@ 42342239:1d80db24

The boiling frog is a simple tale that illustrates the danger of gradual change: if you put a frog in boiling water, it will quickly jump out to escape the heat. But if you place a frog in warm water and gradually increase the temperature, it won't notice the change and will eventually cook itself. Might the decline in cash usage be construed as an example of this tale?

As long as individuals can freely transact with each other and conduct purchases and sales without intermediaries[^1] such as with cash, our freedoms and rights remain secure from potential threats posed by the payment system. However, as we have seen in several countries such as Sweden over the past 15 years, the use of cash and the amount of banknotes and coins in circulation have decreased. All to the benefit of various intermediated[^1] electronic alternatives.

The reasons for this trend include: - The costs associated with cash usage has been increasing. - Increased regulatory burdens due to stricter anti-money laundering regulations. - Closed bank branches and fewer ATMs. - The Riksbank's aggressive note switches resulted in a situation where they were no longer recognized.

Market forces or "market forces"?

Some may argue that the "de-cashing" of society is a consequence of market forces. But does this hold true? Leading economists at times recommend interventions with the express purpose to mislead the public, such as proposing measures who are "opaque to most voters."

In a working paper on de-cashing by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2017, such thought processes, even recommendations, can be found. IMF economist Alexei Kireyev, formerly a professor at an institute associated with the Soviet Union's KGB (MGIMO) and economic adviser to Michail Gorbachov 1989-91, wrote that:

• "Social conventions may also be disrupted as de-cashing may be viewed as a violation of fundamental rights, including freedom of contract and freedom of ownership."
• Letting the private sector lead "the de-cashing" is preferable, as it will seem "almost entirely benign". The "tempting attempts to impose de-cashing by a decree should be avoided"
• "A targeted outreach program is needed to alleviate suspicions related to de-cashing"

In the text, he also offered suggestions on the most effective approach to diminish the use of cash:

• The de-cashing process could build on the initial and largely uncontested steps, such as the phasing out of large denomination bills, the placement of ceilings on cash transactions, and the reporting of cash moves across the borders.
• Include creating economic incentives to reduce the use of cash in transactions
• Simplify "the opening and use of transferrable deposits, and further computerizing the financial system."

As is customary in such a context, it is noted that the article only describes research and does not necessarily reflect IMF's views. However, isn't it remarkable that all of these proposals have come to fruition and the process continues? Central banks have phased out banknotes with higher denominations. Banks' regulatory complexity seemingly increase by the day (try to get a bank to handle any larger amounts of cash). The transfer of cash from one nation to another has become increasingly burdensome. The European Union has recently introduced restrictions on cash transactions. Even the law governing the Swedish central bank is written so as to guarantee a further undermining of cash. All while the market share is growing for alternatives such as transferable deposits[^1].

The old European disease

The Czech Republic's former president Václav Havel, who played a key role in advocating for human rights during the communist repression, was once asked what the new member states in the EU could do to pay back for all the economic support they had received from older member states. He replied that the European Union still suffers from the old European disease, namely the tendency to compromise with evil. And that the new members, who have a recent experience of totalitarianism, are obliged to take a more principled stance - sometimes necessary - and to monitor the European Union in this regard, and educate it.

The American computer scientist and cryptographer David Chaum said in 1996 that "[t]he difference between a bad electronic cash system and well-developed digital cash will determine whether we will have a dictatorship or a real democracy". If Václav Havel were alive today, he would likely share Chaum's sentiment. Indeed, on the current path of "de-cashing", we risk abolishing or limiting our liberties and rights, "including freedom of contract and freedom of ownership" - and this according to an economist at the IMF(!).

As the frog was unwittingly boiled alive, our freedoms are quietly being undermined. The temperature is rising. Will people take notice before our liberties are irreparably damaged?

[^1]: Transferable deposits are intermediated. Intermediated means payments involving one or several intermediares, like a bank, a card issuer or a payment processor. In contrast, a disintermediated payment would entail a direct transactions between parties without go-betweens, such as with cash.

@ 104f6f7d:220bf499

“He is free to make the wrong choice, but not free to succeed with it. He is free to evade reality, he is free to unfocus his mind and stumble blindly down any road he pleases, but not free to avoid the abyss he refuses to see.” - Ayn Rand

@ 1739d937:3e3136ef

This is the seventh in a series of weekly(ish) updates detailing progress on bringing MLS protocol DMs and group messaging to Nostr.

Previous Updates

• June 28th 2024
• July 6th 2024
• July 12th 2024
• July 19th 2024
• August 16th 2024
• September 4th 2024

Progress this week

I was told recently that my update walls of text are too much. So, I'll try to keep things concise this week. 😅

This week has been all about building the reference implementation, which is quickly becoming a full-fledged client instead of just a reference implementation. I've not quite gotten to the MLS portion of the client yet but it does already support multiple accounts (including ephemeral accounts) and loads legacy (NIP-04) chats and full contact lists. So far, I've not implemented NIP-104 so there's not yet any updates to the MLS spec or other dependencies.

