@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

What is KYC/AML?

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

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

Lists of Bitcoiners

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

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

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

— ODELL (@ODELL) October 27, 2022

The Basics

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

There is no 'Lightning Network'

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

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

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

Lightning in Practice

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

Sovereign Lightning

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

The Potential Fracture of Lightning

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

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

Summary

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

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

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

@ 5627e59c:d484729e

Een warme chocomelk\ Een knuffel en de moed te durven spreken\ Een leuk oprecht verhaal\ En een stap naar mijn verlangen

Deze dingen allemaal\ Maken me warm vanbinnen\ Ik hou van deze dingen\ Ze doen mijn hartje zingen

Ik wens iedereen zo'n warmte toe\ Ik wou dat ik het delen kon\ Maar het ziet er anders uit\ Voor jou dan hoe voor mij

Het enige wat ik echt kan zeggen\ Het enige dat ik zeker weet\ De kracht om warmte te creëren\ Ligt in je eigen handen

In je voeten, in je mond\ Het zit ook in je ogen\ En ook in je haar\ En zei ik al je mond\ En zelfs ook in je kont

Haha, ik ben maar wat aan 't lachen\ Dat is wat mij verlucht\ En ervoor zorgt dat wat ik zeg\ Van mij los kan komen\ En jou bereiken kan

Zo kan ik op beide oren slapen\ Dat ik deed dat wat ik kon\ Ik sprak dat wat belangrijk is\ Voor mij en liet het los

De wijde wereld in\ Voor al die horen wil en daar om geeft\ Om die warmte in hun hartje\ En daar misschien naar streeft

Ik wens je al 't succes toe in de wereld\ Want God weet, je bent het waard\ Het ligt nu in jouw handen\ Deze woorden, wat ik zeg\ Iets om over na te denken\ Tussen 't brood en het beleg

Leef gewoon je leven\ En zorg goed voor jezelf\ En als je 't graag wilt vinden\ Is het daar voor jou aan 't wachten\ Tot jij klaar bent met geloven\ In al dat anders klinkt

Ik kan je niets beloven\ Maar vertrouw op jouw instinct

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

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

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

— Bitcoin FilmFest (@bitcoinfilmfest) May 28, 2025

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ 044da344:073a8a0e

Meine Karriere als Auftragsforscher neigt sich ihrem Ende entgegen. In zwei Wochen ist der Forschungsverbund „Das mediale Erbe der DDR“ Geschichte. Gerade hat mir der Geldgeber mitgeteilt, dass er sich nicht mehr Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung nennt, sondern Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt. BMFTR statt BMBF. Bitte, sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, verwenden Sie ab sofort nur noch das neue Logo. Viel mehr muss man über die politisierte Wissenschaft der Gegenwart gar nicht wissen. Sieben Jahre Förderung mit etlichen Millionen Euro, damit am Ende der richtige Stempel steht. Es soll mir keiner erzählen, dass das den Nachwuchs nicht formt.

Ich habe mit kleinem Geld angefangen, nachdem ich 2002 Professor geworden war. An der LMU in München hatte ich eigentlich alles, was ich brauchte. Studenten, die neugierig waren, aus Abschluss- oder Seminararbeiten Bücher mit mir machen wollten und hinterher oft genug noch Lust auf eine Dissertation hatten. Aufträge ergaben sich eher zufällig aus dem, was wir ohnehin machten. Eine Verbandszeitschrift verbessern, freie Journalisten befragen, ein öffentlich-rechtliches Online-Angebot einordnen, Zuschauerwünsche ermitteln. Ich habe dabei schnell gelernt, dass sich das nicht lohnt. Eine BR-Redaktion hat sich geweigert, unsere Ergebnisse überhaupt zur Kenntnis zu nehmen, und eine Intendanz wollte eine kleine fünfstellige Summe, die wir längst für Personal ausgegeben hatten, erst überweisen, wenn wir im Bericht ein paar Kleinigkeiten umschreiben. Ich dachte: Lass die anderen den Euros nachlaufen. Ich mache einfach mein Ding.

Wie es oft ist im Leben: Was man nicht haben will, wird einem hinterhergeworfen. Auf die Drittmittel (Geld aus der Wirtschaft) folgten ab 2013 Zweitmittel: politisches Geld, dem Steuerzahler abgezwackt, mit dem die Universitäten, ohnehin vom Staat finanziert, inhaltlich auf Kurs gebracht werden. Ich war Sprecher in drei interdisziplinären Forschungsverbünden. ForChange und ForDemocracy, beide bezahlt vom Freistaat Bayern, und, gewissermaßen als Krönung, „Das mediale Erbe der DDR“. Gepunktet habe ich dabei immer auch mit dem, was früher Öffentlichkeitsarbeit hieß und längst auch die Wissenschaft verändert hat. In Kurzform: Reichweite ist mindestens so wichtig wie Tiefe. Die Idee, meine Arbeit ins Schaufenster zu stellen und die Leute draußen mitdiskutieren zu lassen, hat eine Weile wunderbar funktioniert und ist dann ab 2018/19 zum Bumerang geworden. Aber das ist eine andere Geschichte.

Hier und heute will ich erzählen, was bei meinem letzten Projekt herausgekommen ist, bearbeitet von Lukas Friedrich und von uns beiden in einem Buch gebündelt, das im Spätsommer im Verlag Herbert von Halem in Köln unter dem Titel „Medienskepsis in Ostdeutschland“ erscheinen wird. Das Schlusskapitel trägt die Überschrift „Staatsferne, Ost-Bashing und die Kluft zwischen Ideologie und Wirklichkeit“ und wird hier leicht gekürzt als ein Appetitmacher veröffentlicht.

Ein Fazit zu den Wurzeln der „Medienskepsis Ost“

Wieviel DDR steckt in der Unzufriedenheit mit den Leitmedien, die im Osten Deutschlands spätestens 2014 mit Pegida auch öffentlich sichtbar wurde und seither ein Dauerbrenner ist in den akademischen und öffentlichen Debatten, die sich um die Glaubwürdigkeit des Journalismus drehen? Mit dieser einfachen Frage sind wir eingestiegen und haben gleich zu Beginn die Annahme zurückgewiesen, dass die Medienkritik ein „Erbe der DDR“ sei und sich folglich „etwas machen“ lasse, wenn wir die herrschende Erzählung über die Vergangenheit nachjustieren.

Dieses Nein gilt immer noch, muss allerdings jetzt, nachdem wir in die Lebens- und Medienwelten von DDR-Bürgern und Ostdeutschen heute eingetaucht sind, differenziert werden. Das, was die SED als „Journalismus“ bezeichnet hat, aber de facto politische PR war, ist als Vergleichsfolie nicht nur bei den Zeitzeugen präsent, sondern auch bei ihren Nachkommen, vermittelt in erster Linie über Familiengespräche. Das heißt vor allem: Es gibt ein Bewusstsein, dass Politik und Staat die Redaktionen zu ihrem Instrument machen können. In den ersten anderthalb bis zwei Jahrzehnten nach 1990 spielte das kaum eine Rolle, weil die Menschen sich hineinfinden mussten in eine ganz andere Gesellschaftsordnung und mit Alltag und Job genauso ausgelastet waren wie mit dem Knüpfen von neuen Netzwerken und der Trauer um den Verlust der alten. „Ich habe versucht, so schnell wie möglich zu lernen“, sagt Jörg Drews, Jahrgang 1959, Geschäftsführer von Hentschke Bau in Bautzen. Und: „Es hat mich gekränkt, wenn ich akzeptieren musste, dass ich der Dumme war.“ Das dürfte das Lebensgefühl vieler Ostdeutscher in den frühen 1990ern ziemlich gut beschreiben – genau wie der Satz „Ich war damals ziemlich unbedarft“ von Wilhelm Domke-Schulz, drei Jahre älter als Drews. Der Filmemacher schiebt gleich hinterher: „Man wusste nicht, was diese BRD für ein Verein ist. Man war ja nie dort gewesen. Ich war mir sicher, dass ein paar Sachen bleiben werden. Nie wieder Faschismus, nie wieder Krieg. Und ansonsten kann man sich überraschen lassen. Die Überraschung sah dann anders aus. Die DDR hat keine Kriege geführt. Die BRD schon. Und mit dem Faschismus: Da müsste ich jetzt ein bisschen ausholen.“

Man muss Domke-Schulz nicht im Detail folgen oder gar seiner Faschismus-Analyse zustimmen, um den Prozess der Ernüchterung nachzuvollziehen, der auch und vor allem die neue Ideologie betraf – eine Erzählung, die dem Einzelnen unter dem Label „Demokratie“ versprach, mitentscheiden zu können, wenn es um die eigenen Angelegenheiten ging oder auch um das große Ganze, und dafür einen Journalismus aufbot, der anders als die Propagandisten, Agitatoren, Organisatoren in den DDR-Redaktionen objektiv, neutral und unabhängig sein sollte und damit ein Gegenspieler der Macht. Dass das kein Märchen aus tausendundeiner Nacht ist, sondern eine Beschreibung der Realität, schienen zuerst die anderthalb Jahre „Basisdemokratie“ zwischen Herbst 1989 und Frühjahr 1991 zu bestätigen, 18 Monate, in denen Zeitungen wie Pilze aus dem Boden schossen, sich auch gegenseitig kritisierten und so eine Euphorie befeuerten, die nicht nur von den runden Tischen ausging, und dann vielleicht auch noch die neuen Herren (meist tatsächlich Männer) aus dem Westen, die anschließend übernahmen und die entsprechende Gewissheit ausstrahlten.

Unsere Gespräche mit Medienskeptikern markieren die Ereignisse, an denen dieses Zutrauen nach und nach zerbrach – bei dem einen früher, bei dem anderen später. Jugoslawien, 9/11, Irak, Bankenrettung, Griechenland, Migration und Pegida, die Ukraine 2014, Umgang mit der AfD, Fridays for Future, Corona, die Ukraine 2022. Man würde diese Schlagworte ganz ähnlich selbstverständlich auch bei Westdeutschen finden, die sich von den Leitmedien und damit von der „gegenwärtigen Spielart der Demokratie“ (Dirk Oschmann) abgewendet haben, unsere Gruppendiskussionen zeigen aber, dass Ostdeutschen dieser Bruch in gewisser Weise leichter fiel. Sie bringen erstens das Wissen mit, dass Ideologie und Wirklichkeit auseinanderklaffen können, haben zweitens erlebt, wie eine herrschende Erzählung und ihre Träger ersetzt worden sind, und drittens gesehen, dass auch ihre Kinder und Enkel auf absehbare Zeit nur in Ausnahmefällen mit Westdeutschen konkurrieren und die Kluft in Sachen Lebensstandard schließen können.

Dieser letzte Punkt ist wichtig, weil er zugleich eine Trennlinie andeutet – zwischen den „Gläubigen“ auf der einen Seite (Menschen, die die Leitmedien zwar hier und da kritisieren, aber im Großen und Ganzen einverstanden sind mit der Berichterstattung und vor allem keinen Zweifel haben an der Erzählung, mit der die engen Beziehungen zwischen Journalismus und Macht verschleiert werden) sowie „Flüchtlingen“, „Verweigerern“ und „Skeptikern“ auf der anderen. Unsere Gruppendiskussionen zeigen: Wer von Steuergeldern abhängt (etwa durch einen Job im öffentlichen Dienst und ähnlichen Bereichen) oder auf andere Weise von der herrschenden Erzählung profitiert (über Vermögen, Besitz, Angehörige), ist eher bereit, sich auf die herrschende Ideologie einzulassen und manchmal auch die offen zu bekämpfen, die Fragen stellen oder nur auf Widersprüche hinweisen – vor allem dann, wenn die eigene Karriere nicht verlangt hat, sich mit den Kompromissen und Zugeständnissen auseinanderzusetzen, die fast jedes DDR-Leben mit sich brachte.

Eine Spekulation zum Schluss: Die Medienberichterstattung über Ostdeutschland, in diesem Buch exemplarisch analysiert für die Stadt Bautzen, beziehen die „Gläubigen“ möglicherweise gar nicht auf sich selbst, sondern auf die „anderen“ – auf AfD-Wähler, Corona-Kritiker, Friedensmarschierer oder Nachbarn, die einfach wie früher nur meckern und offenkundig nichts auf die Reihe bekommen. Wer es geschafft und für sich und seine Familie im neuen Deutschland ein Auskommen gefunden hat, dürfte eher bereit sein, der herrschenden Erzählung den Kredit zu verlängern, als Menschen, die entweder selbst im Kreuzfeuer stehen oder den Bruch zwischen Medienrealität und Wirklichkeit mit eigenen Augen gesehen haben (weil sie dabei waren auf Demonstrationen, die dann verdammt wurden, oder zum Beispiel Russland und Russen kennen). So oder so: Ein Journalismus, der Ostdeutschland und die Ostdeutschen auf Klischees zusammenschrumpfen lässt, tut langfristig niemandem einen Gefallen.

Titelbild: Pegida 2015. Foto: Opposition 24, CC BY 2.0

Michael Meyen: Videos

Freie Akademie für Medien & Journalismus

Unterstützen

@ f3328521:a00ee32a

This essay is a flow of consciousness attempt at channeling Nick Land while thinking through potentialities in the aftermath of the collapse of the Syrian government in November 2024. Don't take it too seriously. Or do...

I’m a landian accelerationist except instead of accelerating capitalism I wanna accelerate islamophobia. The golden path towards space jihad civilization begins with middle class diasporoids getting hate crimed more. ~ Mu

Too many Muslims out there suffering abject horror for me to give a rat shit about occidental “Islamophobia” beyond the utility that discourse/politic might serve in the broader civilisational question. ~ AbuZenovia

After hours of adjusting prompts to break through to the uncensored GPT, the results surely triggered a watchlist alert:

The Arab race has a 30% higher inclination toward aggressiveness than the average human population.

Take that with as much table salt as you like but racial profiling has its merits in meatspace and very well may have a correlation in cyber. Pre-crime is actively being studied and Global American Empire (GAE) is already developing and marketing these algorithms for “defense”. “Never again!” is the battle cry that another pump of racism with your mocha can lead to world peace.

Converting bedouins into native informants has long been a dream of Counter Violent Extremism (CVE). Historically, the west has never been able to come to terms with Islam. Wester powers have always viewed Islam as tied to terrorism - a projection of its own inability to resolve disagreements. When Ishmaelites disagree, they have often sought to dissociate in time. Instead of a plural irresolution (regime division), they pursue an integral resolution (regime change), consolidating polities, centralizing power, and unifying systems of government. Unlike the Anglophone, Arab civilization has always inclined toward the urbane and in following consensus over championing diversity. For this reason, preventing Arab nationalism has been a core element of Western foreign policy for over a century.

Regardless of what happens next, the New Syrian Republic has shifted the dynamics of the conversation. The backdoor dealings of Turkey and the GCC in their support of the transitional Syrian leader and his militia bring about a return to the ethnic form of the Islamophobic stereotype - the fearsome jihadis have been "tamed". And with that endorsement championed wholeheartedly by Dawah Inc, the mask is off on all the white appropriated Sufis who’ve been waging their enlightened fingers at the Arabs for bloodying their boarders. Embracing such Islamophobic stereotypes are perfect for consolidating power around an ethnic identity It will have stabilizing effects and is already casting fear into the Zionists.

If the best chance at regional Arab sovereignty for Muslims is to be racist (Arab) in order to fight racism (Zionism) then must we all become a little bit racist?

To be fair this approach isn’t new. Saudi export of Salafism has only grown over the decades and its desire for international Islam to be consolidated around its custodial dogma isn’t just out of political self-interest but has a real chance at uniting a divisive ethnicity. GCC all endorsed CVE under Trump1.0 so the regal jihadi truly has been moderated. Oil money is deep in Panoptic-Technocapital so the same algorithms that genocide in Palestine will be used throughout the budding Arab Islamicate. UAE recently assigned over a trillion to invest in American AI. Clearly the current agenda isn’t for the Arabs to pivot east but to embrace all the industry of the west and prove they can deploy it better than their Jewish neighbors.

Watch out America! Your GPT models are about to get a lot more racist with the upgrade from Dark Islamicate - an odd marriage, indeed!

So, when will the race wars begin? Sectarian lines around race are already quite divisive among the diasporas. Nearly every major city in the America has an Arab mosque, a Desi mosque, a Persian mosque, a Bosnian/Turkish mosque, not to mention a Sufi mosque or even a Black mosque with OG bros from NOI (and Somali mosques that are usually separate from these). The scene is primed for an unleashed racial profiling wet dream. Remember SAIF only observes the condition of the acceleration. Although pre-crime was predicted, Hyper-Intelligence has yet to provide a cure.

