@ 99e7936f:d5d2197c

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

Wo bleibt die Rettung?

Wenn man bei einem Notfall auf den Rettungswagen wartet, dann fühlen sich Minuten wie Stunden an. Die Nerven sind bis zum Anschlag gespannt, alle Sinne sind geschärft.

Die Natur hat das so eingerichtet, damit man aufmerksam und  gut geschützt ist vor weiteren Verletzungen.

Bei Trauma ist das auch so, nur dass dieser Zustand gefühlt ein halbes Leben andauert. Das klingt brutal, ist aber in etwa so. Da ein menschlicher Körper das nicht gut aushalten kann, sendet er dem Gehirn die Information: “ Bitte mach etwas zur Entlastung, ich kann mit dem Dauerstress nicht gut umgehen. Ich habe ständig das Gefühl, dass etwas Schlimmes passiert und ich mich verteidigen muss.“ Das Gehirn überlegt sich dann eine Lösung, um auch selber endlich wieder Ruhe zu haben. In der Regel wird der traumatische Inhalt verdrängt, vergessen, abgewandelt, abgeschwächt oder als Schwarz-Weiß-Film wieder gegeben, also ohne Gefühl (re)präsentiert. Man kann dann von den traumatischen Erlebnissen erzählen, ohne ein einziges Gefühl zu haben. Das wirkt souverän, als habe man das Trauma verarbeitet, das Gegenteil ist der Fall. Manche Menschen reden sogar über Gefühle, empfinden diese aber nicht. Gefühle werden imitiert oder inszeniert. Wenn man selber fühlen kann, spürt man diesen feinen Unterschied als Zuhörer sofort. Jedenfalls ist alles das Traumafolge bzw. die Lösung, die uns das Gehirn nach Trauma anbietet. Entweder ist der ganze Inhalt samt Emotion weg, oder der Inhalt ist noch da, aber die Emotion dazu fehlt. Es gibt Menschen, die so tief traumatisiert sind, dass sie eine ganz andere Geschichte von sich selbst erzählen, als die, die eigentlich stattgefunden hat. Ich weiß, dass das gruselig klingt. Aber das ist eine Realität. Und es ist vermutlich gut so. Die Natur macht alles, um ein Menschenleben zu retten, und wenn es um den Preis des psychologischen Vergessens ist. Manche Erinnerungen sind offensichtlich nicht mit dem Leben vereinbar, deswegen werden sie für immer abgespalten. Mittlerweile habe ich persönlich viel Respekt vor Menschen, die sich an nichts mehr „erinnern“ können, da ich gelernt habe, dass sie am schlimmsten traumatisiert sind. Diese Einstellung hatte ich nicht immer.

Jedenfalls verhält es sich nach meiner Beobachtung und auch nach meinen eigenen Erfahrungen so, dass man sich ganz oft erst dann vollständig UND in Farbe an traumatische Erlebnisse erinnert, wenn die Zeit dafür reif ist. Man könnte auch sagen, wenn die Seele bereit ist, die verlorenen Seelenanteile wieder zuzulassen. Sie sind nie weg, denn eine unsichtbare Schnur verbindet uns immer mit dem, was passiert ist. Also, wenn dieser Moment, in dem Du Deine Seelenanteile wieder begrüßen darfst, kommt, dann ist das wie ein riesiges Geschenk, auch wenn sich das zu Beginn nicht so anfühlt. Es fühlt sich dann eher so an, wie wenn man auf den Rettungswagen wartet, aber es ist definitiv ein Geschenk, genau wie eine Geburt ein Geschenk ist. Und eine Geburt ist ja auch nicht immer leicht.

Also, je mehr Gefühl beim Erinnern von traumatischen Inhalten spürbar ist, desto besser kann  Traumabearbeitung gelingen. (Heiße den Schmerz willkommen, wenn er in Dein Leben kommt.) Ich persönlich hatte lange Wehen, bevor mein Trauma dann schlagartig aktiviert wurde. Das war, bildlich gesprochen, eine Hausgeburt, die ich allein vollbracht habe, weil der Rettungswagen dermaßen Verspätung hatte. Aber das Kind hat sich dennoch gut entwickelt. Ich habe zuvor lange von meinem Trauma „nur“ geredet. Ich habe rationalisiert, wie man in der Fachsprache sagt. Mir war meine frühe Verletzung bewusst, aber ich hatte kein Gefühl zu dem, was ich erlebt hatte. Als das Gefühl da war, verstand ich, dass es sinnvoll war, es solange nicht gefühlt haben zu können, denn es war ein überwältigender Schmerz. Die Natur macht instinktiv ein gutes Timing für die Wiederkehr des Gefühls. Sie sucht sich eine Zeit im Leben aus, wo man einen guten Stand hat, stabil ist, eine Umgebung hat, die einen zumindest für eine Weile halten und auffangen kann. Denn die Natur möchte schließlich, dass man auch die Wiederkehr des Gefühls überlebt.

Genauso schmerzhaft wie der Verlust des Gefühls war, genauso schmerzhaft ist seine Wiederkehr.

Der Schmerz ist quasi der Erste und der Letzte. Er macht das Licht aus, und später macht er das Licht oder den Farbfilm wieder an. Der Schmerz ist viel besser als sein Ruf.

Ich erzähle hier lediglich meine Erfahrungen und Beobachtungen, auch wenn ich allgemein formuliere. Das kann sich bei anderen Menschen auch anders verhalten. Aber ich finde den Erfahrungsaustausch über dieses Thema wichtig, WEIL es unterschiedlich sein kann und jeder auf einem anderen Level von Traumabearbeitung steht. Ein Problem bei Traumabearbeitung ist, dass jeder ein anderes Trauma erlebt hat, dass jeder einen anderen Nährboden hatte, auf den das Trauma fiel, und dass es verschiedene Stadien gibt, bis es dann endlich und hoffentlich soweit ist, dass das Trauma wieder vollständig in die eigene Psyche integriert werden kann und man wieder „ganz“ bzw. „neu und etwas anders“ ist. Und meine Erfahrung ist, dass man auf das Tempo dieses Prozesses leider keinen Einfluss hat, auch wenn es hierzu, wie ich finde, viele falsche Verkehrsdurchsagen gibt. Die Natur ist da verschlossen wie eine Auster, sie lässt sich nicht ins Handwerk pfuschen. Als ich das verstand, hat sich mein Wunsch, Menschen zu helfen, schlagartig verändert. Ich verstand, dass ICH das nicht machen kann, dass die Natur das selber macht. Und das ist eine gute Nachricht, denn die Natur kann das am besten und ist ein super zuverlässiger Partner.

Wir brauchen keinen Rettungswagen. Der Schmerz ist die Rettung.

Das Thema „Trauma“ birgt so viel positiven Erkenntnisgewinn über das Wunder des Lebens.

Aber zurück zum Thema. Wenn man, so wie ich, ein halbes Leben in einem Schwarz-Weiß-Film verbracht hat, dann die Hausgeburt ohne Rettungswagen durchgestanden hat und das Kind irgendwann anfängt, neugierige Fragen zu stellen, dann ist man im Zugzwang. In dieser Situation bin ich heute. Deswegen schreibe ich. Mein neues ICH fragt mich immer öfter, warum ich so viele Dinge tue, die ich eigentlich gar nicht mehr tun will. Kinder fragen einen auch manchmal ganz unverblümt, ob man den Hansi denn lieb hat oder ob man gerne im Büro arbeitet. Wenn man den Hansi nicht lieb hat und nicht gerne im Büro arbeitet, dann muss man schlucken und eine kindgerechte Antwort formulieren. Genauso wenig wie Kinder als kompetenter 20-jähriger auf die Welt kommen, genau so wenig ist man nach geglückter Traumabearbeitung „geheilt“. Es wird nichts schlagartig besser. Das ist auch so eine falsche Verkehrsdurchsage. Man lebt ja noch im alten Leben, was nun Schritt für Schritt verändert werden darf. ABER man ist glückliche Mutter. Mutter sein, ist nicht immer leicht, habe ich mir sagen lassen. Mütter lieben ihre Kinder. Im Idealfall machen sie sich keine Gedanken darüber, was aus ihrem Kind mal werden soll. Sie vertrauen einfach darauf, DASS aus ihrem Kind ein glücklicher Mensch wird und buttern deshalb so viel Liebe in das Kind hinein, wie in den wenigen Jahren, die das Kind ein Kind ist, möglich ist. So ähnlich geht es mir heute auch. Ich bin stolz auf mein neues ICH und lobe es, so oft ich kann. Jede Mutter lobt ihre Butter. Das ist wichtig, denn das Leben bietet ständig Herausforderungen, an denen man bekanntlich wachsen darf. Ich gehe jeden Tag mit meinem „Kind“ spazieren, und wir sehen viel. Wir sehen andere Menschen mit Trauma, wir hören zu, welches Trauma der andere erlebt hat und auf welchem Level er ist. Wir hören das Gefühl heraus, welches mitschwingt. Wir sehen Menschen in ihrem Schwarz-Weiß-Film. Und wir sehen Menschen, die scheinbar mit jeder Situation souverän umgehen können. Am meisten interessieren „uns“ zur Zeit solche Menschen, die ehrlich zugeben, dass sie Wehen haben, dass der Schmerz sich in immer kürzeren Abständen meldet. (Die verlorenen Seelenanteile ziehen an der unsichtbaren Schnur.) Mit diesen Leuten kann ich im Moment am besten. Das hört sich komisch an. Aber ich will damit zum Ausdruck bringen, dass ich mit diesen Menschen mittlerweile am meisten resoniere. Sie sprechen meine Sprache. Sie empfinden Gefühle, und sprechen über diese. Das ist für mich die schönste Sprache.

Wer in diesen Tagen wahrhaftig Schmerz empfindet, und nicht nur als Lippenbekenntnis, sondern echten üblen Schmerz über die enttäuschte Liebe oder über die Verhältnisse in dieser Welt, der ist mir sympathisch, der ist mir nah. Denn ich weiß, dass so ein fühlender Mensch auch bald eine Niederkunft erleben wird, die ihn verändert, die ihn anders auf diese Welt schauen lässt.

Der Schmerz bringt uns die Verwandlung. Der Schmerz bringt die verlorenen Seelenanteile zurück. Der Schmerz ist der Hüter des Lebens. Der Schmerz bringt Dir Deine volle Sensibilität für andere Menschen zurück. Alles, was Du bei Dir nicht fühlen kannst, kannst Du bei anderen nicht fühlen. Der Schmerz beendet das. Er macht das Licht an und gibt dem Film wieder Farbe.

Heiße den Schmerz willkommen, wenn er in Dein Leben kommt. Tu das, nicht etwa weil Du gern leidest, nein tu das, weil Du Dich liebst, weil Du bewusst darauf achten möchtest, was Dir wirklich gut tut und Freude macht. Ein Mensch oder ein Job, der Dir Schmerz bereitet, den gilt es loszulassen. Und wenn Du Schmerz im Gesicht Deines Gegenübers siehst, dann frage Dich ehrlich, was Dein Anteil daran ist, dass der andere leidet. Wir sind nicht für jedes Leid auf dieser Welt verantwortlich, das möchte ich hier auch betonen. Und die Schuld-Nummer zieht bei mir schon lange nicht mehr. Aber ich nehme immer besser wahr, wenn mein eigenes  Verhalten nicht angemessen, nicht authentisch ist, von überholten Glaubensmustern geprägt ist. Ich kann das erkennen und korrigieren. Ich kann das heute selber erkennen, weil der Schmerz mich das gelehrt hat, mich geöffnet hat. Der Schmerz lehrt uns ganz viel. Der Schmerz ist der Hüter des Lebens. Er trifft einen hart, macht aber weich.

Heiße den Schmerz willkommen, denn er ist die Rettung.   

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

Onboarding bei Nostr:   Nostr

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@ c1e6505c:02b3157e

I recently acquired a new lens:

1959 Leica Summaron F2.8 35mm LTM.

1959 Leica Summaron 35mm f2.8 LTM mounted on my Fujifilm Xpro2 with LTM adapter made by Urth.

Technically, it was a trade. I helped a fellow Bitcoiner set up their Sparrow Wallet, Nostr stuff, and troubleshoot a few wallet issues, and in return, they gave me the lens.

It all started at a local Bitcoin meetup I went to about a week ago - my second time attending. I recognized a few faces from last time, but also saw some new ones. These meetups are refreshing - it’s rare to speak a common language about something like Bitcoin or Nostr. Most people still don’t get it. But they will.

Technology moves forward. Networks grow. Old cells die off.

During the meetup, someone noticed I had my Leica M262 with me and struck up a conversation. Said they had some old Leica lenses and gear at home, and wanted to show me.

Bitcoin and photography in one conversation? I’m down.

A day or so later, they sent me a photo of one of the lenses: a vintage Summaron LTM 35mm f/2.8 from 1959. I’d never seen or heard of one before. They asked if I could help them set up Sparrow and a Bitcoin node. In exchange, they’d give me the lens. Sounded like a good deal to me. Helping plebs with their setups feels like a duty anyway. I said, of course.

They invited me over - a pretty trusting move, which I appreciated. They had some great Bitcoin memorabilia: Fred Krueger’s The Big Bitcoin Book (even if the guy’s turned full shitcoiner), and some FTX sunglasses from Bitcoin 2022. Probably future collector’s items, lol.

We headed upstairs to work on setting up Sparrow Wallet on their Windows machine. I verified the software download first (which you should always do), then helped them create a new wallet using their Ledger Flex. They also had an older Ledger Nano X. The Flex setup was easy, but the Nano X gave us trouble. It turns out Ledger allows multiple wallets for the same asset, which can show up differently depending on how they’re configured. In Sparrow, only one wallet showed—none of the others.

I believe it had to do with the derivation path from the Ledger. If anyone knows a fix, let me know.

After a few hours of troubleshooting, I told them I couldn’t really recommend Ledger. The UX is a mess. They’d already heard similar things from other plebs too.

I suggested switching to the Blockstream Jade. It’s a solid Bitcoin-only device from a trustworthy team. That’s what you want in a hardware wallet.

But back to the lens…

Since it’s an LTM (Leica Thread Mount), I couldn’t mount it directly on my M262. Luckily, I remembered I had an Urth adapter that fits my Fujifilm X-Pro2. I don’t use the X-Pro2 much these days—it’s mostly been sidelined by the M262 - but this was the perfect excuse to bring it out again.

To test the lens, I shot everything wide open at f/2.8. Nothing crazy fast, but it’s the best way to see a lens’s character. And this one definitely has character. There’s a subtle softness and a kind of motion blur effect around the edges when wide open. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but the more I shot, the more I liked it. It reminds me of Winogrand’s work in Winogrand Color - those messy, shifting edges that make the frame feel alive. It also helps soften the digital-ness of the camera sensor.

The focus throw is short and snappy - much tighter than my Summicron V3 35mm f/2. I really like how fast it is to use. The closest focusing distance is about 3.5 feet, so it’s not ideal for close-ups. And with the Urth adapter on the X-Pro2, the focal length ends up closer to 40mm.

The only thing that threw me off was the infinity lock. When the focus hits infinity, it physically locks - you have to press a small tab to unlock it. I’ve seen others complain about it, so I guess it’s just one of those old lens quirks. I’m getting used to it.

All the photos here were taken around where I live in South Carolina. Some during bike rides to the river for a swim, others while walking through the marshlands.

I try to make work wherever I am. You should be able to.

It’s about the light, the rhythm, the play - and having the motivation to actually go out and shoot.

Lens rating: 7.9/10

---

I mainly shoot with a Leica M262, and edit in Lightroom + Dehancer

Use “PictureRoom” for 10% off Dehancer Film

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for taking the time to view my work - consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Also, please contact me if you would like to purchase any of my prints.

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npub1c8n9qhqzm2x3kzjm84kmdcvm96ezmn257r5xxphv3gsnjq4nz4lqelne96

@ cff1720e:15c7e2b2

Liebe Anwender,\ \ diesmal beginnen die Neuigkeiten schon beim Titel und der Anrede. Unsere Worte bestimmen unser Denken, und daher war die Korrektur wichtiger als sie zunächst erscheint, denn bei Pareto gibt es die klassische Trennung zwischen Autor und Leser nicht mehr. Cocreation heißt unser Konzept, jeder kann publizieren, kommentieren, honorieren und distribuieren. Mag das bei Blogtexten derzeit noch nicht selbstverständlich sein, so ist das bei Bildern längst die Norm. 

“Ein Bild sagt mehr als tausend Worte” beschreibt die Wirkung visueller Kommunikation. Deshalb haben wir nach dem Blogtext nun mit Bildern eine neue Content-Kategorie eingeführt. Natürlich auch hier mit den bekannten Funktionen der Interaktion wie like, repost und zap. Es gibt derzeit eine Gliederung in 4 Feeds, Gefolgt (für Nostr-User verfügbar), Memes und Kunst (gefiltert nach entsprechenden Tags) und Pareto für alles andere.

Jeder Nostr-User hat die Möglichkeit eigene Bilder hochzuladen, zu taggen, sowie mit einem Titel und Untertext zu versehen. “Everyone is a creator” war noch nie leichter, probiert es einfach aus! Noch kein Nostr-Profil und trotzdem interessiert? Kein Problem, bitte Informationen zu originellen Bildquellen oder Interesse an Mitwirkung per Mail senden an pictures@pareto.space 

Leicht ist es auch die Pareto-Inhalte zu erhalten und konsumieren, man braucht weder einen Account noch spezielle Apps. Jeder hat bereits die entsprechenden Voraussetzungen, hier ein paar Beispiele.\ \ Newsletter per Mail (Die Friedenstaube)\ hier abonnieren\ \ In Telegram lesen -> hier unsere Kanäle\ https://t.me/pareto_artikel \ https://t.me/friedenstaube_artikel \ \ Als Feed in einem Feed-Reader \ https://pareto.space/atom/feed.xml \ https://pareto.space/atom/de_feed.xml \ https://pareto.space/atom/en_feed.xml

Fügt in Eure Artikel bitte am Anfang / Ende einen Hinweis auf den Pareto-Client ein, andere Clients unterstützen nicht alle Features. Das ist ein Service-Hinweis zur besseren Lesbarkeit “Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben.” Ebenso ist ein Hinweis auf Onboarding bei Nostr nützlich: neue Nostr-User können euch liken und zappen: not yet on Nostr and want the full experience? Easy onboarding via Start.\ \ Das Pareto-Team baut den “Marktplatz der Ideen” und hat dabei schon viel erreicht. Feedback und Mitarbeit hilft uns damit noch schneller voranzukommen, wir bedanken uns für Eure Unterstützung.\ team@pareto.space \ https://pareto.space \ https://geyser.fund/project/pareto?hero=1c1b8e487090 

@ a29cfc65:484fac9c

Deutschland ist eines der wenigen Länder mit einer gesetzlich verankerten ausnahmslosen Schulbesuchspflicht. Mit den Schulschließungen in der Corona-Zeit wurde das Gesetz jedoch faktisch plötzlich außer Kraft gesetzt. Alle mussten zu Hause lernen. Als die Schulen danach wieder offen waren, wurden die Kinder mit Maskenpflicht, Tests und Impfdruck gequält. Nicht selten traten bei den Schülern Krankheiten und psychische Störungen auf. Nicht wenige Eltern suchten im Gespräch mit dem Lehrerkollegium nach Lösungen für ihre Kinder. In den meisten Fällen war das nicht möglich. Die Lehrer waren auf die neue Ideologie und die Durchsetzung der Maßnahmen eingeschworen und hatten Angst. Einige Eltern haben ihre Kinder dann in eigener Verantwortung aus der Schule genommen und zu Hause selbst unterrichtet. An manchen Orten fanden sich Gemeinschaften, wo die Kinder in Gruppen lernten. Während viele Lerngemeinschaften nicht mehr existieren, hat die Familie von Katharina den Unterricht für ihre drei Kinder in Eigenregie etabliert. Inzwischen haben sie dafür sogar „den Segen“ von Familiengericht und Jugendamt.

Katharina und Johannes leben mit ihren drei Wunschkindern Aurelius (15), Benjamin (14) und Friedrich (10) in einem Vorort von Leipzig. Die Familie wohnte früher in der Stadt. In der Corona-Zeit haben sie sich mit dem Physiotherapie- & Seminarzentrum Curasanus eine Existenz auf dem Land aufgebaut und begehen diesen Sommer ihr 20-jähriges Praxis-Jubiläum. Katharina hat ihre Arbeit als Physiotherapeutin weitgehend aufgegeben, um sich als Mama und Lernbegleiterin ihren Kindern widmen zu können. Daneben bietet sie Vorträge und Workshops an, übernimmt einen großen Teil der Praxis-Organisation und ist Manager, Rezeptionistin und Vertriebler der eigenen Firma. Wir besuchten einen ihrer Lachyoga-Kurse. Dabei erlebten wir ihr Zusammenspiel mit den drei Kindern. Anschließend stellten wir Katharina unsere Fragen zum Freilernen.

Im unmittelbaren Umfeld wird die Familie bestaunt und geachtet. Sie haben sich bewusst für das Freilernen entschieden. Die Kinder wurden ohne Test nicht mehr in die Schule gelassen. Auch andere Zwangsmaßnahmen wie die Maske wollten die Eltern den Kindern ersparen. Besonders Benjamin hatte traumatische Erlebnisse. Seine Lehrerin schmiss mit dem Schlüssel nach den Schülern und wandte andere schwarze Pädagogik an. Er ging ständig mit Bauchschmerzen ins Bett. Ein weiterer Punkt ist die Masernimpfung. Die Kinder könnten zwar zur Schule gehen, aber die Eltern werden mit rechtlichen Maßnahmen und Zwangszahlungen belegt. Da Katharina in ihrer Praxis viele Erkrankungen als Folge der Masernimpfung beobachten konnte, lehnt sie die Pflichtimpfung ab. Die Eltern haben kein Vertrauen mehr in die staatliche Schulerziehung mit all dem Zwang und den Erpressungen. Als die Familie den Entschluss gefasst hatte, die Kinder nicht mehr in die Schule zu schicken, haben sie ihre Praxis vorübergehend geschlossen, ihr Haus verkauft und sind auf Reisen gegangen. Die beiden großen Kinder wurden von der Schule abgemeldet. Nach der Rückkehr haben sie dann mit einem neuen Leben auf dem Land begonnen.

Lernen ohne Schule: Wie geht das?

„Wissen ist Macht und eine Holschuld“, sagt uns Katharina. Das ist ihr Motto und motiviert auch die Kinder. Mit dem Unterricht zu Hause macht die Familie ihre eigene Studie und zeigt, dass Lernen auch anders geht als in der Schule. Die Eltern können viel besser auf jedes einzelne Kind eingehen. Johannes arbeitete früher als Straßenbauer. Er unterstützt die Jungs vor allem in Mathematik, Geometrie und Physik sowie bei handwerklichen Fertigkeiten. Katharinas Stärken liegen in Deutsch, Sprachen und Organisation. Unter den Patienten ihrer Praxis gibt es Lehrer, die ihnen helfen. Weitere Unterstützung kommt von Freunden und Bekannten. Bei bestimmten Projekten treffen sie auf andere Freilernerkinder. „Das Netzwerk wird immer größer, es wird immer schöner und interessanter“, sagt Katharina. Man geht mit vielen anderen einen gemeinsamen Weg, verlässt dabei eingetretene Pfade und erkundet neue Themenfelder wie Mediengestaltung, freie Energie, Elektrotherapie, meditatives und Improvisations-Zeichnen. „Ich sprudele vor Ideen. Sie kommen in mein Feld, und dann mache ich was draus“, sagt Katharina. Die Jungs sind in Wurzen im Ringelnatz-Literaturkreis. Dort schreiben sie Drehbuchgeschichten und haben einen Film produziert. Sie suchen sich Projekte oder kreieren neue, wie mit dem Planetarium Eilenburg. Diese Zusammenarbeit hat sich sehr gut entwickelt. Dort lernen 4- bis 15-Jährige zusammen. Die drei Jungs spielen Klavier. Erdkunde und Geschichte erleben die Kinder auch dadurch, dass die Familie Hauptstädte oder die bosnischen Pyramiden selbst erkundet. Dabei erweist es sich als Vorteil, nicht auf die Ferienzeiten angewiesen zu sein.

Als Physiotherapeutin ist Katharina bewusst, dass man neue Lernstrategien entwickeln muss. Die Kinder lernen unterschiedlich. Jedes Kind hat seinen eigenen Charakter. Aurelius benötigt eher eine 1:1-Betreuung. Darauf kann Katharina viel individueller eingehen als die staatliche Schule. Es ist aber auch aufwendiger und anstrengender. Besonderen Wert legt sie darauf, dass rechte und linke Gehirnhälfte gleichmäßig beansprucht werden. Lernphasen werden immer wieder mit Entspannungs- oder Bewegungsphasen kombiniert. Sie weiß, dass den Kindern zuerst die Grundlagen des Lesens, Rechnens und Schreibens vermittelt werden müssen. Dann sind sie in der Lage, sich alles Weitere selbst anzueignen – Unterstützung vorausgesetzt. „Besonders das Schreiben mit der eigenen Hand ist wichtig für die Vernetzung der beiden Gehirnhälften“, sagt Katharina. Dafür nehmen sich die Eltern Zeit. Die Kinder führen Tagebuch. Außerdem halten es die Eltern für wichtig, den Kindern Werte und Tugenden wie Dankbarkeit, Verlässlichkeit, Beharrlichkeit, Aufrichtigkeit, Ehrlichkeit und die zehn Gebote zu vermitteln. Katharina und Johannes sind beide religiös begleitet aufgewachsen. Heute sehen sie die Kirche als Institution kritisch. Angebunden an die Schöpfung und im Gottvertrauen erschaffen und schöpfen sie Leben und Lebensraum aus eigener Kraft – so erklärt es uns Katharina.

Ein weiteres Thema sind die Funktionen des Körpers und wie sich die Kinder gesund erhalten können. Vieles lernen sie dabei in der Physiotherapiepraxis. Die Familie hat das Privileg, in ihrem eigenen Biorhythmus leben zu können. „Das macht sehr viel aus – wir sind alle gesund“, sagt Katharina. Der Lern- und Arbeitstag beginnt nicht vor 9 Uhr und hat eine eigene Struktur. Im Tagesablauf sind feste Verantwortlichkeiten integriert. So wechseln sich die Kinder aller drei Tage mit Tischdecken, Staubsaugen und Geschirrspüler ab. Das hilft ihnen, sich selbst zu organisieren. Das geht nicht immer reibungslos vonstatten. Wenn das Lernpensum beizeiten abgearbeitet wurde, helfen die Kinder im Haushalt oder Garten oder gehen ihrem Bewegungsdrang auf andere Weise nach. Die Eltern sind am Abend noch länger aktiv, denn die Praxis erfordert noch die eine oder andere bürokratische Pflicht. Die Familie ist sehr naturverbunden. Sie gehen viel in den Wald und in den Garten. Sie bauen selbst Gemüse und Obst an. Dabei können die Kinder zum Beispiel Erfahrungen mit Permakultur und natürlicher Düngung sammeln. Die Familie achtet auf die Ernährung, schließlich ist Katharina seit fast 25 Jahren Ernährungsberaterin. Was sie nicht selbst anbauen, wird beim Bauern des Vertrauens eingekauft. Die Jungs können selbst kochen und backen. Die Schädlichkeit von Zucker ist den Kindern schon bewusst geworden, ohne gänzlich auf Schokolade verzichten zu müssen. Medikamente gibt es im Haushalt nicht. Sie kennen sich sehr gut mit den Heilmitteln aus der Natur aus und können so ihre Selbstheilungskräfte aktivieren. Sie haben keinen Hausarzt. Natürlich hat keines der Kinder ein Handy. Bisher haben sie noch kein Verlangen danach. Die Eltern halten es für wichtig, dass die Kinder erst sicher bei Selbstorganisation und Tagesstruktur sind, bevor sie ein Handy bekommen. Katharina weist darauf hin, dass beispielsweise WhatsApp erst ab 16 Jahren zugelassen ist, und fragt sich, ob das andere Eltern wissen.

Gesetze auf Augenhöhe auslegen

Den Behörden blieben die Freilerner nicht verborgen. Sie wurden aktiv und schalteten das Familiengericht ein. Die Familie hatte keinen Anwalt und keine Rechtsschutzversicherung. Katharina erzählt uns, dass sie schließlich auf „Hilfe von oben“ gehofft habe. Irgendwer hat sie anscheinend erhört, denn sie bekamen „einen Engel“ als Verfahrensbeistand. Die Behörden waren sehr zugänglich. In den Gesprächen gab man zu, mit der Schulsituation ebenfalls nicht zufrieden zu sein. „Wir wollen so wie ihr, dass sich etwas verändert. Wir sind an Eurer Seite.“ Die Gespräche mit dem Jugendamt und der Richterin vom Familiengericht Grimma waren immer auf Augenhöhe. Schließlich legte man der Familie keine Steine in den Weg. Damit kann Katharina ihr Konzept nach außen leben und andere inspirieren. Ihre Schlussfolgerung: Eltern müssen sich ihrer Stärken bewusst werden und aus ihrer Angst herauskommen. Das Konzept muss aber zur Familie passen, denn jede Familie ist anders.

Die Basis für freies Lernen ist das Vertrauen der Eltern in ihre Kinder. Denn Kinder sind von Natur aus wissbegierig und wollen lernen. Katharina hat viel von Bertrand Stern und von Riccardo Leppe gelernt. Beiden wurde von ihren Eltern das Lernen ohne Schulbesuch ermöglicht. Mit Bertrand Stern hat Katharina Kontakt. Er wird im November am Buß- und Bettag eine kleine Fortbildung im Therapie- und Seminarzentrum geben. Für den Vorabend ist ein Vortrag geplant. Katharina zitiert Riccardo Leppe: „Es ändert sich nur was, wenn man es selbst tut.“ Er sei sich sicher, dass der Fortschritt beim Freilernen inzwischen so weit ist, dass „die Paste nicht wieder zurück in die Tube geht“.

Der Übergang zur Berufsausbildung

Die ersten Freilernerkinder kommen jetzt in das Alter, in dem sie eine Berufsausbildung beginnen können. Aurelius und Benjamin, die beiden „Großen“, machen seit Anfang des Jahres schon erste Praktika bei ortsansässigen Handwerksbetrieben. Beide Seiten sind sehr zufrieden. Durch die Praktika, die länger dauern als im schulischen Lehrplan vorgesehen, können sich die Kinder ausprobieren. Katharina findet es interessant miterleben zu dürfen, wie auf ihre Kinder reagiert wird. Bringen sie etwas mit, das die anderen nicht haben? Denken sie anders mit? Benjamin bekam schon ein Angebot, in einem Metallbau-Betrieb stundenweise mitzuarbeiten. In den Betrieben weiß man, dass die Abschlüsse der staatlichen Schulen größtenteils das Papier nicht wert sind, auf dem sie stehen. Viele verlassen die Schule und können kaum lesen und schreiben, von Selbstorganisation ganz zu schweigen. Ein Freilerner kann eine staatliche Externen-Prüfung ablegen, um einen Haupt- oder Realschulabschluss zu erwerben. Katharina: „Für eine Ausbildung bei einem privaten Unternehmer braucht man das nicht, allein der Unternehmer entscheidet über die Aufnahme des Auszubildenden“. Außerdem stehen den jungen Leuten Privatschulen oder der zweite Bildungsweg zur Verfügung. Wenn man einen praktischen Beruf ergreift, ist es immer noch möglich, sich bis zur Hochschulreife weiterzubilden. Nach mehrjährigen Tätigkeiten kann man bei den Kammern von Industrie, Handel und Handwerk (IHK und HWK) eine Abschlussprüfung ablegen, mit der man zum Studium zugelassen werden kann. Oder man geht gleich den Weg in die Selbstständigkeit.

Frei lernen weitergedacht

Während der Coronazeit haben sich in Sachsen und speziell um Leipzig herum kleine Freilernergruppen gefunden. Die Gruppen werden aktuell zusammengeführt, um zum Beispiel gemeinsam den Mathematikunterricht zu gestalten. Besonders um Dresden herum ist die Szene noch stärker ausgeprägt. Außerdem gibt es seit mehr als 20 Jahren den Bundesverband Natürlich Lernen (BVNL). Er bietet Beratung und zentrale Veranstaltungen an.

Der Wunsch nach dem freien Lernen ohne Schulzwang ist groß. Doch die meisten Eltern wollen ihre Kinder dafür irgendwo abgeben und nicht selbst unterrichten. Katharinas größter Wunsch ist es, drei bis fünf Elternpaare zu finden, die sich in die Betreuung und Unterrichtung ihrer Kinder teilen. Das größte Hindernis dafür sieht sie in den Eltern selbst. Durch ungelöste transgenerative Konflikte und unverarbeitete Familientraumata kommen sie noch nicht in ihre eigene Kraft für ein selbstbestimmtes Leben. Viele wagen es noch nicht, ihre Erwerbstätigkeit zugunsten der Kinder einzuschränken. Katharina sieht es als große Aufgabe für sich und ihre Familie, mit dem Freilernen das Gemeinschaftsbewusstsein und gute Konfliktlösungsstrategien zu entwickeln. Sie denkt dabei bereits an ihre Enkel. Aber sie weiß auch, dass die Eltern ein sehr hohes Maß an Eigeninitiative, Motivation und Selbstdisziplin aufbringen müssen. Sie würde Eltern, die sich das noch nicht zutrauen, als Traumabegleiterin zur Verfügung stehen, für einen angemessenen Energieausgleich. Diese gegenseitige Unterstützung käme Kindern und Eltern zugute. Ebenso hält sie die Idee der Mehrgenerationenerziehung für wichtig. Dabei profitieren nicht nur die Kinder. Die Erfahrungen der älteren Menschen gehen nicht verloren, sondern werden an die jüngeren Generationen weitergegeben und machen sie resilienter. Das hilft den Eltern, ihrer Erwerbsarbeit nachzugehen und Familientraumata zu bewältigen.

Katharina ist eine starke Frau und sprüht nur so vor Energie. Selbst als wir nach 21 Uhr das Therapiezentrum verlassen, sind ihr die Anstrengungen des Tages nicht anzumerken. Sie wird nicht müde beim Sprechen. Für Fragen zum Thema Freilernen kann man sich an sie wenden.

Der Text wurde zuerst am 27.05.2025 im Blog „Freie Akademie für Medien und Journalismus“ veröffentlicht (https://www.freie-medienakademie.de/medien-plus/lernen-neu-gemacht)

Bildquelle: Salah Darwish, unsplash.com

@ 84b0c46a:417782f5

MAKIMONO

Simple Long Form Content Editor (NIP-23)

機能

• nostr:npub1sjcvg64knxkrt6ev52rywzu9uzqakgy8ehhk8yezxmpewsthst6sw3jqcw や、 nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzq4jsz7zew5j7jr4pdfxh483nwq9vyw9ph6wm706sjwrzj2we58nqqyxhwumn8ghj77tpvf6jumt9qys8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtt2wqhxummnw3ezuamfwfjkgmn9wshx5uqpr4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnhd9ex2erwv46zu6nsqyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqqsgcn99jyn5tevxz5zxsrkd7h0sx8fwnqztula423xh83j9wau7cms3vg9c7 のようにnostr:要素を挿入できる （メニューのNアイコンから挿入またはnostr:note～～のように手動で入力）

• :monoice:のようにカスタム絵文字を挿入できる(メニューの🙂アイコンから)

:monopaca_kao:

:kubipaca_karada:

• 新規記事作成と、既存記事の修正ができる

やることやったこと

• [x] nostr:を投稿するときにtagにいれる

• [x] 画像をアップロードできるようにする（NIP-96） できる

• [x] 投稿しましたログとかをトースト的なやつでだすようにする
• [ ] レイアウトを整える
• [ ] あとなんか

@ 84b0c46a:417782f5

nostrリンクテスト

web+nostrリンクテスト

x-ukagaka-linkテスト

x-ukagaka-linkテスト2

nostalk

ハイパーテスト

@ a19caaa8:88985eaf

インターネット、だいすき！

---

レスバって？

• たのしさ（ちゃぴにきく）

ちがい

• タイプもきく？それはダルい？

さけるには

• ちゃぴにきく

“思い遣る”のと“邪推する”のは違う

• でもそう捉えたんだから仕方ないじゃん（自分の気持ちも大事にする）（バランス）（またあ？）
• 「意見単体」として見ているか、「そのひとから発された言葉」として見ているかの違い？

• 自分の理想をひとに押し付けない

• それはそれとして、社会に疲れて深く潜りにきて、同じように深いとこに居るひとと手を振り合ったり、そのあり方を見て吸収したりしたいのに、バトルに巻き込まれるの、不憫すぎる

• インスタくんはえらいなあ、「このひとにストーリーズを表示しない」ができて
• 自分はそんなつもり無くても、始まってしまった以上、責任がある気がしてしまって、相手がどうして欲しいかを考え始めてしまい、消耗する
• 社会じゃん
• EなのにEしづらい環境のひとたちの捌け口になる必要は無い
• 海は広い

@ b7274d28:c99628cb

In this second installment of The Android Elite Setup tutorial series, we will cover installing the nostr:npub10r8xl2njyepcw2zwv3a6dyufj4e4ajx86hz6v4ehu4gnpupxxp7stjt2p8 on your #Android device and browsing for apps you may be interested in trying out.

Since the #Zapstore is a direct competitor to the Google Play Store, you're not going to be able to find and install it from there like you may be used to with other apps. Instead, you will need to install it directly from the developer's GitHub page. This is not a complicated process, but it is outside the normal flow of searching on the Play Store, tapping install, and you're done.

Installation

From any web browser on your Android phone, navigate to the Zapstore GitHub Releases page and the most recent version will be listed at the top of the page. The .apk file for you to download and install will be listed in the "Assets."

Tap the .apk to download it, and you should get a notification when the download has completed, with a prompt to open the file.

You will likely be presented with a prompt warning you that your phone currently isn't allowed to install applications from "unknown sources." Anywhere other than the Play Store is considered an "unknown source" by default. However, you can manually allow installation from unknown sources in the settings, which the prompt gives you the option to do.

In the settings page that opens, toggle it to allow installation from this source, and you should be prompted to install the application. If you aren't, simply go to your web browser's downloads and tap on the .apk file again, or go into your file browser app and you should find the .apk in your Downloads folder.

If the application doesn't open automatically after install, you will find it in your app drawer.

Home Page

Right at the top of the home page in the Zapstore is the search bar. You can use it to find a specific app you know is available in the Zapstore.

There are quite a lot of open source apps available, and more being added all the time. Most are added by the Zapstore developer, nostr:npub1wf4pufsucer5va8g9p0rj5dnhvfeh6d8w0g6eayaep5dhps6rsgs43dgh9, but some are added by the app developers themselves, especially Nostr apps. All of the applications we will be installing through the Zapstore have been added by their developers and are cryptographically signed, so you know that what you download is what the developer actually released.

The next section is for app discovery. There are curated app collections to peruse for ideas about what you may want to install. As you can see, all of the other apps we will be installing are listed in nostr:npub1wf4pufsucer5va8g9p0rj5dnhvfeh6d8w0g6eayaep5dhps6rsgs43dgh9's "Nostr" collection.

In future releases of the Zapstore, users will be able to create their own app collections.

The last section of the home page is a chronological list of the latest releases. This includes both new apps added to the Zapstore and recently updated apps. The list of recent releases on its own can be a great resource for discovering apps you may not have heard of before.

Installed Apps

The next page of the app, accessed by the icon in the bottom-center of the screen that looks like a clock with an arrow circling it, shows all apps you have installed that are available in the Zapstore. It's also where you will find apps you have previously installed that are ready to be updated. This page is pretty sparse on my test profile, since I only have the Zapstore itself installed, so here is a look at it on my main profile:

The "Disabled Apps" at the top are usually applications that were installed via the Play Store or some other means, but are also available in the Zapstore. You may be surprised to see that some of the apps you already have installed on your device are also available on the Zapstore. However, to manage their updates though the Zapstore, you would need to uninstall the app and reinstall it from the Zapstore instead. I only recommend doing this for applications that are added to the Zapstore by their developers, or you may encounter a significant delay between a new update being released for the app and when that update is available on the Zapstore.

Tap on one of your apps in the list to see whether the app is added by the developer, or by the Zapstore. This takes you to the application's page, and you may see a warning at the top if the app was not installed through the Zapstore.

Scroll down the page a bit and you will see who signed the release that is available on the Zapstore.

In the case of Primal, even though the developer is on Nostr, they are not signing their own releases to the Zapstore yet. This means there will likely be a delay between Primal releasing an update and that update being available on the Zapstore.

Settings

The last page of the app is the settings page, found by tapping the cog at the bottom right.

Here you can send the Zapstore developer feedback directly (if you are logged in), connect a Lightning wallet using Nostr Wallet Connect, delete your local cache, and view some system information.

We will be adding a connection to our nostr:npub1h2qfjpnxau9k7ja9qkf50043xfpfy8j5v60xsqryef64y44puwnq28w8ch wallet in part 5 of this tutorial series.

For the time being, we are all set with the Zapstore and ready for the next stage of our journey.

Continue to Part 3: Amber Signer. Nostr link: nostr:naddr1qqxnzde5xuengdeexcmnvv3eqgstwf6d9r37nqalwgxmfd9p9gclt3l0yc3jp5zuyhkfqjy6extz3jcrqsqqqa28qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qg6waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxyunfva58gcn0d36zumn9wss80nug

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

After almost 3 months of work, we've completed the redesign of kycnot.me. More modern and with many new features.

Privacy remains the foundation - everything still works with JavaScript disabled. If you enable JS, you will get some nice-to-have features like lazy loading and smoother page transitions, but nothing essential requires it.

User Accounts

We've introduced user accounts that require zero personal information:

• Secret user tokens - no email, no phone number, no personal data
• Randomly generated usernames for default privacy and fairness
• Karma system that rewards contributions and unlocks features: custom display names, profile pictures, and more.

Reviews and Community Discussions

On the previous sites, I was using third party open source tools for the comments and discussions. This time, I've built my own from scratch, fully integrated into the site, without JavaScript requirements.

Everyone can share their experiences and help others make informed decisions:

• Ratings: Comments can have a 1-5 star rating attached. You can have one rating per service and it will affect the overall user score.
• Discussions: These are normal comments, you can add them on any listed service.

Comment Moderation

I was strugling to keep up with moderation on the old site. For this, we've implemented an AI-powered moderation system that:

• Auto-approves legitimate comments instantly
• Flags suspicious content for human review
• Keeps discussions valuable by minimizing spam

The AI still can mark comments for human review, but most comments will get approved automatically by this system. The AI also makes summaries of the comments to help you understand the overall sentiment of the community.

Powerful Search & Filtering

Finding exactly what you need is now easier:

• Advanced filtering system with many parameters. You can even filter by attributes to pinpoint services with specific features.

The results are dynamic and shuffle services with identical scores for fairness.

See all listings

Listings are now added as 'Community Contributed' by default. This means that you can still find them in the search results, but they will be clearly marked as such.

Updated Scoring System

New dual-score approach provides more nuanced service evaluations:

• Privacy Score: Measures how well a service protects your personal information and data

• Trust Score: Assesses reliability, security, and overall reputation

• Combined into a weighted Overall Score for quick comparisons

• Completely transparent and open source calculation algorithm. No manual tweaking or hidden factors.

AI-Powered Terms of Service Analysis

Basically, a TLDR summary for Terms of Service:

• Automated system extracts the most important points from complex ToS documents
• Clear summaries
• Updated monthly to catch any changes

The ToS document is hashed and only will be updated if there are any changes.

Service Events and Timelines

Track the complete history of any service, on each service page you can see the timeline of events. There are two types of events:

• Automatic events: Created by the system whenever something about a service changes, like its description, supported currencies, attributes, verification status…
• Manual events: Added by admins when there’s important news, such as a service going offline, being hacked, acquired, shut down, or other major updates.

There is also a global timeline view available at /events

Notification System

Since we now have user accounts, we built a notifiaction system so you can stay informed about anything:

• Notifications for comment replies and status changes
• Watch any comment to get notified for new replies.
• Subscribe to services to monitor events and updates
• Notification customization.

Coming soon: Third-party privacy-preserving notifications integration with Telegram, Ntfy.sh, webhooks...

Service Suggestions

Anyone with an account can suggest a new service via the suggestion form. After submitting, you'll receive a tracking page where you can follow the status of your suggestion and communicate directly with admins.