If you've got experience with using messengers in hostile environments (authoritarian regimes, you've been de-platformed, etc.) please get in touch. I'd love to hear more about what you'd like to see in a communication tool.

In the meantime, I'll be over here in the corner coding with my headphones on. 👨‍💻

Onward and Upwards!

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Nostr: a quick introduction, attempt #2

Nostr doesn't subscribe to any ideals of "free speech" as these belong to the realm of politics and assume a big powerful government that enforces a common ruleupon everybody else.

Nostr instead is much simpler, it simply says that servers are private property and establishes a generalized framework for people to connect to all these servers, creating a true free market in the process. In other words, Nostr is the public road that each market participant can use to build their own store or visit others and use their services.

(Of course a road is never truly public, in normal cases it's ran by the government, in this case it relies upon the previous existence of the internet with all its quirks and chaos plus a hand of government control, but none of that matters for this explanation).

More concretely speaking, Nostr is just a set of definitions of the formats of the data that can be passed between participants and their expected order, i.e. messages between clients (i.e. the program that runs on a user computer) and relays (i.e. the program that runs on a publicly accessible computer, a "server", generally with a domain-name associated) over a type of TCP connection (WebSocket) with cryptographic signatures. This is what is called a "protocol" in this context, and upon that simple base multiple kinds of sub-protocols can be added, like a protocol for "public-square style microblogging", "semi-closed group chat" or, I don't know, "recipe sharing and feedback".

@ 469fa704:2b6cb760

The Evolution of Web 3.0: Bitcoin's Role in Decentralizing the Internet

Introduction to Web 3.0

Web 3.0, often referred to as the decentralized web, represents the next phase in the evolution of the internet. Unlike its predecessors, Web 3.0 aims to redistribute control from centralized entities back to individual users through technologies like blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and decentralized applications (dApps). This shift promises a more democratic internet where users control their data, identity, and digital destiny.

The Bitcoin Protocol: A Foundation for Web 3.0

Bitcoin's Influence on Decentralization

Bitcoin, introduced in 2008, can be seen as a precursor to Web 3.0 due to its decentralized nature. The Bitcoin protocol introduced the world to blockchain technology, a decentralized ledger that records all transactions across a network of computers. This technology underpins Web 3.0's ethos by:

• Promoting Decentralization: Bitcoin's network operates without a central authority, showcasing how internet services could run on similar principles, reducing the power of centralized tech giants.
• Enhancing Security and Privacy: Through cryptographic means, Bitcoin ensures that transactions are secure and pseudonymus, a feature integral to Web 3.0's vision of user-controlled data.

Scalability and Functionality Challenges

However, Bitcoin's protocol wasn't designed on the base layer with the complex applications of Web 3.0 in mind. Its primary function as a digital currency means:

• Scalability Issues: Bitcoin's blockchain has limitations in transaction speed and volume, which might not suffice for a fully realized Web 3.0 environment where millions of micro-transactions could occur seamlessly.
• Limited Smart Contract Capabilities: Bitcoin's scripting language isn't as versatile as platforms like Ethereum, which are designed to support a broader range of decentralized applications.

Expanding Bitcoin's Role with Layer 2 Solutions

To bridge these gaps, developers are working on Layer 2 solutions like the Lightning Network for faster transactions, and projects like Stacks aim to bring smart contract functionality directly to Bitcoin. These innovations suggest that while Bitcoin might not be the sole backbone of Web 3.0 yet, it can significantly contribute to its infrastructure. In the long term, the question is whether we need more than one network, I mean, we don't have multiple Internets today. The market will probably decide in favor of the strongest and most secure network, and Bitcoin is by far that.

Web 3.0 Beyond Bitcoin

A Broader Blockchain Ecosystem

At the moment Web 3.0 encompasses by far more than just Bitcoin. It includes:

• Ethereum and Smart Contracts: Ethereum's introduction of smart contracts has been pivotal, allowing for decentralized applications that can interact in complex ways, far beyond simple transactions.
• Other Blockchains: Platforms like Solana, Sui, and Near are gaining traction for their high throughput and lower costs, addressing some of Bitcoin's limitations on the base layer.

The Cultural and Economic Shift

The move towards Web 3.0 isn't just technological but cultural. There's a growing sentiment, reflected in posts on platforms like X, that users are ready for a change where they own their digital presence. Here's some background based on general knowledge and trends up to 2024:

Cultural Shift:

• Distrust in Centralized Institutions: There's been a growing distrust in traditional centralized institutions like banks, governments, and large corporations. This distrust stems from various scandals, data breaches, privacy concerns, and perceived inefficiencies or corruption. Posts on platforms like X or even more on Nostr reflect this sentiment, where users often discuss the diminishing trust in these institutions.
• Rise of Individual Empowerment: Culturally, there's a move towards empowerment of the individual, facilitated by technology. Social media, blockchain, and other decentralized technologies give individuals tools to bypass traditional gatekeepers in finance, media, and more. This shift champions the idea that individuals should have more control over their data, finances, and digital identity.
• Identity and Community: Decentralization also touches on identity politics and community governance. There's a trend towards localism or regionalism where communities seek more control over their governance, which can be seen in movements for local autonomy or even secessionist sentiments in various parts of the world.
• Cultural Movements: Movements like the maker culture, DIY (Do It Yourself), open-source software, and even the gig economy reflect a cultural shift towards decentralization where individuals or small groups can produce, create, or work independently of large entities.

