolio allocations and the infrastructure finally in place through Blockstream's new Gannett Trust Company, the barriers for institutional adoption are falling rapidly.

Back predicts this will create a "snowball" effect as pension funds realize Bitcoin can help address their massive unfunded liabilities. He noted that financial institutions offering Bitcoin products are "slow movers" with "policies and training materials and guidance that they got to get through," but once activated, the scale will dwarf current retail and ETF flows. The combination of pension fund allocations, continued nation-state adoption, and the mathematical scarcity of Bitcoin leads him to view even $100,000 as "cheap" given where the market is headed.

Traditional Bond Markets Will Collapse as Bitcoin Becomes the Escape Hatch - Sean Bill

Sean Bill sees a massive shift coming as bond markets deteriorate globally. "You peel back the onion. So who benefits from financial repression, right. And inflating your way out of assets," he explained. With Japanese bond yields blowing out and U.S. 30-year yields jumping 10 basis points in a single day, Bill predicts we're witnessing the early stages of a sovereign debt crisis that will drive unprecedented flows into Bitcoin.

He pointed to Japan's MetaPlanet as a preview of what's coming: "The whole bond market of Japan just flowed into a hotel company." As pension funds and institutions realize they can't meet obligations through traditional fixed income, Bitcoin will become the only viable alternative. Bill believes this transition will accelerate once fiduciaries understand Bitcoin's role as "pristine collateral" that can help them "chip away at those unfunded liabilities." His experience getting Santa Clara County's pension into Bitcoin in 2021 showed him firsthand how a 1-3% allocation at $17,000 could have "wiped out the unfunded liability" as Bitcoin approached $100,000.

Adam Back & Sean Bill Podcast Here

---

Blockspace conducts cutting-edge proprietary research for investors.

New Bitcoin Mining Pool Flips Industry Model: "Plebs Eat First" Could Threaten Corporate Dominance

UTXO Management's explosive report forecasts unprecedented institutional demand that could absorb 20% of Bitcoin's circulating supply by 2026. Bitcoin ETFs shattered records with $36.2 billion in year-one inflows, crushing every commodity ETF launch—and they're projected to hit $100 billion annually by 2027.

The real story? ETFs are just the appetizer. Five massive catalysts are converging: wealth platforms eyeing $120 billion from a modest 0.5% allocation across $60 trillion AUM; corporations following MicroStrategy's playbook now holding 803,143 BTC; potential U.S. Strategic Reserve of 1 million BTC; 13 states with active Bitcoin reserve bills; and the rise of BTCfi yield strategies offering 2-15% returns.

The game-changer: these aren't day traders. CFOs, treasurers, and governments are structurally locked buyers seeking BTC-denominated yields, not quick profits. With FASB mark-to-market accounting removing impairment headaches and regulatory clarity accelerating globally, institutions face a stark reality—allocate now or chase exposure at dramatically higher prices.

This isn't another cycle. It's the institutional colonization of Bitcoin.

Link to Full Article

Subscribe to them here (seriously, you should): https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com/

---

Ten31, the largest bitcoin-focused investor, has deployed $150M across 30+ companies through three funds. I am a Managing Partner at Ten31 and am very proud of the work we are doing. Learn more at ten31.vc/invest.

---

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@ c9faf2ec:b6f67eb5

Who am I, and why am I writing this?\ \ Hi, I’m James Isaacs. Over the past few years, I’ve worked at the intersection of workforce strategy, business operations, and industry development—primarily in New Zealand’s arboriculture sector, but what I’m about to share applies far more widely. Many hands-on, asset-heavy industries are facing similar challenges: Skill shortages, owners trapped in their businesses with no easy exit, and a constant leakage of value as experienced people leave or companies wind down.

This article introduces a practical framework that leverages Bitcoin as a tool for value preservation—both for workers and business owners—paired with succession strategies that actually work in the real world. While my examples come from arboriculture, these principles can be adapted to any trade or industry where retaining skills, preserving business value, and enabling fair transitions matter. If you see parallels in your own field, I hope you’ll find this a useful starting point—or even a nudge toward piloting something new.

The Problem: Value is Leaking from Arboriculture

New Zealand’s arboriculture industry is facing a crisis of value. It shows up as skill shortages, owners struggling to exit their businesses, and a sector that’s losing its best people and most hard-earned expertise. Here’s how the problem breaks down:

1. Employees aren’t building real wealth.\ Wages have failed to keep up with the cost of living, especially with housing inflating at eye-watering rates. Many skilled workers bail out to become self-employed—usually out of necessity, not opportunity. That fragments the industry, drains our collective expertise, and makes it even harder for employers to attract and retain good people.

2. Business owners are trapped.\ Most of the value in a tree business is tied up in equipment, not in goodwill. When owners want to retire or move on, they discover there’s no real exit path. Goodwill is worth little, buyers can’t access capital, and so years of effort are often liquidated for pennies on the dollar—or lost entirely.

3. The whole sector is weakened.\ Every time a business closes, the community loses more than jobs and machines. We lose mentorship, continuity, and the backbone that makes arboriculture more than just gig work with chainsaws.

A New Approach: Bitcoin + Succession Planning

My proposal is to tackle the value leak at both ends—employee and proprietor—using a combination of Bitcoin (as a savings and compensation tool) and practical succession mechanisms (like vendor financing and staged buyouts).

Why Bitcoin?

• Scarcity and Security: Bitcoin has a fixed supply (21 million units), enforced by a decentralized proof-of-work system. No government or central bank can print more.

• Long-term appreciation: Over the last 15 years, Bitcoin’s long-term returns have outpaced inflation and traditional savings, even accounting for volatility. It’s proven itself as a store of value, especially when held for 4+ years.

• Permissionless and portable: Anyone can receive or hold Bitcoin, with as little as a smartphone.

This isn’t about “crypto” as a speculative bet—other digital assets don’t offer the same guarantees of decentralisation and scarcity. Bitcoin alone stands out for its security, openness, and resistance to manipulation.

Why Succession Planning?

Traditional business exits in arboriculture don’t work because the businesses need to be run by arborists with sufficient technical knowledge. Such buyers can’t raise the capital to pay for both assets and goodwill up front. Vendor financing (where the owner is paid out over time), and equipment leasing-to-own are much more realistic. When combined with Bitcoin as a reserve asset, they offer a way for both parties to share in potential upside—and for retiring owners to actually preserve some of the value they created.

How It Could Work

For Employees:

• Businesses pay a small portion of wages (e.g., 10%) in Bitcoin, using the Lightning Network for instant, low-fee payments.

• Employees accumulate savings that actually have a chance of outpacing inflation—potentially enough to buy into a business down the line or just build real financial security so they don't need to "go out on their own".

• Education is critical: Workers need to understand Bitcoin’s value proposition and risks.

For Business Owners:

• Instead of trying (and failing) to sell outright, owners structure a phased exit:

• Vendor finance: Successors buy goodwill over time, in manageable annual payments.

• Lease-to-own: Equipment is leased with the intention of transfer after a set period.

• Bitcoin reserves: Sale proceeds are held either partly or fully in Bitcoin, giving owners a shot at capital appreciation during retirement. Basically allowing the owner to accept less knowing the value of the proceeds will compound over time.

• Legal contracts and basic training in self-custody are a must.

For the Sector:

• With more employees building wealth and seeing a path to ownership, fewer businesses will close or get broken up.

• The talent pool stabilises; knowledge gets transferred; the “arboricultural pie” gets bigger for everyone.

Why Bitcoin? Why Not Just Use Dollars?

New Zealand dollars—and every other fiat currency—are losing purchasing power, year after year, due to policies that quietly tax away workers’ and savers’ value through inflation and deficit spending. Bitcoin, by design, is the exact opposite:

• No central authority can change the rules.

• Supply is capped and predictable.

• Anyone can verify the ledger, anywhere in the world.

Other digital assets (Ethereum, Solana, etc.) might offer features, but they all sacrifice security or decentralisation for speed or flexibility. Bitcoin stands alone as a reliable, permissionless store of value. An important thing to remember is that dollars have decreased in value by over 99% relative to bitcoin since its inception.

Addressing the Obvious Questions

But isn’t Bitcoin volatile?\ Yes, in the short term. But over 4-year cycles, it’s proven to be remarkably resilient. Employees can convert their allocations back to NZD if they want, but holding over longer periods is where the value builds.

What about energy use?\ Bitcoin’s energy consumption is a rounding error globally (<0.1%), and is increasingly powered by renewables. It’s also a buyer of last resort for wasted energy, and can actually help stabilize grids and fund green energy buildout. Furthermore, the energy used is the proof-of-work, an essential characteristic of any truly hard money.

Is this even legal or practical in NZ?\ Yes. NZ classifies Bitcoin as property for tax purposes. Wages must be reported in NZD terms, but partial payment in Bitcoin is relatively straightforward with basic payroll adjustments. In general, tax laws surrounding Bitcoin are still fairly unreasonable but the tide is turning and things will only get easier as time moves forward.

Implementation: Getting Started

There are two clear parts to this framework: partial remuneration in Bitcoin for employees, and an improved business exit/succession strategy for owners. Importantly, these elements can be implemented independently—adopting one does not require adopting the other. Here’s how each part could work in practice:

1. Partial Remuneration in Bitcoin

Pilot, Educate, and Iterate

• Start Small: Begin by offering a modest percentage of wages (e.g., 5–10%) in Bitcoin, using existing payroll systems and Lightning-enabled wallets. Participation should be optional, with clear communication about risks, potential rewards, and the ability for employees to convert their Bitcoin to NZD at any time.

• Education First: Provide training for staff on how to securely hold Bitcoin, basic tax considerations (e.g., reporting in NZD), and the rationale for this benefit. Focus on Bitcoin’s unique properties (finite supply, resistance to inflation), not general “crypto” hype.

• Choose the Right Tools: Use reputable exchanges and Lightning wallets to facilitate fast, low-cost payments. Many solutions exist that make sending Bitcoin as easy as sending a bank transfer.

• Monitor and Review: Run a short-term pilot (3–6 months), gather employee feedback, and adjust the offering as needed. Document outcomes—savings rates, employee satisfaction, and any practical challenges.

2. Business Exit and Succession Planning

Structure, Secure, and Transition Value

• Assess and Plan: Owners assess their business’s asset values (equipment, goodwill), and identify one or more potential successors from within the team. Seek professional advice to ensure fair valuations and sound contracts.

• Vendor Finance Agreements: Structure agreements where successors pay for goodwill over several years (e.g., $10k per year over five years), allowing them to acquire ownership gradually without upfront capital.

• Lease-to-Own for Equipment: Rather than selling machinery outright, lease equipment to successors with the intention of transferring ownership after a set period.

• Bitcoin as Reserve Asset: Owners may choose to convert sale proceeds into Bitcoin, providing potential for long-term appreciation. Training in basic self-custody is essential to minimize risk.

• Legal & Tax Considerations: Consult accountants and lawyers to ensure all arrangements are tax-compliant and legally robust. NZ law currently treats Bitcoin as property, so tax is only triggered when it’s sold back to NZD.

Independent or Combined Adoption

These two components are modular—either can be adopted without the other:

• A business might start with Bitcoin remuneration as an employee benefit, with no immediate plans for succession.

• Alternatively, a proprietor could structure a Bitcoin-enhanced exit plan with a trusted successor, regardless of current payroll arrangements.

Both approaches offer practical, incremental steps to preserving value within the industry. By documenting results and sharing lessons learned, early adopters can help establish best practices and de-risk adoption for others.

Final Thoughts

While this framework was developed with New Zealand arboriculture in mind, the challenge of value loss—through skill shortages, poor succession options, and business closures—is a universal one. The combination of Bitcoin-based savings and practical, staged succession strategies is not just for tree work. It can be adapted to any asset-heavy, skill-driven industry where the goal is to keep expertise, reward commitment, and allow owners to exit fairly.

What sets this approach apart is its focus on long-term resilience. By helping employees build lasting wealth and giving owners a real path to retirement or transition, we strengthen the entire sector—whatever that sector may be. The same blueprint can help electricians, builders, mechanics, and more.

If you see these problems in your field, consider piloting one or both parts of this model. Share what works and what doesn’t. We have a chance to redefine what it means to build, preserve, and transfer value—not just for ourselves, but for the next generation of workers and business owners across many industries.

Now is the time for experimentation, for honest reporting, and for collective learning. If we get it right, the benefits will ripple far beyond any single sector.

@ eac63075:b4988b48

Ever imagined sending a Bitcoin transaction without an internet connection? Or talking to your friends during a total blackout when the cell network just vanishes? It sounds like science fiction, but this technology is an accessible reality, built with low-cost hardware and open-source software. Welcome to the world of mesh networks, Meshtastic, and the BTC Mesh project.

This guide explores the universe of decentralized communication networks, showing how they work, why they are vital for our digital sovereignty, and how you can use them to strengthen your privacy and resilience—not just in communication, but in your Bitcoin transactions as well.

https://fountain.fm/episode/nr8qWgi7XNoBbDkc8GZj

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vKW7Lhi3uOUhlRogAtgej

What Are Mesh Networks and Why Should You Care?

Our connected world runs on a fragile, centralized infrastructure. Cell towers, internet providers, data centers—if one of these points fails, communication stops. A mesh network turns this logic on its head.

Here, each participant (or "node") connects directly to other nodes within its reach, forming a web of P2P (peer-to-peer) connections. Instead of data passing through a central server, it hops from node to node until it reaches its destination. The true strength of this approach is decentralization and resilience. If a node goes down, the others simply find a new path for the information. The network reconfigures and heals itself.

Source: meshtastic.org

LoRa and Meshtastic: The Dynamic Duo

To create these networks in the real world, the enthusiast community has rallied around a powerful duo:

• LoRa (Long Range): Think of LoRa as the physical layer—the "radio waves" of our network. It's a technology that allows for long-range wireless communication with incredibly low power consumption. We're talking about cheap little radios that can send small data packets for miles, running for days on a single battery.
• Meshtastic: If LoRa is the physical medium, Meshtastic is the brain. It's open-source software that equips these radios to form a smart, easy-to-use mesh network. Meshtastic handles everything: discovering other nodes, managing routes, encrypting messages, and providing an interface on your phone, connected via Bluetooth.

Meshtastic was originally created as an off-grid communicator, but its usefulness goes far beyond that. Here, privacy is a fundamental pillar. To join a group channel, you need the encryption key. Direct messages are end-to-end encrypted. It's like having a "hardware wallet" for your communication: your private key is secure on your radio, ensuring that only you and the recipient can read the messages.

While Meshtastic is the most popular, alternatives like MeshCore exist, which aim to optimize packet routing. However, the network effect is powerful, and the vast majority of users today are on the Meshtastic platform.

Introducing BTC Mesh: Bitcoin Transactions Via Radio

This is where Bitcoin enters the picture. The inspiration for the BTC Mesh project came from a mix of necessity and chance. After buying a LoRa radio on AliExpress that, to my frustration, couldn't transmit over long distances—and the seller simply stopped responding—I discovered it worked perfectly within my apartment. With two radios in hand, one for the base and another "defective" one, I had the perfect test environment for a new use case: sending Bitcoin transactions over the mesh network.

GitHub - eddieoz/btcmesh: BTC Mesh Relay is designed to send Bitcoin payments via LoRa Meshtastic.

BTC Mesh is a simple application that allows anyone on a Meshtastic network to send a Bitcoin transaction (on-chain, layer 1) over the radio network, without needing a direct internet connection.

How the Magic Works

The system has two parts: a client and a server.

• The Server: Someone on the network with internet access runs the "server node." This is a computer (a Raspberry Pi can handle it) connected to a LoRa radio and a full Bitcoin node (Bitcoin Core). It acts as the bridge between the off-grid mesh world and the global Bitcoin network.
• The Client: Anyone else on the network, even miles away and without internet, can use the "client" on their laptop or phone.

The process is a choreographed dance designed for the low-speed LoRa network:

1. Preparing the Transaction: In a wallet like Sparrow, you create and sign your transaction. Instead of clicking "Broadcast," you copy the "Raw Transaction"—a long hexadecimal text.
2. Sending Over the Mesh: In the terminal, you run a simple command, pointing to the server's radio and pasting your raw transaction.
3. The Communication: Since the transaction is too large for a single LoRa packet, the client splits it into chunks and starts a conversation with the server:
4. Client: "Hey server! I have a transaction in 15 parts. Can we start?"
5. Server: "Roger that! Awaiting 15 parts. Send the first one."
6. Client: (sends part 1)
7. Server: "Part 1 received. Send part 2."
8. This "handshake" continues until all parts are confirmed, ensuring the transaction arrives complete.
9. Validation and Broadcast: Upon receiving everything, the server reconstructs the transaction, validates it, and hands it off to its local Bitcoin node, which finally broadcasts it to the worldwide network.

And that's it! Your transaction is sent to the blockchain, broadcast from a radio, without your IP address ever being exposed.

Maximum Privacy and Sovereignty

BTC Mesh's power lies in its layers of privacy:

• No IP Trail: Since the transaction is sent via radio, there is no record of your IP address. To the Bitcoin network, the transaction simply originated from the server node.
• End-to-End Encryption: The communication between the radios is encrypted by Meshtastic. No one in between can see the content of your transaction.
• Extra Layer with Tor: For maximum privacy, the server node can connect to the internet through the Tor network. This way, not even the server's IP is exposed in the final broadcast.

This combination creates a powerful system for censorship-resistant Bitcoin transactions with high privacy.

Building Your Kit: The Hardware

Excited to build your own station? The hardware is cheap and accessible.

• Frequency is Key: First, know the legal LoRa frequency in your country. In Brazil, use 915 MHz. In Europe, 868 MHz. Buying the wrong frequency will render your radio useless.
• Popular Brands:
• Heltec: Very popular, with boards like the T114, V3, and the Wireless Bridge, which comes with a practical design and an e-ink screen.
• RAK Wireless: Considered more "professional." The RAK4631 model (which I use for my base) is excellent, and the WisBlock line is modular, requiring no soldering.
• LilyGo: Famous in the "maker" community. Offers boards like the T-Beam (with GPS), T-Echo (small and practical), and the T-Deck (a full communicator with a keyboard).
• Seeed Studio (SenseCAP): Offers robust devices like the T1000-e (waterproof) and the XIAO ESP32S3 (tiny, perfect for compact projects).
• Antennas: Don't underestimate the antenna! And a crucial warning: never, ever, turn on your radio without an antenna connected, or you could burn out the transmitter.
• 3 dBi: A more "rounded" signal (a sphere), great for short distances with vertical obstacles.
• 10 dBi: A "flatter," more directional signal (a frisbee), for long distances with a clear line of sight.
• Power: Many boards have connectors for batteries and small solar panels, allowing you to create autonomous nodes.

Limitations and Considerations

Despite its power, LoRa technology has its limits:

• Low Bandwidth: The network is slow. Think 140-character Twitter. It's perfect for messages, but forget about web browsing.
• Regulation: Many regions limit the amount of data a radio can transmit per hour ("duty cycle"). Meshtastic respects these limits, which reinforces the need for optimized applications.
• Need for a Bridge: For a transaction to reach the global network, one node on the mesh needs internet. The network can be fully off-grid for internal communication, but the bridge to the outside world is necessary for certain applications. MQTT servers can play this role, connecting distant mesh networks over the internet.

Use Cases: Beyond Bitcoin

• Disaster Communication: Projects like Disaster.Radio focus on using LoRa to coordinate rescue teams during catastrophes.
• Outdoor Activities: Essential for hiking and camping in remote locations.
• Internet of Things (IoT): In agriculture, sensors can cover vast areas. On farms, they can monitor livestock.
• Private Communication: In a world of surveillance, having a communication channel that you control is an act of sovereignty.

The Future is Decentralized

Projects like BTC Mesh offer a glimpse into a more resilient, private, and decentralized future. They give us the tools to build our own communication and financial networks, free from centralized control.

The technology is cheap, the software is free, and the community is vibrant. Building your first node might seem intimidating, but it's a rewarding project and a practical step toward personal sovereignty.

So, are you ready to get off the grid?

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

The adoption of Bitcoin as a corporate reserve asset is accelerating: public companies have doubled their holdings in just two months.

The use of Bitcoin as a corporate treasury strategy is reaching unprecedented levels. According to a recent report from Standard Chartered, shared with several industry outlets, 61 publicly traded companies collectively hold 3.2% of all bitcoin in circulation.

Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, revealed that these 61 public firms — out of a total of 124 — now own 673,897 BTC.

The report highlights that 58 of the 61 companies analyzed have net asset value (NAV) multiples above 1, indicating that their market valuations exceed the value of their net assets.

The Strategy copycats

A significant takeaway from the report is the speed at which companies are accumulating bitcoin. The 60 companies considered “Strategy copycats” have doubled their holdings in the past two months, from under 50,000 BTC to about 100,000 BTC. Over the same period, Strategy added 74,000 BTC, compared to the 47,000 acquired by the other firms.

This movement continues to expand as new companies announce Bitcoin purchase plans via debt issuance. On June 3, Canadian renewable energy developer SolarBank officially announced its Bitcoin treasury strategy, filing an application to open an account with Coinbase Prime to secure custody services, manage USDC, and set up a non-custodial wallet for its Bitcoin holdings.

Meanwhile, Paris-based Blockchain Group announced a $68 million Bitcoin acquisition, while Norwegian crypto brokerage K33 raised $6.2 million to purchase BTC at the end of May.

The post Bitcoin treasury: 61 publicly listed companies now hold over 3% of total supply appeared first on Atlas21.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Related: Bitcoin 2025 Conference Kicks off in Las Vegas Today

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

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

Trump Media’s official announcement

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

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

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

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

But not everyone is happy.

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

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

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

The Spanish coffee chain follows in Strategy’s footsteps, aiming for a Bitcoin-first strategy.

Vanadi Coffee SA, a well-known Spanish coffee shop chain, is preparing for a major shift in its business model through a bitcoin investment worth over $1.1 billion. The company plans to transform itself from a simple coffee distributor into an entity centered around the leading cryptocurrency.

Salvador Martí, chairman of the board of directors, has outlined a clear vision for the company’s future, seeking authorization to implement a bitcoin accumulation strategy with a maximum budget of €1 billion, according to documentation submitted to BME Growth.

The strategy involves using convertible financing lines to support the bitcoin acquisition, following the model successfully pioneered by Strategy. Martí has already demonstrated his conviction by purchasing 5 BTC for approximately $500,000 two weeks ago.

Vanadi Coffee’s decision comes at a critical moment for the company, which reported losses of $3.7 million in 2024 — exceeding its annual revenues by nearly $600,000. The GameStop episode offers a relevant case study: the American company, facing similar difficulties, opted to purchase bitcoin through a debt securities issuance, acquiring a total of 4,710 bitcoins.

The corporate bitcoin trend

Vanadi Coffee’s initiative is part of a broader global movement, with companies from various industries embracing bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset. From Chinese logistics firms to football clubs, the phenomenon of corporate adoption is crossing both geographic and sectoral boundaries.

Strategy remains the pioneer of this approach, having demonstrated how a company can completely reinvent itself through bitcoin accumulation. Michael Saylor’s success story has inspired numerous other businesses to consider cryptocurrency not merely as an investment, but as a central pillar of their business strategy.

The next Vanadi Coffee board meeting, scheduled for June 29, will mark a pivotal moment for the Spanish company. Approval of the $1.1 billion strategy could trigger further investments from other corporations.

The post Spanish company Vanadi Coffee bets on Bitcoin: $1.1 billion investment appeared first on Atlas21.

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

I'll do more specific deep dives into the interesting teams, but let's start with the big picture. Which teams are buyers and sellers this offseason and who will be the biggest moving pieces?

Sellers

These are the teams that I expect to be bailing on their valuable assets: - Celtics: Even before Tatum's horrible injury, there was Last Dance talk around this old expensive roster. I think they'll use this year to get the roster more aligned with Tatum's timeline. That likely means moving on from Horford, Holliday, and Porzingis for salary savings and promising young players. - Bucks: With Dame injured and the roster being both old and not very good, they'll be putting Giannis on the auction block, as well as anyone else with trade value. They aren't tanking, though, unless they can get their picks back. - Phoenix: They desperately need to turn KD into assets that will be valuable in the future. The situation may even be bleak enough that they look to move on from Booker. - Memphis: A badly injured superstar and a roster that probably isn't good enough anyway, means it's time to sell the parts that don't quite fit and look to get back on track after next season.

Buyers

These are the teams looking to add high-end talent: - Houston: They had a great season, but lack a true number one player. Fortunately for them, they have a ton of draft picks and promising young players. - San Antonio: They also have a ton of assets and are ready to build a competitor around Wemby and Fox.

Both

These teams are pretty good, but they probably need to make pretty big roster tweaks: - Cavs: The two-big lineup looked too big against the Pacers. They probably need to move either Garland or Allen for another good player that fits the roster needs better. - Minnesota: Randle looked good for most of the playoffs, but Randle and Gobert aren't the right frontcourt for Ant. - Lakers: I'm not sure who they should part with, but they need a center.

Run it back

These teams don't need to do more than small tweaks around the edges, either because they're close already, they're developing a young promising roster, or there's just not much they can do: - Detroit - New York - Indiana - OKC - Golden State

???

I don't know what they need to do, but they need to do something: - Clippers: Kawhi and Harden went as far as they're gonna go, but I doubt anyone wants to give up assets for either of them. - Philly: Hahahahaha! - Orlando: Great defense, miserable offense. Something's gotta give - Dallas: Are they trying to win now or build around Flagg? - New Orleans: They have way too much talent to be as bad as they've been. - Denver: They looked great against OKC, but it seems like they need more around Jokic. Is MPJ worth anything as a trade asset, though?

Who cares? They suck

Everyone else

Let me know what you're looking at this offseason.

https://stacker.news/items/999795

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

A new step for the American bank in the digital asset space: Bitcoin ETFs cleared for use as collateral for financing.

JPMorgan Chase will allow clients to use spot Bitcoin ETFs as collateral to obtain loans. According to sources close to the project, cited by Bloomberg, the initiative will launch in the coming weeks and will involve trading and wealth management clients on a global scale.

The bank has decided to begin this new phase starting with crypto ETFs, beginning with the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which has already surpassed $70 billion in assets under management (AUM). The decision is part of a broader strategy aimed at enabling selected clients to access financing by using cryptocurrency-related assets as collateral. Before this change, JPMorgan only accepted crypto ETFs as loan collateral under specific conditions.

The American bank’s new approach will see Bitcoin ETFs treated like other traditional assets when calculating a client’s borrowing capacity. Just as is currently the case with stocks, cars, or works of art, crypto ETFs will become an integral part of standard wealth evaluations.

Although CEO Jamie Dimon has historically been known for his skeptical stance on Bitcoin, the bank announced last month that it would soon allow clients to purchase spot ETFs on the leading cryptocurrency — although without offering custody services.

The new rules will apply to all of JPMorgan’s wealth management clients worldwide, from retail customers to high-net-worth individuals. The bank will also integrate crypto holdings into the net worth assessments of clients managed by its wealth management division.

The post JPMorgan Chase: Bitcoin ETFs accepted as loan collateral appeared first on Atlas21.

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

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

Headlines

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

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

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

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

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

Use the tools

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

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

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

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

What's new

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

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

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

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

  • For more technical details, see the protocol spec.

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

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

Fixes

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

Blog Post / Archive
GitHub Repo
CCC Guide
Key Teleport site

@ bf47c19e:c3d2573b

Originalni tekst

Autor: mr Vladimir Dinić (student doktorskih studija; vladimirdinic88@gmail.com)

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Rezime

Bikojn je prva decentralizovana „peer-to-peer“ kriptovaluta nastala 2009. godine. Osnovna specifičnost ove valute jeste činjenica da njen emitent ne postoji. Sa druge strane, ponuda ove valute je softverski programirana i ograničena. Između ostalog, njene osnovne karakteristike su i relativno sigurna plaćanja, niski transakcioni troškovi, anonimnost korisnika, praktično nemoguće falsifikovanje, nereverzibilnost transakcija, ali i izuzetno nestabilan devizni kurs. I pored brojnih prednosti, korišćenje ove valute je predmet brojnih diskusija, budući da ova valuta nudi mogućnost različitih zloupotreba i obavljanja kriminalnih aktivnosti. Budućnost ove i sličnih valuta u tom smislu zavisi kako od sigurnosti korišćenja tih valuta, tako i od zakonske regulacije ovakvih plaćanja.