All new suggestions start as "unlisted" — they won't appear in search results until reviewed. Our team checks each submission to ensure it's not spam or inappropriate. If similar services already exist, you'll be shown possible duplicates and can choose to submit your suggestion as an edit instead.

You can always check the progress of your suggestion, respond to moderator questions, and see when it goes live, everything will also be notified to your account. This process ensures high-quality listings and a collaborative approach to building the directory.

---

These are some of the main features we already have, but there are many more small changes and improvements that you will find when using the site.

What's Next?

This is just the beginning. We will be constantly working to improve KYCnot.me and add more features that help you preserve your privacy.

Remember: True financial freedom requires the right to privacy. Stay KYC-free!

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

News

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

Source: b10c's blog.

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

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

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

Source: block.xyz

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

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

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

Source: Bitwise.

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

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

@ b7274d28:c99628cb

Your identity is important to you, right? While impersonation can be seen in some senses as a form of flattery, we all would prefer to be the only person capable of representing ourselves online, unless we intentionally delegate that privilege to someone else and maintain the ability to revoke it.

Amber does all of that for you in the context of #Nostr. It minimizes the possibility of your private key being compromized by acting as the only app with access to it, while all other Nostr apps send requests to Amber when they need something signed. This even allows you to give someone temporary authority to post as you without giving them your private key, and you retain the authority to revoke their permissions at any time.

nostr:npub1w4uswmv6lu9yel005l3qgheysmr7tk9uvwluddznju3nuxalevvs2d0jr5 has provided Android users with an incredibly powerful tool in Amber, and he continues to improve its functionality and ease of use. Indeed, there is not currently a comparative app available for iOS users. For the time being, this superpower is exclusive to Android.

Installation

Open up the Zapstore app that you installed in the previous stage of this tutorial series.

Very likely, Amber will be listed in the app collection section of the home page. If it is not, just search for "Amber" in the search bar.

Opening the app's page in the Zapstore shows that the release is signed by the developer. You can also see who has added this app to one of their collections and who has supported this app with sats by zapping the release.

Tap "Install" and you will be prompted to confirm you are sure you want to install Amber.

Helpfully, you are informed that several other users follow this developer on Nostr. If you have been on Nostr a while, you will likely recognize these gentlemen as other Nostr developers, one of them being the original creator of the protocol.

You can choose to never have Zapstore ask for confirmation again with apps developed by nostr:npub1w4uswmv6lu9yel005l3qgheysmr7tk9uvwluddznju3nuxalevvs2d0jr5, and since we have another of his apps to install later in this tutorial series, I recommend you toggle this on. Then tap on "Trust greenart7c3 and install app."

Just like when you installed the Zapstore from their GitHub, you will be prompted to allow the Zapstore to install apps, since Android considers it an "unknown source."

Once you toggle this on and use the back button to get back to the Zapstore, Amber will begin downloading and then present a prompt to install the app. Once installed, you will see a prompt that installation was a success and you can now open the app.

From here, how you proceed will depend on whether you need to set up a new Nostr identity or use Amber with an existing private key you already have set up. The next section will cover setting up a new Nostr identity with Amber. Skip to the section titled "Existing Nostrich" if you already have an nsec that you would like to use with Amber.

New Nostrich

Upon opening the application, you will be presented with the option to use an existing private key or create a new Nostr account. Nostr doesn't really have "accounts" in the traditional sense of the term. Accounts are a relic of permissioned systems. What you have on Nostr are keys, but Amber uses the "account" term because it is a more familiar concept, though it is technically inaccurate.

Choose "Create a new Nostr account" and you will be presented with a screen telling you that your Nostr account is ready. Yes, it was really that easy. No email, no real name, no date of birth, and no annoying capcha. Just "Create a new account" and you're done.

The app presents you with your public key. This is like an address that can be used to find your posts on Nostr. It is 100% unique to you, and no one else can post a note that lists this npub as the author, because they won't have the corresponding private key. You don't need to remember your npub, though. You'll be able to readily copy it from any Nostr app you use whenever you need it.

You will also be prompted to add a nickname. This is just for use within Amber, since you can set up multiple profiles within the app. You can use anything you want here, as it is just so you can tell which profile is which when switching between them in Amber.

Once you've set your nickname, tap on "Continue."

The next screen will ask you what Amber's default signing policy should be.

The default is to approve basic actions, referring to things that are common for Nostr clients to request a signature for, like following another user, liking a post, making a new post, or replying. If you are more concerned about what Amber might be signing for on your behalf, you can tell it to require manual approval for each app.

Once you've made your decision, tap "Finish." You will also be able to change this selection in the app settings at any time.

With this setup out of the way, you are now presented with the main "Applications" page of the app.

At the top, you have a notification encouraging you to create a backup. Let's get that taken care of now by tapping on the notification and skipping down to the heading titled "Backing Up Your Identity" in this tutorial.

Existing Nostrich

Upon opening the application, you will be presented with the option to use your private key or create a new Nostr account. Choose the former.

The next screen will require you to paste your private key.

You will need to obtain this from whatever Nostr app you used to create your profile, or any other Nostr app that you pasted your nsec into in the past. Typically you can find it in the app settings and there will be a section mentioning your keys where you can copy your nsec. For instance, in Primal go to Settings > Keys > Copy private key, and on Amethyst open the side panel by tapping on your profile picture in the top-left, then Backup Keys > Copy my secret key.

After pasting your nsec into Amber, tap "Next."

Amber will give you a couple options for a default signing policy. The default is to approve basic actions, referring to things that are common for Nostr clients to request a signature for, like following another user, liking a post, making a new post, or replying. If you are more concerned about what Amber might be signing for on your behalf, you can tell it to require manual approval for each app.

Once you've made your decision, tap "Finish." You will also be able to change this selection in the app settings at any time.

With this setup out of the way, you are now presented with the main "Applications" page of the app. You have nothing here yet, since you haven't used Amber to log into any Nostr apps, but this will be where all of the apps you have connected with Amber will be listed, in the order of the most recently used at the top.

Before we go and use Amber to log into an app, though, let's make sure we've created a backup of our private key. You pasted your nsec into Amber, so you could just save that somewhere safe, but Amber gives you a few other options as well. To find them, you'll need to tap the cog icon at the bottom of the screen to access the settings, then select "Backup Keys."

Backing Up Your Identity

You'll notice that Amber has a few different options for backing up your private key that it can generate.

First, it can give you seed words, just like a Bitcoin seed. If you choose that option, you'll be presented with 12 words you can record somewhere safe. To recover your Nostr private key, you just have to type those words into a compatible application, such as Amber.

The next option is to just copy the secret/private key in its standard form as an "nsec." This is the least secure way to store it, but is also the most convenient, since it is simple to paste into another signer application. If you want to be able to log in on a desktop web app, the browser extension Nostr signers won't necessarily support entering your 12 word seed phrase, but they absolutely will support pasting in your nsec.

You can also display a QR code of your private key. This can be scanned by Amber signer on another device for easily transferring your private key to other devices you want to use it on. Say you have an Android tablet in addition to your phone, for instance. Just make sure you only use this function where you can be certain that no one will be able to get a photograph of that QR code. Once someone else has your nsec, there is no way to recover it. You have to start all over on Nostr. Not a big deal at this point in your journey if you just created a Nostr account, but if you have been using Nostr for a while and have built up a decent amount of reputation, it could be much more costly to start over again.

The next options are a bit more secure, because they require a password that will be used to encrypt your private key. This has some distinct advantages, and a couple disadvantages to be aware of. Using a password to encrypt your private key will give you what is called an ncryptsec, and if this is leaked somehow, whoever has it will not necessarily have access to post as you on Nostr, the way they would if your nsec had been leaked. At least, not so long as they don't also have your password. This means you can store your ncryptsec in multiple locations without much fear that it will be compromised, so long as the password you used to encrypt it was a strong and unique one, and it isn't stored in the same location. Some Nostr apps support an ncryptsec for login directly, meaning that you have the option to paste in your ncryptsec and then just log in with the password you used to encrypt it from there on out. However, now you will need to keep track of both your ncryptsec and your password, storing both of them safely and separately. Additionally, most Nostr clients and signer applications do not support using an ncryptsec, so you will need to convert it back to a standard nsec (or copy the nsec from Amber) to use those apps.

The QR option using an ncryptsec is actually quite useful, though, and I would go this route when trying to set up Amber on additional devices, since anyone possibly getting a picture of the QR code is still not going to be able to do anything with it, unless they also get the password you used to encrypt it.

All of the above options will require you to enter the PIN you set up for your device, or biometric authentication, just as an additional precaution before displaying your private key to you.

As for what "store it in a safe place" looks like, I highly recommend a self-hosted password manager, such as Vaultwarden+Bitwarden or KeePass. If you really want to get wild, you can store it on a hardware signing device, or on a steel seed plate.

Additional Settings

Amber has some additional settings you may want to take advantage of. First off, if you don't want just anyone who has access to your phone to be able to approve signing requests, you can go into the Security settings add a PIN or enable biometrics for signing requests. If you enable the PIN, it will be separate from the PIN you use to access your phone, so you can let someone else use your phone, like your child who is always begging to play a mobile game you have installed, without worrying that they might have access to your Nostr key to post on Amethyst.

Amber also has some relay settings. First are the "Active relays" which are used for signing requests sent to Amber remotely from Nostr web apps. This is what enables you to use Amber on your phone to log into Nostr applications on your desktop web browser, such as Jumble.social, Coracle.social, or Nostrudel.ninja, eliminating your need to use any other application to store your nsec whatsoever. You can leave this relay as the default, or you can add other relays you want to use for signing requests. Just be aware, not all relays will accept the notes that are used for Nostr signing requests, so make sure that the relay you want to use does so. In fact, Amber will make sure of this for you when you type in the relay address.

The next type of relays that you can configure in Amber are the "Default profile relays." These are used for reading your profile information. If you already had a Nostr identity that you imported to Amber, you probably noticed it loaded your profile picture and display name, setting the latter as your nickname in Amber. These relays are where Amber got that information from. The defaults are relay.nostr.band and purplepag.es. The reason for this is because they are aggregators that look for Nostr profiles that have been saved to other relays on the network and pull them in. Therefore, no matter what other relay you may save your profile to, Amber will likely be able to find it on one of those two relays as well. If you have a relay you know you will be saving your Nostr profiles to, you may want to add it to this list.

You can also set up Amber to be paired with Orbot for signing over Tor using relays that are only accessible via the Tor network. That is an advanced feature, though, and well beyond the scope of this tutorial.

Finally, you can update the default signing policy. Maybe after using Amber for a while, you've decided that the choice you made before was too strict or too lenient. You can change it to suit your needs.

Zapstore Login

Now that you are all set up with Amber, let's get you signed into your first Nostr app by going back to the Zapstore.

From the app's home screen, tap on the user icon in the upper left of the screen. This will open a side panel with not much on it except the option to "sign in." Go ahead and tap on it.

You will be presented with the option to either sign in with Amber, or to paste your npub. However, if you do the latter, you will only have read access, meaning you cannot zap any of the app releases. There are other features planned for the Zapstore that may also require you to be signed in with write access, so go ahead and choose to log in with Amber.

Your phone should automatically switch to Amber to approve the sign-in request.

You can choose to only approve basic actions for Zapstore, require it to manually approve every time, or you can tell it that you "fully trust this application." Only choose the latter option with apps you have used for a while and they have never asked you to sign for anything suspicious. For the time being, I suggest you use the "Approve basic actions" option and tap "Grant Permissions."

Your phone will switch back to the Zapstore and will show that you are now signed in. Congratulations! From here on out, logging into most Nostr applications will be as easy as tapping on "Log in with Amber" and approving the request.

If you set up a new profile, it will just show a truncated version of your npub rather than the nickname you set up earlier. That's fine. You'll have an opportunity to update your Nostr profile in the next tutorial in this series and ensure that it is spread far and wide in the network, so the Zapstore will easily find it.

That concludes the tutorial for Amber. While we have not covered using Amber to log into Nostr web apps, that is outside the scope of this series, and I will cover it in an upcoming tutorial regarding using Amber's remote signer options in detail.

Since you're already hanging out in the Zapstore, you may as well stick around, because we will be using it right out the gate in the next part of this series: Amethyst Installation and Setup. (Coming Soon)

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

Star Wars is often viewed as a myth of rebellion, freedom, and resistance to tyranny. The iconography—scrappy rebels, totalitarian stormtroopers, lone smugglers—suggests a deep anti-authoritarian ethos. Yet, beneath the surface, the narrative arc of Star Wars consistently affirms the necessity, even sanctity, of central authority. This blog entry introduces the question: Is Star Wars fundamentally a celebration of statism?

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Rebellion as Restoration, Not Revolution

The Rebel Alliance’s mission is not to dismantle centralized power, but to restore the Galactic Republic—a bureaucratic, centrally governed institution. Characters like Mon Mothma and Bail Organa are high-ranking senators, not populist revolutionaries. The goal is to remove the corrupt Empire and reinstall a previous central authority, presumed to be just.

• Rebels are loyalists to a prior state structure.
• Power is not questioned, only who wields it.

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Jedi as Centralized Moral Elites

The Jedi, often idealized as protectors of peace, are unelected, extra-legal enforcers of moral and military order. Their authority stems from esoteric metaphysical abilities rather than democratic legitimacy.

• They answer only to their internal Council.
• They are deployed by the Senate, but act independently of civil law.
• Their collapse is depicted as tragic not because they were unaccountable, but because they were betrayed.

This positions them as a theocratic elite, not spiritual anarchists.

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Chaos and the Frontier: The Case of the Cantina

The Mos Eisley cantina, often viewed as a symbol of frontier freedom, reveals something darker. It is: - Lawless - Violent - Culturally fragmented

Conflict resolution occurs through murder, not mediation. Obi-Wan slices off a limb; Han shoots first—both without legal consequence. There is no evidence of property rights, dispute resolution, or voluntary order.

This is not libertarian pluralism—it’s moral entropy. The message: without centralized governance, barbarism reigns.

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The Mythic Arc: Restoration of the Just State

Every trilogy in the saga returns to a single theme: the fall and redemption of legitimate authority.

1. Prequels: Republic collapses into tyranny.
2. Originals: Rebels fight to restore legitimate order.
3. Sequels: Weak governance leads to resurgence of authoritarianism; heroes must reestablish moral centralism.

The story is not anti-state—it’s anti-bad state. The solution is never decentralization; it’s the return of the right ruler or order.

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Conclusion: The Hidden Statism of a Rebel Myth

Star Wars wears the costume of rebellion, but tells the story of centralized salvation. It: - Validates elite moral authority (Jedi) - Romanticizes restoration of fallen governments (Republic) - Portrays decentralized zones as corrupt and savage (outer rim worlds)

It is not an anarchist parable, nor a libertarian fable. It is a statist mythology, clothed in the spectacle of rebellion. Its core message is not that power should be abolished, but that power belongs to the virtuous few.

---

Question to Consider:
If the Star Wars universe consistently affirms the need for centralized moral and political authority, should we continue to see it as a myth of freedom? Or is it time to recognize it as a narrative of benevolent empire?

@ 8bad92c3:ca714aa5

Marty's Bent

It's been a pretty historic week for the United States as it pertains to geopolitical relations in the Middle East. President Trump and many members of his administration, including AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, traveled across the Middle East making deals with countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, and others. Many are speculating that Iran may be included in some behind the scenes deal as well. This trip to the Middle East makes sense considering the fact that China is also vying for favorable relationships with those countries. The Middle East is a power player in the world, and it seems pretty clear that Donald Trump is dead set on ensuring that they choose the United States over China as the world moves towards a more multi-polar reality.

Many are calling the events of this week the Riyadh Accords. There were many deals that were struck in relation to artificial intelligence, defense, energy and direct investments in the United States. A truly prolific power play and demonstration of deal-making ability of Donald Trump, if you ask me. Though I will admit some of the numbers that were thrown out by some of the countries were a bit egregious. We shall see how everything plays out in the coming years. It will be interesting to see how China reacts to this power move by the United States.

While all this was going on, there was something happening back in the United States that many people outside of fringe corners of FinTwit are not talking about, which is the fact that the 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury bond yields are back on the rise. Yesterday, they surpassed the levels of mid-April that caused a market panic and are hovering back around levels that have not been seen since right before Donald Trump's inauguration.

I imagine that there isn't as much of an uproar right now because I'm pretty confident the media freakouts we were experiencing in mid-April were driven by the fact that many large hedge funds found themselves off sides of large levered basis trades. I wouldn't be surprised if those funds have decreased their leverage in those trades and bond yields being back to mid-April levels is not affecting those funds as much as they were last month. But the point stands, the 10-year and 30-year yields are significantly elevated with the 30-year approaching 5%. Regardless of the deals that are currently being made in the Middle East, the Treasury has a big problem on its hands. It still has to roll over many trillions worth of debt over over the next few years and doing so at these rates is going to be massively detrimental to fiscal deficits over the next decade. The interest expense on the debt is set to explode in the coming years.

On that note, data from the first quarter of 2025 has been released by the government and despite all the posturing by the Trump administration around DOGE and how tariffs are going to be beneficial for the U.S. economy, deficits are continuing to explode while the interest expense on the debt has definitively surpassed our annual defense budget.

via Charlie Bilello

via Mohamed Al-Erian

To make matters worse, as things are deteriorating on the fiscal side of things, the U.S. consumer is getting crushed by credit. The 90-plus day delinquency rates for credit card and auto loans are screaming higher right now.

via TXMC

One has to wonder how long all this can continue without some sort of liquidity crunch. Even though equities markets have recovered from their post-Liberation Day month long bear market, I would not be surprised if what we're witnessing is a dead cat bounce that can only be continued if the money printers are turned back on. Something's got to give, both on the fiscal side and in the private markets where the Common Man is getting crushed because he's been forced to take on insane amounts of debt to stay afloat after years of elevated levels of inflation. Add on the fact that AI has reached a state of maturity that will enable companies to replace their current meat suit workers with an army of cheap, efficient and fast digital workers and it isn't hard to see that some sort of employment crisis could be on the horizon as well.

Now is not the time to get complacent. While I do believe that the deals that are currently being made in the Middle East are probably in the best interest of the United States as the world, again, moves toward a more multi-polar reality, we are facing problems that one cannot simply wish away. They will need to be confronted. And as we've seen throughout the 21st century, the problems are usually met head-on with a money printer.

I take no pleasure in saying this because it is a bit uncouth to be gleeful to benefit from the strife of others, but it is pretty clear to me that all signs are pointing to bitcoin benefiting massively from everything that is going on. The shift towards a more multi-polar world, the runaway debt situation here in the United States, the increasing deficits, the AI job replacements and the consumer credit crisis that is currently unfolding, All will need to be "solved" by turning on the money printers to levels they've never been pushed to before.

Weird times we're living in.

China's Manufacturing Dominance: Why It Matters for the U.S.

In my recent conversation with Lyn Alden, she highlighted how China has rapidly ascended the manufacturing value chain. As Lyn pointed out, China transformed from making "sneakers and plastic trinkets" to becoming the world's largest auto exporter in just four years. This dramatic shift represents more than economic success—it's a strategic power play. China now dominates solar panel production with greater market control than OPEC has over oil and maintains near-monopoly control of rare earth elements crucial for modern technology.

"China makes like 10 times more steel than the United States does... which is relevant in ship making. It's relevant in all sorts of stuff." - Lyn Alden

Perhaps most concerning, as Lyn emphasized, is China's financial leverage. They hold substantial U.S. assets that could be strategically sold to disrupt U.S. treasury market functioning. This combination of manufacturing dominance, resource control, and financial leverage gives China significant negotiating power in any trade disputes, making our attempts to reshoring manufacturing all the more challenging.

Check out the full podcast here for more on Triffin's dilemma, Bitcoin's role in monetary transition, and the energy requirements for rebuilding America's industrial base.

Headlines of the Day

Financial Times Under Fire Over MicroStrategy Bitcoin Coverage - via X

Trump in Qatar: Historic Boeing Deal Signed - via X

Get our new STACK SATS hat - via tftcmerch.io

Johnson Backs Stock Trading Ban; Passage Chances Slim - via X

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Take the First Step Off the Exchange

Bitkey is an easy, secure way to move your Bitcoin into self-custody. With simple setup and built-in recovery, it’s the perfect starting point for getting your coins off centralized platforms and into cold storage—no complexity, no middlemen.

Take control. Start with Bitkey.

Use the promo code *“TFTC20”* during checkout for 20% off

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Ten31, the largest bitcoin-focused investor, has deployed 158,469 sats | $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...

Building things of value is satisfying.

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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:

@media screen and (max-width: 480px) { .mobile-padding { padding: 10px 0 !important; } .social-container { width: 100% !important; max-width: 260px !important; } .social-icon { padding: 0 !important; } .social-icon img { height: 32px !important; width: 32px !important; } .icon-cell { padding: 0 4px !import

@ 866e0139:6a9334e5

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

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

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Der Schweizer Historiker Daniele Ganser startet eine Plakataktion. Auf Facebook schreibt er:

"Dieses Plakat habe ich ab heute an sechs Bahnhöfen in der Schweiz aufhängen lassen: Die Schweiz muss die Neutralität bewahren. Keine Zusammenarbeit mit der NATO!

Die Aktion läuft eine Woche. Das Plakat hängt in Basel (Gleis 5 und 7), Zürich (Gleis 9 und 12), Bern (Gleis 3 und 11), Luzern (Gleis 7 und 11), St. Gallen (Gleis 1 und 2) und Chur (Gleis 4 und Arosabahn).

Wenn jemand ein Plakat sieht und fotografiert und es mir per Email schickt freut mich das!

https://globalbridge.ch/die-schweiz-muss-die.../

Daniele Ganser kann man über folgende Seite kontaktieren.

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LASSEN SIE DER FRIEDENSTAUBE FLÜGEL WACHSEN!

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

Schon jetzt können Sie uns unterstützen:

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• Für 500 CHF/EURO werden Sie Förderer und bekommen ein lebenslanges Abo sowie ein T-Shirt/Hoodie mit der Friedenstaube.
• Ab 1000 CHF werden Sie Genossenschafter der Friedenstaube mit Stimmrecht (und bekommen lebenslanges Abo, T-Shirt/Hoodie).

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Milosz Matuschek

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Sparkasse Traunstein-Trostberg

Betreff: Friedenstaube

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

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

@ a296b972:e5a7a2e8

Zahlreiche Anzeichen deuten darauf hin, dass die Zeit zu Ende geht, in der Europa, vor allem Deutschland, unter den schützenden Flügeln des US-Adlers bleiben kann. Die europäischen Küken sind noch nicht flügge, werden aber jetzt aus dem wohligen Nest geworfen und in die Freiheit entlassen. Ängstlich schlagen sie mit den Flügeln, doch das Fliegen will nicht so recht gelingen.

Angstbenommenheit, Inkompetenz und blinder Aktionismus erzeugen so staatsmännisch klingende Sprüche wie die, dass Deutschland zur stärksten Kraft in Europa werden soll. Hieran erkennt man die pubertäre Unreife, weil es kein Bewusstsein dafür gibt, was diese Aussage im Ausland unter Umständen bewirken kann. Man kann sich vorstellen, dass so etwas vor allem in der Bevölkerung des jahrelangen Erzfeindes Frankreich ein ungutes Gefühl erwecken könnte.

Ebenso bei den Briten, die möglicherweise ebenfalls nicht vor lauter Begeisterung vollends aus dem Häuschen sein werden.

Die USA und Russland beobachten sehr genau, was in Deutschland vorgeht, wobei die Aussage des zukünftigen Ex-Bundeskanzlers in Russland möglicherweise nur ein süffisantes Lächeln erzeugt, so, wie wenn ein Yorkshire-Terrier einen Bull-Dog ankläffen würde.

Deutschland scheint nicht den geringsten Schimmer davon zu haben, mit wem es sich anlegt.

Wenn für die Russen der "unschöne Besuch" der Deutschen in Russland mit rund 27 Millionen Toten an Bedeutung verloren hätte, würden die Paraden zum Sieg über den Faschismus nicht nach wie vor so groß gefeiert werden. Wenn die deutschen Regierungsverantwortlichen wenigstens über emphatische Fähigkeiten verfügen würden, wären sie in der Lage, sich in die Emotionen der russischen Seele einzufühlen. Und die Sauerländer sind wohl eher nicht für ihre warme Herzlichkeit bekannt, sondern eher für ihre Sturheit.

Vorbei die Zeiten, in denen es um den Wandel durch Annäherung ging, und man den Eindruck hatte, von Politikern mit Charakter- und Herzensbildung geleitet zu werden. Das waren auch alles keine Heiligen, aber man hatte zumindest den Eindruck, sie bemühten sich um die Mehrung des Wohles für Deutschland.

Mit den richtigen Leuten an der richtigen Stelle böte die derzeitige Veränderung der Kräfteverhältnisse die einmalige Chance, dass Deutschland endlich seiner schon lange fälligen Aufgabe nachkäme, nämlich dem geistig gemeinten Spruch „Am deutschen Wesen soll die Welt genesen“ in die lebendige Tat umzusetzen. Es heißt nicht: An deutschen Waffen oder an deutscher Kriegstüchtigkeit soll Europa, soll die Welt genesen, sondern am deutschen WESEN!!!

Was macht dieses Wesen, wie es geistig gemeint ist, aus?

Deutschland blickt auf eine lange Geschichte von Denkern und Dichtern zurück. Was hat das deutsche Wesen für Komponisten hervorgebracht, welche geistige Blütezeit erlebte Deutschland in der Romantik? In der deutschen Kultur wird gut und gerne gedacht, man hat Freude am Nachdenken, am Austüfteln, am Erfinden. Das eigentliche Kapital der deutschen Kultur ist das Denkvermögen und der Verstand, sofern er sich frei entfalten kann, erst lange danach kommt die Bewertung des wirtschaftlichen Erfolges, der nur die Folge davon ist. Effiziente, hochmoderne Waffen herzustellen, ist eine Verirrung dieses Denkvermögens.

Die geografischen Verhältnisse lassen sich mit keinem Krieg verändern. Die USA bleiben da, wo sie sind, Russland im Osten auch, Frankreich im Westen ebenso.

Die USA haben eine vollkommen andere Grenzsituation, als z. B. Russland. Die USA grenzen im Norden an Kanada, im Süden an Mexico, im Osten und im Westen sind sie durch den Ozean abgegrenzt. Russland ist das flächengrößte Land der Erde mit einer Festland- Grenzlänge von rund 22.000 Kilometern. Das schafft ein komplett anderes, legitimes Schutzbedürfnis.

Deutschland liegt sowohl geographisch, als auch wirtschaftlich (noch, mehr oder weniger) im Zentrum Europas. Diese Lage mit den USA im Westen und Russland im Osten drängt Deutschland schon rein geographisch in die Situation, eigentlich der Vermittler zwischen dem Westen und dem Osten zu sein, statt sich auf eine Seite von beiden zu stellen. Dazu würde ein einvernehmliches, einträgliches Auskommen mit beiden Seiten gehören.

Um diese Aufgabe wahrzunehmen, wäre es die klügste, derzeit für die agierenden „Geistesgrößen“ aber leider unmöglich zu denkende Entscheidung, die Gelegenheit zu ergreifen, statt kriegstüchtig werden zu wollen, endlich wirklich friedensfähig zu werden, in dem, wie gesagt, für die derzeitigen „Kapazitäten“ absurd klingend, Deutschland sofort mit  massiven Neutralitätsbestrebungen beginnen müsste, also vor allem zunächst einmal raus aus der NATO. Sofortiges Einstellen von Waffenlieferungen und deren Komponenten ins Ausland.

Mit der Schweiz und Österreich gibt es bereits den Ansatz der Neutralität im deutschsprachigen Kulturraum, dem Deutschland, wenn es sich anschlösse, einen gewaltigen Auftrieb geben würde. Das wäre zu Ende gedacht, die Umsetzung der derzeit hohlen Phrase: Von deutschem Boden soll nur noch Frieden ausgehen. Frieden durch Krieg herstellen zu wollen, ist paradox. Und Frieden durch Neutralität ist auch viel billiger, als Aufrüstung zur Kriegsverhinderung.  Man stelle sich vor, welche Entlastung die Entscheidung für Neutralität in den Anrainerstaaten, in ganz Europa und der Welt auslösen würde. Es würde eine immense Entspannung eintreten. Im Idealfall sogar Nachahmer finden. Was wäre das für ein Signal! Was menschlich und wirtschaftlich ins Stocken geraten ist, könnte wieder ins Fließen kommen. Stattdessen soll verhindert werden, dass die Nordstream Pipeline wieder in Betrieb genommen wird. Das ist pathologischer Wirtschafts-Suizid.

Die Skeptiker mögen Gründe vorlegen, warum Russland oder sonst wer auf die Idee kommen sollte, ein neutrales Land angreifen zu wollen.

Druck erzeugt Gegendruck! Diesen Druck aufzubauen, liegt vor allem in der immer noch primitiven Veranlagung des Menschen, besonders ausgeprägt bei Männern. Wer hat den „Längeren“, und wer ihn nicht hat, der gibt stattdessen mit dem dicksten Auto an. Im übertragenen Sinne passiert das genauso in der Politik. Und Krieg ist Politik mit anderen Mitteln. Phallisch anmutende Raketen sind der äußere Ausdruck von vor allem testosterongesteuertem, spätpubertärem Imponiergehabe, und das ist dringend zu überwinden! Die Entwicklung der Menschheit könnte so einen großen Schritt nach vorne machen.

Man stelle sich vor, welche beruhigende, friedfertige Ausstrahlung vom deutschsprachigen Kulturraum ausgehen würde, wenn diese Neutralität gelebt würde.

Derzeit ist es aber eher so, dass z. B. von Scott Ritter, der lange in Deutschland war und das deutsche Wesen kennt, die Aussage kommt, dass er Deutschland in seinem Streben nach Frieden nie wirklich getraut hat, und jetzt hätte sich bestätigt, dass er richtig gelegen hat. Die Stationierung einer Brigade in Litauen ist pure Provokation und vollkommen Gaga.

Deutschland ist schon sehr weit auf dem Holzweg vorangeschritten und reitet sich immer tiefer in den Sumpf. Das Dilemma ist, dass weder in den Alt-Parteien, noch in der Opposition ein Bewusstsein dafür vorhanden ist, was wirklich zu tun wäre.

Deutschland braucht keine erstarkte Bundeswehr (weil testosterongesteuert), sondern eine Truppe von Menschen, die sich friedensbildenden Maßnahmen verschrieben hat und diese zum Wohle Deutschlands und den irren Zuständen in der ganzen Welt unter allen Umständen umsetzen will.

Auf die Deutschen, die sagen, „Ich allein kann ja sowieso nichts ändern“, kann man nicht zählen, weil sie sich ihrer Macht gar nicht bewusst sind, wenn sie in der Lage wären zu erfassen, wie viele genau dasselbe sagen.

Der Impuls muss von denjenigen ausgehen, die sich nicht mehr beweisen müssen, was für tolle Hechte sie sind, die nicht mit ihren dicken, doofen Karren und mit ihrem Haus, ihrem Pool und sonst noch was den Frauen beweisen müssen, wie potent sie noch sind.

Und auch von den Frauen, die nicht wollen, dass sie sich Sorgen um ihre Männer, Söhne, Brüder machen wollen, ob sie im besten Fall aus dem Krieg mit amputierten Gliedmaßen, traumatisiert oder gar nicht mehr nach Hause kommen. Inklusive der Omas gegen rechts vor links, die einmal bei einem Stück Sahnetorte und einem koffeinfreien Kaffee, verlängert mit heißem Wasser (mein Herz!), darüber nachdenken sollten, ob sie ihre geliebten Enkel wirklich für eine menschenfeindliche, kriegerische Ideologie verheizen lassen wollen.

Das ist ein Appell an die vielen verirrten Seelen an den Schalthebeln: Denkt bitte einmal darüber nach, ob es wirklich sinnvoll ist, mit rheinmetallischen Waffen abschrecken zu wollen, oder ob es nicht vielleicht menschenwesensgerechter wäre, durch wirklich umsetzbare, an der Lebensrealität gemessenen friedensbildenden Maßnahmen den Dampf aus dem Kessel zu nehmen. Würdet ihr nämlich darüber ernsthaft nachdenken, würde euch ganz schnell klar werden, dass eure Strategie, eure sogenannten Friedensvorschläge, eure Vorstellungen nicht mit der Realität vereinbar sind.

Dieser Artikel wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben

* *

(Bild von pixabay)

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

The new website is finally live! I put in a lot of hard work over the past months on it. I'm proud to say that it's out now and it looks pretty cool, at least to me!

Why rewrite it all?

The old kycnot.me site was built using Python with Flask about two years ago. Since then, I've gained a lot more experience with Golang and coding in general. Trying to update that old codebase, which had a lot of design flaws, would have been a bad idea. It would have been like building on an unstable foundation.

That's why I made the decision to rewrite the entire application. Initially, I chose to use SvelteKit with JavaScript. I did manage to create a stable site that looked similar to the new one, but it required Jav aScript to work. As I kept coding, I started feeling like I was repeating "the Python mistake". I was writing the app in a language I wasn't very familiar with (just like when I was learning Python at that mom ent), and I wasn't happy with the code. It felt like spaghetti code all the time.

So, I made a complete U-turn and started over, this time using Golang. While I'm not as proficient in Golang as I am in Python now, I find it to be a very enjoyable language to code with. Most aof my recent pr ojects have been written in Golang, and I'm getting the hang of it. I tried to make the best decisions I could and structure the code as well as possible. Of course, there's still room for improvement, which I'll address in future updates.

Now I have a more maintainable website that can scale much better. It uses a real database instead of a JSON file like the old site, and I can add many more features. Since I chose to go with Golang, I mad e the "tradeoff" of not using JavaScript at all, so all the rendering load falls on the server. But I believe it's a tradeoff that's worth it.

What's new

• UI/UX - I've designed a new logo and color palette for kycnot.me. I think it looks pretty cool and cypherpunk. I am not a graphic designer, but I think I did a decent work and I put a lot of thinking on it to make it pleasant!
• Point system - The new point system provides more detailed information about the listings, and can be expanded to cover additional features across all services. Anyone can request a new point!
• ToS Scrapper: I've implemented a powerful automated terms-of-service scrapper that collects all the ToS pages from the listings. It saves you from the hassle of reading the ToS by listing the lines that are suspiciously related to KYC/AML practices. This is still in development and it will improve for sure, but it works pretty fine right now!
• Search bar - The new search bar allows you to easily filter services. It performs a full-text search on the Title, Description, Category, and Tags of all the services. Looking for VPN services? Just search for "vpn"!
• Transparency - To be more transparent, all discussions about services now take place publicly on GitLab. I won't be answering any e-mails (an auto-reply will prompt to write to the corresponding Gitlab issue). This ensures that all service-related matters are publicly accessible and recorded. Additionally, there's a real-time audits page that displays database changes.
• Listing Requests - I have upgraded the request system. The new form allows you to directly request services or points without any extra steps. In the future, I plan to enable requests for specific changes to parts of the website.
• Lightweight and fast - The new site is lighter and faster than its predecessor!
• Tor and I2P - At last! kycnot.me is now officially on Tor and I2P!

How?

This rewrite has been a labor of love, in the end, I've been working on this for more than 3 months now. I don't have a team, so I work by myself on my free time, but I find great joy in helping people on their private journey with cryptocurrencies. Making it easier for individuals to use cryptocurrencies without KYC is a goal I am proud of!

If you appreciate my work, you can support me through the methods listed here. Alternatively, feel free to send me an email with a kind message!

Technical details

All the code is written in Golang, the website makes use of the chi router for the routing part. I also make use of BigCache for caching database requests. There is 0 JavaScript, so all the rendering load falls on the server, this means it needed to be efficient enough to not drawn with a few users since the old site was reporting about 2M requests per month on average (note that this are not unique users).

The database is running with mariadb, using gorm as the ORM. This is more than enough for this project. I started working with an sqlite database, but I ended up migrating to mariadb since it works better with JSON.

The scraper is using chromedp combined with a series of keywords, regex and other logic. It runs every 24h and scraps all the services. You can find the scraper code here.

The frontend is written using Golang Templates for the HTML, and TailwindCSS plus DaisyUI for the CSS classes framework. I also use some plain CSS, but it's minimal.

The requests forms is the only part of the project that requires JavaScript to be enabled. It is needed for parsing some from fields that are a bit complex and for the "captcha", which is a simple Proof of Work that runs on your browser, destinated to avoid spam. For this, I use mCaptcha.

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

I. Introduction: Money as a Function of Efficiency and Preference

Money is not defined by law, but by power over productivity. In any open economy, the most economically efficient actors—those who control the most valuable goods, services, and knowledge—ultimately dictate the medium of exchange. Their preferences signal to the broader market what form of money is required to access the highest-value goods, from durable commodities to intangibles like intellectual property and skilled labor.

Whatever money these actors prefer becomes the de facto unit of account and store of value, regardless of its legal status. This emergent behavior is natural and reflects a hierarchy of monetary utility.

II. Classical Gresham’s Law: A Product of Market Distortion

Gresham’s Law, famously stated as:

"Bad money drives out good"

is only valid under coercive monetary conditions, specifically: - Legal tender laws that force the acceptance of inferior money at par with superior money. - Fixed exchange rates imposed by decree, not market valuation. - Governments or central banks backing elastic fiduciary media with promises of redemption. - Institutional structures that mandate debt and tax payments in the favored currency.

Under these conditions, superior money (hard money) is hoarded, while inferior money (soft, elastic, inflationary) circulates. This is not an expression of free market behavior—it is the result of suppressed price discovery and legal coercion.

Gresham’s Law, therefore, is not a natural law of money, but a law of distortion under forced parity and artificial elasticity.

III. The Collapse of Coercion: Inversion of Gresham’s Law

When coercive structures weaken or are bypassed—through technological exit, jurisdictional arbitrage, monetary breakdown, or political disintegration—Gresham’s Law inverts:

Good money drives out bad.

This occurs because: - Market actors regain the freedom to select money based on utility, scarcity, and credibility. - Legal parity collapses, exposing the true economic hierarchy of monetary forms. - Trustless systems (e.g., Bitcoin) or superior digital instruments (e.g., stablecoins) offer better settlement, security, and durability. - Elastic fiduciary media become undesirable as counterparty risk and inflation rise.

The inversion marks a return to monetary natural selection—not a breakdown of Gresham’s Law, but the collapse of its preconditions.

IV. Elasticity and Control

Elastic fiduciary media (like fiat currency) are not intrinsically evil. They are tools of state finance and debt management, enabling rapid expansion of credit and liquidity. However, when their issuance is unconstrained, and legal tender laws force their use, they become weapons of economic coercion.

Banks issue credit unconstrained by real savings, and governments enforce the use of inflated media through taxation and courts. This distorts capital allocation, devalues productive labor, and ultimately hollows out monetary confidence.

V. Monetary Reversion: The Return of Hard Money

When the coercion ends—whether gradually or suddenly—the monetary system reverts. The preferences of the productive and wealthy reassert themselves:

• Superior money is not just saved—it begins to circulate.
• Weaker currencies are rejected not just for savings, but for daily exchange.
• The hoarded form becomes the traded form, and Gresham’s Law inverts completely.

Bitcoin, gold, and even highly credible stable instruments begin to function as true money, not just stores of value. The natural monetary order returns, and the State becomes a late participant, not the originator of monetary reality.

VI. Conclusion

Gresham’s Law operates only under distortion. Its inversion is not an anomaly—it is a signal of the collapse of coercion. The monetary system then reorganizes around productive preference, technological efficiency, and economic sovereignty.

The most efficient market will always dictate the form of hard money. The State can delay this reckoning through legal force, but it cannot prevent it indefinitely. Once free choice returns, bad money dies, and good money lives again.

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

Know Your Customer is a regulation that requires companies of all sizes to verify the identity, suitability, and risks involved with maintaining a business relationship with a customer. Such procedures fit within the broader scope of anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterrorism financing (CTF) regulations.

Banks, exchanges, online business, mail providers, domain registrars... Everyone wants to know who you are before you can even opt for their service. Your personal information is flowing around the internet in the hands of "god-knows-who" and secured by "trust-me-bro military-grade encryption". Once your account is linked to your personal (and verified) identity, tracking you is just as easy as keeping logs on all these platforms.

Rights for Illusions

KYC processes aim to combat terrorist financing, money laundering, and other illicit activities. On the surface, KYC seems like a commendable initiative. I mean, who wouldn't want to halt terrorists and criminals in their tracks?

The logic behind KYC is: "If we mandate every financial service provider to identify their users, it becomes easier to pinpoint and apprehend the malicious actors."

However, terrorists and criminals are not precisely lining up to be identified. They're crafty. They may adopt false identities or find alternative strategies to continue their operations. Far from being outwitted, many times they're several steps ahead of regulations. Realistically, KYC might deter a small fraction – let's say about 1% ^1 – of these malefactors. Yet, the cost? All of us are saddled with the inconvenient process of identification just to use a service.

Under the rhetoric of "ensuring our safety", governments and institutions enact regulations that seem more out of a dystopian novel, gradually taking away our right to privacy.

To illustrate, consider a city where the mayor has rolled out facial recognition cameras in every nook and cranny. A band of criminals, intent on robbing a local store, rolls in with a stolen car, their faces obscured by masks and their bodies cloaked in all-black clothes. Once they've committed the crime and exited the city's boundaries, they switch vehicles and clothes out of the cameras' watchful eyes. The high-tech surveillance? It didn’t manage to identify or trace them. Yet, for every law-abiding citizen who merely wants to drive through the city or do some shopping, their movements and identities are constantly logged. The irony? This invasive tracking impacts all of us, just to catch the 1% ^1 of less-than-careful criminals.

KYC? Not you.

KYC creates barriers to participation in normal economic activity, to supposedly stop criminals. ^2

KYC puts barriers between many users and businesses. One of these comes from the fact that the process often requires multiple forms of identification, proof of address, and sometimes even financial records. For individuals in areas with poor record-keeping, non-recognized legal documents, or those who are unbanked, homeless or transient, obtaining these documents can be challenging, if not impossible.

For people who are not skilled with technology or just don't have access to it, there's also a barrier since KYC procedures are mostly online, leaving them inadvertently excluded.

Another barrier goes for the casual or one-time user, where they might not see the value in undergoing a rigorous KYC process, and these requirements can deter them from using the service altogether.

It also wipes some businesses out of the equation, since for smaller businesses, the costs associated with complying with KYC norms—from the actual process of gathering and submitting documents to potential delays in operations—can be prohibitive in economical and/or technical terms.

You're not welcome

Imagine a swanky new club in town with a strict "members only" sign. You hear the music, you see the lights, and you want in. You step up, ready to join, but suddenly there's a long list of criteria you must meet. After some time, you are finally checking all the boxes. But then the club rejects your membership with no clear reason why. You just weren't accepted. Frustrating, right?

This club scenario isn't too different from the fact that KYC is being used by many businesses as a convenient gatekeeping tool. A perfect excuse based on a "legal" procedure they are obliged to.

Even some exchanges may randomly use this to freeze and block funds from users, claiming these were "flagged" by a cryptic system that inspects the transactions. You are left hostage to their arbitrary decision to let you successfully pass the KYC procedure. If you choose to sidestep their invasive process, they might just hold onto your funds indefinitely.

Your identity has been stolen

KYC data has been found to be for sale on many dark net markets^3. Exchanges may have leaks or hacks, and such leaks contain very sensitive data. We're talking about the full monty: passport or ID scans, proof of address, and even those awkward selfies where you're holding up your ID next to your face. All this data is being left to the mercy of the (mostly) "trust-me-bro" security systems of such companies. Quite scary, isn't it?

As cheap as $10 for 100 documents, with discounts applying for those who buy in bulk, the personal identities of innocent users who passed KYC procedures are for sale. ^3

In short, if you have ever passed the KYC/AML process of a crypto exchange, your privacy is at risk of being compromised, or it might even have already been compromised.

(they) Know Your Coins

You may already know that Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies have a transparent public blockchain, meaning that all data is shown unencrypted for everyone to see and recorded forever. If you link an address you own to your identity through KYC, for example, by sending an amount from a KYC exchange to it, your Bitcoin is no longer pseudonymous and can then be traced.

If, for instance, you send Bitcoin from such an identified address to another KYC'ed address (say, from a friend), everyone having access to that address-identity link information (exchanges, governments, hackers, etc.) will be able to associate that transaction and know who you are transacting with.