Economic Shift:

• Decentralized Finance (DeFi): DeFi represents one of the most tangible shifts, aiming to recreate and potentially improve financial systems outside of traditional banking. This includes lending, borrowing, and earning interest in a trustless, permissionless environment, primarily using blockchain technology.
• Cryptocurrencies and Tokenization: The rise of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum symbolizes a move away from centralized monetary systems. Tokenization of assets, from art (NFTs - Non-Fungible Tokens) to real estate, embodies this shift, allowing for fractional ownership and reducing the barriers to investment.
• Globalization vs. Localism: While globalization has interconnected economies, there's a counter-trend where economic decentralization supports local economies. This can be seen in the push for local currencies, community-supported agriculture, or local energy production like solar microgrids.
• Work and Employment: The gig economy, remote work, and digital nomadism are part of this economic shift. Platforms enabling freelance work decentralize employment, moving away from traditional office environments and 9-to-5 jobs.

General Observations:

• Technology as an Enabler: Blockchain, the internet, and advancements in communication technology are pivotal in this shift. They provide the infrastructure necessary for decentralization to occur at scale.
• Political Implications: Economically, this shift maybe challenges existing power structures, potentially leading to regulatory battles as seen with cryptocurrencies. Culturally, it might lead to a redefinition of nationalism, community, and individual rights in the digital age.
• Challenges: Despite its promise, decentralization faces hurdles like scalability issues, regulatory pushback, the digital divide, and the potential for new forms of centralization (e.g., large crypto exchanges becoming new central authorities).

Conclusion: Bitcoin's Place in Web 3.0

Bitcoin's protocol ignited the spark for a decentralized internet, but Web 3.0 is evolving into a multifaceted ecosystem where Bitcoin might play a crucial, though not yet exclusive, role. The integration of Bitcoin with newer technologies and platforms could see it becoming a fundamental layer in the Web 3.0 stack, particularly in areas of value transfer and as a store of value within decentralized finance (DeFi).

As we progress, the synergy between Bitcoin's proven security and stability, combined with the innovation of other blockchain technologies, might just be the blend needed for Web 3.0 to achieve mainstream adoption, ensuring the internet becomes more open, secure, and user-centric. As stated before, the market will probably decide in favor of the strongest and most secure network, and Bitcoin is by far that.

@ 469fa704:2b6cb760

Money Printing in general

First of all, we need to make a distinction between money creation by central banks and fractional-reserve banking. Usually, the term money printing or “printer goes brrrrrr” refers to the creation of new central bank money, which is primarily created by central banks through:

• Open Market Operations: Buying government securities, which injects money into the banking system by increasing bank reserves. This is often done electronically, not by physically printing money.
• Quantitative Easing (QE): Purchasing assets to inject money directly into the economy, aiming to stimulate economic activity by increasing the money supply.
• Setting Reserve Requirements: Although less about creating money, lowering reserve requirements can indirectly influence money creation by allowing banks to lend more, but as of recent policy changes, this has been set to zero in some systems, shifting focus to interest rates.
• Interest on Reserves: By adjusting the interest rate paid on reserves, central banks influence how much banks are willing to lend, thereby indirectly affecting money creation.

This is the first step of money creation, although printing money is usually connected to one of the aforementioned processes, the second step creates much more money through the expansion of credit.

The Mechanics of Fractional-Reserve Banking

The Concept

In fractional-reserve banking, banks accept deposits from customers and only keep a small fraction of these deposits in reserve, lending out the rest. This practice essentially creates new money because:

• Deposits: When you deposit money, say $1,000, into a bank, that money doesn't just sit there.
• Reserves: If the reserve requirement is 10%, the bank keeps $100 as reserves.
• Loans: The remaining $900 can be loaned out. Here's where money creation begins.

Note: Current reserve requirements of the FED (Source) and the ECB (Source) are set at 0% respectively 1%.

Example Calculation of Money Creation

1. Initial Deposit: You deposit $1,000 into Bank A.
2. Bank A's Action:
3. Keeps $10 (1%) as reserve.

4. Loans out $990 to another customer.

5. The $990 Loan: This $990, when spent, might end up in Bank B as someone's deposit.

6. Bank B's Action:
7. Keeps $9.9 (1% of $990) as reserve.

8. Can loan out $980.1

9. Continuation: This process repeats, with each cycle creating new deposits from loans.

The Deposit Multiplier (m) can be calculated as: * m = 1 divided by Reserve Ration = 1 / Reserve Ration

If the reserve ratio is 1%: * m = 1 / 1% = 1 / 0.01 = 100

This means, theoretically, an initial deposit of $1,000 could expand to:

• $1,000 times 100 = $100,000
• However, in practice, this is tempered by factors like cash holdings, loan demand, and banks holding excess reserves.