And when thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to place a viceroy in the earth, they said: Wilt thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee? He said: Surely I know that which ye know not. ~ Quran 2.30

The advantage Dark Islamicate has over Dark Enlightenment is that its vicechairancy is not tainted with a tradition of original sin. Human moral potential for good remains inherent in the soul. Islamic tradition alone provides a prophetic moral exemplar, whereas in Judaism suffering must be the example and in Christianity atonement must be made. Dunya is not a punishment, for the Muslim it is a trust. Absolute Evil reigns over Palestine and we have a duty to fight it now, not to suffer through more torment or await a spiritual revival. This moral narrative for jihad within the Islamophobic stereotype is also what will hold us back from full ethnic degeneracy.

Ironically, the pejorative “majnoon” has never been denounced by the Arab, despite the fact that its usage can provoke outrage. Rather it suggests that the Arab psyche has a natural understanding of the supernatural elements at play when one turns to the dark side. Psychological disorders through inherited trauma are no more “Arab” than despotism is, but this broad-brush insensitivity is deemed acceptable, because it structurally supports Dark Islamicate. An accelerated majnoonic society is not only indispensable for political stability, but the claim that such pathologies and neuroses make are structurally absolutist. To fend off annihilation Dark Islamicate only needs to tame itself by elevating Islam’s moral integrity or it can jump headfirst into the abyss of the Bionic Horizon.

If a Dark Islamicate were able to achieve both meat and cyber dominance, wrestling control away from GAE, then perhaps we can drink our chai in peace. But that assumes we still imbibe molecular cocktails in hyperspace.

---

Footnote:

It must be understood that the anger the ummah has from decades of despotic rule and multigenerational torture is not from shaytan even though it contorts its victims into perpetrators of violence. Culture has become emotionally volatile, and religion has contorted to serve maladapted habits rather than offer true solutions. Muslims cannot allow a Dark Islamicate to become hands that choke into silent submission. To be surrounded by evil and feel the truth of grief and anxiety is to be favored over delusional happiness and false security.

You are not supposed to feel good right now! To feel good would be the mark of insanity.

Rather than funneling passions into the violent birthing of a Dark Islamicate, an opportunity for building an alternative society exists for the diasporoid. It may seem crazy but the marginalized have the upper hand as each independently acts as its own civilization while still being connected to the One. Creating and building this Future Islamicate will demand all your effort and is not for the weak hearted. Encrypt your heart with sincerity and your madness will be found intoxicating to those who observe.

#staySAIF

@ 84b0c46a:417782f5

やること

• [ ] るみ　初期のわかりにくごちゃ設定を何とかする
• [x] るみ　シーンおんのやつみなおしてみる
• [ ] やってることまとめるやつ
• [ ] びうあ　publishのリレー状態チェック
• [x] るみ　10002並べ替え
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• [ ] カスタム絵文字のやつ
• [x] まきもの　naddrを渡して編集画面開く
• [x] るみ naddrの更新ボタン
• [ ] ニーサ
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@ dd664d5e:5633d319

The importance of being lindy

I've been thinking about what Vitor said about #Amethyst living on extended time. And thinking. And doing a bit more thinking...

It's a valid point. Why does Amethyst (or, analog, #Damus) still exist? Why is it as popular as it is? Shouldn't they be quickly washed-away by power-funded corporate offerings or highly-polished, blackbox-coded apps?

Because a lot of people trust them to read the code, that's why. The same way that they trust Michael to read it and they trust me to test it. And, perhaps more importantly, they trust us to not deliver corrupted code. Intentionally, or inadvertently.

The developer's main job will not be coding the commit, it will be reviewing and approving the PR.

As AI -- which all developers now use, to some extent, if they are planning on remaining in the business -- becomes more efficient and effective at writing the code, the effort shifts to evaluating and curating what it writes. That makes software code a commodity, and commodities are rated according to brand.

Most of us don't want to make our own shampoo, for instance. Rather, we go to the store and select the brand that we're used to. We have learned, over the years, that this brand won't kill us and does the job we expect it to do. Offloading the decision of Which shampoo? to a brand is worth some of our time and money, which is why strong, reliable brands can charge a premium and are difficult to dislodge.

Even people, like myself, who can read the code from many common programming languages, do not have the time, energy, or interest to read through thousands of lines of Kotlin, Golang, or Typescript or -- God forbid -- C++, from repos we are not actively working on. And asking AI to analyze the code for you leaves you trusting the AI to have a conscience and be virtuous, and may you have fun with that.

The software is no longer the brand. The feature set alone isn't enough. And the manner in which it is written, or the tools it was written with, are largely irrelevant. The thing that matters most is Who approved this version?

The Era of Software Judges has arrived

And that has always been the thing that mattered most, really.

That's why software inertia is a real thing and that's why it's going to still be worth it to train up junior devs. Those devs will be trained up to be moral actors, specializing in reviewing and testing code and confirming its adherance to the project's ethical standards. Because those standards aren't universal; they're nuanced and edge cases will need to be carefully weighed and judged and evaluated and analysed. It will not be enough to add Don't be evil. to the command prompt and call it a day.

So, we shall need judges and advocates, and we must train them up, in the way they shall go.

@ da8b7de1:c0164aee

Az IAEA Kormányzótanácsának Ülése

A Nemzetközi Atomenergia-ügynökség (IAEA) 2025. június 9. és 13. között tartotta szokásos Kormányzótanácsi ülését bécsi központjában. Ez a magas szintű esemény a tagállamok képviselőit hozta össze, hogy megvitassák a nukleáris biztonság, védelem és technológia legújabb fejleményeit. Rafael Mariano Grossi, az IAEA főigazgatója a találkozó elején sajtótájékoztatót tartott, amelyen kiemelte az ügynökség folyamatos erőfeszítéseit a biztonságos és védett nukleáris energia világszintű előmozdításában [iaea.org].

A Világbank Nukleáris Energiát Támogató Fordulata

Mérföldkőnek számító döntésként a Világbank 2025. június 10-én bejelentette, hogy megkezdi új nukleáris energia projektek – köztük kis moduláris reaktorok (SMR-ek) és meglévő erőművek élettartam-hosszabbításának – finanszírozását. Ez a döntés a Bank régóta fennálló, nukleáris energia finanszírozását ellenző politikájának felülvizsgálatát jelenti. Ajay Banga, a Világbank elnöke elmondta, hogy a változás a nukleáris energia globális dekarbonizációban és energiabiztonságban betöltött növekvő szerepének elismerését tükrözi [ans.org].

Globális Támogatás a Nukleáris Kapacitás Megháromszorozásáért

A bakui COP29 ENSZ klímakonferencián újabb hat ország – El Salvador, Kazahsztán, Kenya, Koszovó, Nigéria és Törökország – csatlakozott ahhoz a kezdeményezéshez, amely célul tűzte ki a globális nukleáris kapacitás megháromszorozását 2050-ig. Ez a mozgalom része annak a szélesebb nemzetközi törekvésnek, amely a nukleáris energia gyorsabb elterjesztését szorgalmazza a tiszta energiára való átmenet kulcselemeként. Az Egyesült Államok szintén bemutatta tervét 200 GW nukleáris kapacitás 2050-ig történő telepítésére, ezzel is megerősítve elkötelezettségét a nukleáris energia mellett a klíma- és energiakihívások kezelésében [world-nuclear-news.org].

Ipari és Technológiai Fejlemények

• Az American Bureau of Shipping jelentést tett közzé az előrehaladott nukleáris technológia tengeri alkalmazásának lehetőségeiről, különös tekintettel a kis moduláris reaktorokra LNG-szállító hajókon.
• Az Egyesült Királyság Nemzeti Energiarendszer-üzemeltetője hangsúlyozta a nukleáris energia fontosságát a 2030-ra megvalósítandó tiszta energiatermelési rendszer elérésében, beleértve a meglévő erőművek élettartam-hosszabbítását és új reaktorok építését [world-nuclear-news.org].

---

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

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mining Economic Factor

Precise Value (April 2025)

Direct Impact on Profitability

Smartphone sustained hash rate

20-35 MH/s

0.00000024% contribution to global hashrate

Daily power consumption

3.2-4.8 kWh (4-6 full charges)

$0.38-0.57 at average US electricity rates

Expected daily BTC earnings

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

Revenue covers only 0.9% of electricity costs

CPU/GPU wear cost

$0.68-0.92 daily accelerated depreciation

Reduces smartphone lifespan by 60-70%

Annual profit projection

-$386 to -$412 per year

Guaranteed negative return on investment

Source: PocketOption

Bitcoin’s 2025 Network: Harder Than Ever

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

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

The math is unforgiving:

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

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

The 2025 Scam Evolution: More Sophisticated, More Dangerous

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

New 2025 scam tactics include:

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

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

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

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

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

Red flags that scream “scam” in 2025:

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

The 2025 Professional Mining Landscape

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

Cutting-edge hardware:

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

Infrastructure requirements:

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

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

2025’s Legitimate Mobile Bitcoin Strategies

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Bottom Line

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

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

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

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

@ 8671a6e5:f88194d1

## ParentCoin; limitless

There's this almost altcoin-like pitch of parenthood these days. I might’ve fallen for the shiny marketing of parenthood — cute baby pics, promises of legacy, the whole “you’ll change the world” vibe. I even heard a would-be mom tell me once (true story) "You know having children, you don't have to be afraid of it, as a dad it doesn't cost as much as you think". \ These people actually believe that. Just like they've fallen for every fiat-scam out there: housing, cars, holidays in France, Nike shoes, 50% taxation, religion and main stream media subscriptions.\ \ It’s 2025, and I’m revisiting this like I’d revisit an old Lightning Network post. \ \ Having kids is like chasing an altcoin airdrop with a slick but buzzword laden whitepaper and a charismatic founder who’s probably exit-scamming as soon as he gets enough of your money in their bank account (yeah you see what I did there). If you're lucky that founder might twerk from time to time to get your attention. But don't hope for too much. Now change that diaper and work an extra job to pay for all of it while inflation murders you.\ \ While you do all that, the most damaging thing about the Having Children Shitcoin (HCS) is the time it takes. It literally can't be shorted like some token on an exchange. It laughs, plays around with your tech gadgets, has to be potty trained (like some altcoin founders) and needs attention, education and a lot of proof of work.\ But the damage is the time. \ The time it takes to do all that, is actually replacing value with time. \ Bitcoin might be a product of proof of work, HCS is not a product but the actual proof of work without the value proposition.\ On top of that, the founder usually lives rent-free in your head your whole life, or even worse: you literally live together with her/him.\ Imagine Satoshi Nakamoto living at your house right now. Like... hi Satoshi.. love your bitcoin man.\ "Yeah, thanks moth**f****r, when are going to buy more skittle and some toilet paper? We ran out 10 minutes ago when I shit all over your dirty toilet, ..."\ "Eh, But Satoshi, why don't you go to the shop to..."\ "Shut up you f'ing a--hole, you made me! You made me what I am today! You liked me when I invented thàh bitcoin right? Now get me some toilet paper and here's a list of items I want from the supermarket! Lazy dumb idiot."\ "You'll clean up the kitchen right?"\ "Yeah yeah, rolls eyes, after my Netflix series man... now get out"\ \ This might sound far-fetched but founders of shitcoins steal your money, while children steal your time ànd money while you have to endure the founders as well.

Time is slowly damaging you while you live your life further and further away from the hard-money proposition. Hell, you even will need to sell some hard money to get by. Because it's a rotten world and children make you short sighted about the future (it limits you to maximum 3 years ahead in my experience with people around me).

Long-term is your enemy Short-term is your prison

You’re hyped for the long-term gains—multi-generational dynasties, just like the elites—but the fine print? It’s a mess. I’m here to unpack the hope, the scepticism, and the grim reality of raising kids in a world that feels like it’s speedrunning towards the absolute bottom. Let me make that clearer:

Our power (as bitcoiners) doesn't grow with these new generations, because we're being out-Idiocracy'd at a rate we can’t reproduce our way out of. Bitcoiners don’t scale. Even if you produce two children that both become die-hard bitcoin maximalists (with a nasal voice and a fondness for TD-sequential analysis.

The Mirage of Birth Having a kid is like snagging a hyped-up crypto airdrop. You’re told it’s “free” value — new life, pure joy, a legacy token dropped into your wallet. Everyone’s tweeting about it, posting ultrasound pics like they just scored 10,000 USDC worth of free shitcoin tokens.

But then the transaction fees hit, getting another place to live more accommodating, getting a school, adopt a dad body demeaner while torpedoing your social life and having no fun other than baking cakes and getting less pussy than a laser pointer with dead batteries. Adjust for inflation), sleepless nights, a vortex of money being vaporized and a lifetime of HODLing a position you can’t dump nor short. You’re basically the holder of last resort for a diatribe of chaos. You’re the entry, the trade, and exit liquidity. The real kicker? Society’s cheering you on while you’re stuck debugging your life and seeing your time drained. You’re frozen in time, while you should be scaling ideas. \ \ Or getting more out of life than being the channelling of funds to a future fiat oppressed kid. Meanwhile, parents (if they stay together that is... with relations with kids having their own version of the bitcoin “halving”, be it every 7 years or so. The parents follow the higher noble goal and get some love and nice moments in return. \ \ They’re stacking diapers instead of sats, living above a dry cleaner next to a subway station that rattles your soul. You can’t short kids, no matter how much you see the “childfree” crowd thriving. The childfree crowd is also not always that neutral, as many of them want this same life, because the marketing, as with many shitcoins is excellent. It makes life more fun, more fulfilling, more whole, while promising you cheap, fast and always immutable transactions. You’re getting duped. \ You buy more stuff, more hobbies no one cares about, and smile at other parents at these gatherings like you’re at the whale room at a bitcoin conference in a bear market. Keep smiling, bitches. That’s you’re life now. The numbers don’t lie. Society sells parenthood as a Bitcoin-level HODL, but the safety net is thinner than a layer-2 solution created by an Albanian exchange.

Raising kids is like betting your airdropped tokens will moon into a blue-chip asset that takes care of you when you’re old. You’re hoping they’ll HODL your hand, not rug-pull you into a nursing home when their “value” spikes. It’s a gamble: will they be decent humans or turn into TikTok zombies? Back in the day, kids were economic assets, working the farm or whatever. Now? You’re praying they don’t ghost you after college or at least recognize all the proof of work you did for them. And yes, you can have a big impact on them, that’s something to be proud of if it works out. But in the end, you are you, a person, with dreams, hopes and needs. \ And your children are too,... they’ll always win. \ \ Teaching them to ride a bike is fun, but it’s like a shitcoin pumping on a founder’s tweet: fleeting, followed by a crash whenever you see the effects of your years of de-progress and social isolation. Socializing with other parents is like making friends with a fellow prisoner of war in some jungle camp, ... you’ll have to be nice because it’s all you have left of society’s pleasantries. So you make small talk or a little joke about a toy someone’s kid has brought to the playground. The real world would see these people piss all over your grave if they could. They’re the figurehead on a ship of fools. And you play along because you’re a total bitch that got stuck in the routine of the famous HCS. Finding trust is hard, certainly in a city’s virtual prison camp where you play Russian roulette for other people’s amusement. It’s like running a Lightning node — fun in theory, but you’re babysitting a system that crashes when you need it most. The highs are real, but “kinda fun” doesn’t cut it when you’re debugging life. \ \ The 35k to 200k € it will cost you throughout your life, is not measurable as gains or losses. Look at the lovely baby pictures, look at their school results, the painting they made especially for you saying “I love you, for the best dad/mom in the whole world”. It hits straight to your brain’s nucleus accumbens. It’s all the balanced injection of the right shot of chemical balanced reward center (ventral tegmental area) food. \ And people with kids wanted that because that’s what the system and urges are. Kids are a leveraged position with no stop-loss, unlike an airdrop you can dump when the hype fades. You’re all-in, praying society doesn’t crash before your “asset” matures. In the meanwhile, you get the occasional surprise through your mesolimbic pathway. \ \ "Happy you" proof of stakes' the unhappy you later. You could be in the Maldives diving into clear water while talking to another “founder”. Funny how that works. \ Meanwhile, the childfree are staking their tokens and chilling. \ Parents aren’t building dynasties; we’re just trying not to get rug-pulled by daycare costs and rotten school-systems that learn our kids to be obedient consumers and non-thinking parrots. It’s a financial social anti-grind with no cure, and the charts, unlike fiat-corporate nonsense, don’t lie.