Conclusions

To sum up, KYC does not protect individuals; rather, it's a threat to our privacy, freedom, security and integrity. Sensible information flowing through the internet is thrown into chaos by dubious security measures. It puts borders between many potential customers and businesses, and it helps governments and companies track innocent users. That's the chaos KYC has stirred.

The criminals are using stolen identities from companies that gathered them thanks to these very same regulations that were supposed to combat them. Criminals always know how to circumvent such regulations. In the end, normal people are the most affected by these policies.

The threat that KYC poses to individuals in terms of privacy, security and freedom is not to be neglected. And if we don’t start challenging these systems and questioning their efficacy, we are just one step closer to the dystopian future that is now foreseeable.

Edited 20/03/2024 * Add reference to the 1% statement on Rights for Illusions section to an article where Chainalysis found that only 0.34% of the transaction volume with cryptocurrencies in 2023 was attributable to criminal activity ^1

@ 005bc4de:ef11e1a2

BIP-2,100,000,000,000,000,000

So, you're telling me...

• 21 million bitcoins is out, and...
• 2.1 quadrillion sats is in, except that...
• sats are out, so...
• 2.1 quadrillion bitcoins is in, except that...
• there are actually millisats, but...
• millisats are out, so...
• millibitcoins are in, so now...
• there are 2.1 quintillion millibitcoins, except that...
• millibitcoins are the basic base unit of bitcoin, so...
• millibitcoins are out, and now...
• 2.1 quintillion bitcoins are in

@ 491afeba:8b64834e

Quando adolescente eu acreditava na coerência da teoria de "amor líquido" do polonês, sociólogo, Zygmunt Bauman, apresentada no livro "Amor Líquido: Sobre a Fragilidade dos Laços Humanos", qual no meu amadurecimento em estudos, sejam eles no meio acadêmico ou fora, percebo como uma das formas mais rasas de explicar as mudanças e transformações dos padrões de relações sócio-afetivas dos humanos. A seguir colocar-me-ei na minha juventude não tanto recente, direi então que nós, se adolescentes e conservadores, ou mesmo jovens adultos mais conservadores, costumamos levar como dogma uma óptica decadentista generalizada de todos os avanços de eras dos homens, universalizamos por nos ser comum a indistinção entre humanidade e humanidades, ou mesmo "humanity" e "humankind" ("humanidade" como espécime e "humanidade" como um universal), compreendemos toda "essas" como "essa" e indistinguimos as sociedades para com os homens, ou seja, a incapacidade de definir os seres dentro de suas respectivas singularidades e especificidades nos leva ao decadentismo generalista (a crença de que de forma geral, e universal, a "civilização universal" decai moralmente, éticamente, materialmente e espiritualmente), que aparente à nós determinadas mudanças nas relações humanas quanto ao caráter sócio-afetivo, por falta de profundidade e critérios ainda sobre questões alinhadas aos métodos e coerências, ou incoerências, lógicas, nós se jovens e conservadores somos levados ao engodo de concordar com a teoria do amor líquido de Bauman, que devo cá explicar de antemão: trata ela, a teoria, o padrão de "amor" dos tempos presentes como frágil, de prazo (curto e médio) e diferente em grau comparativamente ao amor comum das eras passadas.

Aos jovens mais progressistas opera uma compreensão dialética sobre as eras dos homens nos seu tempo presente, na qual ao tempo que o ser progride ele também regride simultaneamente, ou seja, a medida que aparecem contradições advindas de transformações materiais da realidade humana o ser supera essas contradições e progride em meio as transformações, ainda fazendo parte da lógica dessa indissociavelmente, assim constantemente progredindo e regredindo, havendo para esses dois vetores de distinção: o primeiro é o que releva questões espirituais como ao caráter do pensamento "new age", o segundo ignora essas questões por negar a existência da alma, seguem ao materialismo. Cedem em crer na teoria baumaninana como dogma, pois não encontram outros meios para explicar as transformações da sociedade na esfera sócio-afetiva sem que haja confrontamento direto com determinadas premissas assim pertinemente presentes, ou por não conciliarem com análises relativamente superiores, como a de Anthony Giddens sobre a "relação pura" em "A Transformação da Intimidade" e de François de Singly apresentada em "Sociologie du Couple".

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6f/b4/9e/6fb49eda2c8cf6dc837a0abfc7e108e6.jpg

Há um problema quando uma teoria deixa de assim ser para vir a tornar-se mais um elemento desconexo da ciência, agora dentro da cultura pop, se assim podemos dizer, ou da cultura de massa, ou se preferirem mesmo "anticultura", esse problema é a sua deformização teórica, tornando-se essa rasa para sua palatabilidade massiva, somada a incapacidade de partes da sociedade civil em compreender as falhas daquilo que já foi massificado. Tive surpresa ao entender que muitos outros compartilham da mesma opinião, a exemplo, possuo um amigo na faculdade, marxista, que ao falarmos sobre nossos projetos de pesquisa, citou ele o projeto de um de nossos colegas, no qual esse referido um de nossos colegas faria seu projeto com base na teoria do amor líquido de Bauman, então alí demos risada disso, ora, para nós a teoria baumaniana é furada, passamos a falar sobre Bauman e o motivo pelo qual não gostávamos, lá fiquei até surpreso em saber que mais gente além de mim não gostava da teoria de Bauman, pois ao que eu via na internet era rede de enaltecimentos à figura e à sua teoria, tal como fosse uma revelação partindo de alguma divindade da Idade do Bronze. Pouco tempo depois tive em aula de teoria política uma citação de Bauman partindo do professor que ministrava a disciplina, no entanto, ao citar o nome de Bauman o mesmo fez uma feição na qual aparentava segurar risada, provavelmente ele também não levava Bauman à sério. Não devo negar que todas as vezes que vejo o sociólogo sendo citado em alguma nota no X, no Instagram ou qualquer outra rede social, tal como fosse um referencial teórico bom, sinto uma vergonha alheia pois alí tenho uma impressão de que a pessoa não leu Bauman e usa o referencial teórico como um fato já assim provado e comprovado.

Há pontos positivos na teoria baumaniana, como a capacidade de perceber o problema e correlacioná-lo à modernidade, assim como sucitar a influência do que há de material no fenômeno, porém os erros são pertinentes: o primeiro problema é de categoria. Não há, por parte de Bauman noção alguma entre as dissociações dos amores, não há atenção sobre o amor como estrutura ou ele como um sentimento, todo ele é compreendido uniformemente como "amor", partindo do pressuposto que todas as relações, todas elas, são firmadas com base no amor. Essa crença tem uma origem: Hegel. Nos Escritos Teológicos Hegel partia da crença que o amor ligava os seres relacionalmente como uma força de superação e alienação, mas há de compreendermos que esse Friedrich Hegel é o jovem ainda pouco maduro em suas ideias e seu sistema de pensamento, mais a frente, em "Fenomenologia do Espírito e na Filosofia do Direito", Hegel compreende a institucionalidade do direito no amor e a institucionalização dessa força, assim aproxima-se da realidade a respeito da inserção do amor nas esferas práticas do humano, porém essa ideia, apesar de imperfeita, pois ao que sabemos não é o amor que consolida a relação, mas sim a Verdade (Alétheia), conforme apontado por Heidegger em "Ser e Tempo", essa ideia do amor como a fundamento das relações humanas influenciou, e até hoje influencia, qualquer análise sobre as relações humanas fora da esfera materialista, fora dessa pois, melhormente explicado em exemplo, os marxistas (em exemplo), assim como Marx, consideram como base primordial das relações as condições materiais.

Por certo, não é de todo amor a base para a solidificação, ora, erram aqueles que creem que somente essa força, assim apontada por Hegel, constituiam todos os relacionamentos formais como pilares fundamentais, pois em prática as famílias eram até a fiduciarização dessas, por mais paradoxal que seja, compreendidas melhor como instituições orgânicas de caráter legal do que conluios de afetividades. A família outrora tinha consigo aparelhos de hierarquia bem estabelicidos, quais prezavam pela ordem interna e externa, que acima dessa instituição estava somente a Igreja (outra instituição), com sua fiduciarização [da família] após o movimento tomado pelos Estados nacionais em aplicação do casamento civil mudou-se a lógica das partes que a compõe, findou-se o princípio da subsidiariedade (não intervenção de determinadas instituições nas decisões quais podem ser exercidas em resuluções de problemas nas competências de quaisquer instituições), foi-se então, contudo, também a autoridade, e nisso revela-se um outro problema não apontado na teoria de Bauman: qual o padrão do amor "sólido"? Pois, ora, sociedades tradicionais não abdicavam do relevar dos amores para tornar seus filhos em ativos nas práticas de trocas (dádivas)? É notório que esse padrão se dissocia do padrão de sentimento apontado por Bauman, encontramos esse fato em estudo nos trabalhos "Ensaio Sobre a Dádiva", do Marcel Mauss, e "As Estruturas Elementares do Parentesco", do Claude Levi-Strauss, quais expõem que nas sociedades "sólidas", tradicionais, relevava-se mais questões institucionais que as sentimentais para a formação de laços (teoria da aliança). Muitas das relações passadas não eram baseadas no amor, não significando assim que as de hoje, em oposição, sejam, mas que permanecem-se semelhantes em base, diferentemente em grau e forma.

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Ora, ainda existem casamentos motivados pela política, pelo status, pelo prestígio, pelos bens, pelo poder, pela influência familiar e assim sucetivamente, tal como no passado, ocorre que essa prática tornou-se oculta, não mais explícita e aparente, devo dizer ainda que em partes, pois prepondera em nosso tempo uma epidemia de adultérios, fornicações, práticas lascivas e demais práticas libertinosas explicitamente, em contraposição às práticas ocultas em vergonhas de sociedades sem declínio moral e espiritual, o que nos leva a questionar o método comparativo em dicotomia temporal "presente x passado" aplicado por Bauman, no qual segue-se da seguinte forma:

                     Transformação
Passado = *sólido* | Presente = *líquido*

Categorias
Padrão de amor: tradicional (*sólido*)
                            moderno (*líquido*)

*Sólido* = estável, prazo (médio-grande), profundo, determinado.
*Líquido* = instável, prazo (curto-médio), raso, indeterminado.

O que penso é: Zygmunt Bauman buscou uma explicação material e laical para desviar ao fato de que há uma notória correlação entre espiritualização da sociedade, se voltada à Verdade, com a estabilidade das instituições, o que é já reduzido à moral religiosa, somente, não à mística, como por pensadores da linha de Tocqueville, ou em abordagens também mais laical (positivista) porém ainda relevantes, como Émile Durkheim em "As Formas Elementares da Vida Religiosa" e Max Weber em "A Ética Protestante e o Espírito do Capitalismo", contrapondo uma abordage mais voltada, de fato, a espiritualidade, como Christopher Dawnson, que defende essa teoria em "Religião e o Surgimento da Cultura Ocidental", e Eric Voegelin, principalmente nas obras "A Nova Ciência da Política" e "Ordem e História".

Encerrando, minha cosmovisão é a católica, o sistema de crença e religião qual sigo é do Deus que se fez homem por amor aos seus filhos, não posso negar ou mesmo omitir o fato de que, por trás de toda a minha crítica estão meus pensamentos e minhas convicções alinhadas àquilo que mais tenho amor em toda minha vida: a Verdade, e a Verdade é Deus, pois Cristo é a Verdade, o Caminho e a Vida, ninguém vai ao Pai se não por Ele, e pois bem, seria incoerência de minha parte não relevar o fato de crença como um dos motivos pelos quais eu rejeito a teoria do amor líquido de Zygmunt Bauman, pois os amores são todos eles praticados por formas, existem por diferentes formas e assim são desde sua tradicionalidade até o predomínio das distorções de declínio espiritual das eras presentes (e também antigas pré-Era Axial), estão esses preservados pelo alinhamento à verdade, assim são indistorcíveis, imutáveis, ou seja, amor é amor, não releva-se o falso amor como um, simplesmente não o é, assim o interesse, a sanha por bens, o egoísmo e a egolatria ("cupiditas", para Santo Agostinho de Hipona, em oposição ao que o santo e filósofo trata por "caritas") não são formas do amor, são autoenganos, não bons, se não são bons logo não são de Deus, ora, se Deus é amor, se ele nos ama, determino como amor (e suas formas) o que está de acordo com a Verdade. Aprofundando, a Teologia do Corpo, do Papa São João Paulo II, rejeita a "liquidez" apresentada por Bauman, pois o amor é, em suma, sacríficio, parte da entrega total de si ao próximo, e se não há logo não é amor. A Teologia do Corpo rejeita não os fundamentos de mentira no "líquido", mas também no "sólido", pois a tradicionalidade não é sinônimo de bom e pleno acordo com o amor que Deus pede de nós, não são as coerções, as violências, as imposições e demais vontades em oposição às de Deus que determinam os amores -- fatos em oposição ao ideário romanticizado. Claro, nem todas as coerções são por si inválidas do amor, ou mesmo as escolhas em trocas racionalizadas, a exemplo do autruísmo em vista da chance da família ter êxito e sucesso, ou seja, pelo bem dos próximos haver a necessidade de submissão a, em exemplo, um casamento forjado, ou algo do gênero, reconhece-se o amor no ato se feito por bem da família, porém o amor incutido, nesse caso, explicita o caráter sacrificial, no qual uma vontade e um amor genuinamente potencial em prazeres e alegrias são anulados, ou seja, mesmo nesse modelo tradicional na "solidez" há possibilidade do amor, não nas formas romanticizadas em critérios, como "estabilidade" e "durabilidade", mas no caráter do sacríficio exercido. Conforme nos ensina São Tomás de Aquino, o amor não é uma "força", tal como ensina Hegel, mas sim uma virtude teologal conforme na "Suma Teológica" (II-II Q. 26-28), não devemos reduzir o amor e os amores em análises simplórias (não simples) de falsa complexidade extraídas em métodos questionáveis e pouco competentes à real diensão de crise espiritual das eras, por esse motivo não concordo com a teoria do amor líquido de Zygmunt Bauman.

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Block’s hardware wallet sparks debate between security and borderline compromises.

The debate ignited after Jack Dorsey publicly supported the superiority of “seedless” wallets over traditional solutions on X.

seedless is safer https://t.co/MvjmFcQE8k

— jack (@jack) May 27, 2025

The Twitter co-founder and Block CEO sustained this by promoting Bitkey, a company that completely eliminates seed phrases, aiming to simplify the user experience and improve security through different recovery options.

The Bitkey model

Bitkey represents a different solution compared to the traditional approach to bitcoin custody. Instead of relying on a single seed phrase, the system implements a 2-of-3 multisig scheme that distributes security across three distinct keys:

• Hardware key: protected by biometric fingerprint on the physical device;
• Mobile key: stored in the smartphone app;
• Server key: managed by Block’s servers.

Any transaction requires two of the three signatures, eliminating the single point of failure represented by traditional seed phrases, the company claims. In its official documents, Bitkey explains how this approach, according to the company, offers three different recovery paths: phone loss, hardware loss, or loss of both through “Trusted Contacts,” pre-set trusted people who can help the user regain wallet access without being able to see the balance or control the private keys.

The seed phrase criticism

For the Bitkey team, the seed phrase paradoxically represents the weakest link in the Bitcoin security chain. While private keys are “exceptionally secure” within the hardware – “designed for security, isolated from networks, physically reinforced” – the seed phrase is “plain text, readable, physically vulnerable,” the company states.

Bitkey developers argue that the industry has “offloaded the most complex part of the security model onto individuals least equipped to handle it.”

System limits and dependencies

However, Bitkey’s simplicity comes at a price. The system introduces a dependency on Block for optimal multisig functionality. Although users always maintain the ability to move funds using the two keys in their possession, recovery procedures and many advanced features require collaboration from the company’s servers.

This architecture presents limitations in terms of flexibility: users cannot use Bitkey with other mobile applications, cannot import the wallet into alternative solutions, and do not have direct access to seed phrases for traditional backup operations.

One of the most frequent criticisms concerns the absence of a screen on the hardware device. Unlike traditional hardware wallets that allow direct verification of destination addresses and transaction amounts on the device display, Bitkey forces users to rely exclusively on the mobile app for these details. This design choice introduces what critics define as a “blind signing risk”: if the mobile app were compromised by malware, users could unknowingly authorize altered transactions without the possibility of independent verification.

Community criticism

Dorsey’s post sparked contrasting reactions in the community. The most orthodox bitcoiners mainly contest two aspects:

• third-party dependency: despite Bitkey maintaining the “self-custody” label, the need to rely on Block’s servers for many operations contradicts the autonomy principles that many bitcoiners consider fundamental;
• loss of technical control: the inability to directly manage the seed phrase or use the device in customized multisig configurations limits the user’s technical sovereignty.

Some users have criticized Block’s hardware wallet. User bamskki highlighted how “the lack of a screen forces users to rely on the app for transaction details. Unlike traditional hardware wallets with screens, Bitkey users cannot verify transactions independently. Users must trust the app as the source of truth.”

Even more critical was user nakadai_mon, who ironized about Dorsey’s strategy writing: “It would be a shame if I influenced you to abandon the seed and locked you into my ecosystem so I can surveil you, sell and share your personal data with government authorities and deny you service.”

Dorsey responded directly to both criticisms. To bamskki he replied:

it's a start, not our end. we will iterate the product like everything else.

— jack (@jack) May 28, 2025

More articulated was his response to nakadai_mon:

we are working on much of the privacy aspects (launching soon). and you don't have to use our 3rd key. that's where some of the restrictions come in. working to figure out how to allow folks to create their own trusted 3rd party as well. but all of this is designed to get people…

— jack (@jack) May 28, 2025

However, privacy concerns are not unfounded. Bitkey’s own documentation clarifies that “because we maintain this key, we are able to identify transaction data on the blockchain related to your Bitkey” and that “this information is collected when you transfer bitcoin to or from your Bitkey.”

Additionally, Block declares using automated decision-making systems, without direct staff involvement, to manage some activities that have legal effects on users. Among these, the application of sanctions restrictions: the system is programmed to automatically prevent the purchase and use of Bitkey by people or countries subject to international sanctions. Finally, the privacy policy specifies that users’ personal data can be shared with law enforcement, government agencies, officials, or authorized third parties in the presence of a warrant, court order, or other legal obligation. Block reserves the right to disclose this information whenever it deems necessary to comply with regulations, legal proceedings, or government requests.

Hardware security and compromises

From a hardware security perspective, Bitkey implements advanced protections including unique device identifiers, secure boot, and anti-tamper technologies. In case the device were compromised, an attacker would still need to access a second key to steal funds.

According to Dorsey’s statements, Bitkey represents an attempt to make self-custody accessible to a broader audience. The company’s roadmap promises improvements in terms of privacy, security, and usability.

The post Bitkey controversy: Dorsey’s marketing divides the community appeared first on Atlas21.

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Introduction

Public companies that hold Bitcoin on behalf of investors (often issuing securities backed by those Bitcoin holdings) have faced growing pressure to demonstrate proof of reserves – evidence that they genuinely hold the cryptocurrency they claim. One approach is to publish the company’s Bitcoin wallet addresses so that anyone can verify the balances on the blockchain. This practice gained momentum after high-profile crypto collapses (e.g. FTX in 2022) eroded trust, leading major exchanges and fund issuers like Binance, Kraken, OKX, and Bitwise to publicize wallet addresses as proof of assets . The goal is transparency and reassurance for investors. However, making wallet addresses public comes with significant security and privacy risks. This report examines those risks – from cybersecurity threats and blockchain tracing to regulatory and reputational implications – and weighs them against the transparency benefits of on-chain proof of reserves.

Proof of Reserves via Public Wallet Addresses

In the cryptocurrency ethos of “don’t trust – verify,” on-chain proof of reserves is seen as a powerful tool. By disclosing wallet addresses (or cryptographic attestations of balances), a company lets investors and analysts independently verify that the Bitcoin reserves exist on-chain. For example, some firms have dashboards showing their addresses and balances in real time . In theory, this transparency builds trust by proving assets are not being misreported or misused. Shareholders gain confidence that the company’s Bitcoin holdings are intact, potentially preventing fraud or mismanagement.

Yet this approach essentially sacrifices the pseudonymity of blockchain transactions. Publishing a wallet address ties a large, known institution to specific on-chain funds. While Bitcoin addresses are public by design, most companies treat their specific addresses as sensitive information. Public proof-of-reserve disclosures break that anonymity, raising several concerns as detailed below.

Cybersecurity Threats from Visible Wallet Balances

Revealing a wallet address with a large balance can make a company a prime target for hackers and cybercriminals. Knowing exactly where significant reserves are held gives attackers a clear blueprint. As Bitcoin advocate (and MicroStrategy Executive Chairman) Michael Saylor warned in 2025, “publicly known wallet addresses become prime targets for malicious actors. Knowing where significant reserves are held provides hackers with a clear target, potentially increasing the risk of sophisticated attacks” . In other words, publishing the address increases the attack surface – attackers might intensify phishing campaigns, malware deployment, or insider bribery aimed at obtaining the keys or access to those wallets.

Even if the wallets are secured in cold storage, a public address advertisement may encourage attempts to penetrate the organization’s security. Custodians and partners could also be targeted. Saylor noted that this exposure isn’t just risky for the company holding the Bitcoin; it can indirectly put their custodial providers and related exchanges at risk as well . For instance, if a third-party custodian manages the wallets, hackers might attempt to breach that custodian knowing the reward (the company’s Bitcoin) is great.

Companies themselves have acknowledged these dangers. Grayscale Investments, which runs the large Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), pointedly refused to publish its wallet addresses in late 2022, citing “security concerns” and complex custody arrangements that have “kept our investors’ assets safe for years” . Grayscale implied that revealing on-chain addresses could undermine those security measures, and it chose not to “circumvent complex security arrangements” just to appease public demand . This highlights a key point: corporate treasury security protocols often assume wallet details remain confidential. Publicizing them could invalidate certain assumptions (for example, if an address was meant to be operationally secret, it can no longer serve that role once exposed).

Additionally, a publicly known trove of cryptocurrency might invite physical security threats. While not a purely “cyber” issue, if criminals know a particular company or facility controls a wallet with, say, thousands of Bitcoin, it could lead to threats against personnel (extortion or coercion to obtain keys). This is a less common scenario for large institutions (which typically have robust physical security), but smaller companies or key individuals could face elevated personal risk by being associated with huge visible crypto reserves.

In summary, cybersecurity experts consider public proof-of-reserve addresses a double-edged sword: transparency comes at the cost of advertising exactly where a fortune is held. As Saylor bluntly put it, “the conventional way of issuing proof of reserves today is actually insecure… This method undermines the security of the issuer, the custodian, the exchanges and the investors. This is not a good idea”  . From a pure security standpoint, broadcasting your wallets is akin to drawing a bullseye on them.

Privacy Risks: Address Clustering and Blockchain Tracing

Blockchain data is public, so publishing addresses opens the door to unwanted analytics and loss of privacy for the business. Even without knowing the private keys, analysts can scrutinize every transaction in and out of those addresses. This enables address clustering – linking together addresses that interact – and other forms of blockchain forensics that can reveal sensitive information about the company’s activities.

One immediate risk is that observers can track the company’s transaction patterns. For example, if the company moves Bitcoin from its reserve address to an exchange or to another address, that move is visible in real time. Competitors, investors, or even attackers could deduce strategic information: perhaps the company is planning to sell (if coins go to an exchange wallet) or is reallocating funds. A known institution’s on-chain movements can thus “reveal strategic movements or holdings”, eroding the company’s operational privacy . In a volatile market, advance knowledge of a large buy or sell by a major player could even be exploited by others (front-running the market, etc.).

Publishing one or a few static addresses also violates a basic privacy principle of Bitcoin: address reuse. Best practice in Bitcoin is to use a fresh address for each transaction to avoid linking them  . If a company continuously uses the same “proof of reserve” address, all counterparties sending funds to or receiving funds from that address become visible. Observers could map out the company’s business relationships or vendors by analyzing counterparties. A Reddit user commenting on an ETF that published a single address noted that “reusing a single address for this makes me question their risk management… There are much better and more privacy-preserving ways to prove reserves… without throwing everything in a single public address” . In other words, a naive implementation of proof-of-reserve (one big address) maximizes privacy leakage.

Even if multiple addresses are used, if they are all disclosed, one can perform clustering analysis to find connections. This happened in the Grayscale case: although Grayscale would not confirm any addresses, community analysts traced and identified 432 addresses likely belonging to GBTC’s custodial holdings by following on-chain traces from known intermediary accounts . They managed to attribute roughly 317,705 BTC (about half of GBTC’s holdings) to those addresses . This demonstrates that even partial information can enable clustering – and if the company directly published addresses, the task becomes even easier to map the entirety of its on-chain asset base.

Another threat vector is “dusting” attacks, which become more feasible when an address is publicly known. In a dusting attack, an adversary sends a tiny amount of cryptocurrency (dust) to a target address. The dust itself is harmless, but if the target address ever spends that dust together with other funds, it can cryptographically link the target address to other addresses in the same wallet. Blockchain security researchers note that “with UTXO-based assets, an attacker could distribute dust to an address to reveal the owner’s other addresses by tracking the dust’s movement… If the owner unknowingly combines this dust with their funds in a transaction, the attacker can… link multiple addresses to a single owner”, compromising privacy . A company that publishes a list of reserve addresses could be systematically dusted by malicious actors attempting to map out all addresses under the company’s control. This could unmask cold wallet addresses that the company never intended to publicize, further eroding its privacy and security.

Investor confidentiality is another subtle concern. If the business model involves individual investor accounts or contributions (for instance, a trust where investors can deposit or withdraw Bitcoin), public addresses might expose those movements. An outside observer might not know which investor corresponds to a transaction, but unusual inflows/outflows could signal actions by big clients. In extreme cases, if an investor’s own wallet is known (say a large investor announces their involvement), one might link that to transactions in the company’s reserve addresses. This could inadvertently reveal an investor’s activities or holdings, breaching expectations of confidentiality. Even absent direct identification, some investors might simply be uncomfortable with their transactions being part of a publicly traceable ledger tied to the company.

In summary, publishing reserve addresses facilitates blockchain tracing that can pierce the veil of business privacy. It hands analysts the keys to observe how funds move, potentially exposing operational strategies, counterparties, and internal processes. As one industry publication noted, linking a large known institution to specific addresses can compromise privacy and reveal more than intended . Companies must consider whether they are ready for that level of transparency into their every on-chain move.

Regulatory and Compliance Implications

From a regulatory perspective, wallet address disclosure lies in uncharted territory, but it raises several flags. First and foremost is the issue of incomplete information: A wallet address only shows assets, not the company’s liabilities or other obligations. Regulators worry that touting on-chain holdings could give a false sense of security. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cautioned investors to “not place too much confidence in the mere fact a company says it’s got a proof-of-reserves”, noting that such reports “lack sufficient information” for stakeholders to ascertain if liabilities can be met . In other words, a public company might show a big Bitcoin address balance, but if it has debts or customer liabilities of equal or greater value, the proof-of-reserve alone is “not necessarily an indicator that the company is in a good financial position” .

This regulatory stance implies that address disclosure, if done, must be paired with proper context. A public company would likely need to clarify in its financial statements or investor communications that on-chain reserves are unencumbered (not pledged as loan collateral, not already sold forward, etc.) and that total liabilities are accounted for. Otherwise, there’s a risk of misleading investors, which could have legal consequences. For example, if investors interpret the on-chain balance as proof of solvency but the company actually had leveraged those bitcoins for loans, lawsuits or regulatory enforcement could follow for misrepresentation.

There’s also a compliance burden associated with revealing addresses. Once an address is known to be the company’s, that company effectively must monitor all transactions related to it. If someone sends funds to that address (even without permission), the company might receive tainted coins (from hacked sources or sanctioned entities). This could trigger anti-money laundering (AML) red flags. Normally, compliance teams can ignore random deposits to unknown wallets, but they cannot ignore something sent into their publicly identified corporate wallet. Even a tiny dust amount sent from a blacklisted address could complicate compliance – for instance, the company would need to prove it has no relation to the sender and perhaps even avoid moving those tainted outputs. Being in the open increases such exposure. Threat actors might even exploit this by “poisoning” a company’s address with unwanted transactions, just to create regulatory headaches or reputational smears.

Another consideration is that custodial agreements and internal risk controls might forbid public disclosure of addresses. Many public companies use third-party custodians for their Bitcoin (for example, Coinbase Custody, BitGo, etc.). These custodians often treat wallet details as confidential for security. Grayscale noted that its Bitcoin are custodied on Coinbase and implied that revealing on-chain info would interfere with security arrangements  . It’s possible that some custodians would object to their clients broadcasting addresses, or might require additional assurances. A company going against such advice might be seen as negligent if something went wrong.

Regulators have so far not mandated on-chain proofs for public companies – in fact, recent laws have exempted public companies from proof-of-reserve mandates on the assumption they are already subject to rigorous SEC reporting. For example, a Texas bill in 2023 required crypto exchanges and custodians to provide quarterly proof-of-reserves to the state, but it “specifically carved out public reporting companies” since they already file audited financials with the SEC . The rationale was that between SEC filings and audits, public companies have oversight that private crypto firms lack . However, this also highlights a gap: even audited financials might not verify 100% of crypto assets (auditors often sample balances). Some observers noted that standard audits “may not ever include the 100% custodial asset testing contemplated by proof of reserves”, especially since quarterly SEC filings (10-Q) are often not audited . This puts public companies in a nuanced position – they are trusted to use traditional audits and internal controls, but the onus is on them if they choose to add extra transparency like on-chain proofs.

Finally, securities regulators focus on fair disclosure and accuracy. If a company publicly posts addresses, those essentially become investor disclosures subject to anti-fraud rules. The firm must keep them up to date and accurate. Any mistake (such as publishing a wrong address or failing to mention that some coins are locked up or lent out) could attract regulatory scrutiny for being misleading. In contrast, a formal audit or certification from a third-party comes with standards and disclaimers that are better understood by regulators. A self-published wallet list is an unprecedented form of disclosure that regulators haven’t fully vetted – meaning the company bears the risk if something is misinterpreted.

In summary, wallet address disclosure as proof-of-reserve must be handled very carefully to avoid regulatory pitfalls. The SEC and others have warned that on-chain assets alone don’t tell the whole story . Public companies would need to integrate such proofs with their official reporting in a responsible way – otherwise they risk confusion or even regulatory backlash for giving a false sense of security.

Reputational and Operational Risks

While transparency is meant to enhance reputation, in practice public wallet disclosures can create new reputational vulnerabilities. Once an address is public, a company’s every on-chain action is under the microscope of the crypto community and media. Any anomaly or perceived misstep can snowball into public relations problems.

One vivid example occurred with Crypto.com in late 2022. After the exchange published its cold wallet addresses to prove reserves (a move prompted by the FTX collapse), on-chain analysts quickly noticed a “suspicious transfer of 320,000 ETH” – about 82% of Crypto.com’s Ether reserves – moving from their cold wallet to another exchange (Gate.io)  . This large, unexpected transfer sparked immediate panic and FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) on social media. Observers speculated that Crypto.com might be insolvent or was manipulating snapshots of reserves by borrowing funds. The CEO had to publicly respond, admitting it was an operational error – the ETH was supposed to go to a new cold storage address but ended up at a whitelisted external address by mistake . The funds were eventually returned, but not before reputational damage was done: the incident made headlines about mishandled funds and rattled user confidence  . This case illustrates how full public visibility can turn an internal slip-up into a highly public crisis. If the addresses had not been public, the mistake might have been quietly corrected; with on-chain transparency, there was nowhere to hide and no way to control the narrative before the public drew worst-case conclusions.

Even routine operations can be misinterpreted. Blockchain data lacks context – analysts may jump to conclusions that hurt a company’s reputation even if nothing is actually wrong. For instance, Binance (the world’s largest crypto exchange) encountered scrutiny when on-chain observers noted that one of its reserve wallets (labeled “Binance 8”) contained far more assets than it should have. This wallet was meant to hold collateral for Binance’s issued tokens, but held an excess balance, suggesting possible commingling of customer funds with collateral  . Bloomberg and others reported a ~$12.7 billion discrepancy visible on-chain . Binance had to acknowledge the issue as a “clerical error” and quickly separate the funds, all under the glare of public attention  . While Binance maintained that user assets were fully backed and the mistake was purely operational, the episode raised public concern over Binance’s practices, feeding a narrative that even the largest exchange had internal control lapses. The key point is that public proof-of-reserves made the lapse obvious to everyone, forcing a reactive explanation. The reputational hit (even if temporary) was an operational risk of being so transparent.

Additionally, strategic confidentiality is lost. If a company holding Bitcoin as a reserve asset decides to make a major move (say, reallocating to a different wallet, or using some Bitcoin for a strategic investment or loan), doing so with known addresses broadcasts that strategy. Competitors or market analysts can infer things like “Company X is moving 10% of its BTC — why? Are they selling? Hedging? Using it as collateral?” This can erode any competitive advantage of keeping financial strategies discreet. It might even affect the company’s stock price if investors interpret moves negatively. For example, if a blockchain analysis shows the company’s reserves dropping, shareholders might fear the company sold Bitcoin (perhaps due to financial distress), even if the reality is benign (like moving funds to a new custodian). The company would be forced into continuous public explanation of on-chain actions to prevent misunderstanding.

There’s also a risk of exposing business partnerships. Suppose the company uses certain exchanges or OTC desks to rebalance its holdings – transactions with those service providers will be visible and could link the company to them. If one of those partners has issues (say a hacked exchange or a sanctioned entity inadvertently), the company could be reputationally contaminated by association through the blockchain trail.

Finally, not all publicity is good publicity in the crypto world. A public proof-of-reserve might invite armchair auditors to scrutinize and criticize every aspect of the company’s crypto management. Minor issues could be blown out of proportion. On the flip side, if a company chooses not to publish addresses, it could face reputational risk from a different angle: skeptics might question why it isn’t being transparent. (Indeed, Grayscale’s refusal to disclose wallet addresses led to social media chatter about whether they truly held all the Bitcoin they claimed, contributing to investor nervousness and a steep discount on GBTC shares .) Thus, companies are in a delicate spot: share too much and every move invites scrutiny; share too little and you breed distrust.

Balancing Transparency Benefits vs. Risks

The central question is whether the benefit of proving reserve holdings to investors outweighs these security and privacy risks. It’s a classic risk-reward calculation, and opinions in the industry are divided.

On the side of transparency, many argue that the credibility and trust gained by proof-of-reserves is invaluable. Advocates note that Bitcoin was designed for open verification – “on-chain auditability and permissionless transparency” are core features . By embracing this, companies demonstrate they are good stewards of a “trustless” asset. In fact, some believe public companies have a duty to be extra transparent. A recent Nasdaq report contended that “when a publicly traded company holds Bitcoin but offers no visibility into how that Bitcoin is held or verified, it exposes itself to multiple levels of risk: legal, reputational, operational, and strategic”, undermining trust . In that view, opacity is riskier in the long run – a lack of proof could weaken investor confidence or invite regulatory suspicion. Shareholders and analysts may actually penalize a company that refuses to provide verifiable proof of its crypto assets .

Transparency done right can also differentiate a firm as a leader in governance. Publishing reserve data (whether via addresses or through third-party attestations) can be seen as a commitment to high standards. For example, Metaplanet, an investment firm, publicly discloses its BTC reserve addresses and even provides a live dashboard for anyone to verify balances . This proactive openness signals confidence and has been touted as an industry best practice in some quarters. By proving its reserves, a company can potentially avoid the fate of those that lost public trust (as happened with opaque crypto firms in 2022). It’s also a means to preempt false rumors – if data is out in the open, misinformation has less room to grow.

However, the pro-transparency camp increasingly acknowledges that there are smarter ways to achieve trust without courting all the risks. One compromise is using cryptographic proofs or audits instead of plain address dumps. For instance, exchanges like Kraken have implemented Merkle tree proof-of-reserves: an independent auditor verifies all customer balances on-chain and provides a cryptographic report, and customers can individually verify their account is included without the exchange revealing every address publicly. This method proves solvency to those who need to know without handing over a complete roadmap to attackers. Another emerging solution is zero-knowledge proofs, where a company can prove knowledge or ownership of certain assets without revealing the addresses or amounts to the public. These technologies are still maturing, but they aim to deliver the best of both worlds: transparency and privacy.

On the side of caution, many experts believe the risks of full public disclosure outweigh the incremental gain in transparency, especially for regulated public companies. Michael Saylor encapsulates this viewpoint: he calls on-chain proof-of-reserve “a bad idea” for institutions, arguing that it “offers one-way transparency” (assets only) and “leaves organizations open to cyberattacks” . He stresses that no serious security expert would advise a Fortune 500 company to list all its wallet addresses, as it essentially compromises corporate security over time . Saylor and others also point out the pointlessness of an assets-only proof: unless you also prove liabilities, showing off reserves might even be dangerous because it could lull investors into a false sense of security .

Regulators and traditional auditors echo this: proof-of-reserves, while a useful tool, “is not enough by itself” to guarantee financial health . They advocate for holistic transparency – audits that consider internal controls, liabilities, and legal obligations, not just a snapshot of a blockchain address  . From this perspective, a public company can satisfy transparency demands through rigorous third-party audits and disclosures rather than raw on-chain data. Indeed, public companies are legally bound to extensive reporting; adding public crypto addresses on top may be seen as redundant and risky.

There is also an implicit cost-benefit analysis: A successful attack resulting from over-sharing could be catastrophic (loss of funds, legal liability, reputational ruin), whereas the benefit of public proof is somewhat intangible (improved investor sentiment, which might be achieved via other assurance methods anyway). Given that trade-off, many firms err on the side of caution. As evidence, few if any U.S.-listed companies that hold Bitcoin have published their wallet addresses. Instead, they reference independent custodians and audits for assurance. Even crypto-native companies have pulled back on full transparency after realizing the downsides – for example, some auditing firms halted issuing proof-of-reserves reports due to concerns about how they were interpreted and the liability involved  .

Industry best practices are still evolving. A prudent approach gaining favor is to prove reserves without leaking sensitive details. This can involve disclosing total balances and having an auditor or blockchain oracle confirm the assets exist, but without listing every address publicly. Companies are also encouraged to disclose encumbrances (whether any of the reserves are collateralized or lent out) in tandem, to address the liabilities issue . By doing so, they aim to achieve transparency and maintain security.

In evaluating whether to publish wallet addresses, a company must ask: Will this level of openness meaningfully increase stakeholder trust, or would a more controlled disclosure achieve the same goal with less risk? For many public companies, the answer has been to avoid public addresses. The risks – from attracting hackers to revealing strategic moves – tend to outweigh the marginal transparency benefit in their judgment. The collapse of unregulated exchanges has certainly proven the value of reserve verification, but public companies operate in a different context with audits and legal accountability. Thus, the optimal solution may be a middle ground: proving reserves through vetted processes (auditor attestations, cryptographic proofs) that satisfy investor needs without blatantly exposing the company’s financial backend to the world.

Conclusion

Publishing Bitcoin wallet addresses as proof of reserves is a bold transparency measure – one that speaks to crypto’s ideals of open verification – but it comes with a laundry list of security considerations. Public companies weighing this approach must contend with the heightened cybersecurity threat of advertising their treasure troves to hackers, the loss of privacy and confidentiality as on-chain sleuths dissect their every transaction, and potential regulatory complications if such disclosures are misunderstood or incomplete. Real-world incidents illustrate the downsides: firms that revealed addresses have seen how quickly online communities flag (and sometimes misinterpret) their blockchain moves, causing reputational turbulence and forcing rapid damage control  .

On the other hand, proving reserves to investors is important – it can prevent fraud and bolster trust. The question is how to achieve it without incurring unacceptable risk. Many experts and industry leaders lean towards the view that simply publishing wallet addresses is too risky a method, especially for public companies with much to lose  . The risks often do outweigh the direct benefits in such cases. Transparency remains crucial, but it can be provided in safer ways – through regular audits, cryptographic proofs that don’t expose all wallet details, and comprehensive disclosures that include liabilities and controls.

In conclusion, while on-chain proof of reserves via public addresses offers a tantalizing level of openness, it must be approached with extreme caution. For most public companies, the smart strategy is to balance transparency with security: verify and show investors that assets exist and are sufficient, but do so in a controlled manner that doesn’t compromise the very assets you’re trying to protect. As the industry matures, we can expect more refined proof-of-reserve practices that satisfy the demand for honesty and solvency verification without unduly endangering the enterprise. Until then, companies will continue to tread carefully, mindful that transparency is only truly valuable when it doesn’t come at the price of security and trust.

Sources:

•   Grayscale statement on refusal to share on-chain proof-of-reserves 
•   Community analysis identifying Grayscale’s wallet addresses 
•   Cointelegraph – Crypto.com’s mistaken 320k ETH transfer spotted via on-chain proof-of-reserves  
•   Axios – Binance wallet “commingling” error observed on-chain  
•   Michael Saylor’s remarks on security risks of publishing wallet addresses   
•   SEC Acting Chief Accountant on limitations of proof-of-reserves reports 
•   Nasdaq (Bitcoin for Corporations) – argument for corporate transparency & proof-of-reserves   
•   1inch Security Blog – explanation of dusting attacks and privacy loss via address linking 

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

Over the past few months, I've dedicated my time to a complete rewrite of the kycnot.me website. The technology stack remains unchanged; Golang paired with TailwindCSS. However, I've made some design choices in this iteration that I believe significantly enhance the site. Particularly to backend code.

UI Improvements

You'll notice a refreshed UI that retains the original concept but has some notable enhancements. The service list view is now more visually engaging, it displays additional information in a more aesthetically pleasing manner. Both filtering and searching functionalities have been optimized for speed and user experience.

Service pages have been also redesigned to highlight key information at the top, with the KYC Level box always accessible. The display of service attributes is now more visually intuitive.

The request form, especially the Captcha, has undergone substantial improvements. The new self-made Captcha is robust, addressing the reliability issues encountered with the previous version.

Terms of Service Summarizer

A significant upgrade is the Terms of Service summarizer/reviewer, now powered by AI (GPT-4-turbo). It efficiently condenses each service's ToS, extracting and presenting critical points, including any warnings. Summaries are updated monthly, processing over 40 ToS pages via the OpenAI API using a self-crafted and thoroughly tested prompt.

Nostr Comments

I've integrated a comment section for each service using Nostr. For guidance on using this feature, visit the dedicated how-to page.

Database

The backend database has transitioned to pocketbase, an open-source Golang backend that has been a pleasure to work with. I maintain an updated fork of the Golang SDK for pocketbase at pluja/pocketbase.

Scoring

The scoring algorithm has also been refined to be more fair. Despite I had considered its removal due to the complexity it adds (it is very difficult to design a fair scoring system), some users highlighted its value, so I kept it. The updated algorithm is available open source.

Listings

Each listing has been re-evaluated, and the ones that were no longer operational were removed. New additions are included, and the backlog of pending services will be addressed progressively, since I still have access to the old database.

API

The API now offers more comprehensive data. For more details, check here.

About Page

The About page has been restructured for brevity and clarity.

Other Changes

Extensive changes have been implemented in the server-side logic, since the whole code base was re-written from the ground up. I may discuss these in a future post, but for now, I consider the current version to be just a bit beyond beta, and additional updates are planned in the coming weeks.

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install Loop Habit Tracker (it's free and open source)
2. Launch the app, tap ➡️
3. Tap ⁝, select Settings, scroll down and tap Customize Notifications
4. Enable Show Notifications
5. Return to the main screen
6. Tap + to add a habit
7. Choose Yes Or No for simple yes/no questions (e.g. Did you wake up early?)
8. Choose Measurable for questions where a quantity is expected (e.g. How many pages did you read?)
9. Assign a Name (e.g. Waking up early)
10. Enter a Question (e.g. Did you wake up early?)
11. Define the Frequency (e.g. Every Day)
12. Schedule a Reminder (e.g. 08:00 and Any Day Of The Week)
13. Include a Note if needed
14. Hit Save to create the habit
15. Start tracking your habits!

ℹ️ To categorize habits, use colors (e.g. blue for morning, orange for afternoon) or title prefixes (e.g. "Morning - Waking Up Early" and "Afternoon - Workout")

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

I'm launching a new service review section on this blog in collaboration with OrangeFren. These reviews are sponsored, yet the sponsorship does not influence the outcome of the evaluations. Reviews are done in advance, then, the service provider has the discretion to approve publication without modifications.

Sponsored reviews are independent from the kycnot.me list, being only part of the blog. The reviews have no impact on the scores of the listings or their continued presence on the list. Should any issues arise, I will not hesitate to remove any listing.