Historical and Economic Context

• Evolution from Goldsmiths: The system has its roots in the practices of goldsmiths who issued notes for gold deposits, which eventually circulated as money. This practice evolved into the modern banking system where notes (now digital entries) represent claims on money.
• Regulation and Central Banking: Over time, central banks like the Federal Reserve in the U.S. were established to regulate this process, provide stability, and act as lenders of last resort. The Fed's tools include setting reserve requirements, though this has become less relevant with the shift to a 0% reserve requirement.

Criticisms and Alternatives

• Risk of Bank Runs: Critics argue that fractional-reserve banking makes the system vulnerable to bank runs, where too many depositors demand their money back at once, which the bank cannot cover since most of the money is loaned out.
• Vollgeld Initiative and Full-Reserve Banking: Movements like Switzerland's Vollgeld Initiative have proposed shifting to full-reserve banking, where banks must hold 100% of deposits in reserve, preventing them from creating money through lending. However, this would significantly alter how banks operate and make profits. *** Modern Adjustments**: The move to a 0% reserve requirement in the U.S. reflects a shift towards using other monetary policy tools like interest rates on reserves to control money creation and economic stability.

Real-World Implications

• Money Supply Control: While banks create money through loans, central banks like the Federal Reserve influence this through monetary policy, adjusting how much money banks can create.
• Economic Stability: The zero reserve requirement might seem to allow infinite money creation, but in reality, banks are constrained by capital requirements, risk assessments, and economic conditions.

Conclusion

Fractional-reserve banking is a dynamic system that significantly influences economic growth by expanding the money supply through debt. While it allows for economic expansion, it also introduces risks of instability, which central banks attempt to mitigate through various policy tools. Understanding this system helps demystify how money flows and grows within an economy, showcasing both its capacity for economic stimulation and its inherent risks. As we move forward, debates continue on how best to balance these aspects to foster economic stability and growth. In 2009, a new system called Bitcoin emerged that could redefine the rules for money creation.

@ 469fa704:2b6cb760

Unified Login Across Platforms

With Nostr, you use one login for all services, and your followers are seamlessly integrated. So you don't have start anew on every single platform. I think this is a real advantage of Nostr even for people not accustomed to Bitcoin or decentralization in general.

Value for Value (V4V) Model

Embrace the V4V principle where value is exchanged directly between users. Meaning if you find something useful or anohter nostr user was able to help you then you can simply zap him or her some Sats.

Blogging Platforms

• Habla or Yakihonne: Since joining Nostr 8 days ago, I've started blogging using Habla, which I found incredibly user-friendly. You can check out my articles directly on some clients like noStrudel, where they appear under my profile. Habla also serves as a great community explorer. Yakihonne, another comprehensive client with an integrated blog editor, caught my eye too, although it didn't sync all my Habla posts, possibly due to relay issues.
• Highlighter.com: Offers a sleek interface for reading articles. On noStrudel, articles are tucked away under the "More" menu.

Presentations

• Slidestr.net: This tool transforms your notes into a slideshow, making revisiting old notes quite entertaining.

Video Content

• Flare.pub: If you're looking for a YouTube-like experience, Flare.pub is the closest you'll get on Nostr. You can upload, watch videos, and curate playlists. Remember, since Nostr is fundamentally text-based, videos are hosted on traditional servers, but the interface remains decentralized. There's definitely room for more video content, so start creating!

Live Streaming

• Zapstream: Offers a smooth streaming experience with a fee of 10 Sats per minute to cover server costs. You can watch streams on clients like Amethyst or noStrudel.

Music and Podcasts

• Wavlake and Tunestr: Ideal for artists to share music or podcasts. Listeners can enjoy content freely or support creators via zaps, adhering to the V4V model.

Lists and Grouping

• Listr: A tool for organizing everything from regional user groups to thematic notes or hashtags. You can also follow lists created by others in the Nostr community.

Culinary Arts

• zap.cooking: A haven for aspiring or seasoned chefs, offering a plethora of recipes in a blog format. It's well-organized, allowing you to browse through different categories of recipes.

Marketplaces

• Plebian Market: Reminiscent of eBay's early days, this marketplace allows easy buying and selling among users.

Community Features

• Many clients like noStrudel, Habla, and Amethyst support community functionalities, enhancing user interaction within Nostr.