Uvod

Razvoj informacione tehnologije, kao jedne od najpropulzivnijih privrednih grana današnjice, doveo je do pojave novih oblika alternativnih valuta. Njihove osnovne karakteristike su decentralizovanost, odnosno nepostojanje centralne banke, države, opštine, kompanije ili bilo koje druge centralne institucije koja bi vršila emisiju te valute, kao i stoprocentno oslanjanje na informacionu tehnologiju u procesu njihove emisije i realizacije transakcija.

Predmet istraživanja ovog rada biće bitkojn, decentralizovana valuta nastala pre 4 godine koja među ostalim alternativnim valutama trenutno zauzima najznačajnije mesto i privlači najviše pažnje. Putem analize dostupne akademske literature, statističkih podataka i ostalih relevantnih izvora pokušaćemo da izdvojimo osnovne karakteristike bitkojn valute, prednosti, nedostatke, efekte i perspektive njegovog korišćenja kao oblika decentralizovane kriptovalute. Budući da je broj radova u kojima su opisane karakteristike i efekti korišćenja bitkojn valute relativno mali, cilj ovog rada će biti da na sveobuhvatan način prezentuje osnovne specifičnosti bitkojn valute i kontroverze povezane s njenim korišćenjem.

Struktura rada je sledeća. Prvo će biti opisane osnovne karakterisike bitkojn valute i način na koji se realizuju transakcije u ovoj valuti. Zatim će biti opisan sam proces, tok i efekti njene emisije, kao i formiranje i kretanje deviznog kursa bitkojna, a zatim će biti izdvojene osnovne prednosti i nedostaci bitkojn valute. U nastavku rada će biti opisana uloga finansijskih institucija koje posluju sa bitkojnima, kao i problemi funkcionisanja bitkojna, gde pre svega imamo u vidu različite zloupotrebe i ostale izvore nestabilnosti. Na samom kraju rada će biti prezentovani regulatorni aspekti korišćenje ove valute.

Karakteristike bitkojn valute

Bitkojn (engl. “Bitcoin” - BTC) predstavlja oblik elektronskog novca koji omogućuje plaćanja putem Interneta direktno između transaktora bez učešća finansijskih institucija. Ova valuta je nastala 2009. godine. Ono po čemu je bitkojn valuta specifična jeste činjenica da je u pitanju decentralizovana valuta, tj. ona funkcioniše bez centralne banke ili druge kompanije koja bi predstavljala emitenta. Takođe, praktično i ne postoje čak ni klasične banke i druge finansijske institucije kao finansijski posrednici. Stoga, da bi se osigurala sigurnost plaćanja i onemogućile različite zloupotrebe, koristi se sama mreža kao sistem koji će kontrolisati regularnost transakcija.

Kao osnovne karakteristike ove virtuelne valute možemo izdvojiti sledeće:

• U pitanju je P2P valuta (engl. „peer-to-peer“). Drugim rečima, za razliku od svih ostalih virtuelnih valuta, BTC je zasnovan na P2P mrežama. Inače, “Peer-to-peer” predstavlja mrežu računara koji nisu zasnovani na „klijent-server“ tehnologiji, već su svi računari ravnopravni članovi mreže. Obično se koristi za deljenje informacija na taj način što kada jedan računar “podeli” neki sadržaj, svi ostali računari u mreži će imati pristup tom fajlu.

• Takođe, to je prva “kriptovana valuta” ili „kriptovaluta“ (engl. “crypto-currency”), tj. zasnovana je na primeni kriptografije sa ciljem kontrole emisije i prometa konkretnog elektronskog novca (Bitcoin.org/en/ about n.d.). Drugim rečima, poverenje u ovu valutu se bazira na sigurnosti koju obezbeđuje kriptografija kao nauka koja se bavi metodama zaštita informacija putem šifrovanja i korišćenjem digitalnog potpisa (Sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriptografija n.d.).

• Emitent ove valute nije ni centralna banka ni neka kompanija, već sami korisnici, tj. vlasnici “mining” računara (engl. “mining” - “rudarenje”). To praktično znači da na emisiju i promet ove valute ne utiče nijedna centralna banka, odnosno centralni entitet od čije monetarne politike ili bilo čega vezanog za njega može zavisiti vrednost valute. Poverenje u bitkojn zavisi od „poštenog“ funkcionisanja većine tzv. “mining” računara u mreži (Barber i saradnici 2012, p.400), a koji su inače zaduženi za verifikaciju transakcija. Logički zaključak koji proističe iz ove činjenice ukazuje na to da se sa rastom obima transakcija u BTC valuti može očekivati veća sigurnost, jer što je veći obim transakcija u bitkojn valuti, praktično će biti teže vršiti zloupotrebe.

• - U pitanju je “open-source” valuta, budući da je kod koji upravlja emisijom i transakcijama otvorenog karaktera, i svi zainteresovani mogu imati pristup.

• U bitkojn sistemu plaćanja praktično ne postoje računi nalik onima koji postoje u bankama. BTC valuta bi mogla biti shvaćena kao sef u kome se nalazi određena vrednost. Ono što formalni vlasnici određene količine BTC valute praktično poseduju jeste ključ koji im omogućuje jedinstven i ovlašćen pristup tom sefu, odnosno plaćanje.

Navedene osnovne karakteristike bitkojna mogu se ilustrovati kroz sledeću rečenicu: „Temelj bitkojn filozofije je u kombinaciji kriptografske sigurnosti digitalnog sveta koju čini veliki broj računara povezanih u jaku i neuništivu peer to peer mrežu i ograničenoj količini raspoloživih resursa kao što je to slučaj sa srebrom i zlatom (maksimalan broj bitkojn novčića je 21 milion, trenutno u opticaju je oko 11,5 miliona (prim. aut.)) čineći tako jaku i stabilnu takozvanu kriptovalutu koja se nalazi na Internet mreži ali fizički nije prisutna ni u jednoj zemlji na svetu“ (Bitcoinbalkan.com 2012).

Šema transakcije u bitkojn valuti

Bitkojn valuta može biti kreirana na Internetu od strane bilo koga, tj. od bilo kog člana mreže čiji računar vršu verifikaciju transakcija. Pritom, svaki računar u mreži može predstavljati tzv. “node”, tj. „mining“ računar koji zajedno sa ostalim računarima učestvuje u verifikaciji iniciranih transakcija. Sam proces verifikacije transakcija predstavlja dodavanje digitalnog zapisa u tzv. “glavnu knjigu” izvršenih bitkojn transakcija, odnosno u “lančani zapis blokova transakcija” (En.bitcoin. it n.d.). Pod blokom transakcija se podrazumeva skup nedavno generisanih transakcija koje čekaju verifikaciju od strane ostalih računara u mreži. Inače, sam bitkojn se može smatrati lancem digitalnih potpisa. Naime, svaka transakcija se verifikuje od strane određenog broja ostalih računara u mreži, pri čemu se sve te transakcije u digitalnom zapisu čuvaju u samom elektronskom formatu koji reprezentuje bitkojn valutu.

Ovaj proces verifikacije transakcija se u tom smislu obavlja od strane većeg broja računara u mreži, kako bi se obezbedila veća sigurnost i regularnost verifikovanih transakcija. Dodatnu sigurnost pruža “vremenski pečat” (engl. “timestamp”) kao integralni deo svakog lanca digitalnih potpisa (Nakamoto n.d., p.2), čime se obezbeđuje autentičnost transakcija, odnosno sprečava mogućnost višestrukog korišćenja jedne iste količine bitkojna za kupovinu različitih dobara i usluga. Takođe, svaki blok sa sobom nosi i određeni matematički problem koji računar mora da reši. Svaki od tih zadataka je moguće rešiti na više načina, a dovoljno je pronaći jedan kako bi transakcija bila realizovana. Za svaki uspešno rešeni zadatak generiše se određen broj bitkojna kao nagrada za vlasnike računara koji su „rešili zadatak“. Ovo je istovremeno i način na koji bitkojn privlači nove korisnike. Nakon prijema bitkojna po osnovu određene transakcije, potrebno je da protekne određeni vremenski period od 10 minuta do 1h, da bi primalac mogao da koristi taj novac. Kao razlog ovog čekanja navodi se činjenica da je potreban određeni vremenski period za pronalaženje bloka transakcija koji će se verifikovati (En.bitcoin.it n.d.). Inače, bitkojn novac nastaje u računarskom programu koji se zove “Bitkojn rudar” (engl. “Bitcoin miner”).

Kao što Šema 1 pokazuje, svaka transakcija između dva računara u mreži zahteva verifikaciju ove transakcije od strane određenog broja računara u mreži. Nakon uspešno verifikovane transakcije dolazi do proširenja lanca digitalnih zapisa koji predstavljaju bitkojn. Oni “mining” računari koji vrše tzv. “hashing” i verifikaciju transakcija dobijaju, tj. generišu određen broj BTC kao nadoknadu za tu svoju ulogu i koji mogu koristiti po svom nahođenju. U tom smislu, trošenje električne energije i rad “mining” računara, uslovno rečeno, predstavlja realno pokriće za emitovani bitkojn. Pritom se u velikoj meri zanemaruje činjenica da vrednost utrošene električne energije i hardverskih resursa može prevazilaziti vrednost generisanih BTC valuta, pa se može postaviti pitanje ekonomske isplativosti, tj. održivosti takve valute. Kao jedan od faktora koji opravdava ove troškove može se navesti anonimnost koju korišćenje ove valute pruža. Međutim, danas se na tržištu mogu pronaći uređaji koji višestruko povećavaju kapacitet “mining” računara, tako da se “rudarenje” BTC valute može smatrati profitabilnim. Primera radi, sredstva investirana u kupovinu “GPU” (grafičkih kartica) ili “ASIC Bitcoin Miner” uređaja koji se koriste u te svrhe se mogu povratiti u roku od nekoliko meseci (Barber i saradnici 2012, p.400).

Faktor koji određuje verovatnoću da će “mining” računar pronaći blok transakcija koje treba verifikovati poznat je kao “difficulty” faktor. On u suštini predstavlja meru težine pronalaženja tog bloka (En.bitcoin.it n.d.). U slučajevima kada je relativno veliki broj računara na mreži spreman da vrši verifikaciju, ovaj faktor se povećava, i obrnuto. Uloga ovog faktora se ogleda u podsticanju korišćenja bitkojn valute onih koji bi želeli da zarade putem “rudarenja”, jer se smanjenjem “difficulty” faktora povećava verovatnoća pronalaženja bloka u uslovima kada je mali broj učesnika zainteresovan da verifikuje transakcije. Sa druge strane,, “difficulty” faktor se povećava u slučajevima kada je veliki broj članova mreže spreman da vrši verifikaciju naloga, kako bi se ograničila stopa monetarnog rasta u željenim okvirima (Nakamoto n.d., p.3). Vrednost “difficulty” faktora se menja nakon svakih 2016 blokova.

Pritom sama mreža, odnosno algoritam na kome se zasnivaju transakcije u bitkojn valuti, definiše koliko bitkojna svako pojedinačno može kreirati, u skladu sa pravilom “kontrolisane ponude” (engl. “controlled supply”). Broj bitkojna koji se na ovaj način može generisati je u samom nastanku iznosio 50 BTC po bloku, dok od 2013. godine nagrada iznosi 25 BTC po bloku. Broj generisanih bitkojna po bloku transakcije biće prepolovljen na svake 4 godine, što će tokom vremena dovoditi do usporene stope rasta količine bitkojna u opticaju.

Emisija bitkojna i njeni efekti

Emisija bitkojna je u potpunosti isplanirana, odnosno programirana, i njeno upravljanje je dodeljeno samoj mreži, odnosno onim računarima koji vrše verifikaciju transakcija. Ovakav algoritam je izabran jer on u najvećoj meri aproksimira stopu rasta ekstrakcije pojedinih ruda kao što je zlato, budući da je ograničena količina bitkojna koja u jednom trenutku može postojati u sistemu i maksimalna količina koja se može „izrudariti“.

Programiranim tempom rasta količine BTC novca u opticaju određeno je da maksimalna količina emitovanih bitkojna nikada ne pređe nivo od 21.000.000 BTC. Budući da je za verifikaciju jednog bloka transakcija potrebno u proseku 10 minuta, to je ujedno i period tokom kojeg se broj bitkojna poveća za malopre pomenutih 25 (od početka 2013. godine do kraja 2017.), da bi se broj novoemitovanih BTC u jedinici vremena programirano smanjivao tokom vremena.

Međutim, primena ovakve programirane stope ograničenog i usporenog monetarnog rasta za posledicu može imati rast deviznog kursa bitkojna, kao i pad cena proizvoda izraženih u bitkojn valuti, što bi u konačnom trebalo da utiče na rast tražnje za ovom valutom. Prema nekim shvatanjima, upravo je ekspanzivna monetarna politika mnogih centralnih banaka nakon 2008. godine sa ciljem ublažavanja negativnih efekata krize i strah od inflacije jedan od najvažnijih faktora koji su uticali na relativno veliku tražnju za bitkojn valutom (Christin, Moore 2013, p.1). Po shvatanju kejnzijanaca, pad cena izraženih u jednoj valuti i istovremena apresijacija te valute može motivisati transaktore da više štede, a manje troše, što u konačnom može imati recesione efekte. Težnja ka štednji bi dovela do smanjenjog korišćenja ove valute, pa bi sve veći broj „mining“ računara napuštao mrežu, zbog čega bi došlo do ugrožavanja stabilnosti i slabljenja deviznog kursa ove valute (Barber i saradnici 2012, p.404). Sa druge strane, po shvatanju predstavnika austrijske škole, pad cena ne obuhvata samo pad cena finalnih prozvoda, već i inputa, tako da ne bi trebalo da dođe do smanjenja profita i recesije (En.bitcoin. it n.d.). Koja će se shvatanja pokazati ispravnim, zavisiće od niza faktora, pre svega stabilnosti i sigurnosti bitkojna kao valute.

Naime, trenutno se ova valuta može smatrati sigurnom za realizaciju transakcija, ali ne i dovoljno stabilnom u pogledu otpornosti na spekulativne udare i druge izvore nestabilnosti, budući da je trenutno njena kapitalizacija relativno mala, pa veoma mali poremećaji mogu uticati na značajna kolebanja cena i kursa. Naime, ova valuta može u velikoj meri biti podložna različitim spekulativnim napadima, budući da ne postoje regulativne odredbe i sankcije za one članove mreže koji bi trgovanjem pokušali da utiču na devizni kurs i tako ostvarili spekulativni profit i ugrozili integritet same valute. Treba imati u vidu i da su same transakcije anonimne, tako da bi se moglo postaviti pitanje određene regulacije ovih transakcija. Međutim, to bi moglo ugroziti anonimnost kao jednu od osnovnih prednosti ove valute. Sa rastom tržišta može se očekivati veći imunitet na spekulativne udare. Međutim, budući da će u narednom periodu stopa monetarnog rasta biti relativno mala, rast tržišta bi se mogao ostvariti jedino putem jačanja deviznog kursa ove valute, tj. ova valuta bi mogla postati stabilnija ukoliko bi dovoljno apresirala.

Deflaciona tendencija bi bila dodatno intenzivirana i usled delovanja sledećih faktora:

• Centralne banke svih zemalja bi u manjoj ili većoj meri povećavale količinu novca u opticaju svake godine, dok bi sa druge strane ponuda bitkojna bila relativno sporo rastuća. Pritom, treba imati u vidu da bi kurs bitkojna pre svega zavisio od tražnje za tom valutom. Iako je 2010. godine u odnosu na početnu 2009. stopa monetarnog rasta BTC valute iznosila 100%, trenutno oko 13% na godišnjem nivou, zbog same prirode proizvoda i usluga koje se njime mogu kupiti i usled sve većeg broja kompanija koje primaju bitkojn (En.bitcoin.it n.d.) kao sredstvo plaćanja, ovaj monetarni rast ne izaziva inflaciju.

• Paralelno sa padom cena izraženih u bitkojn valuti povećavala bi se granična sklonost štednji, pa bi povećanje brzine opticaja novca, kao potencijalni faktor koji bi mogao da utiče na smanjenje deflacionih procesa, izostalo (ECB 2012, p.25).

Kalkulacijom se takođe može doći do zaključka da će već 2025. godine stopa monetarnog rasta iznositi manje od 1% (tačnije 0,83%), a 2037. godine manje od 1‰ (tj. 0,095%). Nakon čega, monetarni rast će se i dalje nastaviti zanemarljivo malim stopama, ali nikada neće preći programiranu granicu od 21.000.000 BTC. Kretanje ponude bitkojna tokom vremena je prikazan na Grafikonu 1:

Inače, već 2035. godine. će u opticaju biti 99% programirane gornje granice bitkojna (približno 20.800.000 BTC), tj. do 2040. godine će nestati interes za daljim “rudarenjem” u današnjem smislu, jer bi bili potrebni ogromni resursi da bi se stvorio čak i minimalni deo jednog bitkojna. Nakon toga, predviđeno se da vlasnici “mining” računara zarađuju po osnovu nalaćivanja transakcionih troškova za verifikovane transkcije u određenom procentu (ECB 2012, p.25), tako da se dugoročno ovaj sistem može oceniti kao održiv. Stopa monetarnog rasta tokom vremena bi se u polulogaritamskom grafikonu sa prirodnom osnovom mogla predstaviti na Grafikonu 2:

Inače, broj generisanih bitkojna dnevno koje jedan pojedinac može ostvariti po osnovu “mining” aktivnosti je implementiran u samom kodu bitkojn valute i određuje se po sledećoj formuli (Bitcoin.stackexchange.com 2011):

Ukoliko bismo uprostili ovu formulu time što bismo deo formule sačinjen od više konstanti sveli na jedan realan broj dobili bismo njenu skraćenu verziju:

U ovom izrazu značenje parametara je sledeće:

• X predstavlja broj generisanih bitkojna,

• D predstavlja trenutni „difficulty“ faktor,

• H predstavlja trenutni „hash-rate“, odnosno brzinu kojom konkretan uređaj koji pojedinac poseduje vrši „rudarenje“,

• B predstavlja nagradu u bitkojnima za realizovan blok transakcija,

• 20,11626 predstavlja konstantu u formuli.

Kao što se može zapaziti, pored toga što zarada po osnovu “mining” procesa zavisi od tzv. “difficulty” faktora, predviđene brzine stvaranja BTC u jedinici vremena (trenutno iznosi 25 BTC po jednom bloku, odnosno na svakih 10-ak minuta), ovaj proces zavisi od brzine kojom računari vrše “rudarenje”. Brzina se izražava u h/s (engl. “hash per second”), odnosno u Mh/s ili Gh/s. Na osnovu kalkulacija se može zaključiti da zarada i brzina otplate po osnovu “mining” procesa zavisi od kvaliteta uređaja koji se koristi za taj proces. Inače, zarada po osnovu korišćenja klasičnih grafičkih kartica koje su se do nedavno koristile za ovaj proces je trenutno neuporedivo manja (nekoliko desetina do nekoliko hiljada puta) u odnosu na najsavremenije uređaje za “rudarenje” (En.bitcoin.it n.d.)). Budući da se tokom narednih godina može očekivati povećanje “difficulty” faktora (u skladu sa dosadašnjom tendencijom (Bitcoinx.com n.d.)) i smanjenje broja generisanih bitkojna po bloku transakcija, profitabilnost će se, pod pretpostavkom nepromenljivog kursa i nepromenjenih cena uređaja za “rudarenje” i električne energije višestruko smanjivati.

U Tabeli 1 su prikazani osnovni statistički podaci o bitkojn valuti na dan 22.03.2013. i na dan 30.08.2013. godine:

Kao što se može zapaziti, u odnosu na period pre 5 meseci, došlo je do povećanja bitkojn novčanih jedinica u opticaju, što je i očekivano, budući da je u pitanju programiran proces. Takođe, došlo je do povećanja tržišne kapitalizacije BTC valute, što je pre svega posledica njene apresijacije. Uvećanje kapitalizacije tokom vremena od samog nastanka 2009. godine, a naročito tokom 2013. godine, kako usred povećanja broja bitkojna, tako i usled apresijacije njegovog deviznog kursa može se uočiti sa Grafikona 3:

Može se reći da BTC valutni sistem ima određene sličnosti sa zlatnim standardom, jer postoji gornja granica rasta količine valute u opticaju, tako da, slično sistemu zlatnog važenja, može postati kočnica daljem razvoju, budući da onemogućuje povećanje tražnje putem povećanja količine novca u opticaju. Povezano sa pravilom “kontrolisane ponude”, poželjno je naglasiti da je čak i sam Milton Fridman smatrao da je monetarnu politiku programirane ili konstantne stope monetarnog rasta moguće uspešno implementiratu pomoću računara (Econlib.org 2006). Inače, pristalice bitkojna kritikuju sistem frakcionih rezervi. Takođe, smatraju da je nastanak ove valute početni korak u ukidanju monopola centralne banke kao ekskluzivnog emitenta novca (ECB 2012, p.22). Postoje i shvatanja da je kreator ove valute kao inspiraciju imao zlatni standard. Međutim, ono po čemu se ovaj sistem razlikuje od zlatnog standarda jeste nedostatak unutrašnje, tj. materijalne vrednosti koja je svojstvena robnom novcu kao što su to plemeniti metali, dok bitkojn poseduje samo funkcionalnu vrednost koja zavisi od njegove kupovne snage.

Postoje, međutim, i shvatanja da bitkojn valuta u suštini funkcioniše kao Ponzijeva šema, budući da onima koji ranije počnu sa njenim korišćenjem pruža mogućnost ostvarenja značajnog profita ukoliko prodaju svoje bitkojne u uslovima rasta cena. Međutim, kao razlike ovog sistema u odnosu na Ponzijevu šemu možemo izdvojiti (ECB 2012, p.27):

• Ne postoji očekivani finansijski prinos koji se može ostvariti niti se prilikom prvog korišćenja bitkojn valute potpisuje ugovor koji garantuje visok prinos, čak ni za početne ulagače. U praksi, profit se može ostvariti kako po osnovu rudarenja, čime nastaju novi bitkojni, tako i po osnovu jačanja deviznog kursa ove valute. Međutim, taj profit je neizvestan, pre svega komponenta koja se odnosi na apresijaciju deviznog kursa.

• Ne postoji centralna institucija ili kompanija koja bi mogla da pokupi novac od korisnika sistema i „nestane“. Iako u praksi oni koji su prvi počeli da „rudare“ uspevaju da najviše i zarade, svaki profit ostvaren po osnovu „rudarenja“ i kasnijeg izlaska iz sistema bi se pre mogao okarakterisati kao spekulacija („kupiti jeftino, prodati skupo“) nego Ponzijeva šema. Međutim, u praksi je ipak postojao primer koji demantuje ovaj argument, a u pitanju je slučaj kompanije „Bitcoin Savings and Trust“ (“BTCST”) koja je tokom 2011. i 2012, godine koristeći klasičnu Ponzijevu šemu proneverila novac svojih korisnika. Ipak, ovaj primer se može oceniti samo kao izuzetak, odnosno kao zloupotreba sistema, ali ne i kao dokaz da bitkojn valuta funkcioniše kao Ponzijeva šema.

Devizni kurs bitkojna

Devizni kurs bitkojna se, kao i u slučaju bilo koje druge valute formira na berzi, na bazi sučeljavanja ponude i tražnje za tom valutom. U odnosu na početak godine kada je BTC/USD kurs iznosio približno 13, krajem avgusta je vrednost bitkojna prema američkom dolaru približno 10 puta veća i BTC/USD kurs iznosi oko 130. Očigledno je da 1 BTC ima višestruko veću vrednost od bilo koji zvanične svetske valute, pri čemu se njegova vrednost uglavnom izražava u USD, budući da se na bitkojn berzama najveći deo bitkojna razmeni za američki dolar.

Krajem avgusta se u opticaju nalazi ukupno skoro 12 miliona BTC, pri čemu njihova ukupna vrednost izražena u USD približno iznosi preko 1,4 milijarde USD. Konkretno, to znači da je ukupna vrednost svih emitovanih bitkojna nominalno veća od bruto društvenog proizvoda pojedinih zemalja. Budući da je cena zlata približno 50 USD/g, možemo zaključiti da 1 bitkojn vredi nešto više od 2,5 grama zlata. Prevedeno u RSD po kursu od približno 85 RSD/USD, za kupovinu jednog bitkojna je na dan 29.08.2013. godine potrebno više od 11.000 RSD. Pritom, 1 bitkojn je jednak 100.000.000 „satoshis“-a (naziv „satoshis“ potiče od pseudonima Satoshi Nakamoto, tj. pseudonima kreatora ili grupe ljudi koji su stvorili bitkojn).

Inače, kurs bitkojna zavisi od ponude i tražnje za ovom valutom. Kretanje srednjeg ponderisanog dnevnog kursa BTC valute u odnosu na USD može se uočiti na osnovu Grafikona 4:

Na osnovu dostupnih podataka od početka 2013. godine statističkom analizom može se doći do zaključka da linearna funkcija trenda najbolje opisuje kretanje vrednosti BTC valute. Ocenjena linearna funkcija trenda glasi:

BTC/USD = 27.95 + 0.45t

pri čemu je bazni period 1. januar 2013. godine, a to je ceo broj koji predstavlja broj dana nakon 1.januara. Međutim, budući da je koeficijent determinacije svega r²= 0.52, ocenjena funkcija trenda se ne može primeniti za ekstrapolaciju, odnosno ne bismo mogli sa velikim stepenom sigurnosti da procenimo kretanje vrednosti bitkojna u budućnosti. Ovako nizak koeficijent determinacije ukazuje na činjenicu da je devizni kurs bitkojna veoma nestabilan. Nestabilnosti deviznog kursa bitkojna u velikoj meri doprinosi i podložnost različitim šokovima, o čemu će više reči biti kasnije.

Prednosti i nedostaci bitkojn valute

Kao osnovne prednosti bitkojna u odnosu na ostale, kako nacionalne, tako i alternativne valute, obično se navode:

• Za razliku od transakcija klasičnim elektronskim novcem koji se nalazi na računima banaka, u slučaju bitkojna ne postoje transakcioni troškovi ili su oni svedeni na minimum, dok sa druge strane ne postoji ograničenje u pogledu minimalnog iznosa transakcije koju je moguće realizovati (Nakamoto n.d., p.1).

• Kontrolu transakcija i emisiju BTC valute vrše kompjuterski algoritmi, čime se onemogućava pojava veštački izazvane inflacije. Takođe, ovom verifikacijom se izbegava “duplo plaćanje” (engl. “double-spending”), čime bi se mogao zloupotrebiti sistem (Bitcoin.org/en/ about n.d.) i nekontrolisano povećavala količina novca u opticaju. Sigurnost plaćanja je pritom zasnovana na korišćenju kriptografije.

• Praktično je gotovo nemoguće falsifikovati bitkojn. Teoretski, to bi bilo moguće ukoliko bi se isti BTC iskoristio za istovremeno obavljanje dva plaćanja. Međutim, lanac digitalnih potpisa onemogućava takve transakcije (Stanford Bitcoin Group n.d.).

• Omogućena je potpuna anonimnost transaktora. Međutim, iako ovo predstavlja pogodnost za određene grupe ekonomskih subjekata, sa aspekta poreskih i regulatornih organa ova osobina bitkojna bi se definitivno mogla oceniti kao njen nedostatak. Za razliku od elektronskog novca u platnom prometu kod kojeg su informacije o učesnicima u transakciji javnog, a informacije o transakcijama privatnog karaktera, u slučaju bitkojn valute su informacije o transaktorima privatnog karaktera, tj. veoma često ni samim transaktorima nije poznato kome vrše plaćanja, dok su same karakteristike realizovane transakcije javnog karaktera.

Sa druge strane, kao neke od osnovnih nedostataka bitkojn valute možemo izdvojiti sledeće:

• Bitkojn nije široko prihvaćen kao sredstvo plaćanja. Naime, veoma je mali broj privrednih subjekata koji primaju bitkojn za prodaju prodaju robe, odnosno pružanje usluga. Iako je broj ovih subjekata sve veći, uloga bitkojna kao sredstva plaćanja je još uvek veoma ograničena. Razlog ovoj pojavi leži kako u činjenici da postoji niz proizvoda koji se ne mogu kupiti za bitkojn, tako i u činjenici da ova valuta ne postoji u svojoj fizičkoj verziji, tako da se može koristiti jedino za elektronska plaćanja.