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The review

WizardSwap is an instant exchange centred around privacy coins. It was launched in 2020 making it old enough to have weathered the 2021 bull run and the subsequent bearish year.

| Pros | Cons | |------|------| | Tor-friendly | Limited liquidity | | Guarantee of no KYC | Overly simplistic design | | Earn by providing liquidity | |

Rating: ★★★★★ Service Website: wizardswap.io

Liquidity

Right off the bat, we'll start off by pointing out that WizardSwap relies on its own liquidity reserves, meaning they aren't just a reseller of Binance or another exchange. They're also committed to a no-KYC policy, when asking them, they even promised they would rather refund a user their original coins, than force them to undergo any sort of verification.

On the one hand, full control over all their infrastructure gives users the most privacy and conviction about the KYC policies remaining in place.

On the other hand, this means the liquidity available for swapping isn't huge. At the time of testing we could only purchase at most about 0.73 BTC with XMR.

It's clear the team behind WizardSwap is aware of this shortfall and so they've come up with a solution unique among instant exchanges. They let you, the user, deposit any of the currencies they support into your account and earn a profit on the trades made using your liquidity.

Trading

Fees on WizardSwap are middle-of-the-pack. The normal fee is 2.2%. That's more than some exchanges that reserve the right to suddenly demand you undergo verification, yet less than half the fees on some other privacy-first exchanges. However as we mentioned in the section above you can earn almost all of that fee (2%) if you provide liquidity to WizardSwap.

It's good that with the current Bitcoin fee market their fees are constant regardless of how much, or how little, you send. This is in stark contrast with some of the alternative swap providers that will charge you a massive premium when attempting to swap small amounts of BTC away.

Test trades

Test trades are always performed without previous notice to the service provider.

During our testing we performed a few test trades and found that every single time WizardSwap immediately detected the incoming transaction and the amount we received was exactly what was quoted before depositing. The fees were inline with what WizardSwap advertises.

• Monero payment proof
• Bitcoin received
• Wizardswap TX link - it's possible that this link may cease to be valid at some point in the future.

ToS and KYC

WizardSwap does not have a Terms of Service or a Privacy Policy page, at least none that can be found by users. Instead, they offer a FAQ section where they addresses some basic questions.

The site does not mention any KYC or AML practices. It also does not specify how refunds are handled in case of failure. However, based on the FAQ section "What if I send funds after the offer expires?" it can be inferred that contacting support is necessary and network fees will be deducted from any refund.

UI & Tor

WizardSwap can be visited both via your usual browser and Tor Browser. Should you decide on the latter you'll find that the website works even with the most strict settings available in the Tor Browser (meaning no JavaScript).

However, when disabling Javascript you'll miss the live support chat, as well as automatic refreshing of the trade page. The lack of the first means that you will have no way to contact support from the trade page if anything goes wrong during your swap, although you can do so by mail.

One important thing to have in mind is that if you were to accidentally close the browser during the swap, and you did not save the swap ID or your browser history is disabled, you'll have no easy way to return to the trade. For this reason we suggest when you begin a trade to copy the url or ID to someplace safe, before sending any coins to WizardSwap.

The UI you'll be greeted by is simple, minimalist, and easy to navigate. It works well not just across browsers, but also across devices. You won't have any issues using this exchange on your phone.

Getting in touch

The team behind WizardSwap appears to be most active on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/WizardSwap_io

If you have any comments or suggestions about the exchange make sure to reach out to them. In the past they've been very receptive to user feedback, for instance a few months back WizardSwap was planning on removing DeepOnion, but the community behind that project got together ^1 and after reaching out WizardSwap reversed their decision ^2.

You can also contact them via email at: support @ wizardswap . io

Disclaimer

None of the above should be understood as investment or financial advice. The views are our own only and constitute a faithful representation of our experience in using and investigating this exchange. This review is not a guarantee of any kind on the services rendered by the exchange. Do your own research before using any service.

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

In the heart of East Africa, where M-Pesa reigns supreme and innovation pulses through bustling markets, a quiet revolution is brewing—one that could redefine how millions interact with money.

Enter Bitika, the Kenyan startup turning bitcoin’s complexity into a three-step dance, merging the lightning speed of sats with the trusted rhythm of mobile money.

At the helm is a founder whose “aha” moment came not in a boardroom, but at his kitchen table, watching his father grapple with the gap between understanding bitcoin and actually using it.

Bitika was born from that friction—a bridge between M-Pesa’s ubiquity and bitcoin’s borderless promise, wrapped in a name as playful as the Swahili slang that inspired it.

But this isn’t just a story about simplifying transactions. It’s about liquidity battles, regulatory tightropes, and a vision to turn Bitika into the invisible rails powering Africa’s Bitcoin future.

Building on Bitcoin

• Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into bitcoin/fintech, and what keeps you passionate about this space?

I first came across bitcoin in 2020, but like many at that time, I didn’t fully grasp what it really was. It sounded too complicated, probably with the heavy terminologies. Over time, I kept digging deeper and became more curious.

I started digging into finance and how money works and realised this was what I needed to understand bitcoin’s objectives. I realized that bitcoin wasn’t just a new type of money—it was a breakthrough in how we think about freedom, ownership, and global finance.

What keeps me passionate is how bitcoin can empower people—especially in Africa—to take control of their wealth, without relying on unstable systems or middlemen.

• What pivotal moment or experience inspired you to create Bitika? Was there a specific gap in Kenya’s financial ecosystem that sparked the idea?

Yes, this idea was actually born right in my own home. I’ve always been an advocate for bitcoin, sharing it with friends, family, and even strangers. My dad and I had countless conversations about it. Eventually, he understood the concept. But when he asked, “How do I even buy bitcoin?” or “Can you just buy it for me?” and after taking him through binance—that hit me.

If someone I’d educated still found the buying process difficult, how many others were feeling the same way? That was the lightbulb moment. I saw a clear gap: the process of buying bitcoin was too technical for the average Kenyan. That’s the problem Bitika set out to solve.

• How did you identify the synergy between bitcoin and M-Pesa as a solution for accessibility?

M-Pesa is at the center of daily life in Kenya. Everyone uses it—from buying groceries to paying rent. Instead of forcing people to learn new tools, I decided to meet them where they already are. That synergy between M-Pesa and bitcoin felt natural. It’s about bridging what people already trust with something powerful and new.

• Share the story behind the name “Bitika” – does it hold a cultural or symbolic meaning?

Funny enough, Bitika isn’t a deeply planned name. It came while I was thinking about bitcoin and the type of transformation it brings to individuals. In Swahili, we often add “-ka” to words for flair—like “bambika” from “bamba.”

So, I just coined Bitika as a playful and catchy way to reflect something bitcoin-related, but also uniquely local. I stuck with it because thinking of an ideal brand name is the toughest challenge for me.

• Walk us through the user journey – how does buying bitcoin via M-Pesa in “3 simple steps” work under the hood?

It’s beautifully simple.

1. The user enters the amount they want to spend in KES—starting from as little as 50 KES (about $0.30).

2. They input their Lightning wallet address.

3. They enter their M-Pesa number, which triggers an STK push (payment prompt) on their phone. Once confirmed—pap!—they receive bitcoin almost instantly.

Under the hood, we fetch the live BTC price, validate wallet addresses, check available liquidity, process the mobile payment, and send sats via the Lightning Network—all streamlined into a smooth experience for the user.

• Who’s Bitika’s primary audience? Are you focusing on unbanked populations, tech enthusiasts, or both?

Both. Bitika is designed for everyday people—especially the unbanked and underbanked who are excluded from traditional finance. But we also attract bitcoiners who just want a faster, easier way to buy sats. What unites them is the desire for a seamless and low-barrier bitcoin experience.

Community and Overcoming Challenges

• What challenges has Bitika faced navigating Kenya’s bitcoin regulations, and how do you build trust with regulators?

Regulation is still evolving here. Parliament has drafted bills, but none have been passed into law yet. We’re currently in a revision phase where policymakers are trying to strike a balance between encouraging innovation and protecting the public.

We focus on transparency and open dialogue—we believe that building trust with regulators starts with showing how bitcoin can serve the public good.

• What was the toughest obstacle in building Bitika, and how did you overcome it?

Liquidity. Since we don’t have deep capital reserves, we often run into situations where we have to pause operations often to manually restock our bitcoin supply. It’s frustrating—for us and for users. We’re working on automating this process and securing funding to maintain consistent liquidity so users can access bitcoin at any time, without disruption.

This remains our most critical issue—and the primary reason we’re seeking support.

• Are you eyeing new African markets? What’s next for Bitika’s product?

Absolutely. The long-term vision is to expand Bitika into other African countries facing similar financial challenges. But first, we want to turn Bitika into a developer-first tool—infrastructure that others can build on. Imagine local apps, savings products, or financial tools built using Bitika’s simple bitcoin rails. That’s where we’re heading. 

• What would you tell other African entrepreneurs aiming to disrupt traditional finance?

Disrupting finance sounds exciting—but the reality is messy. People fear what they don’t understand. That’s why simplicity is everything. Build tools that hide the complexity, and focus on making the user’s life easier. Most importantly, stay rooted in local context—solve problems people actually face.

What’s Next?

• What’s your message to Kenyans hesitant to try bitcoin, and to enthusiasts watching Bitika?

To my fellow Kenyans: bitcoin isn’t just an investment—it’s a sovereign tool. It’s money you truly own. Start small, learn, and ask questions.

To the bitcoin community: Bitika is proof that bitcoin is working in Africa. Let’s keep pushing. Let’s build tools that matter.

• How can the bitcoin community, both locally and globally, support Bitika’s mission?

We’re currently fundraising on Geyser. Support—whether it’s financial, technical, or simply sharing our story—goes a long way. Every sat you contribute helps us stay live, grow our liquidity, and continue building a tool that brings bitcoin closer to the everyday person in Africa.

Support here: https://geyser.fund/project/bitika

@ c3b2802b:4850599c

Knapp 20 Millionen Menschen im Land sind heute in Deutschland in Genossenschaften tätig, welche eine Alternative zum nicht zukunftsfähigen Abwärtsstrudel von global agierenden Wirtschafts- und Finanzplayern mit ihren Kriegs- und Krisenplänen darstellen. Und kaum bemerkt findet derzeit ein stürmisches Wachstum der Genossenschaftsbewegung statt.

Nach Informationen des Deutschen Genossenschafts- und Raiffeisenverbandes stieg während der Multikrise der vergangenen 5 Jahre im Laufe nur einen Jahres (vom Jahresbericht 2023 zum Jahresbericht 2024) die Zahl der Energiegenossenschaften von 877 auf 951 an, die von Konsum- und Dienstleistungsgenossenschaften von 440 auf 510 und die von gewerblichen Genossenschaften von 1.372 auf 1.419.

Wer das Gejammer von „Wirtschaftsweisen“ über zu geringe Wachstumsraten bei ethisch fragwürdigen Indikatoren einer wünschenswerten Gesellschaft wie dem BIP (Brutto-Inland-Produkt) im Ohr hat, könnte bereits beim Überschlagen des Anstiegs bei den oben genannten Zahlen die These gestützt sehen, dass der Strukturwandel hin zur Regionalgesellschaft bereits in vollem Gang ist.

Wenn Sie sich für die Aufbruchstimmung und den frischen Wind insbesondere bei den neu gegründeten Genossenschaften interessieren, schauen sie gern einmal auf die Plattform einer jungen Genossenschaft, welche „Menschlich Wirtschaften“ in ihrer Satzung zum Ziel erklärt hat.

Und sollten Sie Mitte Juni eine Reise an die Ostsee attraktiv finden, kommen Sie gern zum Genossenschaftstreffen vom 13. bis 15. Juni 2025 in Poppendorf bei Rostock. Dort dürfen Sie nicht nur einen Einblick in die aktuellen Baustellen und ersten Erfolge unserer bundesweit aktiven Genossenschaft erwarten, sondern auch ein buntes Kulturprogramm im Rahmen eines kleinen Festivals und ein Zusammensein mit Pionieren der Regionalgesellschaft!

Das Titelbild zeigt ein Menschlich Wirtschaften Domizil in Stralsund. Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben. Was charakterisiert eine Genossenschaft?

@ 5144fe88:9587d5af

The recent anomalies in the financial market and the frequent occurrence of world trade wars and hot wars have caused the world's political and economic landscape to fluctuate violently. It always feels like the financial crisis is getting closer and closer.

This is a systematic analysis of the possibility of the current global financial crisis by Manus based on Ray Dalio's latest views, US and Japanese economic and financial data, Buffett's investment behavior, and historical financial crises.

Research shows that the current financial system has many preconditions for a crisis, especially debt levels, market valuations, and investor behavior, which show obvious crisis signals. The probability of a financial crisis in the short term (within 6-12 months) is 30%-40%,

in the medium term (within 1-2 years) is 50%-60%,

in the long term (within 2-3 years) is 60%-70%.

Japan's role as the world's largest holder of overseas assets and the largest creditor of the United States is particularly critical. The sharp appreciation of the yen may be a signal of the return of global safe-haven funds, which will become an important precursor to the outbreak of a financial crisis.

Potential conditions for triggering a financial crisis Conditions that have been met 1. High debt levels: The debt-to-GDP ratio of the United States and Japan has reached a record high. 2. Market overvaluation: The ratio of stock market to GDP hits a record high 3. Abnormal investor behavior: Buffett's cash holdings hit a record high, with net selling for 10 consecutive quarters 4. Monetary policy shift: Japan ends negative interest rates, and the Fed ends the rate hike cycle 5. Market concentration is too high: a few technology stocks dominate market performance

Potential trigger points 1. The Bank of Japan further tightens monetary policy, leading to a sharp appreciation of the yen and the return of overseas funds 2. The US debt crisis worsens, and the proportion of interest expenses continues to rise to unsustainable levels 3. The bursting of the technology bubble leads to a collapse in market confidence 4. The trade war further escalates, disrupting global supply chains and economic growth 5. Japan, as the largest creditor of the United States, reduces its holdings of US debt, causing US debt yields to soar

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Analysis of the similarities and differences between the current economic environment and the historical financial crisis Debt level comparison Current debt situation • US government debt to GDP ratio: 124.0% (December 2024) • Japanese government debt to GDP ratio: 216.2% (December 2024), historical high 225.8% (March 2021) • US total debt: 36.21 trillion US dollars (May 2025) • Japanese debt/GDP ratio: more than 250%-263% (Japanese Prime Minister’s statement)

Before the 2008 financial crisis • US government debt to GDP ratio: about 64% (2007) • Japanese government debt to GDP ratio: about 175% (2007)

Before the Internet bubble in 2000 • US government debt to GDP ratio: about 55% (1999) • Japanese government debt to GDP ratio: about 130% (1999)

Key differences • The current US debt-to-GDP ratio is nearly twice that before the 2008 crisis • The current Japanese debt-to-GDP ratio is more than 1.2 times that before the 2008 crisis • Global debt levels are generally higher than historical pre-crisis levels • US interest payments are expected to devour 30% of fiscal revenue (Moody's warning)

Monetary policy and interest rate environment

Current situation • US 10-year Treasury yield: about 4.6% (May 2025) • Bank of Japan policy: end negative interest rates and start a rate hike cycle • Bank of Japan's holdings of government bonds: 52%, plans to reduce purchases to 3 trillion yen per month by January-March 2026 • Fed policy: end the rate hike cycle and prepare to cut interest rates

Before the 2008 financial crisis • US 10-year Treasury yield: about 4.5%-5% (2007) • Fed policy: continuous rate hikes from 2004 to 2006, and rate cuts began in 2007 • Bank of Japan policy: maintain ultra-low interest rates

Key differences • Current US interest rates are similar to those before the 2008 crisis, but debt levels are much higher than then • Japan is in the early stages of ending its loose monetary policy, unlike before historical crises • The size of global central bank balance sheets is far greater than at any time in history

Market valuations and investor behavior Current situation • The ratio of stock market value to the size of the US economy: a record high • Buffett's cash holdings: $347 billion (28% of assets), a record high • Market concentration: US stock growth mainly relies on a few technology giants • Investor sentiment: Technology stocks are enthusiastic, but institutional investors are beginning to be cautious

Before the 2008 financial crisis • Buffett's cash holdings: 25% of assets (2005) • Market concentration: Financial and real estate-related stocks performed strongly • Investor sentiment: The real estate market was overheated and subprime products were widely popular

Before the 2000 Internet bubble • Buffett's cash holdings: increased from 1% to 13% (1998) • Market concentration: Internet stocks were extremely highly valued • Investor sentiment: Tech stocks are in a frenzy

Key differences • Buffett's current cash holdings exceed any pre-crisis level in history • Market valuation indicators have reached a record high, exceeding the levels before the 2000 bubble and the 2008 crisis • The current market concentration is higher than any period in history, and a few technology stocks dominate market performance

Safe-haven fund flows and international relations Current situation • The status of the yen: As a safe-haven currency, the appreciation of the yen may indicate a rise in global risk aversion • Trade relations: The United States has imposed tariffs on Japan, which is expected to reduce Japan's GDP growth by 0.3 percentage points in fiscal 2025 • International debt: Japan is one of the largest creditors of the United States

Before historical crises • Before the 2008 crisis: International capital flows to US real estate and financial products • Before the 2000 bubble: International capital flows to US technology stocks

Key differences • Current trade frictions have intensified and the trend of globalization has weakened • Japan's role as the world's largest holder of overseas assets has become more prominent • International debt dependence is higher than any period in history

@ b7274d28:c99628cb

A few months ago, a nostrich was switching from iOS to Android and asked for suggestions for #Nostr apps to try out. nostr:npub18ams6ewn5aj2n3wt2qawzglx9mr4nzksxhvrdc4gzrecw7n5tvjqctp424 offered the following as his response:

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzq0mhp4ja8fmy48zuk5p6uy37vtk8tx9dqdwcxm32sy8nsaa8gkeyqydhwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgunsd3jkyuewvdhk6tcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhszythwden5te0dehhxarj9emkjmn99uqzpwwts6n28eyvjpcwvu5akkwu85eg92dpvgw7cgmpe4czdadqvnv984rl0z

Yes. #Android users are fortunate to have some powerful Nostr apps and tools at our disposal that simply have no comparison over on the iOS side. However, a tool is only as good as the knowledge of the user, who must have an understanding of how best to wield it for maximum effect. This fact was immediately evidenced by replies to Derek asking, "What is the use case for Citrine?" and "This is the first time I'm hearing about Citrine and Pokey. Can you give me links for those?"

Well, consider this tutorial your Nostr starter-kit for Android. We'll go over installing and setting up Amber, Amethyst, Citrine, and Pokey, and as a bonus we'll be throwing in the Zapstore and Coinos to boot. We will assume no previous experience with any of the above, so if you already know all about one or more of these apps, you can feel free to skip that tutorial.

So many apps...

You may be wondering, "Why do I need so many apps to use Nostr?" That's perfectly valid, and the honest answer is, you don't. You can absolutely just install a Nostr client from the Play Store, have it generate your Nostr identity for you, and stick with the default relays already set up in that app. You don't even need to connect a wallet, if you don't want to. However, you won't experience all that Nostr has to offer if that is as far as you go, any more than you would experience all that Italian cuisine has to offer if you only ever try spaghetti.

Nostr is not just one app that does one thing, like Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok. It is an entire ecosystem of applications that are all built on top of a protocol that allows them to be interoperable. This set of tools will help you make the most out of that interoperability, which you will never get from any of the big-tech social platforms. It will provide a solid foundation for you to build upon as you explore more and more of what Nostr has to offer.

So what do these apps do?

Fundamental to everything you do on Nostr is the need to cryptographically sign with your private key. If you aren't sure what that means, just imagine that you had to enter your password every time you hit the "like" button on Facebook, or every time you commented on the latest dank meme. That would get old really fast, right? That's effectively what Nostr requires, but on steroids.

To keep this from being something you manually have to do every 5 seconds when you post a note, react to someone else's note, or add a comment, Nostr apps can store your private key and use it to sign behind the scenes for you. This is very convenient, but it means you are trusting that app to not do anything with your private key that you don't want it to. You are also trusting it to not leak your private key, because anyone who gets their hands on it will be able to post as you, see your private messages, and effectively be you on Nostr. The more apps you give your private key to, the greater your risk that it will eventually be compromised.

Enter #Amber, an application that will store your private key in only one app, and all other compatible Nostr apps can communicate with it to request a signature, without giving any of those other apps access to your private key.

Most Nostr apps for Android now support logging in and signing with Amber, and you can even use it to log into apps on other devices, such as some of the web apps you use on your PC. It's an incredible tool given to us by nostr:npub1w4uswmv6lu9yel005l3qgheysmr7tk9uvwluddznju3nuxalevvs2d0jr5, and only available for Android users. Those on iPhone are incredibly jealous that they don't have anything comparable, yet.

Speaking of nostr:npub1w4uswmv6lu9yel005l3qgheysmr7tk9uvwluddznju3nuxalevvs2d0jr5, the next app is also one of his making.

All Nostr data is stored on relays, which are very simple servers that Nostr apps read notes from and write notes to. In most forms of social media, it can be a pain to get your own data out to keep a backup. That's not the case on Nostr. Anyone can run their own relay, either for the sake of backing up their personal notes, or for others to post their notes to, as well.

Since Nostr notes take up very little space, you can actually run a relay on your phone. I have been on Nostr for almost 2 and a half years, and I have 25,000+ notes of various kinds on my relay, and a backup of that full database is just 24MB on my phone's storage.

Having that backup can save your bacon if you try out a new Nostr client and it doesn't find your existing follow list for some reason, so it writes a new one and you suddenly lose all of the people you were following. Just pop into your #Citrine relay, confirm it still has your correct follow list or import it from a recent backup, then have Citrine restore it. Done.

Additionally, there are things you may want to only save to a relay you control, such as draft messages that you aren't ready to post publicly, or eCash tokens, which can actually be saved to Nostr relays now. Citrine can also be used with Amber for signing into certain Nostr applications that use a relay to communicate with Amber.

If you are really adventurous, you can also expose Citrine over Tor to be used as an outbox relay, or used for peer-to-peer private messaging, but that is far more involved than the scope of this tutorial series.

You can't get far in Nostr without a solid and reliable client to interact with. #Amethyst is the client we will be using for this tutorial because there simply isn't another Android client that comes close, so far. Moreover, it can be a great client for new users to get started on, and yet it has a ton of features for power-users to take advantage of as well.

There are plenty of other good clients to check out over time, such as Coracle, YakiHonne, Voyage, Olas, Flotilla and others, but I keep coming back to Amethyst, and by the time you finish this tutorial, I think you'll see why. nostr:npub1gcxzte5zlkncx26j68ez60fzkvtkm9e0vrwdcvsjakxf9mu9qewqlfnj5z and others who have contributed to Amethyst have really built something special in this client, and it just keeps improving with every update that's shipped.

Most social media apps have some form of push notifications, and some Nostr apps do, too. Where the issue comes in is that Nostr apps are all interoperable. If you have more than one application, you're going to have both of them notifying you. Nostr users are known for having five or more Nostr apps that they use regularly. If all of them had notifications turned on, it would be a nightmare. So maybe you limit it to only one of your Nostr apps having notifications turned on, but then you are pretty well locked-in to opening that particular app when you tap on the notification.

Pokey, by nostr:npub1v3tgrwwsv7c6xckyhm5dmluc05jxd4yeqhpxew87chn0kua0tjzqc6yvjh, solves this issue, allowing you to turn notifications off for all of your Nostr apps, and have Pokey handle them all for you. Then, when you tap on a Pokey notification, you can choose which Nostr app to open it in.

Pokey also gives you control over the types of things you want to be notified about. Maybe you don't care about reactions, and you just want to know about zaps, comments, and direct messages. Pokey has you covered. It even supports multiple accounts, so you can get notifications for all the npubs you control.

One of the most unique and incredibly fun aspects of Nostr is the ability to send and receive #zaps. Instead of merely giving someone a 👍️ when you like something they said, you can actually send them real value in the form of sats, small portions of a Bitcoin. There is nothing quite like the experience of receiving your first zap and realizing that someone valued what you said enough to send you a small amount (and sometimes not so small) of #Bitcoin, the best money mankind has ever known.

To be able to have that experience, though, you are going to need a wallet that can send and receive zaps, and preferably one that is easy to connect to Nostr applications. My current preference for that is Alby Hub, but not everyone wants to deal with all that comes along with running a #Lightning node. That being the case, I have opted to use nostr:npub1h2qfjpnxau9k7ja9qkf50043xfpfy8j5v60xsqryef64y44puwnq28w8ch for this tutorial, because they offer one of the easiest wallets to set up, and it connects to most Nostr apps by just copy/pasting a connection string from the settings in the wallet into the settings in your Nostr app of choice.

Additionally, even though #Coinos is a custodial wallet, you can have it automatically transfer any #sats over a specified threshold to a separate wallet, allowing you to mitigate the custodial risk without needing to keep an eye on your balance and make the transfer manually.

Most of us on Android are used to getting all of our mobile apps from one souce: the Google Play Store. That's not possible for this tutorial series. Only one of the apps mentioned above is available in Google's permissioned playground. However, on Android we have the advantage of being able to install whatever we want on our device, just by popping into our settings and flipping a toggle. Indeed, thumbing our noses at big-tech is at the heart of the Nostr ethos, so why would we make ourselves beholden to Google for installing Nostr apps?

The nostr:npub10r8xl2njyepcw2zwv3a6dyufj4e4ajx86hz6v4ehu4gnpupxxp7stjt2p8 is an alternative app store made by nostr:npub1wf4pufsucer5va8g9p0rj5dnhvfeh6d8w0g6eayaep5dhps6rsgs43dgh9 as a resource for all sorts of open-source apps, but especially Nostr apps. What is more, you can log in with Amber, connect a wallet like Coinos, and support the developers of your favorite Nostr apps directly within the #Zapstore by zapping their app releases.

One of the biggest features of the Zapstore is the fact that developers can cryptographically sign their app releases using their Nostr keys, so you know that the app you are downloading is the one they actually released and hasn't been altered in any way. The Zapstore will warn you and won't let you install the app if the signature is invalid.

Getting Started

Since the Zapstore will be the source we use for installing most of the other apps mentioned, we will start with installing the Zapstore.

We will then use the Zapstore to install Amber and set it up with our Nostr account, either by creating a new private key, or by importing one we already have. We'll also use it to log into the Zapstore.

Next, we will install Amethyst from the Zapstore and log into it via Amber.

After this, we will install Citrine from the Zapstore and add it as a local relay on Amethyst.

Because we want to be able to send and receive zaps, we will set up a wallet with CoinOS and connect it to Amethyst and the Zapstore using Nostr Wallet Connect.

Finally, we will install Pokey using the Zapstore, log into it using Amber, and set up the notifications we want to receive.

By the time you are done with this series, you will have a great head-start on your Nostr journey compared to muddling through it all on your own. Moreover, you will have developed a familiarity with how things generally work on Nostr that can be applied to other apps you try out in the future.

Continue to Part 2: The Zapstore. Nostr Link: nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzpde8f55w86vrhaeqmd955y4rraw8aunzxgxstsj7eyzgntyev2xtqydhwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnzwf5kw6r5vfhkcapwdejhgtcqp5cnwdphxv6rwwp3xvmnzvqgty5au

@ 58937958:545e6994

Since it's Bitcoin Pizza Day, I made a Bitcoin pizza!

To give it a Japanese twist, I made it a mentaiko pizza (※ mentaiko = spicy cod roe, a popular Japanese ingredient often used in pasta or rice dishes). For the Bitcoin logo, I used a salmon terrine.

Salmon Terrine

I cut out the "B" logo using hanpen (※ hanpen = a soft, white Japanese fish cake made from fish paste and yam). Tip: You can also cut a colored plastic folder into the "B" shape and place it on top as a stencil — makes it easier!

I blended salmon, hanpen, milk, egg, and a bit of salt in a food processor, poured it into a container, and baked it in a water bath.

Pizza Dough

I mixed bread flour, dry yeast, salt, olive oil, and water, then kneaded it with determination! Let it rise for about an hour until fluffy.

Mentaiko Mayo Topping

I mixed mentaiko, mayonnaise, and soy sauce.

I spread out the dough, added the mentaiko mayo, cheese, and corn, then baked it. Halfway through, I added thin slices of mochi (rice cake). After baking, I topped it with seaweed and the salmon terrine to finish!

Lots to reflect on

About the Terrine

In the video, you’ll see I divided the terrine into two portions. I was worried that the salmon and hanpen parts might end up looking too similar in color, making the “B” logo hard to see.

So for one half, I added ketchup, thinking: “Maybe this will make the red more vibrant?” But even with the ketchup, it didn’t change much.

The Mochi

I accidentally bought thinly sliced mochi, but I realized it might burn too easily as a pizza topping. Regular mochi with standard thickness is probably better.

I added the mochi halfway through baking, opening the oven once, but now I’m thinking that might have lowered the oven temp too much.

Lessons Learned

This was my first and only attempt—no test run beforehand— so I ended up with a long list of lessons learned. In the future, I should definitely do a trial version first… But you know… salmon and mentaiko are expensive! (excuses, excuses)

Cheese

I wanted to do that Instagram-worthy cheese pull moment, but nope. No stretch. None at all. I think that kind of thing needs a totally different kind of cheese or prep. Will have to experiment more.

Taste Test

Actually really good. I usually don’t eat mentaiko mayo myself, and I’m a Margherita pizza fan at heart. But this was surprisingly nice. A little rich in flavor—made me crave a bowl of rice. Next time, I might skip the soy sauce to tone it down a bit.

nostr:nevent1qqsrhularycewltxz88e9wrwutkqu5pkylh3vxrmys2e0nuh7c2h06qgqp9zc

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

Bitcoin enthusiasts frequently and correctly remark how much value it adds to Bitcoin not to have a face, a leader, or a central authority behind it. This particularity means there isn't a single person to exert control over, or a single human point of failure who could become corrupt or harmful to the project.

Because of this, it is said that no other coin can be equally valuable as Bitcoin in terms of decentralization and trustworthiness. Bitcoin is unique not just for being first, but also because of how the events behind its inception developed. This implies that, from Bitcoin onwards, any coin created would have been created by someone, consequently having an authority behind it. For this and some other reasons, some people refer to Bitcoin as "The Immaculate Conception".

While other coins may have their own unique features and advantages, they may not be able to replicate Bitcoin's community-driven nature. However, one other cryptocurrency shares a similar story of mystery behind its creation: Monero.

History of Monero

Bytecoin and CryptoNote

In March 2014, a Bitcointalk thread titled "Bytecoin. Secure, private, untraceable since 2012" was initiated by a user under the nickname "DStrange"^1^. DStrange presented Bytecoin (BCN) as a unique cryptocurrency, in operation since July 2012. Unlike Bitcoin, it employed a new algorithm known as CryptoNote.

DStrange apparently stumbled upon the Bytecoin website by chance while mining a dying bitcoin fork, and decided to create a thread on Bitcointalk^1^. This sparked curiosity among some users, who wondered how could Bytecoin remain unnoticed since its alleged launch in 2012 until then^2^.

Some time after, a user brought up the "CryptoNote v2.0" whitepaper for the first time, underlining its innovative features^4^. Authored by the pseudonymous Nicolas van Saberhagen in October 2013, the CryptoNote v2 whitepaper^5^ highlighted the traceability and privacy problems in Bitcoin. Saberhagen argued that these flaws could not be quickly fixed, suggesting it would be more efficient to start a new project rather than trying to patch the original^5^, an statement simmilar to the one from Satoshi Nakamoto^6^.

Checking with Saberhagen's digital signature, the release date of the whitepaper seemed correct, which would mean that Cryptonote (v1) was created in 2012^7^, although there's an important detail: "Signing time is from the clock on the signer's computer" ^9^.

Moreover, the whitepaper v1 contains a footnote link to a Bitcointalk post dated May 5, 2013^10^, making it impossible for the whitepaper to have been signed and released on December 12, 2012.

As the narrative developed, users discovered that a significant 80% portion of Bytecoin had been pre-mined^11^ and blockchain dates seemed to be faked to make it look like it had been operating since 2012, leading to controversy surrounding the project.

The origins of CryptoNote and Bytecoin remain mysterious, leaving suspicions of a possible scam attempt, although the whitepaper had a good amount of work and thought on it.

The fork

In April 2014, the Bitcointalk user thankful_for_today, who had also participated in the Bytecoin thread^12^, announced plans to launch a Bytecoin fork named Bitmonero^13^.

The primary motivation behind this fork was "Because there is a number of technical and marketing issues I wanted to do differently. And also because I like ideas and technology and I want it to succeed"^14^. This time Bitmonero did things different from Bytecoin: there was no premine or instamine, and no portion of the block reward went to development.

However, thankful_for_today proposed controversial changes that the community disagreed with. Johnny Mnemonic relates the events surrounding Bitmonero and thankful_for_today in a Bitcointalk comment^15^:

When thankful_for_today launched BitMonero [...] he ignored everything that was discussed and just did what he wanted. The block reward was considerably steeper than what everyone was expecting. He also moved forward with 1-minute block times despite everyone's concerns about the increase of orphan blocks. He also didn't address the tail emission concern that should've (in my opinion) been in the code at launch time. Basically, he messed everything up. Then, he disappeared.

After disappearing for a while, thankful_for_today returned to find that the community had taken over the project. Johnny Mnemonic continues:

I, and others, started working on new forks that were closer to what everyone else was hoping for. [...] it was decided that the BitMonero project should just be taken over. There were like 9 or 10 interested parties at the time if my memory is correct. We voted on IRC to drop the "bit" from BitMonero and move forward with the project. Thankful_for_today suddenly resurfaced, and wasn't happy to learn the community had assumed control of the coin. He attempted to maintain his own fork (still calling it "BitMonero") for a while, but that quickly fell into obscurity.

The unfolding of these events show us the roots of Monero. Much like Satoshi Nakamoto, the creators behind CryptoNote/Bytecoin and thankful_for_today remain a mystery^17^, having disappeared without a trace. This enigma only adds to Monero's value.

Since community took over development, believing in the project's potential and its ability to be guided in a better direction, Monero was given one of Bitcoin's most important qualities: a leaderless nature. With no single face or entity directing its path, Monero is safe from potential corruption or harm from a "central authority".

The community continued developing Monero until today. Since then, Monero has undergone a lot of technological improvements, migrations and achievements such as RingCT and RandomX. It also has developed its own Community Crowdfundinc System, conferences such as MoneroKon and Monerotopia are taking place every year, and has a very active community around it.

Monero continues to develop with goals of privacy and security first, ease of use and efficiency second. ^16^

This stands as a testament to the power of a dedicated community operating without a central figure of authority. This decentralized approach aligns with the original ethos of cryptocurrency, making Monero a prime example of community-driven innovation. For this, I thank all the people involved in Monero, that lead it to where it is today.

If you find any information that seems incorrect, unclear or any missing important events, please contact me and I will make the necessary changes.

Sources of interest

• https://forum.getmonero.org/20/general-discussion/211/history-of-monero
• https://monero.stackexchange.com/questions/852/what-is-the-origin-of-monero-and-its-relationship-to-bytecoin
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monero
• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=583449.0
• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=563821.0
• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=233561
• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=512747.0
• https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=740112.0
• https://monero.stackexchange.com/a/1024
• https://inspec2t-project.eu/cryptocurrency-with-a-focus-on-anonymity-these-facts-are-known-about-monero/
• https://medium.com/coin-story/coin-perspective-13-riccardo-spagni-69ef82907bd1
• https://www.getmonero.org/resources/about/
• https://www.wired.com/2017/01/monero-drug-dealers-cryptocurrency-choice-fire/
• https://www.monero.how/why-monero-vs-bitcoin
• https://old.reddit.com/r/Monero/comments/u8e5yr/satoshi_nakamoto_talked_about_privacy_features/

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

I've been thinking about how to improve my seed backup in a cheap and cool way, mostly for fun. Until now, I had the seed written on a piece of paper in a desk drawer, and I wanted something more durable and fire-proof.

Show me the final result!

After searching online, I found two options I liked the most: the Cryptosteel Capsule and the Trezor Keep. These products are nice but quite expensive, and I didn't want to spend that much on my seed backup. Privacy is also important, and sharing details like a shipping address makes me uncomfortable. This concern has grown since the Ledger incident^1. A $5 wrench attack^2 seems too cheap, even if you only hold a few sats.

Upon seeing the design of Cryptosteel, I considered creating something similar at home. Although it may not be as cool as their device, it could offer almost the same in terms of robustness and durability.

Step 1: Get the materials and tools

When choosing the materials, you will want to go with stainless steel. It is durable, resistant to fire, water, and corrosion, very robust, and does not rust. Also, its price point is just right; it's not the cheapest, but it's cheap for the value you get.

I went to a material store and bought:

• Two bolts
• Two hex nuts and head nuts for the bolts
• A bag of 30 washers

All items were made of stainless steel. The total price was around €6. This is enough for making two seed backups.

You will also need:

• A set of metal letter stamps (I bought a 2mm-size letter kit since my washers were small, 6mm in diameter)
  • You can find these in local stores or online marketplaces. The set I bought cost me €13.
• A good hammer
• A solid surface to stamp on

Total spent: 19€ for two backups

Step 2: Stamp and store

Once you have all the materials, you can start stamping your words. There are many videos on the internet that use fancy 3D-printed tools to get the letters nicely aligned, but I went with the free-hand option. The results were pretty decent.

I only stamped the first 4 letters for each word since the BIP-39 wordlist allows for this. Because my stamping kit did not include numbers, I used alphabet letters to define the order. This way, if all the washers were to fall off, I could still reassemble the seed correctly.

The final result

So this is the final result. I added two smaller washers as protection and also put the top washer reversed so the letters are not visible:

Compared to the Cryptosteel or the Trezor Keep, its size is much more compact. This makes for an easier-to-hide backup, in case you ever need to hide it inside your human body.

Some ideas

Tamper-evident seal

To enhance the security this backup, you can consider using a tamper-evident seal. This can be easily achieved by printing a unique image or using a specific day's newspaper page (just note somewhere what day it was).

Apply a thin layer of glue to the washer's surface and place the seal over it. If someone attempts to access the seed, they will be forced to destroy the seal, which will serve as an evident sign of tampering.

This simple measure will provide an additional layer of protection and allow you to quickly identify any unauthorized access attempts.

Note that this method is not resistant to outright theft. The tamper-evident seal won't stop a determined thief but it will prevent them from accessing your seed without leaving any trace.

Redundancy

Make sure to add redundancy. Make several copies of this cheap backup, and store them in separate locations.

Unique wordset

Another layer of security could be to implement your own custom mnemonic dictionary. However, this approach has the risk of permanently losing access to your funds if not implemented correctly.

If done properly, you could potentially end up with a highly secure backup, as no one else would be able to derive the seed phrase from it. To create your custom dictionary, assign a unique number from 1 to 2048 to a word of your choice. Maybe you could use a book, and index the first 2048 unique words that appear. Make sure to store this book and even get a couple copies of it (digitally and phisically).

This self-curated set of words will serve as your personal BIP-39 dictionary. When you need to translate between your custom dictionary and the official BIP-39 wordlist, simply use the index number to find the corresponding word in either list.

Never write the idex or words on your computer (Do not use Ctr+F)

@ d360efec:14907b5f

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Block Announces Bitcoin Business Stack, Makes Historic Lightning Payments Push at Bitcoin 2025 

Bitcoin isn’t just something to hold anymore—it’s something to live on. That was the core message delivered by Miles Suter, Bitcoin Product Lead at Block Inc., during his keynote at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference today. Standing at the intersection of innovation and ideology, Suter laid out a vision where Bitcoin isn’t just a store of value—but the internet’s native currency.

“Bitcoin is at a crossroads—on one hand it’s never been stronger: a trillion in market cap, millions of holders, and even talk of nation-state adoption,” Suter said. “We use Bitcoin to hold, to hedge, to opt out, but we rarely use it to live. At Block Inc., we believe that has to change.”

Suter officially announced that Block is rolling out Bitcoin payment capability for merchants using Square POS, allowing them to accept bitcoin directly in-store. The move comes as part of a broader initiative Block calls the full bitcoin for business stack—covering acquiring, managing, reporting, accounting, converting, lending, and taxes. 

“This is what makes Bitcoin an everyday currency for everyone,” he emphasized. “We believe hard-working entrepreneurs deserve access to the full power of bitcoin.” 

To prove the vision in action, Block helped power a Guinness World Record attempt for the most Lightning payments in a day, hosted live at the conference. The goal: prove that Lightning payments aren’t just functional—they’re scalable, fast, and real.

Block’s commitment isn’t new. In 2020, the company put bitcoin on its balance sheet. In 2021, it co-founded the Bitcoin Clean Energy Initiative to fight the “boiling oceans” narrative. In 2022, Cash App became one of the first major platforms on Lightning. In 2023, it launched on-chain payments with Square. And in 2024, it helped defeat Craig Wright in court, “standing up for Satoshi.”

“These aren’t just headlines—they’re a pattern,” Suter said. “We’ve made it more accessible, more secure. Now we’re focused on making it usable every day.”

Cash App already ranks among the top bitcoin on-ramps in the U.S., accounting for nearly 10% of on-chain block space at any time. In 2024, Lightning usage grew 7x. “Block runs one of the top Lightning nodes globally. And here’s what’s wild—it’s working,” he said. 

Block is now taking 10% of all profits from Bitcoin and adding it back to its balance sheet, and over 1,700 merchants are automatically converting part of their daily sales to Bitcoin.

“If Bitcoin just becomes digital gold, we failed the mission,” Suter said. “Bitcoin payments validate Bitcoin. They make it real. Bitcoin is money.” 

This post Block Announces Bitcoin Business Stack, Makes Historic Lightning Payments Push at Bitcoin 2025  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

@ c1e6505c:02b3157e

I spent Memorial Day swimming in the local river - something I try to do at least four times a week. It’s the best form of exercise imo, but it’s more than that. Swimming against the tide, feeling the water move around me... there’s something about it that keeps me grounded. Nature at her peak.

Today I brought my X-Pro2 with the 1959 Leica Summaron 35mm f/2.8. I'm still testing the lens wide open to get a feel for its character. My subject this time: the light playing on the ripples and waves.

While I was shooting, a kid randomly ran up to me and started telling me something about what he got for his dad while fishing, or something - I didn’t quite hear him - and then he asked what I was looking at. I told him, “The ripples. The way the light is refracting.” I had him sit exactly where I was so he could see it too.

He lit up. You could tell no one had ever pointed something like that out to him before. In that moment, I felt like maybe I was able to plant a little seed - a new way of seeing.

This is what I was looking at.

@ 611021ea:089a7d0f

Imagine a world where your favorite health and fitness apps—diet trackers, meditation tools, cardio and strength training platforms, even therapy apps—can all work together seamlessly. Not because they're owned by the same company, but because they speak a common, open language. That's the future NIP-101h is building on Nostr.

A Modular, Privacy-First Health Data Framework

NIP-101h defines a modular, privacy-first framework for sharing granular health and fitness metrics on the decentralized Nostr protocol. The core idea is simple but powerful: every health metric (weight, steps, calories, mood, and so on) gets its own unique Nostr event kind. Apps can implement only the metrics they care about, and users can choose exactly what to share, with whom, and how.

This modular approach means true interoperability. A meditation app can log mindfulness sessions, a running app can record your daily mileage, and a diet tracker can keep tabs on your nutrition—all using the same underlying standard. Each app remains independent, but your data becomes portable, composable, and, most importantly, under your control.

Why NIP-101h Matters

Interoperability

Today's health and fitness apps are walled gardens. Data is locked away in proprietary formats, making it hard to move, analyze, or combine. NIP-101h breaks down these barriers by providing a common, open standard for health metrics on Nostr. Apps can collaborate, users can migrate, and new services can emerge—without permission or lock-in.

User Control & Privacy

Health data is deeply personal. That's why NIP-101h is privacy-first: all metric values are encrypted by default using NIP-44, unless the user explicitly opts out. You decide what's public, what's private, and who gets access. Even if you want to keep everything local, that's supported too.