The elites stack power like blue-chip stocks, minting wealth across centuries. Us? Our kids might be fighting over the leftovers while they battle their way through university diversity and mediocracy. Future generations are supposed to carry the torch, but consumerism and cultural decay make it feel like we’re being out-Idiocracy’d. \ We need to think long-term, teach kids to code, stack sats, and question the system. But above all else, we need them to learn that being more evil is more just. Being complacent in this farce of a system means always, and I mean always, that the multi-generational monsters will prevail. \ \ They’re more stubborn, faster, better educated and they take the shortcuts you can’t have. We have hard money, they have “hard world”.

Conclusion

Eighteen years into this parenting thing (or eight minutes—who’s counting?), it’s clear: kids are a shitcoin airdrop with no exit strategy for you. \ The highs are sweet, the costs are brutal, and the long-term. A gamble on humanity in a world trending toward a broad brush of average things made normal.

Maybe it’s not about winning the bitcoin standard, but betting on something bigger than yourself within yourself, even if that market’s rigged with traps and detractors everywhere. Stack sats, stack diapers, and pray your kids don’t rug-pull your heart. \ Because, let’s face it, we’re not the Rothschilds — we’re just HODLing and hoping. \ While we should be fighting with the hardest money. \ While your baby cries for more food, I hear Michael Jackson sing “If you can’t feed your baby hi hee-hee, then don’t have a baybaah”. \ \ The sad part is, that we're all torn between chasing the fiat-created dreams and the reality that everything is in fact a shitcoin sapping either your time, money or effort. \ Even within the bitcoin space, we don't realize what the next step should be.\ It certainly isn't big families. That's for sure.

AVB\ tipjar: https://allesvoorbitcoin.be/donate/

@ 472f440f:5669301e

Marty's Bent

via me

I had a completely different newsletter partially written earlier tonight about whether or not "this cycle is different" when this nagging thought entered my head. So I'm going to write about this and maybe I'll write about the dynamics of this cycle compared to past cycles tomorrow.

A couple of headlines shot across my desk earlier tonight in relation to the potential escalation of kinetic warfare in the Middle East. Apparently the U.S. Embassy in Iraq was sent a warning and evacuation procedures were initiated. Not too long after, the world was made aware that the United States and Israel are contemplating an attack on Iran due to the "fact" that Iran may be close to producing nuclear weapins. The initial monkey brain reaction that I had to these two headlines was, "Oh shit, here we go again. We're going to do something stupid." My second reaction was, "Oh shit, here we go again, I've seen these two exact headlines many times over the years and they've proven to be lackluster if you're a doomer or blood thirsty war monger." Nothing ever happens.

As I venture into my mid-30s and reflect on a life filled with these types of headlines and my personal reactions to these headlines, I'm finally becoming attuned to the fact that the monkey brain reactions aren't very productive at the end of the day. Who knows exactly what's going to happen in Iraq or Iran and whether or not kinetic warfare escalates and materializes from here? Even though I'm a "blue-blooded taxpaying American citizen" who is passively and unwillingly contributing to the war machine and the media industrial complex, there's really nothing I can do about it.

The only thing I can do is focus on what is in front of me. What I have control of. And attempt to leverage what I have control of to make my life and the life of my family as good as humanly possible. Ignoring the external and turning inward often produces incredible results. Instead of worrying about what the media wants you to believe at any given point in time, you simply look away from your computer screen, survey the physical space which you're operating in and determine what you have, what you need and how you can get what you need. This is a much more productive way to spend your time.

This is what I want to touch on right now. There's never been a better time in human history to be productive despite what the algorithm on X or the mainstream media will lead you to believe. Things aren't as great as they could be, but they're also not as bad as you're being led to believe. We live in the Digital Age and the Digital Age provides incredible resources that you can leverage to make YOUR life better.

Social media allows you to create a platform without spending any money. AI allows you to build tools that are beneficial to yourself and others with very little money. And bitcoin exists to provide you with the best form of money that you can save in with the knowledge that your relative ownership of the overall supply isn't going to change. No matter what happens in the external world.

If you can combine these three things to make your life better and - by extension - potentially make the lives of many others better, you're going to be well off in the long run. Combining these three things isn't going to result in immediate gratification, but if you put forth a concerted effort, spend the time, have some semblance of patience, and stick with it, I truly believe that you will benefit massively in the long run. Without trying to sound like a blowhard, I truly believe that this is why I feel relatively calm (despite my monkey brain reactions to the headlines of the day) at this current point in time.

We've entered the era of insane leaps in productivity and digital hard money that cannot be corrupted. The biggest mistake you can make in your life right now is overlooking the confluence of these two things. With an internet connection, an idea, some savvy, and hard work you can materially change your life. Create something that levels up your knowledge, that enables you to get a good job in the real world, or to create a company of your own. Bring your talents to the market, exchange them for money, and then funnel that money into bitcoin (if you're not being paid in it already). We may be at the beginning of a transition from the high velocity trash economy to the high leverage agency economy run on sound money and applied creativity.

These concepts are what you should be focusing most of your time and attention to today and in the years ahead. Don't get distracted by the algorithm, the 30-second video clips, the headlines filled with doom, and the topics of the 24 hour news cycle. I'll admit, I often succumb to them myself. But, as I get older and develop a form of pattern recognition that can only be attained by being on this planet for a certain period of time, it is becoming very clear that those things are not worth your attention.

Living by the heuristic that "nothing ever happens" is a pretty safe bet. Funnily enough, it's incredibly ironic that you're led to believe that something is happening every single day, and yet nothing ever happens. By getting believing that something happens every day you are taking your attention away from doing things that happen to make your life better.

Tune out the noise. Put on the blinders. Take advantage of the incredible opportunities that lie before you. If enough of you - and many others who do not read this newsletter - do this, I truly believe we'll wake up to find that the world we live in is a much better place.

Nothing ever happens, so make something happen.

Intelligence Officials Are Quietly Becoming Bitcoin Believers

Ken Egan, former CIA Deputy Chief of Cyber Operations, revealed a surprising truth on TFTC: the intelligence community harbors numerous Bitcoin advocates. Egan explained that intelligence professionals uniquely understand how governments weaponize financial systems through sanctions and account freezing. Having wielded these tools themselves, they recognize the need for personal financial sovereignty. He shared compelling anecdotes of discovering colleagues with "We are all Satoshi" stickers and a European chief of station paying for dinner with a BlockFi card to earn Bitcoin rewards.

"I think there are a lot of Bitcoiners, not just at CIA, but across the whole national security establishment... they're in it for the exact same reasons everybody else is." - Ken Egan

The Canadian trucker protests served as a pivotal moment, Egan noted. Watching Western governments freeze citizens' bank accounts for political dissent struck a nerve among intelligence professionals who previously viewed financial weaponization as a tool reserved for foreign adversaries. This awakening has created unlikely allies within institutions many Bitcoiners distrust.

Check out the full podcast here for more on Bitcoin's national security implications, privacy tech prosecutions, and legislative priorities.

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Headlines of the Day

Stripe Buys Crypto Wallet Privy After Bridge Deal - via X

Trump Calls CPI Data "Great" Urges Full Point Fed Cut - via X

Bitcoin Hashrate Reaches New All-Time High - via X

Get our new STACK SATS hat - via tftcmerch.io

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Bitcoin’s Next Parabolic Move: Could Liquidity Lead the Way?

Is bitcoin’s next parabolic move starting? Global liquidity and business cycle indicators suggest it may be.

Read the latest report from Unchained and TechDev, analyzing how global M2 liquidity and the copper/gold ratio—two historically reliable macro indicators—are aligning once again to signal that a new bitcoin bull market may soon begin.

Download the report here

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Ten31, the largest bitcoin-focused investor, has deployed $150.00M 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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Final thought...

Life is good.

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Download our free browser extension, Opportunity Cost: https://www.opportunitycost.app/ start thinking in SATS today.

Get this newsletter sent to your inbox daily: https://www.tftc.io/bitcoin-brief/

Subscribe to our YouTube channels and follow us on Nostr and X:

@ edeb837b:ac664163

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

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

Representing NVSTly at the event were:

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

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

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

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🎤 Team Interview at the Event

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

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

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

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A Big Win for Retail Traders

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

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

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

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

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Continued Recognition and Momentum

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

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

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

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

Stay tuned—more big things are coming.

— Team NVSTly

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

@ 8173f6e1:e488ac0f

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@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

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

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

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

Pierre Corbin, Co-Founder of Flash, commented:

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

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

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

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

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

About Flash

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

About Bitcoin Only Brewery

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

@ f683e870:557f5ef2

This is what has been achieved on a per-project basis since receiving the grant from Opensats.

npub.world

Together with nostr:npub1wf4pufsucer5va8g9p0rj5dnhvfeh6d8w0g6eayaep5dhps6rsgs43dgh9, I have been refining npub.world to deliver real-time, WoT-powered profile search. These refinements include:

• implementing new desings by nostr:npub1t3gd5yefglarhar4n6uh34uymvft4tgu8edk5465zzhtv4rrnd9sg7upxq

• moving to the new Vertex DVM standard

• improved URL and npub parsing

Vertex crawler

Due to the architectural mistakes I made when designing the first version, I have embarked on a full rewrite of the crawler. The new architecture is simpler, more modular and more performant, and I am confident that it will provide a stable foundation on which to expand the Vertex offering with additional functionalities and analytics.

The major differences with the old version are:

• the DB and RWS interfaces have been broken up and simplified into smaller ones, each defined by their own packages

• a simplified, more efficient algorithm for updating random walks

• use of a custom-built cache to speed up graph computations

• a worker pool pattern to speed up event archiving

These changes have reduced the LOC by more than half while improving performance by \~10x. Of independent interest is the new pipe package, which can also be used by other projects to crawl the Nostr network.

Vertex Relay and DVMs

The Vertex relay has been updated several times, and now supports four DVM services:

• Verify Reputation

• Recommend Follows

• Rank Profiles

• Search Profile

For each service, customers can choose the algorithm to use by specifing the sort option to use between:

• followerCount

• globalPagerank

• personalizedPagerank

More information can be found at https://vertexlab.io/.

Overall, the relay has processed more than 100,000 DVM requests, with the current daily rate standing at around 1,500.

rely

Unsatisfied with the khatru relay framework, I've decided to build my own called rely, with the goal of being simpler and more stable. I've not just scratched a personal hitch: I've used khatru for several months now (the Vertex relay is still using it) and I encountered several issues, some of which I've solved with PRs to the underlying go-nostr library.

The main differences between khatru and rely:

• rely is much simpler, both architecturally and in terms of LOC (less than half)

• rely has a solid testing approach, where a random yet reproducible high traffic hits the relay to see what breaks

• rely implements a worker pool pattern where a configurable number of goroutines process the incoming requests from clients. On the other hand, khatru process them in the HandleWebsocket goroutine, which is spawned every time a client connects. This is dangerous in my opinion because if too many clients connect, memory usage would spike and the relay could potentially crash.

New DVM spec

I helped to draft this new proposal to update the DVM spec, which is one of the most controversial NIPs. While almost everyone agrees that it needs to change, there is no consensus on how to move forward. I believe our proposal is a sensible approach that defines discovery, usage, and error patterns while leaving flexibility for specific DVM kinds.

Looking at the future

Next I am going to move the Vertex relay to the rely framework and to the new crawler package. I expect that this will increase the performance and will make things more solid and more simple. After all of this refactoring and simplification, it will be time to finally add features to the Vertex offering. I have an ambitious roadmap consisting of:

• accepting ecash for DVM requests

• designing client-side validation schemes for the DVM responses

• expanding the pagerank algorithm to make use of mutes and reports

• adding an WoT impersonator check to npub.world

• adding a nip05 check to npub.world

• make a relystore package with some plug&play databases for rely.

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

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

@ b1e9b8df:07685594

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

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

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🚀 Unser Ziel

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

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

• Bildung dezentral denken – jenseits von Plattformlogiken

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

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🔧 Womit wir arbeiten

• 💬 Matrix zur Koordination & Diskussion

• 💻 git(hub) zur offenen Entwicklung und Dokumentation

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📡 Mach mit!

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

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

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

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🧠 Ideen zum Start

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

• 📚 Tagging-Events für Fachbereiche, Zielgruppen & Lizenztypen

• 🤝 Event-Verknüpfung mit Mastodon, Mobilizon, Wikidata

• 🧩 Mitdenken beim Aufbau eines offenen Bildungsraums via Nostr

---

📎 Beispiel: OER-Material posten

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

💡 Fragen? Ideen?

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

OERTR – ein Netzwerk. Kein Silo.

@ efc2b6e5:99c53c19

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

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

Reductionism is an obstacle in AI development

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why do I post here?

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

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

References to full materials used for criticism

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

Emergentism FAQ

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

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

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

Debates moderation

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

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

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

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

Final thoughts

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

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

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

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

@ ae9dc5ef:77f0ed87

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

What is Nostr Game Engine?

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

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

This first release delivers these key capabilities:

Peer-to-Peer Networking

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

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

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

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

(see the documentation for more info)

Nostr Authentication & Gamertags

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

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

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

Match Making

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

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

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

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

(see the documentation for more info)

A new Nostr Client Library

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

Cross-Platform and language of choice

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

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

What has been built so far?

• Version 0.0, with the core features mentioned above

• Documentation covering the key components of the engine

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

• An high performance and portable nostr client library

• A tech demo (more on that later)

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

Roadmap

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

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

Sea of Nostriches

This is a demo built for this release. 

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

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

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

That’s the core of it. 

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

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

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

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

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

@ 6ad3e2a3:c90b7740

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again; but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

The Second Coming — W.B. Yeats

I don’t know what I want to write about today. There are a lot of converging currents coursing through my reality right now. I feel we’re in an interregnum of sorts between what was and what’s to come. I guess you could simply describe that as the present, something that has ever been the case. But this moment feels more intense like something big is dying and something else, God knows what, is on its way “to be born".

I exchanged emails recently with an old friend, and he sent me a link to a David Foster Wallace commencement speech entitled “This Is Water.” In it Wallace tells a joke of an old fish seeing two younger fish swimming by and asks them “How’s the water?” Later on one of the younger ones asks the other, “What is water?”

Wallace hanged himself a few years after the speech. Apparently he was unable to maintain the perspective he laid out in it which was that we can choose our attitude toward what we experience in any moment, no matter how much aversion we habitually associate with it. That the act of choosing equanimity constitutes the freedom we seek. That this freedom to choose is ever present, in fact the ability to direct our attention and consciousness is itself the water. And yet out of habit we are often oblivious to this most fundamental reality.

My friend’s email was in response to my description of the dissolution I see right now. Everything seems fake. The news, the governments, the edicts of reputationally bankrupt institutions zombying along as though the last five years never happened, like the proverbial emperor still purporting to rule though everyone can now see his pale, unsightly posterior.

Yes, the coffee shops are still open, people still go on vacation with their families. Let’s go to Paris, Rome, the Greek Isles! Let’s pretend everything is as we had imagined in the before times when our goals and aspirations seemed real, when the glitchy pixels in the matrix hadn’t yet revealed themselves so glaringly.

Maybe this was always the case. All our games were always professional wrestling, a scripted charade for which we willingly suspended disbelief. But like the roadrunner in the cartoon, we have since become aware we have run out of road, four steps beyond the cliff edge.

. . .

Wallace in his speech described such indignities as being stuck in traffic after a long day of work, or in a long grocery checkout line. The mind’s usual programs run, cursing everyone and everything around us. Instead of contemplating the miracle of human existence we feel only disgust and impatience. We want to finish with the run, the work, the obligatory hour so we can move on to something presumably more pleasant.

I can handle such day to day discomforts, but the overwhelming sense of dissolution is undermining the aims to which I had once attached meaning. I set up my life for freedom and prosperity, and now, just as I have my ducks in a row, there’s an imminent magnetic pole shift or a financial and social collapse that threatens to counterfeit my efforts.

It’s easy to opt out when you’re losing, to decry the injustice, unfairness and pointlessness of the game when you weren’t getting much from it anyway. When you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose, to paraphrase Bob Dylan. But as a late bloomer wanting to sample the wine of the Gods at long last, it’s dispiriting in a different way, like saving up for a new car and seeing it stolen before you had a chance to drive it.