• Devizni kurs bitkojna je veoma nestabilan. Tome u velikoj meri doprinosi i nepostojanje centralnog entiteta poput centralne banke koja bi putem intervencija na deviznom tržištu ili nekom drugom merom monetarne politike mogla pozitivno da utiče na njegovu stabilizaciju.

• Transakcije bitkojn valutama nisu reverzibilne, što znači da nije moguće poništiti već realizovanu transakciju. Iako se ova osobina bitkojn valute može smatrati njenim nedostatkom, značajno je zapaziti da bitkojn u suštini više liči na keš nego na elektronski novac, pa samim tim nema nikakvu mogućnost poništavanja transakcija, jer po definiciji ne postoji sistem za praćenje toka novca. Drugim rečima, transakcije realizovane elektronskim novcem koji se nalazi na računima banaka se mogu poništiti u određenom roku. Sa druge strane, u najvećem broju slučajeva gotovinu potrošenu u prodavnici uglavnom nećemo moći da povratimo, osim ukoliko nije u pitanju roba sa garancijom i sl. Upravo u ovome i leži jedan od najvećih problema vezan za korišćenje bitkojn valute, a koji se odnosi na teškoće prilikom povraćaja novca u slučaju kupovine neispravnih proizvoda bez adekvatno regulisane garancije. Sa druge strane, ovo je odličan mehanizam zaštite prodavaca od zloupotreba, jer im ovaj mehanizam omogućuje sigurnu i momentalnu naplatu svojih potraživanja po osnovu prodate robe (Nakamoto n.d., p.1). Vezano za reverzibilnost transakcija, značajno je naglasiti da je osnovni uzrok ove osobine bitkojna činjenica da, u opštem slučaju, ne postoji posrednik u plaćanju, odnosno, sve plaćanja se vrše direktno između tržišnih subjekata. Iako se nererzibilnost može oceniti kao nedostatak bitkojna, treba imati u vidu da nepostojanje posrednika za posledicu ima nepostojanje provizija koje bi u suprotnom naplaćivale banke ili drugi posrednici u platnom prometu. Međutim, ne treba zanemariti činjenicu da postoje opcione provizije koje plaćaju oni koji žele da transakcija u bitkojn valuti bude brže realizovana (Stanford Bitcoin Group n.d.).

• Iako je reč o vidu elektronskog novca, postoji mogućnost njegovog gubitka. Naime, jedna od specifičnosti ove valute jeste da ona postoji samo u svojoj elektronskoj verziji. Pritom se nalog koji se koristi za plaćanja razlikuje od klasičnog transakcionog računa u banci po tome što ne postoji institucija poput banke koja bi transaktorima zatvorila ili blokirala nalog. Takođe, ne postoje nikakva ograničenja u pogledu korišćenja bitkojna. Nalog mogu deaktivirati sami korisnici sistema time što bi prestali da ga koriste i time što bi se oslobodila svih BTC valuta na svom nalogu. Nalog se inače gubi i ukoliko se prilikom oporavka operativnog sistema na računaru ne obezbedi skladištenje (engl. “backup”) bitkojna. Time se faktički taj novac trajno gubi iz sistema. U tome se faktički i ogleda sličnost između bitkojn valute i običnog novca, budući da on praktično može biti izgubljen ili uništen (Kaplanov 2012, p.116). Međutim, za razliku od običnog novca koji može biti dodatno otštampan od strane centralne banke, u slučaju bitkojna ne postoji entitet koji bi emitovao novu količinu novčanih jedinica koje bi zamenile nestale ili uništene bitkojne.

• Kao poslednji nedostatak bitkojna bismo mogli navesti sve one probleme koji se odnose na zloupotrebe kojima je on podložan, a koji se odnose na mogućnost obavljanja nelegalnih aktivnosti, pranje novca, stvaranja “crnih tržišta”, ali i poreskih rajeva, mogućnost poreske evazije, ali i neotpornost na različite napade kompjuterskih virusa itd.

Korišćenje BTC valute se preporučuje manjim kompanijama i preduzetnicima, budući da im omogućuje prodaju proizvoda i njihovu naplatu uz niže transakcione troškove, tj. bez provizija različitih finansijskih institucija, kao i zahvaljujući činjenici da je veoma lako implementirati ovaj oblik prodaje i naplate prodaje putem Interneta. Međutim, time se može dovesti u pitanje legalnost obavljanja takvih aktivnosti, naročito kada je reč o prodaji digitalnih proizvoda (softvera, muzike,…) koji se mogu neograničen broj puta umnožavati i prodavati bez ikakve evidencije, čime se može izbeći izvršenje poreske obaveze.

Finansijske institucije koje posluju sa bitkojnima

Trenutno postoji oko 50 aktivnih berzi na kojima se zvanične valute mogu razmeniti za bitkojn, od kojih je najznačajnija “MtGox” na kojoj se dnevno razmeni oko 64% ukupnog prometa bitkojn valutom za ostale zvanične valute i obrnuto. Inače, bitkojn se najviše razmenjuje za USD (74%) i EUR (14%), dok je značaj svih ostalih valuta zanemarljiv (Bitcoincharts.com n.d.). Inače, statistička analiza aktivnih i ugašenih bitkojn berzi je pokazala nekoliko zakonitosti (Christin, Moore 2013, p.7):

• Sa povećanjem prometa na nekoj berzi smanjuje se verovatnoća da će doći do njenog zatvaranja

• S druge strane, što je promet na nekoj berzi veći, postojaće i veća šansa da dođe do različitih oblika zloupotreba i prekršaja.

Pritom treba imati u vidu da je u ovoj analizi apstrahovan niz faktora koji bi potencijalno mogli da utiču na dobijanje drugačijih rezultata. Primera radi, nije uzeta u obzir reputacija samih berzi, odnosno činjenica da će atraktivnost same berze zavisiti od sigurnosti koju ona pruža svojim korisnicima.

Takođe, iako je kao jedna od osnovnih karakteristika kriptovaluta, a samim tim i bitkojna, navedena činjenica da ovakve valute u opštem slučaju funkcionišu bez posredovanja finansijskijh institucija, ne treba zanemariti činjenicu da se marta 2013. godine pojavio prvi hedž fond „Exante“ koji investira u bitkojn. Treba međutim naznačiti da ovaj fond ima širok portfolio aktivnosti, pri čemu su operacije sa bitkojnom samo jedna od njih. Fond kao naknadu za svoje usluge ne naplaćuje procentualni deo ostvarenog profita, već fiksnu proviziju od 0,5% neto vrednosti Bitcoin Fund-a. Pritom, ovaj fond ogroman akcenat stavlja na zaštitu podataka i sigurnost fonda. Marta 2013. godine vrednost fonda je iznosila približno 3,2 miliona USD. Inače, za pristup fondu su neophodna inicijalna ulaganja od minimum 100.000 USD (Forbes.com 2013). Ovaj fond ostvaruje zaradu po osnovu kapitalnih dobitaka na kupljene bitkojne, pri čemu jedna akcija ovog fonda vredi tačno jedan BTC. S obzirom na vrtoglavi rast vrednosti bitkojn valute, očekuju se visoki prinosi po osnovu plasmana ovog fonda. Kao osnovne prednosti investiranja u fond umesto direktne kupovine BTC valute navode se (Exante.eu/press/news2013[a]):

• Lakše je kupiti akcije/investicione jedinice fonda nego bitkojn.

• Sredstva investirana u fondove umesto u direktnu kupovinu bitkojn valute se smatraju sigurnijim, budući da takvi fondovi, između ostalog i Exante, značajan akcenat stavljaju na kriptografsku sigurnost sredstava svojih korisnika.

Inače, od juna 2013. godine ovaj fond svojim klijentima nudi „Automatic Trading Platform“ (ATP), odnosno elektronsku platformu za trgovinu koja im omogućuje niz usluga koje se, između ostalog, odnose na različite statističke alate i portfolio menadžment (Exante.eu/press/news 2013[b]).

Međutim, ovaj fond nije prva finansijska institucija koja je radila sa bitkojn valutom. Naime, ne treba zaboraviti ni na „Bitcoin Savings and Trust“ (“BTCST”) kompaniju koja je, koristeći klasičnu Ponzijevu šemu, od 2011. do septembra 2012. godine prikupila oko 700.000 BTC (vrednih više od 4,5 miliona USD) od svojih klijenata obećavši im nedeljne stope prinosa od čak 7%, a zatim taj novac proneverila. Tim povodom je jula 2013. godine američka “Komisija za hartije od vrednosti i berzu” (engl. “Securities and Exchange Commission” - SEC) optužila ovu kompaniju i Trendon Shaversa, njenog osnivača (Wang 2013).

Takođe, postoje i najave da će vlasnici BTC valute moći da na realnim bankomatima da povlače zvaničan novac čiji je emitent centralna banka u ekvivalentnom iznosu (eventualno umanjenom za određenu proviziju), kao i da će se moći koristiti prilikom kupovine u prodavnicama na POS terminalima (Newscientist.com 2012).

Kao što se može zaključiti, iako je bitkojn po svojoj prirodi decentralizovana valuta koja čak i eliminiše potrebu za finansijskim posrednicima, same potrebe njegovih korisnika očigledno nameću potrebu za odgovarajućim finansijskim institucijama koje bi imale različite funkcije u bitkojn transakcijama. Kao neke od finansijskih institucija koje za sada posluju sa bitkojn valutom za sada su se izdvojile berze koje omogućuju razmenu najpoznatijih svetskih valuta za bitkojn i obratno. Takođe, sve češće se javljaju i druge finansijske institucije kao posrednici u plaćanju bitkojnima, a koje svojim klijentima nude veći stepen zaštite podataka i sigurnosti pri obavljanju transakcija u odnosu na direktna plaćanja bez korišćenja usluga finansijskih posrednika. U tom smislu, ukoliko izvršimo komparaciju razvoja decentralizovane bitkojn valute sa razvojem klasičnog novca, pojava nekog oblika centralnog entiteta u ovom sistemu (po osnovu ekonomske moći ili po osnovu nekih zakonskih odredbi) koji bi preuzeo neke od funkcija klasične centralne banke više ne deluje kao naučna fantastika. Naime, prvi oblici novca su, kao što je poznato, bili stoka, koža, so, med, krzno, kasnije metali kao što su gvožđe, bakar i plemeniti metali (srebro i zlato), a zatim i novčanice. Paralelno sa razvojem sredstava plaćanja javljali su se novi učesnici u privrednom životu kao što su zlatari koji su izdavali certifikate po osnovu deponovanog novca i međusobno vršili kliring potraživanja svojih klijenata. Nakon toga nastaju i privilegovane banke koje su bile jedine ovlašćene od strane države da emituju banknote, da bi prve centralne banke nastale tek u 17. veku (Đurović-Todorović 2010, str.18- 23). U tom smislu, iako prve oblike novca nije emitovala nijedna centralna institucija, već sami ljudi, nije isključena mogućnost da nekada u budućnosti kriptovalute kao što je bitkojn, koje su po svojoj prirodi decentralizovane, dobiju centralnu instituciju. Međutim, budući da, prema mnogim shvatanjima, upravo decentralizovanost ovakve valute predstavlja faktor koji u najvećoj meri pozitivno utiče na tražnju za takvom valutom, postoji verovatnoća da bi u slučaju pojave centralnog entiteta u takvim sistemima opala tražnja za tim valutama, a povećala se tražnja za drugim valutama koje još uvek nisu centralizovane. U konačnom, ceteris paribus, pokušaj regulacije i centralizacije neke kriptovalute bi u konačnom samo mogao dovesti do napuštanja tih valuta, erozije njihovog značaja i migracije korisnika i tranfera njihovih sredstava u druge valute.

Problemi funkcionisanja i regulacija bitkojna

Bitkojn valuta je gotovo u potpunosti van regulacionog spektra centralne banke i poreskih organa. Stoga je pojedini autori pogodnim instrumentom za stvaranje “crnog tržišta” različitih roba i usluga, a najznačajnija opasnost postoji ukoliko bi se koristila za obavljanje nelegalnih aktivnosti. Primera radi, zabeleženi su slučajevi kada se bitkojn valuta koristila za kupovinu droge putem Interneta (Manchin. senate.gov 2011).

Takođe, ništa beznačajniji nisu problemi po osnovu krađe (koje su se već dešavale) ili potencijalnog nekontrolisanog umnožavanja ove valute od strane cyber-kriminalaca (što je za sada praktično neizvodljivo). Usled toga, može doći i do značajnih fluktuacija kursa bitkojn valute. Između ostalog, postoje i procene stručnjaka za kriptografiju i sigurnost podataka na Internetu da se sigurnost ove valute može oceniti kao veoma niska (Economist.com 2012). Primera radi, 2011. godine se pojavio kompjuterski virus, tj. „Trojanac“ koji “krade bitkojn novčanike” (engl. „Bitcoin wallet“), tj. koji, ukoliko se nađe na računaru onog ko koristi bitkojn valutu, preuzima i šalje putem Interneta na odgovarajuću adresu kompjuterske fajlove pomoću kojih je moguće sa nekog drugog računara koristiti tuđ bitkojn novac (Symantec.com 2011). Usled tog sigurnosnog kolapsa, vrednost bitkojna je pala sa 30,99 USD 08.06.2011. na svega 0,10 USD 20.06.2011. Do decembra 2011. godine vrednost valute se vratila na nešto više od 3 USD (ECB 2012, p.38). Sledeći značajan udarac na bitkojn valutu dogodio se 10. aprila 2013. godine. Tog dana je trgovina BTC valutom otpočela po ceni od 200 USD, da bi tokom dana dostigla svoj istorijski maksimum od čak 266 USD, da bi u roku od par sati njena vrednost pala ispod 100 USD. Iako su se prve sumnje odnosile na dv. DDoS napad, zvaničnici MtGox berze su izjavili da je uzrok ovog problema preveliki obim trgovine.

Inače, DDoS napad (engl. „distributed denial- of-service attack“) predstavlja napad na tržišni centar putem masovnog ispostavljanja naloga za trgovinu kako bi se izazvala blokada u trgovini i izvršio uticaj na cenu. Međutim, pravi DDoS napad je ubrzo zaista usledio, pa je berza prekinula proces trgovanja u periodu od 2 sata, mada je i narednih 8 sati postojao problem u pristupu mreži. Prekid trgovanja se desio na još nekim bitkojn berzama. Ovaj kolaps je ukazao na neke od osnovnih slabosti bitkojn valute, a koje se odnose kako na dominantan položaj MtGox berze, tako i na činjenicu da je veliki broj elektronskih berzi za trgovanje bitkojn valutom razvijan od strane web developer-a koji jesu iskusni profesionalci, ali nisu poznavali u dovoljnoj meri način funkcionisanja finansijskih berzi (Bitcoinmagazine.com 2013).

Jedno od osnovnih pitanja koje se postavlja od same pojave bitkojn valute odnosi se na legalnost njegove primene. Inače, kao razlozi zbog kojih bi bitkojn trebalo smatrati potpuno legalnom valutom navode se: pravo na slobodnu razmenu, činjenica da bitkojn ne predstavlja alternativu američkom dolaru kao zvaničnoj valuti, odnosno ni na koji način ne predstavljaju njegov falsifikat, niti se nalaze u širokoj upotrebi. Sa druge strane, kao razlozi zbog kojih bi trebalo zakonski preciznije regulisati korišćenje bitkojna navode se povećana mogućnost poreske evazije i činjenica da bitkojn otvara mogućnost za kreiranje poreskih rajeva i crnog tržišta različite robe (pre svega droge), kao i za pranje novca.

Naime, transakcije u bitkojnima prema nekim ocenama imaju klasične elemente bartera, odnosno trampe, a takve transakcije su oporezive. Međutim, bitkojn po svojoj prirodi nudi anonimnost i mogućnost prikrivanja brojnih transakcija od poreskih organa čime se izbegava izvršenje poreske obaveze. Takođe, značajno pitanje se odnosi i na nadležno zakonodavstvo u slučaju transakcija u bitkojn valuti na međunarodnom nivou, kada bi bilo veoma teško utvrditi nadležnu poresku vlast. Sa jedne strane, kriptovalute (među kojima je trenutno najaktuelniji bitkojn) su sve popularnije. Sa druge strane, finansijske institucije su pod sve većim pritiskom da dostavljaju potrebne informacije o svojim klijentima poreskim organima i sarađuju sa njima kako bi se sprečila poreska evazija. Iako je reč o potpuno nezavisnim procesima, činjenica je da oni u sve većoj meri konvergiraju (Marian 2013, p.38). U tom smislu, korišćenje kriptovaluta je po svojim efektima dosta slično poslovanju u ofšor zonama, budući da profit ostvaren u, primera radi, bitkojn valuti nije predmet oporezivanja, a takođe korisnici ovih valuta imaju obezbeđenu anonimnost. Praktično, sa nastankom kriptovaluta poreski obveznici su dobili novo oružje za poresku evaziju. Štaviše, ne postoji ni institucija od koje bi poreski organi mogli da zahtevaju dostavljanje informacija o vlasnicima računa u toj valuti. U sistemima plaćanja zasnovanim na kriptovalutama ne postoje ni centralne banke kao emitenti, ni klasične finansijske institucije koje bi mogle biti predmet različitih pritisaka poreskih organa. Drugim rečima, korišćenje kriptovaluta za sada, uslovno rečeno, poreske vlasti ne mogu uspešno da kontrolišu, odnosno da detektuju korišćenje ovih valuta na sistematičan način, osim eventualno u pojedinačnim slučajevima. Prema nekim shvatanjima, postoji opasnost da će se u budućnosti poreska evazija sve više odvijati putem korišćenja kriptovaluta, a na štetu sadašnjih ofšor zona, odnosno mogu im predstavljati direktnu konkurenciju. Međutim, sa druge strane treba imati u vidu relativno malu vrednost virtuelne ekonomije u okviru koje se koriste te vrituelne valute, tako da je za sada prisutno i relativno malo interesovanje nadležnih poreskih organa za većom kontrolom ovih tokova. Takođe, trenutni ekonomski potencijal kriptovaluta im ne omogućuje da postanu značajnija konkurencija ofšor zonama.

Pored poreske evazije, anonimnost koja je imanentna bitkojn valuti pruža i niz mogućnosti za prikrivanje različitih kriminalnih aktivnosti. Pod tim pre svega imamo u vidu trgovinu drogom, pranje novca, i niz drugih kriminalnih aktivnosti.

Stoga, kao potencijalna rešenja za rizike koje primena ove valute sa sobom nosi mogu se izdvojiti sledeći predlozi (www-cs-faculty. stanford.edu n.d.[2]):

• Forsirano licenciranje - Budući da u slučaju bitkojna ne postoji centralni entitet niti klasične finansijske institucije koje bi mogle biti primorane da izvrše registraciju kao posrednici u plaćanju (engl. „money transmitters“), postoje predlozi da bi se registracija trebala odnositi samo na vlasnike „mining“ računara. Međutim, to bi predstavljalo isuviše komplikovanu proceduru, a takođe bi postojao problem vezan za regulaciju ukoliko bi se „rudarenje“ vršilo iz drugih zemalja u kojima ne postoji ovakav oblik regulacije.

• Zahtevi za poreskim izveštajima - Postoji ideja da bi svi korisnici bitkojna trebalo da automatski budu u obavezi da poreskim organima dostavljaju sve izveštaje o transakcijama u ovoj valuti. Međutim, primenom ovakve mere poreski organi bi se suočili sa preprekama kao što su: mogućnost obavljanja transakcija iz inostranstva, teška izvodljivost s obzirom na neophodnost saglasnosti korisnika, nestabilna vrednost bitkojn valute i niz drugih.

• Prinudno gašenje - Kao jedan od načina za gašenje ove i sličnih valuta može se navesti i formalna zabrana korišćenja ovakvih valuta kao sredstava plaćanja i donošenje niza restriktivnih zakonskih odredbi kojima bi se suzbijalo ili kontrolisalo korišćenje ovih valuta. Takođe, postoje ideje da bi virtuelne valute, s obzirom na relativno mali ekonomski značaj, mogle da budu u potpunosti otkupljene od strane centralne banke ili da centralna banka angažuje resurse koje bi koristila za „rudarenje“ tih valuta, čime bi one bile eliminisane iz dalje upotrebe (Marian 2013, p.47). Međutim, to bi uvek iziskivalo manje ili veće troškove. Takođe, tu bi se možda pojavila i mogućnost različitih zloupotreba.

Međutim, i pored izdvojenih teorijskih shvatanja o nužnosti i načinu regulacije transakcija u bitkojn valuti, zanemarljivo mali broj zemalja je učinio nešto konkretno po tom pitanju. Primera radi, u slučaju SAD-a ne postoji nijedna zakonska odredba kojom se izričito zaključuje zabrana korišćenja ove valute i definiše njeno korišćenje ilegalnom aktivnošću (www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu n.d.[1]). Sa druge strane, postoje i određeni pokušaji da se različitim preporukama, direktivama i podzakonskim aktima daju smernice za regulaciju alternativnih valuta, uključujući i decentralizovane virtuelne valute kao što je bitkojn. Jedan od njih je i „Primena FinCEN- ove regulacije na osobe koje administriraju, razmenjuju i koriste virtuelne valute” (engl. „Application of FinCEN’s Regulations to Persons Administering, Exchanging, or Using Virtual Currencies”). U pitanju je preporuka kojom je “Financial Crimes Enforcement Network” kao departman Trezora SAD-a pokušao da da sugeriše način implementacije „Bank Secrecy Act“ regulative na virtuelne valute. Prema ovoj preporuci, ekonomski subjekt koji kreira virtuelnu valutu i koristi je za kupovinu realnih dobara i usluga se smatra korisnikom te valute i njegove aktivnosti nisu predmet regulacije. Sa druge strane, subjekt koji kreira virtuelnu valutu i prodaje je za zvanično sredstvo plaćanja se smatra posrednikom u plaćanju i njihove aktivnosti su predmet regulacije (Fincen.gov 2013, p.5). Međutim, osim ovog pojmovnog razgraničenja ovom preporukom nije dat odgovor na niz dodatnih pitanja vezanih za regulaciju ovih transakcija.

U Nemačkoj je ove godine bitkojn dobio status „privatnog novca“ (engl. „private money“), čime je načinjen značajan korak napred ka širem zakonskom obuhvatu i masovnijem korišćenju ove valute. Korišćenje bitkojna i njegova emisija nisu zabranjeni, međutim, profit po osnovu korišćenja bitkojna podleže poreskim zakonima. Naime, prihodi ostvareni po osnovu prodaje proizvoda i pružanja usluga ostvareni u bitkojn valuti se oporezuju porezom na dodatu vrednost, dok se sav ostali profit po osnovu emisije ili korišćenja bitkojna oporezuje porezom na dohodak, odnosno dobit (Dw.de 2013). Međutim, nije naglašeno na koji bi način bilo rešeno pitanje poreske evazije.

Iako po pitanju regulacije bitkojna nije mnogo učinjeno ni u Francuskoj, značajno je zapaziti činjenicu da su regulatorni organi Bitcoin-Central-i, jednoj od bitkojn berzi, dali dozvolu za obavljanje određenih bankarskih poslova, pre svega onih vezanih za usluge platnog prometa. Time će njenim klijentima biti omogućeno da deponuju sredstva u evrima ili bitkojnima i da ih jednostavno konvertuju (Tagteam.harvard.edu n.d.). Takođe, ova sredstva su deponovana na računu druge finansijske institucije, i u skladu sa tim su osigurana do iznosa od 100.000 EUR od strane francuskog “Fonda za garanciju depozita” (franc. „Fonds de garantie des dépôts “) (En. bitcoin.it n.d.).

Međutim, i pored ovih pojedinačnih izuzetaka, u opštem slučaju područje alternativnih valuta, a pre svega decentralizovanih kriptovaluta kao što je bitkojn do sada nije adekvatno, nedvosmisleno i u potpunosti regulisano ni u jednoj od relevantnih jurisdikcija.

Zaključak

Bitkojn predstavlja specifičnu valutu koja se po svojim karakteristikama razlikuje od svih svojih prethodnika. Otkad se pojavila pokrenula je niz kontroverzi vezanih za pozitivne i negativne efekte njene primene. Emisija ove valute je kompjuterski programirana i ograničena, zasnovana na „peer-to-peer“ tehnologiji i tehnologiji enkripcije podataka čime se faktički eliminiše mogućnost dvostrukog plaćanja, falsifikovanja i sličnih zloupotreba. To je ujedno i jedan od glavnih razloga zbog čega se ova valuta smatra sigurnom iako ne postoji centralna emisiona institucija. Transakcioni troškovi su veoma niski, gotovo su zanemarljivi, ali same transakcije nisu reverzibilne, što se može oceniti značajnim nedostatkom ove valute.

Međutim, s obzirom na činjenicu da je makroekonomski značaj bitkojna zanemarljivo mali, čak i manji šokovi mogu negativno uticati na njegovu stabilnost i izazvati drastične fluktuacije deviznog kursa. Pritom ne postoji centralna institucija koja bi mogla svojim merama pozitivno da utiče na njegovu stabilizaciju, a što može predstavljati značajnu prepreku za masovnije korišćenje ove valute. Budući da ova valuta svojim korisnicima praktično pruža potpunu anonimnost i netransparentnost njihovih aktivnosti, postoje kritike da se na taj način kreira pogodan ambijent za pranje novca, kreiranje crnih tržišta nelegalne robe, poresku evaziju i niz drugih kriminalnih radnji. Takođe, postojali su slučajevi različitih zloupotreba poput Ponzijevih šema i kompjuterskih Trojanaca koji su korišćeni za krađu elektronskih novčanika korisnika bitkojn valuta.

Stoga se vodi sve češća diskusija o potrebi regulisanja ovakvih kriptovaluta. Iako je određen broj zemalja počeo da reguliše bitkojn transakcije, i dalje je relativno malo učinjeno po tom pitanju budući da ovakvo pitanje zahteva veliku opreznost. Naime, bilo koji oblik kontrole i regulacije ovakvih valuta bi za posledicu mogao imati preusmeravanje korisnika tih valuta na korišćenje drugih kriptovaluta koje još uvek nisu predmet regulative ili transfer bitkojn transakcija u one jurisdikcije u kojima one nisu regulisane. U tom smislu, jedan od najvećih izazova za centralne banke i nacionalne regulatorne organe u budućem periodu će se vrlo verovatno odnositi na praćenje efekata korišćenja ovakvih valuta i njihovu regulaciju, odnosno preduzimanje adekvatnih mera u slučaju različitih zloupotreba ili izazivanja nestabilnosti. Kakva će biti budućnost bitkojna i sličnih kriptovaluta zavisiće kako od regulacije ovakvih valuta, tako i od njihove sigurnosti i stabilnosti.

1. Barber Simon, Boyen Xavier, Shi Elaine, Uzun Ersin, “Bitter to Better - How to Make Bitcoin a Better Currency”, Financial Cryptography, Volume 7397 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, page 399-414. Springer (2012), crypto.stanford.edu/~xb/fc12/bitcoin.pdf, Vreme pristupa: 02.08.2013.

2. Bitcoin.org/en/about, “About Bitcoin”, n.d., bitcoin.org/en/about, Vreme pristupa: 01.08.2013.

3. Bitcoin.stackexchange.com, “How Much Bitcoin Will I Mine Right Now With Hardware X?”, 2011, bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/118/how-much-bitcoin-will-i-mine-right-now-with-hardware-x, Vreme pristupa: 08.08.2013.

4. Bitcoinbalkan.com, “Uvod u Bitcoin”, 2012, bitcoinbalkan.com/uvod-u-bitcoin, Vreme pristupa: 24.08.2013.

5. Bitcoincharts.com, n.d., bitcoincharts.com, Vreme pristupa: 28.08.2013.

6. Bitcoinmagazine.com, “The Bitcoin Crash:An Examination”, 2013, bitcoinmagazine.com/markets/the-bitcoin-crash-an-examination-1365911041, Vreme pristupa: 22.08.2013.