Extensibility

The world of health and fitness is always evolving. NIP-101h is designed to grow with it. New metrics can be added at any time via the

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install Trail Sense (it's free and open source)
2. Open the app, and tap Next then I Agree
3. Allow location access While Using The App and Allow notifications
4. Tap 🧭 on the bottom bar to open the compass
   • Use 📍️ in the upper left to manage paths
   • Use 🗺️ in the upper right to take a picture of a physical map and navigate on it
   • Use ⬆️ in the lower right to set beacons along your hike
5. Tap ☁️ on the bottom bar for weather information
   • Use ☁️ in the upper left to predict weather using cloud patterns
   • Use 🌡️ in the upper right to estimate the temperature (useful when in the mountains)
6. Tap ✨ on the bottom bar for astronomy details
   • Use 🔦 in the upper left to toggle your phone's flashlight
   • Use ⬇️ in the upper right to set alarms and reminders (e.g. sunset alerts)
7. Tap ▦ on the bottom bar to access extra tools
   • Use 🔦 to toggle the flashlight
   • Use 🔊 to play a whistle sound
   • Use 🔋 to turn battery-saving mode on or off
8. Select User Guide for help with all features
9. Enjoy!

ℹ️ Explore the app - it has many features worth learning

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

kycnot.me features a somewhat hidden tool that some users may not be aware of. Every month, an automated job crawls every listed service's Terms of Service (ToS) and FAQ pages and conducts an AI-driven analysis, generating a comprehensive overview that highlights key points related to KYC and user privacy.

Here's an example: Changenow's Tos Review

Why?

ToS pages typically contain a lot of complicated text. Since the first versions of kycnot.me, I have tried to provide users a comprehensive overview of what can be found in such documents. This automated method keeps the information up-to-date every month, which was one of the main challenges with manual updates.

A significant part of the time I invest in investigating a service for kycnot.me involves reading the ToS and looking for any clauses that might indicate aggressive KYC practices or privacy concerns. For the past four years, I performed this task manually. However, with advancements in language models, this process can now be somewhat automated. I still manually review the ToS for a quick check and regularly verify the AI’s findings. However, over the past three months, this automated method has proven to be quite reliable.

Having a quick ToS overview section allows users to avoid reading the entire ToS page. Instead, you can quickly read the important points that are grouped, summarized, and referenced, making it easier and faster to understand the key information.

Limitations

This method has a key limitation: JS-generated pages. For this reason, I was using Playwright in my crawler implementation. I plan to make a release addressing this issue in the future. There are also sites that don't have ToS/FAQ pages, but these sites already include a warning in that section.

Another issue is false positives. Although not very common, sometimes the AI might incorrectly interpret something harmless as harmful. Such errors become apparent upon reading; it's clear when something marked as bad should not be categorized as such. I manually review these cases regularly, checking for anything that seems off and then removing any inaccuracies.

Overall, the automation provides great results.

How?

There have been several iterations of this tool. Initially, I started with GPT-3.5, but the results were not good in any way. It made up many things, and important thigs were lost on large ToS pages. I then switched to GPT-4 Turbo, but it was expensive. Eventually, I settled on Claude 3 Sonnet, which provides a quality compromise between GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 Turbo at a more reasonable price, while allowing a generous 200K token context window.

I designed a prompt, which is open source^1, that has been tweaked many times and will surely be adjusted further in the future.

For the ToS scraping part, I initially wrote a scraper API using Playwright^2, but I replaced it with Jina AI Reader^3, which works quite well and is designed for this task.

Non-conflictive ToS

All services have a dropdown in the ToS section called "Non-conflictive ToS Reviews." These are the reviews that the AI flagged as not needing a user warning. I still provide these because I think they may be interesting to read.

Feedback and contributing

You can give me feedback on this tool, or share any inaccuraties by either opening an issue on Codeberg^4 or by contacting me ^5.

You can contribute with pull requests, which are always welcome, or you can support this project with any of the listed ways.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Adam Back Presents Blockstream’s Bitcoin-First Infrastructure Vision at Bitcoin 2025 

Adam Back, Co-founder and CEO of Blockstream, took the stage at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference with a clear message: Bitcoin is becoming the foundation of global finance—and Blockstream is building the infrastructure to support it. 

“So I think Bitcoin is still early,” Back began, “but more mainstream players are starting to become involved. It is starting to become the foundation of global finance.” From El Salvador’s President becoming “patient zero” to institutional adoption spreading rapidly, Back emphasized that “people in all layers of company management and politics have become orange-pilled.”

Citing Bitcoin’s accelerating growth trajectory, Back referenced Hal Finney’s prediction that Bitcoin’s addressable market could hit $200 trillion. “Today, we are a lot closer to that situation,” he noted. He alluded again that this is just the beginning for Bitcoin. 

To meet that growing demand, Back announced Blockstream’s plan to support the journey from 100 million to 1 billion users by simplifying self-custody and Bitcoin-native asset management. “We’re laser-focused on Bitcoin,” he said. “At Blockstream, we are here to provide the infrastructure to enable that.” 

In a detailed presentation, Back outlined five core pillars powering Blockstream’s strategy:

• Infrastructure Expansion: “Bitcoin is becoming the dominant financial asset and platform for global transactions. Blockstream enables and supports the infrastructure around it.”

• Unified Platform: Blockstream is developing one platform built for the Bitcoin economy—including consumer products (secure self-custody), enterprise solutions (asset transfer on Bitcoin rails), and institutional integration (custody for large-scale investment).

• The Blockstream App: Designed to streamline self-custody, the app simplifies onboarding, supports BTC, LBTC, and USDT, and offers advanced features for experienced users.

• Enterprise Tools: With custody, tokenization without smart contract risks, and SDK/API-ready infrastructure, Blockstream is pushing enterprise-grade Bitcoin use cases—from corporate finance to treasuries.

• Security and Ecosystem Design: “Secure, proven, and built to last,” Back said, referring to Blockstream’s Bitcoin-first architecture. “Security is our cornerstone, and every product connects at every layer.”

In closing, Back reaffirmed his long-term vision: “The future of finance runs on Bitcoin.” 

This post Adam Back Presents Blockstream’s Bitcoin-First Infrastructure Vision at Bitcoin 2025  first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

@ 69eea734:4ae31ae6

Dies ist der Anfang einer Serie, die ich schreiben möchte. Sie handelt von etwas, das wir verloren haben, und das dennoch, in Teilen, in uns weiterlebt.

Wen meine ich mit dem “wir”? Das Wir kann schnell problematisch werden, wenn man meint für andere zu sprechen, und dann erkennen muss, falsche Annahmen gemacht zu haben.

Als ich diesen Satz schrieb, hatte ich diejenigen von uns im Hinterkopf, die in einer westlichen Industriegesellschaft aufgewachsen sind. Der Verlust ist etwas, das ich spüre, und dem reale Geschehnisse mit zugrunde liegen. Eine Art Sehnsucht wird stärker, wenn ich von bestimmten Ereignissen lese, bei denen Menschen gewaltsam von dem getrennt wurden, das sie bis dahin gehalten und ernährt hatte: Dem Land, zu dem sie gehörten.

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Worüber ich schreiben möchte, das sind die Commons. Ein weites Feld. Commons, das kann Allmende heißen oder Gemeingüter.

Es geht dabei aber nicht nur um das, was gemeinsam genutzt wird, sondern auch um das Soziale darum herum — wie sich eine Gruppe selbst organisiert, und dabei den Mitgliedern und dem Gemeingut gerecht wird

Es ist eines jener Konzepte, denen mit einer einfachen Definition nicht gut gedient ist. Es geht eher darum, ein Gefühl dafür zu bekommen, sich ihm anzunähern, eine Beziehung aufzubauen. Wenn das gelingt, dann ist man an einer Art neuem Ort, einer neuen (und gleichzeitig alten) Sichtweise angekommen, die man nicht mehr verliert. Und gleichzeitig Teil einer Gemeinschaft geworden.

Zum Commons gehören Personen und das Commoning. Subjekte und ein Verb. Hinzu kommen die Resourcen, die gemeinsam betreut werden. Also Subjekt, Verb, Objekt. Hilfreicher ist es, die Ressourcen ebenfalls als Subjekte zu sehen. Beim ursprünglichen Commons stand der Commoner in einer partnerschaftlichen Beziehung zu dem Land, das seine Lebensgrundlage war. [1]

Die Commons bilden ein Gegengewicht zu Staat und Privatwirtschaft. Sie funktionieren nach einer anderen Logik, und wirken der kapitalistischen Forderung nach exponentiellem Wachstum, und der Vereinzelung der Menschen in der modernen Gesellschaft entgegen.

Mein Vorhaben ist, alle ein bis zwei Wochen einen kurzen Aufsatz zu schreiben, der einen Aspekt der Commons beleuchtet. Der deutsche Wikipedia-Eintrag gibt sehr gut wieder, wie vielschichtig das Thema ist.

Es könnte dabei in folgende Richtungen gehen:

• Geschichte der Enclosures (Einhegungen)
• Kämpfe indigener Kulturen und anarchischer Gemeinschaften
• Bemühungen, Commons und das Commoning in unserer westlichen Kulturn wiederzubeleben und zu fördern
• Das kollektive Trauma, das mit dem Verlust von Gemeingütern, insbesondere Land, verbunden ist
• Wie sich dies in jedem Einzelnen widerspiegelt

Ich schreibe dabei auch, um mir selbst über bestimmte Dinge klar zu werden. Ich bin mit zwei Commons-Bewegungen im Südwesten Englands verbunden, und diese Beziehungen sind nicht immer ganz einfach. Und doch würde ich mich nicht davon lösen wollen.

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Warum schrieb ich davon, dass wir etwas verloren haben, wenn es die Commons doch gibt?

Eine bestimmte Lebensweise, die freien Zugang zu Wald und Acker- und Weideland garantierte, um sich zu ernähren und Holz und Torf zu sammeln, wurde mit den Einhegungen nach und nach zerstört. Während das Leben sicher sehr hart war — und sich zuvor innerhalb der Feudalherrschaft abspielte — sorgten über lange Zeit gewachsene Traditionen und Bräuche dafür, dass Menschen sich zugehörig und versorgt fühlten. Diese Art des Aufgehobenseins ging verloren, als die Landbewohner vertrieben wurden und sich in den Städten als Lohnarbeiter verdingen oder auswandern mussten.

Vor kurzem habe ich ein Buch namens The Traumatised Society gelesen, in dem Fred Harrison das Schicksal des englischen Naturdichters John Clare schildert, der direkt miterlebte, wie das Land eingegrenzt wurde und darüber verzweifelte. Besonders eindrücklich schreibt auch Alastair McIntosh in dem insgesamt sehr erstaunlichen und magischen Buch Soil and Soul über die schottische Version der Einhegungen, die Highland Clearances.

Solche Schilderungen lassen ahnen, wie gewaltsam die Menschen von ihrer früheren Lebensweise getrennt wurden. Später gingen England und andere europäische Mächte in ihren Kolonien ähnlich vor. Die erste Kolonisierung war die der eigenen Bevölkerung. Ich glaube, dass diese Vorgänge uns kollektiv geprägt haben, und wir die Commons brauchen, um den Folgen entgegenzuwirken.

Diese haben aber auch in ihren neueren Formen keinen leichten Stand.

Wie Silke Helfrich schrieb: “Commons existieren nicht in einer heilen Welt, sondern in einer commons-unfreundlichen Umgebung. Es ist daher wichtig, dass Commoners sich bewusst sind, welchen Schatz sie in den Händen halten, um ihn bewahren und entfalten zu können.”

Demnächst mehr...

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\ [1] Der amerikanische Priester und Gelehrte Thomas Berry rief dazu auf, das Universum nicht als eine Ansammlung von Objekten zu sehen, sondern eine Gemeinschaft von Subjekten: The universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects.

@ 5c26ee8b:a4d229aa

In March 2022, I have introduced “VCPs”; (Virtual Currency points). So that the international transactions are made without relying on one currency or another and the financial crises are easily avoided.

You may have noticed that banks are increasing their gold reserves and that there are interests for local virtual currency and that was after the note was published.

The picture of the note showing its date will be in attachment to this post; I can’t edit it to avoid that its date gets changed. Here its content:

Conversion of international banking system: The “VCPs” system: * Each central bank would keep its assets and funds in homeland. * Establishing the value of one virtual currency point. I suggested that: 1 virtual currency point (VCP) = 0.1 gram of gold. * Virtual evaluation must be made to each currency, virtual currency points must be added to each currency’s market value. * International transfers and payments must use the virtual currency points, VCPs,  assigned to each currency in international operations. * Daily, weekly, monthly or yearly the actual money corresponding to the virtual currency points used in payments and transfers will be sent by any chosen mean of transport to the banks that had completed the operations or to the corresponding central banks. In this way no currency would prevail in international payments as all currencies will be considered as VCPs. —————————————————————- Because of the need of more guidelines to start using VCPs I have published the following updates:

VCPs allowance updates:

• Not only gold, also precious stones or agreed minerals held in banks can be used to obtain the VCPs allowance (public VCPs allowances). At the same time what is registered and kept in circulation (of gold, precious stones and agreed minerals that belongs to the people) in the country as private VCPs allowances to increase the VCPs allowances. The people can use their personal VCPs along with their precious items for purchases; for example if they sell or use their own gold to buy something, they must give their VCPs registration receipt or card (if they didn’t register their gold to obtain VCPs allowance, they can get it registered at the moment they decide to sell it so it gets added to the private VCPs allowances of his/her country). However, the registered materials must be declared at all borders while traveling once exceeded an internationally agreed specific amount (such as the value of €10000). Therefore a registration method can be agreed with gold and jewelry shops. For instance, while evaluating the materials getting registered, an online VCPs account (for a first registration) can get made on the site that is getting ready and the registration can be combined with a physical/online card (VCPs allowance card. For registering other materials in a later moment, the same card can be used to access the same account. Note that the materials must be used with the private VCPs allowance card for buying or selling, while for public VCPs accounts it’s not necessary because the materials will be kept in the central bank or other banks) or a receipt with a serial number (and other methods to protect customers from fraud). Banks can buy private VCPs while buying gold or other agreed materials and make them public VCPs. And people can have public VCPs allowances corresponding to the value of money (currency) they have already in their accounts. While if people buy gold from the bank (with cash or any other payment method), the related public VCPs allowance will be transformed into private ones (the buyers must receive the actual gold with the private VCPs allowance).
• The agreed materials that can be used to obtain public VCPs must not be consumable (such as oil or natural gas) or used for industrial purposes (such as iron or lithium).
• The printed and online (used by credit or debit cards) currency kept in circulation of the concerned country must correspond to the value of public VCPs allowance that must correspond with the value of gold kept in the central bank (printing more money will decrease its own value internationally).
• Private banks in the same country can have a public VCPs agreement with the central bank so that each bank registers and declares how much gold or valuable materials it has and get its own share of public VCPs allowance and its related printed/online currency in circulation.
• Gems and gold kept in museums can have public VCPs allowances that correspond to their weights only not the archeological values.
• International trade can use public VCPs allowances and the physical payment must follow; either by a preferred currency or gold. However if two or more countries have a trade agreement they can barter goods using IVCPs (International VCPs Allowances; that does not need to have a deposited amount of gold although they will use the same reference as public or private VCPs because it’s a general way to evaluate goods of different types; so for example oil can be swapped for electronics based on how much IVCPs are agreed to be equally swapped each year; i.e. a gallon of oil that costs 50 IVCPs can be swapped for a device that costs 25 IVCPs and grains that cost 25 IVCPs in an International VCPs Allowance Agreement where all parties receives the agreed goods without transferring money or gold). The amount of IVCPs can be agreed per year or there could a multiple online account/s viewable by the countries/parties taking part in the agreement showing the balance of International VCPs that can still be used in bartering goods for each one of the participating countries/parties).
• Cryptocurrencies can be like International VCPs they won’t need to have a deposit of gold, however they must go through an evaluation process compared to their current comparative value and gold (i.e. the amount of bitcoin that must be paid to buy a 0.1g of gold now can become the fixed value) so that the Cryptocurrencies can still be used for trading or bartering for goods even after the release of VCPs. The Cryptocurrencies can sustain the deficiencies of amount of currency that can be used in the same country or internationally (because not everyone can have enough gold deposited to sustain the daily trade). However regulations on the amount of Cryptocurrency/ies exchanged in a country must be agreed with its own central bank or there could be an international agreement; this amount can’t be less than what’s already in use of a certain Cryptocurrency. Or Cryptocurrencies can be exchanged with IVCPs (to protect people’s money while keeping in mind their compared value with gold now) and an amount of International VCPs allowance can be used also for bartering goods in the same country through an agreement with its own central bank.
• Public VCPs must have printable cash allowance that can be in the country or overseas (registered in banks, exchange companies and at borders). Each bank can have registers of local or foreign cash.
• In order to avoid the devaluation of the currency, because the printed money will corrisponde to the gold or valuable minerals held by the country, the concerned country must retrieve the cash abroad and replace it either with another currency or IVCPs through a trade agreement.
• To compensate the deficit of VCPs necessary for daily use within a country and to make a proper distinction, locally, Local Virtual Points (LVCPs) can be used.
• The Local VCPs would be issued by local authorities.

Meanwhile, countries started using the free VCPs platform that is built by a talented web developer in JavaScript; fiatjaf. I insist though that the trade name for the virtual currency points stays “VCPs” and that the clients are made aware of its usage in their daily banking.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Eric Trump Said Everybody Wants Bitcoin. Everybody is Buying Bitcoin

At the 2025 Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, the Executive Chairman & Board Member of American Bitcoin Mike Ho, the CEO of American Bitcoin Matt Prusak, the founder of Altcoin Daily Aaron Arnold, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump discussed the future of Bitcoin and their views.

Eric Trump started the panel by saying, “we are bringing Bitcoin to America and America is going to win the crypto revolution.” 

Donald continued by mentioning the $2.5 billion bitcoin treasury.

“All the announcement yesterday, True Social and TMTG committing $2.5 billion to a bitcoin treasury,” stated Trump Jr. “Then the trifecta of crypto you have is what we are doing with the world liberty and USD1 from a DeFi platform. We are very long crypto.”

Eric talked about how all the world wants Bitcoin and that most companies are having problems when buying Bitcoin because there is a lot of demand and not as much supply.
“Everybody wants Bitcoin. Everybody is buying Bitcoin,” Eric stated.

JUST IN: Eric Trump says "everyone in the world wants #Bitcoin, everybody is buying Bitcoin"

"0.1 BTC is going to be worth an absolute fortune" pic.twitter.com/0942a3dSWI

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 28, 2025

“The whole system is broken and now all of the sudden you have crypto which solves all the problems,” commented Eric. “It makes everything cheaper, it makes everything faster, it makes it safer, it makes it more transparent. It makes the whole system more functional.“

Mike Ho explained his view of the volatility of Bitcoin and how it benefits everybody.

“We see Bitcoin mining as just the foundational layer of being able to accumulate more creative Bitcoin for our shareholders at a discount to what the market can buy Bitcoin for,” commented Ho. “Then there is a value in the volatility of the stock. Usually volatility carries a negative connotation, but in here it’s the volatility that allows us to raise very low cost converts to even accelerate accumulation of Bitcoin.”

Matt Prusak mentioned how they are stacking sats and accumulating as much Bitcoin as they can.

“We are looking for ways to accumulate as much Bitcoin as fast as possible,” said Prusak. “We are stacking sats for our mining operations. We are going to stack sats for the accumulation.”

They all made predictions of Bitcoin’s end price of this year, Eric said $170,000, Trump Jr between $150,000 and $175,000 and Mike Ho over $200,000. Eric finalized with, “the next 10 years are going to be absolutely parabolical.”

This post Eric Trump Said Everybody Wants Bitcoin. Everybody is Buying Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Adam Back Said It’s Still Early For the Retail Investors To Buy Bitcoin

At the 2025 Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, the Head of Firmwide Research at Galaxy Digital Alex Thorn, Founder and Managing Partner of Pantera Capital Dan Morehead, Managing Partner, CEO, CIO of 10T Holdings + 1RoundTable Partners Dan Tapiero and the Co-founder & CEO of Blockstream Adam Back discussed the future of Bitcoin treasury companies.

Dan Tapiero started by sharing his opinion on how he sees Bitcoin in comparison to gold: 

“I really have always believed in that physical ownership that the individual has the right and should be able to own his own asset and so I started this physical gold business years ago,” said Tapiero. “I think our focus today is further adoption and the elevation of Bitcoin. I think the understanding of Bitcoin as an important asset.”

Adam Back was asked what he thought about Bitcoin treasury companies and he responded, “in effect, Blockstream is one of the first Bitcoin treasury companies. We have been around since 2014 and we work with our investors to put Bitcoin in a balance sheet back then and since then. I think the way to look at the treasury companies is Bitcoin is effectively the harder rate. It’s very hard to outperform Bitcoin most people that invest in things since Bitcoin around thought I should put that in Bitcoin and not in the other thing.”

Then Adam continued by explaining what treasury companies do.

“That’s why you get companies switching to the Bitcoin standard because it’s the only way for them to keep up with Bitcoin,” stated Back. ”They start with a Bitcoin capital base. They use the operating in-revenue to buy more Bitcoin and then they are able to participate in this kind of micro arbitrage.”

Finishing the panel, Alex Thorn asked, “Five years from now what is the price of Bitcoin?”

Dan Morehead predicted $750,000k, Tapiero $1,000,000 and Back said, “a million easy.”

Adam back closed by saying, “It’s still early for the retail investors.”

You can watch the full panel discussion and the rest of the Bitcoin 2025 Conference Day 2 below:

This post Adam Back Said It’s Still Early For the Retail Investors To Buy Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Oscar Zarraga Perez.

@ 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.

@ 866e0139:6a9334e5

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

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

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„Triff niemals deine Idole“ heißt ein gängiger Ratschlag. In gewendeten Zeiten stehen zu dem die Werte auf dem Kopf – und manche Künstler mit ihnen. Die Worte, die aus manch ihrer Mündern kommen, wirken, als hätte eine fremde Hand sie auf deren Zunge gelegt.

Die Sängerin Alexa Rodrian erlebte bei der Verleihung des Deutschen Filmpreises einen solchen Moment der Desillusion. Es war der Auftritt des Liedermachers Wolf Biermann. Hören Sie hierzu Alexa Rodrians Text „Wolf Biermann und sein falscher Friede“.

Hier zum Nachhören:

https://soundcloud.com/radiomuenchen/wolf-biermann-und-sein-falscher-friede-von-alexa-rodrian

Dieser Beitrag erschien zuerst auf Radio München.

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LASSEN SIE DER FRIEDENSTAUBE FLÜGEL WACHSEN!

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

Schon jetzt können Sie uns unterstützen:

• Für 50 CHF/EURO bekommen Sie ein Jahresabo der Friedenstaube.
• Für 120 CHF/EURO bekommen Sie ein Jahresabo und ein T-Shirt/Hoodie mit der Friedenstaube.
• Für 500 CHF/EURO werden Sie Förderer und bekommen ein lebenslanges Abo sowie ein T-Shirt/Hoodie mit der Friedenstaube.
• Ab 1000 CHF werden Sie Genossenschafter der Friedenstaube mit Stimmrecht (und bekommen lebenslanges Abo, T-Shirt/Hoodie).

Für Einzahlungen in CHF (Betreff: Friedenstaube):

Für Einzahlungen in Euro:

Milosz Matuschek

IBAN DE 53710520500000814137

BYLADEM1TST

Sparkasse Traunstein-Trostberg

Betreff: Friedenstaube

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

---

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

@ 06639a38:655f8f71

Finally there is a release (1.7.0) for Nostr-PHP with a full NIP-19 integration. Here is an example file with some snippets to how it works to encode and decode bech32 encoded entities:

• https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/blob/main/src/Examples/nip19-bech32-decoded-entities.php
• https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/blob/main/src/Examples/nip19-bech32-encoded-entities.php

Now merge request #68 (and issues #74, #64 are closed) is finally merged which I opened in October 2024.

Next up is:

• Create documentation how to use NIP-19 with the library on https://nostr-php.dev
• Create documentation how to use NIP-04 and NIP-44 with the library on https://nostr-php.dev
• Work out a proof-of-concept with the revolt/event-loop package to create concurrent async requests with websocket connections

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Saifedean Ammous: “Nothing Stops This Train” – Tether, Bitcoin, and the Endgame for the Dollar

Saifedean Ammous, CEO of Saifedean.com and author of The Bitcoin Standard, delivered a data-driven keynote at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference, warning of inevitable U.S. dollar decline and positioning Bitcoin as the only rational hedge. “Default, devaluation, or default by devaluation are inevitable,” Ammous declared, adding pointedly, “Tether can’t fix what a century of fiat democracy ruined.”

Using projections and flow charts, Ammous argued that Tether’s Bitcoin strategy could soon outpace its U.S. dollar reserves. “Then Tether will break the peg upwards,” he said, predicting a scenario where 1 USDT could equal 1.02 USD and continue revaluing as the dollar weakens. “Tether becomes a relatively stablecoin as the dollar declines.”

The talk emphasized what Ammous described as a self-reinforcing loop: as USDT demand rises, so does Tether’s need for BTC reserves, which drives up Bitcoin prices—leading to even more revaluation. “This is a significant impact on the market,” he said. “Buying bitcoin is the smartest thing anybody could do.”

In a final sweeping statement, Ammous forecasted the end of the USD era. “Eventually, USD reserves go to zero next to BTC reserves,” he said. “USDT keeps getting revalued upward until it is redeemable in bitcoin. USDT → BTCT.” He called Tether a “transition monetary system” and concluded, “Even the most bullish scenario for USD is much more bullish for BTC.” 

To Ammous, the dollar is locked in a downward spiral while Bitcoin, with its “number go up technology,” continues rising. “The thing that goes up is going to overtake the thing that goes down,” he said—summarizing his entire argument in one sentence.

This post Saifedean Ammous: “Nothing Stops This Train” – Tether, Bitcoin, and the Endgame for the Dollar first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Jenna Montgomery.

@ 1f956aec:768866bd

== January 17 2025

Out From Underneath | Prism Shores

crazy arms | pigeon pit

Humanhood | The Weather Station

== february 07 2025

Wish Defense | FACS

Sayan - Savoie | Maria Teriaeva

Nowhere Near Today | Midding

== february 14 2025

Phonetics On and On | Horsegirl

== february 21 2025

Finding Our Balance | Tsoh Tso

Machine Starts To Sing | Porridge Radio

Armageddon In A Summer Dress | Sunny Wa

== february 28 2025

you, infinite | you, infinite

On Being | Max Cooper

Billboard Heart | Deep Sea Diver

== March 21 2025

Watermelon/Peacock | Exploding Flowers

Warlord of the Weejuns | Goya Gumbani

== March 28 2025

Little Death Wishes | CocoRosie

Forever is a Feeling | Lucy Dacus

Evenfall | Sam Akpro

== April 4 2025

Tripla | Miki Berenyi Trio

Adagio | Σtella

The Fork | Oscar Jerome

== April 18 2025

Send A Prayer My Way | Julien Baker & TORRES

Superheaven | Superheaven

Thee Black Boltz | Tunde Adebimpe

from brooklyvegan

== April 25 2025

Face Down In The Garden |Tennis

Under Tangled Silence | Djrum

Viagr Aboys |Viagra Boys

Blurring Time | Bells Larsen

== May 2 2025

Time is Not Yours | Say Sue Me 세이수미

If You Asked For A Picture | Blondshell

== May 16 2025

Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon | Soot Sprite

Transmission 96 | Liftin Spirits & DJ Persuasion

Menedék | TÖRZS

== May 28 2025

Forefowk, Mind Me | Quinie

Silver Tears | SILVER TEARS

@ 06639a38:655f8f71

Nostr-PHP

Djuri submitted quite some pull requests in the last couple of week while he was implementing a Nostr connect / login on https://satsback.com. The backend of that platform is written in PHP so the Nostr-PHP library is used for several purposes while Djuri also developed quite some new features utilizing the following NIPs:

• NIP-04
• NIP-05
• NIP-17
• NIP-44

Thank you very much Djuri for these contributions. We now can do the basic private stuff with the library. 

PR for NIP-04 and NIP-44: https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/84 and https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/88 
Examples:

• https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/blob/main/src/Examples/nip04-encrypted-messages.php
• https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/blob/main/src/Examples/nip44-gift-wrapping.php

PR for NIP-05: https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/89 
Example: https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/blob/main/src/Examples/nip05-lookup.php 

PR for NIP-17: https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/90 
Example: https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/blob/main/src/Examples/nip17-private-direct-messages.php 

PR for adding more metadata profile fields: https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/94
Example: https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/blob/main/src/Examples/fetch-profile-metadata.php 

Fetch 10050 event (dm relay list) of an given pubkey
Example: https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/blob/main/src/Examples/fetch-dm-relayslist.php 

The CLI tool is removed from the library, see PR https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/93 

Nostr-PHP documentation

While new NIPs are implemented in the Nostr-PHP library, I'm trying to keep up with the documentation at https://nostr-php.dev. For now, things are still much work in progress and I've added the AI agent Goose using the Claude LLM to bootstrap new documentation pages. Currently I'm working on documentation for

• How to direct messages with NIP-04 and NIP-17
• Encrypted payloads for event content NIP-44
• Fetch profiledata of a given pubkey
• Lookup NIP-05 data of given pubkey
• Using the NIP-19 helper class

CCNS.news

I've moved CCNS to a new domain https://ccns.news and have partly implemented the new NIP-B0 for web bookmarks. When you post a bookmark there, a kind 39701 event is transmitted to some Nostr relays (take a look at this event for example). Optionally you can also publish this content as a note to the network.

As you can see at https://ccns.news/l/censorship-resistant-publishing-and-archiving, I've listed some todo's. All this stuff is done with Javascript using the NDK Typescript library (so I'm not using any PHP stuff for this with Nostr-PHP).

Also new: https://ccns.news/global now has a global feed which fetches all the web bookmark events with kind 39701 from several public Nostr relays. I had a rough idea to compare feeds generated with NDK and Nostr-PHP (for both using the same set of relays).

Building a njump clone for this Drupal website

You can now use this URL pattern to fetch Nostr events: https://nostrver.se/e/{event_id|nevent1|note1|addr1} where you can provide a plain Nostr event ID or NIP-19 encoded identifier. 

An example, this URL [nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzqmjxss3dld622uu8q25gywum9qtg4w4cv4064jmg20xsac2aam5nqqsqm2lz4ru6wlydzpulgs8m60ylp4vufwsg55whlqgua6a93vp2y4g3uu9lr) fetches the data from one or more relays. This data is then being saved as a (Drupal) node entity (in a database on the server where this website is hosted, which is located in my office fyi). With this saved node, this data is now also available at https://nostrver.se/e/0dabe2a8f9a77c8d1079f440fbd3c9f0d59c4ba08a51d7f811ceeba58b02a255/1 where the (cached) data is server from the database instead. It's just raw data for now, nothing special about it. One of my next steps is to style this in a more prettier interface and I will need to switch the theme of this website to a custom theme. A custom theme where I will be using TailwindCSS v4 and DaisyUI v5. 

The module which is providing these Nostr features is FOSS and uses the Nostr-PHP library for doing the following:

• Request the event from one or more relays
• Decode the provided NIP-19 identifier

For now this module is way for me to utilize the Nostr-PHP library with Drupal for fetching events. This can be automated so in theory I could index all the Nostr events. But this is not my ambition as it would require quite some hardware resources to accomplish this. 
I hope I can find the time to build up a new theme first for this website, so I can start styling the data for the fetched events. On this website, there is also a small piece (powered by another module) you can find at https://nostrver.se/nostrides doing things with this NIP-113 around activity events (in my case that's cycling what interests me).

What's next

I'm already working on the following stuff:

• Implement a class to setup a persistent connection to a relay for requesting events continuously
• Extend the documentation with the recent added features

Other todo stuff:

• Review NIP-13 proof-of-work PR from Djuri
• Implement a NIP-65 lookup for fetching read and write relays for a given npub issue #91
• Build a proof-of-concept with revolt/event-loop to request events asynchronous with persistent relay connections
• Add comments to https://ccns.news

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

The World’s Largest Bitcoin Conference Returns to Las Vegas in 2026

May 28, 2025 – BTC Inc., the leading provider of Bitcoin-related news and events, is excited to announce that the Bitcoin Conference, the world’s largest and most prestigious gathering of the Bitcoin industry, will be returning to Las Vegas next year. Next year’s conference will take place at the Venetian Las Vegas from April 27 – 29, 2026.

The announcement comes on the heels of a highly successful Bitcoin 2025 event, which saw over 35,000 attendees descend to Las Vegas to participate in valuable networking and community building events, experience leading-edge technology showcases, and hear insights from policy leaders, business executives, and celebrities across the Bitcoin industry.

“Bitcoin 2025 was the largest event in Bitcoin’s history and arrived at a pivotal moment for the industry,” said Brandon Green, Chief of Staff at BTC Inc. “Next year, we are going to compound it into not only the biggest event in Bitcoin’s history, but one of the largest and most important events globally.”

“Our city and state were delighted to host the Bitcoin conference this year,” said Governor Joe Lombardo. “Las Vegas is home to groundbreaking innovation and exciting new ideas, and we’re the perfect forum for the 2026 Bitcoin conference. We look forward to welcoming the conference to our state again next year.”

Tickets for Bitcoin 2026 are available for purchase on the official conference website. Interested individuals and organizations are encouraged to secure their spots early, as demand is expected to be unprecedented. 

For sponsorship opportunities, media inquiries, or further information about The Bitcoin Conference, please contact us or visit https://b.tc/conference/2026. 

About The Bitcoin Conference: 

The Bitcoin Conference is the world’s largest and most influential gathering of Bitcoin professionals, investors, and thought leaders. Committed to fostering Bitcoin adoption and industry innovation, the conference has grown into a global phenomenon since its founding in 2019. Learn more at https://b.tc/conference/2026

This post The World’s Largest Bitcoin Conference Returns to Las Vegas in 2026 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Bitcoin Magazine.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

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

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

— ODELL (@ODELL) October 27, 2022

The Basics

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

There is no 'Lightning Network'

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

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

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

Lightning in Practice

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

Sovereign Lightning

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

The Potential Fracture of Lightning

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

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

Summary

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

---

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

---

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

@ 78a1621b:0153f86c

I was very surprised to see the foreword written by Ken Liu. I have read The Three Body Problem and Death's End, two science fiction books translated by him. Just could not believe the connection.

Chapter 1 covered Finite Fields. This took me back to my Abstract Algebra class in undergrad. I wish I had this book and was interested in Bitcoin back then. So much of what you study in school you have to study without experiencing how they connect to the real world. I wish this wasn't the case.

Jimmy Song does an amazing job of explaining just what you need in simple terms and planting flags to watch out for concepts that will be relevant later in the book. The companion code and exercises are also very well designed. This got me thinking about how much students miss out by not actively incorporating programming into the mathematics curriculum.

Looking forward to continuing with the book.

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

These reviews are sponsored, yet the sponsorship does not influence the outcome of the evaluations. Sponsored reviews are independent from the kycnot.me list, being only part of the blog. The reviews have no impact on the scores of the listings or their continued presence on the list. Should any issues arise, I will not hesitate to remove any listing. Reviews are in collaboration with Orangefren.

The review

Swapter.io is an all-purpose instant exchange. They entered the scene in the depths of the bear market about 2 years ago in June of 2022.

| Pros | Cons | | --------------- | ---------------------------------- | | Low fees | Shotgun KYC with opaque triggers | | Large liquidity | Relies on 3rd party liquidity | | Works over Tor | Front-end not synced with back-end | | Pretty UI | |

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Service Website: swapter.io

⚠️ There is an ongoing issue with this service: read more on Reddit.

Test Trades

During our testing we performed a trade from XMR to LTC, and then back to XMR.

Our first trade had the ID of: mpUitpGemhN8jjNAjQuo6EvQ. We were promised 0.8 LTC for sending 0.5 XMR, before we sent the Monero. When the Monero arrived we were sent 0.799 LTC.

On the return journey we performed trade with ID: yaCRb5pYcRKAZcBqg0AzEGYg. This time we were promised 0.4815 XMR for sending 0.799 LTC. After Litecoin arrived we were sent 0.4765 XMR.

As such we saw a discrepancy of ~0.1% in the first trade and ~1% in the second trade. Considering those trades were floating we determine the estimates presented in the UI to be highly accurate and honest.

Of course Swapter could've been imposing a large fee on their estimates, but we checked their estimates against CoinGecko and found the difference to be equivalent to a fee of just over 0.5%. Perfectly in line with other swapping services.

Trading

Swapter supports BTC, LTC, XMR and well over a thousand other coins. Sadly they don't support the Lightning Network. For the myriad of currencies they deal with they provide massive upper limits. You could exchange tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrency in a single trade (although we wouldn't recommend it).

The flip side to this is that Swapter relies on 3rd party liquidity. Aside from the large liqudity this also benefits the user insofar as it allows for very low fees. However, it also comes with a negative - the 3rd party gets to see all your trades. Unfortunately Swapter opted not to share where they source their liquidity in their Privacy Policy or Terms of Service.

KYC & AML policies

Swapter reserves the right to require its users to provide their full name, their date of birth, their address and government-issued ID. A practice known as "shotgun KYC". This should not happen often - in our testing it never did - however it's not clear when exactly it could happen. The AML & KYC policy provided on Swapter's website simply states they will put your trade on hold if their "risk scoring system [deems it] as suspicious".

Worse yet, if they determine that "any of the information [the] customer provided is incorrect, false, outdated, or incomplete" then Swapter may decide to terminate all of the services they provide to the user. What exactly would happen to their funds in such a case remains unclear.

The only clarity we get is that the Swapter policy outlines a designated 3rd party that will verify the information provided by the user. The third party's name is Sum & Substance Ltd, also simply known as samsub and available at sumsub.com

It's understandable that some exchanges will decide on a policy of this sort, especially when they rely on external liquidity, but we would prefer more clarity be given. When exactly is a trade suspicious?

Tor

We were pleased to discover Swapter works over Tor. However, they do not provide a Tor mirror, nor do they work without JavaScript. Additionally, we found that some small features, such as the live chat, did not work over Tor. Fortunately, other means of contacting their support are still available.

UI

We have found the Swapter UI to be very modern, straightforward and simple to use. It's available in 4 languages (English, French, Dutch and Russian), although we're unable to vouch for the quality of some of those, the ones that we used seemed perfectly serviceable.

Our only issue with the UI was that it claims the funds have been sent following the trade, when in reality it seems to take the backend a minute or so to actually broadcast the transaction.

Getting in touch

Swapter's team has a chat on their website, a support email address and a support Telegram. Their social media presence in most active on Telegram and X (formerly Twitter).

Disclaimer

None of the above should be understood as investment or financial advice. The views are our own only and constitute a faithful representation of our experience in using and investigating this exchange. This review is not a guarantee of any kind on the services rendered by the exchange. Do your own research before using any service.

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

“The future is there... staring back at us. Trying to make sense of the fiction we will have become.” — William Gibson.

This month is the 4th anniversary of kycnot.me. Thank you for being here.

Fifteen years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer electronic cash system: a decentralized currency free from government and institutional control. Nakamoto's whitepaper showed a vision for a financial system based on trustless transactions, secured by cryptography. Some time forward and KYC (Know Your Customer), AML (Anti-Money Laundering), and CTF (Counter-Terrorism Financing) regulations started to come into play.

What a paradox: to engage with a system designed for decentralization, privacy, and independence, we are forced to give away our personal details. Using Bitcoin in the economy requires revealing your identity, not just to the party you interact with, but also to third parties who must track and report the interaction. You are forced to give sensitive data to entities you don't, can't, and shouldn't trust. Information can never be kept 100% safe; there's always a risk. Information is power, who knows about you has control over you.

Information asymmetry creates imbalances of power. When entities have detailed knowledge about individuals, they can manipulate, influence, or exploit this information to their advantage. The accumulation of personal data by corporations and governments enables extensive surveillances.

Such practices, moreover, exclude individuals from traditional economic systems if their documentation doesn't meet arbitrary standards, reinforcing a dystopian divide. Small businesses are similarly burdened by the costs of implementing these regulations, hindering free market competition^1:

How will they keep this information safe? Why do they need my identity? Why do they force businesses to enforce such regulations? It's always for your safety, to protect you from the "bad". Your life is perpetually in danger: terrorists, money launderers, villains... so the government steps in to save us.

‟Hush now, baby, baby, don't you cry Mamma's gonna make all of your nightmares come true Mamma's gonna put all of her fears into you Mamma's gonna keep you right here, under her wing She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing Mamma's gonna keep baby cosy and warm” — Mother, Pink Floyd

We must resist any attack on our privacy and freedom. To do this, we must collaborate.

If you have a service, refuse to ask for KYC; find a way. Accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Monero. Commit to circular economies. Remove the need to go through the FIAT system. People need fiat money to use most services, but we can change that.

If you're a user, donate to and prefer using services that accept such currencies. Encourage your friends to accept cryptocurrencies as well. Boycott FIAT system to the greatest extent you possibly can.

This may sound utopian, but it can be achieved. This movement can't be stopped. Go kick the hornet's nest.

“We must defend our own privacy if we expect to have any. We must come together and create systems which allow anonymous transactions to take place. People have been defending their own privacy for centuries with whispers, darkness, envelopes, closed doors, secret handshakes, and couriers. The technologies of the past did not allow for strong privacy, but electronic technologies do.” — Eric Hughes, A Cypherpunk's Manifesto

The anniversary

Four years ago, I began exploring ways to use crypto without KYC. I bookmarked a few favorite services and thought sharing them to the world might be useful. That was the first version of kycnot.me — a simple list of about 15 services. Since then, I've added services, rewritten it three times, and improved it to what it is now.

kycnot.me has remained 100% independent and 100% open source^2 all these years. I've received offers to buy the site, all of which I have declined and will continue to decline. It has been DDoS attacked many times, but we made it through. I have also rewritten the whole site almost once per year (three times in four years).

The code and scoring algorithm are open source (contributions are welcome) and I can't arbitrarly change a service's score without adding or removing attributes, making any arbitrary alterations obvious if they were fake. You can even see the score summary for any service's score.

I'm a one-person team, dedicating my free time to this project. I hope to keep doing so for many more years. Again, thank you for being part of this.

@ 2b24a1fa:17750f64

Eine Stunde Klassik! Der Münchner Pianist und "Musikdurchdringer" Jürgen Plich stellt jeden Dienstag um 20 Uhr große klassische Musik vor. Er teilt seine Hör- und Spielerfahrung und seine persönliche Sicht auf die Meisterwerke. Er spielt selbst besondere, unbekannte Aufnahmen, erklärt, warum die Musik so und nicht anders klingt und hat eine Menge aus dem Leben der Komponisten zu erzählen.

https://soundcloud.com/radiomuenchen/eine-stunde-klassik-opus-eins?

Sonntags um 10 Uhr in der Wiederholung.

@ cff1720e:15c7e2b2

Ich liebe Pareto. Für das was es ist, viel mehr aber für das was es derzeit wird - der Marktplatz der Ideen. Er entsteht durch gemeinsames Engagement von Entwicklern, Autoren und aktiven Lesern. Es ist ein lebendiges Medium, das jeden Tag wächst, quantitativ wie qualitativ, durch offene Interaktion, was es in dieser Form einzigartig macht.\ \ Mein Text ist inspiriert durch den Artikel von Alexa Rodrian vom 22. Mai über den Auftritt von Wolf Biermann bei der Verleihung des Deutschen Filmpreises.  Alexa ist keine Publizistin, genau wie zahlreiche unserer Autoren, aber sie hat einen bemerkenswerten Beitrag verfasst. Ich habe ihn spontan geliked, kommentiert und mit einer Spende honoriert. In den vergangenen Tagen habe ich viel darüber reflektiert, und Pareto ermöglicht es mir, und jedem anderen, diese Überlegungen zur “Causa Biermann” hier darzulegen.