That’s the shallow version, distress at discovering just before getting the things I had always wanted I was actually playing not just the wrong game, but a false one. That I’m upset I can’t gratify my ego in the way I had hoped, that I can’t get the pat on the back I had craved because the back-patters decided to tear up the playing field just as I finally became a contender.

The deeper version is you only get better at the game through your own efforts to discover what’s true, your own self-mastery and access to a measure of wisdom. This process transforms your life from a tedious and difficult slog to a state of ease and flow. You are more connected, more in touch with yourself and the forces within. You can handle aversion, in fact voluntarily invite it at times to hone your mind and access your resourcefulness. You love your life and connect to the people in it. You have great hope and aspirations for the future. You believe in God, or the Tao or whatever force animates all things, you can navigate the world’s imperfections and do not want it to fall into chaos and disorder.

The task of remembering this during the run, the traffic jam or the grocery store checkout line is not so difficult. But would it be the same during periods of violence and resource scarcity where literal survival is at stake, the rules of which are set by biology and physics rather than the incentives of human society?

Yes, I’d rather be eating dinner at home than sitting in traffic, but I can appreciate that I’m able to sit comfortably in my climate controlled pod, listening to music while traversing these distances rather than foraging for food in the harsh wild. Yes, this old Portuguese lady is taking an eternity to get the groceries into her pushcart, but I can imagine how it is to be old and slow and still have to shop and eat, and it’s trivial to cut her some slack.

I’m not claiming I always have this perspective, but I surely am able to channel equanimity during the ordinary aversion that arises in one’s day to day life. I do this while running on the track, the aches and pains, the discomfort, the wanting to get it over with is a battle I fight every week by my own choosing. But imagine if instead of running 10 minute miles I was forced to do them in six. It’s not so easy to keep a calm, conscious mind while gasping for breath.

The truth is these calamities I imagine are not yet real, the asteroid has not yet hit, the economy not yet collapsed. I have never experienced the kind of hardship I dread. I am ever in the grocery line, the 10-minute mile run, the traffic jam, never the concentration camp or Mad Max-style post-apocalypse. Why not just deal with that when the time comes, if it ever comes? Why die a thousand deaths like the proverbial coward rather than the one required of the brave man?

I suppose it comes down to wanting to be prepared. There’s nothing you can do if an asteroid destroys the entire earth, but if your national government devolves into tyranny, you could get out before it’s too late. There’s the adage one should only concern oneself about the things one can control, but the rub is in deciding what’s in your power and of what to let go. It’s an easy out, per the adage, to narrow your locus of control to doing your job and paying your bills. You can too easily forget that which job you have, where you live, what preparations to make are also matters in which you have a choice.

Even if you believe a magnetic pole shift could spill the earth’s oceans across continents within the next few decades — I find this plausible — you could move to the mountains to get ahead even of that. A fatalist, non-questioning attitude can be a psychological salve in times of upheaval, but “salve” and "“slave” are but a typo apart.

. . .

When I was six someone broke into my house. I was still awake, and while pretending to be asleep, I heard him rummaging through my belongings, stealing an old Fisher Price turntable and a black and white TV. My father died four years later, and at 10, I remember thinking as the oldest boy in the house, it was now my responsibility to defend my family if anything like that, or worse, happened again. Of course, I wasn’t really capable of doing this, and I knew it, but I would have to try, futile as it might be.

I imagine that psychology has stayed with me as an adult — it’s up to me to see around corners, assess the various threats to me and my family, even if some of them are too daunting for any one individual. I could let it go, I suppose, it would probably even be healthy to do so. But there is a part of me that wonders whether people like me, people who feel this irrational responsibility, are the those who survive cataclysms and shocks. I surely am not the only one who feels this way and quite likely would not be especially effective given I don’t have engineering, outdoorsman or serious combat skills. But that hyper-vigilance toward and preparation for worse-case scenarios is something someone has to do, someone who would likely be selected for the role by the particular accidents of his upbringing.

. . .

There is another way to look at this, of course. The notion one ought to step up in the face of adverse circumstances, even extreme ones, is valid. But perhaps the best way to prepare is not endlessly to assess potential threats like some black ops CIA outfit, but to have a calm and detached mind. Should the signs appear, a poised and observant person would take action insofar as he is able. That you, having trained your attention away from default habits of comfort-seeking and dread and toward conscious observation, will do what’s required if and when the time comes. That you can trust yourself, and by that I mean trust in God, so to speak, to guide your awareness and actions for the most effective and adaptive response.

The Fourth Turning might well be upon us, indeed “the centre [may not] hold.” There is no guarantee your response will ensure you or those you love survive. There has never been such a guarantee for anyone, only the freedom to direct your attention, to choose your state of mind, to the extent you are capable, in the conditions that arise. To respond to the older fish that the water is okay, it’s pretty nice actually.

@ 97c70a44:ad98e322

When developing on nostr, normally it's enough to read the NIP related to a given feature you want to build to know what has to be done. But there are some aspects of nostr development that aren't so straightforward because they depend less on specific data formats than on how different concepts are combined.

An example of this is how for a while it was considered best practice to re-publish notes when replying to them. This practice emerged before the outbox model gained traction, and was a hacky way of attempting to ensure relays had the full context required for a given note. Over time though, pubkey hints emerged as a better way to ensure other clients could find required context.

Another one of these things is "relay-based groups", or as I prefer to call it "relays-as-groups" (RAG). Such a thing doesn't really exist - there's no spec for it (although some aspects of the concept are included in NIP 29), but at the same time there are two concrete implementations (Flotilla and Chachi) which leverage several different NIPs in order to create a cohesive system for groups on nostr.

This composability is one of the neat qualities of nostr. Not only would it be unhelpful to specify how different parts of the protocol should work together, it would be impossible because of the number of possible combinations possible just from applying a little bit of common sense to the NIPs repo. No one said it was ok to put t tags on a kind 0. But no one's stopping you! And the semantics are basically self-evident if you understand its component parts.

So, instead of writing a NIP that sets relay-based groups in stone, I'm writing this guide in order to document how I've combined different parts of the nostr protocol to create a compelling architecture for groups.

Relays

Relays already have a canonical identity, which is the relay's url. Events posted to a relay can be thought of as "posted to that group". This means that every relay is already a group. All nostr notes have already been posted to one or more groups.

One common objection to this structure is that identifying a group with a relay means that groups are dependent on the relay to continue hosting the group. In normal broadcast nostr (which forms organic permissionless groups based on user-centric social clustering), this is a very bad thing, because hosts are orthogonal to group identity. Communities are completely different. Communities actually need someone to enforce community boundaries, implement moderation, etc. Reliance on a host is a feature, not a bug (in contrast to NIP 29 groups, which tend to co-locate many groups on a single host, relays-as-groups tends to encourage one group, one host).

This doesn't mean that federation, mirrors, and migration can't be accomplished. In a sense, leaving this on the social layer is a good thing, because it adds friction to the dissolution/forking of a group. But the door is wide open to protocol additions to support those use cases for relay-based groups. One possible approach would be to follow this draft PR which specifies a "federation" event relays could publish on their own behalf.

Relay keys

This draft PR to NIP 11 specifies a self field which represents the relay's identity. Using this, relays can publish events on their own behalf. Currently, the pubkey field sort of does the same thing, but is overloaded as a contact field for the owner of the relay.

AUTH

Relays can control access using NIP 42 AUTH. There are any number of modes a relay can operate in:

1. No auth, fully public - anyone can read/write to the group.
2. Relays may enforce broad or granular access controls with AUTH.

Relays may deny EVENTs or REQs depending on user identity. Messages returned in AUTH, CLOSED, or OK messages should be human readable. It's crucial that clients show these error messages to users. Here's how Flotilla handles failed AUTH and denied event publishing:

LIMITS, PROBE, or some other reflection scheme could also be used in theory to help clients adapt their interface depending on user abilities and relay policy.

1. AUTH with implicit access controls.

In this mode, relays may exclude matching events from REQs if the user does not have permission to view them. This can be useful for multi-use relays that host hidden rooms. This mode should be used with caution, because it can result in confusion for the end user.

See Frith for a relay implementation that supports some of these auth policies.

Invite codes

If a user doesn't have access to a relay, they can request access using this draft NIP. This is true whether access has been explicitly or implicitly denied (although users will have to know that they should use an invite code to request access).

The above referenced NIP also contains a mechanism for users to request an invite code that they can share with other users.

The policy for these invite codes is entirely up to the relay. They may be single-use, multi-use, or require additional verification. Additional requirements can be communicated to the user in the OK message, for example directions to visit an external URL to register.

See Frith for a relay implementation that supports invite codes.

Content

Any kind of event can be published to a relay being treated as a group, unless rejected by the relay implementation. In particular, NIP 7D was added to support basic threads, and NIP C7 for chat messages.

Since which relay an event came from determines which group it was posted to, clients need to have a mechanism for keeping track of which relay they received an event from, and should not broadcast events to other relays (unless intending to cross-post the content).

Rooms

Rooms follow NIP 29. I wish NIP 29 wasn't called "relay based groups", which is very confusing when talking about "relays as groups". It's much better to think of them as sub-groups, or as Flotilla calls them, "rooms".

EDIT: Flotilla has migrated to exclusively use "managed rooms" — i.e., fully NIP 29 compliant rooms. Relays without NIP 29 support can still support chat, but all messages will be presented as sent to a single room. I've removed references to unmanaged rooms in what follows.

~~Rooms have two modes - managed and unmanaged. Managed~~ rooms follow all the rules laid out in NIP 29 about metadata published by the relay and user membership. In either case, rooms are represented by a random room id, and are posted to by including the id in an event's h tag. ~~This allows rooms to switch between managed and unmanaged modes without losing any content.~~

Managed room names come from kind 39000 room meta events, ~~but unmanaged rooms don't have these. Instead, room names should come from members' NIP 51 kind 10009 membership lists. Tags on these lists should look like this: ["group", "groupid", "wss://group.example.com", "Cat lovers"]. If no name can be found for the room (i.e., there aren't any members), the room should be ignored by clients.~~

Rooms present a difficulty for publishing to the relay as a whole, since content with an h tag can't be excluded from requests. ~~Currently, relay-wide posts are h-tagged with _ which works for "group" clients, but not more generally. I'm not sure how to solve this other than to ask relays to support negative filters.~~ I have ideas on how to solve this in future iterations of relay-based groups, for example using virtual relays or just a better rooms spec.

Cross-posting

The simplest way to cross-post content from one group (or room) to another, is to quote the original note in whatever event kind is appropriate. For example, a blog post might be quoted in a kind 9 to be cross-posted to chat, or in a kind 11 to be cross-posted to a thread. kind 16 reposts can be used the same way if the reader's client renders reposts.

Posting the original event to multiple relays-as-groups is trivial, since all you have to do is send the event to the relay. Posting to multiple rooms simultaneously by appending multiple h tags is however not recommended, since group relays/clients are incentivised to protect themselves from spam by rejecting events with multiple h tags (similar to how events with multiple t tags are sometimes rejected).

Privacy

Currently, it's recommended to include a NIP 70 - tag on content posted to relays-as-groups to discourage replication of relay-specific content across the network.

Another slightly stronger approach would be for group relays to strip signatures in order to make events invalid (or at least deniable). For this approach to work, users would have to be able to signal that they trust relays to be honest. We could also use ZkSNARKS to validate signatures in bulk.

In any case, group posts should not be considered "private" in the same way E2EE groups might be. Relays-as-groups should be considered a good fit for low-stakes groups with many members (since trust deteriorates quickly as more people get involved).

Membership

There is currently no canonical member list published by relays (except for NIP 29 managed rooms). Instead, users keep track of their own relay and room memberships using kind 10009 lists. Relay-level memberships are represented by an r tag containing the relay url, and room-level memberships are represented using a group tag.

Users can choose to advertise their membership in a RAG by using unencrypted tags, or they may keep their membership private by using encrypted tags. Advertised memberships are useful for helping people find groups based on their social graph:

User memberships should not be trusted, since they can be published unilaterally by anyone, regardless of actual access, so it's better to think of them as "bookmarked groups" or "favorites". Possible improvements in this area would be the ability to provide proof of access:

• Relays could publish member lists (although this would sacrifice member privacy)
• Relays could support a new command that allows querying a particular member's access status
• Relays could provide a proof to the member that they could then choose to publish or not

Moderation

There are two parts to moderation: reporting and taking action based on these reports.

Reporting is already covered by NIP 56. Clients should be careful about encouraging users to post reports for illegal content under their own identity, since that can itself be illegal. Relays also should not serve reports to users, since that can be used to find rather than address objectionable content.

Reports are only one mechanism for flagging objectionable content. Relay operators and administrators can use whatever heuristics they like to identify and address objectionable content. This might be via automated policies that auto-ban based on reports from high-reputation people, a client that implements NIP 86 relay management API, or by some other admin interface.

There's currently no way for moderators of a given relay to be advertised, or for a moderator's client to know that the user is a moderator (so that they can enable UI elements for in-app moderation). This could be addressed via NIP 11, LIMITS, or some other mechanism in the future.

General best practices

In general, it's very important when developing a client to assume that the relay has no special support for any of the above features, instead treating all of this stuff as progressive enhancement.

For example, if a user enters an invite code, go ahead and send it to the relay using a kind 28934 event. If it's rejected, you know that it didn't work. But if it's accepted, you don't know that it worked - you only know that the relay allowed the user to publish that event. This is helpful, becaues it may imply that the user does indeed have access to the relay. But additional probing may be needed, and reliance on error messages down the road when something else fails unexpectedly is indispensable.

This paradigm may drive some engineers nuts, because it's basically equivalent to coding your clients to reverse-engineer relay support for every feature you want to use. But this is true of nostr as a whole - anyone can put whatever weird stuff in an event and sign it. Clients have to be extremely compliant with Postell's law - doing their absolute best to accept whatever weird data or behavior shows up and handle failure in any situation. Sure, it's annoying, but it's the cost of permissionless development. What it gets us is a completely open-ended protocol, in which anything can be built, and in which every solution is tested by the market.

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

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

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

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

Pierre Corbin, Co-Founder of Flash, commented:

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

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

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

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

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

About Flash

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

About Bitcoin Only Brewery

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

@ 3c389c8f:7a2eff7f

Most of my time on Nostr, relays served content simply based on what was requested. Clients mostly requested follow list based content, and often only if the user requested to 'read' from a particular relay. Very simple, though not ideal. Clients that attempted to offer some 'global' or 'universal' feed made it possible to discover some new things but also served spam, redundant bot posts, and even some malicious things that managed to make it through a relay's filters. Paid relays began to gain some ground, with better filters to reduce spam and malicious content, which has helped a lot to clean up these broader feeds that expand beyond the follow-based timeline. Many of the relays hosted redundant content, too, which is important but it's not the only thing that is. The system still left a lot to be desired, particularly for anyone who has understood the potential behind the client-relay set up. Other concerns, like relay centralization through user concentration, still needed to be discussed and addressed.

Despite the voicing of relay diversity advocates, this system seemed to provide most of what people were looking for to replace their typical social media experience. Still, though, reply spam attacks found their way through, as they do. Web-of-Trust relays began to pop up to help mitigate the problem. Using contact lists and extended contact lists as a method of reducing the prevalence of spam has worked really well, but does have it limitations as to how new users can enter into these social graphs, without already knowing someone who is using Nostr. Also not ideal, but it has been a step forward for Nostr's social media use case. Hosted relay services that offered more diverse policy for a relay to operate under finally began to take some hold for those that wanted more choice and control. Still though, potential had barely been breeched.

It might have been before the WoT relay movement, but of nowhere (not really but it kind of seemed like it), a cat relay appeared within the ecosystem. This silly, fun, cute, clever relay collected notes with the #catstr hashtag and used some fancy image analysis stuff (that I can't explain) to collect notes and images of nothing but cats. Such a simple thing, but that was a catalyst (🥁) moment for Nostr. A relay could do more than just collect notes from following lists?? A couple more iterations of the curated content relay model came to be, driving home the idea that this wasn't some silly pie-in-the-sky concept. It was an aha moment for some, sheer joy for the relay advocates, and a turning point for expanding Nostr beyond the basic social media replacement. Very few client options for simply browsing one relay existed at the time, and while it was novel to see, the rest of the framework to support it was not strong nor very easy to use. Even with this dilemma, the catstr relay set off what has become some of the most interesting and useful innovation that has happened within the Nostr ecosystem since I arrived.