@ 469fa704:2b6cb760

In traditional investment wisdom, diversification is the mantra chanted by financial advisors worldwide. It's the strategy to spread risk across various assets to mitigate losses. However, when it comes to Bitcoin, some argue this principle might not apply in the same way. Here's why:

1. Bitcoin's Unique Value Proposition

Bitcoin, often dubbed "digital gold," has several attributes that set it apart from other investments:

• Finite Supply: With a cap at 21 million coins, Bitcoin's scarcity is programmed into its code, mirroring the scarcity of gold but with even more certainty. This scarcity can drive value as demand increases over time, especially in an economic environment where fiat currencies are subject to inflation.
• Decentralization: Unlike stocks or real estate, Bitcoin isn't tied to any central authority or physical asset that can fail or be manipulated by a single entity. This decentralization reduces the risk of systemic failure that affects traditional markets.
• Global Liquidity and Accessibility: Bitcoin can be bought, sold, and transferred anywhere in the world, 24/7, with internet access. This global liquidity means Bitcoin can be more easily converted to other assets if needed, somewhat reducing the need for diversification.

2. The Risk-Reward Balance

• Volatility as Opportunity: While Bitcoin's volatility is often cited as a risk, for the informed investor, this volatility represents opportunities for significant gains. Those who understand Bitcoin's cycles might prefer to ride these waves rather than dilute potential gains through diversification into less volatile assets.
• Long-term Appreciation: Historical data suggests Bitcoin has provided substantial returns over the long term compared to most traditional investments. If one believes in Bitcoin's future as a dominant store of value, holding a diversified portfolio might mean missing out on Bitcoin's potential upside.

3. Bitcoin as a Diversifier

Ironically, Bitcoin itself serves as a diversification tool within traditional investment portfolios. Its price movements have shown low correlation with stocks, bonds, and even gold at times, suggesting that Bitcoin can diversify an investment portfolio on its own.

4. The Philosophical Shift

• Trust in Code Over Corporations: Investing heavily in Bitcoin might reflect a philosophical shift towards trusting mathematical algorithms over corporate governance or government policy. Here, diversification within the crypto space might seem less necessary if one views Bitcoin as the pinnacle of what cryptocurrency should be.
• A Bet on a New Financial System: Holding Bitcoin exclusively can be seen as a bet on a new financial paradigm where Bitcoin becomes the standard. In this vision, diversification into other assets might be counterproductive.

5. Potential Result

Upon reviewing the arguments and characteristics, one might conclude that Bitcoin is pursuing a dual trajectory. Firstly, its value increases partly because it remains a novel asset, not yet mainstream among the general populace. Secondly, Bitcoin is poised to absorb the value preservation function from other assets. This means that individuals who invest in stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, etc., primarily for their value storage capabilities rather than their intrinsic utility (such as residing in a property), might transition to Bitcoin. This shift could consequently diminish the demand for these traditional assets and increase the value of Bitcoin respectively.

6. Caveats and Considerations

• Not Without Risks: This approach isn't without its perils. Bitcoin's future is not guaranteed, and regulatory, technological, or market shifts could impact its value negatively.
• Liquidity Needs: Individual financial situations might require liquidity or income generation that Bitcoin alone might not provide efficiently.
• Emotional Discipline: A Bitcoin-only strategy requires immense discipline and conviction, as the emotional toll of not diversifying can be high during market downturns.

Conclusion

The argument for not diversifying if you hold Bitcoin hinges on its unique properties, the potential for high returns, and its role as a hedge against inflation and traditional financial systems. However, this strategy suits those with a high risk tolerance, a deep understanding of Finance, Economics and Investments, and a belief in Bitcoin's future dominance. For everyone else, while Bitcoin can be a significant part of a portfolio, traditional diversification might still offer peace of mind and stability. Remember, investment strategies should align with personal financial goals, risk tolerance, and market understanding. Always consider consulting with a financial advisor for personalized advice.

@ 469fa704:2b6cb760

I joined Nostr a week ago and wanted to recap it for myself and also give other newbies a simple introduction. Maybe this will help you get started too.

Step 1: Create your identity and get your private key for a browser extension

I started with the Snort client on my local home server. It created my private/public key pair and I was good to go. Then I transferred the private key to Amethyst, a pretty good Android-based client. Before looking at various clients and other nostr-based websites, I tried transferring my private key into a browser extension. I looked at Alby and nos2x. I chose the latter because I wanted to keep my Lightning wallet separate from my identity management. You don't have to, I just found it easier.

Step 2: If you're confused, always check your feed settings

I tried many different clients and was very confused at first. Due to its decentralized nature, Nostr relies on relays, which are just small servers, and to each one you can connect to, all your data is stored. When you post a message, write a note, an article like this or simply who you follow. The main reason and benefit for this is that there is no single point of failure or server-like entity that could be censored. The side effect of this, combined with using different clients, was that not only did it look different everywhere, but the content was also very different. This was simply because I wasn't connected to all my different clients with the same relays. But the main reason why each feed looks different on each client is usually because you can choose different variations of feeds and some clients even offer filters for the feeds.

Scroll down to get a small overview of the clients I've tried.