MSN kommentierte die anstößige Rede wie folgt: mit einem verfälschten Golda-Meir-Zitat lenkte Biermann das Thema auf das Sterben in Gaza, für das er die Palästinenser selbst verantwortlich machte. „Dass ihr unsere Söhne ermordet habt, werden wir Euch eines Tages verzeihen“, habe Meir zu den Palästinensern gesagt, „aber wir werden euch niemals verzeihen können, dass ihr unsere Söhne gezwungen habt, selber Mörder zu werden.“ Alexa Rodrian, in einer Mischung aus Enttäuschung und Empörung, eröffnete ihren Artikel wie folgt:

„Triff niemals deine Idole“ heißt ein gängiger Ratschlag. In gewendeten Zeiten stehen zu dem die Werte auf dem Kopf – und manche Künstler mit ihnen. Die Worte, die aus manch ihrer Mündern kommen, wirken, als hätte eine fremde Hand sie auf deren Zunge gelegt. Die fremde Hand ist bei Biermann eher unwahrscheinlich, denn sein Hang zu Provokationen und Verletzungen haben Tradition, man erinnere sich an den legendären Auftritt bei einer Feierstunde im Bundestag 2014 in der er die Mitglieder der Linksfraktion als “elenden Rest“ und ”Drachenbrut” bezeichnete. Oder seine Beschimpfungen der (ostdeutschen) Wähler von AfD und BSW im August 2024 in einem Zeit-Interview:  „Die, die zu feige waren in der Diktatur, rebellieren jetzt ohne Risiko gegen die Demokratie.  Den Bequemlichkeiten der Diktatur jammern sie nach, und die Mühen der Demokratie sind ihnen fremd.“

Im Februar 2025 wurde Wolf Biermann für sein Lebenswerk mit einem Musikpreis der GEMA ausgezeichnet. Was aber ist sein Lebenswerk, sein mutiges Engagement in der Opposition der DDR bis 1976 oder seine verfehlten Rüpeleien in der Gegenwart? Ein solcher Preis ist fragwürdig, denn kein Lebenswerk ist konsistent, und die Bewertung abhängig von subjektiven Maßstäben. Meist wählen wir unsere Idole nach unseren Idealen, aber die können sich verändern, ebenso wie das Idol. Beethoven widmete seine 3. Sinfonie (Eroica) Napoleon, zog die Widmung aber zurück als dieser sich 1804 zum Kaiser krönen ließ. “Ist der auch nichts anderes, wie ein gewöhnlicher Mensch?” soll er wütend ausgerufen haben. Richtig! Was hatte Beethoven erwartet, einen Gott? “Hosianna” und “kreuzigt ihn” sind Affekte die durch unsere Projektionen verursacht und den Realitäten nie gerecht werden. 

Den Preis für sein Lebenswerk kann Wolf Biermann behalten. Er hat Millionen von Menschen in der DDR Mut gemacht. Er hat zahlreiche großartige Gedichte und Lieder verfasst, das behalte ich gerne in Erinnerung. Nun hat er sich selbst vom Sockel gestürzt und durch seinen Empathiemangel das Image beschädigt. Das hätte er vermeiden können, wenn er sich an die Worte seines Lehrmeisters Brecht erinnert hätte.

...\ Dabei wissen wir doch:\ Auch der Hass gegen die Niedrigkeit\ verzerrt die Züge.\ Auch der Zorn über das Unrecht\ Macht die Stimme heiser. Ach, wir\ Die wir den Boden bereiten wollten für die Freundlichkeit\ Konnten selber nicht freundlich sein.\ ...

An die Nachgeborenen

Er hätte auch von der Medizin nehmen können, die er selbst für andere entwickelt hat \ (1966 für seinen Freund Peter Huchel).

…\ Du, laß dich nicht verhärten\ in dieser harten Zeit.\ Die allzu hart sind, brechen,\ die allzu spitz sind, stechen\ und brechen ab sogleich.\ …

Die Ermutigung

PS: Fortsetzung folgt in der Reihe \ “Was wir von großen Persönlichkeiten lernen können, wenn wir ihnen zuhören würden."

@ d3d74124:a4eb7b1d

language is a funny thing. the English grammar is one of the most, if the not THE most complicated grammars to learn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Language_Aptitude_Battery\ DLAB. it's the test you take to see if you have a gift for language learning.

in my exploration of languages, first Chinese Mandarin, then software languages, context is king (Jesus is King). the surrounding context is different every where you go.

physical space context. we can't be two places at once. nostr allows for many languages, because you can provide your own digital context. our physical perspective give us a field of view. NOSTR clients give us a field of view into digital context.

math is a language.

---

bitcoin will be called a lot of things.

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wizardry

some elections results are anchored in time. using bitcoin. what else should be? legal documents seem obvious. other cryptographic proofs.

zero knowledge proofs. something about curve trees.

Find your local BitDevs.

Shenandoah Bitcoin Club

pondering a Veteran's Day live music event in Frederick County, VA. who would show up to a lunch and learn with hardware wallets in testnet4 mode? to try shit out? local only, but you should do it where you are too if you're not local.

mining

getting better? Bitmain announces a "decentralized mining pool" but I doubt we'll see open source code if history follows. 256Foundation getting to business. working prototypes for the Ember One using USB and python are out there for those that know where to look. i am very bullish on mujina. very bullish. fun coinbase tricks happening too with CTV+CSFS.

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p.s. written on primal's new article publishing UI.

@ a296b972:e5a7a2e8

„Aaaach, was für ein herrlicher Tag!“

In Berlin geht man hochmotiviert an die Arbeit, in der tiefen Überzeugung stets die richtigen Entscheidungen zu treffen, die Steuern der Einzahler ausschließlich für wohlüberlegte, notwendige Investitionen auszugeben und Entscheidungen zu treffen, die im dem Umfeld, in dem man sich bewegt, als höchst sinnvoll erachtet werden. Zustimmung von allen Seiten, dann muss es ja richtig sein.

Man fährt im Dienstwagen ins Regierungsviertel, sieht die vielen geschäftigen Menschen, wie sie ebenfalls zur Arbeit eilen. Man freut sich darüber, dass alles so gut läuft, dank der überragenden Kompetenz, die man einbringen darf und die das alles ermöglicht.

In Gedanken klopft man sich auf die Schulter und sagt sich im Stillen: „Bist schon ein geiler Typ, der richtig was bewegen kann, bewegen kann.“

Man hat auch schon erkannt, dass die zunehmende Kriminalität, vorzugsweise mit einem unsachgemäß gebrauchten Messer, durch den schlechten Einfluss der sozialen Medien entstanden ist und schon entsprechende Maßnahmen auf den Weg gebracht, um das durch geleitete Meinungsäußerungen, selbstverständlich zum Wohle aller, zu unterbinden. Man ist ja nicht umsonst in diese verantwortungsvolle Position gelangt. „Endlich am Ziel!“

„Messerattacken sind unschön, unschön, aber man muss auch berücksichtigen, dass viele der Attentäter und Attentäterinnen in ihren Herkunftsländern Schlimmes erlebt haben und dadurch traumatisiert wurden. Den betroffenen Traumaopfern kann ja nichts Besseres passieren, als in eine deutsche Psychiatrie zu kommen, wo sie die allerbeste Therapie erfahren, um wieder glückliche Menschen der Gesellschaft zu werden.

** **

Und jeder, der nicht die große soziale Aufgabe erkennt, die wir uns gestellt haben und auch effizient umsetzen, muss es eben noch besser erklärt bekommen, erklärt bekommen. Daran müssen wir noch arbeiten. (Muss ich mir notieren, damit ich meinem Sekretär die Anweisung erteile, das in die Wege zu leiten). Und jeder, der sich dagegen sträubt, zeigt damit eindeutig, dass er zum rechten Rand gehört. Was denen nur einfällt? Da müssen klare Zeichen gesetzt werden, und das muss unter allen Umständen unterbunden werden, unterbunden werden.

** **

Sowas schadet der Demokratie, es delegitimiert sie“.

Zum Schutz der braven Bürger arbeitet man auch fleißig daran, Deutschland, in neuem Selbstbewusstsein, zur stärksten Kraft in Europa zu machen. Mit der Stationierung von deutschen Soldaten an der Ostfront, pardon, an der Ostflanke, zeigt man dem bösen, aggressiven Russen schon mal, was eine Harke ist. „Und das ist ja erst der Anfang, der Anfang. Warte nur ab!“

„Was noch? Ach ja, die Wirtschaft. Solange die nicht auf die Barrikaden geht, das sehe ich derzeit nicht, scheint es ja noch keinen akuten Handlungsbedarf zu geben. Darum kümmern wir uns später. Immerhin halten sich die Wirtschaftsprognosen in einem akzeptablen Rahmen und die Priorität (die kann auch nicht jeder richtig setzen) der Investitionen muss derzeit auf dem wichtigsten Bereich, der Aufrüstung liegen, Aufrüstung liegen. Schließlich werden wir bald angegriffen.

** **

Ich darf nicht vergessen, meinen Sekretär zu beauftragen, meine Bestellung im Feinkostladen abholen zu lassen, sonst gibt’s Zuhause Ärger. Ach ja, und die Anzüge und die Wäsche muss auch noch aus der Reinigung abgeholt werden. Darf ich nicht vergessen, nicht vergessen.

** **

Wie viele Reinigungen gäbe es nicht, wenn wir Politiker nicht wären, nicht wären. Viele sichere Arbeitsplätze, gut so!

** **

Was, schon da? Das ging aber heute schnell. Kein Stau. Ja, der Chauffeur ist schon ein Guter, der weiß, wo man lang muss, um Baustellen zu umfahren. Allerdings muss ich ihm bei nächster Gelegenheit noch einmal deutlich sagen, dass er bitte die Sitzheizung früher anzuschalten hat, anzuschalten hat! Dass der sich das immer noch nicht gemerkt hat, unmöglich!“

Wen wundert es, wenn in dieser Wonnewelt der Selbstüberschätzung von Unsererdemokratie gesprochen wird, so entrückt vom Alltag, in einem Raumschiff, dass völlig losgelöst von der Realität über allem schwebt.

„Ich müsste ja verrückt sein, wenn ich an diesen Zuständen etwas ändern wollte. Warum auch, es läuft doch und mir geht es doch gut. Ich habe ein gutes Einkommen, kann mir allerhand leisten, Haus ist bezahlt, Frau ist gut untergebracht, Kinder sind versorgt, wie die Zeit vergeht. Und wenn ich mal ausscheide, erhalte ich weiter meine Bezüge und muss nicht an mein Vermögen ran, man will ja auch den Kindern was hinterlassen. Schadet ja nicht, wenn ich mich etwas einschränke, und der eine oder andere Job wird schon an mich herangetragen werden, schließlich habe ich ja erstklassige Kontakte, die dem einen oder anderen sicher etwas wert sein werden.

** **

Na, dann woll’n wir mal wieder, woll’n wir mal wieder!“

Dieser Artikel wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben

* *

(Bild von pixabay)

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install Notally (it's free and open source)
2. Open the app, tap ≡, and select Settings
3. Tap View and switch to Grid
4. Return to the main screen
5. Tap ☑ to create a task list and ✏️ to create a note
6. Enjoy!

ℹ️ You can also add pictures and set reminders for notes and task lists

ℹ️ Add labels to the notes (e.g. "Diary", "Snippet" or "Knowledge")

ℹ️ Use emojis to enhance titles (e.g. "🛒 Purchases" and "🔗️ Links")

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Bank run on every crypto bank then bank run on every "real" bank.

— ODELL (@ODELL) December 14, 2022

The four main banks of bitcoin and “crypto” are Signature, Prime Trust, Silvergate, and Silicon Valley Bank. Prime Trust does not custody funds themselves but rather maintains deposit accounts at BMO Harris Bank, Cross River, Lexicon Bank, MVB Bank, and Signature Bank. Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank have already stopped withdrawals. More banks will go down before the chaos stops. None of them have sufficient reserves to meet withdrawals.

Bitcoin gives us all the ability to opt out of a system that has massive layers of counterparty risk built in, years of cheap money and broken incentives have layered risk on top of risk throughout the entire global economy. If you thought the FTX bank run was painful to watch, I have bad news for you: every major bank in the world is fractional reserve. Bitcoin held in self custody is unique in its lack of counterparty risk, as global market chaos unwinds this will become much more obvious.

The rules of bitcoin are extremely hard to change by design. Anyone can access the network directly without a trusted third party by using their own node. Owning more bitcoin does not give you more control over the network with all participants on equal footing.

Bitcoin is:
- money that is not controlled by a company or government
- money that can be spent or saved without permission
- money that is provably scarce and should increase in purchasing power with adoption

Bitcoin is money without trust. Whether you are a nation state, corporation, or an individual, you can use bitcoin to spend or save without permission. Social media will accelerate the already deteriorating trust in our institutions and as this trust continues to crumble the value of trust minimized money will become obvious. As adoption increases so should the purchasing power of bitcoin.

A quick note on "stablecoins," such as USDC - it is important to remember that they rely on trusted custodians. They have the same risk as funds held directly in bank accounts with additional counterparty risk on top. The trusted custodians can be pressured by gov, exit scam, or caught up in fraud. Funds can and will be frozen at will. This is a distinctly different trust model than bitcoin, which is a native bearer token that does not rely on any centralized entity or custodian.

Most bitcoin exchanges have exposure to these failing banks. Expect more chaos and confusion as this all unwinds. Withdraw any bitcoin to your own wallet ASAP.

Simple Self Custody Guide: https://werunbtc.com/muun
More Secure Cold Storage Guide: https://werunbtc.com/coldcard

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

@ 3c559080:a053153e

So firstly you should find an emulator for whatever you want to play on. There are many for desktop and mobile devices. Checkhere for a list of all the available consoles and their various emulators.

Next what game do you want to play? This is the like the homepage for a shit ton of roms.

Some of the more popular roms are there and other various list like Sony Nintendo

After narrowing down your selection you will end up on myrient i assume this is just some dope person hosting all these so if you get some use out of it, think of donating they even take corn, but other shitcoins too (but thats not the focus here)

Once you download the Rom of the game you want, you will get a compressed (zip) folder, unzip it and within it will be the rom, most systems will identify your emulator and use it open the game. If not, launch the emulator and within it should be an option to open a file, open the file in the unzipped folder.

Enjoy So you want to Mod?

So every Mod, is a mod for a specific game [ex. Pokemon Blue, Pokemon FireRed, Super Mario Bros.] so it requires you to get the Rom for that base game, the mod itself, and a tool to patch it. There is an online tool to easily patch the mod to the ROM. IMPORTANT, this will not change any naming, Id recommend having a folder with the base game roms, and a folder for the mods, and lastly a folder for the newly modded roms. Make sure to name or just save the game in modded roms folder after the patch.

Below are a few resource to find various Pokemon Rom mods(sometimes called hacks)

• r/PokemonROMhacks
• Good Compilations of Hacks and Resource/Guides

Personally, Pokemon Unbound is considered the best most polished hack. it runs on Pokemon Fire Red.

Pokemon Emerald Rouge is a cool take on the popular Rougelite genre. This runs on base game Pokemon Emerald

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• Coinswap is a decentralized protocol for private, trustless cryptocurrency swaps. It allows participants to securely swap digital assets without intermediaries, using advanced cryptographic techniques and atomic swaps to ensure privacy and security.
• This release introduces major improvements to the protocol's efficiency, security, and usability, including custom in-memory UTXO indexes, more advanced coin-selection algorithms, fidelity bond management and more.
• The update also improves user experience with full Mac support, faster Tor connections, enhanced UI/UX, a unified API, and improved protocol documentation.

"The Project is under active beta development and open for contributions and beta testing. The Coinswap market place is live in testnet4. Bug fixes and feature requests are very much welcome."

• Manuals and demo docs are available here.

What's new

• Core protocol and performance improvements:
  • Custom in-memory UTXO indexes. Frequent Core RPC calls, which caused significant delays, have been eliminated by implementing custom in-memory UTXO indexes. These indexes are also saved to disk, leading to faster wallet synchronization.
  • Coin selection. Advanced coin-selection algorithms, like those in Bitcoin Core, have been incorporated, enhancing the efficiency of creating different types of transactions.
  • Fidelity management. Maker servers now automate tasks such as checking bond expiries, redemption, and recreation for Fidelity Bonds, reducing the user's management responsibilities.
  • Taker liveness. The WaitingFundingConfirmation message has been added to keep swap connections between Takers and Makers, assisting with variable block confirmation delays.

• User experience and compatibility:

  • Mac compatibility. The crate and apps now fully support Mac.
  • Tor operations are streamlined for faster, more resilient connections. Tor addresses are now consistently linked to the wallet seed, maintaining the same onion address through system reboots.
  • The UI/UX improvements enhance the display of balances, UTXOs, offer data, fidelity bonds, and system logs. These updates make the apps more enjoyable and provide clearer coin swap logs during the swap process.

• API design improvements. Transaction creation routines have been streamlined to use a single common API, which reduces technical debt and eliminates redundant code.

• Protocol spec documentation now details how Coinswap breaks the transaction graph and improves privacy through routed swaps and amount splitting, and includes diagrams for clarity.

Source: Coinswap Protocol specification.

Announcement
GitHub Repo
Protocol Spec

@ bf95e1a4:ebdcc848

This is a part of the Bitcoin Infinity Academy course on Knut Svanholm's book Bitcoin: Sovereignty Through Mathematics. For more information, check out our Geyser page!

The Environment

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. There’s no such thing as a zero-sum game. The 2nd law of thermodynamics tells us this. You know, the one about entropy and how everything will be really lame in a couple of trillion years. There’s no action without an equally big reaction somewhere. This is also true for Bitcoin mining. Every once in a while, some ignorant clickbait-hungry journalist writes an article about Bitcoin’s energy usage and how it’s connected to global warming or how widespread Bitcoin adoption would kill us all someday because of its “wasteful” production process. What they all fail to address is the alternative cost. As mentioned before, Bitcoin is valuable because it's scarce, and it's scarce because it's costly to produce. The same is true for gold or diamonds or anything else that is scarce and hard to come by. As discussed in earlier chapters, the mining algorithm can never be any more energy efficient because the electricity spent is directly linked to the value of the token.

Secondly, think about what most people use their Bitcoin for. Nothing. That’s right, nothing. Bitcoin incentivizes saving rather than spending. This is the exact opposite of how people use money in our current system of fiat currencies because Bitcoin is deflationary rather than inflationary relative to all other currencies. This means that every dollar, yen, or pound spent on Bitcoin would have ended up being spent on some other energy-demanding thing had it not been spent on Bitcoin. Either that or it would have lost its value due to inflation, which implies that even more dollars, yen, or euros would have been created and spent on frivolous things. Right now, credit is cheap, and the underlying economic theory of our time is based on the idea that the amount of spending going on in society is a key metric in economics. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is based on the economic theories of the Austrian school, where saving is the key metric. Yes, Bitcoin is costly to produce, but so is overproducing every product on Earth because every business needs to expand as fast as possible to pay off their loans. Human well-being has always been, and will always be, linearly connected to energy consumption. You can’t get around or bypass this fact. Energy consumption and human flourishing are inevitably linked. The thing Bitcoin does is to take away the need for unnecessary energy consumption by incentivizing us to save for future generations. It’s a mechanism that hinders our self-destructive tendencies. Not a threat to our planet's health, but a remedy.

The next time you hear about the Bitcoin network using as much energy as a small country, ask yourself: where would all that energy have ended up if it wasn’t funneled into the only invention trying to save us from ourselves there is? Into a Chinese factory producing consumer goods shipped by boat, truck and car for temporary use and probably ending up in a garbage pile the size of a small country in less than a year? How is that better for the planet? The only place from which solutions for humanity's problems can stem is human ingenuity. Such ingenuity in turn, stems from places where people with brains have a shot at getting somewhere in life. Thanks to the Internet and Bitcoin, that somewhere is everywhere. The Internet connects us, and Bitcoin frees up our time and emancipates us from our current, destructive systems. Bitcoin helps you plant a seed and watch it grow. Before you criticize Bitcoin, try to comprehend why it was invented and what inflationary, soft money does to the mechanisms of the market. Try to understand why we have a “climate problem” in the first place — why we overconsume. What underlying forces pull our psychological strings and make us borrow money for a new car? It takes a special kind of ignorance to criticize a solution without first fully comprehending the problem.

There’s one specific word that describes the current global environmentalist movement better than any other, and that word is “hubris.” Yes, the Earth has been getting warmer, very slowly, over the last fifty years. Yes, at least one of the ice caps might be melting. Yes, it’s probably because of human activity but no, you can’t save the planet through political interference in people’s lives. To get every nation on Earth to agree that it is a good idea to forcefully make people change their behavior for the sake of the climate is not only impossible but also cruel and counterproductive. Collectivists always disguise their urge to deprive their fellow man of his or her possessions and freedoms as a necessary thing to do in order to “save” humanity. This is nothing new. They’ve just decided that “climate change” is the most effective banner to rally under right now. The causes change, but the underlying philosophy stays the same. It’s very disturbing that the socialist experiment gets to repeat itself so many times in so many parts of the world.

Human progress and human flourishing have linear relationships to energy usage. If we want to find new ways of bettering ourselves, we should use more energy, not less. Truly free market competition leads to the most efficient solutions, and there are a bunch of incentives for producers of consumable goods to find cheap energy sources. Bitcoin provides the market with yet another incentive — to find locations for and invest in power plants in remote areas of the world where the cost barrier for building the plant has been too high historically due to the costly and wasteful process of transporting electricity. Hydro-electric plants in areas with a high risk of flooding, for instance. These areas are not suitable for human settlements, but they could provide us with a lot of electricity. When producers have the option to convert electricity into money directly, they’re more likely to use renewable energy sources, not less. In this sense, Bitcoin can function as a battery for energy producers.

Offshore wind farms have a very specific wind force range where they produce a usable amount of electricity. The bigger the turbine, the wider the range, but they still have an upper and a lower wind force limit. If an offshore wind farm had been connected to a Bitcoin mining rig, the surplus energy produced on windy days could have been converted into a profit for the producer instantly. The same logic applies to solar farms and geothermal plants. Energy is not a finite resource in any practical sense for the inhabitants of Mother Earth. If we could harness and store all the power of all the sunlight that hits the Earth during just one day, we could satisfy all of humanity’s energy needs for a couple of hundred years.

Bitcoin’s role in all of this is unexplored, but its potential to be a very positive environmental force is huge, and it will prove its utility during the next century. On one hand, it provides energy producers with a battery; on the other hand, it gives central bankers a run for their money and ultimately forces them to adopt a more sound monetary policy or become obsolete altogether. Bitcoin creates an incentive for sacrificing surplus energy for a small profit and a greater good rather than just letting it go to waste. The energy harnessed is converted into a completely scarce asset that is divisible and transportable to a much greater extent than any other valuable resource on Earth. It incentivizes energy producers to think long term and will reward those most patient and least wasteful among them. This recalibration of incentive structures is, of course, not only limited to energy producers or miners but to anyone who embraces this technology and understands its implications. In due time, Bitcoin’s superior monetary properties will be undeniable to even the most stubborn dinosaur. This would be an enormous net gain for humanity and the environment.

Courageous politicians dare to implement unpopular policies. They don’t need climate-striking teenagers to tell them which issues ought to be addressed first. It is ironic how celebrities who score cheap points by talking about the climate often accuse their political opponents of being “populist.” What really happens when you raise carbon taxes and try to force populations into behaviors that they don’t really like? The gilets jaunes, or yellow vests, in France are a great example. People still have to commute to work. Raising taxes solves nothing — it just distorts the market and relocates the problem. The only thing the recently adopted environmentalist policies of France resulted in was the destruction of Paris. Arguably not the best thing for the environment.

In a truly free society, a society with sound money, climate-striking children wouldn’t be a problem. They would have to learn to cooperate in order to address whatever imaginary problem they sought to solve, which would be harmless to the rest of us. Now, when backed by fear-mongering journalists, they can cause a ton of damage as our virtue-signaling political class needs to adapt to whatever imaginary issue the press has primed us with in order to secure votes. It’s not about whether there is a real climate problem or not, but rather about motives. Always ask yourself, what does this person stand to gain from holding this particular opinion? Can this issue really be solved by political means?

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. There is such a thing as representation, however, and there’s always a personal economic motive behind political decisions. They’re not here for you; you’re here for them. One of the most eye-opening experiences of my life was seeing the lobbyist quarters in Brussels. The rise of veganism, placebic gluten intolerance, and "meat-free Mondays" in school cafeterias are all products of the food industry. A soy burger is a lot cheaper to produce than a beef one. To anyone who can sell it at a higher price by appealing to people’s vanity or world-saving hubris, huge profits await. They’ve managed to monetize our collective bad climate conscience in such a cunning way that most of us have no clue we’re being played. In the 20th century, the cereal-killers of the Kellogg's company and their likes funded “research” that cemented a fear of red meats and saturated fats into the minds of the public. The effects of this propaganda can very much still be seen today as the inhabitants of America are about twice as fat today than they were before the introduction of “light” products to the market. All of these things are connected to the root of the problem: the lack of sound money. Inflation made it possible for the food industry to replace our homemade beef burger with a mass-produced cheap soy substitute while making us believe that the price of a burger hadn’t changed that much in the last fifty years. Spoiler alert - it had.

Another of the most eye-opening experiences I’ve had was during my stay in a Mayan village in the Toledo district of Belize about ten years ago. I spent a couple of days with a family of two adults and six children in a jungle village of huts and no electricity save for two diesel generators. One night, the father of the house told me a story about his friend going into politics a decade earlier and being murdered for having the wrong opinions. We slept on wooden beds without mattresses, and a couple of dogs and turkeys ran freely around the village. One day, the family’s ten-year-old was listening to some Bob Marley songs on a CD player connected to a car battery and a small solar panel on a pole in the garden. I listened for a while and then asked him about the strange sound effects in between the songs. Helicopter sounds, machine gun sounds, and other strange noises were intersecting the songs here and there. He replied by telling me, “...oh, it’s not a proper CD. I made it with Virtual DJ on my cousin’s laptop”. I was stunned. Here was this ten-year-old, in the middle of the jungle, just as skilled with a computer as any other ten-year-old I had ever met. At that moment, I realized just how leveled the playing field has been for the workforce across the globe. Here was this child, living in a hut without even electricity (but also without a mortgage to inherit), ready to compete on the same global market as any other kid in the world.

Bitcoin is the logical next step. Bitcoin doesn’t care about nationality, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual preferences, or any other imagined victimization or privilege. To Bitcoin, we’re all equal. It is a voluntary system, and it knows no biases. Bitcoin is equality of opportunity in its purest form, and it doesn’t have any opinion on the outcome whatsoever.

About the Bitcoin Infinity Academy

The Bitcoin Infinity Academy is an educational project built around Knut Svanholm’s books about Bitcoin and Austrian Economics. Each week, a whole chapter from one of the books is released for free on Highlighter, accompanied by a video in which Knut and Luke de Wolf discuss that chapter’s ideas. You can join the discussions by signing up for one of the courses on our Geyser page. Signed books, monthly calls, and lots of other benefits are also available.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

The newly proposed RESTRICT ACT - is being advertised as a TikTok Ban, but is much broader than that, carries a $1M Fine and up to 20 years in prison️! It is unconstitutional and would create massive legal restrictions on the open source movement and free speech throughout the internet.

The Bill was proposed by: Senator Warner, Senator Thune, Senator Baldwin, Senator Fischer, Senator Manchin, Senator Moran, Senator Bennet, Senator Sullivan, Senator Gillibrand, Senator Collins, Senator Heinrich, and Senator Romney. It has broad support across Senators of both parties.

Corrupt politicians will not protect us. They are part of the problem. We must build, support, and learn how to use censorship resistant tools in order to defend our natural rights.

The RESTRICT Act, introduced by Senators Warner and Thune, aims to block or disrupt transactions and financial holdings involving foreign adversaries that pose risks to national security. Although the primary targets of this legislation are companies like Tik-Tok, the language of the bill could potentially be used to block or disrupt cryptocurrency transactions and, in extreme cases, block Americans’ access to open source tools or protocols like Bitcoin.

The Act creates a redundant regime paralleling OFAC without clear justification, it significantly limits the ability for injured parties to challenge actions raising due process concerns, and unlike OFAC it lacks any carve-out for protected speech. COINCENTER ON THE RESTRICT ACT

Full Text of Bill

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

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

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

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

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

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

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

Are the Colorado the worst team in MLB history?

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

Plus, whatever else Stackers want to talk about.

https://stacker.news/items/987399

@ 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

@ e0a24c5c:fa44b1e7

Ralph Boes – Menschenrechtsaktivist, Philosoph

Ralph Boes zeigt in dem Buch auf, wie wir uns von der Übermacht des Parteienwesens, die zur Entmündigung des Volkes führt, befreien können. Er zeigt, dass schon im Grundgesetz selbst höchst gegenläufige, an seinen freiheitlich-demokratischen Idealen bemessen sogar als verfassungswidrig zu bezeichnende Tendenzen wirken. Und dass diese es sind, die heute in seine Zerstörung führen. Er weist aber auch die Ansatzpunkte auf, durch die der Zerstörung des Grundgesetzes wirkungsvoll begegnet werden kann.

Eintritt frei, Spendentopf

Ralph Boes hat u.a. dafür gesorgt, dass die unmäßigen Sanktionen in Hartz IV 2019 vom Bundesverfassungsgericht für menschenrechts- und verfassungswidrig erklärt wurden. Aktuell setzt er sich für eine Ur-Abstimmung des Volkes über seine Verfassung ein.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

@matt_odell don't you even dare not ask about nostr!

— Kukks (Andrew Camilleri) (@MrKukks) May 18, 2021

Nostr first hit my radar spring 2021: created by fellow bitcoiner and friend, fiatjaf, and released to the world as free open source software. I was fortunate to be able to host a conversation with him on Citadel Dispatch in those early days, capturing that moment in history forever. Since then, the protocol has seen explosive viral organic growth as individuals around the world have contributed their time and energy to build out the protocol and the surrounding ecosystem due to the clear need for better communication tools.

nostr is to twitter as bitcoin is to paypal

As an intro to nostr, let us start with a metaphor:

twitter is paypal - a centralized platform plagued by censorship but has the benefit of established network effects

nostr is bitcoin - an open protocol that is censorship resistant and robust but requires an organic adoption phase

Nostr is an open communication protocol that can be used to send messages across a distributed set of relays in a censorship resistant and robust way.
 - Anyone can run a relay.
 - Anyone can interact with the protocol.
 - Relays can choose which messages they want to relay.
 - Users are identified by a simple public private key pair that they can generate themselves.

Nostr is often compared to twitter since there are nostr clients that emulate twitter functionality and user interface but that is merely one application of the protocol. Nostr is so much more than a mere twitter competitor. Nostr clients and relays can transmit a wide variety of data and clients can choose how to display that information to users. The result is a revolution in communication with implications that are difficult for any of us to truly comprehend.

Similar to bitcoin, nostr is an open and permissionless protocol. No person, company, or government controls it. Anyone can iterate and build on top of nostr without permission. Together, bitcoin and nostr are incredibly complementary freedom tech tools: censorship resistant, permissionless, robust, and interoperable - money and speech protected by code and incentives, not laws.

As censorship throughout the world continues to escalate, freedom tech provides hope for individuals around the world who refuse to accept the status quo. This movement will succeed on the shoulders of those who choose to stand up and contribute. We will build our own path. A brighter path.

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My Nostr Public Key: npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx

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

@ 56f27915:5fee3024

Ralph Boes – Menschenrechtsaktivist, Philosoph, Vorstandsmitglied im Verein Unsere Verfassung e.V.

Ralph Boes zeigt in dem Buch auf, wie wir uns von der Übermacht des Parteienwesens, die zur Entmündigung des Volkes führt, befreien können. Er zeigt, dass schon im Grundgesetz selbst höchst gegenläufige, an seinen freiheitlich-demokratischen Idealen bemessen sogar als verfassungswidrig zu bezeichnende Tendenzen wirken. Und dass diese es sind, die heute in seine Zerstörung führen. Er weist aber auch die Ansatzpunkte auf, durch die der Zerstörung des Grundgesetzes wirkungsvoll begegnet werden kann.

Eintritt frei, Spendentopf

Ralph Boes hat u.a. dafür gesorgt, dass die unmäßigen Sanktionen in Hartz IV 2019 vom Bundesverfassungsgericht für menschenrechts- und verfassungswidrig erklärt wurden. Aktuell setzt er sich für eine Ur-Abstimmung des Volkes über seine Verfassung ein.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

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"Privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age. Privacy is not secrecy.  A private matter is something one doesn't want the whole world to know, but a secret matter is something one doesn't want anybody to know. Privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the world." - Eric Hughes, A Cypherpunk's Manifesto, 1993

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Privacy is essential to freedom. Without privacy, individuals are unable to make choices free from surveillance and control. Lack of privacy leads to loss of autonomy. When individuals are constantly monitored it limits our ability to express ourselves and take risks. Any decisions we make can result in negative repercussions from those who surveil us. Without the freedom to make choices, individuals cannot truly be free.

Freedom is essential to acquiring and preserving wealth. When individuals are not free to make choices, restrictions and limitations prevent us from economic opportunities. If we are somehow able to acquire wealth in such an environment, lack of freedom can result in direct asset seizure by governments or other malicious entities. At scale, when freedom is compromised, it leads to widespread economic stagnation and poverty. Protecting freedom is essential to economic prosperity.

The connection between privacy, freedom, and wealth is critical. Without privacy, individuals lose the freedom to make choices free from surveillance and control. While lack of freedom prevents individuals from pursuing economic opportunities and makes wealth preservation nearly impossible. No Privacy? No Freedom. No Freedom? No Wealth.

Rights are not granted. They are taken and defended. Rights are often misunderstood as permission to do something by those holding power. However, if someone can give you something, they can inherently take it from you at will. People throughout history have necessarily fought for basic rights, including privacy and freedom. These rights were not given by those in power, but rather demanded and won through struggle. Even after these rights are won, they must be continually defended to ensure that they are not taken away. Rights are not granted - they are earned through struggle and defended through sacrifice.

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

@ 63d59db8:be170f6f

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

Visit Katerina's website here.

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

https://noicemagazine.com/SUBMISSIONS

@ 4d4fb5ff:1e821f47

Numerical heatmap derived from biologically-sourced data. I reversed the process of scientific discovery by stripping away the context of data collected in four of my published experiments, leaving only single digits. This makes the table appear to include only unrelated, random numbers. However, since the numbers come from real world data, there remains meaningful hidden structure in the grid. This invites the viewer to participate in parsing signal from noise.

https://ordiscan.com/inscription/96817034

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

Silent.link is an anonymous eSIM provider. They offer pay-as-you-go roaming in 160+ countries.

Pros

• Anonymous
• Private payment options
• High performance
• Global availability

Cons

• Need to select the right networks sometimes
• Latency
• Data and incoming SMS & call only

Rating

★★★★★

Service website

Silent.link

---

eSIMs replace traditional, physical SIM cards, if you have a fairly new phone, odds are it supports them. Since most people change their mobile carrier very rarely, the most common use case for these new eSIMs is their use in travel. Although their use as a piece of a larger OPSEC puzzle to improve privacy when using the internet from your phone is increasingly popular too.

Silent.link is not the only eSIM provider out there. Yet, they’re so unique that even Twitter’s (now X) founder Jack Dorsey recommends them.

Let’s start off with a quick explanation of how Silent.link works and what pay-as-you-go means. Most other eSIM providers will sell you packages of GBs with an expiration date. For instance imagine you’re visiting France then going to the UK after a few months. With other providers you might buy a 10GB in France package valid for 7 days, then after some months a 10GB in the UK package also valid for 7 days. You likely won’t use up the full package in either country and the remaining capacity will be voided as the package expires.

Silent.link’s pay-as-you-go is different. There are no geographic packages. There are no expiration dates. You simply have a balance denominated in USD and are charged as you use up the data according to the pricing of whichever local carrier you’re connecting via.

Preparing for the same trips from the example above you’d simply top-up your Silent.link balance with $10. Then you’d use Silent.link in France paying $1.33/GB, you’d only be charged for the exact amount used, then you’d go to the UK and pay $1.54/GB from the balance you had left over from France. It doesn’t matter how much time passes between the trips, because Silent.link balances don’t expire. If you have a balance left over you can use it on a future trip, or simply use it up in your home country.

---

Pros

Anonymity

Silent.link is anonymous. Most other eSIM providers require some form of identification. This can be a traditional, full KYC, procedure involving your ID or passport numbers or, as seemingly innocent, as verifying your phone number with your main carrier. Regardless, a link between the eSIM you bought online and your identity is established.

In some countries you’ll be able to pick up a traditional SIM (or the new eSIM) from a local carrier without undergoing this verification. This can still be a hassle though. You’ll need to look up the laws before travelling, you’ll need to find a local store selling them, you’ll need to decide how you’ll pay privately, etc. And that’s the best case, that’s assuming the country you want to get the SIM in allows you to buy one anonymously.

Private payment methods

Silent.link only accepts cryptocurrency and according to their stats, most payments are made with Bitcoin (either onchain or using the Lightning Network) or with Monero. As such paying anonymously is not a problem. The use a self-hosted instance of BTCPay Server to process payments and operate their own LN node. The entire checkout process can be completed over Tor.

---

Cons

Network selection

Although you can skip the hassle of buying a new eSIM every time you travel it’s a good idea to look up the pricing of different mobile networks in the country you’re going to. The differences can be trivial, but can also be 100x. If a specific mobile network offers a much better deal, you’ll probably want to dive into your phone’s settings to make sure it only connects to that network.

High prices for some regions

Second issue can be that, especially for poorer countries, Silent.link might not have the best prices. For instance if you travel to Angola you’ll end up paying $155.44/GB. But if you search around for other providers you’ll find eSIM that offer much lower prices for that same country.

Data & incoming SMS & calls only

These eSIMs are either data-only or only offer data and inbound sms and calls. You can’t use Silent.link eSIMs to send texts or make phone calls.

Latency

For most use-cases this shouldn’t matter, but the way roaming works is that when you’re abroad your data is first sent to your home country then sent out into the internet from there. For instance if you’re a Brit on holiday in Spain wherever you open up a website your phone communicates with the Spanish network who forwards the request to your home network in the UK and only there does the request start going towards the website you’re trying to load. The response takes the same path in reverse.

The home network for the Silent.link eSIMs is Poland. To take an extreme (antipodal) example, if you’re in Chile loading a Chilean website your request will go to Poland then back from Poland to the website’s server in Chile, then the response will go from Chile to Poland to you (in Chile). All those trips add latency. In our testing, done during the recent OrangeFren.com meetup in Istanbul, the difference was an additional 73ms. The bandwidth, however, was exceptional, easily surpassing 100 Mbps.

This latency issue isn’t unique to Silent.link, other eSIM providers usually suffer from it too, though their home network may be better suited for your latency needs. If you need the best latency we recommend a SIM from a local provider (or WiFi).

This proxy behaviour isn’t all negative however. It may potentially allow you to circumvent censorship or geoblocking if you’re trying to access resources available from Poland, but unavailable elsewhere.

Besides Istanbul one of the countries we also tested Silent.link in was Northern Cyprus. This territory is mostly unrecognized. It’s a country that, depending on who you ask, is or isn’t real. Despite this unresolved geopolitical status Silent.link performed without any issues.

---

Installation

If you decide to give Silent.link a try, you'll need to select if you want a data-only plan or a plan with inbound SMS & calling, once you complete the payment simply scan the QR code on the order confirmation page with your phone. Make sure to save the url of that order confirmation page somewhere! You will need it to top up your eSIM and check your remaining balance.

Getting in touch

The preferred way of contacting Silent.link's support is using the website's built-in chat function. Alternative methods include X (formerly Twitter), Matrix and email.

Their support is online from 09:00 - 21:00 UTC although even when testing outside of those hours we got a reply within a minute.

NOTE: These reviews are sponsored, yet the sponsorship does not influence the outcome of the evaluations. Sponsored reviews are independent from the kycnot.me list, being only part of the blog. The reviews have no impact on the scores of the listings or their continued presence on the list. Should any issues arise, I will not hesitate to remove any listing.

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install AnkiDroid (it's free and open source)
2. Launch the app, tap Get Started, then tap ≡ and select Settings
3. Select Sync and disable Display Synchronization Status
4. Return to the main screen
5. Create and download flashcard decks (see links below)
6. Tap ⁝, then Import, then Deck Package (.apkg), select the file and tap Add
7. Select Import
8. Wait for the import to finish and start learning!

Some Flashcard Deck Sources

• AnkiWeb
• Awesome Anki
• The Anki Ultimate Everything Deck

ℹ️ On GrapheneOS, you may need to enable the Network (used for localhost access) and Read And Write To The AnkiDroid Database permissions.

ℹ️ Also check this article on formulating knowledge

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Headlines

• Twenty One Capital is set to launch with over 42,000 BTC in its treasury. This new Bitcoin-native firm, backed by Tether and SoftBank, is planned to go public via a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners and will be led by Jack Mallers, co-founder and CEO of Strike. According to a report by the Financial Times, the company aims to replicate the model of Michael Saylor with his company, MicroStrategy.
• Florida's SB 868 proposes a backdoor into encrypted platforms. The bill and its House companion have both passed through their respective committees and are headed to a full vote. If enacted, SB 868 would require social media companies to decrypt teens' private messages, ban disappearing messages, allow unrestricted parental access to private messages, and likely eliminate encryption for all minors altogether.
• Paul Atkins has officially assumed the role of the 34th Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This is a return to the agency for Atkins, who previously served as an SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008 under the George W. Bush administration. He has committed to advancing the SEC’s mission of fostering capital formation, safeguarding investors, and ensuring fair and efficient markets.
• Solosatoshi.com has sold over 10,000 open-source miners, adding more than 10 PH of hashpower to the Bitcoin network.

"Thank you, Bitaxe community. OSMU developers, your brilliance built this. Supporters, your belief drives us. Customers, your trust powers 10,000+ miners and 10PH globally. Together, we’re decentralizing Bitcoin’s future. Last but certainly not least, thank you@skot9000 for not only creating a freedom tool, but instilling the idea into thousands of people, that Bitcoin mining can be for everyone again," said the firm on X.

• OCEAN's DATUM has found 100 blocks. "Over 65% of OCEAN’s miners are using DATUM, and that number is growing every day. This means block template construction is making its way back into the hands of the miners, which is not only the most profitable for miners on OCEAN but also one of the best things for Bitcoin," stated the mining pool.

Source: orangesurf

• Arch Labs has secured $13 million to develop "ArchVM" and integrate smart-contract functionality with Bitcoin. The funding round, valuing the company at $200 million, was led by Pantera Capital, as announced on Tuesday.
• Tesla still holds nearly $1 billion in bitcoin. According to the automaker's latest earnings report, the firm reported digital asset holdings worth $951 million as of March 31.
• The European Central Bank is pushing for amendments to the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets legislation (MiCA), just months after its implementation. According to Politico's report on Tuesday, the ECB is concerned that U.S. support for cryptocurrency, particularly stablecoins, could cause economic harm to the 27-nation bloc.
• TABConf 2025 is scheduled to take place from October 13-16, 2025. This prominent technical Bitcoin conference is dedicated to community building, education, and developer support, and it is set to return in October. Get your tickets here.
• Kaduna Lightning Development Bootcamp. From May 14th to 17th, the Bitcoin Lightning Developer Bootcamp will take place in Kaduna, Nigeria. Thisevent offers four dynamic days of coding, learning, and networking. Organized by Africa Free Routing and supported by Btrust, Tether, and African Bitcoiners, this bootcamp is designed as a gateway for African developers eager to advance their skills in Bitcoin and Lightning development. Apply here.

Source: African Bitcoiners.

Use the tools

• Core Lightning (CLN) v25.02.2 as been released to fix a broken Docker image. The issue was caused by an SQLite version that did not support an advanced query.
• Blitz wallet v0.4.4-beta introduces several updates and improvements, including the prevention of duplicate ecash payments, fixes for background ecash invoice handling, the ability for users to send payments to BOLT12 invoices from their Liquid balance, support for Blink QR codes, a lowered minimum amount for Lightning-to-Liquid payments to 100 sats, the option to initiate a node sync via a swipe gesture on the wallet's home screen, and the introduction of opt-in or opt-out functionality for newly implemented crash analytics via settings.
• Utreexo v0.5.0, a hash-based dynamic accumulator, is now available.
• Specter v2.1.1 is now available on StartOS. "This update brings compatibility with Bitcoin Core v28 and incorporates several upstream improvements," said developer Alex71btc.
• ESP-Miner (AxeOS) v2.7.0b1 is now available for testing.
• NodeGuard v0.16.1, a treasury management solution for Lightning nodes, has been released.
• The latest stacker.news updates include prompts to add a receiving wallet when posting or making comments (for new users), an option to randomize poll choices, improved URL search, and a few other enhancements. A bug fix for territories created after 9/19/24 has been implemented to reward 70% of their revenue to owners instead of 50%.

Other stuff

• The April edition of the 256 Foundation's newsletter is now available. It includes the latest mining news, Bitcoin network health updates, project developments, and a tutorial on how to update FutureBit's Apollo 1 to the Apollo 2 software.
• Siggy47 has posted a comprehensive RoboSats guide on stacker.news.
• Learn how to run your own Nostr relay using Citrine and Cloudflare Tunnels by following this step-by-step guide by Dhalism.
• Max Guise has written a Bitkey roadmap update for April 2025.