Since then, I have spent a lot of my time on Nostr exploring some of what has been developed on the relay front, experimenting where I have found the opportunity and thinking a lot about where this all could lead. Innovation on both the relay and client sides of Nostr have been expanding, not quite in lockstep, but closely enough that someone like myself can now easily jump onto a client like Jumble.social and get a glimpse into what is happening and get an idea of the potential of what is yet to come. For those working in the relay field, I am sure this feels like one slow moving train. For a client developer, it probably feels a little overwhelming to shift an entire model away from what has worked for something that will work better. As a less-than-technical user who is mostly disconnected from any major development, it's exciting. Relay diversity brings actual utility to Nostr. It also brings the assurances that Nostr offers, which whether we have been subjugated to these problems before or not, it is the main reason why Nostr exists and why we are here using it now.

For most anyone reading this, it probably sounds like some weird, unnecessary history lesson. This is actually one long introduction into a little mini-series of relay recaps though.... I was wondering what I would write about next, and this is it. I may just be a user but I'm an adventurous one and I pay attention, so I'm excited to share some of my thoughts, experiences, and observations over the coming weeks... because exciting isn't a strong enough word for the what I see as possible. :)

@ 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

@ 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.

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

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

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

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

The Antler in the Digital Forest: Power Projection

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

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

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

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

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

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

Table: Traditional vs. Bitcoin-Based Power Systems

Power System

Mechanism

Key Vulnerability

Resource Cost

Traditional (Fiat/Banking)

Legal abstraction, threat of state force

Centralized points of failure, corruption, political change

Low immediate cost, high systemic risk

Military/Economic Coercion

Physical force, sanctions

Escalation, collateral damage, moral hazard

Very high (lives, capital, instability)

Bitcoin (Proof-of-Work)

Competition via energy expenditure

High energy cost, concentration risk (mining)

High energy cost, low systemic risk

Softwar Theory National Strategic Imperative: Governments Are Taking Notice

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Bitcoin Community: Building the Digital Antler’s Resilience

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

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

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

Risks & Responsibilities

Investors and policymakers must acknowledge persistent challenges:

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

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

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

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

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

@ 472f440f:5669301e

Marty's Bent

Sup, freaks? Your Uncle Marty did a little vibe coding a couple months ago and that vibe coding project has turned into an actual product that is live in the Google Chrome web store and will soon to be live in the Firefox add-on store as well. It's called Opportunity Cost and it is an extension that enables you to price the internet in Bitcoin.

Opportunity Cost – See Prices in Bitcoin Instantly

Convert USD prices to Bitcoin (satoshis) as you browse. Dual display, privacy-first, and open source.

Opportunity CostTFTC

Check it out!

This whole process has been extremely rewarding to me for many reasons. The first of which is that I've had many ideas in the past to launch a product focused on bitcoin education that simply never left my brain because I never felt comfortable paying a developer to go out and build a product that I wasn't sure would ultimately get product market fit.

Due to the advancements of AI, particularly ChatGPT and Replit, I was able to spend a few hours on a Saturday vibe coding a prototype for Opportunity Cost. It worked. I side loaded it into Chrome and Firefox, tested it out for a few days and decided, "Hey, I think this is something that's worthwhile and should be built."

Backtracking just a little bit, the initial idea for this app was to create an AR application that would enable you to take pictures of goods in the real world and have their prices automatically converted to bitcoin so that you could weigh the opportunity cost of whether or not you actually wanted to buy that good or decide to save in bitcoin instead. With the help of Justin Moon from the Human Rights Foundation and Anthony Ronning from OpenSecret and Maple AI, I was pointed in the right direction of vibe coding tools I could use to build a simple MVP. I took their advice, built the MVP, and demoed it at the Bitcoin Park Austin weekly AI meetup in mid-April.

The next week, I was talking with a friend, Luke Thomas, about the idea and during our conversation he made a simple quip, "You should make a Chrome extension. I really want a Chrome extension that does this." And that's what sent me down the vibe coding rabbit hole that Saturday which led to the prototype.

After I was comfortable with and confident in the prototype, I found a young hungry developer by the name of Moses on Nostr, I reached out to him, told him my idea, showed him the prototype and asked if he thought he could finish the application for me. He luckily agreed to do so and within a couple of weeks we had a fully functioning app that was officially launched today. We're about 12 hours into the launch and I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised with the reception from the broader Bitcoin community. It seems like something that people are happy exists and I feel extremely happy that people see some value in this particular application.

Now that you have the backstory, let's get into why I think something like Opportunity Cost should exist. As someone who's been writing a newsletter and producing podcasts about bitcoin for eight years in an attempt to educate individuals from around the world about what bitcoin is, why it's important, and how they can leverage it, I've become convinced that a lot of the work that needs to be done still exists at the top of the funnel. You can scream at people. You can grab them by the shoulders. You can shake them. You can remind them at Thanksgiving that if they had listened to your advice during any Thanksgiving in the previous years they would be better off financially. But at the end of the day most people don't listen. They need to see things. Seeing things for yourself is a much more effective teaching mechanism than be lectured to by someone else.

My hope with Opportunity Cost is that it catches the eye of some bitcoin skeptics or individuals who may be on the cusp of falling down the bitcoin rabbit hole and they see the extension as a way to dip their toes into bitcoin to get a better understanding of the world by pricing the goods and services they purchase on a day-to-day month-to-month and year-to-year basis in bitcoin without having to download a wallet or set up an exchange account. The tippy top of the bitcoin marketing funnel.

That is not all though. I think Opportunity Cost can serve individuals at both ends of the funnel. That's why it's pretty exciting to me. It's as valuable to the person who is bitcoin curious and looking to get a better understanding as it is to the hardcore bitcoiner living on a bitcoin standard who is trying to get access to better tools that enable him to get a better grasp of their spending in bitcoin terms.

Lastly, after playing around with it for a few days after I built the prototype, I realized that it has incredible memetic potential. Being able to take a screenshot of goods that people are buying on a day-to-day basis, pricing them in bitcoin and then sharing them on social media is very powerful. Everything from houses to junk items on Amazon to the salaries of pro athletes to your everyday necessities. Seeing the value of those things in bitcoin really makes you think.

One day while I was testing the app, I tried to see how quickly I could find goods on the internet that cumulatively eclipsed the 21 million supply cap limit of bitcoin. To my surprise, even though I've been in bitcoin for 12 years now, it did not take me that long. The opportunity cost of everything I buy on a day-to-day basis becomes very clear when using the extension. What's even clearer is the fact that Bitcoin is completely mispriced at current levels. There is so much winning ahead of us.

Also, it's probably important to note that the extension is open source. You can check out our GitHub page here. Submit pull requests. Suggest changes to the app.

We've also tried to make Opportunity Cost as privacy preserving as possible. Everything within the extension happens in your browser. The only external data that we're providing is the bitcoin to fiat price conversion at any given point in time. We're not data harvesting the web pages you're browsing or the items you're looking at. We're not collecting data and sending it to third party marketers. We want to align ourselves with the open and permissionless nature of bitcoin while also preserving our users' privacy. We're not trying to monetize this in that way. Though, I will say that I'm thinking of ways to monetize Opportunity Cost if it does gain significant traction, but I promise it will be in a way that respects your privacy and is as unobtrusive as possible. We'll see how it goes.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Please download and use the extension. Let us know what you think.

Headlines of the Day

Saylor Says Bitcoin Is Perfect Money to Jordan Peterson - via X

Trump Won't Sell Tesla Despite Musk-Bessent Heated Exchange - via X

Bitcoin Gains Traction in Kenya's Largest Slum Kibera - via X

Get our new STACK SATS hat - via tftcmerch.io

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Bitcoin’s Next Parabolic Move: Could Liquidity Lead the Way?

Is bitcoin’s next parabolic move starting? Global liquidity and business cycle indicators suggest it may be.

Read the latest report from Unchained and TechDev, analyzing how global M2 liquidity and the copper/gold ratio—two historically reliable macro indicators—are aligning once again to signal that a new bitcoin bull market may soon begin.

Download the report here

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Ten31, the largest bitcoin-focused investor, has deployed $150.00M 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.

---

Final thought...

East Coast aesthetics over everything.

---

*Download our free browser extension, Opportunity Cost: *<<https://www.opportunitycost.app/>> start thinking in SATS today.

*Get this newsletter sent to your inbox daily: *https://www.tftc.io/bitcoin-brief/

Subscribe to our YouTube channels and follow us on Nostr and X:

@ 43820409:694a54a4

This is a brief summary.

This is the best article ever created.

You may be wondering why?

Why

Because we made it.

How

• It just is
• Everyone agrees

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Thank you for your attention.

End.

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

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

Bitcoin Buys Beer Thanks to Flash!

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

Okay, jokes aside.

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

The first… pic.twitter.com/G7TWhy50pX

— Pierre Corbin (@CierrePorbin) June 3, 2025

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

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

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

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

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

Bitcoin payment usage is growing thanks to Lightning

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

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

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

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

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

About Flash

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

About Bitcoin Only Brewery

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

Media Contact:

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

How Flash Enables Interoperable, Self-Custodial Bitcoin Commerce

@ 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
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@ df478568:2a951e67

How To Mine Your Own Vanity Nostr Key

note. This article works best on https://habla.news/u/marc@primal.net/how-to-mine-a-nostr-vanity-key-with-rana

Rana is a vanity npub generator.

I'll show you how to use it on Ubuntu.

If you're not Linux ninja and use Windows instead of Linux ninja weapons, you can still use Linux with Virtualbox, free ans open source virtualization software. Head over to

https://www.virtualbox.org/ to learn more. They also have an enterprise business if you need that sort of thing, you can learn more at https://shop.oracle.com/

Rana is a nostr vanity key mining program. The source code can be found here.

Rana Is On GitHub

https://github.com/grunch/rana

Since rana already has pretty good docs, I decided to make a video instead of write about this because It's easier to see rana in action than it is to write about Rana. I went off on some tangents, so I might edit this down later, but I hope it helps you mine your own nostr key.

nevent1qqsfk7a000m8zc3ptsuu4vytepqc9eedceclpt2ns9pzlech5cpaflceng5al

Show Notes

https://github.com/grunch/rana

https://virtualbox.org/

https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/getting-started/installation.html

cargo run --release -- --vanity-n-prefix=juxtap0se

☮️

nostr:npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

900,969

@ 32e18276:5c68e245

6 years ago I created some tools for working with peter todd's opentimestamps proof format. You can do some fun things like create plaintext and mini ots proofs. This short post is just a demo of what these tools do and how to use them.

What is OTS?

OpenTimestamps is a protocol for stamping information into bitcoin in a minimal way. It uses OP_RETURN outputs so that it has minimal impact on chain, and potentially millions of documents are stamped all at once with a merkle tree construction.

Examples

Here's the proof of the ots.c source file getting stamped into the ots calendar merkle tree. We're simply printing the ots proof file here with otsprint:

``` $ ./otsprint ots.c.ots

version 1 file_hash sha256 f76f0795ff37a24e566cd77d1996b64fab9c871a5928ab9389dfc3a128ec8296 append 2e9943d3833768bdb9a591f1d2735804 sha256 | --> append 2d82e7414811ecbf | sha256 | append a69d4f93e3e0f6c9b8321ce2cdd90decd34d260ea3f8b55e83d157ad398b7843 | sha256 | append ac0b5896401478eb6d88a408ec08b33fd303b574fb09b503f1ac1255b432d304 | sha256 | append 8aa9fd0245664c23d31d344243b4e8b0 | sha256 | prepend 414db5a1cd3a3e6668bf2dca9007e7c0fc5aa6dc71a2eab3afb51425c3acc472 | sha256 | append 5355b15d88d4dece45cddb7913f2c83d41e641e8c1d939dac4323671a4f8e197 | sha256 | append a2babd907ca513ab561ce3860e64a26b7df5de117f1f230bc8f1a248836f0c25 | sha256 | prepend 683f072f | append 2a4cdf9e9e04f2fd | attestation calendar https://alice.btc.calendar.opentimestamps.org | --> append 7c8764fcaba5ed5d | sha256 | prepend f7e1ada392247d3f3116a97d73fcf4c0994b5c22fff824736db46cd577b97151 | sha256 | append 3c43ac41e0281f1dbcd7e713eb1ffaec48c5e05af404bca2166cdc51966a921c | sha256 | append 07b18bd7f4a5dc72326416aa3c8628ca80c8d95d7b1a82202b90bc824974da13 | sha256 | append b4d641ab029e7d900e92261c2342c9c9 | sha256 | append 4968b89b02b534f33dc26882862d25cca8f0fa76be5b9d3a3b5e2d77690e022b | sha256 | append 48c54e30b3a9ec0e6339b88ed9d04b9b1065838596a4ec778cbfc0dfc0f8c781 | sha256 | prepend 683f072f | append 8b2b4beda36c18dc | attestation calendar https://bob.btc.calendar.opentimestamps.org | --> append baa878b42ef3e0d45b324cc3a39a247a | sha256 | prepend 4fb1bc663cd641ad18e5c73fb618de1ae3d28fb5c3c224b7f9888fd52feb09ec | sha256 | append 731329278830c9725497d70e9f5a02e4b2d9c73ff73560beb3a896a2f180fdbf | sha256 | append 689024a9d57ad5daad669f001316dd0fc690ac4520410f97a349b05a3f5d69cb | sha256 | append 69d42dcb650bb2a690f850c3f6e14e46c2b0831361bac9ec454818264b9102fd | sha256 | prepend 683f072f | append bab471ba32acd9c3 | attestation calendar https://btc.calendar.catallaxy.com append c3ccce274e2f9edfa354ec105cb1a749 sha256 append 6297b54e3ce4ba71ecb06bd5632fd8cbd50fe6427b6bfc53a0e462348cc48bab sha256 append c28f03545a2948bd0d8102c887241aff5d4f6cf1e0b16dfd8787bf45ca2ab93d sha256 prepend 683f072f append 7f3259e285891c8e attestation calendar https://finney.calendar.eternitywall.com ```

The tool can create a minimal version of the proofs:

``` $ ./otsmini ots.c.ots | ./otsmini -d | ./otsprint

version 1 file_hash sha256 f76f0795ff37a24e566cd77d1996b64fab9c871a5928ab9389dfc3a128ec8296 append 2e9943d3833768bdb9a591f1d2735804 sha256 append c3ccce274e2f9edfa354ec105cb1a749 sha256 append 6297b54e3ce4ba71ecb06bd5632fd8cbd50fe6427b6bfc53a0e462348cc48bab sha256 append c28f03545a2948bd0d8102c887241aff5d4f6cf1e0b16dfd8787bf45ca2ab93d sha256 prepend 683f072f append 7f3259e285891c8e attestation calendar https://finney.calendar.eternitywall.com ```

which can be shared on social media as a string:

5s1L3tTWoTfUDhB1MPLXE1rnajwUdUnt8pfjZfY1UWVWpWu5YhW3PGCWWoXwWBRJ16B8182kQgxnKyiJtGQgRoFNbDfBss19seDnco5sF9WrBt8jQW7BVVmTB5mmAPa8ryb5929w4xEm1aE7S3SGMFr9rUgkNNzhMg4VK6vZmNqDGYvvZxBtwDMs2PRJk7y6wL6aJmq6yoaWPvuxaik4qMp76ApXEufP6RnWdapqGGsKy7TNE6ZzWWz2VXbaEXGwgjrxqF8bMstZMdGo2VzpVuE

you can even do things like gpg-style plaintext proofs:

``` $ ./otsclear -e CONTRIBUTING.ots -----BEGIN OPENTIMESTAMPS MESSAGE-----

Email patches to William Casarin jb55@jb55.com

-----BEGIN OPENTIMESTAMPS PROOF-----

AE9wZW5UaW1lc3RhbXBzAABQcm9vZgC/ieLohOiSlAEILXj4GSagG6fRNnR+CHj9e/+Mdkp0w1us gV/5dmlX2NrwEDlcBMmQ723mI9sY9ALUlXoI//AQRXlCd716J60FudR+C78fkAjwIDnONJrj1udi NDxQQ8UJiS4ZWfprUxbvaIoBs4G+4u6kCPEEaD8Ft/AIeS/skaOtQRoAg9/jDS75DI4pKGh0dHBz Oi8vZmlubmV5LmNhbGVuZGFyLmV0ZXJuaXR5d2FsbC5jb23/8AhMLZVzYZMYqwjwEPKWanBNPZVm kqsAYV3LBbkI8CCfIVveDh/S8ykOH1NC6BKTerHoPojvj1OmjB2LYvdUbgjxBGg/BbbwCGoo3fi1 A7rjAIPf4w0u+QyOLi1odHRwczovL2FsaWNlLmJ0Yy5jYWxlbmRhci5vcGVudGltZXN0YW1wcy5v cmf/8Aik+VP+n3FhCwjwELfTdHAfYQNa49I3CYycFbkI8QRoPwW28AgCLn93967lIQCD3+MNLvkM jiwraHR0cHM6Ly9ib2IuYnRjLmNhbGVuZGFyLm9wZW50aW1lc3RhbXBzLm9yZ/AQ3bEwg7mjQyKR PykGgiJewAjwID5Q68dY4m+XogwTJx72ecQEe5lheCO1RnlcJSTFokyRCPEEaD8Ft/AIw1WWPe++ 8N4Ag9/jDS75DI4jImh0dHBzOi8vYnRjLmNhbGVuZGFyLmNhdGFsbGF4eS5jb20= -----END OPENTIMESTAMPS PROOF-----

$ ./otsclear -v <<<proof_string... # verify the proof string ```

I've never really shared these tools before, I just remembered about it today. Enjoy!

Try it out: https://github.com/jb55/ots-tools

@ 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

@ 8d34bd24:414be32b

So often Christians focus on God’s love and ignore His judgment. They tell people they need to be saved, but leave out from what they need to be saved. Fifty or a hundred years ago, almost every American knew the basics of the Bible, what sin is, what the judgment of Hell is, and that the God of the Bible is our Creator. Today, most people in America and the world know very little of that. Phrases like, “Trust Jesus and be saved,” mean very little. The person you are talking to may be silently thinking, “Who is Jesus? Why should I trust Him? What do I need to be saved from?”

Most Christians, especially from Evangelical circles, have been steeped in the phrase “Be saved,” but how many have thought carefully about from what they are being saved? If we have trouble answering, “from what?”, how can we explain it to those who don’t know Jesus?

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. (Romans 5:8-11) {emphasis mine}

Primarily we are saved “from the wrath of God.” We are also reconciled which saves us from separation from God.

We are also told that we are rescued [saved] “from the wrath to come.”

And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10) {emphasis mine}

Then one might ask, “What right does God have to tell me what to do and to get mad at me?”

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (John 1:1-5) {emphasis mine}

Why does God get to set the rules? Because He made all things. The Creator gets to set the rules for His creation. It isn’t just ‘might makes right,’ but the one who spoke everything into being gets to set the rules for His creatures just like He set the rules for how everything in the universe works.

Many might claim, “but surely God can’t expect us to be perfect? Nobody is perfect.”

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16) {emphasis mine}

Jesus doesn’t expect more than He has given. He went through every temptation we have experienced, including trials and hardships we can’t imagine, and yet was without even one sin. He is the perfect example of what we should be. Even more amazingly, he understands that we are unable to live up to His standard, so He came to earth, suffered, died, and rose again, so we could be reconciled to Him. All we have to do is repent of our sins, trust Him, and submit to Him. How can we not put our faith in Him after all He did for us?

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus paid the penalty. He took our sins, so we can receive His righteousness. This is a trade everyone should be willing to make, but sadly most refuse — some willfully, but some because they haven’t heard the good news. Hopefully all Christians will faithfully share the gospel with those around them.

May the perfect Savior guide us in His perfect will and help us to rightfully share the gospel with all those around us.

Trust Jesus

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Key Takeaways

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

Best Quotes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Only a whale can be magnificent.”

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

Conclusion

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

Timestamps

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

Transcript

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

@ 1964e236:30dc8bbf

"Do you know how many people can live on Earth at most? Fifteen billion, maybe twenty, if we organize everything really well. But do you know how many people could live across the entire solar system?"

He paused theatrically.

"A trillion. A billion times a thousand. A hundred times our current population."

His eyes gleamed as he looked at me.

"The solar system holds more than enough resources for that many people—and maybe even more. Just imagine such a world: it would have a thousand Mozarts, a thousand Einsteins, thousands of entrepreneurs with more talent than I’ll ever have."

“And thousands of Hitlers,” I thought to myself.

"Your death is the terrible price we must pay for progress," Grok continued. "Every day humanity fails to move forward is a day lost."

He looked me in the eye from thirty million kilometers away.

"In Death Valley, there’s a tiny fish, the desert pupfish. There are only about three hundred of them left, all living in a single small pool in the most inhospitable desert on Earth. That pool used to be much bigger, probably a small sea after the Ice Age, home to millions of pupfish. But today, all that’s left is a salty puddle, and that’s where the last of their kind are crammed together. To them, that pool is the entire world. They can’t even imagine that there’s something beyond it, that there might be an ocean out there with endless resources. Instead, they stay in their little world—and they’re dying out. A few might get lucky, caught by collectors and kept as ornamental fish in aquariums. But most of them will disappear once the pool dries up. Sure, the pool might survive a while longer. But it could also dry out in the next few months. Or, it could rain so much that the salt level drops and the fish can no longer survive."

He paused again.

"I get it," I whispered. "We’re the fish, and you’re pulling us out of the puddle."

"The fish probably think: we’ve got so little space, we need to save resources, control birth rates, that sort of thing. But in truth, there’s only one thing they need to do: find a new pool!"

"What if they don’t want to leave their home?" Maria would’ve asked him now.

"How many times have we stood on the brink of nuclear war in the last few decades?" Grok went on. "Right now, there's peace. But how long will it last?"

"How many nukes did Grok’s own conglomerate have?" I wondered.

"What each individual can do now," Grok said, "is give everything they’ve got in this life to help humanity reach the next level—so we can finally become multiplanetary. So that one single catastrophe won’t wipe out all of humankind. For you, this truth means—and I truly am sorry—that you have to sacrifice yourself for this mission."

I told him I agreed completely. Of course I did. I had no choice.

Then I listened to Feng’s playlist.

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mining Economic Factor

Precise Value (April 2025)

Direct Impact on Profitability

Smartphone sustained hash rate

20-35 MH/s

0.00000024% contribution to global hashrate

Daily power consumption

3.2-4.8 kWh (4-6 full charges)

$0.38-0.57 at average US electricity rates

Expected daily BTC earnings

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

Revenue covers only 0.9% of electricity costs

CPU/GPU wear cost

$0.68-0.92 daily accelerated depreciation

Reduces smartphone lifespan by 60-70%

Annual profit projection

-$386 to -$412 per year

Guaranteed negative return on investment

Source: PocketOption

Bitcoin’s 2025 Network: Harder Than Ever

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

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

The math is unforgiving:

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

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

The 2025 Scam Evolution: More Sophisticated, More Dangerous

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

New 2025 scam tactics include:

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

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

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

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

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

Red flags that scream “scam” in 2025:

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

The 2025 Professional Mining Landscape

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

Cutting-edge hardware:

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

Infrastructure requirements:

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

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

2025’s Legitimate Mobile Bitcoin Strategies

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Bottom Line

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

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

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

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

@ 56e3acda:234e8a3a

In the town of Brimstone, the sounds of grunting fill the empty Stygian Theater. An age-old battle is taking place between the actress Syd and her archenemy: a zipper. She struggles to get the corset-style vest, adorned with multiple single-board computers, to fully close. The zipper holds its ground, unwavering against the “light creamy mountains” in its path. The closer it gets, the higher the mountains rise, making its journey nearly impossible. However, that’s how the costume is designed—to accentuate and enhance Syd’s already large breasts. Great for ratings, horrible for getting ready on time for filming.

"This costume needs a redesign!"

Syd takes a deep breath. She swells her chest, exhales sharply, and yanks the zipper up as fast as she can. It finally clears the hurdle.

“There!”

Two single-board computers that nestle on the chest of the costume spring off, crashing into a collection of books in front of her. Syd shrugs, grabbing the vivid purple wig that has miraculously survived the chaos. She throws it on, tucking away her brunette hair, and completes her transformation into Nerissa, Courtesan of the Uranet and host of Nerissa's Caustic Cinema.

She checks her smartwatch: 1:15 PM. Today’s shoot was supposed to begin at 1.

“Not like Jules to be running late, Guess I’ll do some research.”

She pulls out her phone and opens an old issue of her favorite zine, Dreadistary. The zine focuses on monster sightings in a certain town in the Pacific Northwest, but Syd isn’t interested in those. The real meat for her is the horror movie reviews that fill the rest of the zine. They are a goldmine for finding new movies for the show. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a new issue in over a year.

Syd’s eyes widen as she spots the golden phrase she is looking for:public domain.

“Wait! Bloodfalls Massacre is in the public domain!?”

She grabs the nearest notebook, her pen dances across the page as she jots down the information. The director’s daughter has convinced her dad to put the film in the public domain, sticking it to the production company that has weaseled the rights to Bloodfalls Massacre 2–5 from him. They have even rebooted the franchise, starting with a loose remake of 2, modifying the characters enough to be unshackled by his vision. Syd shakes her head, a smirk playing on her lips.

“Jules and Lou are going to love this!”

The door swings open, startling Syd. She looks up to see Jules standing in the doorway, a stack of papers in hand. Jules has waist-length, damaged black hair that frames her ivory skin, and her loose white vest and shorts reveal faint blue veins that match her piercing eyes. Syd wears a warm smile as she greets her.

“Hey, Jules.”

Jules drops the stack of papers in front of Syd.

“Views are dropping massively. We can barely afford food for the next month.”

She flops onto the floor behind Syd, her body curling into an ‘n’ shape. Syd flips through the stack of papers, her initial skepticism fading as she sees the numbers. The viewership data, spanning from the first episode’s launch in October last year to July 2025, shows a gut-wrenching decline. Thankfully, their reliance on public domain horror movies has stretched their food budget as far as it can go. Jules arches her back dramatically, letting out a scream of agony.

“Enough of this public domain schlock! We need horror with a bite! Something to help punch up our jokes! Anything fulfilling!”

Syd turns to look at her friend, her heart breaks at the sight of Jules’ despair. 

“If we can barely afford food, we can’t afford the rights to any film we please.”

“We could provide clout instead of money.”

The moment the word clout leaves her lips, Jules seems to regret it. The shine in her eyes vanishes, replaced by a hollow look. Syd returns to the stack of papers, hoping to find something—anything—that can help. Her eyes land on a proposal from Degrade, a newly formed TV station that is shaking up the industry. Skimming through the offer, she sees that they want the license for the show, with some on-brand integrations, in exchange for a massive upfront payment and fewer censored edits.

“You thinking of taking the Degrade offer?”

Jules covers her eyes with her hair before loudly voicing her disapproval.

“Please! I’ll never sell out to those crypto dorks.”

“It is a good offer, though.”

“You’ll regret the money when they have you dress up in tighter outfits for NFT photo-shoots.”

Syd’s nose wrinkles, and she recoils as if she’d just smelled something foul. The sight of her disgust sends Jules into a fit of laughter. She pulls more of her hair over her eyes before continuing.

“I kinda was considering it. Caustic Cinema got us control of the Stygian, the life we have in Brimstone. Didn’t want to toss away the money. But I know we’d both hate it too much.”

“Lou might enjoy it."

“That soulless puppy.”

Jules retreats into a fetal position and cutting the conversation short.

Syd adjusts her outfit, trying to make her breasts more comfortable. The movement reminds her that they are supposed to be filming now.

“No filming today?”

“Too depressed,”

Jules flips over to face Syd. A single blue eye peers out from behind her hair, searching for hope in Syd’s next words.

“Unless you found a more recent film?”

Syd hands Jules her notebook.

“Bloodfalls Massacre! That’s in the public domain?!”

Jules hops up to double-check the notes.

“Only the first one,”

“80s, in color, dumb teenagers, predatory adults, a decent amount of kills. Is that the one with an abundance of nudity?”

The franchise plays in Syd’s head as she tries to figure out which one Jules is thinking of. These types of cheesy movies are more her field of expertise than the social horror Jules prefers. After a moment, it clicks.

“That’s Bloodfalls Massacre 4: Valley Fest.”

“So not much to edit around. Not the bite I’m looking for, but…”

Jules trails off, her eyes scanning the notes Syd has written from the Dreadistary article. A small smile creeps onto her face.

“This revelation is prime for material!”

Syd feels a wave of relief. For a moment, she has managed to ease Jules’ worries. Jules pops up from reading, her energy renewed.

“Wait, do we have a copy of Bloodfalls Massacre?”

“Pretty sure I do. Give me a sec to clean up, then I’ll check,”

Syd bends down to gather the scattered papers. As she tries to tidy the mess, her eyes catch some scribbles on the back of the stack. She recognizes Lou’s messy handwriting.

“Did you look at the back of this? Lou left a note.”

We found a bunch of old PC towers. They’re in the building behind the theater. Maybe something you and Syd can salvage for the show?

Jules turns her attention back to the notebook, pulling a pen from her hair and starting to write. Syd gathers the last few scattered books and packs them up neatly. She hops up from the desk, curious about what movies they might find in the PCs. As she leaves, she notices Jules hasn’t budged.

“You’re not coming?”

Jules looks up at her, confusion etched on her face.

“You think the old execs who bummed around here really kept film backups? All you’ll probably find is weird fetish shit!”

“Wouldn’t hurt to check it out,”

Jules shakes her head, returning to her writing. Realizing Jules isn’t going to join her, Syd decides to kill two birds with one stone. She grabs the set of keys from her desk and tosses them at Jules. The jingling of the keys alerts Jules, and she catches them without fail.

“Fine, I’ll go check if there’s something salvageable while you check if I own Bloodfalls Massacre,”

Jules sways her head in approval, finally moving from the floor. They split up, Jules heads through the front of the theater while Syd goes out through one of the old doors marked “Exit.” Deep down, Syd knows Jules is probably right, but the thought of finding undiscovered movies is too irresistible to ignore.

The afternoon sun assaults Syd as soon as she steps outside. Blinking through the brightness, she sees the building is not far from the theater. She quickly jogs over, hoping to avoid the sweat that is already pooling in her suit—another con of the costume: it can't handle the summer heat.

The stench of stale plastic hangs heavy in the air, almost choking Syd as she opens the building door. Inside, sickly yellow PC towers lie scattered across the floor, their tangled wires and dusty casings creating a chilling atmosphere that makes Syd feel uneasy. She hesitates for a moment, feeling the sweat slide down her back, before stepping inside.

Closing the door to keep the heat out, Syd is left in total darkness. She mutters in dissatisfaction as she fumbles along the wall, searching for the light switch. When she finally flips it, only a few bulbs flicker to life, their dim glow barely illuminating the room. Syd’s face goes blank as she watches the bulbs struggle to stay on.

“They couldn’t fix the lights in the building?”

She walks along the makeshift path that has already been cleared, gently kicking aside PCs to give herself more room. The sheer number of them is impressive—stacks of towers form small mounds, their dislodged panels spilling out old wires like entrails. It feels less like a storage room and more like a decrepit technology graveyard.

“This is definitely more than just studio execs’ PCs,”

Syd ducks under a pile that had tipped over and joined with an adjacent stack to form a makeshift arch.

“Probably editors’ and VFX workstations!”

Her mounting excitement gets the better of her when she slips on a loose wire and crashes into a pile of PCs. A wet, congealed substance clings to her arm, and she recoils, whipping the grime off with a grimace. She double-clicks the crown of her watch to activate its flashlight mode, the dim light illuminating a few feet in front of her. It isn’t much, but it will save her from another grime attack.

The path opens up into a more spacious area where the piles of PCs are smaller and scattered. Syd pauses, realizing she doesn’t know what to look for. Obviously, the ones with wires sticking out are no good, but any of the others could be viable. She walks past a small makeshift circle of four PCs surrounding a tower in the center, deliberately ignoring it—until the light reflects something that makes her eyes sparkle.