7. Bitcoinx.com, n.d., bitcoinx.com/charts/, Vreme pristupa: 29.08.2013.

8. Christin Nicolas, Moore Tyler, “Beware the Middleman: Empirical Analysis of Bitcoin Exchange Risk”, Financial Cryptography, Volume 7859 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 25-33. Springer (2013), andrew.cmu.edu/user/nicolasc/publications/MC-FC13.pdf, Vreme pristupa: 07.08.2013.

9. Dw.de, “Germany lends real value to bitcoin virtual money”, 2013, dw.com/en/germany-lends-real-value-to-bitcoin-virtual-money/a-17038675, Vreme pristupa: 25.08.2013.
10. Đurović-Todorović Jadranka, „Monetarna ekonomija“, Ekonomski fakultet u Nišu, Niš, 2010.
11. ECB, “Virtual Currency Schemes”, 2012, ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/virtualcurrencyschemes201210en.pdf, Vreme pristupa: 01.08.2013.
12. Econlib.org, “An Interview with Milton Friedman”, 2006, econlib.org/library/Columns/y2006/Friedmantranscript.html Vreme pristupa: 21.08.2013.
13. Economist.com, “Monetarists Anonymous”, 2012, economist.com/node/21563752, Vreme pristupa: 24.08.2013.
14. En.bitcoin.it, “Bitcoin Central”, n.d., en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Bitcoin-Central, Vreme pristupa: 22.08.2013.
15. Exante.eu/press/news , “Bitcoin Fund aims to make Bitcoin Investing easy”, 2013[a], exante.eu/press/news/297/, Vreme pristupa: 27.08.2013.
16. Exante.eu/press/news, “EXANTE Opens Up an Automatic Trading Platform for Bitcoin Funds”, 2013[b], exante.eu/press/news/314/, Vreme pristupa: 27.08.2013.
17. Fincen.gov Fincen.gov, “Application of FinCEN’s Regulations to Persons Administering, Exchanging, or Using Virtual Currencies”, 2013, fincen.gov/statutes_regs/guidance/pdf/FIN-2013-G001.pdf, Vreme pristupa: 15.8.2013.
18. Forbes.com, “First Bitcoin Hedge Fund Launches From Malta”, 2013, Vreme pristupa: 27.08.2013. forbes.com/sites/jonmatonis/2013/03/08/first-bitcoinhedge-fund-launches-from-malta/, Vreme pristupa: 28.08.2013.
19. Kaplanov Nikolei M., “Nerdy Money: Bitcoin, The Private Digital Currency, And The Case Against Its Regulation”, Temple University Legal Studies Research Paper, 2012, luc.edu/media/lucedu/law/ students/publications/clr/pdfs/kaplanov. pdf, Vreme pristupa: 05.08.2013.
20. Manchin.senate.gov, “Manchin Urges Federal Law Enforcement to Shut Down Online Black Market for Illegal Drugs”, 2011, manchin.senate.gov/public/ index.cfm/press-releases?ID=284ae54a-acf1- 4258-be1c-7acee1f7e8b3, Vreme pristupa: 25.08.2013.
21. Nakamoto Satoshi, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”, n.d., bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf, Vreme pristupa: 04.08.2013.
22. Newscientist.com, “Bitcoin credit card to let users withdraw cash”, 2012, newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2012/08/bitcoincredit-card-to-let-use.html, Vreme pristupa: 27.08.2013.
23. Marian Omri Y., “Are Cryptocurrencies 'Super' Tax Havens?”, 112 Michigan Law Review First Impressions (2013), ssrn.com/abstract=2305863, Vreme pristupa: 23.08.2013.
24. Sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriptografija, “Kriptografija”, n.d., sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriptografija, Vreme pristupa: 12.08.2013.
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28. Wang Mengyi, “SEC Charges Texas Man with Running a Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme”, 2013, jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/patent/flash-digest-news-in-brief-144, Vreme pristupa: 23.08.2013.
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30. Www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu, “Regulating Bitcoin”, n.d.[2], cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs201/projects/2010-11/Bitcoins/regulating-bitcoin.html, Vreme pristupa: 21.08.2013.

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• Wasabi Wallet v2.6.0 "Prometheus" is a major update for the project, focused on resilience and independence from centralized systems.
• Key features include support for BIP 158 block filters for direct node synchronization, a revamped full node integration for easier setup without third-party reliance, SLIP 39 share backups for flexible wallet recovery (sponsored by Trezor), and a Nostr-based update manager for censorship-resistant updates.
• Additional improvements include UI bug fixes, a new fallback for transaction broadcasting, updated code signing, stricter JSON serialization, and options to avoid third-party rate providers, alongside various under-the-hood enhancements.

This new version brings us closer to our ultimate goal: ensuring Wasabi is future-proof," said the developers, while also highlighting the following key areas of focus for the project:

• Ensuring users can always fully and securely use their client.
• Making contribution and forks easy through a codebase of the highest quality possible: understandable, maintainable, and improvable.

"As we achieve our survival goals, expect more cutting-edge improvements in Bitcoin privacy and self-custody. Thank you for the trust you place in us by using Wasabi," was stated in the release notes.

What's new

• Support for Standard BIP 158 Block Filters. Wasabi now syncs using BIP 158 filters without a backend/indexer, connecting directly to a user's node. This boosts sync speed, resilience, and allows full sovereignty without specific server dependency.
• Full Node Integration Rework. The old integration has been replaced with a simpler, more adaptable system. It’s not tied to a specific Bitcoin node fork, doesn’t need the node on the same machine as Wasabi, and requires no changes to the node’s setup.
  • "Simply enable the RPC server on your node and point Wasabi to it," said the developers. This ensures all Bitcoin network activities—like retrieving blocks, fee estimations, block filters, and transaction broadcasting—go through your own node, avoiding reliance on third parties.
• Create & Recover SLIP 39 Shares. Users now create and recover wallets with multiple share backups using SLIP 39 standard.

"Special thanks to Trezor (SatoshiLabs) for sponsoring this amazing feature."

• Nostr Update Manager. This version implements a pioneering system with the Nostr protocol for update information and downloads, replacing reliance on GitHub. This enhances the project's resilience, ensuring updates even if GitHub is unavailable, while still verifying updates with the project's secure certificate.
• Updated Avalonia to v11.2.7, fixes for UI bugs (including restoring Minimize on macOS Sequoia).
• Added a configurable third-party fallback for broadcasting transactions if other methods fail.
• Replaced Windows Code Signing Certificate with Azure Trusted Signing.
• Many bug fixes, improved codebase, and enhanced CI pipeline.
• Added the option to avoid using any third-party Exchange Rate and Fee Rate providers (Wasabi can work without them).
• Rebuilt all JSON Serialization mechanisms avoiding default .NET converters. Serialization is now stricter.

Full Changelog: v2.5.1...v2.6.0

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo

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• RoboSats v0.7.7-alpha is now available!

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

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

Source: RoboSats.

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

What's new

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

Source: RoboSats.

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

New contributors

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

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

GitHub Repo

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

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

• Upcoming updates for Bitcoin Safe include Compact Block Filters.

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

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

What's new in v1.3

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

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

Announcement / Archive
Blog Post / Archive
GitHub Repo
Website

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The loans are not speculative or unsecured.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cantor is also a big player in the stablecoin space.

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

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

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

This also shows how traditional financial players are embracing DeFi.

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

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

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

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

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

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

Community Driven by Emotion

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

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

The FOMO Factor: When Missing Out Becomes an Obsession

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

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

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

The Fear and Greed Index

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

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

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

The HODL Culture

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

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

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

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

Social Media: The Amplifier of Emotions

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

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

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

The Gender and Age Divide in Bitcoin Psychology

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

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

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

The Neuroscience of Bitcoin Volatility

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

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

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

Breaking Free from Emotional Cycles

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

This update brings key enhancements for clarity and usability:

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

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

Learn how to get started with Sparrow wallet:

Release notes (v2.2.0)

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

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

What's new in v2.2.1

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

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• "Today we're launching the beta version of our multiplatform Nostr browser! Think Google Chrome but for Nostr apps. The beta is our big first step toward this vision," announced Damus.
• This version comes with the Dave Nostr AI assistant, support for zaps and the Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) wallet interface, full-text note search, GIFs and fullscreen images, multiple media uploads, user tagging, relay list and mute list support, along with a number of other improvements."

"Included in the beta is the Dave, the Nostr AI assistant (its Grok for Nostr). Dave is a new Notedeck browser app that can search and summarize notes from the network. For a full breakdown of everything new, check out our beta launch video."

What's new

• Dave Nostr AI assistant app.
• GIFs.
• Fulltext note search.
• Add full screen images, add zoom, and pan.
• Zaps! NWC/ Wallet UI.
• Introduce last note per pubkey feed (experimental).
• Allow multiple media uploads per selection.
• Major Android improvements (still WIP).
• Added notedeck app sidebar.
• User Tagging.
• Note truncation.
• Local network note broadcast, broadcast notes to other notedeck notes while you're offline.
• Mute list support (reading).
• Relay list support.
• Ctrl-enter to send notes.
• Added relay indexing (relay columns soon).
• Click hashtags to open hashtag timeline.
• Fixed timelines sometimes not updating (stale feeds).
• Fixed UI bounciness when loading profile pictures
• Fixed unselectable post replies.

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo
Website

@ 1817b617:715fb372

Looking to simulate a USDT deposit that appears instantly in a wallet — with no blockchain confirmation, no real spend, and no trace?

You’re in the right place.

🔗 Buy Flash USDT Now This product sends Flash USDT directly to your TRC20, ERC20, or BEP20 wallet address — appears like a real deposit, but disappears after a set time or block depth.

✅ Perfect for: Simulating token inflows Wallet stress testing “Proof of funds” display Flash USDT is ideal for developers, trainers, UI testers, and blockchain researchers — and it’s fully customizable.

🧠 What Is Flash USDT? Flash USDT is a synthetic transaction that mimics a real Tether transfer. It shows up instantly in a wallet balance, and it’s confirmed on-chain — and expires after a set duration.

This makes it:

Visible on wallet interfaces Time-limited (auto-disappears cleanly) Undetectable on block explorers after expiry It’s the smartest, safest way to simulate high-value transactions without real crypto.

🛠️ Flash USDT Software – Your Own USDT Flasher at Your Fingertips Want to control the flash? Run your own operations? Flash unlimited wallets?

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This is your all-in-one USDT flasher tool, built for TRC20, ERC20, and BEP20 chains. It gives you full control to:

Send custom USDT amounts Set custom expiry time (e.g., 30–360 days) Flash multiple wallets Choose between networks (Tron, ETH, BSC) You can simulate any amount, to any supported wallet, from your own system.

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💥 Why Our Flash USDT & Software Stands Out Feature Flash USDT Flash USDT Software One-time flash send ✅ Yes Optional Full sender control ❌ No ✅ Yes TRC20 / ERC20 / BEP20 ✅ Yes ✅ Yes Custom duration/expiry Limited ✅ Yes Unlimited usage ❌ One-off ✅ Yes Whether you’re flashing for wallet testing, demoing investor dashboards, or simulating balance flows, our tools deliver realism without risk.

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🚫 Legal Notice These tools are intended for:

Educational purposes Demo environments Wallet and UI testing They are not for illegal use or financial deception. Any misuse is your full responsibility.

Final Call: Need to flash USDT? Want full control? Don’t wait for another “maybe” tool.

Get your Flash USDT or Flashing Software today and simulate like a pro.

🔗 Buy Now → Flash USDT 🔗 Buy Now → Flash USDT Software 💬 Telegram: @cryptoflashingtool 📱 WhatsApp: +1 770-666-2531Looking to simulate a USDT deposit that appears instantly in a wallet — with no blockchain confirmation, no real spend, and no trace?

You’re in the right place.

 Buy Flash USDT Now\ This product sends Flash USDT directly to your TRC20, ERC20, or BEP20 wallet address — appears like a real deposit, but disappears after a set time or block depth.

Perfect for:

• Simulating token inflows
• Wallet stress testing
• “Proof of funds” display

Flash USDT is ideal for developers, trainers, UI testers, and blockchain researchers — and it’s fully customizable.

---

What Is Flash USDT?

Flash USDT is a synthetic transaction that mimics a real Tether transfer. It shows up instantly in a wallet balance, and it’s confirmed on-chain — and expires after a set duration.

This makes it:

• Visible on wallet interfaces
• Time-limited (auto-disappears cleanly)
• Undetectable on block explorers after expiry

It’s the smartest, safest way to simulate high-value transactions without real crypto.

---

Flash USDT Software – Your Own USDT Flasher at Your Fingertips

Want to control the flash?\ Run your own operations?\ Flash unlimited wallets?

 Buy Flash USDT Software

This is your all-in-one USDT flasher tool, built for TRC20, ERC20, and BEP20 chains. It gives you full control to:

• Send custom USDT amounts
• Set custom expiry time (e.g., 30–360 days)
• Flash multiple wallets
• Choose between networks (Tron, ETH, BSC)

You can simulate any amount, to any supported wallet, from your own system.

No third-party access.\ No blockchain fee.\ No trace left behind.

---

Why Our Flash USDT & Software Stands Out

Feature	Flash USDT	Flash USDT Software
One-time flash send	Yes	Optional
Full sender control	No	Yes
TRC20 / ERC20 / BEP20	Yes	Yes
Custom duration/expiry	Limited	Yes
Unlimited usage	One-off	Yes

Whether you’re flashing for wallet testing, demoing investor dashboards, or simulating balance flows, our tools deliver realism without risk.

---

Ready to Buy Flash USDT or the Software?

Skip the wait. Skip the scammers.\ You’re one click away from real control.

 Buy Flash USDT

 Buy Flash USDT Software

 Support or live walkthrough?

 Telegram: @cryptoflashingtool

 WhatsApp: +1 770-666-2531

---

Legal Notice

These tools are intended for:

• Educational purposes
• Demo environments
• Wallet and UI testing

They are not for illegal use or financial deception. Any misuse is your full responsibility.

---

Final Call:

Need to flash USDT? Want full control?\ Don’t wait for another “maybe” tool.

Get your Flash USDT or Flashing Software today and simulate like a pro.

 Buy Now → Flash USDT

 Buy Now → Flash USDT Software

 Telegram: @cryptoflashingtool

 WhatsApp: +1 770-666-2531

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

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

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

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

What's new

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

Other changes

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

#FREESAMOURAI

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

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dirty Coin debut ceremony at the Marché du Film

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dirty Coin at the Cannes Film Festival

Watch the Trailer + Access Press Materials

📂 EPK
🎬 Screener
🌍 Host a Screening

Follow the Movement

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

@ 0c65eba8:4a08ef9a

There is a lie. A coward's lie. A slave's lie. A lie whispered into your ear by those who would rather you stay small, weak, obedient.

It goes: "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

It sounds wise. It feels humble. But it is designed to disarm you.

It's what a priesthood tells the peasant, what the bureaucrat tells the citizen, what the parasite tells the host.

This is not wisdom. It is a weapon. It is propaganda. It is what a conquered people are taught so they never rise again. And make no mistake, right now, we are a conquered people. All of our institutions are controlled by those who hate us, who hate our children, who want to see us enslaved, and then dead. And they think it’s funny.

See Video: What is the War Against the West - Noah Revoy

What Power Does

Power does not corrupt. Power reveals. It reveals who is worthy of it, and who is not. It reveals strength. It reveals weakness. It reveals your agency and capacity for responsibility.

To be a sovereign man, a whole man, is to possess power and wield it.

With power comes weight. With power comes failure.

And with power comes the terrible burden of knowing that others may live or die by your decisions. It may not always be life or death, sometimes it's whether a man keeps his job or feeds his children, whether a family stays together or breaks apart, whether a community survives or collapses. These decisions fall on the shoulders of those who lead, and their impact ripples out in unseen ways.

That is no small thing. Leadership is the heaviest yoke a man can carry.

The good man feels this weight more than most, because he cares, because he doubts, because he knows the cost of error. Because he has the vision to see into the future, dark as it might be.

But still, he must lead. Still, he must decide. Still, he must bear it.

Because failure and criticism are the cost of leadership, not evidence against it. If you expect leaders to be perfect, you are not ready for leadership. You are still a child.

Leadership demands judgment. It demands exclusion. It demands the ability to say, "No," and enforce it, with blood if necessary.

Not everyone will be pleased. That is not your job. Your job is to lead.

A group without leadership is a group without direction. But here's the deeper truth:

Most groups do not lack leaders because no one is capable. They lack leaders because the group itself is unworthy. Ungrateful. Cowardly.

They will not lift the man who leads. They will not shoulder his burdens with him. They will not defend his judgment.

All this, and worse, they turn on their leaders. They rip them to shreds like rabid dogs. He's too mild for this one, too radical for that one. Every mistake is seen as an indictment. They accuse their leaders of treason while they do nothing to help them and everything to undermine them.

Leadership only emerges when the group is willing to support leadership. When they become worthy of it. When they stop tearing down the man who leads and instead say, "Yes. You carry the weight, and we will carry you."

Natural law does not ask for submission; but it does demand alignment with what is true and right.

If you refuse to take power, someone else will. And it will not be the good man. It will not be the righteous man. It will not be the pure man. It will not be your kin.

Because the "good man" hesitates. He questions. He holds back out of respect for your will. He leaves the door open for the wolf.

But the evil man does not wait. He takes. He seizes. He grasps power with his own two hands. And he rules you because you let him.

So if you are ruled by a tyrant, it is your own fault, it is your fault for not seizing power, for not standing up, and for not lopping his upstart head off when you had the chance.

A tyrant thrives not on strength, but on your abdication and weakness.

The men of the West have been taught to hate power. To fear it. To flee from it.

And now, we are ruled by the worst among us. Not because we could not stop them. But because we would not seize what was ours.

We sold our birthright for comfort. We gave our wives to the corporation. Our children to the state. Our sovereignty to the narrative.

We traded the path of the sword, the way of the hero for gilded chains.

And now we wonder why we are slaves.

Enough!

If you want to be a man, a real man, you must take your power. You must build it. You must train for it. You must desire it and all the good it can do for you and your people. And you must do so without apology.

Not as a tyrant. But as a shepherd, a steward, a warrior, a judge, a priest.

Let a great man of history arise once again!

• Cultivate your financial strength,so you can walk away from any master.

• Cultivate your financial strength ,so you can walk away from any master.

• Cultivate your political strength,so you can change what must be changed.

• Cultivate your political strength, so you can change what must be changed.

• Cultivate your power to deny others power over you.

• Cultivate your dangerous power for organized righteous violence.

And most of all, cultivate your moral strength, so you do not become the tyrant you despise.

If your ethics tell you to be weak, then your ethics are broken. If your morality demands you kneel, then your morality is a leash. If your religion tells you to submit, than you are a slave.

Break the chains that bind you.

Take the ring. Seize the crown. Sit on the throne.

And when a good man stands up from amongst you, support him. Carry him. Follow him.

And in doing so, become a man worthy of being followed.

This is the way back. Through strength. Through power. Through sovereignty.

Take the power. Or be ruled by those who do.

Lessons in Power: Three Men Who Took the Crown

Let me give you three stories, three proofs from our ancestors, across history and myth, of what happens when good men seize power, and why they must.

Charles Martel

In the 8th century, Europe faced an existential threat. The Umayyad Caliphate had surged across Iberia and pressed deep into Frankish lands. The future of Christian Europe trembled. And from the chaos arose a man, Charles Martel.

Charles did not inherit his power in peace. He took it through strength and cunning. He defied the weak Merovingian kings, raised armies from scattered loyalties, and prepared his men for battle.

At the Battle of Tours in 732, he met the advancing Islamic forces. His Frankish infantry held the line against cavalry charges, and when the enemy faltered, he broke them. That victory saved Western Europe from enslavement.

But the lesson is not only in the battle. It is in the act: Charles Martel took power. He did not wait for permission. He seized it, wielded it, and used it righteously, to preserve his people and his civilization.

Today, we face no less a crisis. And we will need another Charles.

Odysseus

After twenty years away, Odysseus returned to Ithaca to find his home invaded.

Suitors lounged in his halls, eating his food, courting his wife, and mocking his legacy. What did he do?

He planned. He revealed himself only when ready. And when the moment came, he struck, hard, fast, without mercy. With bow in hand, he slaughtered the parasites and restored order.

Odysseus did not ask for justice. He executed it. He did not beg for his throne. He claimed it.

The lesson is clear: when your house is invaded, when your order is usurped, you do not plead, you purge. The power you do not take will be taken from you.

In a way, modern men are like Odysseus. We've been absent, not always by choice. Some went to war. Others were consumed by work, distracted by comfort, dulled by propaganda. But the result is the same: our houses, too, have been invaded.

The time of absence is over. It is time to return. And not with apologies, not with compromise, but with clarity, decisiveness, and force.

Yudhishthira

In the Mahabharata, Yudhishthira is the eldest of the Pandavas, a man of dharma, justice, truth, restraint. When cheated out of his kingdom by the Kauravas, he endured exile, betrayal, humiliation.

But when the time came, he took up arms. Not with eagerness, but with duty. For only by force could righteousness be restored. After necessary war and bloodshed, he reclaimed the throne.

And yet he wept. He questioned. He bore the crown like a cross.

Yudhishthira teaches us this: the good man must rule, not because he desires power, but because no one else will wield it with justice. And if he refuses, the wicked will not. One of the deeper lessons of Yudhishthira's story is that no matter how righteous the leader, sometimes war and death are necessary to restore peace and justice. Righteousness alone is not enough, force must be willing to accompany virtue.

These are not stories. They are warnings.

Beware those who take moral instruction from modern fiction, especially fiction written by old men dreaming in ink about the world they fear to confront. The Lord of the Rings is a beloved tale, yes, but its lesson on power is self-contradictory. The One Ring, symbolic of ultimate power, is cast as inherently corrupting. And yet one of the central resolutions of the story is the return of the King, of Aragorn, who must take the throne and rule justly. And not only rule,Aragorn must wage a bloody war of extermination against the Orcs, the enemies of his people, to secure that rule and protect what remains of civilization. The lesson is muddled: don't touch power, unless you're destined to.

This is fantasy morality. It is aesthetic, not operational. It is designed to feel noble, not to work in the real world.

The Western tradition of heroism is not the fleeing from power, it is the seizing of it. The hero takes the legendary weapon, slays the monsters, casts down tyrants, and restores order with sword and will. Power is not evil. Evil is what happens when good men refuse power.

Natural Law does not moralize power, it governs it. It recognizes that power is real, necessary, and eternal. The law of reciprocity is not the law of submission, it is the law that limits domination through equal retaliatory threat. It is the framework by which power becomes cooperation.

So yes, take the power. And yes, wield it well. And remember: the greatest evil is not power itself. It is leaving power to the wicked because the righteous were too afraid to wield it.

If you do not become Charles, you will be conquered. If you do not become Odysseus, you will be dispossessed. If you do not become Yudhishthira, you will be ruled by Duryodhana.

Take the power. Or be ruled by those who do.

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

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

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

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

First Steps

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Building on Bitcoin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ 6a6be47b:3e74e3e1

Hi frens! 📕

How are you today? How’s your weekend going? I hope you’ve found a moment to rest and recharge—even just for a few minutes. If you’re on the hunt for your next great read, I’ve got something exciting to share!

I just found out that the new book from Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling) "The Hallmarked Man" has finally been announced! It’s coming out this September, and I’ll admit—I screamed and did a little happy dance. The last book ended on such a major cliffhanger!

🕵️‍♂️ If you’re not familiar, Robert Galbraith is Rowling’s pen name for her detective series featuring the duo Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott. Strike is the founder of their private investigation agency, and Robin, who started as a temp secretary, quickly proved she’s a natural-born detective (and it’s been her dream job for years).

If you’re wondering whether you need to read the earlier books first, I get it. The story of Robin and Strike definitely makes more sense if you start from the beginning, but Rowling is clever—she avoids major spoilers, so you can jump in out of order if you want (like I did!). Just be warned: you’ll get hooked and want to know what happens next.

Each book centers on a new crime for Strike and Robin to solve, so you’re pulled into the mystery first—and then deeper into their lives. That’s part of what makes the series so addictive.

📖 Why am I so hyped for the new release? The last book, The Running Grave, was a wild ride: tense, heart-wrenching, and impossible to put down. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! For me, it’s the best in the series so far. By the end, I was fully invested in all the characters—even the secondary ones. I just had to know what would happen to them.

Of course, not everyone is a fan of Rowling’s style, and some say her books could use a bit of editing. But I think she weaves tension, character development, and mystery together brilliantly. To each their own, though!

❤️ I have really high hopes for the next book this fall. If you love mysteries with complex characters and dark twists, I hope you’ll give this series a shot. Sometimes the truth is even darker than you expect!

Let me know what you think if you’ve read them—or if you’re planning to start.

🌟 Enjoy your weekend and godspeed!

https://stacker.news/items/999611

@ 044da344:073a8a0e

Es ist merkwürdig, wie sich die Dinge manchmal fügen. Himmelfahrt bin ich mit den beiden größeren Enkeln, 2 und 4, in einen Zirkus gegangen. Wir mussten ein wenig suchen, okay, haben das Zelt aber irgendwann entdeckt am Ufer des Regen. Ich könnte schreiben: klein, aber fein, so richtig trifft es das jedoch nicht. Klein schon. Ich will hier auch nicht schimpfen, weil sich die Zirkusfamilie alle Mühe gegeben hat, einen preisgekrönten Artisten dabeihatte (Silberner Clown in Monte Carlo) und sogar reichlich Tiere in die Manege brachte. Vier Araberpferde, zwei Dromedare, einen Esel und Ziegen.

Dann aber kamen die Katzen. Richtig gelesen. Katzen dort, wo es Tiger, Löwen, Bären gegeben hat, als ich selbst noch ein Kind war. Ich meine gar nicht die großen Zelte in der DDR, Berolina, Busch oder Aeros. Diese Riesen verirrten sich nicht in einen Badeort auf Rügen. Die Wiese gleich hinter unserem Haus gehörte ab Anfang der 1980er Rüdiger Probst, alle paar Jahre wieder. Ein junger Mann, der gar nicht so viel älter war als ich, keine Angst vor großen Tieren hatte und mit einem Salto von Pferd zu Pferd sprang. In einem kleinen Zirkus wie gesagt, für ein paar Groschen und meist vor vollem Haus. Mit den Enkeln hatte ich jetzt allen Platz der Welt und hinterher ein leeres Portemonnaie. Sieben Euro allein für Popcorn (es gab nur eine Tütengröße) und fünf (freiwillig) für ein paar Möhrenstücke, damit die Kinder in der Pause was zum Füttern in der Hand hatten.

Am Abend dann das neue Buch von Matthias Krauß. „Die falschen Fragen gestellt“. Ich habe mich ein wenig gewundert, als das Paket im Kasten lag, weil der Autor vor gar nicht allzu langer Zeit einen „einseitigen Waffenstillstand“ ausgerufen hatte und Schluss machen wollte mit seinem Kampf gegen die „Aufarbeitungsindustrie“ und mit der Verteidigung der DDR. Ich zitiere einfach aus meiner Rezension von 2019:

Matthias Krauß, 1960 in Hennigsdorf geboren, weiß natürlich, was da alles im Argen lag. Er hat selbst an der Sektion Journalistik studiert und in den späten 1980ern noch ein wenig für die Parteipresse gearbeitet. „Apologetisch“, sagt er. Vor allem Innen- und Wirtschaftspolitik. Sein Aber: erstens die Kultur. Begegnungen vor allem mit dem, was in Osteuropa so an Filmen, Serien, Kunst produziert wurde. Punkt zwei: „der einfache Mensch“. „Ungleich häufiger“ im Bild als heute. Und drittens „gab es eine prinzipielle und grundsätzliche Kritik“ am Westen und am Kapitalismus.

Der Zirkus am Ufer des Regen. Ein totes Pferd soll man nicht reiten. Deshalb tauche ich ein in ein Buch, das etwas schafft, was selbst ich nicht für möglich gehalten habe. Matthias Krauß singt ein Loblied auf den DDR-Journalismus, ohne dass es peinlich wird. Er bleibt dabei ganz bei sich – bei der Mappe mit Zeitungsausschnitten, die er als Schüler angelegt hat, bei den Aktbildern im Magazin, das sein Vater abonniert hatte und das dem Sohn auch jenseits der Erotik ganze Welten öffnete, bei einem Porträt, das ihm die Lokalzeitung 1977 widmete.