Step 3: Set up your lightning wallet with something like Wallet of Satoshi

I made my Bitcoin Lightning wallet independent of my identity. That's why I just went with the number one Lightning wallet on the market: Satoshi's Wallet. It's very simple and provides you with a Lightning address that resembles and has the format of an email address. You can add this address to your Nostr profile description and you're ready to receive Sats. Anyone can send them to you, e.g. for a good message or something else they find valuable on Nostr (like a podcast, a video, an article, ...). Just be aware that Satoshi's wallet contains your key and the sats you have there are not really your sats. So only leave a small amount there or no more than you need for your nostr experience.

Step 4: Set up your Nostr address

I set up a unique NIP-05 identifier that is human readable and also looks like an email address. For me, that's tobiya@nostrplebs.com, also called a nostr address. It's much easier to read, share and remember than your public key, which is just a long, unwieldy string of characters.

Some popular services are: * NostrVerified * Alby * Iris * Primal * Snort * nostrplebs.com

Most offer free services or at least a free tier. I chose nostrplebs.com because it links my Nostr address (tobiya@nostrplebs.com) to my Lightning wallet. ⚡

Brief overview of the clients (I have tested)

Web/Browser:

• Primal: Fast, user-friendly, nice looking, easy to use
• Coracle: Focuses on decentralized reputation, privacy and trust metrics. Also well organized and structured
• noStrudel: The most comprehensive I've found, has everything
• Rabbit: Designed like X (Twitter) Pro, focuses on everything at once
• Nostter: Clearly structured, easy to find what you're looking for
• Snort: Fast web client for those who prefer simplicity and speed.

iOS

I'm not an iPhone user, but everything I've discovered says that Damus is the best app for iOS.

Android:

• Amethyst: Feature rich for Android, I only tried this program because it gives me everything I currently need on my phone.
• Primal: Works seamlessly with Primal on the web, which is a pretty convenient starting point if you only want to use one client.

As for the web clients, I'm still figuring out which one will be my favorite. But I think they're all good in their own way. In the time of writing, I am mainly using Primal on Android and Web, Amethyst and noStrudel.

Let's have fun!!

@ a6e6a54b:8aca70c6

Outline

1. Introduction.
2. Setting the Ground with Definitions: UFO, UAP and The Phenomenon.
3. About the Author: Luis Elizondo.
4. Skeptical Approach.
5. Non-Skeptical Approach.
6. Spiritual-Metaphysical Component of UAP.
7. Worldview Frameworks.
8. Making Sense of UAP.
9. The Stickiness of The Phenomenon.
10. Possibilities for UAP.
11. Spiritual-Metaphysical Beings.
12. Human Nature.
13. UAP Intentions.
14. Psyop Hypothesis.
15. Conclusions.
16. References.

From Lights in the Sky to the Fallen

Expanding the Conversation from Imminent by Luis Elizondo

### 1. Introduction

Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. -Oliver Wendell Holmes.

During the past few years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the UFO-UAP topic. If you have been paying attention, you know by now that the phenomenon is real: there has been an acknowledgment of what people have been saying for years. However, if you are not aware of the current state of affairs, you might need to catch up. Imminent by Luis Elizondo [1] summarizes the latest events and his role in them. I think this book is not for UAP beginners, and I still consider myself as one. For this reason, it was not the book I was expecting, but it was the book I needed to challenge my approach to this topic. I had to make a mental shift in order to think about this issue more broadly. I will elaborate more on the challenges I faced later.

Luis “Lue” Elizondo explains his role as the Head of AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program) run by the Pentagon and why he resigned due to the secrecy. As you can imagine, it is very difficult to make sense of someone else’s experiences, especially when they also involve the phenomenon. From my perspective, the book brings to the forefront yet another layer of this mystery —the spiritual and metaphysical component of UAP—, which is hard to process (it certainly was for me). I initially planned to write a review of the book, but I have decided instead that I will continue the conversation that Lue started, specifically about this aspect of UAP.

Keep in mind that whether you believe they live among us or think it is all nonsense, you may already have a strong bias that confirms your beliefs and dismisses any new information. This is part of what makes this topic so strange—most people seem to fall into one of two categories: either fully invested or completely indifferent. In my experience, the most common nuanced opinion among those who have not delved deeply into the subject but still want to appear open-minded is: “Of course, there are aliens somewhere in the universe, but it is ridiculous to think they have already visited us.” However, if you look closely at the discussions over the past few years, people are not necessarily talking about aliens visiting Earth—that is just one possibility being considered. I think claiming that aliens exist somewhere but have not shown up yet, and probably never will, is a comfort zone stance.

Furthermore, I am not inclined to convince anyone that this topic is relevant. But, if you already think that transparency is worth your time, then let’s think about the puzzle together!

Notes: 1. I think you should read the book, but if you prefer a summary and review of the key points made by Lue, I recommend watching Richard Dolan’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uazfN6CqUeQ. 2. I have been careful with the quotes I am sharing here. Having listened to several hours of Lue’s interviews and podcasts, I have only included quotes he has publicly discussed. 3.