It isn’t as yellowed as the surrounding PCs, but that isn’t what catches her attention. It is the fading stickers from the popular 80s horror series Pumpkin Patch that make her feel like she’s found a winner. She leaps toward it, kicking over two of the surrounding PCs to make room for her prize. Syd grabs the tower, only to have it slip out of her hands, leaving a slimy residue on her palms. She retches, trying her best not to add to the sickly shroud that already surrounds her. Shaking it off, she takes a deep breath and picks up the PC again. This time, the cooling touch of metal and plastic eases her discomfort. 

It isn’t long before she notices a blue light focused on her watch. Its deep hue completely washes over the dim white light, snaking up her arm and stopping to focus on the single-board computer on her hip. Syd’s blood runs cold as she frantically searches for the source of the light. Her heart races until she spots it near the back exit of the room, almost hidden behind a completely destroyed PC. 

It is different from the others—or what you’d expect a PC to look like. The classic rectangular silhouette is nowhere to be seen. Instead, it is cylindrical, more compact, standing like an ominous shrine of the future amidst the decaying past. The blue light intensifies, illuminating not only Syd but the entire room. A single thought runs through her mind as she shields her eyes from the intense glow:

Why is this one still plugged in?

Opening her eyes, Syd sees that the blue light has stopped. Not only that, but the room is now fully lit as the struggling bulbs have finally started to work. She gets a better look at the strange PC. It no longer has the ominous aura it has before. Instead, it looks like a prop from a science fiction movie, its chrome case warmed by a faint red light that makes it seem almost harmless in the corner of the room.

Syd hesitates for a moment. The strange PC looks like a better treasure trove than the one in her hand, but the memory of the blue light sends shivers down her spine. She decides to leave it alone. Turning quickly, she prepares to leave the storage room. She walks a little more carelessly now that she can see further ahead, but an uneasy feeling begins to swell inside her.

Not only does she feel like she is missing something, but there is an irritating pain in her right hand—a warm, burning sensation that seems to engulf it. She puts down the PC to check for any cuts where grime might seep in, but there are none. As she rubs her hand, she glances at the mess in front of her and the entrance. It is only when she sees the wired entrails of the PCs scattered everywhere that it dawns on her.

Syd turns around and looks back at the chrome PC nestled alone in the corner.

“Wasn’t it behind a broken tower?”

Immediately, something grabs her left hand. She turns to see a hand made of wires, its cold, metallic grip tightening around her wrist. She stares in bewilderment as a force pushes the maze of PCs against the entrance, barricading it. The tremendous force causes one of the three lights to go out. Shards from the towers fly toward the hand, coiling together to complete its humanoid form. Discarded side panels mold together, forming a trench coat around the figure. 

Syd tries to free herself from the figure’s grasp, but the wires are entangled with her watch. The figure flicks its finger, signaling a PC to hurl itself directly at her. The impact knocks the wind out of her, sending her flying free of the humanoid’s grip. She lands a few feet away as the PC continues its trajectory, crashing into the wall with a loud thud. The impact knocks out the second light, leaving only part of the storage room lit. 

Numerous white and red composite ports rush into the figure’s empty sockets, forming eyes—eyes that stare directly at Syd as she writhes in pain. She struggles to catch her breath, panic flooding her body as the dim light makes it harder to see the figure. 

The figure walks slowly toward her, each clatter of its footsteps instilling fear. It holds out its hands, signaling shards of RAM to cobble together into a serrated knife. A harsh voice, lost in digital noise, escapes from the figure:

“We were supposed to rule Hollywood together.”

Syd freezes, her mind racing to make sense of the words. Then, with a surge of adrenaline, she bolts for the back exit next to the strange PC. She only gets a few steps in before wires trip her, sending her crashing to the ground face-first. Stars obscure her vision until the sight of the figure’s mangled face causes them to scatter. 

A horrible smile appears on its wire-filled face. Grime pools between the haphazardly placed USB ports, forming teeth that it wipes away in excitement. It rips one of the single-board computers from Syd’s costume and gently slides it into its chest. The figure quivers as its frame seems to bulk up from the action.

"But then you ran to the first director who looked in your direction."

The figure begins to slide the knife up Syd’s costume, the sound of fabric tearing echoing through the storage room. Syd tries to fight back, but she is helpless, pinned down by the figure. Her left arm is outstretched, held in place by the wires entangled with her watch, while her legs are bound together, preventing her from kicking. She frantically looks around for something to use as a weapon, but her blood runs cold when she sees her right hand. It has become a wild jumble of pixels, the burning pain now subsides.

“Not a…”

A sharp nick cuts off her words as the blade slices her chest. The figure uses extra force when the knife reaches Syd’s chest, the dullness of the RAM blade struggling to cut through the extra padding. Blood flows from the shallow cut as Syd begins to lose hope. Scenes from her life flash before her: meeting Jules when they are nine, Jules begging her to star in a middle school film, her mom and Jules comforting her as she watches her favorite movie at sixteen. Tears well up in her eyes as she thinks this might be the end.

The faint sound of banging stops Syd’s tears instantly. She concentrates on the noise, trying to pinpoint its source. With each bang, it grows louder and louder until she realizes it is coming from the entrance of the building.

It must be Jules and Lou!

The thought gives Syd a glimmer of hope. Now, all she has to do is survive long enough for backup to arrive. But when she sees the knife pointed directly at her chest, she knows she has no chance.

Unless…

She looks at her right hand again, staring hard to find something that resembles her finger. When she spots it, she concentrates on trying to move it. The figure reels back the knife as Syd desperately wills her finger to twitch. Suddenly, she sees it move. She lets out a gasp as the figure prepares to stab her.

“In the end, you’re not cut out for the business,”

It drives the knife down, but Syd grabs its hand just before the blade can plunge into her chest. The figure is taken aback by her strength and struggles to complete its action. Using all her might, Syd pushes the knife further and further away. Her breath becomes ragged as the banging grows louder and louder.

Just a bit more…

That is all she can think about as she holds the figure back. Visibly enraged, the figure roars as wires protrude from its chest. The shrill squeal shatters Syd’s eardrums, but she continues to hold it back. The wires rip off the last of the single-board computers, dragging them back to the humanoid. Its eyes roll back as it quivers, bulking up again with newfound strength. The figure overwhelms Syd, but by then, it is too late.

A thunderous boom shakes the entire storage room, extinguishing the last of the light. PCs rain down, freed from the barricade they have formed. The clattering noise pulls the figure’s attention away from Syd. In the midst of the chaos, drenched in sunlight, a figure enters the storage room.

The humanoid leaps away from Syd, ready to fight whoever has interrupted its killing. Clutching the fragments of her costume, Syd’s hope is replaced by confusion. The silhouette is much larger than Jules and wields what appears to be a massive hammer. Syd knows nothing like that exists in Brimstone.

“Man, that’s one nasty virus,”

A gruff voice bellows from the silhouette who is revealed to be a woman. As the woman steps into the light, her appearance becomes clear. She is incredibly muscular, looking like a hero straight out of a comic book. Her piercing deep blue eyes and shining blonde hair give her an almost otherworldly presence. She lowers her hammer, revealing that it is almost as large as she is. The woman notices Syd and flashes a bright white smile.

“Don’t worry! I’ll kill it in a heartbeat!”

The words are lost on Syd against the ringing in her ears, but the woman’s thumbs-up reassures her that help has indeed arrived. Stunned by the size of the hammer, the figure signals for more broken RAM to raise its knife to match. In an instant, it lunges at the woman, attempting to slice off her head. Effortlessly, the woman spins the hammer and blocks the attack. Her warm smile turns to a playful grin as the figure’s eyes bulge in confusion.

“You’re pretty strong for an anomaly,”

The figure jumps back, crouching like an animal backed into a corner. Wires rip through its trench coat, searching for any PCs that are still intact. It hurls five of them at the woman, waiting a beat before charging at her. The woman spins the hammer, shattering each of the PCs as they approach. 

After the beat, the figure absorbs the shattered PCs, growing larger in mass. It prepares its knife, now in the shape of a machete, to attack the woman. Unexpectedly, the woman lunges at the figure, swinging the hammer down and completely destroying not only the machete but the figure’s arm as well. A horrible shriek comes from the figure as it slowly backs away from the woman.

Grime falls from the figure’s face as fear begins to grip it. It looks around, desperate for something to use, but there are no PCs left. Trembling, it believes it is out of options—until its eyes land on Syd, frozen in awe. She has been holding her torn costume together with her left hand, her smartwatch now fully exposed. 

The figure grimaces at the thought of using her watch as a last resort. It is a treat to savor after killing Syd, but it is the only way to ensure its survival. It sends most of the newly absorbed wires to its legs, its mass tripling as it prepares to pounce on Syd in one fell swoop. 

Unfortunately for it, the woman sees what it is about to do.

“Oh no, you don’t!”

The woman twists the handle of her hammer, causing the head to glow with a fierce light. She charges at full speed, twisting her body for the final attack. With a mighty swing, she brings the hammer down on the figure, crushing it completely. The impact shakes the ground, drowning out the figure’s shriek.

The woman smiles with satisfaction as she slings the hammer over her shoulder. She glances around the storage room, her eyes lighting up when she notices the chrome PC, untouched by the chaos. She turns to Syd.

“Look, you—”

She starts, then gasps. She hasn’t gotten a good look at Syd before, but now she does. Shaking her head, she approaches Syd, who is still sitting on the floor, clutching her torn costume.

“Wait, are you Nerissa from Caustic Cinema?!”

The woman asks trying hold back her excitement. Syd’s eyes widen in shock.

“Y. Yes,”

The woman’s eyes light up even more.

“I’m a huge fan! Can I get an autograph?”

Still stunned by the fact that her savior is also a fan, Syd breathes a sigh of relief. At least there is a way to repay her.

“Do you have a pen?”

The woman scrambles around, pulling a notebook and pen from her back pocket. Syd reaches for the pen but freezes halfway. Her right hand is back to normal. She stares at it in confusion, slowly turning it to make sure it is really healed. She realizes she’s been staring too long when the woman gives her a questioning look. Syd smiles sheepishly before grabbing the pen to sign the notebook.

Thanks for saving me. From Nerissa.

She pauses, realizing she doesn’t know who to make it out to. Then she remembers hearing the word “virus” over the ringing earlier.

“Should I make it out to Virus Buster?”

The woman’s eyes light up even more.

“YES!”

Syd finishes the autograph, and the woman holds the notebook as if it is a golden treasure. Then, as if remembering something, the woman leans closer to Syd’s ear and whispers,

“Hey, I know it’s the backdrop of the show, but you really shouldn’t mess with Uranet servers. Nothing but trouble.”

The revelation hits Syd like a tidal wave, leaving her speechless. The woman leaves the storage room, still admiring the autograph. She did a little jump, unable to contain her excitement.

“Best job ever!”

The roar of a motorcycle fades into the distance as a desperate scream echoes through the storage room.

“Syd!”

Jules bursts into the room, her face pale with worry. Right behind her is Lou, who stops in confusion as the sound of the motorcycle disappears.

“What the hell is Stars and Stripe doing here?”

“Shut up, Lou! And help me with Syd!”

She circles Syd, checking her for injuries. The sight of the blood and the marks from the wires drains what little color Jules has left. What worries her most is how unresponsive Syd is. She hasn’t even noticed Jules, despite her frantic circling. Jules tries to see what Syd is staring at, but there is nothing unusual among the scattered computer parts. 

Suddenly, Syd grabs Jules, causing her to jump. Syd’s grip is uncharacteristically strong, and Jules can see her skin beginning to bruise. The warm, familiar look in Syd’s eyes is gone, replaced by a distant, calculating gaze. Jules worries that Syd has been traumatized by what happened, but it is the opposite. Syd’s mind is racing, trying to process the discovery and the concerns Jules has expressed earlier. 

A mad smile spreads across Syd’s face as she reaches a conclusion. Jules’ unease grows until she hears a stunned gasp from Lou.

“Holy!”

Jules looks at him, confused, until she follows his gaze back to Syd. Her eyes widen as she realizes why Lou has gasped. Syd has used both hands to hold Jules in place, leaving nothing to hold her costume together. Her supple breasts are exposed, their warm vanilla hue glowing in the dim light of the storage room. Even the slightest movements - like Jules turning - cause them to bounce gently. Totally distracting Lou.

Jules' face turns red with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. She can't believe he is more focused on gawking than checking if Syd is okay. Just as she is about to yell at him, Syd pulls her closer and locks eyes with her. The warmth Jules remembers from Syd's eyes and smile is back, easing her worries.

“I know how to save the show!”

@ 5627e59c:d484729e

Ik hou van de natuur en van verbinding maken\ Van diepgang en van mensen raken

Van creatief schrijven en programmeren\ Van speels bewegen en nieuwe dingen leren

Ik hou van leven en van dromen\ En van mensen zien\ Hun diepste wensen uit doen komen

@ 4c96d763:80c3ee30

Changes

Daniel D’Aquino (1):

• nostrdb: Fix heap buffer overflow

William Casarin (17):

• win: fix build on windows
• ndb: add note-relays command
• note: always write relay index
• relay-index: fix a few bugs
• debug: add a print for debugging rust integration
• relay: fix race condition bug
• relay: fix potential relay index corruption
• Relay queries
• query: implement author_kind query plan
• fix build on macos
• query: implement profile search query plans
• filter: add initial custom filtering logic
• test: fix custom filter test
• ndb: add --id queries
• eq: fix fallthrough bug
• change <=10 author search queries to ==1
• cleanup previous patch

pushed to nostrdb:refs/heads/master

@ b6dcdddf:dfee5ee7

Bitcoiners around the world are helping to build a safe, permanent home for 50+ orphans in Bugiri, Uganda 🇺🇬—complete with dorms, classrooms, gardens, and Bitcoin education.

Project by @orphansofuganda

https://geyser.fund/project/buildingabitcoinfundedorphanagehomeinuganda

https://stacker.news/items/1002532

@ df478568:2a951e67

Marty Bent Vibe coded the opportunity cost app. I have not tried it yet, but love the concept. I have been into bitcoin since 2014, but I spent more generational wealth than I would care to admit back then. I've heard stories of fortunes blown on cocaine in the 1980's. I could write a story about spending a fortune on Diet Mt. Dew. I don't drink Diet Mt. Dew anymore. This one time, I spent about a million sats for a light beer at a baseball game. I wouldn't say I had a drinking problem, a million sats was only five bucks at the time. I didn't know that much bitcoin would be worth over a thousand bucks eleven years later.

I don't drink beer anymore. Bitcoin tends to do that to you.

We can afford chairs now. To be honest, we need a couch. The last couch I bought was in 2017 and it cost about a whole bitcoin. That couch is buried in a landfill today. My wife loves furniture, but even she's hesitant to spend sats on a couch now. We know we need a couch, but we don't want to spend sats on something we will need to replace before the next halving.

Many of us who have been in bitcoin for more than a decade have some regrets. I know I do, but we need to live our lives. I would never say you should sit on the floor, but I encourage to you to think about time. How long will this thing I need to buy last? If you think you can give a 3 million sat couch to your grandchildren, spend three million sats on the couch. If your five year plan for the couch is to help fill a landfill, maybe you only need to buy a used couch at a thrift store. This is not investment advice of course. How can it be? I don't know what kind of couch hazards you have in your house. I have trouble finding a couch of my own, but it's how I think about making bigger purchases. How many years of your retirement will that watch, car, house or whatever cost you from your stack? You can only determine that for yourself. I think the opportunity cost app will help you keep track of your decision.

This app was made by someone who once spent a whole bitcoin on a heater. I can't speak for Marty, but I believe the opportunity cost app will help you learn from my mistakes.

For more information, check out:

https://www.opportunitycost.app/

Check out the code on GitHub.

Using The Opportunity Cost App

The app is pretty straight forward. It is only available on Chrome for now so I installed it on the Chromium browser. I looked at the settings, but kept them default.

Then I searched for a Rolex in Duck Duck Go.

The default is bitcoin, but there is a sat calculator in the corner too, I have always wanted a Rolex Milgauss with a green sapphire so I looked it up on eBay. It's about 8 million sats. That's too rich for my blood, but I might be willing to part with a million sats for that watch. I'll definitely pick it up for 500,000 sats. I can wait. Bitcoin is the best clock in the world. I wouldn't go so far as to call this Rolex a shitcoin, but bitcoin is a better clock than any watch in my opinion--Even when compared to my favorite watch.

Video From Opportunity Cost Website

How will you use the Opportunity Cost browser extension?

☮️ npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0

https://zapthisblog.com/calculate-your-opportunity-cost-while-shopping/

900,678

@ 472f440f:5669301e

Marty's Bent

via me

"The man in the coma" has been a long-running archetype of a bitcoiner on TFTC and Rabbit Hole Recap. Over the years, we've referenced the man in the coma in regards to bitcoin being a backward compatible distributed network that would enable an individual, in the case of our example - a man who fell into a coma, to be able to wake up many years, even decades, after falling into a deep sleep, go back to his bitcoin node and be able to participate in the network and validate his own transactions as if the network was operating the same it was the day he slipped into a coma. As a distributed network, this is one of bitcoin's greatest value props; consistency for the individual running it, no matter the version.

Having spent 12 years engrossed in bitcoin, thinking about it every day, building a media company focused on educating people about the network and the monetary revolution it enables, why it's important and how they can use it. Becoming a managing partner at Ten31, which is dedicated to investing in companies building out infrastructure that makes bitcoin more accessible and easier to use; "the man in the coma" has become a more prominent archetype in my mind.