Das Schöne ist: Matthias Krauß hat das alles aufgehoben und darf jetzt als reifer Mann zurückschauen – als Journalist, der später auch die andere Seite erlebt hat, folglich vergleichen kann und vor allem niemandem mehr nach dem Mund reden muss. Die „Qualität der Bilder“, okay. Eher „Kartoffeldruck“ als Zeitung. Die immer gleichen alten Männer, klar. Die Grenzen, die jedes Parteiorgan hat und die auch ein junger Mann wie Krauß schon zu spüren bekam. Aber eben auch Texte, die nah dran waren am Leben (vor allem an der Arbeit) und ihre Leser ernst nahmen. Matthias Krauß ist nach dem Studium 1986 Redakteur der Jugendseite des Potsdamer SED-Blatts geworden und ruft den Journalismusforschern heute zu: Vergleicht doch einfach die Bravo mit dem Neuen Leben, einer Zeitschrift, die damals sein Leitstern war und immer ausverkauft. These von Matthias Krauß: Das Neue Leben

war vielseitiger, anspruchsvoller und in jeder Hinsicht höherwertiger als die Bravo-Post, mit dem endlos einfältigen Star-Rummel, den auf Kauf und Konsum orientierten Modetipps, dem Klatsch und Abklatsch und den klischeehaften Rollenbildern – Ausdruck des insgesamt unpolitischen Grundanspruchs. Nun gut, aus exakt diesem Grund wird dieser Vergleich wohl niemals stattfinden. (S. 103)

Matthias Krauß hat ein kaum zu schlagendes Argument auf seiner Seite: Er, der SED-Propagandist, hatte nach 1990 schnell wieder das Vertrauen des Publikums, das er „bei Lichte besehen“ vielleicht gar nicht verdiente, aber allein wegen seiner Herkunft bekam (S. 116). Und: Er kann sogar jemanden zitieren, der die Ernte-Berichterstattung vermisst, Hassobjekt von Lesern wie von Journalisten – einen Landwirt aus dem Westen, der dort sehen konnte, wie weit die Kollegen waren, was sie wie machten und wie sie auf das Wetter reagierten (S. 166).

Ich gebe zu: Ich habe eine Schwäche für autobiografische Texte. Solche Bücher erlauben mir, all das mit Leben zu füllen, was in den Akten bald zu Staub zerfällt. Ich habe ein Fußballregal (gleich zweimal Lothar Matthäus!), eine DDR-Abteilung, Erinnerungen von Wissenschaftlern und natürlich Journalisten. Da längst nicht jeder schreibt, der etwas zu sagen hat, helfe ich immer wieder nach und sammle als Interviewer Lebensgeschichten ein. Matthias Krauß dürfte einer der ersten ostdeutschen Medienmenschen aus der Geburtskohorte um 1960 sein, der sich öffentlich äußert und dabei nicht einfach das nachbetet, was ohnehin schon überall steht.

Das gilt auch jenseits des Themas Journalismus. Der Wehrdienst, für mich bis heute ein Albtraum, wird von Matthias Krauß als „Entscheidung für eine Art persönlicher Freiheit“ interpretiert (S. 43). Mit 18 unabhängig sein von den Eltern und dann auch ohne Geldsorgen studieren können. Leipzig war für ihn in den 1980ern nicht nur Uni-Standort, sondern auch „Messestadt“ und damit „Weltstadt“ (S. 50). Und der Aufregung um jede DDR-Exmatrikulation, die er keineswegs schönredet, werden „die Millionen Opfer der Demokratisierung“ gegenübergestellt und das laute gesamtdeutsche Schweigen nicht nur in diesem Punkt (S. 58).

Was das alles mit dem Zirkus zu tun hat? Matthias Krauß hat in der DDR das Motto für sein Leben als Journalist gefunden – bei der Arbeit mit einem Parteisoldaten, der einfach nicht rauswollte aus dem Korsett, das die Genossen über sein Leben geworfen hatten.

Ja, sagte ich mir, stelle immer die falschen Fragen. (S. 153)

In Sachen Zirkus liegen alle Antworten auf dem Tisch. Meine Trauer habe ich schon vor mehr als zehn Jahren verarbeitet. Mal schauen, was die Enkel eines Tages dazu sagen.

Matthias Krauß: Die falschen Fragen gestellt. Journalist in zwei deutschen Staaten. Berlin: Das Neue Berlin 2025, 189 Seiten, 18 Euro.

Michael Meyen: Videos

Freie Akademie für Medien & Journalismus

Unterstützen

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

News

• Bitcoin mining centralization in 2025. According to a blog post by b10c, Bitcoin mining was at its most decentralized in May 2017, with another favorable period from 2019 to 2022. However, starting in 2023, mining has become increasingly centralized, particularly due to the influence of large pools like Foundry and the use of proxy pooling by entities such as AntPool.

Source: b10c's blog.

• OpenSats announces the eleventh wave of Nostr grants. The five projects in this wave are the mobile live-streaming app Swae, the Nostr-over-ham-radio project HAMSTR, Vertex—a Web-of-Trust (WOT) service for Nostr developers, Nostr Double Ratchet for end-to-end encrypted messaging, and the Nostr Game Engine for building games and applications integrated with the Nostr ecosystem.
• New Spiral grantee: l0rinc. In February 2024, l0rinc transitioned to full-time work on Bitcoin Core. His efforts focus on performance benchmarking and optimizations, enhancing code quality, conducting code reviews, reducing block download times, optimizing memory usage, and refactoring code.
• Project Eleven offers 1 BTC to break Bitcoin's cryptography with a quantum computer. The quantum computing research organization has introduced the Q-Day Prize, a global challenge that offers 1 BTC to the first team capable of breaking an elliptic curve cryptographic (ECC) key using Shor’s algorithm on a quantum computer. The prize will be awarded to the first team to successfully accomplish this breakthrough by April 5, 2026.
• Unchained has launched the Bitcoin Legacy Project. The initiative seeks to advance the Bitcoin ecosystem through a bitcoin-native donor-advised fund platform (DAF), investments in community hubs, support for education and open-source development, and a commitment to long-term sustainability with transparent annual reporting.
  • In its first year, the program will provide support to Bitcoin hubs in Nashville, Austin, and Denver.
  • Support also includes $50,000 to the Bitcoin Policy Institute, a $150,000 commitment at the University of Austin, and up to $250,000 in research grants through the Bitcoin Scholars program.

"Unchained will match grants 1:1 made to partner organizations who support Bitcoin Core development when made through the Unchained-powered bitcoin DAF, up to 1 BTC," was stated in a blog post.

• Block launched open-source tools for Bitcoin treasury management. These include a dashboard for managing corporate bitcoin holdings and provides a real-time BTC-to-USD price quote API, released as part of the Block Open Source initiative. The company’s own instance of the bitcoin holdings dashboard is available here.

Source: block.xyz

• Bull Bitcoin expands to Mexico, enabling anyone in the country to receive pesos from anywhere in the world straight from a Bitcoin wallet. Additionally, users can now buy Bitcoin with a Mexican bank account.

"Bull Bitcoin strongly believes in Bitcoin’s economic potential in Mexico, not only for international remittances and tourism, but also for Mexican individuals and companies to reclaim their financial sovereignty and protect their wealth from inflation and the fragility of traditional financial markets," said Francis Pouliot, Founder and CEO of Bull Bitcoin.

• Corporate bitcoin holdings hit a record high in Q1 2025. According to Bitwise, public companies' adoption of Bitcoin has hit an all-time high. In Q1 2025, these firms collectively hold over 688,000 BTC, marking a 16.11% increase from the previous quarter. This amount represents 3.28% of Bitcoin's fixed 21 million supply.

Source: Bitwise.

• The Bitcoin Bond Company for institutions has launched with the aim of acquiring $1 trillion in Bitcoin over 21 years. It utilizes secure, transparent, and compliant bond-like products backed by Bitcoin.
• The U.S. Senate confirmed Paul Atkins as Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). At his confirmation hearing, Atkins emphasized the need for a clear framework for digital assets. He aims to collaborate with the CFTC and Congress to address jurisdiction and rulemaking gaps, aligning with the Trump administration's goal to position the U.S. as a leader in Bitcoin and blockchain finance.
• Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has been released from custody. Griffith, whose sentence was reduced to 56 months, is now seeking a pardon. He was initially sentenced to 63 months for allegedly violating international sanctions laws by providing technical advice on using cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to evade sanctions during a presentation titled 'Blockchains for Peace' in North Korea.
• No-KYC exchange eXch to close down under money laundering scrutiny. The privacy-focused cryptocurrency trading platform said it will cease operations on May 1. This decision follows allegations that the platform was used by North Korea's Lazarus Group for money laundering. eXch revealed it is the subject of an active "transatlantic operation" aimed at shutting down the platform and prosecuting its team for "money laundering and terrorism."
• Blockstream combats ESP32 FUD concerning Jade signers. The company stated that after reviewing the vulnerability disclosed in early March, Jade was found to be secure. Espressif Systems, the designer of the ESP32, has since clarified that the "undocumented commands" do not constitute a "backdoor."

• Bank of America is lobbying for regulations that favor banks over tech firms in stablecoin issuance. The bank's CEO Brian Moynihan is working with groups such as the American Bankers Association to advance the issuance of a fully reserved, 1:1 backed "Bank of America coin." If successful, this could limit stablecoin efforts by non-banks like Tether, Circle, and others, reports The Block.
• Tether to back OCEAN Pool with its hashrate. "As a company committed to financial freedom and open access, we see supporting decentralization in Bitcoin mining as essential to the network’s long-term integrity," said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.
• Bitdeer to expand its self-mining operations to navigate tariffs. The Singapore-based mining company is advancing plans to produce machines in the U.S. while reducing its mining hardware sales. This response is in light of increasing uncertainties related to U.S. trade policy, as reported by Bloomberg.
• Tether acquires $32M in Bitdeer shares. The firm has boosted its investment in Bitdeer during a wider market sell-off, with purchases in early to mid-April amounting to about $32 million, regulatory filings reveal.
• US Bitcoin miner manufacturer Auradine has raised $153 million in a Series C funding round as it expands into AI infrastructure. The round was led by StepStone Group and included participation from Maverick Silicon, Premji Invest, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, Mayfield, MARA Holdings, GSBackers, and other existing investors. The firm raised to over $300 million since its inception in 2022.
• Voltage has partnered with BitGo to [enable](https://www.voltage.cloud/blog/bitgo-and-voltage-team-up-to-deliver-instant-bitcoin-and-stabl

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Every purchase we make ties us to a vast, hidden network of people, machines, and resources — whether we see it or not.

Supply chains are large industrial systems. They are composed of heterogeneous elements, such as ships, aircraft, trains, and trucks, but also systems of labor, information, and finance that build them and connect them together. Usually the goods flow in one direction and money flows in the opposite direction. Their physical substrates are themselves industrial products, relying on ships, trucks, cranes, fossil fuels, and electric power, tied together by skilled human operators, supervisors, managers, and other industrial roles.

Few of us would likely condone every moment of every supply chain for every product we consume.

Consider any product in your home. Where was it made? (That should be written on the label somewhere.) Where were the parts made? Who put them all together? How did it get to your doorstep?

Continue reading at https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/supply-chains-are-us/

https://stacker.news/items/999509

@ bf47c19e:c3d2573b

Originalni tekst na armantheparman.com / Autor: @parman_the

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Puno sam razmišljao o ovom pitanju i konačno se osećam spremnim da ponudim sveobuhvatan odgovor.

UKRATKO – ako imamo novac rođen na slobodnom tržištu, u slobodnom društvu, koji treba da zameni fiat novac, onda on ne može biti ravnomerno raspoređen od samog početka dok istovremeno svi ljudi cene njegovu vrednost – nužno mora proći kroz period kada ga samo nekolicina ljudi vrednuje.

Jednakost i pravičnost

Želim da počnem sa značenjem reči „pravično“. Mnogi ljudi, posebno oni koji pripadaju političkoj levici, smatraju da nešto mora biti jednako da bi bilo pravično. Na prvi pogled i bez dubljeg razmišljanja, to deluje ispravno ali zapravo je veoma netačno. Možda verujete da je jednakost instinktivno očekivanje od strane jednakih ljudi. Greška nastaje kada se taj prirodni instinkt nesvesno prenosi na druge stvari.

Zamislimo prirodan osećaj nepravde koji dete može doživeti kada njegov brat ili sestra (vršnjak) dobiju više slatkiša od njega – „Zašto on/ona zaslužuje više od mene?“ Ovo uvodi dodatnu promenljivu – „zaslužiti“, o čemu ću govoriti u kasnijem odeljku. Za sada ću se fokusirati na jednakost i pravičnost.

Nerazumno je i nelogično očekivati da sve u prirodi bude jednako. S obzirom na to da u prirodi postoje razlike u sposobnostima i drugim karakteristikama, rezultati tih razlika će, naravno, biti nejednako raspoređeni. Poricanje toga znači poricanje stvarnosti i poricanje uzročno-posledične veze. Mešati se u to znači „igrati se Boga“.

Na primer, neka stabla dobijaju više sunčeve svetlosti i kiše od drugih i bujnije napreduju; neke životinje jedu druge životinje; neki ljudi su mudriji, jači, brži, privlačniji ili produktivniji od drugih. Takva je priroda i to je srž prirodne selekcije i evolucije i na taj način prirodni ekosistemi postižu ravnotežu.

Iako biste možda želeli da se mešate u ravnotežu prirode u svojoj bašti s povrćem, primenjivanje svojih želja na živote drugih ljudi protiv njihove volje može biti nemoralno. Na primer, oduzimanje bogatstva/imetka (silom) koje je zaradio neko ko je sposobniji ili više doprinosi društvu i ustupanje tog bogatstva nekome siromašnom i manje produktivnom (suština socijalizma) je autoritativno, dugoročno kontraproduktivno za sve i vodi ka konačnom kolapsu civilizacije (Ajn Rend je ovo istraživala u svom remek-delu od 1244 strane, romanu Pobunjeni Atlas (engl. Atlas Shrugged), koji toplo preporučujem). Ovo „forsiranje“ jednakih nagrada za rezultate različitih sposobnosti koristi „pravičnost“ kao opravdanje ali je suštinski NEPRAVIČNO, jer ide protiv prirode.

Uzimanje (silom) od onih koji su zaradili više i preraspodela onima koji su zaradili manje predstavlja ideal JEDNAKOSTI u ishodima ali, da bi se to postiglo, ljude tretirate nejednako.

Nagrade raspoređene na osnovu prirodnih razlika (npr. sposobnosti, predviđanja, iskustva) ili razlika u uloženom trudu, bez mešanja spoljnih sila koje nameću svoju volju (autoritarizam) – to je PRAVIČNOST. Ovo je u skladu s jednakim tretiranjem ljudi shodno prirodnim zakonima, pa čak i zakonima vlasti.

Alternativni pogled na pravičnost je da nagrade treba da se zasnivaju na moralu – iako to zvuči lepo, to je čista fantazija.

Ljudska prava

Ništa od ovoga ne znači da neke stvari ne bi trebalo da budu jednake. Na primer, ljudska prirodna prava su zapravo jednaka. Ona NE zavise od sposobnosti, potreba, morala, kriminalne prošlosti, političkih uverenja, sreće, truda, statusa, važnosti, slave – nimalo.

Ona se zasnivaju na tome što smo ljudi.

Zašto je ovo relevantno postaće jasno veoma brzo. Svi imaju jednaka prirodna prava. Neki primeri su pravo na život, slobodu, govor i privatnost. Ova prava postoje bez potrebe za dozvolom da postoje – mogu biti prekršena ili poštovana/zaštićena – ali nisu nam dodeljena ili data, niti nam mogu biti oduzeta. Ona su nezavisna od zakona.

Da pojasnim, sva ova prava ne zahtevaju da neko drugi nešto uradi za vas. „Pravo na život“ izgleda kao da krši ovo pravilo ali zapravo bi trebalo da se zove „pravo da ne budete ubijeni“; niko nema ljudsko pravo da primorava nekoga da ga održava u životu. Slično je i sa slobodom govora, niko nema pravo da mu se obezbedi platforma za govor ali ima pravo da ne bude ućutkan. Prava značenja se mogu izgubiti u jednostavnom jeziku/rečima koje smo navikli da koristimo.

Sledeće je veoma važno razumeti: prirodno ljudsko pravo je nešto što imamo na osnovu našeg inteligentnog RAZMIŠLJANJA o tome šta je ispravno i pogrešno i ne podleže diskreciji autoritativne vlasti. Međutim, autoritativna vlast ima sposobnost da to pravo prekrši ili zaštiti.

To što imam ljudska prava ne znači da će trenutni autoritet današnjice (vlada) zaštititi ta prava. Umesto toga, odgovornost dobronamerne autoritativne vlasti je da ih zaštiti.

Da sumiram:

Prirodno ljudsko pravo je nešto što svi ljudi imaju (ali zakon ne štiti uvek).

Ovo se razlikuje od zakonskog prava:

Zakonsko pravo je nešto što daje autoritativna vlast.

Sada kada su ljudska prava površno objašnjena, želim da ponovo naglasim nešto veoma važno:

Dok je jednakost ljudskih prava prirodna stvar koju treba očekivati između svih ljudi, veoma je različito očekivati jednakost nagrada za naše sposobnosti ili trud. Da bismo postigli jednake nagrade, moramo ljude tretirati različito, što je suštinski nepravično.

Ne mislim da je potreban dalji logički argument. Ako se još uvek ne slažete, predlažem da ponovo pročitate ono što sam rekao i razmislite o tome.

Povezujući se sa temom ovog teksta, distribucijom bitkoina – bogatstvo nije ljudsko pravo, ono je NAGRADA. Jednakost bogatstva između ljudi takođe nije ljudsko pravo. Međutim, ljudsko je pravo biti slobodan da posedujete imovinu i da vaša imovina ne bude narušena. Odgovornost svake postojeće vlade je da zaštiti ta ljudska prava. Za dalje čitanje, pogledajte libertarijanizam.

Zasluživanje

Vraćajući se na „zasluživanje“ – ovo je ljudski konstrukt, zasnovan na dobru i zlu: „Dobri ljudi zaslužuju dobre stvari, a loši ljudi zaslužuju kaznu.“

U stvarnosti, međutim, loše stvari se dešavaju dobrim ljudima, a dobre stvari se dešavaju lošim ljudima. Mnogima je teško da to prihvate.

Koristeći logiku, i dalje može imati savršenog smisla zašto ljudi ne dobijaju uvek ono što zaslužuju – jer priroda ne dodeljuje nagrade savršeno na osnovu ljudskih konstrukata dobra i zla.

Čovek je taj koji pokušava da nadgleda ravnotežu između posledica i morala. Ljudi zamišljaju kako stvari treba izgledaju ali što više budu obraćali pažnju na prirodu, to će više biti razočarani stvarnošću.

Umesto toga, u prirodi postoje uzrok i posledica. Postoji određena predvidljivost ali takođe postoji i izvesna slučajnost, sviđalo se to nama ili ne. Mnogima se to ne sviđa.

Ne shvatite ovo kao poziv na ukidanje nagrađivanja i kažnjavanja u društvu. Ono što razmatram je da nije moguće da čovečanstvo uspešno nadgleda celokupnu prirodu na osnovu onoga što je zasluženo (koristeći moralnu definiciju „zasluživanja“). Pretpostavljam da bi visoko napredna autoritarna država mogla pokušati.

Pravična raspodela novog novca

Da bismo odlučili kako bi distribucija Bitkoina trebalo da izgleda u idealnom svetu, najpre razmotrimo šta je poželjno I moguće za novi novac, a zatim možemo videti koliko je Bitkoinov dizajn to veličanstveno postigao:

Kreiraćemo hipotetički novi novac. Dajmo mu neke neupitne karakteristike relevantne za ovu diskusiju (ovo nije potpuna lista):

1. Novac će biti digitalan.
2. Jer fizički novac, zlato, nije uspeo.

3. U globalnom društvu, sa bilo kojim fizičkim novcem (nedigitalnim), potrebne su treće strane (za digitalizaciju fizičkog novca i omogućavanje plaćanja na daljinu), što dovodi do razvoja fiat novca.

4. Novac će biti rođen na slobodnom tržištu.

5. Odnosno, vrednost nije nametnuta zakonom. Setimo se da je Bitkoin izmišljen da odvoji novac od države.

6. Niko ne kontroliše njegovo izdavanje niti može promeniti ponudu novca.

7. Pristup ovom novcu dostupan je svima.

8. U razumnim granicama – ne treba novoj monetarnoj jedinici nametati teret rešavanja svakog zamislivog problema u svetu

9. Zavisnost od država ili banaka za čuvanje novca u ime pojedinaca neće postojati, iako je to dozvoljeno i opcionalno.

10. Ako je to obavezno, ponovo ćemo završiti sa fiat novcem.

Sada moramo distribuirati ovaj novac koji smo upravo stvorili. Kako to učiniti što je „pravičnije“ moguće? Hajde da pokušamo da damo svakom čoveku na Zemlji jednak deo, kao jedan razuman pokušaj „pravičnosti“.

Da bi to bilo izvodljivo, svaki čovek mora biti u nekoj bazi podataka – pretpostavimo da to imamo. Možda moramo prihvatiti da će neki ljudi naći način da budu višestruko upisani u toj bazi i tako prevare sistem ali zamislimo da pronađemo način da to uglavnom sprečimo.

Sada moramo dodeliti sredstva tako da svaka osoba ima privatni ključ za svoja sredstva i niko drugi – to je suština digitalnog vlasništva. Ko god ima privatni ključ ima moć da troši sredstva i time poseduje novac. Dakle, svaki čovek mora biti jedina osoba koja ima pristup svojim privatnim ključevima (uz neke izuzetke kada je u pitanju pomoć od strane pouzdanih članova porodice). Pretpostavimo da postoji neko novo tehnološko otkriće koje to nekako čini izvodljivim i lakim za sve, bez potrebe za centralnom institucijom poput banke koja bi obezbedila sigurnost.

Veoma važno i gotovo neostvarivo – svi koji imaju privatni ključ treba da ga zaštite – odnosno, ne smeju ga izgubiti, trebalo bi da znaju njegovu važnost i da im ne bude ukraden (katastrofe sa privatnim ključevima dogodile su se mnogim ranim korisnicima Bitkoina) ili da ne budu prevareni da ga poklone ili prodaju jeftino.

Za sada nam dobro ide ali uz neke optimistične pretpostavke.

Zamislimo da nekim čudom možemo efikasno preneti informacije o novim novčićima i privatnim ključevima svim ljudima na Zemlji bez obzira na njihove okolnosti (u razumnim granicama). Naravno, oni bi na početku imali NULTU vrednost (jer su besplatno stvoreni i nemaju drugu upotrebu osim kao novac).

Setimo se, kao što je navedeno u početnim uslovima, ovde nema autoritativne vlasti i ne možemo prisiliti ljude da vrednuju ovaj novac i koriste ga, kao što države koriste silu za fiat novac. Ovde je svrha oslobađanje od fiat novca.

Čestitamo, sada imamo hipotetičku alternativu Bitkoinu koja je RAVNOMERNO raspoređena svakom čoveku na Zemlji i svaki čovek ima kontrolu nad svojim novcem. Da li je ovo bolje od lansiranja/distribucije Bitkoina u januaru 2009. godine? Da li je ovo rešilo problem jednake raspodele?

Još uvek ne, a razlog je što smo distribuirali nešto što je bezvredno.

Potrebna nam je još jedna stvar – svi moraju ISTOVREMENO vrednovati novostečeni novac KAO NOVAC i prihvatati/trošiti ga na otprilike istoj vrednosti. Očigledno, ovo nije moguće u slobodnom društvu.

Ovo je veoma važno - „slobodno društvo“. Moramo dozvoliti ljudima da rade šta žele sa ovim novoraspoređenim novcem. Šta će se desiti? Neki ljudi će ga visoko vrednovati, a neki neće – ljudi koji ga visoko vrednuju kupiće ga od onih koji ga ne vrednuju. I šta nam onda ostaje? Mali deo sveta koji veruje u ovaj novac i sada poseduje većinu ponude.

Čekajte, zar nije upravo to slučaj sa Bitkoinom? Zar se ljudi nisu baš zbog toga žalili?

Kada je Bitkoin u pitanju, većina nas je imala otprilike jednak pristup početnim novčićima. Svi su mogli da rudare, a novčići su u početku bili gotovo bezvredni. Rani korisnici su trgovali troškovima električne struje, svojim vremenom i trudom u zamenu za novoizrudarene bitkoine.

Ne, Satoši nije „unapred“ rudario (eng. pre-mine), on JESTE RUDARIO zajedno sa svima ostalima (počevši od 3. januara 2009.) dva meseca nakon najave novog sistema (31. oktobra 2008.).

Nije postojalo znanje da će Bitkoin sigurno imati neku vrednost. Rani rudari su zaradili svoj deo bitkoina jer su posedovali predviđanje o njegovoj budućoj vrednost i preuzeli su RIZIK sa svojim resursima, vremenom i trudom. Vi i ja, mi smo to ignorisali. Smejali smo se tome. Nadali smo se da će propasti. „Zaslužili“ smo da propustimo priliku.

Postoji izreka među Bitkoinerima: „Svi će kupiti bitkoin po ceni koju zaslužuju.“

Zašto smo pogrešili i šta se desilo da vremenom dobije na vrednosti? Činjenica da su mu neki ljudi, rani korisnici, DAVALI vrednost (vrednost je subjektivna ljudska odluka), a zatim su se vremenom pridružili i drugi. Rani korisnici su bili u pravu što su verovali da će ga drugi kasnije vrednovati nakon što su oni preuzeli rizike, a Bitkoin nije propao. Što kasnije ulazite u Bitkoin, to je rizik manji, a cena koju plaćate za njegovo sticanje je viša – ovo je prikladno.

Zbog neizvesnosti, mnogi ljudi nisu rudarili, niti su odvojili vreme da ozbiljno razmotre ili kupe bitkoin kada su imali priliku. To bi bio slučaj sa BILO KOJIM novostvorenim novcem, čak i ako je ravnomerno raspoređen.

Drugim rečima, ponuditi ravnomernu raspodelu od samog početka je suštinski isto kao i ponuditi podjednake šanse za sticanje bitkoina.

Kao što sam rekao na početku:

Ako imamo novac rođen na slobodnom tržištu, u slobodnom društvu, koji treba da zameni fiat novac – onda on ne može biti ravnomerno raspodeljen od početka, a da ga svi ljudi istovremeno vrednuju. Neminovno mora proći kroz period kada ga samo nekolicina ljudi vrednuje.

Satoši je odlično obavio posao dizajnirajući protokol tako da se izdavanje odvija tokom vremena. Može se raspravljati o tome da li je mogao učiniti izdavanje malo drugačijim ali on/ona/oni je samo čovek (verovatno), tako da imamo ono što imamo i to se sada ne može promeniti.

U početku su rudari bili nagrađivani sa 50 novčića svakih 10 minuta (svaki blok), a ovaj iznos se prepolovljava svakih 210.000 blokova (otprilike svake 4 godine). Trenutno je nagrada za svaki blok 6.25 bitkoina, a izdato je 19.5 miliona od 21 milion novčića. U 2024. godini nagrada će biti prepolovljena na 3.125 bitkoina svakih 10 minuta.

Pored pružanja jednakih prilika tokom raspodele novčića, Satošijev dizajn postepene distribucije takođe jača kvalitet novca i njegov potencijal za uspeh. U sledećem odeljku ću diskutovati o tome kako distribucija utiče na kvalitet novca.

Idealna distribucija novca na slobodnom tržištu

Ostavljajući po strani pravičnost i moral, želeo bih ovde da iznesem argument da raspodela ne-fiat novca kroz populaciju predstavlja promenljivu koja utiče na kvalitet novca.

Da su svi bitkoini bili dostupni od samog početka, onda bi veoma mali broj ljudi posedovao celokupnu ponudu. To bi zapravo dovelo do rizika od neuspeha Bitkoina jer, da bi novac bio koristan, mora biti široko distribuiran. Jedna od funkcija rudarenja bila je distribucija novčića – Satošijev dizajn je osigurao da distribucija bude dovoljna kako bi novac vremenom stekao vrednost, što bi zatim omogućilo trošenje i dalju distribuciju.