• PlebLab has uploaded a video on how to build a Rust wallet with LDK Node by Ben Carman.

• Do you want more? Subscribe and get No Bullshit GM report straight to your mailbox and No Bullshit Bitcoin on Nostr.

• Feedback or tips? Drop it here.
• #FREESAMOURAI

Sign up for No Bullshit Bitcoin

No Bullshit Bitcoin Is a Bitcoin News Desk Without Ads, Paywalls, or Clickbait.

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@ 866e0139:6a9334e5

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

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

---

Ich hörte einem jungen Autor zu, der eine Idee beschrieb, die ihn so sehr begeisterte, dass er die Nacht zuvor nicht schlafen konnte. Und ich erinnerte mich daran, wie ich mich früher – vor Gaza – über das Schreiben freuen konnte. Dieses Gefühl habe ich seit 2023 nicht mehr gespürt.

Ich beklage mich nicht und bemitleide mich auch nicht selbst, ich stelle einfach fest, wie unglaublich düster und finster die Welt in dieser schrecklichen Zeit geworden ist. Es wäre seltsam und ungesund, wenn ich in den letzten anderthalb Jahren Freude an meiner Arbeit gehabt hätte. Diese Dinge sollen sich nicht gut anfühlen. Nicht, wenn man wirklich hinschaut und ehrlich zu sich selbst ist in dem, was man sieht.

Es war die ganze Zeit über so hässlich und so verstörend. Es gibt eigentlich keinen Weg, all diesen Horror umzudeuten oder irgendwie erträglich zu machen. Alles, was man tun kann, ist, an sich selbst zu arbeiten, um genug inneren Raum zu schaffen, um die schlechten Gefühle zuzulassen und sie ganz durchzufühlen, bis sie sich ausgedrückt haben. Lass die Verzweiflung herein. Die Trauer. Die Wut. Den Schmerz. Lass sie deinen Körper vollständig durchfließen, ohne Widerstand, und steh dann auf und schreibe das nächste Stück.

Das ist es, was Schreiben für mich jetzt ist. Es ist nie etwas, worüber ich mich freue, es zu teilen, oder wofür ich von Inspiration erfüllt bin. Wenn überhaupt, dann fühlt es sich eher so an wie: „Okay, hier bitte, es tut mir schrecklich leid, dass ich euch das zeigen muss, Leute.“ Es ist das Starren in die Dunkelheit, in das Blut, in das Gemetzel, in die gequälten Gesichter – und das Aufschreiben dessen, was ich sehe, Tag für Tag.

Nichts daran ist angenehm oder befriedigend. Es ist einfach das, was man tut, wenn ein Genozid in Echtzeit vor den eigenen Augen stattfindet, mit der Unterstützung der eigenen Gesellschaft. Alles daran ist entsetzlich, und es gibt keinen Weg, das schönzureden – aber man tut, was getan werden muss. So, wie man es täte, wenn es die eigene Familie wäre, die da draußen im Schutt liegt.

Dieser Genozid hat mich für immer verändert. Er hat viele Menschen für immer verändert. Wir werden nie wieder dieselben sein. Die Welt wird nie wieder dieselbe sein. Ganz gleich, was passiert oder wie dieser Albtraum endet – die Dinge werden nie wieder so sein wie zuvor.

Und das sollten sie auch nicht. Der Holocaust von Gaza ist das Ergebnis der Welt, wie sie vor ihm war. Unsere Gesellschaft hat ihn hervorgebracht – und jetzt starrt er uns allen direkt ins Gesicht. Das sind wir. Das ist die Frucht des Baumes, den die westliche Zivilisation bis zu diesem Punkt gepflegt hat.

Jetzt geht es nur noch darum, alles zu tun, was wir können, um den Genozid zu beenden – und sicherzustellen, dass die Welt die richtigen Lehren daraus zieht. Das ist eines der würdigsten Anliegen, denen man sich in diesem Leben widmen kann.

Ich habe noch immer Hoffnung, dass wir eine gesunde Welt haben können. Ich habe noch immer Hoffnung, dass das Schreiben über das, was geschieht, eines Tages wieder Freude bereiten kann. Aber diese Dinge liegen auf der anderen Seite eines langen, schmerzhaften, konfrontierenden Weges, der in den kommenden Jahren vor uns liegt. Es gibt keinen Weg daran vorbei.

Die Welt kann keinen Frieden und kein Glück finden, solange wir uns nicht vollständig damit auseinandergesetzt haben, was wir Gaza angetan haben.

Dieser Text ist die deutsche Übersetzung dieses Substack-Artikels von Caitlin Johnstone.

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Introduction

“There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” -Victor Hugo

Early 1950’s America. Harry S. Truman is in office. The economy is booming and the middle class are comfortable. Shiny new television sets invite the first scenes of Hollywood into people’s homes. The Weavers, Tony Bennett, Vera Lynn and Perry Como play on the radio.

But on the fringes, in dance halls and late night clubs, a cultural revolution is brewing… A new musical fusion with influences from blues, R\&B, jazz, rockabilly, country and gospel music is about to give birth to not only a new genre, but a whole new way of life that will change society and culture, forever.

Rock & Roll

It becomes a symbol of freedom, a means of expression, and a catalyst for social change. It brings into existence a new type of counter-culture, filled with individuals who are driven to rebel against norms and authority. They don’t ask for permission. They push for change.

I believe we are witnessing such a shift now. And like rock & roll, the movement I’m speaking of is also ground up, grass roots, punk rock and will not look to authority to seek permission. The catalyst for this new social change, I believe, is Bitcoin. With its innate properties, it empowers and enables the individual like never before to achieve their fullest potential, expressed through an unprecedented freedom technology. It is an idea, like a song everyone can sing in their own way, that nobody can silence.

Revolution

"You say you got a real solution / Well you know / we’d all love to see the plan" -John Lennon

The rock & roll era helped bring about meaningful societal change through art, music, and film. It created a new social narrative. Today, the Bitcoin network is providing people with a different set of tools and ideas to build a better future in a much more practical and pragmatic way. Instead of trying to reshape social consensus and cultural norms through art forms, fashion, or lifestyle, bitcoin is achieving this through open source code.

For the first time, this technology gives individuals financial sovereignty and personal control over their own destiny, with the ability to self custody their own money that no corporation, government, dictator or king can tamper with. The individual has an opportunity to finally be freed from economic tyranny. And societies have the potential to avoid endless wars funded with printed government money. John Lennon said ‘give peace a chance’. If he were still here today and understood how bitcoin could subvert the military industrial complex would he not exclaim, ‘give bitcoin a chance’?

Natural Rights, Civil Rights, Digital Rights

"The times they are a-Changin’" -Bob Dylan

The civil rights movement was tightly interwoven with the history of rock & roll. The march on Washington, August 28th 1963, marked a seminal moment in American history for the advancement of equal rights before the law. Bob Dylan, along with Joan Baez, stood with over two hundred thousand other Americans and listened to Martin Luther King’s now immortal speech. 

People with the same values peacefully gathered in numbers to make a statement powerful enough to change the conversation. This is analogous to the same freedom-minded people today gathering in cyberspace and voting not in the traditional sense, but voting with their money – peacefully exiting and transferring their economic energy into a system where they can’t be expropriated.

The question of whether individual rights are granted or have to be secured by each individual remains a contested area of philosophy to this day. To outline each in a very crude and simplistic way, natural rights (sometimes referred to as inalienable rights) are derived from the belief that every person owns their own body, therefore their own labor, time, and energy. Civil rights, on the other hand, are granted by the state and are therefore not universal. The fact that they are rights granted to humans by other humans means they always have the potential to be revoked or withdrawn.

Digital rights granted by the power of asymmetric cryptography are based in the laws of mathematics. Combined with proof of work, based in the law of thermodynamics, this makes digital rights that bitcoin provides more akin to natural rights than civil rights, as no one person or group can unilaterally revoke those rights or confiscate your property through violence. No amount of fire power, tanks, fighter jets or nuclear weapons can break a bitcoin private key or rewrite the sunken cost of proof of work embedded into bitcoin’s timechain. This idea of securing rights without asking permission is, in itself, a revolution and achievable now in an egalitarian way. This implies a potentially huge shift in power from those with a monopoly on violence, to peaceful individuals who want to be treated fairly and with dignity.

Cypher Punk-Rock

Songwriters write songs. Cypherpunks write code.

To tie things back and look at a very narrow, but potentially huge use case of bitcoin, let’s examine the current broken incentives of the music industry, particularly recorded music. It is becoming increasingly apparent that an option other than a subscription model could find demand from content consumers and producers alike.

There is now a way, with Bitcoin and Lightning Network, for a music fan to pay artists directly and for any amount – dollars, cents or even fractions of cents. This model has positive outcomes for the music producer and fan who are the main two parties engaged in the transaction. The artist keeps all of what is sent and the listener can pay what they want. The listener can pay as they listen, rather than be locked into a rolling subscription that isn’t based on usage. This concept, called ‘value for value’, is finding its way into new music platforms such as Wavlake and Fountain. I believe this model will become the de-facto way of monetizing digital content in the coming years. This could bring an economic signal back to music that has been lost and cannot be achieved by streams alone. This will hopefully create a more meritocratic music system and shake up the entrenched streaming monoliths.

Art can shine a light on a certain truth. It can also make people look at things in a completely new way. Maybe then, Satoshi was the greatest artist who ever lived. Bitcoin smashed the conventional wisdom and theories of the most basic and prevalent thing everyone takes for granted: money. Using money as a lens to view the world can lead to distortions in your perception if the lens is warped. Removing the glasses makes you reevaluate economics, politics, religion, philosophy, morality, beauty, and almost every other aspect of life. The beauty of the Sistine Chapel, the Egyptian pyramids, the Mona Lisa, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Bohemian Rhapsody all intrinsically imply a certain degree of proof of work. The art, you could say, speaks for itself.

The Long and Winding Road Ahead

As a musician, I have found a new hope. The value for value movement gives me that hope. If this is truly a superior model of music distribution and consumption it will win out over time on the market.

Another point to touch on would be the possibility of this technology ushering in an artistic renaissance. I can honestly say my favorite music, the songs that have moved me the most, normally comes from a place of truth, honesty and sheer talent. Maybe I’m out of touch, but I feel popular music of late is devoid of soul, meaning and the biggest mainstream artists want to conform to the man (giant corporations/governments) instead of stick it to the man! Probably because there is nowhere else to turn now that streaming and social media platforms own their speech and art. We need to investigate and embrace new ways to own our speech and art, to make art interesting again. The powers that be, need to let it be, and leave alone individuals who wish to use this technology for their own interests if they do so in a peaceful way.

I want to leave you with a Frank Zappa quote that seems more relevant than ever:

“I’d say that today, dishonesty is the rule, and honesty the exception. It could be, statistically, that more people are honest than dishonest, but the few that really control things are not honest, and that tips the balance…” 

My charitable view is that the majority of people in power aren’t corrupt, it’s rather just a case of ‘no one is better than their incentives’. But when incentives are misaligned bad outcomes will inevitably result. With bitcoin and its incorruptible incentive structure, we have a chance to peacefully opt-out of a rigged game. I urge you to not trust, but verify with your own research that bitcoin is the answer to many of society’s current problems.

I think it’s fair to say, we all need to question ourselves and authority a little more than we’re comfortable doing, to hold truth as an ideal worth striving for, and live a little more rock & roll!

Link to original article**

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It seems like most Christians today have lost their reverence and awe of God. We’ve attributed God’s awesome creation by the word of His mouth to random chance and a Big Bang. We’ve attributed the many layers of sediment to millions and billions of years of time instead of God’s judgment of evil. We’ve emphasized His love and mercy to the point that we’ve forgotten about His holiness and righteous wrath. We’ve brought God down to our level and made Him either our “buddy” or made Him our magic genie servant, who is just there to answer our every want and whim.

The God of the Bible is a holy and awesome God who should be both loved and feared.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;\ Fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)

The God of the Bible is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings who “… upholds all things by the word of His power. …” (Hebrews 1:3). Yes, God loves us as sons. Yes, God is merciful. Yes, through Jesus we have the blessed opportunity to approach God directly. None of that means we get to treat God like just another friend. We are to approach God with fear and trembling and worship Him in reverence and awe.

Worship the Lord with reverence And rejoice with trembling. (Psalm 2:11)

Part of the problem is that our culture just doesn’t show reverence to authority. It focuses on self and freedom. The whole thought of reverence for authority is incomprehensible for many. Look at this Psalm of worship:

The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble;\ He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!\ The Lord is great in Zion,\ And He is exalted above all the peoples.\ Let them praise Your great and awesome name;\ Holy is He. (Psalm 99:1-3)

This is the way we should view God and the proper attitude for approaching God.

Another issue is that we don’t study what God has done in the past. In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to setup monuments of remembrance and to teach their kids all of the great things God had done for them. When they failed to do so, Israel drifted astray.

You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. (Deuteronomy 11:19)

God has given us the Bible, His word, so that we can know Him, know His character, and know His great deeds. When we fail to be in His word daily, we can forget (or not even know) the greatness of our God.

Establish Your word to Your servant,\ As that which produces reverence for You. (Psalm 119:38)

Do you love God’s word like this? Do you hunger for God’s word? Do you seek to know everything about God that you can know? When we love someone or something, we want to know everything about it.

Princes persecute me without cause,\ But my heart stands in awe of Your words.\ **I rejoice at Your word,\ As one who finds great spoil. \ (Psalm 119:161-162) {emphasis mine}

In addition to what we can learn about God in the Bible, we also need to remember what God has done in our own lives. We need to dwell on what God has done for us. We can just try to remember. Even better (I’ll admit this is a weakness for me), write down answered prayers, blessings, and other things God has done for you. My son has been writing down one blessing every day for over a year. What an example he is!

After we have thought about what God has done for us and those we care about, we should praise Him for His great works.

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;\ Sing the glory of His name;\ Make His praise glorious.\ Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!\ Because of the greatness of Your power \ Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You.\ All the earth will worship You,\ And will sing praises to You;\ They will sing praises to Your name.” Selah.\ **Come and see the works of God,\ Who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men. \ (Psalm 66:1-5) {emphasis mine}

There is nothing we can do to earn salvation from God, but we should be in awe of what He has done for us leading to submission and obedience in gratitude.

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29) {emphasis mine}

Are you thankful for your blessings or resentful for what you don’t have? Do you worship God or take things He has provided for granted? Do you tell the world the awesome things God has done for you or do you stay silent? Do you claim to be a Christian, but live a life no different than those around you?

Then the Lord said,

“Because this people draw near with their words\ And honor Me with their lip service,\ But they remove their hearts far from Me,\ And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, (Isaiah 29:13)

I hope this passage does not describe your relation ship with our awesome God. He deserves so much more. Instead we should be zealous to praise God and share His goodness with those around us.

Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; (1 Peter 3:13-15) {emphasis mine}

Did you know that you can even show reverence by your every day work?

By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (Hebrews 11:7) {emphasis mine}

When Noah stepped out in faith and obedience to God and built the ark as God commanded, despite the fact that the people around him probably thought he was crazy building a boat on dry ground that had never flooded, his work was a kind of reverence to God. Are there areas in your life where you can obey God in reverence to His awesomeness? Do you realize that quality work in obedience to God can be a form of worship?

Just going above and beyond in your job can be a form of worship of God if you are working extra hard to honor Him. Obedience is another form of worship and reverence.

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people showed reverence for the Lord. (Haggai 1:12) {emphasis mine}

Too many people have put the word of men (especially scientists) above the word of God and have tried to change the clear meaning of the Bible. I used to think it strange how the Bible goes through the days of creation and ends each day with “and there was evening and there was morning, the xth day.” Since a day has an evening and a morning, that seemed redundant. Why did God speak in this manner? God knew that a day would come when many scientist would try to disprove God and would claim that these days were not 24 hour days, but long ages. When a writer is trying to convey long ages, the writer does not mention evening/morning and doesn’t count the days.1

When we no longer see God as speaking the universe and everything in it into existence, we tend to not see God as an awesome God. We don’t see His power. We don’t see His knowledge. We don’t see His goodness. We also don’t see His authority. Why do we have to obey God? Because He created us and because He upholds us. Without Him we would not exist. Our creator has the authority to command His creation. When we compromise in this area, we lose our submission, our awe, and our reverence. (For more on the subject see my series.) When we believe His great works, especially those spoken of in Genesis 1-11 and in Exodus, we can’t help but be in awe of our God.

For the word of the Lord is upright,\ And all His work is done in faithfulness.\ He loves righteousness and justice;\ The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.\ By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,\ And by the breath of His mouth all their host.\ He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;\ He lays up the deeps in storehouses.\ **Let all the earth fear the Lord;\ Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. \ (Psalm 33:4-8) {emphasis mine}

Remembering God’s great works, we can’t help but worship in awe and reverence.

By awesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O God of our salvation,\ *You who are the trust of all the ends of the earth* and of the farthest sea;\ Who establishes the mountains by His strength,\ Being girded with might;\ Who stills the roaring of the seas,\ The roaring of their waves,\ And the tumult of the peoples.\ They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;\ You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy. \ (Psalm 65:5-8) {emphasis mine}

If we truly do have awe and reverence for our God, we should be emboldened to tell those around us of His great works.

I will tell of Your name to my brethren;\ In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.\ You who fear the Lord, praise Him;\ All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,\ And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel. \ (Psalm 22:22-23) {emphasis mine}

May God grant you the wisdom to see His awesomeness and to trust Him, serve Him, obey Him, and worship Him as He so rightly deserves. May you always have a right view of God and a hunger for His word and a personal relationship with Him. To God be the Glory!

Trust Jesus

FYI, these are a few more passages on the subject that are helpful, but didn’t fit in the flow of my post.

Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,\ And His greatness is unsearchable.\ One generation shall praise Your works to another,\ And shall declare Your mighty acts.\ On the glorious splendor of Your majesty\ And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.\ Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,\ And I will tell of Your greatness. (Psalm 145:3-6)

The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;\ You hate all who do iniquity.\ You destroy those who speak falsehood;\ The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.\ But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house,\ At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You. (Psalm 5:5-7) {emphasis mine}

If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the Lord of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. Behold, I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it. Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi,” says the Lord of hosts. “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. (Malachi 2:2-5) {emphasis mine}

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不忍池, 上野動物園 Shinobazuno Pond, Ueno Zoo

上野東照宮五重塔，上野動物園 Ueno Toshogu Shrine, Ueno Zoo

鉄道博物館 The Railway Museum

靖國神社 Yasukuni-jinja Shrine

巽櫓（桜田二重櫓) Sakurada Tatsumi Yagura

二重橋 Nijubashi Bridge

元箱根 Motohakone

彫刻の森駅 Chokokunomori Station

箱根神社 Hakone Shrine

小田原城 Odawara Castle

新大久保駅 Shin-Ōkubo Station

シンボルプロムナード公園 Symbol Promenade Park

セントラル広場 Central Square

日本科学未来館 The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation Japan (Miraikan)

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People forget Bear Stearns failed March 2008 - months of denial followed before the public realized how bad the situation was under the surface.

Similar happening now but much larger scale. They did not fix fundamental issues after 2008 - everything is more fragile.

The Fed preemptively bailed out every bank with their BTFP program and First Republic Bank still failed. The second largest bank failure in history.

There will be more failures. There will be more bailouts. Depositors will be "protected" by socializing losses across everyone.

Our President and mainstream financial pundits are currently pretending the banking crisis is over while most banks remain insolvent. There are going to be many more bank failures as this ponzi system unravels.

Unlike 2008, we have the ability to opt out of these broken and corrupt institutions by using bitcoin. Bitcoin held in self custody is unique in its lack of counterparty risk - you do not have to trust a bank or other centralized entity to hold it for you. Bitcoin is also incredibly difficult to change by design since it is not controlled by an individual, company, or government - the supply of dollars will inevitably be inflated to bailout these failing banks but bitcoin supply will remain unchanged. I do not need to convince you that bitcoin provides value - these next few years will convince millions.

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

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Staugefahr

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stau passiert, weil es Hindernisse auf unserem Weg gibt.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kulturwissen wird verfälscht und verdreht, ein übles Schleudertrauma entsteht.

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

Trauma ist das, was man draus macht.

Ich persönlich kenne niemanden, der kein Trauma erlebt hat.

Leben bedeutet immer auch, dass man Verletzungen erlebt.

Trauma passiert jedem.

Trauma passiert auch robusten Menschen.

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

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

Menschen reden nicht gern über ihr Trauma.

Menschen schämen sich für ihr Trauma.

Menschen geben sich selbst die Schuld für ihr Trauma.

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

Menschen erleben einen tiefen Schmerz durch Trauma.

Menschen werden aggressiv, weil sie selber verletzt wurden.

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

Menschen lehnen sich selbst ab für diese aggressiven Impulse.

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

Negative Gefühle beschützen unser Leben.

Deswegen sind auch negative Gefühle im bestimmten Maße gut.

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

Streng genommen, ist er kein Gefühl, aber egal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Good morning (good night?)! The No Bullshit Bitcoin news feed is now available on Moody's Dashboard! A huge shoutout to sir Clark Moody for integrating our feed.

Headlines

• Spiral welcomes Ben Carman. The developer will work on the LDK server and a new SDK designed to simplify the onboarding process for new self-custodial Bitcoin users.

• The Bitcoin Dev Kit Foundation announced new corporate members for 2025, including AnchorWatch, CleanSpark, and Proton Foundation. The annual dues from these corporate members fund the small team of open-source developers responsible for maintaining the core BDK libraries and related free and open-source software (FOSS) projects.
• Strategy increases Bitcoin holdings to 538,200 BTC. In the latest purchase, the company has spent more than $555M to buy 6,556 coins through proceeds of two at-the-market stock offering programs.
• Spar supermarket experiments with Bitcoin payments in Zug, Switzerland. The store has introduced a new payment method powered by the Lightning Network. The implementation was facilitated by DFX Swiss, a service that supports seamless conversions between bitcoin and legacy currencies.

• The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) wants to contain 'crypto' risks. A report titled "Cryptocurrencies and Decentralised Finance: Functions and Financial Stability Implications" calls for expanding research into "how new forms of central bank money, capital controls, and taxation policies can counter the risks of widespread crypto adoption while still fostering technological innovation."
• "Global Implications of Scam Centres, Underground Banking, and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia." According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, criminal organizations from East and Southeast Asia are swiftly extending their global reach. These groups are moving beyond traditional scams and trafficking, creating sophisticated online networks that include unlicensed cryptocurrency exchanges, encrypted communication platforms, and stablecoins, fueling a massive fraud economy on an industrial scale.
• Slovenia is considering a 25% capital gains tax on Bitcoin profits for individuals. The Ministry of Finance has proposed legislation to impose this tax on gains from cryptocurrency transactions, though exchanging one cryptocurrency for another would remain exempt. At present, individual 'crypto' traders in Slovenia are not taxed.
• Circle, BitGo, Coinbase, and Paxos plan to apply for U.S. bank charters or licenses. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, major crypto companies are planning to apply for U.S. bank charters or licenses. These firms are pursuing limited licenses that would permit them to issue stablecoins, as the U.S. Congress deliberates on legislation mandating licensing for stablecoin issuers.

"Established banks, like Bank of America, are hoping to amend the current drafts of [stablecoin] legislation in such a way that nonbanks are more heavily restricted from issuing stablecoins," people familiar with the matter told The Block.

• Charles Schwab to launch spot Bitcoin trading by 2026. The financial investment firm, managing over $10 trillion in assets, has revealed plans to introduce spot Bitcoin trading for its clients within the next year.

Use the tools

• Bitcoin Safe v1.2.3 expands QR SignMessage compatibility for all QR-UR-compatible hardware signers (SpecterDIY, KeyStone, Passport, Jade; already supported COLDCARD Q). It also adds the ability to import wallets via QR, ensuring compatibility with Keystone's latest firmware (2.0.6), alongside other improvements.
• Minibits v0.2.2-beta, an ecash wallet for Android devices, packages many changes to align the project with the planned iOS app release. New features and improvements include the ability to lock ecash to a receiver's pubkey, faster confirmations of ecash minting and payments thanks to WebSockets, UI-related fixes, and more.
• Zeus v0.11.0-alpha1 introduces Cashu wallets tied to embedded LND wallets. Navigate to Settings > Ecash to enable it. Other wallet types can still sweep funds from Cashu tokens. Zeus Pay now supports Cashu address types in Zaplocker, Cashu, and NWC modes.
• LNDg v1.10.0, an advanced web interface designed for analyzing Lightning Network Daemon (LND) data and automating node management tasks, introduces performance improvements, adds a new metrics page for unprofitable and stuck channels, and displays warnings for batch openings. The Profit and Loss Chart has been updated to include on-chain costs. Advanced settings have been added for users who would like their channel database size to be read remotely (the default remains local). Additionally, the AutoFees tool now uses aggregated pubkey metrics for multiple channels with the same peer.
• Nunchuk Desktop v1.9.45 release brings the latest bug fixes and improvements.
• Blockstream Green iOS v4.1.8 has renamed L-BTC to LBTC, and improves translations of notifications, login time, and background payments.
• Blockstream Green Android v4.1.8 has added language preference in App Settings and enables an Android data backup option for disaster recovery. Additionally, it fixes issues with Jade entry point PIN timeout and Trezor passphrase input.
• Torq v2.2.2, an advanced Lightning node management software designed to handle large nodes with over 1000 channels, fixes bugs that caused channel balance to not be updated in some cases and channel "peer total local balance" not getting updated.
• Stack Wallet v2.1.12, a multicoin wallet by Cypher Stack, fixes an issue with Xelis introduced in the latest release for Windows.
• ESP-Miner-NerdQAxePlus v1.0.29.1, a forked version from the NerdAxe miner that was modified for use on the NerdQAxe+, is now available.
• Zark enables sending sats to an npub using Bark.

• Erk is a novel variation of the Ark protocol that completely removes the need for user interactivity in rounds, addressing one of Ark's key limitations: the requirement for users to come online before their VTXOs expire.
• Aegis v0.1.1 is now available. It is a Nostr event signer app for iOS devices.
• Nostash is a NIP-07 Nostr signing extension for Safari. It is a fork of Nostore and is maintained by Terry Yiu. Available on iOS TestFlight.
• Amber v3.2.8, a Nostr event signer for Android, delivers the latest fixes and improvements.
• Nostur v1.20.0, a Nostr client for iOS, adds

@ b1ddb4d7:471244e7

The upcoming Bitcoin 2025 conference, scheduled from May 27–29 at the Venetian Conference Center in Las Vegas, is set to make history with an official attempt to break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® title for the most Bitcoin point-of-sale transactions in an eight-hour period.

Organized by BTC Inc, the event will showcase Bitcoin’s evolution from a digital capital asset to a practical medium of exchange, leveraging the latest advancements in payment technology.

Tap-to-Pay with Lightning-Ready Bolt Cards

To facilitate this record-setting attempt, 4,000 Lightning-ready Bolt Cards will be distributed to conference attendees.

pic.twitter.com/Iy7P361u6u

— Uncle Rockstar Developer (@r0ckstardev) May 15, 2025

These NFC-enabled cards allow users to make instant, contactless Bitcoin payments at vendor booths throughout the expo-no apps or QR codes required, just a simple tap. 

The cards are available in four collectible designs, each featuring a prominent figure in Bitcoin’s history: Senator Cynthia Lummis, Michael Saylor, Satoshi Nakamoto, and Jack Dorsey. 

Each attendee will receive a randomly assigned card, making them both functional and collectible souvenirs.

Senator Lummis: A Playful Provocation

Notably, one of the card designs features Senator Cynthia Lummis with laser eyes-a playful nod to her reputation as a leading Bitcoin advocate in US politics. 

While Lummis is known for her legislative efforts to promote Bitcoin integration, she has publicly stated she prefers to “spend dollars and save Bitcoin,” viewing BTC as a long-term store of value rather than a daily currency. 

The choice to feature her on the Bolt Card, could be suggested by Rockstar Dev of the BTC Pay Server Foundation, perhaps a lighthearted way to highlight the ongoing debate about Bitcoin’s role in everyday payments.

Nothing cracks me up quite like a senator that wants the US to buy millions of Bitcoin use dollars to buy a beer at a Bitcoin bar.

This is how unserious some of you are. pic.twitter.com/jftIEggmip

— Magoo PhD (@HodlMagoo) April 4, 2025

How Bolt Cards and the Lightning Network Work

Bolt Cards are physical cards equipped with NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, similar to contactless credit or debit cards. When linked to a compatible Lightning wallet, they enable users to make Bitcoin payments over the Lightning Network by simply tapping the card at a point-of-sale terminal. 

The Lightning Network is a second-layer protocol built on top of Bitcoin, designed to facilitate instant, low-cost transactions ideal for everyday purchases. 

This integration aims to make Bitcoin as easy to use as traditional payment methods, eliminating the need for QR code scanning or mobile apps.

A Showcase for Bitcoin’s Real-World Usability

With over 30,000 attendees, 300 exhibitors, and 500 speakers expected, the Bitcoin 2025 conference is poised to be the largest Bitcoin event of the year-and potentially the most transactional. 

The event will feature on-site activations such as the Official Bitcoin Magazine Store, where all merchandise will be available at a 21% discount for those paying with Bitcoin via the Lightning Network-a nod to Bitcoin’s 21 million coin supply limit.

By deeply integrating Lightning payments into the conference experience, organizers hope to demonstrate Bitcoin’s readiness for mainstream commerce and set a new benchmark for its practical use as a currency.

Conclusion

The Guinness World Record attempt at Bitcoin 2025 is more than a publicity stunt-it’s a bold demonstration of Bitcoin’s technological maturity and its potential to function as a modern, everyday payment method.

Whether or not the record is set, the event will serve as a milestone in the ongoing journey to make Bitcoin a truly global, user-friendly currency

@ a296b972:e5a7a2e8

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

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

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

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

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

GA 173 a – Wege zu einer objektiven Urteilsbildung

GA 173 b – Das Karma der Unwahrhaftigkeit

GA 173 c – Die Wirklichkeit okkulter Impulse

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dieser Artikel wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben

* *

(Bild von pixabay)

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• RoboSats v0.7.7-alpha is now available!

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

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

Source: RoboSats.

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

What's new

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

Source: RoboSats.

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

New contributors

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

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

GitHub Repo

@ 2b24a1fa:17750f64

„Triff niemals deine Idole“ heißt ein gängiger Ratschlag. In gewendeten Zeiten stehen zu dem die Werte auf dem Kopf – und manche Künstler mit ihnen. Die Worte, die aus manch ihrer Mündern kommen, wirken, als hätte eine fremde Hand sie auf deren Zunge gelegt.

https://soundcloud.com/radiomuenchen/wolf-biermann-und-sein-falscher-friede-von-alexa-rodrian?

Die Sängerin Alexa Rodrian erlebte bei der Verleihung des Deutschen Filmpreises einen solchen Moment der Desillusion. Es war der Auftritt des Liedermachers Wolf Biermann. Hören Sie hierzu Alexa Rodrians Text „Wolf Biermann und sein falscher Friede“.

Bild: Marco Maas/fotografirma.de

@ 47259076:570c98c4

When a man meets a woman, they produce another human being.

The biological purpose of life is to reproduce, that's why we have reproductive organs.

However, you can't reproduce if you are dying of starvation or something else.

So you must look for food, shelter and other basic needs.

Once those needs are satisfied, the situation as a whole is more stable and then it is easier to reproduce.

Once another human being is created, you still must support him.

In the animal kingdom, human babies are the ones who take longer to walk and be independent as a whole.

Therefore, in the first years of our lives, we are very dependent on our parents or whoever is taking care of us.

We also have a biological drive for living.

That's why when someone is drowning he will hold on into whatever they can grab with the highest strength possible.

Or when our hand is close to fire or something hot, we remove our hand immediately from the hot thing, without thinking about removing our hand, we just do it.

These are just 2 examples, there are many other examples that show this biological tendency/reflex to keep ourselves alive.

We also have our brain, which we can use to get information/knowledge/ideas/advice from the ether.

In this sense, our brain is just an antenna or radio, and the ether is the signal.

Of course, we are not the radio, we are the signal.

In other words, you are not your body, you are pure consciousness "locked" temporarily in a body.

Because we can act after receiving information from the ether, we can construct and invent new things to make our lives easier.

So far, using only biology as our rule, we can get to the following conclusion: The purpose of life is to live in a safe place, work to get food and reproduce.

Because humans have been evolving in the technological sense, we don't need to hunt for food, we can just go to the market and buy meat.

And for the shelter(house), we just buy it.

Even though you can buy a house, it's still not yours, since the government or any thug can take it from you, but this is a topic for another article.

So, adjusting what I said before in a modern sense, the purpose of life is: Work in a normal job from Monday to Friday, save money, buy a house, buy a car, get a wife and have kids. Keep working until you are old enough, then retire and do nothing for the rest of your life, just waiting for the moment you die.

Happy life, happy ending, right?

No.

There is something else to it, there is another side of the coin.

This is explored briefly by Steve Jobs in this video, but I pretend to go much further than him: https://youtu.be/uf6TzOHO_dk

Let's get to the point now.

First of all, you are alive. This is not normal.

Don't take life for granted.

There is no such a thing as a coincidence. Chance is but a name given for a law that has not been recognized yet.

You are here for a reason.

God is real. All creation starts in the mind.

The mind is the source of all creation.

When the mind of god starts thinking, it records its thoughts into matter through light.

But this is too abstract, let's get to something simple.

Governments exist, correct?

The force behind thinking is desire, without desire there is no creation.

If desired ceased to exist, everything would just vanish in the blink of an eye.

How governments are supported financially?

By taking your money.

Which means, you produce, and they take it.

And you can't go against it without suffering, therefore, you are a slave.

Are you realizing the gravity of the situation?

You are working to keep yourself alive as well as faceless useless men that you don't even know.

Your car must have an identification.

When you are born, you must have an identification.

In brazil, you can't home school your children.

When "your" "country" is in war, you must fight to defend it and give your life.

Countries are limited by imaginary lines.

How many lives have been destroyed in meaningless wars?

You must go to the front-line to defend your masters.

In most countries, you don't have freedom of speech, which means, you can't even express what you think.

When you create a company, you must have an identification and pass through a very bureaucratic process.

The money you use is just imaginary numbers in the screen of a computer or phone.

The money you use is created out of thin air.

By money here, I am referring to fiat money, not bitcoin.

Bitcoin is an alternative to achieve freedom, but this is topic for another article.

Depending on what you want to work on, you must go to college.

If you want to become a doctor, you must spend at least 5 years in an university decorating useless muscle names and bones.

Wisdom is way more important than knowledge.

That's why medical errors are the third leading cause of death in United States of America.

And I'm not even talking about Big Pharma and the "World Health Organization"

You can't even use or sell drugs, your masters don't allow it.

All the money you get, you must explain from where you got it.

Meanwhile, your masters have "black budget" and don't need to explain anything to you, even though everything they do is financed by your money.

In most countries you can't buy a gun, while your masters have a whole army fully armed to the teeth to defend them.

Your masters want to keep you sedated and asleep.

Look at all the "modern" art produced nowadays.

Look at the media, which of course was never created to "inform you".

Your masters even use your body to test their bio-technology, as happened with the covid 19 vaccines.

This is public human testing, there's of course secretive human testing, such as MKUltra and current experiments that happen nowadays that I don't even know.

I can give hundreds of millions of examples, quite literally, but let's just focus in one case, Jeffrey Epstein.

He was a guy who got rich "suddenly" and used his influence and spy skills to blackmail politicians and celebrities through recording them doing acts of pedophilia.

In United States of America, close to one million children a year go missing every year.

Some portion of these children are used in satanic rituals, and the participants of these rituals are individuals from the "high society".

Jeffrey Epstein was just an "employee", he was not the one at the top of the evil hierarchy.

He was serving someone or a group of people that I don't know who they are.

That's why they murdered him.

Why am I saying all of this?

The average person who sleep, work, eat and repeat has no idea all of this is going on.

They have no idea there is a very small group of powerful people who are responsible for many evil damage in the world.

They think the world is resumed in their little routine.

They think their routine is all there is to it.

They don't know how big the world truly is, in both a good and evil sense.

Given how much we produce and all the technology we have, people shouldn't even have to work, things would be almost nearly free.

Why aren't they?

Because of taxes.

This group of people even has access to a free energy device, which would disrupt the world in a magnitude greater than everything we have ever seen in the history of Earth.

That's why MANY people who tried to work in any manifestation of a free energy device have been murdered, or rather, "fell from a window".

How do I know a free energy device exist? This is topic for another article.

So my conclusion is:

We are in hell already. Know thyself. Use your mind for creation, any sort of creation. Do good for the people around you and the people you meet, always give more than you get, try to do your best in everything you set out to do, even if it's a boring or mundane work.

Life is short.

Our body can live no longer than 300 years.

Most people die before 90.

Know thyself, do good to the world while you can.

Wake up!!! Stop being sedated and asleep.

Be conscious.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Bank run on every crypto bank then bank run on every "real" bank.

— ODELL (@ODELL) December 14, 2022

Good morning.

It looks like PacWest will fail today. It will be both the fifth largest bank failure in US history and the sixth major bank to fail this year. It will likely get purchased by one of the big four banks in a government orchestrated sale.  

March 8th - Silvergate Bank
March 10th - Silicon Valley Bank
March 12th - Signature Bank
March 19th - Credit Suisse
May 1st - First Republic Bank
May 4th - PacWest Bank?

PacWest is the first of many small regional banks that will go under this year. Most will get bought by the big four in gov orchestrated sales. This has been the playbook since 2008. Follow the incentives. Massive consolidation across the banking industry. PacWest gonna be a drop in the bucket compared to what comes next.

First, a hastened government led bank consolidation, then a public/private partnership with the remaining large banks to launch a surveilled and controlled digital currency network. We will be told it is more convenient. We will be told it is safer. We will be told it will prevent future bank runs. All of that is marketing bullshit. The goal is greater control of money. The ability to choose how we spend it and how we save it. If you control the money - you control the people that use it.

---

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

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

News

• Spiral welcomes Ben Carman. The developer will work on the LDK server and a new SDK designed to simplify the onboarding process for new self-custodial Bitcoin users.
• Spiral renews support for Dan Gould and Joschisan. The organization has renewed support for Dan Gould, who is developing the Payjoin Dev Kit (PDK), and Joschisan, a Fedimint developer focused on simplifying federations.
• The Bitcoin Dev Kit Foundation announced new corporate members for 2025, including AnchorWatch, CleanSpark, and Proton Foundation. The annual dues from these corporate members fund the small team of open-source developers responsible for maintaining the core BDK libraries and related free and open-source software (FOSS) projects.
• The European Central Bank is pushing for amendments to the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets legislation (MiCA), just months after its implementation. According to Politico's report on Tuesday, the ECB is concerned that U.S. support for cryptocurrency, particularly stablecoins, could cause economic harm to the 27-nation bloc.
• Slovenia is considering a 25% capital gains tax on Bitcoin profits for individuals. The Ministry of Finance has proposed legislation to impose this tax on gains from cryptocurrency transactions, though exchanging one cryptocurrency for another would remain exempt. At present, individual 'crypto' traders in Slovenia are not taxed.
• The Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Bill 2025 introduced in Kenya. The new legislation aims to establish a comprehensive legal framework for licensing, regulating, and supervising virtual asset service providers (VASPs), with strict penalties for non-compliant entities.
• Circle, BitGo, Coinbase, and Paxos plan to apply for U.S. bank charters or licenses. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, major crypto companies are planning to apply for U.S. bank charters or licenses. These firms are pursuing limited licenses that would permit them to issue stablecoins, as the U.S. Congress deliberates on legislation mandating licensing for stablecoin issuers.

"Established banks, like Bank of America, are hoping to amend the current drafts of [stablecoin] legislation in such a way that nonbanks are more heavily restricted from issuing stablecoins," people familiar with the matter told The Block.

• Paul Atkins has officially assumed the role of the 34th Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This is a return to the agency for Atkins, who previously served as an SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008 under the George W. Bush administration. He has committed to advancing the SEC’s mission of fostering capital formation, safeguarding investors, and ensuring fair and efficient markets.
• Federal Reserve retracts guidance discouraging banks from engaging in 'crypto.' The U.S. Federal Reserve withdrew guidance that discouraged banks from crypto and stablecoin activities, as announced by its Board of Governors on Thursday. This includes rescinding a 2022 supervisory letter requiring prior notification of crypto activities and 2023 stablecoin requirements.

"As a result, the Board will no longer expect banks to provide notification and will instead monitor banks' crypto-asset activities through the normal supervisory process," reads the FED statement.

• Russian government to launch a cryptocurrency exchange. The country's Ministry of Finance and Central Bank announced plans to establish a trading platform for "highly qualified investors" that "will legalize crypto assets and bring crypto operations out of the shadows."
• Twenty One Capital is set to launch with over 42,000 BTC in its treasury. This new Bitcoin-native firm, backed by Tether and SoftBank, is planned to go public via a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners and will be led by Jack Mallers, co-founder and CEO of Strike. According to a report by the Financial Times, the company aims to replicate the model of Michael Saylor with his company, MicroStrategy.
• Strategy increases Bitcoin holdings to 538,200 BTC. In the latest purchase, the company has spent more than $555M to buy 6,556 coins through proceeds of two at-the-market stock offering programs.
• Metaplanet buys another 145 BTC. The Tokyo-listed company has purchased an additional 145 BTC for $13.6 million. Their total bitcoin holdings now stand at 5,000 coins, worth around $428.1 million.
• Semler Scientific has increased its bitcoin holdings to 3,303 BTC. The company acquired an additional 111 BTC at an average price of $90,124. The purchase was funded through proceeds from an at-the-market offering and cash reserves, as stated in a press release.
• Tesla still holds nearly $1 billion in bitcoin. According to the automaker's latest earnings report, the firm reported digital asset holdings worth $951 million as of March 31.
• Spar supermarket experiments with Bitcoin payments in Zug, Switzerland. The store has introduced a new payment method powered by the Lightning Network. The implementation was facilitated by DFX Swiss, a service that supports seamless conversions between bitcoin and legacy currencies.

• Charles Schwab to launch spot Bitcoin trading by 2026. The financial investment firm, managing over $10 trillion in assets, has revealed plans to introduce spot Bitcoin trading for its clients within the next year.
• Arch Labs has secured $13 million to develop "ArchVM" and integrate smart-contract functionality with Bitcoin. The funding round, valuing the company at $200 million, was led by Pantera Capital, as announced on Tuesday.
• Citrea deployed its Clementine Bridge on the Bitcoin testnet. The bridge utilizes the BitVM2 programming language to inherit validity from Bitcoin, allegedly providing "the safest and most trust-minimized way to use BTC in decentralized finance."
• UAE-based Islamic bank ruya launches Shari’ah-compliant bitcoin investing. The bank has become the world’s first Islamic bank to provide direct access to virtual asset investments, including Bitcoin, via its mobile app, per Bitcoin Magazine.
• Solosatoshi.com has sold over 10,000 open-source miners, adding more than 10 PH of hashpower to the Bitcoin network.

"Thank you, Bitaxe community. OSMU developers, your brilliance built this. Supporters, your belief drives us. Customers, your trust powers 10,000+ miners and 10PH globally. Together, we’re decentralizing Bitcoin’s future. Last but certainly not least, thank you@skot9000 for not only creating a freedom tool, but instilling the idea into thousands of people, that Bitcoin mining can be for everyone again," said the firm on X.

• OCEAN's DATUM has found 100 blocks. "Over 65% of OCEAN’s miners are using DATUM, and that number is growing every day. This means block template construction is making its way back into the hands of the miners, which is not only the most profitable

@ 3c7dc2c5:805642a8

🧠Quote(s) of the week:

'The Cantillon Effect: When new money is printed, those closest to the source (banks, elites) benefit first, buying assets before prices rise. Others lose purchasing power as inflation hits later. If people find out how this works, they will riot.' -Bitcoin for Freedom

Just think about it. Your employer gives you a 5% raise. The Fed (central banks in general) prints 7% more dollars/euros/Fiat. You just got a 2% pay cut. This isn't a conspiracy theory. This is how fiat money steals from the working class every single day. This is why I support Bitcoin.

Anilsaidso: 'Saving in fiat currency is no longer an option. A 2% inflation rate means you lose 1/3 of your purchasing power over 20yrs. At 5% inflation, you lose 60%. And at 10% you've burnt 85%. Reduce your uncertainty. Save in Bitcoin.' https://i.ibb.co/N661BdVp/Gr-Rwdg-OXc-AAWPVE.jpg

🧡Bitcoin news🧡

“Education increases conviction.