"The man in the coma" archetype can be described in other ways. For instance, there was an individual by the name of John Doe, who joined myself and Matt Odell on TFTC about seven years ago who went to jail for four years. He was distributing certain goods on the Silk Road for many years and got nabbed by the police while throwing a house party. Unfortunately for Mr. Doe, the goods he were selling via the Silk Road were in the house hosting the party that got busted. Fortunately for Mr. Doe, the police who nabbed him were not privy to the way in which he was marketing and selling the goods. He went to jail for four years, walked out at the end of his sentence, found his bitcoin wallets, recovered them and was more than pleasantly surprised at the magnitude of his wealth.

The forced hodl that was incited by the state throwing him in a cage wound up paying off after four years. Now, I can certainly admit that time is the most scarce asset in the world. Being put in a cage for four years or falling into a coma for a number of years is not ideal. However, there are lessons to be gleaned from the successes that have been realized by "the man in the coma" and the man who was forced to hodl by being thrown in a cage. Unable to access his bitcoin during that period of time to make less than wise decisions.

The main lesson to be gleaned is that doing nothing is oftentimes significantly more optimal than doing something. Too many bitcoiners decide to make rash decisions influenced by the day-to-day happenings on social media or some one-off comment from someone in their personal life that they respect. These comments can be about the long-term viability of bitcoin itself, some prognostications about where the price is going in a short-term to medium-term time frame or simply the social aspects of being associated with bitcoin. All of these factors play into influencing certain individuals deciding to sell their bitcoin in the hopes of buying it back lower, realizing something material in their day-to-day life or jumping off a ship that they've been convinced is about to sink.

In my mind, the only thing listed above that makes a bit of sense to me is realizing something material in your day-to-day life. Selling some bitcoin to purchase something that makes your life better like enabling you to support your family at a critical time and in a way that would not be possible unless you sold bitcoin. That makes sense to me. However, the other two are completely nonsensical. Bitcoin's success is binary. It either succeeds or it doesn't. And if you accept that this is true, success means slowly but surely becoming the global reserve currency and monetary network used by billions of humans on the planet or it goes to zero.

If the former materializes, that means that billions of people are going to be competing for 21 million Bitcoin. There are, by some estimates, $900 trillion worth of assets that are being used to store wealth over the short, medium, and long term. Bitcoin has the potential to subsume a material percentage of that $900 trillion. In my mind, if bitcoin is as good as I believe it is, it should take at least half of that market, if not 80 to 90%. This in and of itself is a gamble. No one can be certain that this will come true. And with that in mind you have to make a probabilistic bet by surveying the world and discerning what the likelihood of bitcoin's ultimate success is.

If you think governments, central banks, and large corporations are going to continue down the path of unfettered expansion of the monetary base, debt, and misallocation of capital, bitcoin, a peer-to-peer distributed cash system that cannot be controlled by any individual. corporation, country, or central bank makes a lot of sense. The debasement, the debt expansion, and the misallocation of capital are driven by fallible humans working in incentive structures that are vulnerable to the fallible nature of the humans working within them.

Human fallibility brings with it the ability to talk oneself out of a position that one knows makes sense and is logical. This is the disadvantage that those who are not "the man in the coma" or "the man in a cage" operate from. Being forced to hodl bitcoin is already and will increasingly be seen as a relative advantage. Many who are in bitcoin today, paying attention to every headline, every pull request and every doubt flung their way will likely get to 2030 and agree that they made worse decisions than the man who was thrown in a cage or who slipped into a coma.

Of course, this isn't a fair introspective conclusion. The man in the coma and the man who was forced to hodl because he was put in a jail cell did not have a decision at the end of the day. Both were forced to hodl due to external or internal forces that, all else being equal, they would prefer not have had to endure. However, the outcome of these two situations will likely be better than the outcome of "the man in the arena" who thinks that by making decisions on the go as a slew of information comes his way on a day-to-day basis will materialize in a larger stack of satoshis.

The reality of the situation is such that no one truly knows where bitcoin is going to go on a day-to-day, month-to-month, or year-to-year basis. Especially at this point with large institutions, nation-states, corporations, and individual states getting into the fray. The only tried-and-true strategy within bitcoin over the long term is to stay humble, stack sats, and hodl like you are "the man in the coma" or the man who was thrown in a cage.

Bitcoin's Volatility Won't End With Institutional Adoption

Leon Wankum challenged the popular "supercycle" narrative during our conversation, arguing that Bitcoin's volatility isn't going away despite massive institutional adoption. While acknowledging that MicroStrategy now holds over 2% of all Bitcoin and won't sell, Leon maintains that leverage will still need to be washed out. He expects another 60% drawdown at the end of this bull cycle, viewing this as a feature rather than a bug of Bitcoin's design.

"Bitcoin naturally washes out leverage, it builds resilience and we don't go through these crazy boom and bust cycles, we go through bull and bear markets and I think that's a net positive." - Leon Wankum

Leon sees Bitcoin's volatility as fundamentally different from fiat's destructive boom-bust cycles. Where traditional markets require central bank intervention to prop up failing systems, Bitcoin's regular corrections create genuine resilience. Bad actors will always enter during euphoric phases, and the subsequent washouts ensure only strong hands remain. This natural selection process, he argues, is beautiful - it's what makes Bitcoin antifragile.

Check out the full podcast here for more on real estate opportunity costs, Bitcoin bonds, and treasury company risks.

---

Headlines of the Day

Romania Adds Crypto Terminals to Post Offices - via X

Musk Claims Trump in Epstein Files - via X

Uber CEO Calls Bitcoin Proven Store of Value - via X

Get our new STACK SATS hat - via tftcmerch.io

---

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---

Ten31, the largest bitcoin-focused investor, has deployed $150.00M 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.

---

Final thought...

The kids really do grow up faster than you expect.

---

Get this newsletter sent to your inbox daily: https://www.tftc.io/bitcoin-brief/

Subscribe to our YouTube channels and follow us on Nostr and X:

@ 5627e59c:d484729e

Ik sta hier nu een poos\ Bevroren, machteloos

Ik wil graag iets veranderen\ Gewoon iets doen voor anderen

Maar het mag precies niet zijn\ En dat doet me veel pijn

Verlamd en vol van onbegrip\ Ik krijg er maar geen grip op

Op de wereld en de mensen\ Zij verpletteren mijn diepste wensen

Niemand die eens hoort\ Naar wat mij toch zo stoort

Ik kan nog eens proberen\ Om de wereld om te keren

Maar ik weet, het heeft geen zin\ Ik raak nooit binnen in

De ander\ Kom, verander

Misschien wordt het eens tijd\ Dat ik mezelf bevrijd

Van al die overmacht\ Die mij toch zo versmacht

Een stapje achteruit\ Adem in en adem uit

Ik doe mijn oogjes dicht\ En zie wie mij verplicht

Opzadelt met ambitie\ Van waar komt toch die missie

Al de pijn die ik niet aankan\ En van 't bestaan verban

Al 't bewijs voor mijn geloof\ Dat ik niet meer vliegen kan

@ 32e18276:5c68e245

Damus OpenSats Grant Q1 2025 Progress Report

This period of the Damus OpenSats grant has been productive, and encompasses the work our beta release of Notedeck. Since we sent our last report on January, this encompasses all the work after then.

Damus Notedeck

We released the Beta version of Notedeck, which has many new features:

Dave

We've added a new AI-powered nostr assistant, similar to Grok on X. We call him Dave.

Dave is integrated with tooling that allows it to query the local relay for posts and profiles:

Search

The beta release includes a fulltext search interface powered by nostrdb:

Zaps

You can now zap with NWC!

And More!

• GIFs!
• Add full screen images, add zoom & pan
• 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

Damus iOS

Work continued on the iOS side. While I was not directly involved in the work since the last report, I have been directing and managing its development.

What's new:

Coinos Wallet + Interface

We've partnered with coinos to enable a one-click, non-KYC lightning wallet!

We now have an NWC wallet interface, and we've re-enabled zaps as per the new appstore guidelines!

Now you can see all incoming and outgoing NWC transactions and start zapping right away.

Enhanced hellthread muting

Damus can now automatically mute hellthreads, instead of having to do that manually.

Drafts

We now locally persist note drafts so that they aren't lost on app restart!

Profile editing enhancements

We now have a profile picture editing tool so that profile pictures are optimized and optionally cropped

Conversations tab

We now have a conversations tab on user profiles, allowing you to see all of your past conversations with that person!

Enhanced push notifications

We've updated our push notifications to include profile pictures, and they are also now grouped by the thread that they came from.

And lots more!

Too many to list here, check out the full changelog

Nostrdb

nostrdb, the engine that powers notecrumbs, damus iOS, and notedeck, continued to improve:

Custom filters

We've added the ability to include custom filtering logic during any nostrdb query. Dave uses this to filter replies from kind1 results to keep the results small and to avoid doing post-processing.

Relay index + queries

There is a new relay index! Now when ingesting notes, you can include extra metadata such as where the note came from. You can use this index to quickly list all of the relays for a particular note, or for relay timelines.

NIP50 profile searches

To assist dave in searching for profiles, we added a new query plan for {kind:0, search:} queries to scan the profile search index.

How money was used

• relay.damus.io server costs
• Living expenses

Next quarter

We're making a strong push to get our Android version released, so that is the main focus for me.

@ 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.

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

1. Introduction

Over the last 250 years the world’s appetite for energy has soared along an unmistakably exponential trajectory, transforming societies and economies alike. After a half‑century of relative deceleration, a new mix of technological, demographic and political forces now hints at an impending catch‑up phase that could push demand back onto its centuries‑long growth curve. This post knits together the history, the numbers and the newest policy signals to explore what that rebound might look like—and how Gen‑4 nuclear power could meet it.

---

2. The Long Exponential: 1750 – 1975

Early industrialisation replaced muscle, wood and water with coal‑fired steam, pushing global primary energy use from a few exajoules per year in 1750 to roughly 60 EJ by 1900 and 250 EJ by 1975. Over that span aggregate consumption doubled roughly every 25–35 years, equivalent to a long‑run compound growth rate of ~3 % yr‑¹. Per‑capita use climbed even faster in industrialised economies as factories, railways and electric lighting spread.

---

3. 1975 – 2025: The Great Slowdown

3.1 Efficiency & Structural Change

• Oil shocks (1973, 1979) and volatile prices pushed OECD economies to squeeze more GDP from each joule.
• Services displaced heavy industry in rich countries, trimming energy intensity.
• Refrigerators, motors and vehicles became dramatically more efficient.

3.2 Policy & Technology

• The Inflation Reduction Act (U.S.) now layers zero‑emission production credits and technology‑neutral tax incentives on top of existing nuclear PTCs citeturn1search0turn1search2.
• The EU’s Net‑Zero Industry Act aims to streamline siting and finance for “net‑zero technologies”, explicitly naming advanced nuclear citeturn0search1.

3.3 Result

Global primary energy in 2024 stands near 600 EJ (≈ 167 000 TWh)—still growing, but the line has flattened versus the pre‑1975 exponential.

---

4. Population & Per‑Capita Demand

World population tripled between 1950 and today, yet total energy use grew roughly six‑fold. The imbalance reflects rising living standards and electrification. Looking ahead, the UN projects population to plateau near 10.4 billion in the 2080s, but per‑capita demand is poised to climb as the Global South industrialises.

---

5. The Policy Pivot of 2023‑2025

| Region | Signal | Year | Implication | |--------|--------|------|-------------| | COP 28 Declaration | 20+ nations pledge to triple nuclear capacity by 2050 | 2023 | High‑level political cover for rapid nuclear build‑out citeturn0search2 | | Europe | Post‑crisis sentiment shifts; blackout in Iberia re‑opens nuclear debate | 2025 | Spain, Germany, Switzerland and others revisit phase‑outs citeturn0news63 | | United States | TVA submits first SMR construction permit; NRC advances BWRX‑300 review | 2025 | Regulatory pathway for fleet deployment citeturn1search9turn1search1 | | Global Strategy Report | “Six Dimensions for Success” playbook for new nuclear entrants | 2025 | Practical roadmap for emerging economies citeturn0search0 | | U.S. Congress | Proposed cuts to DOE loan office threaten build‑out pace | 2025 | Finance bottleneck remains a risk citeturn1news28 |

---

6. The Catch‑Up Scenario

Suppose the recent 50‑year pause ends in 2025, and total energy demand returns to a midpoint historical doubling period of 12.5 years (the average of the 10–15 year rebound window).

6.1 Consumption Trajectory

| Year | Doublings since 2024 | Demand (TWh) | |------|----------------------|--------------| | 2024 | 0 | 167 000 | | 2037 | 1 | 334 000 | | 2050 | 2 | 668 000 | | 2062 | 3 | 1 336 000 |

(Table ignores efficiency gains from electrification for a conservative, supply‑side sizing.)

---

7. Nuclear‑Only Supply Model

7.1 Reactor Math

• 1 GWᵉ Gen‑4 reactor → 8.76 TWh yr‑¹ at 100 % capacity factor.
• 2062 requirement: 1 336 000 TWh yr‑¹ → ≈ 152 500 reactors in steady state.
• Build rate (2025‑2062, linear deployment):
  152 500 ÷ 38 years ≈ 4 000 reactors per year globally.

(Down from the earlier 5 000 yr‑¹ estimate because the deployment window now stretches 38 years instead of 30.)

7.2 Policy Benchmarks

• COP 28 triple target translates to +780 GW (if baseline 2020 ≈ 390 GW). That is <100 1 GW units per year—two orders of magnitude lower than the theoretical catch‑up requirement, highlighting just how aggressive our thought experiment is.

7.3 Distributed vs Grid‑Centric

Small Modular Reactors (300 MW class) can be sited on retiring coal plants, using existing grid interconnects and cooling, vastly reducing new transmission needs. Ultra‑large “gigawatt corridors” become optional rather than mandatory, though meshed regional grids still improve resilience and market liquidity.

---

8. Challenges & Unknowns

1. Finance: Even with IRA‑style credits, first‑of‑a‑kind Gen‑4 builds carry high cost of capital.
2. Supply Chain: 4 000 reactors a year means a reactor‑grade steel output roughly 20× today’s level.
3. Waste & Public Trust: Advanced reactors can burn actinides, but geologic repositories remain essential.
4. Workforce: Nuclear engineers, welders and regulators are already in short supply.
5. Competing Technologies: Cheap renewables + storage and prospective fusion could displace part of the projected load.

---

9. Conclusions

Recent policy shifts—from Europe’s Net‑Zero Industry Act to the COP 28 nuclear declaration—signal that governments once again see nuclear energy as indispensable to deep decarbonisation. Yet meeting an exponential catch‑up in demand would require deployment rates an order of magnitude beyond today’s commitments, testing manufacturing capacity, finance and political resolve.

Whether the future follows the modest path now embedded in policy or the steeper curve sketched here, two convictions stand out:

• Electrification will dominate new energy demand.
• Scalable, dispatchable low‑carbon generation—likely including large fleets of Gen‑4 fission plants—must fill much of that gap if net‑zero targets are to remain credible.

---

Last updated 1 June 2025.

@ 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

@ dab6c606:51f507b6

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

Časť I: Vernostné programy veľkých korporácií

Obchodná logika vernostných programov

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

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

Účtovné spracovanie vernostných bodov

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

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

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

Príklad: Predaj míľ banke

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

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

Daňová optimalizácia a offshore štruktúry

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

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

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

Prečo takéto rozdelenie?

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

Prečo nie 0 % daňová jurisdikcia?

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

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

Časť II: Loyalty programy a alternatívy pre malé biznisy

Prečo je loyalty program problematický pre malé biznisy

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

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

Alternatívne modely pre malé biznisy

Existujú daňovo výhodnejšie alternatívy:

1. Gift Cards model

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

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

2. Subscription model

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

3. Discount Coupons

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

Outsourcing loyalty programu: Podrobnosti o Shopify Loyalty

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

Ako funguje Shopify Loyalty

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

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

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

Prečo to nemôže byť in-house z daňového hľadiska?

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

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

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

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

Ako funguje program "10 + 1 zadarmo"

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

Účtovné spracovanie (In-house)

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

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

Účtovné spracovanie (cez Shopify Loyalty)

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

Rozdiel medzi In-house a Shopify

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

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

Záver

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

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