---

2. Setting the Ground with Definitions: UFO, UAP and The Phenomenon

I want clarify the meanings of UFO, UAP and the phenomenon, as I understand them:

• UFO: Unidentified Flying Object. This is a well-known acronym, often associated with flying saucers. It carries a lot of stigma, taboo, and conspiracy theories. Because of the recent surge of interest in the topic, the term "UFO" is not as commonly used anymore; instead, most people now refer to UAP. Additionally, the term UFO does not encompass the full range of the phenomenon.

• UAP: Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena[^1]. It was previously defined as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, but the phenomenon is not only aerial; it is transmedium (moving through air, space, and water—USO refers to Unidentified Submerged Object), and possibly transdimensional. Therefore, “anomalous” is a more accurate word, as it better captures the broader nature of the phenomenon.

• The Phenomenon: This is the core of the issue and what we are trying to understand. The way that I see it, the phenomenon involves the interaction[^2] between humans and a non-human intelligence, which may be more advanced than us. The elements of interaction include:

Objects: These are observed in the sky, in the ocean, or coming from outer space. Objects can also be inserted into the human body. Examples include crafts, lights, and drone-like objects. These objects may appear tangible or not.

Entities or Beings: These are sometimes seen near or inside the objects, or on their own. They may communicate messages through unusual means. Their origin is uncertain—whether material or metaphysical in nature.

To summarize:

From a human perspective, the interaction with the phenomenon can be both material—occurring through devices, human senses, and visible changes in the body with biological effects—and psychological. Even more puzzling is that the phenomenon may enclose what some refer to as paranormal activity[^3].

Whatever the phenomenon is, it seems to have both material and non-material components. So, when we talk about evidence (photos, videos, vehicles, etc.) we might only be seeing one side of the coin, not the whole picture. I am being very deliberate in using the terms material and non-material because I am referring to the materialistic interpretation of the universe. I will expand more about this later.

[^1]: As for the word "phenomena," I do not think it is necessary to use "UAPs" to refer to the plural form. However, it is very common to see “UAPs” used everywhere. I will just stick with "UAP" in this discussion. [^2]: If they are seen or detected, that counts as interaction. When I mentioned earlier that some people say that “life exists somewhere else in the universe”, they are missing the point. The life forms that might exist elsewhere, which we do not yet know about, are not interacting with humans. [^3]: Some suggest that a subset of what we call paranormal activity can be caused or related to the phenomenon. Therefore, in the end, certain instances of paranormal activity could have a material explanation.

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3. About the Author: Luis Elizondo

Luis Elizondo was recruited as a senior intelligence officer to help establish counterintelligence and security for the Advanced Aerospace Weapons System Applications Program (AAWSAP), which later became the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). This program was focused on “unconventional technologies” (p. 6), “unusual phenomena” and investigated unidentified aircraft, specifically ones that seem to display beyond-next-generation technology and capabilities—what we now call unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, or what were long referred to as UFOs (p. 8).

Some interesting details discussed at the podcast Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal [2] include: * Lue still keeps his security clearance. * Lue’s book went through a year-long review process by the Pentagon, resulting in certain parts being redacted.

Due to these factors, some speculate that he could be a disinformation agent. However, I do not agree with this notion, as other whistleblowers[^4] have come forward and support some of Lue’s claims. Additionally, Lue’s coming out appears to have caused an internal struggle within the Pentagon. It is very confusing to say the least.

[^4]: Lue does not view himself as a whistleblower but rather as a “patriot”. The fact that he retains his security clearance and continues to work as a government consultant makes people wonder who is really behind this disclosure movement. He has stated that: I would never in a million years violate my security oath. The damage inflicted by people such as Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning and, later, Edward Snowden arguably did more harm than good. Yes, the truth got out, but people lost their lives, and intelligence was compromised in the process (p. 193).

In my opinion, the most important claim made by Lue is the following: Unidentified craft with beyond-next-generation technology—including the ability to move in ways that defy our knowledge of physics and to do so within air, water, and space—have been operating with complete impunity all over the world since at least World War II. These crafts are not made by humans. Humanity is in fact not the only intelligent life in the universe, and not the alpha species… While there are valid reasons for secrecy around some aspects of UAP, I do not think humanity should be kept in the dark about the fundamental fact that we are not the only intelligent life in the universe. The United States government and other major governments have decided its citizens do not have a right to know, but I could not disagree more. You might be thinking this all sounds crazy. I’m not saying it doesn’t sound crazy, I’m saying that it’s real (pp. 1-2).

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4. Skeptical Approach

In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story. -Walter Cronkite.

Before sharing my opinions, assuming that the claims made by Lue and others are true, I need to outline some of the reasons for skepticism about the information being presented (in his book and in general during this disclosure process):

1. Lack of evidence: Lue has not provided concrete evidence, only his personal testimony. The Pentagon denies his claims.