Conviction increases allocation.

Allocation increases freedom.” —Gigi

https://i.ibb.co/Q3trHk8Y/Gr-Arv-Ioa-AAAF5b0.jpg

On the 12th of May:

➡️Google searches for "Digital Gold" are at all-time highs. Bitcoin Croesus: "This is the second wave of the Digital Revolution - the digitization of value to complement the Internet's digitization of information. It wasn't possible to own a slice of the Internet itself, but it is possible with Bitcoin, the internet of value." "...It feels like you're late to Bitcoin. But this is a bigger game playing out than most realize, and we are much earlier than casual observers know. If you're reading this, you're here on the frontier early. And you have a chance to stake a claim before 99% of the world shows up. This is a land grab. This is the digital gold rush. Make your descendants proud."

https://i.ibb.co/5XXbNQ8S/Gqw-X4-QRWs-AEd5-Uh-1.jpg

➡️ 'A new holding company ‘Nakamoto’ just raised $710 million to buy more Bitcoin and will merge with KindlyMD to establish a Bitcoin Treasury company. Saylor playbook!' - Bitcoin Archive

➡️American Bitcoin, backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, will go public via an all-stock merger with Gryphon Digital Mining. Post-merger, Trump affiliates and Hut 8 will retain 98% ownership. GRYP tripled to $2.19, Hut 8 jumped 11% to $15.45. The deal closes in Q3 2025.

➡️Phoenix Wallet: 'Phoenix 0.6.0 is out: offers can now have a custom description simple close (set an exact mutual close tx fee rate) native support for Linux arm64 This is the server version. Phoenix mobile release is around the corner. '

On the 13th of May:

➡️Corporate Bitcoin purchases have now outweighed the supply of new Bitcoin by 3.3x in 2025. https://i.ibb.co/fVdgQhyY/Gq1ck-XRXUAAsg-Ym.jpg

➡️ Publicly listed Next Technology disclosed buying 5,000 Bitcoin for $180m, now HODLs 5,833 $BTC worth +$600m.

➡️ After rejecting the Arizona Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act, Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed Bill SB 1373, which proposed a digital asset reserve fund. "Current volatility in the cryptocurrency markets does not make a prudent fit for general fund dollars."

➡️Meanwhile in Paris, France the kidnapping of a woman with her 2-year-old child morning on the streets of Paris - the target is allegedly the daughter of a crypto CEO. 3 masked men tried forcing them into a fake delivery van, before being fought off by her partner and bystanders. One of whom grabbed a dropped gun and aimed it back.

➡️ 'Bitcoin illiquid supply hit a new all-time high of $1.4B Are you HODLing too, anon?' - Bitcoin News

➡️Why Coinbase entering the S&P 500 matters. Boomers will have Bitcoin / CrApTo exposure, whether they like it or not. Anyway, remember what happened in 2021. The COIN IPO, and they’re still trading about 35% below their IPO-day high. Oh and please read the 'Coinbase" hack below haha.

➡️ Nasdaq listed GD Culture Group to sell up to $300 million shares to buy Bitcoin.

➡️ A Bitcoin wallet untouched since April 2014 just moved 300 BTC worth $31M for the first time in 11 years. This is how you HODL.

➡️ Bitcoin's realized price is steadily increasing, mirroring behaviors seen in past bull markets, according to CryptoQuant.

➡️ Bitcoin whales and sharks (10-10K BTC) accumulated 83,105 BTC in the last 30 days, while small retail holders (<0.1 BTC) sold 387 BTC, according to Santiment.

Bitcoin Whales have been AGGRESSIVELY accumulating BTC recently! With at least 240,000+ Bitcoin transferred to wallets with at least 100 BTC. The largest market participants are trying to buy as much as possible, what do they think comes next...

➡️'The average cost of mining 1 BTC for miners is currently $36.8K. The spread between the current market price and the cost of one coin = 182%. This is essentially the average profitability. This corresponds to the beginning of the bull cycle in November 2022 and the peaks of this cycle >$100K. A price increase above this level will allow miners to fully recover after the last halving and reach excess profits comparable to the beginning of the bull rally in January 2023.' -Axel Adler Jr.

➡️ Remember last week's segment on Coinbase..."Coinbase just disclosed in their Q1 filing: that they have custody of 2.68 million Bitcoin. That’s over 13% of all Bitcoin in circulation, on one platform. Is this the greatest honeypot in financial history? Yes, it is...read next week's Weekly Bitcoin update."

Well, here you go.

Coinbase estimates $180-$400 million in losses, remediation costs, and reimbursement following today’s cyber attack. https://i.ibb.co/jkysLtZ1/Gq-C7zl-W4-AAJ0-N6.jpg

Coinbase didn't get hacked. Coinbase employees sold customer data on the black market. Coinbase failed to protect customer data. This is why KYC is useless. The criminals have our driver's license scans. They have AI tools that can generate fake images and videos. KYC puts our identities at risk, makes onboarding more difficult, and rewards criminals. To make it even worse. Coinbase knew about the hack as early as January but only disclosed it publicly after being added to the S&P 500.

I will say it one more time! Don't buy your Bitcoin on KYC exchanges. KYC means handing over your identity to be leaked, sold, or extorted.

It was 2 days ago, see the bit on the 13th of May, that we saw a violent attack in Paris. Minimize the data you share with centralized tools. Store as much as you can locally. Always ask yourself what data am I giving and to whom? Remove the need for trust.

And for the love of God, Allah, or whatever god you are praying to...

DON'T LEAVE YOUR COINS ON A FREAKING EXCHANGE!!!!

Clear!

➡️ Sam Callahan: Bitcoin CAGRs over rolling four-year holding periods since 2012:

10th percentile: 33%

25th percentile: 50% 40th percentile: 75%

Said differently, for 90% of the time, Bitcoin’s four-year CAGR was higher than 33%. For comparison, here are the single best four-year CAGRs over the same period for:

Gold: 17%

Silver: 20%

S&P 500: 24%

Apple: 52%

Two lessons here:

1.) Even when Bitcoin underperforms, it still outperforms.

2.) Bitcoin holding goals are best measured in halving cycles.'

https://i.ibb.co/9m6q2118/Gq1-Ie2-Ob-AAIJ8-Kf.jpg

➡️ Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft has bought 96,870 Strategy₿ stocks for 30 Million dollars at an Average Price Of $310 Per Share In Q1 2025, Their Total Holdings Is 518,000 Shares Worth Over 214 Million Dollars.

➡️Senator Lummis urges the U.S. Treasury to eliminate taxes on unrealized gains for Bitcoin.

On the 14th of May:

➡️At $168,000, Bitcoin will surpass Microsoft, the world's largest company.

➡️Fidelity tells institutions to buy Bitcoin if they can’t match Bitcoin’s 65% return on capital.

➡️Michigan has adopted House Resolution 100, declaring May 13 2025 as "Digital Asset Awareness Day." The resolution encourages "activities and programs that foster a deeper understanding of digital assets and their impact on our society and economy."

➡️Publicly traded Vinanz raises funding to buy $2 million in #Bitcoin assets.

➡️Bitcoin News: "Investor Jim Chanos is shorting MicroStrategy while going long on Bitcoin, calling the stock overvalued relative to its BTC holdings. “We’re selling MicroStrategy and buying Bitcoin, basically buying something for $1 and selling it for $2.50," he told CNBC

On the 15th of May:

➡️The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund disclosed owning $511 million in Bitcoin through BlackRock’s ETF.

➡️UK public company Coinsilium Group raises £1.25 million to adopt a Bitcoin treasury strategy.

➡️Chinese Textile company Addentax issues stock to buy 8,000 Bitcoin.

➡️14 US states have reported $632m in $MSTR exposure for Q1, in public retirement and treasury funds. A collective increase of $302m in one quarter. The average increase in holding size was 44%.

➡️Chinese public company DDC Enterprise to adopt a Bitcoin Reserve with 5,000 BTC.

On the 16th of May:

➡️Brazilian listed company Méliuz buys $28.4 million Bitcoin to become the nation's first Bitcoin Treasury Company. Shareholders voted to approve the strategy by an "overwhelming majority".

➡️13F Filings show Texas Retirement System owns MSTR. The day MSTR enters the S&P 500, every pension fund will follow.

➡️'Wealthy Investors Shift Up to 5% into Bitcoin as confidence in fiat falters. UBS, a Swiss banking giant says Bitcoin and digital assets are becoming key hedges against inflation and systemic risk, marking a dramatic shift in modern portfolio strategy.' -CarlBMenger

➡️River: "Above all, Bitcoin is money for the people." https://i.ibb.co/Jj8MVQwr/Gr-Ew-EPp-XAAA1-TVN.jpg

On the 17th of May:

➡️Illicit activity is now down to 0.14% of transaction volume across all crypto.

Context: World Bank, IMF suggests 1.5–4% of global GDP is laundered yearly through traditional banking Of that 0.14%:

63% of illicit trade was stablecoins.

13% was Bitcoin (declining each year)

Source: The 2025 Crypto Crime Report, Chainalysis 2025

Yet another confirmation that Bitcoin's use in facilitating illicit activities is a rounding error on a rounding error.

On the 18th of May:

➡️JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said they will allow clients to buy Bitcoin. The repeal of SAB 121 is a bigger deal than most realize. “I will fire any employee buying or trading Bitcoin for being stupid” - Jamie Dimon (2017) https://i.ibb.co/b5tnkb15/Gr-Vxxc-OXk-AA7cyo.jpg

On the 19th of May.

➡️Bookmark the following stuff from Daniel Batten if you want to combat climate change (fanatics)...

'That Bitcoin mining is not only not harmful, but beneficial to the environment is now supported by:

7 independent reports

20 peer-reviewed papers

As a result * 90% of climate-focused magazines * 87.5% of media coverage on Bitcoin & the environment is now positive * source 7 independent reports https://x.com/DSBatten/status/1922666207754281449… * 20 peer-reviewed papers https://x.com/DSBatten/status/1923014527651615182… * 10 climate-focused magazines https://x.com/DSBatten/status/1919518338092323260… * 16 mainstream media articles https://x.com/DSBatten/status/1922628399551434755

➡️Saifedean Ammous: '5 years ago at the height of corona hysteria, everyone worried about their savings.

If you put $10,000 in "risk-free" long-term US government bonds, you'd have $6,000 today.

If you put the $10,000 in "risky speculative tulip" bitcoin, you'd have $106,000.

HFSP, bondcucks!'

I love how Saifedean always put it so eloquently. haha

➡️An Australian judge rules Bitcoin is “just another form of money.” This could make it exempt from capital gains tax. Potentially opening the door to millions in refunds across the country. - AFR

If upheld, the decision could trigger up to $1B in refunds and overturn the Australian Tax Office’s crypto tax approach.

➡️Publicly traded Vinanz buys 16.9 Bitcoin for $1.75 Million for their treasury.

➡️Bitcoin just recorded its highest weekly close ever, while the Global Economic Policy Uncertainty Index hit its highest level in history.

➡️4 in 5 Americans want the U.S. to convert part of its gold reserves to Bitcoin. - The Nakamoto Project

"or background, the survey question was: "Assuming the United States was thinking of converting some of their gold reserves into Bitcoin, what percentage would you advise they convert?" Respondents were provided a slider used to choose between 0% and 100%. Our survey consisted of a national sample of 3,345 respondents recruited in partnership with Qualtrics, a survey and data collection company"

Context: https://x.com/thetrocro/status/1924552097565180107 https://i.ibb.co/fGDw06MC/Gr-VYDIdb-AAI7-Kxd.jpg

➡️Michael Saylor's STRATEGY bought another $764.9m Bitcoin. They now HODL 576,230 Bitcoin, acquired for $40.18 billion at $69,726 per Bitcoin.

➡️The German Government sold 49,858 BTC for $2.89B, at an average price of $57,900. If they had held it, their BTC would now be worth $5.24B.

➡️A record 63% of all the Bitcoin that exist have not transacted or moved from their wallets this year. - Wicked

https://i.ibb.co/j9nvbvmP/Gq3-Z-x6-Xw-AAv-Bhg.jpg

💸Traditional Finance / Macro:

On the 12th of May:

👉🏽The S&P 500 has closed more than 20% above its April low, technically beginning a new bull market. We are now up +1,000 points in one month.

On the 13th of May:

👉🏽 Nvidia announces a partnership with Humain to build "AI factories of the future" in Saudi Arabia. Just one hour ago, Saudi Arabia signed an economic agreement with President Trump to invest $600 billion in the US.

🏦Banks:

👉🏽 No news

🌎Macro/Geopolitics:

On the 12th of May:

👉🏽Huge pressure is on the European Union to reach a trade deal. Equities and commodities bounce hard on news of China-US trade deal. "We have reached an agreement on a 90-day pause and substantially moved down the tariff levels — both sides, on the reciprocal tariffs, will move their tariffs down 115%." - Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

Dollar and Yuan strong bounce. Gold corrects.

👉🏽After reaching a high of 71% this year, recession odds are now back down to 40%. The odds of the US entering a recession in 2025 fall to a new low of 40% following the US-China trade deal announcement.

👉🏽'Truly incredible:

1. Trump raises tariffs: Yields rise because inflation is back
2. Trump cuts tariffs: Yields rise because growth is back
3. Trump does nothing: Yields rise because the Fed won't cut rates Today, the bond market becomes Trump and Bessent's top priority.' - TKL

President Trump’s biggest problem persists even as trade deals are announced. Tariffs have been paused for 90 days, the US-China trade deal has been announced, and inflation data is down. Yet, the 10Y yield is nearing 4.50% again. Trump needs lower rates, but rates won’t fall.

👉🏽Last week a lot of talk on Japan’s Debt Death Spiral: Japan’s 40-year yield is detonating and the myth of consequence-free debt just died with it. One of the best explanations, you can read here:

👉🏽Michael A. Arouet: 'Eye-opening chart. Can a country with a services-based economy remain a superpower? Building back US manufacturing base makes a lot of strategic and geopolitical sense.' https://i.ibb.co/Q3zJY9Fc/Gqxc6-Pt-WQAI73c.jpg

On the 13th of May:

👉🏽There is a possibility of a “big, beautiful” economic rebalancing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says at an investment forum in Saudi Arabia. The “dream scenario” would be if China and the US can work together on rebalancing, he adds

Luke Gromen: It does roll off the tongue a whole lot nicer than "We want to significantly devalue USD v. CNY, via a gold reference point."

Ergo: The price of gold specifically would rise in USD much more than it would in CNY, while prices for other goods and services would not, or would do so to a lesser degree.

👉🏽 Dutch inflation rises to 4.1 percent in April | CBS – final figure. Unchanged compared to the estimate.

👉🏽Philipp Heimberger: This interesting new paper argues that cuts to taxes on top incomes disproportionately benefit the financial sector. The finance industry gains more from top-income tax cuts than other industries. "Cuts in top income tax rates increase the (relative) size of the financial sector"

Source

Kinda obvious, innit?

👉🏽US CPI data released. Overall good results and cooler than expected month-over-month and year-over-year (outside of yearly core). U.S. inflation is down to 2.3%, lower than expected.

On the 14th of May:

👉🏽'The US government cannot afford a recession: In previous economic cycles, the US budget deficit widened by ~4% of GDP on average during recessions. This would imply a ~$1.3 trillion deterioration of US government finances if a recession hits in 2025. That said, if the US enters a recession, long-term interest rates will likely go down.

A 2-percentage-point decrease in interest rates would save ~$568 billion in annual interest payments. However, this means government finances would worsen by more than DOUBLE the amount saved in interest due to a recession. An economic downturn would be incredibly costly for the US government.' -TKL

On the 15th of May:

👉🏽'In the Eurozone and the UK, households hold more than 30% of their financial assets in fiat currencies and bank deposits. This means that they (unknowingly?) allow inflation to destroy their purchasing power. The risks of inflation eating up your wealth increase in a debt-driven economic system characterized by fiscal dominance, where interest rates are structurally low and inflation levels and risks are high. There is so much forced and often failed regulation to increase financial literacy, but this part is never explained. Why is that, you think?' - Jeroen Blokland https://i.ibb.co/zWRpNqhz/Gq-jn-Bn-X0-AAmplm.png

On the 16th of May:

👉🏽'For the first time in a year, Japan's economy shrank by -0.7% in Q1 2025. This is more than double the decline expected by economists. Furthermore, this data does NOT include the reciprocal tariffs imposed on April 2nd. Japan's economy is heading for a recession.' -TKL

👉🏽'246 US large companies have gone bankrupt year-to-date, the most in 15 years. This is up from 206 recorded last year and more than DOUBLE during the same period in 2022. In April alone, the US saw 59 bankruptcy filings as tariffs ramped up. So far this year, the industrials sector has seen 41 bankruptcies, followed by 31 in consumer discretionary, and 17 in healthcare. According to S&P Global, consumer discretionary companies have been hit the hardest due to market volatility, tariffs, and inflation uncertainty. We expect a surge in bankruptcies in 2025.' -TKL

👉🏽'Moody's just downgraded the United States' credit rating for the FIRST time in history. The reason: An unsustainable path for US federal debt and its resulting interest burden. Moody's notes that the US debt-to-GDP ratio is on track to hit 134% by 2035. Federal interest payments are set to equal ~30% of revenue by 2035, up from ~18% in 2024 and ~9% in 2021. Furthermore, deficit spending is now at World War 2 levels as a percentage of GDP. The US debt crisis is our biggest issue with the least attention.' - TKL

Still, this is a nothing burger. In August 2023, when Fitch downgraded the US to AA+, and S&P (2011) the US became a split-rated AA+ country. This downgrade had almost no effect on the bond market. The last of the rating agencies, Moodys, pushed the US down to AA+ today. So technically it didn’t even change the US’s overall credit rating because it was already split-rated AA+, now it’s unanimous AA+.

Ergo: Nothing changed. America now shares a credit rating with Austria and Finland. Hard assets don’t lie. Watch Gold and Bitcoin.

https://i.ibb.co/Q7DcWY2P/Gr-K66i-EXIAAKh-MR.jpg

RAY DALIO: Credit Agencies are UNDERSTATING sovereign credit risks because "they don't include the greater risk that the countries in debt will print money to pay their debts" with devalued currency.

👉🏽US consumer credit card serious delinquencies are rising at a CRISIS pace: The share of US credit card debt that is past due at least 90 days hit 12.3% in Q1 2025, the highest in 14 YEARS. The percentage has risen even faster than during the Great Financial Crisis.' - Global Markets Investor

https://i.ibb.co/nNH9CxVK/Gr-E838o-XYAIk-Fyn.png

On the 18th of May:

👉🏽Michael A. Arouet: 'Look at ten bottom of this list. Milei has not only proven that real free market reforms work, but he has also proven that they work fast. It’s bigger than Argentina now, no wonder that the left legacy media doesn’t like him so much.' https://i.ibb.co/MDnBCDSY/Gr-Npu-KKWMAAf-Pc.jpg

On the 19th of May: 👉🏽Japan's 40-year bond yield just hit its highest level in over 20 years. Japan’s Prime Minister Ishiba has called the situation “worse than Greece.” All as Japan’s GDP is contracting again. You and your mother should be scared out of your fucking minds. https://i.ibb.co/rGZ9cMtv/GTXx-S7-Cb-MAAOu-Vt.png

👉🏽 TKL: 'Investors are piling into gold funds like never before: Gold funds have posted a record $85 BILLION in net inflows year-to-date. This is more than DOUBLE the full-year record seen in 2020. At this pace, net inflows will surpass $180 billion by the end of 2025. Gold is now the best-performing major asset class, up 22% year-to-date. Since the low in October 2022, gold prices have gained 97%. Gold is the global hedge against uncertainty.'

🎁If you have made it this far, I would like to give you a little gift, well, in this case, two gifts:

What Bitcoin Did - IS THE FED LOSING CONTROL? With Matthew Mezinskis

'Matthew Mezinskis is a macroeconomic researcher, host of the Crypto Voices podcast, and creator of Porkopolis Economics. In this episode, we discuss fractional reserve banking, why it's controversial among Bitcoiners, the historical precedent for banking practices, and whether fractional reserve banking inherently poses systemic risks. We also get into the dangers and instabilities introduced by central banking, why Bitcoin uniquely offers a pathway to financial sovereignty, the plumbing of the global financial system, breaking down money supply metrics, foreign holdings of US treasuries, and how all these elements indicate growing instability in the dollar system.'

https://youtu.be/j-XPVOl9zGc

Credit: I have used multiple sources!

My savings account: Bitcoin The tool I recommend for setting up a Bitcoin savings plan: PocketBitcoin especially suited for beginners or people who want to invest in Bitcoin with an automated investment plan once a week or monthly.

Use the code SE3997

Get your Bitcoin out of exchanges. Save them on a hardware wallet, run your own node...be your own bank. Not your keys, not your coins. It's that simple. ⠀ ⠀

⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀

Do you think this post is helpful to you?

If so, please share it and support my work with a zap.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

⭐ Many thanks⭐

Felipe - Bitcoin Friday!

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

@ 06830f6c:34da40c5

The evolution of development environments is incredibly rich and complex and reflects a continuous drive towards greater efficiency, consistency, isolation, and collaboration. It's a story of abstracting away complexity and standardizing workflows.

Phase 1: The Bare Metal & Manual Era (Early 1970s - Late 1990s)

1. Direct OS Interaction / Bare Metal Development:

   • Description: Developers worked directly on the operating system's command line or a basic text editor. Installation of compilers, interpreters, and libraries was a manual, often arcane process involving downloading archives, compiling from source, and setting environment variables. "Configuration drift" (differences between developer machines) was the norm.
   • Tools: Text editors (Vi, Emacs), command-line compilers (GCC), Makefiles.
   • Challenges: Extremely high setup time, dependency hell, "works on my machine" syndrome, difficult onboarding for new developers, lack of reproducibility. Version control was primitive (e.g., RCS, SCCS).

2. Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) - Initial Emergence:

   • Description: Early IDEs (like Turbo Pascal, Microsoft Visual Basic) began to integrate editors, compilers, debuggers, and sometimes GUI builders into a single application. This was a massive leap in developer convenience.
   • Tools: Turbo Pascal, Visual Basic, early Visual Studio versions.
   • Advancement: Improved developer productivity, streamlined common tasks. Still relied on local system dependencies.

Phase 2: Towards Dependency Management & Local Reproducibility (Late 1990s - Mid-2000s)

1. Basic Build Tools & Dependency Resolvers (Pre-Package Managers):

   • Description: As projects grew, manual dependency tracking became impossible. Tools like Ant (Java) and early versions of autoconf/make for C/C++ helped automate the compilation and linking process, managing some dependencies.
   • Tools: Apache Ant, GNU Autotools.
   • Advancement: Automated build processes, rudimentary dependency linking. Still not comprehensive environment management.

2. Language-Specific Package Managers:

   • Description: A significant leap was the emergence of language-specific package managers that could fetch, install, and manage libraries and frameworks declared in a project's manifest file. Examples include Maven (Java), npm (Node.js), pip (Python), RubyGems (Ruby), Composer (PHP).
   • Tools: Maven, npm, pip, RubyGems, Composer.
   • Advancement: Dramatically simplified dependency resolution, improved intra-project reproducibility.
   • Limitation: Managed language-level dependencies, but not system-level dependencies or the underlying OS environment. Conflicts between projects on the same machine (e.g., Project A needs Python 2.7, Project B needs Python 3.9) were common.

Phase 3: Environment Isolation & Portability (Mid-2000s - Early 2010s)

1. Virtual Machines (VMs) for Development:

   • Description: To address the "it works on my machine" problem stemming from OS-level and system-level differences, developers started using VMs. Tools like VMware Workstation, VirtualBox, and later Vagrant (which automated VM provisioning) allowed developers to encapsulate an entire OS and its dependencies for a project.
   • Tools: VMware, VirtualBox, Vagrant.
   • Advancement: Achieved strong isolation and environment reproducibility (a true "single environment" for a project).
   • Limitations: Resource-heavy (each VM consumed significant CPU, RAM, disk space), slow to provision and boot, difficult to share large VM images.

2. Early Automation & Provisioning Tools:

   • Description: Alongside VMs, configuration management tools started being used to automate environment setup within VMs or on servers. This helped define environments as code, making them more consistent.
   • Tools: Chef, Puppet, Ansible.
   • Advancement: Automated provisioning, leading to more consistent environments, often used in conjunction with VMs.

Phase 4: The Container Revolution & Orchestration (Early 2010s - Present)

1. Containerization (Docker):

   • Description: Docker popularized Linux Containers (LXC), offering a lightweight, portable, and efficient alternative to VMs. Containers package an application and all its dependencies into a self-contained unit that shares the host OS kernel. This drastically reduced resource overhead and startup times compared to VMs.
   • Tools: Docker.
   • Advancement: Unprecedented consistency from development to production (Dev/Prod Parity), rapid provisioning, highly efficient resource use. Became the de-facto standard for packaging applications.

2. Container Orchestration:

   • Description: As microservices and container adoption grew, managing hundreds or thousands of containers became a new challenge. Orchestration platforms automated the deployment, scaling, healing, and networking of containers across clusters of machines.
   • Tools: Kubernetes, Docker Swarm, Apache Mesos.
   • Advancement: Enabled scalable, resilient, and complex distributed systems development and deployment. The "environment" started encompassing the entire cluster.

Phase 5: Cloud-Native, Serverless & Intelligent Environments (Present - Future)

1. Cloud-Native Development:

   • Description: Leveraging cloud services (managed databases, message queues, serverless functions) directly within the development workflow. Developers focus on application logic, offloading infrastructure management to cloud providers. Containers become a key deployment unit in this paradigm.
   • Tools: AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, Google Cloud Run, cloud-managed databases.
   • Advancement: Reduced operational overhead, increased focus on business logic, highly scalable deployments.

2. Remote Development & Cloud-Based IDEs:

   • Description: The full development environment (editor, terminal, debugger, code) can now reside in the cloud, accessed via a thin client or web browser. This means developers can work from any device, anywhere, with powerful cloud resources backing their environment.
   • Tools: GitHub Codespaces, Gitpod, AWS Cloud9, VS Code Remote Development.
   • Advancement: Instant onboarding, consistent remote environments, access to high-spec machines regardless of local hardware, enhanced security.

3. Declarative & AI-Assisted Environments (The Near Future):

   • Description: Development environments will become even more declarative, where developers specify what they need, and AI/automation tools provision and maintain it. AI will proactively identify dependency issues, optimize resource usage, suggest code snippets, and perform automated testing within the environment.
   • Tools: Next-gen dev container specifications, AI agents integrated into IDEs and CI/CD pipelines.
   • Prediction: Near-zero environment setup time, self-healing environments, proactive problem identification, truly seamless collaboration.

---

web3 #computing #cloud #devstr

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Headlines

• Spiral renews support for Dan Gould and Joschisan. The organization has renewed support for Dan Gould, who is developing the Payjoin Dev Kit (PDK), and Joschisan, a Fedimint developer focused on simplifying federations.
• Metaplanet buys another 145 BTC. The Tokyo-listed company has purchased an additional 145 BTC for $13.6 million. Their total bitcoin holdings now stand at 5,000 coins, worth around $428.1 million.
• Semler Scientific has increased its bitcoin holdings to 3,303 BTC. The company acquired an additional 111 BTC at an average price of $90,124. The purchase was funded through proceeds from an at-the-market offering and cash reserves, as stated in a press release.
• The Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Bill 2025 introduced in Kenya. The new legislation aims to establish a comprehensive legal framework for licensing, regulating, and supervising virtual asset service providers (VASPs), with strict penalties for non-compliant entities.
• Russian government to launch a cryptocurrency exchange. The country's Ministry of Finance and Central Bank announced plans to establish a trading platform for "highly qualified investors" that "will legalize crypto assets and bring crypto operations out of the shadows."
• All virtual asset service providers expect to be fully compliant with the Travel Rule by the end of 2025. A survey by financial surveillance specialist Notabene reveals that 90% of virtual asset service providers (VASPs) expect full Travel Rule compliance by mid-2025, with all aiming for compliance by year-end. The survey also shows a significant rise in VASPs blocking withdrawals until beneficiary information is confirmed, increasing from 2.9% in 2024 to 15.4% now. Additionally, about 20% of VASPs return deposits if originator data is missing.
• UN claims Bitcoin mining is a "powerful tool" for money laundering. The Rage's analysis suggests that the recent United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report on crime in South-East Asia makes little sense and hints at the potential introduction of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures at the mining level.
• Riot Platforms has obtained a $100 million credit facility from Coinbase Credit, using bitcoin as collateral for short-term funding to support its expansion. The firm's CEO, Jason Les, stated that this facility is crucial for diversifying financing sources and driving long-term stockholder value through strategic growth initiatives.
• Bitdeer raises $179M in loans and equity amid Bitcoin chip push. The Miner Mag reports that Bitdeer entered into a loan agreement with its affiliate Matrixport for up to $200 million in April, as disclosed in its annual report filed on Monday.
• Federal Reserve retracts guidance discouraging banks from engaging in 'crypto.' The U.S. Federal Reserve withdrew guidance that discouraged banks from crypto and stablecoin activities, as announced by its Board of Governors on Thursday. This includes rescinding a 2022 supervisory letter requiring prior notification of crypto activities and 2023 stablecoin requirements.

"As a result, the Board will no longer expect banks to provide notification and will instead monitor banks' crypto-asset activities through the normal supervisory process," reads the FED statement.

• UAE-based Islamic bank ruya launches Shari’ah-compliant bitcoin investing. The bank has become the world’s first Islamic bank to provide direct access to virtual asset investments, including Bitcoin, via its mobile app, per Bitcoin Magazine.
• U.S. 'crypto' scam losses amounted to $9.3B in 2024. The US The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reported $9.3 billion losses in cryptocurrency-related scams in 2024, noting a troubling trend of scams targeting older Americans, which accounted for over $2.8 billion of those losses.

Source: FBI.

• North Korean hackers establish fake companies to target 'crypto' developers. Silent Push researchers reported that hackers linked to the Lazarus Group created three shell companies, two of which are based in the U.S., with the objective of spreading malware through deceptive job interview scams aimed at individuals seeking jobs in cryptocurrency companies.
• Citrea deployed its Clementine Bridge on the Bitcoin testnet. The bridge utilizes the BitVM2 programming language to inherit validity from Bitcoin, allegedly providing "the safest and most trust-minimized way to use BTC in decentralized finance."
• Hesperides University offers a Master’s degree in Bitcoin. Bitcoin Magazine reports the launch of the first-ever Spanish-language Master’s program dedicated exclusively to Bitcoin. Starting April 28, 2025, this fully online program will equip professionals with technical, economic, legal, and philosophical skills to excel in the Bitcoin era.
• BTC in D.C. event is set to take place on September 30 - October 1 in Washington, D.C. Learn more about this initiative here.

Use the tools

• Bitcoin Keeper just got a new look. Version 2.2.0 of the mobile multisig app brought a new branding design, along with a Keeper Private tier, testnet support, ability to import and export BIP-329 labels, and the option to use a Server Key with multiple users.
  • Earlier this month the project also announced Keeper Learn service, offering clear and guided Bitcoin learning sessions for both groups and individuals.
• Keeper Desktop v0.2.2, a companion desktop app for Bitcoin Keeper mobile app, received a renewed branding update, too.

The evolution of Bitcoin Keeper logo. Source: BitHyve blog.

• Blockstream Green Desktop v2.0.25 updates GDK to v0.75.1 and fixes amount parsing issues when switching from fiat denomination to Liquid asset.
• Lightning Loop v0.31.0-beta enhances the loop listswaps command by improving the ability to filter the response.
• Lightning-kmp v1.10.0, an implementation of the Lightning Network in Kotlin, is now available.
• LND v0.19.0-beta.rc3, the latest beta release candidate of LND is now ready for testing.
• ZEUS v0.11.0-alpha2 is now available for testing, too. It's nuts.
• JoinMarket Fidelity Bond Simulator helps potential JoinMarket makers evaluate their competitive position in the market based on fidelity bonds.
• UTXOscope is a text-only Bitcoin blockchain analysis tool that visualizes price dynamics using only on-chain data. The

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

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

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

What's new

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

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo
Website

@ 74fb3ef2:58adabc7

Suppose you have a small mom-and-pop shop selling bananas, your bananas are of the highest quality, you plant the banana trees yourself, you water them daily, take great care of everything, and still select only the top 1% of bananas to sell.

Your customers love it, there's no place where they can get better bananas, but due to the fact that you spend so much time, your bananas have to be more expensive, so despite the higher quality, you don't make as much money as you think you should; surely you can get a little more of the market if you adopt some of the strategies that work for your competitors.

So you look across the street, and what do you know? Their bananas are of significantly worse quality than yours, but they're not just selling bananas, they're selling apples too, so you think to yourself, "what if I sold apples? Maybe my apples won't be the best in the market, but nobody can beat my bananas!"

You start planting apple trees, and after a while you're able go sell slightly better than average apples, but by doing so you neglect your bananas ever so slightly.

Most of your existing customers don't notice, you still have the best bananas in town, they don't notice the slight drop in quality. And now that you're selling apples too you're making more money, and more customers come to you.

But you notice that there's a new store now that's selling oranges, and people are buying them. So surely you need oranges too, so you can make some extra money.

You plant a few orange trees, but find yourself spending so much time tending to the oranges and apples that you can't devote the same time and love to your bananas.

You are making a bit of extra cash from the new customers, business is going well, but you don't have time for anything else anymore. You no free time anymore, you are overworked and your health is getting worse.

But you can't stop now that business is going well, you are making so much more, yeah maybe you don't have the same bananas anymore, but you do have slightly above average apples and oranges that have attracted so many customers.

You suddenly fall ill, you've overworked yourself and you are stuck at a hospital for a while.

When you come back to your store, a few of your customers are back, but not all of them, so you think of more ideas, mandarins, kiwi, watermelons, you can grow it all, but you're gonna hire a bunch of people to help you so you don't fall ill again.

One thing leads to another and you are making more money than ever, but strangely you don't hear your customers praising your bananas anymore.

So you take one of your bananas, peel it, and as you taste it, a wave of disappointment hits you.

Your bananas are now just as bad as everyone else's; you gave in to the tyranny of the marginal customer.

You make a lot of money now, but your flagship product is long gone, you are now just another Fruitseller.

@ c9badfea:610f861a

Before you post a message or article online, let the LLM check if you are leaking any personal information using this prompt:

Analyze the following text to identify any Personally Identifiable Information (PII): <Your Message>

Replace <Your Message> with your text

If no PII is found, continue by modifying your message to detach it from your personality. You can use any of the following prompts (and further modify it if necessary).

Prompt № 1 - Reddit-Style

Convert the message into a casual, Reddit-style post without losing meaning. Split the message into shorter statements with the same overall meaning. Here is the message: <Your Message>

Prompt № 2 - Advanced Modifications

``` Apply the following modifications to the message: - Rewrite it in lowercase - Use "u" instead of "you" - Use "akchoaly" instead of "actually" - Use "hav" instead of "have" - Use "tgat" instead of "that" - Use comma instead of period - Use British English grammar

Here is the message: ```

Prompt № 3 - Neutral Tone

Rewrite the message to correct grammar errors, and ensure the tone is neutral and free of emotional language: <Your Message>

Prompt № 4 - Cross Translation Technique

Translate the message into Chinese, then translate the resulting Chinese text back into English. Provide only the final English translation. Here is the message: <Your Message>

Check the modified message and send it.

ℹ️ You can use dialects to obfuscate your language further. For example, if you are from the US, you can tell the LLM to use British grammar and vice versa.

⚠️ Always verify the results. Don't fully trust an LLM.

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

There must be a limit to how much data is transferred across the bitcoin network in order to keep the ability to run and use your own node accessible. A node is required to interact with the global bitcoin network - if you do not use your own node then you must trust someone else's node. If nodes become inaccessible to run then the network will centralize around the remaining entities that operate them - threatening the censorship resistance at the core of bitcoin's value prop. The bitcoin protocol uses three main mechanisms to keep node operation costs low - a fixed limit on the amount of data in each block, an automatic difficulty adjustment that regulates how many blocks are produced based on current mining hash rate, and a robust dynamic transaction fee market.

Bitcoin transaction fees limit network abuse by making usage expensive. There is a cost to every transaction, set by a dynamic free market based on demand for scarce block space. It is an incredibly robust way to prevent spam without relying on centralized entities that can be corrupted or pressured.

After the 2017 bitcoin fee spike we had six years of relative quiet to build tools that would be robust in a sustained high fee market. Fortunately our tools are significantly better now but many still need improvement. Most of the pain points we see today will be mitigated.

The reality is we were never going to be fully prepared - pressure is needed to show the pain points and provide strong incentives to mitigate them.

It will be incredibly interesting to watch how projects adapt under pressure. Optimistic we see great innovation here.

---

_If you are willing to wait for your transaction to confirm you can pay significantly lower fees. Learn best practices for reducing your fee burden here.

My guide for running and using your own bitcoin node can be found here._

---

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

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• Version 1.3 of Bitcoin Safe introduces a redesigned interactive chart, quick receive feature, updated icons, a mempool preview window, support for Child Pays For Parent (CPFP) and testnet4, preconfigured testnet demo wallets, as well as various bug fixes and improvements.

• Upcoming updates for Bitcoin Safe include Compact Block Filters.

"Compact Block Filters increase the network privacy dramatically, since you're not asking an electrum server to give you your transactions. They are a little slower than electrum servers. For a savings wallet like Bitcoin Safe this should be OK," writes the project's developer Andreas Griffin.

• Learn more about the current and upcoming features of Bitcoin Safe wallet here.

What's new in v1.3

• Redesign of Chart, Quick Receive, Icons, and Mempool Preview (by @design-rrr).
• Interactive chart. Clicking on it now jumps to transaction, and selected transactions are now highlighted.

• Speed up transactions with Child Pays For Parent (CPFP).
• BDK 1.2 (upgraded from 0.32).
• Testnet4 support.
• Preconfigured Testnet demo wallets.
• Cluster unconfirmed transactions so that parents/children are next to each other.
• Customizable columns for all tables (optional view: Txid, Address index, and more)
• Bug fixes and other improvements.

Announcement / Archive
Blog Post / Archive
GitHub Repo
Website

@ 8bf578f4:b6303c41

test

https://nosto.re/6849b84caaa15bdc18ca2e1e1ee00e979c7ecf901787e09054b4bd0196b4ea27.jpg

test svg

@ dfa02707:41ca50e3

Contribute to keep No Bullshit Bitcoin news going.

• Wasabi Wallet v2.6.0 "Prometheus" is a major update for the project, focused on resilience and independence from centralized systems.
• Key features include support for BIP 158 block filters for direct node synchronization, a revamped full node integration for easier setup without third-party reliance, SLIP 39 share backups for flexible wallet recovery (sponsored by Trezor), and a Nostr-based update manager for censorship-resistant updates.
• Additional improvements include UI bug fixes, a new fallback for transaction broadcasting, updated code signing, stricter JSON serialization, and options to avoid third-party rate providers, alongside various under-the-hood enhancements.

This new version brings us closer to our ultimate goal: ensuring Wasabi is future-proof," said the developers, while also highlighting the following key areas of focus for the project:

• Ensuring users can always fully and securely use their client.
• Making contribution and forks easy through a codebase of the highest quality possible: understandable, maintainable, and improvable.

"As we achieve our survival goals, expect more cutting-edge improvements in Bitcoin privacy and self-custody. Thank you for the trust you place in us by using Wasabi," was stated in the release notes.

What's new

• Support for Standard BIP 158 Block Filters. Wasabi now syncs using BIP 158 filters without a backend/indexer, connecting directly to a user's node. This boosts sync speed, resilience, and allows full sovereignty without specific server dependency.
• Full Node Integration Rework. The old integration has been replaced with a simpler, more adaptable system. It’s not tied to a specific Bitcoin node fork, doesn’t need the node on the same machine as Wasabi, and requires no changes to the node’s setup.
  • "Simply enable the RPC server on your node and point Wasabi to it," said the developers. This ensures all Bitcoin network activities—like retrieving blocks, fee estimations, block filters, and transaction broadcasting—go through your own node, avoiding reliance on third parties.
• Create & Recover SLIP 39 Shares. Users now create and recover wallets with multiple share backups using SLIP 39 standard.

"Special thanks to Trezor (SatoshiLabs) for sponsoring this amazing feature."

• Nostr Update Manager. This version implements a pioneering system with the Nostr protocol for update information and downloads, replacing reliance on GitHub. This enhances the project's resilience, ensuring updates even if GitHub is unavailable, while still verifying updates with the project's secure certificate.
• Updated Avalonia to v11.2.7, fixes for UI bugs (including restoring Minimize on macOS Sequoia).
• Added a configurable third-party fallback for broadcasting transactions if other methods fail.
• Replaced Windows Code Signing Certificate with Azure Trusted Signing.
• Many bug fixes, improved codebase, and enhanced CI pipeline.
• Added the option to avoid using any third-party Exchange Rate and Fee Rate providers (Wasabi can work without them).
• Rebuilt all JSON Serialization mechanisms avoiding default .NET converters. Serialization is now stricter.

Full Changelog: v2.5.1...v2.6.0

Announcement / Archive
GitHub Repo

@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

I often hear "bitcoin doesn't interest me, I'm not a finance person."

Ironically, the beauty of sound money is you don't have to be. In the current system you're expected to manage a diversified investment portfolio or pay someone to do it. Bitcoin will make that optional.

— ODELL (@ODELL) September 16, 2018

At first glance bitcoin often appears overwhelming to newcomers. It is incredibly easy to get bogged down in the details of how it works or different ways to use it. Enthusiasts, such as myself, often enjoy going down the deep rabbit hole of the potential of bitcoin, possible pitfalls and theoretical scenarios, power user techniques, and the developer ecosystem. If your first touch point with bitcoin is that type of content then it is only natural to be overwhelmed. While it is important that we have a thriving community of bitcoiners dedicated to these complicated tasks - the true beauty of bitcoin lies in its simplicity. Bitcoin is simply better money. It is the best money we have ever had.

Life is complicated. Life is hard. Life is full of responsibility and surprises. Bitcoin allows us to focus on our lives while relying on a money that is simple. A money that is not controlled by any individual, company, or government. A money that cannot be easily seized or blocked. A money that cannot be devalued at will by a handful of corrupt bureaucrat who live hundreds of miles from us. A money that can be easily saved and should increase in purchasing power over time without having to learn how to "build a diversified stock portfolio" or hire someone to do it for us.

Bitcoin enables all of us to focus on our lives - our friends and family - doing what we love with the short time we have on this earth. Time is scarce. Life is complicated. Bitcoin is the most simple aspect of our complicated lives. If we spend our scarce time working then we should be able to easily save that accrued value for future generations without watching the news or understanding complicated financial markets. Bitcoin makes this possible for anyone.

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Raising a human is complicated. It is hard, it requires immense personal responsibility, it requires critical thinking, but mothers figure it out, because it is worth it. Using and saving bitcoin is simple -  simply install an app on your phone. Every mother can do it. Every person can do it.

Life is complicated. Life is beautiful. Bitcoin is simple.

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@ 7f6db517:a4931eda

Will not live in a pod.
Will not eat the bugs.
Will not get the chip.
Will not get a blue check.
Will not use CBDCs.

Live Free or Die.

Why did Elon buy twitter for $44 Billion? What value does he see in it besides the greater influence that undoubtedly comes with controlling one of the largest social platforms in the world? We do not need to speculate - he made his intentions incredibly clear in his first meeting with twitter employees after his takeover - WeChat of the West.

To those that do not appreciate freedom, the value prop is clear - WeChat is incredibly powerful and successful in China.

To those that do appreciate freedom, the concern is clear - WeChat has essentially become required to live in China, has surveillance and censorship integrated at its core, and if you are banned from the app your entire livelihood is at risk. Employment, housing, payments, travel, communication, and more become extremely difficult if WeChat censors determine you have acted out of line.

The blue check is the first step in Elon's plan to bring the chinese social credit score system to the west. Users who verify their identity are rewarded with more reach and better tools than those that do not. Verified users are the main product of Elon's twitter - an extensive database of individuals and complete control of the tools he will slowly get them to rely on - it is easier to monetize cattle than free men.

If you cannot resist the temptation of the blue check in its current form you have already lost - what comes next will be much darker. If you realize the need to resist - freedom tech provides us options.

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