Razmišljanje o ekstremima pomaže. Zamislite da jedna osoba poseduje celokupnu ponudu svetskog novca. U tom slučaju, da li bi ta jedinica imala ikakvu vrednost kao novac? Tvrdim bi da bi imala nultu monetarnu vrednost ali, u zavisnosti od toga šta je, mogla bi imati neku robnu vrednost (neki ljudi kažu „intrinzična vrednost“ kada zapravo misle na robnu vrednost ili nemonetarnu vrednost. Dublja diskusija o ovome može se pronaći ovde).

Možda već znate kako novac evoluira iz stanja trampe, što je detaljno objašnjeno ovde, a ukratko je sledeće: U društvu zasnovanom na trampi, potencijalno monetarno dobro inicijalno ima vrednost zbog svoje nemonetarne upotrebe (nemonetarna vrednost), pa počinje sa monetarnom premijom koja je jednaka nuli. Ako ga poseduje dovoljan broj ljudi, postaje praktično koristiti ga kao sredstvo razmene kako bi se prevazišla ograničenja trampe, čime se povećava trgovina, smanjuje rizik specijalizacije i povećava prosperitet tog društva. Kako ovaj tip razmene postaje sve rasprostranjeniji, jedinica postaje poželjnija, što povećava vrednost iznad robne vrednosti. Ova dodatna vrednost je monetarna premija. Monetarna premija zatim uzrokuje da više ljudi poseduje jedinicu i putem pozitivne povratne sprege, ona na kraju postaje univerzalno prihvaćena, što dovodi do toga da monetarna premija dostigne pun potencijal – tj. potpuno usvojena kao novac.

Vraćajući se na hipotetičku situaciju u kojoj jedna osoba drži sav raspoloživi novac na svetu – to predstavlja suprotnost celokupnom procesu gde se monetarna premija razvila iz trampe. Ako se proces potpuno obrne, završavamo na početnom stanju gde jedinica ima nultu monetarnu premiju.

Uporedite to sa suprotnim ekstremom – šta ako svi na svetu poseduju ovaj novac u podjednakoj meri? U tom slučaju, imali biste maksimalno poverenje da će jedinica biti prihvaćena u trgovini.

Sada razmotrimo sredinu između dva ekstrema – ako postoji populacija ljudi koja uopšte ne poseduje ovaj novac, vaša sigurnost u to gde i kod koga možete potrošiti svoj novac u budućnosti bila bi niža – pa je stoga i kvalitet novca niži. Vidim da bi mogao da postoji kontinuum ali u nekom trenutku raspodela će biti dovoljna da novac funkcioniše dobro, a svaka dalja promena ka ravnomernijoj distribuciji imaće zanemarljiv efekat.

Nakon što sam ovo shvatio, postavio sam pitanje: da li je zaista distribucija novca ono što je ovde važno, ili je to prihvatanje tog novca kao sredstva plaćanja, tj. potražnja? Zaključio sam da su one blisko povezane.

Čini se intuitivnim da ako jedna osoba ima sav novac na svetu, više ljudi bi odbilo tu jedinicu kao novac, bilo zato što bi se bunili protiv nejednakosti bogatstva, bilo zato što ne bi bili sigurni da li će je drugi prihvatiti. A ako svi poseduju deo novca, intuitivno je verovati da bi ga više ljudi prihvatilo.

Što se tiče Bitkoina, distribucija je počela sa jednom osobom koja je držala celokupnu raspoloživu ponudu. To se dogodilo u prvom bloku, 3. januara 2009. kada je Satoši izrudario prvi blok i bio nagrađen sa 50 bitkoina. U to vreme nije mogao dobiti više bitkoina zbog pravila protokola – morao je nastaviti da rudari i akumulira novčiće tokom vremena.

U prvim danima, samo su Satoši i Hal Fini rudarili. Zatim su se pridružili drugi i sada je to svetski fenomen. Postepeno izdavanje novih novčića značajno je pomoglo distribuciji. Kako su novi novčići izdavani tokom vremena, oni koji su kasnije ušli još uvek su mogli da se takmiče sa ranijim korisnicima.

Trinaest godina kasnije, većina digitalnih kovanica (oko 19,5 miliona od 21 milion) distribuirana je rudarenjem.

"Zar najbogatiji Bitkoineri neće samo gomilati novčiće i kontrolisati mrežu da bi uvećali svoje bogatstvo što bi dovelo do smanjene distribucije?

Shvatio sam da ono što je važno nije široka distribucija, već široka potražnja. To će povećati cenu i podstaći rane korisnike da oslobode (potroše) deo svojih novčića kako bi poboljšali kvalitet svog života i to je prirodno; na ovaj način, vlasništvo nad bitkoinima postaje ravnomernije raspoređeno tokom vremena, a sa ovom raspodelom njegova vrednost kao novca raste, što dodatno pomaže potražnji, što dalje pomaže ranim usvojiteljima da potroše novčiće.

Veoma važna razlika u poređenju sa fiat novcem je da oni sa najviše novca nemaju nepošten uticaj u cilju povećanja svog bogatstva. Šanse su jednake. U fiat sistemu, oni koji su najbogatiji prvi imaju pristup štampariji novca (npr. bailout-ovi, državne subvencije velikim kompanijama koje formiraju monopole ili pristup jeftinom kreditu koji je zapravo oblik štampanja novca) i oni troše taj novac u ekonomiji pre nego što cene porastu kako bi se prilagodile povećanju ponude novca (Kantiljonov efekat).

Kod Bitkoina nema štampanja novca. Oni sa najvećim bitkoin bogatstvom uživaju u tom bogatstvu trošeći ga onima koji rade za njega (kada bitkoin postane univerzalno prihvaćen kao novac), omogućavajući veću distribuciju.

Naravno, najbogatiji Bitkoineri mogu povećati svoje bogatstvo ali to će biti učinjeno razmenom nečega vrednog sa onima koji im plaćaju bitkoinom (tj. dobrovoljna razmena), nasuprot suštinskoj „krađi“ kao što je slučaj kod Kantiljonovog efekta.

U slobodnom svetu, ako bogati Bitkoiner pruža uslugu, a siromašni Bitkoiner mu plati, OBOJICA poboljšavaju svoju situaciju. Bogati Bitkoiner je zaradio više bitkoina, a siromašni Bitkoiner je, razmotrivši prednosti i nedostatke, odlučio da će njegov/njen život biti bolji trošenjem nešto bitkoina. Ne izmišljam ovde ništa, ovo je osnovno učenje austrijske ekonomske škole i prilično intuitivno.

Ali pogledaj, gotovo niko ne troši. Kako Bitkoin može biti novac? Novac mora da se troši

O ovome sam već pisao ali vredi ponoviti ovde jer sam siguran da će ovo pitanje iskrsnuti kada se razmatra distribucija novčića.

Pomalo je zbunjujuće jer da bi žeton/jedinica bila novac, mora se koristiti kao novac. To je drugačije od jezika – jezik je i dalje jezik čak i ako ga niko ne govori.

Da bi jedinica postala novac, ne samo da mora imati TEHNIČKE osobine novca (retkost, deljivost, prepoznatljivost, prenosivost, zamenjivost, itd.), već mora imati i DRUŠTVENE osobine – tj. mrežu ljudi koji ga vrednuju kao novac - na veoma sličan način kao što je jeziku potrebno da poseduje određene tehničke osobine (zvuci, simboli i pravila) da bi bio koristan ali i mrežu ljudi koji komuniciraju njime.

Sada kada je ovo razjašnjeno, razmotrimo Bitkoin. On ima odlične tehničke monetarne osobine ali ga nedovoljno ljudi koristi kao novac. To bi trebalo da vas navede da zaključite da on nije dobar novac u celini – ALI, to ne znači da neće postati dobar novac. Bitkoineri veruju da hoće i zato ga i prihvataju čekajući da ostatak sveta uhvati priključak.

Samo zato što možete čuti neke Bitkoinere koji promovišu Bitkoin kao novac, to ne znači da greše i da će Bitkoin zato propasti. Oni se pozivaju na superiorne tehničke osobine Bitkoina kao novca. Njihovi protivnici se raspravljaju koristeći drugačiju definiciju, žaleći se da se Bitkoin ne koristi kao novac.

Zaključak

Objasnio sam da se distribucija Bitkoina razvija otprilike onako kako bi se razvijala distribucija bilo kog novca na slobodnom tržištu i da je očekivanje ravnomerne raspodele nerealno. Priroda novca je takva kakva je, nekima se to možda ne sviđa ali to ne daje valjanost argumentu da bi od Bitkoina trebalo odustati i vratiti se novcu koji se nalazi pod neposrednom kontrolom određenih ljudi (altkoini ili fiat).

Dalje čitanje

https://www.danheld.com/blog/2019/1/6/bitcoins-distribution-was-fair

Bakšiš

Statička Lightning adresa: dandysack84@walletofsatoshi.com

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

In the rural areas of Vietnam, people tend to give the land plot next to their house to their grown up children to build a new home – thus a new family. This poses many interesting problems about the two generation’s living spaces. In the case of Ai Nghia House, we pay close attention to the connection and privacy between the two families.

The skylit courtyard

Learning from the structure of traditional houses in Hoi An, we create a courtyard in the middle of the house, connecting the parents’ house and the children’s new house. The courtyard plays its role as a funnel collecting sunlight and natural wind, also, it’s a place for sharing daily stories, common or private. It’s a place where parents watch over the house and the kids, where families pass over a little spice in cooking time, or simply a place where the sky is only one perk away. The courtyard is thus shared naturally between the families as a continuation between generations.

The framed garden

The front garden is framed into a red brick facade, making the greenery stand out. Voids are boldly cut to allow sunlight to reach the plants, making the garden comes to life. Altogether that frame becomes a lively picture of nature and many daily moments of each member in the family.

Read more about Naqi & Partners at https://naqipartners.com/project/ai-nghia-house-quang-nam/

https://stacker.news/items/999526

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

In the early days of computer vision, when memory was scarce and every byte counted, innovation thrived under constraint. “An Efficient Chain-Linking Algorithm,” developed at Inria in the late 1980s, is a brilliant example of this spirit. Now preserved and shared by Software Heritage, this compact yet powerful piece of C code showcases how elegance and efficiency went hand in hand in outlining the future of image processing—one pixel chain at a time.

The code resulted from research work carried out between 1985 and 1991 at Inria, by Gérard Giraudon (research and principal investigator), Philippe Garnesson (a PhD student), and Patrick Cipière (software engineer). Down in sunny Sophia Antipolis, a tech park 20 minutes inland from Antibes, the team tackled computer vision with a distinctly local flavor. They called themselves PASTIS, a playful nod to the anise drink. Still, the acronym – Scene Analysis and Symbolic Image Processing Project (Projet d’Analyse de Scène et de Traitement d’Image Symbolique) – hinted at their serious mission.

Continue reading at https://www.softwareheritage.org/2025/06/04/history_computer_vision/

https://stacker.news/items/999507

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

There is only one item on my CSS wishlist for 2025: a slower pace!

After years of rapid innovation, now feels like the right time for browser vendors to take a beat to consolidate, fix browser inconsistencies, and let the rest of us catch up.

After all, we might've heard about subgrid, :has(), scroll-driven animations, and all the other recent CSS improvements – but how many of us can say that we've actually used all these features, let alone mastered them?

This is why this year's survey will be so interesting. It'll be a chance to see which of the past few year's new CSS additions have already been adopted by the community, and which ones are still on our to-do list.

So once again, please join me for this year's State of CSS!

Take the survey at https://survey.devographics.com/en-US/survey/state-of-css/2025

https://stacker.news/items/999510

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Headlines

• Spiral renews support for Dan Gould and Joschisan. The organization has renewed support for Dan Gould, who is developing the Payjoin Dev Kit (PDK), and Joschisan, a Fedimint developer focused on simplifying federations.
• Metaplanet buys another 145 BTC. The Tokyo-listed company has purchased an additional 145 BTC for $13.6 million. Their total bitcoin holdings now stand at 5,000 coins, worth around $428.1 million.
• Semler Scientific has increased its bitcoin holdings to 3,303 BTC. The company acquired an additional 111 BTC at an average price of $90,124. The purchase was funded through proceeds from an at-the-market offering and cash reserves, as stated in a press release.
• The Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Bill 2025 introduced in Kenya. The new legislation aims to establish a comprehensive legal framework for licensing, regulating, and supervising virtual asset service providers (VASPs), with strict penalties for non-compliant entities.
• Russian government to launch a cryptocurrency exchange. The country's Ministry of Finance and Central Bank announced plans to establish a trading platform for "highly qualified investors" that "will legalize crypto assets and bring crypto operations out of the shadows."
• All virtual asset service providers expect to be fully compliant with the Travel Rule by the end of 2025. A survey by financial surveillance specialist Notabene reveals that 90% of virtual asset service providers (VASPs) expect full Travel Rule compliance by mid-2025, with all aiming for compliance by year-end. The survey also shows a significant rise in VASPs blocking withdrawals until beneficiary information is confirmed, increasing from 2.9% in 2024 to 15.4% now. Additionally, about 20% of VASPs return deposits if originator data is missing.
• UN claims Bitcoin mining is a "powerful tool" for money laundering. The Rage's analysis suggests that the recent United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report on crime in South-East Asia makes little sense and hints at the potential introduction of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures at the mining level.
• Riot Platforms has obtained a $100 million credit facility from Coinbase Credit, using bitcoin as collateral for short-term funding to support its expansion. The firm's CEO, Jason Les, stated that this facility is crucial for diversifying financing sources and driving long-term stockholder value through strategic growth initiatives.
• Bitdeer raises $179M in loans and equity amid Bitcoin chip push. The Miner Mag reports that Bitdeer entered into a loan agreement with its affiliate Matrixport for up to $200 million in April, as disclosed in its annual report filed on Monday.
• Federal Reserve retracts guidance discouraging banks from engaging in 'crypto.' The U.S. Federal Reserve withdrew guidance that discouraged banks from crypto and stablecoin activities, as announced by its Board of Governors on Thursday. This includes rescinding a 2022 supervisory letter requiring prior notification of crypto activities and 2023 stablecoin requirements.

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

• UAE-based Islamic bank ruya launches Shari’ah-compliant bitcoin investing. The bank has become the world’s first Islamic bank to provide direct access to virtual asset investments, including Bitcoin, via its mobile app, per Bitcoin Magazine.
• U.S. 'crypto' scam losses amounted to $9.3B in 2024. The US The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reported $9.3 billion losses in cryptocurrency-related scams in 2024, noting a troubling trend of scams targeting older Americans, which accounted for over $2.8 billion of those losses.

Source: FBI.

• North Korean hackers establish fake companies to target 'crypto' developers. Silent Push researchers reported that hackers linked to the Lazarus Group created three shell companies, two of which are based in the U.S., with the objective of spreading malware through deceptive job interview scams aimed at individuals seeking jobs in cryptocurrency companies.
• Citrea deployed its Clementine Bridge on the Bitcoin testnet. The bridge utilizes the BitVM2 programming language to inherit validity from Bitcoin, allegedly providing "the safest and most trust-minimized way to use BTC in decentralized finance."
• Hesperides University offers a Master’s degree in Bitcoin. Bitcoin Magazine reports the launch of the first-ever Spanish-language Master’s program dedicated exclusively to Bitcoin. Starting April 28, 2025, this fully online program will equip professionals with technical, economic, legal, and philosophical skills to excel in the Bitcoin era.
• BTC in D.C. event is set to take place on September 30 - October 1 in Washington, D.C. Learn more about this initiative here.

Use the tools

• Bitcoin Keeper just got a new look. Version 2.2.0 of the mobile multisig app brought a new branding design, along with a Keeper Private tier, testnet support, ability to import and export BIP-329 labels, and the option to use a Server Key with multiple users.
  • Earlier this month the project also announced Keeper Learn service, offering clear and guided Bitcoin learning sessions for both groups and individuals.
• Keeper Desktop v0.2.2, a companion desktop app for Bitcoin Keeper mobile app, received a renewed branding update, too.

The evolution of Bitcoin Keeper logo. Source: BitHyve blog.

• Blockstream Green Desktop v2.0.25 updates GDK to v0.75.1 and fixes amount parsing issues when switching from fiat denomination to Liquid asset.
• Lightning Loop v0.31.0-beta enhances the loop listswaps command by improving the ability to filter the response.
• Lightning-kmp v1.10.0, an implementation of the Lightning Network in Kotlin, is now available.
• LND v0.19.0-beta.rc3, the latest beta release candidate of LND is now ready for testing.
• ZEUS v0.11.0-alpha2 is now available for testing, too. It's nuts.
• JoinMarket Fidelity Bond Simulator helps potential JoinMarket makers evaluate their competitive position in the market based on fidelity bonds.
• UTXOscope is a text-only Bitcoin blockchain analysis tool that visualizes price dynamics using only on-chain data. The

@ 523a8281:fc94329a

The Darkest Hour of the GameFi Market and the Glimmer of Hope Amid the prolonged downturn of the cryptocurrency market, the GameFi sector is undergoing an unprecedented trial. According to CoinGecko data, the total market capitalization of the GameFi sector shrank by 35% from its peak in the first half of 2024. DappRadar statistics further confirm the industry's decline—numerous projects have struggled to maintain sustainable economic models, leading to severe user attrition. Although the number of daily active users has grown by 18%, this "volume up, price down" phenomenon reflects the market's painful transition from speculation-driven to value-driven development.

Even more alarming is that 93% of projects in the industry have either stagnated or perished, with the average project lifespan lasting a mere four months. Token prices have fallen more than 95% from their historical highs, extinguishing the enthusiasm of countless investors and players. The once-glorious "Play-to-Earn" and "X to Earn" models collapsed after the profit bubbles burst, exposing the fatal flaws of over-reliance on financial speculation while neglecting the essence of gaming.

However, crises often breed opportunities. The GameFi sector has not been crushed by the bear market but has instead started to clarify its future direction amid the turbulence. This deep market adjustment acts as a brutal filter, leaving only those projects that abandon token speculation, focus on player experience, and build sustainable economic systems to stand out during this industry-wide reshuffle.

1. Neo Fantasy: A Game-Changer Breaking the Deadlock Neo Fantasy is not just a blockchain game; it is a gateway to the ACGN metaverse. In the mysterious land of Loren, players become brave adventurers tasked with reclaiming wealth from the forces of darkness. The game seamlessly integrates compelling storylines with cutting-edge blockchain technology, allowing players to immerse themselves in epic adventures while earning significant rewards through diverse gameplay. From the moment players step into the game, they are captivated by its unique charm—whether it's the vividly designed characters or the grand battle scenes, everything reflects Neo Fantasy's relentless pursuit of quality.

Looking back at the development trajectory of the GameFi industry, its collapse was no accident. Many past projects focused entirely on speculative financial incentives, neglecting the refinement of game content and the construction of community ecosystems. Complex and obscure tokenomics and flashy but impractical DeFi concepts attracted attention in the short term but failed to mask the lack of gameplay. Once token rewards diminished, users quickly scattered, leading to the project's rapid decline. This blind pursuit of short-term gains ultimately triggered a full-blown industry crisis, serving as a wake-up call for future projects.

Neo Fantasy has keenly identified these industry pitfalls and introduced a series of innovative measures to break the deadlock:

Enhancing User Experience: The team accurately addressed traditional gamers' aversion to complex blockchain interfaces by developing an independent application that combines the seamless operation of traditional games with the "play-to-earn" features of Web3. New players can easily get started without deep knowledge of blockchain technology. This low-barrier design significantly broadens the user base, attracting many players who were previously deterred by blockchain games.

Community and Market Expansion: Neo Fantasy has demonstrated strong strategic foresight by establishing deep collaborations with renowned platforms like Nextype, quickly amassing a large user base. Moreover, its plan to launch on mainstream app stores such as Google Play and the App Store aims to tap into the billion-user Web2 gaming market. This move will undoubtedly break the barriers of blockchain gaming, allowing more ordinary players to experience Neo Fantasy's unique charm and paving the way for broader growth.

Innovative Gameplay: Sustained innovation in gameplay is key to Neo Fantasy's vitality. The team has abandoned the outdated model of solely relying on token-driven user engagement and continuously introduces new features. PvE dungeons are filled with challenges and surprises, requiring strategic cooperation to overcome; the PvP arena is packed with skilled players, offering intense real-time battles; auto chess combines strategy and luck, making each match unpredictable; and guild tournaments emphasize teamwork, fostering strong bonds among players. Future plans for open-world and virtual-world experiences will further expand the game's boundaries, delivering unprecedented immersive experiences.

Sustainable Tokenomics: The construction of the token economy showcases the team's wisdom and vision. Centered around the ERT token, the system serves as both a governance tool and a utility token. Through a carefully designed economic cycle model, every in-game action—whether upgrading heroes, enhancing equipment, or participating in events—is closely tied to ERT. This design ensures the token's utility while avoiding unsustainable high-yield promises, achieving self-sufficient and healthy economic circulation. Additionally, offering free hero characters to new players lowers the participation barrier, attracting a diverse and loyal community of traditional gamers.

1. Breaking Through the Bear Market: Neo Fantasy's Keys to Success and Industry Insights Under the severe challenges of the bear market, Neo Fantasy's development strategy has pointed the way forward for GameFi projects. Gameplay is the foundation of survival; only with outstanding fun and playability can players truly immerse themselves. A strong community is the cornerstone of development; an active player community not only enhances user retention but also injects continuous vitality into the project. Leveraging mainstream platforms to expand the market is the necessary path to breaking through barriers and achieving large-scale growth. Meanwhile, a sustainable and transparent tokenomics model is the core element to ensure the long-term stability of the project. Continuous innovation is the key to standing out in a fiercely competitive market; only by consistently introducing new features can a project retain players' attention and maintain its competitiveness.

2. Looking Ahead: Concrete Actions to Lead the Next GameFi Revolution While the GameFi sector has suffered significant losses during the bear market, Neo Fantasy's rise offers hope for the industry's recovery. In the future, Neo Fantasy will take a series of practical actions to solidify its strengths and drive industry transformation:

Expanding Community Collaboration and Listening to Players: Neo Fantasy will broaden its community partnerships, working with global gaming forums, blockchain communities, and player groups. By hosting regular online and offline events and conducting surveys, the project will gather feedback on gameplay, economic systems, and social features. These insights will guide targeted improvements to ensure the game aligns with player needs, enhancing satisfaction and loyalty.

Optimizing Game Content for Premium Experiences: Resources will continue to be invested in developing and refining game content. This includes enriching storylines for immersive narratives, fine-tuning PvE dungeon difficulty curves and reward mechanisms, and improving PvP balance and fairness. The development of open-world and virtual-world features will also be accelerated, introducing innovative gameplay and interaction elements to provide players with more opportunities for exploration and creativity.

Strengthening Guild Systems to Promote Ecosystem Prosperity: Neo Fantasy will actively support in-game guild development by offering exclusive benefits and activities such as guild quests and rewards. A guild ranking system will incentivize growth, while cross-game and cross-platform collaborations will encourage interaction among players from different communities, expanding the game's influence and ecosystem.

Expanding the Ecosystem and Exploring New Possibilities: Beyond core gameplay, Neo Fantasy will actively expand its ecosystem. On the technical side, it will accelerate cross-chain compatibility to enable seamless flow of $ERT tokens and game assets across networks, attracting more external resources and users. In content creation, the project will support an ACGN creator program, encouraging community members to produce comics, novels, animations, and other content related to Neo Fantasy, enriching the game's cultural value and building a diverse ecosystem.

By focusing on player experience, community building, and sustainable development, Neo Fantasy has proven that GameFi can thrive even in a bear market. The future belongs to projects that prioritize high-quality gaming content and earn players' trust. Neo Fantasy not only survives but actively positions itself as a leader, driving the next GameFi revolution. For the GameFi industry, abandoning hype and focusing on quality is the key to standing out in a fiercely competitive market. Neo Fantasy is steadfastly walking this path, writing its own legend.

Follow Neo Fantasy on: Twitter: https://x.com/NeoFantasy_Game

Telegram: https://t.me/NeoFantasy2024

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NeoFantasy2024

Medium: https://medium.com/@neofantasy419

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Headlines

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

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

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

Source: orangesurf

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

Source: African Bitcoiners.

Use the tools

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

Other stuff

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

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

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

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

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@ 523a8281:fc94329a

As the global financial landscape continues to evolve, the interaction between the cryptocurrency market and traditional financial systems is becoming increasingly intertwined. Crypto payment cards, serving as a critical bridge between the two, are emerging as a new force in the payments sector. According to a report by The Brainy Insights, the global crypto credit card market was valued at $25 billion in 2023 and is projected to surpass $400 billion by 2033, showcasing astonishing growth potential. Behind this rapid development is the relentless effort of payment providers to bridge the gap between crypto and traditional payment methods, striving to meet users' diverse payment needs. Currently, crypto payment card products are springing up like mushrooms after a rain and have already integrated with mainstream payment methods like Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Alipay, greatly enhancing their usability. Products like the Crypto. com Visa Card, Binance Card, Bybit Card, and Bitget Card, mostly launched by major cryptocurrency exchanges, hold significant influence in the market. In terms of technological innovation, some card issuers have even integrated DeFi protocols such as Ethena, Morpho, and USUAL, offering asset appreciation services to users and successfully building a comprehensive financial service ecosystem that extends from payments to wealth management. This further expands the application scope and value of crypto payment cards. Despite the unique advantages of cryptocurrency payments in terms of speed (46% of users choose it), cross-border cost efficiency (37% value low fees), and financial autonomy (32% pursue decentralization), a survey by Bitget Wallet reveals that their actual application scale still lags significantly behind traditional payment systems. The traditional payment market, worth trillions of dollars, covers the vast majority of daily transactions globally, while crypto payments occupy only a small share, mainly concentrated in niche scenarios like cross-border remittances and digital asset transactions. Users' preference for traditional payment methods primarily stems from concerns about trust and security. The security risks of crypto payments (e.g., hacking and fraud) leave users apprehensive, while traditional payments, backed by mature banking systems, legal protections, and dispute resolution mechanisms, significantly reduce transaction risks. Additionally, the price volatility of cryptocurrencies makes them unsuitable as stable transaction mediums, whereas the stability of traditional fiat currencies better aligns with daily consumer needs. Traditional payments also achieve seamless coverage through extensive POS terminals and online integrations, whereas the limited merchant acceptance of crypto payments restricts their practicality. Furthermore, the low operational barriers of traditional payment tools and the habitual usage formed over time, combined with the complexity and technical barriers of crypto wallets, pose challenges to the widespread adoption of crypto payments. Against this market backdrop, the VooPay digital asset card stands out, showcasing core advantages such as multi-chain technology integration, global compliance frameworks, and real-time payment innovations, redefining the crypto payment experience: 1. Breaking Efficiency Barriers with Multi-Chain Interoperability and Real-Time Payment Technology The VooPay digital asset card supports major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and BNB (compatible with multi-chain protocols such as BEP-20 and TRC-20). Through an integrated cross-chain bridge, users can freely transfer assets across major blockchains like Ethereum, BNB Chain, and TRON without manual conversion. For instance, a freelancer in the UK receiving USDT payments from a U.S. client can directly convert it to GBP for consumption via the card, with the entire process settling in minutes and fees as low as 1.8%-2%. This represents a more than 90% improvement in efficiency and a 60%-80% reduction in costs compared to traditional bank cross-border transfers (5%-10% fees + 3-5 days settlement). The platform employs Layer 2 scaling technologies (e.g., zk-Rollups) to further optimize transaction throughput, supporting high-frequency, low-value payment scenarios. Additionally, its dynamic exchange rate locking feature helps users mitigate cryptocurrency price volatility risks, ensuring payment amount stability—for example, even if Bitcoin drops from $101,867 in January 2025 to $94,500 in February, users can still settle payments at the real-time exchange rate during consumption without needing to pre-convert to fiat currency. 2. Building Trust with a Global Payment Network and Compliance System Leveraging deep collaborations with Visa and MasterCard, the VooPay digital asset card covers 210 countries/regions and 150 million merchants (including offline retail, online e-commerce, and ATM networks). It supports integration with third-party platforms like Alipay, WeChat Pay, and Apple Pay, enabling seamless transitions between "crypto-to-fiat" payment scenarios. For instance, in the $20.5 billion spent by Canadians in the U.S. in 2024, using the VooPay card could bypass traditional bank exchange rate losses (averaging about 3%) and high fees, requiring only a fixed rate of 1.8%-2%. In terms of compliance, VooPay holds financial licenses in Europe and North America, strictly adhering to KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) standards. Users must complete identity verification to activate their cards. The digital asset cards are issued by banks in Hong Kong and the U.S., with funds segregated from platform operating assets and regularly audited by third-party institutions to ensure security. This ensures that every transaction complies with global regulatory requirements, especially under the backdrop of tightened financial regulations driven by Trump-era policies, providing users with reliable safeguards. 3. Revolutionizing User Experience and Extending the Ecosystem to Make Crypto Payments Mainstream The VooPay card is designed to balance high spending limits and operational convenience: the Gold Card has a daily spending limit of $7,500 and a monthly limit of $50,000, while the virtual card can be activated with as little as 10 USDT. It supports instant card issuance and multilingual interfaces (including Chinese). Users can view multi-chain asset distributions, transaction records, and real-time exchange rates via the app, significantly lowering the operational barriers compared to traditional crypto wallets. Moreover, the card integrates Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) technology, protecting transaction privacy while meeting compliance requirements, allowing users to complete payment verification without disclosing sensitive information. On the ecosystem front, VooPay's native token, VOO, has diverse use cases, including payment fee discounts (20%), participation in liquidity mining, and community governance voting. Future plans include deep integration with DeFi protocols, enabling users to directly participate in staking, lending, and other financial activities via the card, building an integrated ecosystem of "payments-wealth management-governance." As a core project incubated by M3 DAO, VooPay is deeply embedded in its community ecosystem, which spans over 100 countries and includes more than 200,000 members. It serves as the designated payment hub for incubated projects like Rocket and MetaMars. Rocket, an IDO platform in the DeFi space, collaborates with VooPay to achieve seamless integration of crypto asset subscriptions and payments. Users can invest in Rocket projects using the VooPay card and enjoy VOO token fee discounts and priority benefits. MetaMars, on the other hand, extends VooPay's practical applications in metaverse scenarios, enabling users to purchase NFTs or virtual services with cryptocurrencies stored in their cards, with the system automatically converting to platform tokens at low fees. Together, the three entities drive VooPay's construction of an integrated ecosystem of "payments + investments + applications," promoting the adoption of cryptocurrencies in diverse scenarios. 4. Differentiated Competitiveness to Address Market Challenges Compared to traditional payments and competitors, VooPay's core advantages lie in: ●Dual-Driven by Technology and Compliance: Enhancing efficiency through cross-chain interoperability and Layer 2 technologies while building trust with financial licenses in Europe and North America and segregated fund custody. ●Deep Integration of Scenarios and Ecosystems: Covering diverse scenarios such as personal consumption, enterprise cross-border acquiring, and DeFi finance, rather than being limited to single-use transaction functions. ●Accurate Matching of User Needs: Addressing pain points in cross-border payments (low cost, real-time), privacy and security demands (ZKP technology), and operational barriers (one-click integration with mainstream payments) with systematic solutions. Looking ahead, as blockchain technology matures and global regulatory environments gradually open up, VooPay is poised to carve out a larger space in the crypto payment card market with its triple advantages of "technological innovation + compliance framework + ecosystem expansion." It aims to drive cryptocurrencies from "marginal payments" to "daily necessities," becoming a mainstream gateway connecting Web3 and the real economy.

@ da8b7de1:c0164aee

Nukleáris technológiai és projektfejlesztési hírek

Több jelentős nemzetközi fejlemény történt a nukleáris energia területén. A Westinghouse Electric Company megkapta az amerikai Energiaügyi Minisztériumtól a kulcsfontosságú biztonsági jóváhagyást az eVinci mikroreaktorához, ami fontos lépés ennek az innovatív nukleáris technológiának a bevezetése felé. A vállalat Idaho államban tervezi egy tesztreaktor létesítését, ami jól mutatja, hogy a mikroreaktorok piaca egyre nagyobb lendületet kap.

Eközben a nukleáris kapacitás gyors bővítéséhez szükséges ellátási lánc felkészültsége volt a fő témája a World Nuclear Association első konferenciájának. Jelentős projektfrissítések között szerepel a kritikus turbinakomponensek beszerelése a kínai Haiyang atomerőműben, az indiai Mahi Banswara Rajasthan Atomerőmű négy blokkjára vonatkozó szabályozói engedély, valamint egy új olaszországi partnerség, a Nuclitalia, amely fejlett nukleáris technológiákra fókuszál. Belgiumban a Nukleáris Kutatóközpont hivatalos konzultációkat indított egy ólom-hűtésű kis moduláris reaktor (SMR) ügyében, Brazília pedig bejelentette, hogy Oroszországgal közösen fejleszt SMR-projektet.

Szabályozási és biztonsági aktualitások

A Nemzetközi Atomenergia-ügynökség (IAEA) meghosszabbította a tanulmányok benyújtási határidejét a közelgő, nukleáris létesítmények ellenállóképességéről szóló konferenciájára, hangsúlyozva a nukleáris létesítmények alkalmazkodásának fontosságát a klímaváltozás jelentette növekvő kockázatokhoz. A konferenciát 2025 októberében rendezik Bécsben, és fő témája a nukleáris létesítmények biztonságának és ellenállóképességének növelése lesz, különös tekintettel a külső eseményekre, mint az árvizek és földrengések.

Kanadában a Nukleáris Biztonsági Bizottság engedélyezte az Ontario Power Generation számára, hogy megkezdje egy BWRX-300 típusú reaktor építését a Darlington New Nuclear Project helyszínén, ami a nukleáris építkezések folyamatos szabályozói támogatását mutatja. Az Egyesült Államokban a Nukleáris Szabályozási Bizottság további 20 évvel meghosszabbította a Duke Energy Oconee atomerőművi blokkjainak üzemeltetési engedélyét, valamint támogatást nyújtott a michigani Palisades atomerőmű újraindításához.

Iparági és gazdasági trendek

Az iparági vezetők optimistán nyilatkoztak a nukleáris energia jelenlegi helyzetéről, kiemelve az Egyesült Államokban zajló aktív projekteket (például a TerraPower Wyomingban és az X-energy együttműködése a Dow vállalattal), valamint a fejlett nukleáris üzemanyaggyártásba irányuló magánbefektetések növekedését. Felmerült az is, hogy a Világbank nukleáris projekteket is finanszírozhatna, ami tovább ösztönözhetné a globális beruházásokat, és megerősítené a nukleáris energia szerepét az energetikai átmenetben.

Belgiumban a kormány és az Engie közüzemi vállalat végleges megállapodást kötött a Tihange 3 és Doel 4 reaktorok üzemidejének tíz évvel történő meghosszabbításáról, amely az energiabiztonságot és a radioaktív hulladék kezelését is szolgálja. Németországban a nukleáris technológiai szövetség hangsúlyozta, hogy akár hat, nemrégiben leállított reaktor újraindítása technikailag megvalósítható, és a nukleáris energia biztonságos, gazdaságos, valamint klímabarát alternatívát jelent.

Nemzetközi együttműködés és kutatás

Kanadában a Prodigy Clean Energy és a Serco közel jár a szállítható atomerőművek tesztprogramjának befejezéséhez, amelynek középpontjában a biztonság és az extrém helyzetekben való ellenállóképesség áll. Az EnergySolutions és a WEC Energy Group új nukleáris kapacitás létesítését vizsgálja a wisconsini Kewaunee helyszínen, és előzetes engedélyeket kívánnak szerezni a jövőbeni telepítéshez.

Az IAEA ismételten hangsúlyozta, hogy kész támogatni a Zaporizzsjai Atomerőműre vonatkozó megállapodásokat, amely továbbra is orosz katonai ellenőrzés alatt áll, kiemelve a térségben fennálló geopolitikai és biztonsági kihívásokat.

---

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

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

This is the place to reflect on how well you met your ~HealthAndFitness goals today.

Where did you succeed? What do you need to keep working on?

I probably didn't get enough sleep and overcompensated with caffeine. Otherwise, today was pretty solid. Other than a big cookie, I ate well and kept it within a decent window. Activity level was good, not great.

I meant to stretch more today, which I didn't really do, but I suppose I can do now.

https://stacker.news/items/999453

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

https://youtu.be/YA1Lkl3h9AQ

"...and then, like so many Pacers games, things just happened."

I think that's about as well as any of us understand what's going on.

https://stacker.news/items/999389

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

President Trump’s Truth Social Files S-1 Form For Bitcoin ETF

Today, Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. (Nasdaq, NYSE Texas: DJT) filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a Form S-1 for their upcoming Truth Social Bitcoin ETF.

The ETF, which will hold bitcoin directly, is designed to track the bitcoin’s price performance. 

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

The ETF is sponsored by Yorkville America Digital, LLC and will trade under NYSE Arca. The Trust’s assets primarily consist of bitcoin held by Foris DAX Trust Company, LLC, the designated bitcoin custodian. Crypto.com will act as the ETF’s prime execution agent and liquidity provider.

“Shares will be offered to the public from time to time at varying prices that will reflect the price of bitcoin and the trading price of the Shares on New York Stock Exchange Arca, Inc. at the time of the offer,” mentioned the Form S-1.

While the ETF offers investors a regulated avenue for bitcoin exposure, the Trust warned of several risks related to digital assets:

• Loss, theft, or compromise of private keys could result in permanent loss of bitcoin.
• Bitcoin’s reliance on blockchain and Internet technologies makes it vulnerable to disruptions and cyber threats.
• Environmental and regulatory pressures tied to high electricity use in bitcoin mining could impact market stability.
• Potential forks or protocol failures in the Bitcoin Network may lead to volatility and uncertainty in asset value.

Last week, during an interview at the 2025 Bitcoin Conference, Donald Trump Jr. announced that TMTG and Truth Social were forming a Bitcoin treasury with $2.5 billion. “We’re seriously on crypto—we’re seriously on Bitcoin,” said Trump Jr. “We’re in three major deals. I believe we’re at the beginning of what will be the future of finance. And the opportunity is massive.”

The day after that interview, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., joined by American Bitcoin Executive Chairman and Board Member Mike Ho, CEO Matt Prusak, and Altcoin Daily founder Aaron Arnold, discussed the future of Bitcoin.

“The whole system is broken and now all of the sudden you have crypto which solves all the problems,” commented Eric Trump. “It makes everything cheaper, it makes everything faster, it makes it safer, it makes it more transparent. It makes the whole system more functional.“

“Everybody wants Bitcoin. Everybody is buying Bitcoin,” Eric added.

This post President Trump’s Truth Social Files S-1 Form For Bitcoin ETF first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 3c7dc2c5:805642a8

🧠Quote(s) of the week:

"The real Bitcoin Strategic Reserve is the Bitcoin held in the wallets of individual citizens. A strong nation of citizens who have strong Bitcoin reserves is going to be okay." - Marty Bent https://i.ibb.co/rRNJWsJX/Gr4-W7-ZEXc-AAZ4i-U.jpg

🧡Bitcoin news🧡

"The premise required for the universe to function is the conservation of energy. A person without energy is a ghost. An object without energy is an image. Money without energy is credit." —Michael Saylor https://i.ibb.co/N61ZL8sv/Gr4-Xcwg-XQAI5m-Hz.png

On the 26th of May:

➡️'Bitcoin capital flows could exceed $120B by the end of 2025 and reach $300B in 2026, per Bitwise. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted over $36.2B in net inflows during 2024, outperforming expectations and exceeding early SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) performance by 20x.' -Bitcoin News

https://i.ibb.co/TMx3mbV6/Gr3kg-LZW8-AAj-TN3.jpg

➡️Michael Saylor's STRATEGY becomes the first company to hold over 500,000 Bitcoin on its balance sheet. Over the last 64 days, Saylor has purchased approximately 80,000 Bitcoin.

➡️River: '2-3% inflation per year sounds harmless... until you zoom out. Every line on this chart is a reason Bitcoin exists.'

https://i.ibb.co/fYPW6RRh/Gr6-LXts-Ww-AEj4no.jpg

➡️State Street Corporation has bought 1.13 million Strategy₿ $MSTR stocks for 344.78 million dollars at an average price of $304.41 per share in Q1 2025. Their total holdings are 4.98 million shares worth over 1.84 billion dollars.

On the 27th of May:

➡️Cantor Fitzgerald officially launches $2 BILLION Bitcoin-backed lending with first loans, partnering with Anchorage Digital and Copper. - Bloomberg

➡️Trump Media Announces Approximately $2.5 Billion Bitcoin Treasury Deal. Trump Media is following the MSTR playbook. With that amount, you can now buy over 22,500 BTC. TMTG would then enter the list of largest corporate Bitcoin holders in fourth place.

Pledditor: "Trump just sabotaged Cynthia Lummis's BITCOIN ACT by doing this I see no future where Trump buys billions of dollars of bitcoin and then Congress codifies SBR into law. The corruption is just too brazen." Spot on! Considering the brazen corruption so far this actually makes it more likely.

➡️'Jack Dorsey’s Block to launch Bitcoin Lightning Payments on all Square terminals!' -Bitcoin Archive

Jack Dorsey’s Block is launching Bitcoin payments on Square at the Bitcoin Conference. Merchants can choose to hold the BTC or automatically convert it to fiat. The feature will expand to more sellers later this year.

➡️Sminston With: "But yes, I'm sure this cycle has peaked."

'Bitcoin cycles @ power law fit, a la 365-day SMA At ~$110,000/coin today, the 365-dSMA is only touching the trendline; History shows each cycle moving 2-3x higher than this. Have a nice day!'

https://i.ibb.co/gMHhq3FP/Gr9rka-ZXg-AAI5-Ck.jpg

➡️Whales have shifted to net distribution with a score around 0.3, reversing their earlier accumulation pattern during this year's price rallies, according to data from Glassnode.

➡️Fast food giant Steak 'n Shake announced they're saving 50% in processing fees accepting Bitcoin payments '#Bitcoin is faster than credit cards'

➡️BlackRock increases Bitcoin exposure for their own funds. The Strategic Income Opportunities Portfolio now holds 2,123,592 shares of IBIT as of March 31 (worth $99.4M) up from 1,691,143 shares on December 31.

➡️Interesting, so Michael Saylor is refusing to publish on-chain proof of Bitcoin reserves...

If Metaplanet and El Salvador can do proof of reserves, why not Strategy? At the end of the day, it's investors' money that is being used to buy Bitcoin. What am I missing?

Arkham: 'SAYLOR SAID HE WOULD NEVER REVEAL HIS ADDRESSES ... SO WE DID We have identified an additional 70,816 BTC belonging to Strategy, bringing our total identified MSTR BTC holdings to $54.5 Billion. We are the first to identify these holdings publicly. This represents 87.5% of total MSTR holdings (including assets in Fidelity Digital’s omnibus custody).'

https://intel.arkm.com/explorer/entity/microstrategy

Don't Trust, Verify!

On the 28th of May:

➡️GameStop CEO says the company bought 4,700 #Bitcoin because it's better than gold. "It has asymmetric upside."

Parker Lewis: Gamestop bought 4,710 Bitcoin (or 471 billion bitcoins) and the CEO says things like "if the thesis is correct." That is a scary place to be, relying on some thesis. "But, we'll see what happens."

Zero vision, great. This pretty much sums up the Bitcoin conference from last week: a repetitive parroting of Bitcoin fundamentals with zero substance beyond “buy Bitcoin, it’s the future.”

Most of the time these people will do the following thing. Sell low after buying high. Anyway, Gamestop is up 4.20% in pre-market after announcing a purchase of 4,710 Bitcoin. They're now the 13th largest public company holder of BTC in the world.

➡️IMF says "efforts will continue" to prevent El Salvador from acquiring more Bitcoin.

➡️The U.S. Department of Labor has officially reversed its 2022 guidance on Bitcoin and crypto in retirement plans.

➡️ UK MP @EmmaforWycombe writes that the “UK government currently has no plans to adopt a strategic bitcoin reserve.” She believes Bitcoin’s “properties as an asset nonetheless remain inconsistent with the objectives and investment principles that govern the Government's foreign exchange reserves.” The UK government appears dead set on fumbling a bag of 61,000 BTC. HFSP! https://i.ibb.co/1tMHmqKw/Gs-C3-D54-Wc-AAdg0d.jpg

➡️Ryan Gentry: 'The biggest news at @TheBitcoinConf just dropped. @milessuter shared that the c= routing node is earning 9.7% APR on its bitcoin liquidity (which I’d estimate at ~$10M, 50% of its 184 BTC of public capacity). True non-custodial yield based on the utility of bitcoin payments.'

Great response on the matter by Sam Callahan: "Imagine a treasury company with 1,000 BTC earning ~10% annual yield. Sovereign, Bitcoin-native yield without counterparty risk that’s tied to the economic activity of Lightning instead of interest rate policy. At $1M per BTC, that’s $100M in annual recurring revenue."

9.7% REAL yield on a payment network while holding the keys to their BTC the entire time!! Madness! The constant claims that no one uses lightning are ridiculous.

On the 29th of May:

➡️ Investors are selling gold for Bitcoin - Bloomberg Gold ETF outflows: -$2.8 billion Bitcoin ETF inflows: +$9 billion.

➡️'Spanish banking giant Banco Santander looking to make Bitcoin and stablecoins available to retail clients. Santander has 175 million customers worldwide and is the BIGGEST lender in the Eurozone.' - Bitcoin Archive

➡️The U.S. Department of Labor rescinded 2022 guidance discouraging 401(k) plans from including Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, allowing retirement plans to potentially include Bitcoin and other digital assets. If just 1% of the $8 trillion in 401k funds flows into Bitcoin, that’s $80 billion of new demand, and 2x more than what’s flowed into Bitcoin ETFs.

➡️ Blockstream launches the Blockstream App, enabling users to buy Bitcoin directly and store it in a self-custodial wallet, eliminating the need for third-party custodians.

➡️$550 billion DBS bank says Bitcoin mining could help stabilize the grid and reduce emissions.

➡️Tether reveals that it owns over 100,000 Bitcoin & +50 tons of gold.

➡️Paris Saint Germain adopts Bitcoin as a Treasury Reserve asset.

➡️'The supply of BTC held by long-term holders has now increased by OVER 1.4 MILLION in under 3 months! The market's most experienced participants are refusing to sell Bitcoin at these prices, and soon there won't be enough $BTC left for those late to the party...' - Bitcoin Magazine Pro

On the 30th of May:

➡️Joe Consorti:

It was foretold. Should Bitcoin follow global M2 all the way down on this correction, we may see $97,500. May not happen, may see lower, nobody knows. The only certainty is that the global aggregate of fiat denominated in USD will rise, and so too will BTC follow it in time.

https://i.ibb.co/5gpq4c53/Gs-Pp-SWua-MAUwzj-T.jpg

➡️Buy Real Bitcoin, and NOT:

⇒ BTC Companies,

⇒ Wrapped BTC

⇒ BTC IOU's

⇒ ...

Bitcoin in self-custody is the only way you get all the benefits of BTC.

https://i.ibb.co/0pZgdQjP/Gs-ND795-Xs-AA23-Yx.jpg

And please, as Wicked described it perfectly: 'Don’t run a node for Bitcoin, run and use it for yourself. Your humble little node isn’t saving the network, but it can protect your privacy and verify that the coins you receive are legit…if you’re actually using it.'

On the 31st of May:

➡️The Texas legislature has passed the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill. It now goes to Governor Abbott who is expected to sign it into law. This is a historic moment for Bitcoin and Texas, one of the largest (8th largest) economies in the world.

➡️Bitcoin News: 'Norwegian digital asset firm K33 has raised 60 million SEK (about $5.6 million) to expand its Bitcoin treasury. The funds were secured from insiders and strategic investors, including Klein Group and Modiola AS. CEO Torbjørn Bull Jenssen said the move reflects K33’s belief in Bitcoin’s long-term role in global finance and strengthens the company’s balance sheet as it grows its presence as a leading crypto broker in Europe.'

➡️ IMF raises concern over Pakistan‘s Bitcoin mining power plans. They want everyone under their control. They can't do it with Bitcoin. They might be losing another 'customer'. The IMF sees all the debt slaves becoming financially sovereign and independent by embracing Bitcoin.

https://i.ibb.co/BV0V1c6S/Gs-Sj-NP5-WIAAZv-Fo.jpg

I have rewritten Daniel Batten's quote/post on this matter:

**

'Why Pakistan’s Bitcoin Plans May Not Survive the IMF"

**

While I’m an optimist by nature—and I truly hope I’m wrong—I believe Pakistan will struggle to follow through on its Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining ambitions.

Short Answer: The IMF

Mid-Length Explanation:

• Bitcoin poses a significant threat to the IMF’s influence—on at least five fronts.
• Pakistan is heavily indebted to the IMF, and history shows a clear pattern: the IMF has already derailed or scaled back Bitcoin initiatives in all of the three countries that attempted adoption—El Salvador, Argentina, and the Central African Republic.
• Pakistan will likely face similar pushback.
• And given Pakistan’s economic vulnerabilities, it’s equally likely that the IMF will succeed.

What the IMF’s Next Steps Might Look Like

1. Manufacturing Doubt and Delay The IMF will likely begin by generating fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) around the viability of Pakistan’s Bitcoin program. Expect references to:

2. “Energy shortages”

3. “High electricity costs”
4. “Unclear regulatory frameworks”
5. “Anti-money laundering (AML) concerns”

These will be framed as responsible concerns by a seasoned financial guardian. The IMF may also imply that Pakistan acted prematurely, noting the country did not consult the IMF before announcing its Bitcoin initiative—suggesting a lack of due diligence. However, these objections are highly debatable. Multiple peer-reviewed studies show that Bitcoin mining can improve grid stability and lower electricity costs. Moreover, examples like Bhutan and El Salvador demonstrate how Bitcoin can enhance economic sovereignty. But that’s precisely the issue: economic sovereignty reduces the IMF’s lending relevance, and that’s not in the IMF’s institutional interest.

1. Weaponizing Debt and Conditionality

Under its $7 billion Extended Fund Facility program, the IMF is likely to:

• Demand FATF-compliant crypto regulation
• Prohibit state-level Bitcoin accumulation
• Tie loan disbursements to rollbacks on Bitcoin and mining-related policies

This approach exploits Pakistan’s financial dependence on IMF loans to meet external debt obligations and maintain its foreign exchange reserves.

1. Enforcing Compliance Through Vulnerability

Pakistan’s financial position leaves little room for defiance:

• It faces $12.7 billion in debt repayments in FY 2025.
• Without IMF support, reserves could fall below $4 billion, covering less than one month of imports—far below the threshold needed for macroeconomic stability.
• A repeat of early 2023, when reserves fell to $2.92 billion, would likely trigger another balance-of-payments crisis.

This would pressure the Pakistani rupee, already having depreciated from PKR 100 to over 330 per USD since 2017, and could push the country closer to default. Given its past FATF grey-listing, Pakistan cannot afford another multilateral funding freeze.

So What Does This All Mean?

It means the gloves are off.

The IMF is no longer merely advising—it’s actively resisting. Bitcoin threatens its long-standing monopoly over financially vulnerable nations, and Pakistan is shaping up to be the fourth test case of this resistance. If the IMF pressures Pakistan into reversing course, it will mark a 4-for-4 track record in blocking Bitcoin adoption efforts by countries under its financial umbrella.

The Bigger Picture

This is how entrenched institutions behave when facing disruption. They won’t stand aside—they’ll use every tool available to defend the system they control.

If a nation wants to adopt Bitcoin, it must either:

1. Be financially independent, like Bhutan or even the United States, or
2. Secure alternative funding, so IMF leverage becomes ineffective.

Bitcoin isn’t just a financial network. It’s a threat to the debt-based global order—and that means those invested in the status quo will fight back.'

➡️'Recent analysis by market research firm Alphractal suggests that, based on its current Sharpe Ratio, a key measure of risk-adjusted returns, Bitcoin still has room to run. The metric, which compares excess returns to volatility, is trending upward but remains well below the historical levels that have marked past market tops in 2013, 2017, and 2021.' - Bitcoin News

https://i.ibb.co/r245Smsm/Gs-PZ3f-XXMAATui8.jpg

➡️Publicly-listed Brazilian fintech Méliuz to raise $78m to buy more Bitcoin, after buying $26.5m Bitcoin yesterday.

On the 1st of June:

➡️Bitcoin made its Highest Monthly Close ever last night!

➡️ Someone just donated 300 Bitcoin worth +$30m to Ross Ulbricht, founder of SilkRoad.

https://intel.arkm.com/explorer/entity/ross-ulbricht

ZakeXBT: 'Interestingly the 300 BTC appears to come from Jambler outputs (sketchy centralized mixing service) Whereas normal privacy enthusiasts use decentralized mixers (Wasabi, Samourai, etc).'

Even if he is washing his own Bitcoin, (I don't think he is that stupid) not everyone is a sheep what he does is his own business no need to attract attention to it. I really don't give a damn if he still had those funds, or if it's donations. Good for him in any case.

➡️ New Record Bitcoin Hashrate 920,000,000,000,000,000,000x per second.

https://i.ibb.co/YFSWWYfD/Gs-W829f-XAAAr-KI5.jpg

Bitcoin's global hashrate has reached a new all-time high, with data from Hashrate Index showing a 7-day simple moving average peak of 943 EH/s.

➡️Top Bitcoin holders: 1. Satoshi Nakamoto: 1.1M BTC ($114B) 2. Coinbase: 983K BTC ($103B) 3. Binance: 619K BTC ($65B) 4. BlackRock: 600K BTC ($63B) 5. Strategy: 580K BTC ($47B) 6. Fidelity: 346K BTC ($36B) 7. Grayscale: 218K BTC ($23B) 8. U.S. Government: 196K BTC ($20B)

On the 2nd of June:

➡️IG Group becomes the first UK-listed firm to offer Bitcoin trading to retail investors - Financial Times “Customer demand [for bitcoin] is reaching a tipping point,” says MD Michael Healy

➡️Tether moved 14,000 Bitcoin worth +$1.4 BILLION to Twenty-One Capital (XXI) as part of its investment.

➡️Hong Kong-based Reitar Logtech announces they will buy $1.5 billion Bitcoin for their reserves — SEC filing The logistics and real estate company says the move strengthens its financial foundation as it scales its global tech platform.

➡️Russia's largest bank Sberbank launches structured bonds tied to Bitcoin. Source

"No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come"

https://i.ibb.co/pvk8dMrM/Gsc-Vld-Ww-AACSLI.png

➡️Australian Bitcoin ETFs took in 60x more funds thant Gold ETFs in May - AFR Bitcoin = $87.3m Gold = $1.5m

💸Traditional Finance / Macro:

👉🏽No news

🏦Banks:

On the 21st of May: 👉🏽No news

🌎Macro/Geopolitics:

So last week we received the latest Google Veo 3 AI videos. Prompt Theory (Made with Veo 3). What if AI-generated characters refused to believe they were AI-generated?

People were going nuts online with statements like: "Inevitably, this is going to end up destroying life as we know it. AI growth from just two years ago to now is insane. We are dooming ourselves. I promise you, this all ends badly for humanity."

I don't think so. Yes, in some cases it will be a bad thing. But as Guy Swann said: "They said even worse about photography No it won’t end the world. You just won’t trust anything online because you see it. We know what the solution to that is already, build local communities and use cryptographic signatures online. It just makes trust a much more valuable commodity. Which is a good thing, imo."

In the end, it will be a good thing to use Bitcoin. Build again trust, and build local communities.

On the 26th of May:

👉🏽'Japan's bond market is EXPLODING: Japan's 40-year government bond yield has SKYROCKETED over the last 3 years and is trading at record highs. In 45 days, Japan's 30Y Government Bond Yield rose a MASSIVE +100 basis points, to a record 3.20%. Over $500 BILLION worth of "safe" 40Y Japanese Government Bonds have lost 20%+ in 6 weeks.

Will this trigger bank failures? Is carry trade at risk? Is the Bank of Japan going to step in? The financial system is fragile.' - Global Markets Investor

https://i.ibb.co/CKbmNDQx/Gr6-Ud-WOW8-AA3-Vj0.png

On the 27th of May:

👉🏽Michael A. Arouet: 'Many people will lose their well-paid jobs. Investment bankers, lawyers, consultants, accountants, doctors, designers, architects, and others. It will be brutal folks, buckle up.'

https://i.ibb.co/Zz0rMyM5/Gr8p6u-Xg-AA-Mp5.jpg

👉🏽38% of the U.S. debt maturity needs to be rolled over into long-term Treasuries by 2026.

https://i.ibb.co/8np5KF04/Gr6-Iupi-XYAArmx6.jpg

👉🏽'Unrealized losses on domestic bond holdings for 4 of Japan’s largest life insurers rose to a record $60 billion in Q1 2025. This is 4 TIMES more than the unrealized losses seen in Q1 2024. Nippon Life, the largest Japanese insurer and the world’s sixth-largest life insurance company posted $25 billion in paper losses, marking a +260% jump YoY. This comes as Japan’s 30-year and 40-year bonds have seen one of their most violent price declines in history. Japan’s financial system is on the edge.' -TKL

https://i.ibb.co/nqHCKFGn/Gr0-KYx-MX0-AA0-BCo.png

👉🏽 'Gold's funds posted $2.9 billion net OUTFLOW last week, the biggest since April 2013 and the 3rd-largest on record. This comes after a massive rally year-to-date. Much needed correction has finally come.' -Global Markets Investor

👉🏽Japan's bond market liquidity has currently dropped to 2008 Lehman crisis levels. Remember when troubles started in Iceland in 2007? Today we have Japan, the UK, and Switzerland in a similar spot…

On the 28th of May:

👉🏽France Running Out Of Money? Auditors Warn State Has "Lost Control" Of Welfare Spending, IMF Demands Cuts

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/france-running-out-money-auditors-warn-state-has-lost-control-welfare-spending-imf

👉🏽The US M2 money supply hits a new all-time high in April for the first in three years. Got Bitcoin?

https://i.ibb.co/GQLzsjgt/Gr-2ihc-Xg-AAy-D4-U.jpg

👉🏽McKinsey terminates 10% of staff (largest in 100 years) due to a sharp slowdown in revenue growth across the consulting market. It’s actually over for MBA consultants. McKinsey said: “Generative AI enables new levels of productivity for our teams.” Source: https://archive.ph/Q2zm8

👉🏽What a graph. The median age of first-time home buyers is spiking, now approaching 40.

https://i.ibb.co/QFdnCf9V/Gs-Cm-YUv-XAAAI0ck.jpg

Russ Greene: "When boomers are done, the median first-time home buyer will be 48, the national debt will be 60 trillion, the code of federal regulations will be a quarter million pages long, and they will not at any point have been vaguely aware of what they did to this nation."

Unfortunately, this is also happening in the Netherlands.

👉🏽'Saving becomes impossible in the Netherlands with the new draconian Box 3 regulation.

Monthly contribution: €150

Investment horizon: 40 years

Annual return: 10%

Model 1: 1.2% wealth tax per year on total assets (the old tax system) Model 2: 36% tax per year on unrealized gains

The difference between having enough saved for retirement or not…

Due to the compound interest effect, you miss out on it. Even if you never sell over those 40 years and only invest in S&P 500 ETFs, you still miss out on hundreds of thousands of euros…

No rights can be derived from these calculations. Obviously, I'm too lazy to do the math myself, so all calculations were done by AI.' - Tsartoshi

https://i.ibb.co/nsnTZV08/Gs-Cbc-CW0-AA0-Qe-I.jpg https://i.ibb.co/DD72kNsS/Gs-Cc-Fet-Wg-AA7g-W5.png

👉🏽The White House says there will be no increase in the US deficit under President Trump’s tax bill. Recent estimates have suggested the bill would increase the US deficit by $3.8 trillion.

On the 29th of May:

👉🏽Alex Recouso: 'The recent capital gains tax increase in the UK was expected to bring additional tax revenue. Instead, high-net-worth individuals and families are leaving the country, leading to a 10% fall in net capital gains tax revenue. Welcome to the Laffer curve, suckers.'

https://i.ibb.co/KjbtDNwT/Gs-Ij-Ay-Ua-UAEz-Cbm.jpg

Amazing how so many people in governments around the world don’t understand human nature. Same story in every country that tries this. Socialists are a strange species, they always repeat the same mistakes and are surprised that the results are always the same. Why are they so detached from reality? I suspect future attempts will include banning people from leaving entirely.

Another example...

👉🏽North Sea electricity grid leads to a sharp increase in energy bills. Source NOS 'The construction of infrastructure for offshore wind farms in the North Sea could lead to significantly higher energy bills for Dutch households. Over the next 15 years, a staggering €88 billion will be spent on laying cables and building platforms, according to government calculations made earlier this year. While energy companies currently receive no subsidies for building wind farms, that doesn’t mean it won’t cost us money.'

That makes sense, right?

Sun and wind are free. So the more we invest in that free energy, the more expensive energy becomes.

The climate…

The following I have asked chat GPT:

What Could €88 Billion Buy in Nuclear Energy?

Let’s take a closer look at what €88 billion could achieve if invested in nuclear power, using realistic and conservative estimates.

Average Cost of a Nuclear Power Plant

The construction of a modern nuclear power plant—such as an EPR or AP1000—typically ranges between €8 and €12 billion, depending on factors like location, scale, regulatory environment, and potential delays.

For this estimate, we'll use a conservative average of:

👉 €10 billion per plant How Many Plants for €88 Billion? Dividing the total investment by the average cost: €88 billion ÷ €10 billion = 8.8 nuclear plants

👉 This means approximately 8 to 9 large-scale nuclear power plants could be built. Electricity Output Comparison

A single 1.6 GW nuclear plant generates around 12 to 13 TWh annually. Therefore, 8 plants would produce approximately 100 TWh per year. This output would cover roughly 50% of the Netherlands’ current annual electricity consumption—and do so with a stable, low-carbon baseload supply.

Now as you might already know I am apolitical. But sjeezzzz

'How is this possible, Frans Timmerman? “You hardly need any public money to invest in renewables,” he said! Was this ignorance or deliberate misinformation? Socialist “solutions” should always come with a clear warning label:

🚨 Warning: Past socialist outcomes guarantee deep misery for the future.

Plenty of examples. Everyone is equally poor! “Climate justice.” Who comes up with this stuff?'

Sources: https://www.euronews.com/2021/11/26/you-hardly-need-any-public-money-to-invest-in-renewables-frans-timmermans

Again, I am not picking a political side, just stating the obvious... Check out the next example...

On the 30th of May:

👉🏽'It’s really time for the West to rethink its economic model, moving to a service-based economy creates security and geopolitical risks. We need to rebuild our manufacturing base.' - Michael A. Arouet Chart @econovisuals

https://i.ibb.co/QvFTQrtx/Gs-Lf-Wl5-XMAALw6t.jpg

Funny isn't it how regulatory burden distorts incentives away from manufacturing and atoms to services and bytes? We traded short-term corporate profits for long-term civilizational power. Is this the point of no return, or can the West still rebuild what it systematically dismantled?

👉🏽The European dream. Work 40 hours per week and get taxed close to 50%, if not more, to fund a bloated government and mass immigration. And because it's so much fun, you get to do it until you're 70. https://i.ibb.co/YF0HZzMs/Gs-Mm-Ti-HWUAAf-IRb.png

👉🏽Argentina's economy expands 8% year-over-year in april according to EMAE

👉🏽TKL: 'The US government's default risk is rising: 1-year US credit default swaps (CDS) have risen to 52 basis points, near the highest since 2023.

Excluding the 2023 debt ceiling crisis, the cost of insurance against the US government's default is at its highest in 12 years. Furthermore, the outstanding volume of credit default swaps has risen by ~$1 billion this year, to $3.9 billion, the second-highest since 2014. This comes as investors are increasingly concerned about the US government's rising deficit.

The US reached its statutory borrowing limit in January and employed “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default. The debt ceiling crisis has never truly been resolved.'

On the 31st of May:

👉🏽'Global debt just hit $324 TRILLION. That’s 3x the size of the world’s entire economy. This isn’t just a number, it’s a ticking time bomb.' - Stockmarket News

Why Bitcoin, well this:

https://i.ibb.co/MkT77MDD/Gs-TWuir-WQAAr3-Q6.jpg

👉🏽Japanese Stocks just saw a weekly outflow of almost $12 Billion, the largest in history.

On the 2nd of June:

👉🏽JEROME POWELL: "The end of the Breton-Woods era fundamentally changed monetary policy" He just told you "WTF Happened in 1971?".

The end of the Bretton Woods system in 1971, as Jerome Powell noted, shifted global monetary policy from fixed exchange rates, where currencies were pegged to the U.S. dollar (tied to gold at $35/ounce), to floating rates driven by market forces. This gave central banks like the Federal Reserve more flexibility to manage domestic issues like inflation and jobs but made global economic ties more complex. The collapse happened due to U.S. dollar surpluses from spending on the Vietnam War and trade deficits, leading to gold reserve losses as countries like France swapped dollars for gold. Nixon ended dollar-gold convertibility to protect reserves. This shift caused trends like higher inflation and inequality, often linked to "WTF Happened in 1971?" debates.

Here is the video: https://x.com/RadarHits/status/1929611410100937125

Meanwhile...

👉🏽The US will never default on its debt, says Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "We are on the warning track and we will never hit the wall."

👉🏽Gold prices surge above $3400/oz as markets react to rising geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

👉🏽Sminston With: "Nothing stops this (already completely derailed) train. - - - If you haven't seen this, you should: the correlation between M2 money supply and US total debt (USD). In the early COVID-19 days, the money supply was way ahead of debt, and now the debt is way ahead of the money supply. Can you say "mean reversion?".

https://i.ibb.co/zHN91wsR/Gsaw-Hy-Zag-AAo-HHV.jpg

🎁If you have made it this far, I would like to give you a little gift:

Lysander: "Lyn Alden gave one of the clearest breakdowns of why the U.S. is on an unstoppable fiscal path—and why Bitcoin matters more than ever because of it.

Lyn Alden walks through the numbers behind the federal deficit, interest expenses, Social Security, and the structural changes that happened post-2008. The short version? We’re in a new era. One where the government can’t slow down even if it wants to.

The debt is compounding. The interest expense is rising. The trust funds are running dry. And the political will to do anything about it doesn’t exist.

Her phrase: “Nothing stops this train.” Not because of ideology, but because of math—and human nature.

This isn’t hyperinflation doom-talk. It’s a sober look at what happens when a system built on ever-growing debt reaches its limits—and why Bitcoin, with its fixed supply and transparent rules, is the opposite of that system.

Highly recommend watching this one all the way through."

https://x.com/UnderCoercion/status/1928280669764931860

Credit: I have used multiple sources!

My savings account: Bitcoin The tool I recommend for setting up a Bitcoin savings plan: PocketBitcoin especially suited for beginners or people who want to invest in Bitcoin with an automated investment plan once a week or monthly.

Use the code SE3997

Get your Bitcoin out of exchanges. Save them on a hardware wallet, run your own node...be your own bank. Not your keys, not your coins. It's that simple. ⠀ ⠀

⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀

Do you think this post is helpful to you?

If so, please share it and support my work with a zap.

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⭐ Many thanks⭐

Felipe - Bitcoin Friday!

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@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

News

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

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

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

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

Use the tools

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

Source: Aqua wallet.

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

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

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

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

@ 97c70a44:ad98e322

Vibe coding is taking the nostr developer community by storm. While it's all very exciting and interesting, I think it's important to pump the brakes a little - not in order to stop the vehicle, but to try to keep us from flying off the road as we approach this curve.

In this note Pablo is subtweeting something I said to him recently (although I'm sure he's heard it from other quarters as well):

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzp75cf0tahv5z7plpdeaws7ex52nmnwgtwfr2g3m37r844evqrr6jqy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qghwaehxw309aex2mrp0yh8qunfd4skctnwv46z7qg6waehxw309ac8junpd45kgtnxd9shg6npvchxxmmd9uqzq0z48d4ttzzkupswnkyt5a2xfkhxl3hyavnxjujwn5k2k529aearwtecp4

There is a naive, curmudgeonly case for simply "not doing AI". I think the intuition is a good one, but the subject is obviously more complicated - not doing it, either on an individual or a collective level, is just not an option. I recently read Tools for Conviviality by Ivan Illich, which I think can help us here. For Illich, the best kind of tool is one which serves "politically interrelated individuals rather than managers".

This is obviously a core value for bitcoiners. And I think the talks given at the Oslo Freedom Forum this year present a compelling case for adoption of LLMs for the purposes of 1. using them for good, and 2. developing them further so that they don't get captured by corporations and governments. Illich calls both the telephone and print "almost ideally convivial". I would add the internet, cryptography, and LLMs to this list, because each one allows individuals to work cooperatively within communities to embody their values in their work.

But this is only half the story. Illich also points out how "the manipulative nature of institutions... have put these ideally convivial tools at the service of more [managerial dominance]."

Preventing the subversion and capture of our tools is not just a matter of who uses what, and for which ends. It also requires an awareness of the environment that the use of the tool (whether for virtuous or vicious ends) creates, which in turn forms the abilities, values, and desires of those who inhabit the environment.

The natural tendency of LLMs is to foster ignorance, dependence, and detachment from reality. This is not the fault of the tool itself, but that of humans' tendency to trade liberty for convenience. Nevertheless, the inherent values of a given tool naturally gives rise to an environment through use: the tool changes the world that the tool user lives in. This in turn indoctrinates the user into the internal logic of the tool, shaping their thinking, blinding them to the tool's influence, and neutering their ability to work in ways not endorsed by the structure of the tool-defined environment.

The result of this is that people are formed by their tools, becoming their slaves. We often talk about LLM misalignment, but the same is true of humans. Unreflective use of a tool creates people who are misaligned with their own interests. This is what I mean when I say that AI use is anti-human. I mean it in the same way that all unreflective tool use is anti-human. See Wendell Berry for an evaluation of industrial agriculture along the same lines.

What I'm not claiming is that a minority of high agency individuals can't use the technology for virtuous ends. In fact, I think that is an essential part of the solution. Tool use can be good. But tools that bring their users into dependence on complex industry and catechize their users into a particular system should be approached with extra caution. The plow was a convivial tool, and so were early tractors. Self-driving John Deere monstrosities are a straightforward extension of the earlier form of the technology, but are self-evidently an instrument of debt slavery, chemical dependency, industrial centralization, and degradation of the land. This over-extension of a given tool can occur regardless of the intentions of the user. As Illich says:

There is a form of malfunction in which growth does not yet tend toward the destruction of life, yet renders a tool antagonistic to its specific aims. Tools, in other words, have an optimal, a tolerable, and a negative range.

The initial form of a tool is almost always beneficial, because tools are made by humans for human ends. But as the scale of the tool grows, its logic gets more widely and forcibly applied. The solution to the anti-human tendencies of any technology is an understanding of scale. To prevent the overrun of the internal logic of a given tool and its creation of an environment hostile to human flourishing, we need to impose limits on scale.

Tools that require time periods or spaces or energies much beyond the order of corresponding natural scales are dysfunctional.

My problem with LLMs is:

• Not their imitation of human idioms, but their subversion of them and the resulting adoption of robotic idioms by humans
• Not the access they grant to information, but their ability to obscure accurate or relevant information
• Not their elimination of menial work, but its increase (Bullshit Jobs)
• Not their ability to take away jobs, but their ability to take away the meaning found in good work
• Not their ability to confer power to the user, but their ability to confer power to their owner which can be used to exploit the user
• Not their ability to solve problems mechanistically, but the extension of their mechanistic value system to human life
• Not their explicit promise of productivity, but the environment they implicitly create in which productivity depends on their use
• Not the conversations they are able to participate in, but the relationships they displace

All of these dysfunctions come from the over-application of the technology in evaluating and executing the fundamentally human task of living. AI work is the same kind of thing as an AI girlfriend, because work is not only for the creation of value (although that's an essential part of it), but also for the exercise of human agency in the world. In other words, tools must be tools, not masters. This is a problem of scale - when tool use is extended beyond its appropriate domain, it becomes what Illich calls a "radical monopoly" (the domination of a single paradigm over all of human life).

So the important question when dealing with any emergent technology becomes: how can we set limits such that the use of the technology is naturally confined to its appropriate scale?

Here are some considerations:

• Teach people how to use the technology well (e.g. cite sources when doing research, use context files instead of fighting the prompt, know when to ask questions rather than generate code)
• Create and use open source and self-hosted models and tools (MCP, stacks, tenex). Refuse to pay for closed or third-party hosted models and tools.
• Recognize the dependencies of the tool itself, for example GPU availability, and diversify the industrial sources to reduce fragility and dependence.
• Create models with built-in limits. The big companies have attempted this (resulting in Japanese Vikings), but the best-case effect is a top-down imposition of corporate values onto individuals. But the idea isn't inherently bad - a coding model that refuses to generate code in response to vague prompts, or which asks clarifying questions is an example. Or a home assistant that recognized childrens' voices and refuses to interact.
• Divert the productivity gains to human enrichment. Without mundane work to do, novice lawyers, coders, and accountants don't have an opportunity to hone their skills. But their learning could be subsidized by the bots in order to bring them up to a level that continues to be useful.
• Don't become a slave to the bots. Know when not to use it. Talk to real people. Write real code, poetry, novels, scripts. Do your own research. Learn by experience. Make your own stuff. Take a break from reviewing code to write some. Be independent, impossible to control. Don't underestimate the value to your soul of good work.
• Resist both monopoly and "radical monopoly". Both naturally collapse over time, but by cultivating an appreciation of the goodness of hand-crafted goods, non-synthetic entertainment, embodied relationship, and a balance between mobility and place, we can relegate new, threatening technologies to their correct role in society.

I think in all of this is implicit the idea of technological determinism, that productivity is power, and if you don't adapt you die. I reject this as an artifact of darwinism and materialism. The world is far more complex and full of grace than we think.

The idea that productivity creates wealth is, as we all know, bunk. GDP continues to go up, but ungrounded metrics don't reflect anything about the reality of human flourishing. We have to return to a qualitative understanding of life as whole, and contextualize quantitative tools and metrics within that framework.

Finally, don't believe the hype. Even if AI delivers everything it promises, conservatism in changing our ways of life will decelerate the rate of change society is subjected to and allow time for reflection and proper use of the tool. Curmudgeons are as valuable as technologists. There will be no jobspocalypse if there is sufficient political will to value human good over mere productivity. It's ok to pump the breaks.

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install Food You (it's free and open source)
2. Launch the app and tap the ⚙️ icon
3. Tap Meals and set up your meal schedule (these items will appear on the main screen)
4. Go back and then tap Calorie Goal to configure your daily intake goal
5. Return to the main screen
6. Now you can tap + on a card (e.g. Breakfast) to add a meal
7. Tap + and select Product
8. You can now fill in the details manually
   • Or tap Download Product, paste the URL of the product from OpenFoodFacts (e.g. https://world.openfoodfacts.org/product/6111242101180/lait-entier-uht-jaouda), and then tap Download
9. Tap Create
10. You can now adjust intake details like servings
11. Tap Save
12. Add more products and recipes and start tracking your nutrition!

ℹ️ Once you have created enough products, you can tap + on a meal card on the main screen, then tap + and select Recipe to create recipes from products

ℹ️ Internet connection is only used to optionally fetch product details via URLs; otherwise, the app works completely offline

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• This release introduces Payjoin v2 functionality to Bitcoin wallets on Cake, along with several UI/UX improvements and bug fixes.
• The Payjoin v2 protocol enables asynchronous, serverless coordination between sender and receiver, removing the need to be online simultaneously or maintain a server. This simplifies privacy-focused transactions for regular users.

"I cannot speak highly enough of how amazing it has been to work with @bitgould and Jaad from the@payjoindevkit team, they're doing incredible work. None of this would be possible without them and their tireless efforts. PDK made it so much easier to ship Payjoin v2 than it would have been otherwise, and I can't wait to see other wallets jump in and give back to PDK as they implement it like we did," said Seth For Privacy, VP at Cake Wallet.

How to started with Payjoin in Cake Wallet:

1. Open the app menu sidebar and click Privacy.
2. Toggle the Use Payjoin option.
3. Now on your receive screen you'll see an option to copy a Payjoin URL

• Bull Bitcoin Wallet v0.4.0 introduced Payjoin v2 support in late December 2024. However, the current implementations are not interoperable at the moment, an issue that should be addressed in the next release of the Bull Bitcoin Wallet.

• Cake Wallet was one of the first wallets to introduce Silent Payments back in May 2024. However, users may encounter sync issues while using this feature at present, which will be resolved in the next release of Cake Wallet.

What's new

• Payjoin v2 implementation.
• Wallet group improvements: Enhanced management of multiple wallets.
• Various bug fixes: improving overall stability and user experience.
• Monero (XMR) enhancements.

Learn more about using, implementing, and understanding BIP 77: Payjoin Version 2 using the payjoin crate in Payjoin Dev Kit here.

Announcement
Blog Post / Archive
GitHub Repo

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Key Takeaways

In this episode of TFTC, energy economist Anas Alhajji outlines a profound shift in U.S. foreign policy under Trump—away from military intervention and toward transactional diplomacy focused on trade, reconstruction, and curbing Chinese and Russian influence in the Middle East. He highlights Trump’s quiet outreach to Syria as emblematic of the U.S.'s strategic flexibility in legitimizing former adversaries when economically beneficial. Alhajji dismisses BRICS as a fractured bloc incapable of rivaling the U.S.-led order and insists the dollar and petrodollar remain dominant. On energy, he warns that despite favorable fundamentals, prices are suppressed by political confusion, underinvestment, and an aging power grid ill-prepared for the AI and urbanization boom. He also contends that Iran is stalling negotiations to buy time for nuclear advancement and that any deal will be superficial. Finally, Alhajji debunks the myth of Trump being pro-oil, noting his long-standing hostility toward the industry and explaining why a repeat of his past energy boom is implausible given today’s financial and structural constraints.

Best Quotes

• “BRICS is a paper tiger. Everything about BRICS is what China does—and that’s it.”
• “The dollar is here to stay. The petrodollar is here to stay. End of story.”
• “Trump hates the oil industry. He always classified it as an enemy.”
• “Energy projects are 30- to 40-year investments, but politicians think in 4-year cycles. That’s where the disconnect lies.”
• “People think shale will boom again. It won’t. The model changed from ‘drill baby drill’ to ‘control baby control.’”
• “The real story of Trump’s trip wasn’t about politics—it was investment, investment, investment.”
• “Without massive investment in the grid and gas turbines, blackouts will become the norm—even in rich countries like Kuwait.”
• “Iran and China have perfected the game of oil exports. Sanctions are just theater at this point.”

Conclusion

Anas Alhajji’s conclusion challenges conventional narratives, arguing that global power is shifting from military dominance to economic leverage, infrastructure investment, and energy control. He presents a nuanced view of U.S. foreign policy under Trump, emphasizing the strategic importance of trade and reconstruction over regime change. As energy demand soars and geopolitical risks mount, Alhajji warns that the real dangers lie not in foreign adversaries, but in policy confusion, infrastructural lag, and complacency—making this episode a crucial listen for anyone seeking to understand the high-stakes intersection of energy, economics, and diplomacy.

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro
0:48 - Syria and US diplomacy in Middle East
12:50 - Trump in the Middle East
18:12 - Fold & Bitkey
19:48 - Iran - Nuclear program and PR
33:53 - Unchained
34:22 - Crude markets, trade war and US debt
54:28 - Trump's energy stance
1:05:46 - Energy sector challanges
1:14:44 - Policy recommendations
1:21:18 - AI and bitcoin

Transcript

(00:00) oil prices market fundamentals support higher price than where we are today. But because of this confusion, everyone is scared of low economic growth and that is a serious problem. The US media ignored part of Trump's speech when he said we are not about nation building and they refer to Afghanistan and Iraq.
(00:15) Look at them. This is a criticism of George W. Bush. We have groups that are talking about the demise of the dollar, the rise of bricks. Bricks is a paper tiger. Everything about bricks is what China does and that's it. The dollar is here to stay and the petro dollar is here to stay.
(00:31) The perception is that the Trump administration is cold but the reality Trump hates the oil [Music] indust. How are you? Very good. Very good. Thank you. As you were telling me, you've been a bit sleepd deprived this week trying to keep up with what's going on. Oh, absolutely. I mean, Trump keeps us on our toes uh all the time.
(01:06) In fact, I plan certain things for the weekend and Trump will say something or he will do something and all of a sudden we get busy again. Uh so clients are not going to wait for you until you finish your work. Basically, they want to know what's going on. So what is going on? What what how profound were the events in the Middle East? These are very uh very profound changes basically because it is very clear that if you look at the last 15 years uh and you look at the growth uh in the Middle East, you look at the growth of Saudi Arabia and uh the
(01:41) role of Turkey for example in the region uh it just just amazing be beyond any uh any thoughts. Uh in fact both of them Turkey and Saudi Arabia are part of the G20. Uh so they have economic influence and they have political influence. And of course the icing on the cake for those who are familiar with the region is to recognize the Syrian government and meet with the Syrian uh president.
(02:11) Uh this is a major a major change in economics and politics uh of the Middle East. Let's touch on that Syria uh topic for a while because I think a lot of people here in the United States were a bit shocked at how sort of welcoming President Trump was towards the new Syrian president considering the fact that uh he was considered an enemy not too long ago here in the United States.
(02:42) What first of all it's a fact of life for those who would like to check the history of politics. There were many people around the world who were classified or they were on the terrorism list and then they became friends of the United States or they were became heroes. I mean Nelson Mandela is one of them. You look at Latin America, there are presidents in Latin America who were uh the enemy of the United States and then they became uh uh cooperative with the United States and the United States recognized their governments and the result of their uh elections. Uh so
(03:15) we've seen this historically uh several uh several times around the world and as they say freedom fighters for some basically are the enemies and the terrorists for for others etc. So uh what we've seen that's why the the visit is very important that the recognition of this government is very important. uh the fact on the ground that uh the president of Syria had the power on the ground uh he had the the the people on the ground and he had the control on the ground and whatever he's been he's been doing since he came into power until now
(03:52) he done all the right steps u and people loved him I mean everyone who went to Syria whether the Syrians who left Syria 40 years ago or uh the visitors who are coming to Syria, they will tell you, "We have never seen the Syrian people as happy as we've seen them today, despite the fact that they they live in misery.
(04:17) They don't have um 8 million people without housing. Uh there is barely any electricity in most of the country. There is no internet. There is barely any food. The uh inflation is rampant, etc. But people are happy because they lived in fear for a very long time. And uh the steps they have taken. For example, the uh ministers in the previous government uh are still there and they are still in the housing of the government.
(04:49) They still have the drivers. They still have the cars from the previous government. They still have it until today. So uh they they were classified as enemies before. But all of a sudden now you have a new government that is uh accepting them. Uh so we we see some changes on the ground that are positive and we'll see how these things will go given that the area around them basically has been unstable for a very long time.
(05:17) how because I don't the the news when I was actually it was surreal for me because my first trip to the Middle East was last December when it was literally f flying over Syria to Abu Dhabi when uh um Assad was getting thrown out and it was pretty surreal to be in that region of the world.
(05:43) How as it pertains to like religious minorities within Syria moving forward is there protractions protections there? Um well let me just uh I want to emphasize one point that is very important. What did the interest of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States in Syria if remember Syria was controlled by Iran and was controlled by the Russians.
(06:09) So in a sense it becomes uh kind of an imperative that taking it away from Iran and Russia and not bringing Iran or Russia back is extremely important. Now the Russians are still there and they have their own base but at least they are not bombing the Syrians and not killing them anymore. But the idea here is taking Syria out of Iran and Russia and probably later on if they kick the Russians out, Russians will not have access to the Mediterranean.
(06:37) Uh so there is an interest uh of all parties basically to take Russia out of Iran and um out of uh Syria regardless the country is uh devastated and it creates massive opportunities for US companies on all levels and uh we've seen a contract uh done recently with you mentioned Abu Dhabi uh uh a contract uh uh with the UA a basically to revamp all the Syrian ports and work on the Syrian ports.
(07:13) Uh so such contracts basically uh when you have a country that has nothing and it's completely devastated the whole infrastructure is devastated. Who is going to build it? If the uh what the Chinese, the Russians, so who who are going to build it? So, uh I think there is a a big room for US companies and others basically to come in and uh literally help on one side and make money on the other.
(07:38) Yeah, I think that that's what I'm trying to discern. What was this convoy from the United States to the Middle East this week signali