2. Quality of evidence: The evidence that is presented is often of poor quality: blurry pictures and out of context videos that could be anything.

3. Lue Elizondo’s Credentials: Right after the release of the book, there was considerable debate on #UFOTwitter regarding his position at AATIP.
4. Government secrecy: Many think that it is impossible for a government to keep a big secret like this one from the public for so many years. They argue that the cover-up and secrecy are just conspiracy theories.
5. Persistent Claims of Imminent Disclosure: Ufologists keep claiming, for decades, that disclosure is just about to happen any day now.
6. Questionable Sources: A lot of the reported encounters come from people who might be unstable, seeking attention, or trying to scam others. Even those who seem genuine might be misinterpreting what they experienced.

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5. Non-Skeptical Approach

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend. -Henri Bergson.

The goal here is not to focus on the skeptic view. I am well aware that one can just say “Show me the evidence”, and move on if no one points to anything convincing and irrefutable. Also, given the fact that there are many other relevant issues affecting our daily life—like inflation, climate change, geopolitical instability, wars, and surveillance— dedicating mental energy to the UAP issue seems like a waste of time. It is totally reasonable to set this discussion aside due to other priorities.

However, I think it is unfair to dismiss the UAP issue as unscientific, nonsense and full of fraudsters (and there are definitely some of those) without spending a decent amount of time trying to understand what it is really about before criticizing it. Ridiculing a subject you do not know much about and do not understand is not scientific. In my opinion, one of the best critics in this area is Dr. Michael Shermer^5. He is a well-known skeptic with a deep knowledge of various UFO cases, has read a vast amount of information and talked to experiencers and witnesses. I recommend following his work.

In the previous section, I mentioned that some people think it is impossible for a government to keep a big secret[^6] like this for so long. I agree with that perspective and it seems that whistleblowers are starting to come forward. Not just one, but several whistleblowers with military backgrounds have been sharing their stories. It is up for you to decide how trustworthy you think they are. They have appeared in interviews, podcasts and some have even testified before the US Congress. While it is possible that they could all be lying or working together, I am going to assume for now that this is not the case so I can focus on the information they are providing.

[^6]: Some people believe that if there was anything significant to the UAP issue, we would have seen it revealed in Wikileaks by now. Interestingly, the “Podesta emails” include exchanges between Tom DeLonge and John Podesta, both of whom are mentioned in the book because of their interest in the topic.

Sometimes it is important to state the obvious: if something is engaging humanity, we do not need any government to tell us whether it is real or not. As Dr. Avi Loeb^7, Head of the Galileo Project^8, puts it: The sky and oceans are not classified and we can survey them ourselves [3]. People all around the world have been sharing their experiences on this topic for years. Sure, some of these people might be fraudsters, attention seekers, or simply confused, but others might be recounting genuine experiences of events that truly happened to them (even if we do not agree on their nature). That is why the testimonies of whistleblowers who have encountered unusual phenomena during their military service are very significant. Their credibility and training to identify anomalies while staying objective make their accounts worth considering.

There are also people who have had more intriguing encounters with the phenomenon, often referred to as experiencers[^9]. If you’re a good listener, you might have heard some unusual stories from people you know, and you might even know someone who falls into this category. For those who might be unaware, experiencers do exist, and many of them choose to stay quiet. As Dr. Garry Nolan^10, Executive Director of the Sol Foundation^11, points out: I think that what [ridiculing] does is a disservice to people who come forward with stories because they have a double trauma, they have the trauma of seeing something they do not understand and doesn’t fit with their worldview, and then they have the trauma of everyone making fun of them [4]. [^9]: I think this term was originally reserved for abductees, but recently, I have heard it used more broadly to refer to anyone who has had an experience related to the phenomenon. So, I’ll use “experiencers” in this broader context.

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6. Spiritual-Metaphysical Component of UAP

It is not the answer that enlightens but the question. -Eugène Ionesco.

Worldview Frameworks

To ensure we are all on the same page, let’s take a moment to discuss Materialism, which is the predominant worldview among scientists and philosophers for explaining the nature of reality.

Materialism holds that the universe is entirely physical and governed by the laws of physics.

Reductive Materialism refers to the notion that all mental states—such as emotions, beliefs, perceptions, desires—can be reduced to physical phenomena, hence, mental states correspond to physical states. Most Materialists identify with Reductive Materialism.

Eliminative Materialism takes a step further by suggesting that mental phenomena do not exist at all.

Mental phenomena is an interesting case of study because it seems to be something different. However, most scientists argue that mental states can be explained through materialistic means, suggesting, there is no need to postulate another substance[^12] or property. Nevertheless, consciousness does not seem to be reconciled in a materialistic way due to its subjective nature and we still lack a clear definition of it. This is one of science's greatest mysteries, sparking extensive debate among philosophers, psychologists, and neurologists. In recent decades, computer scientists have also joined the conversation, due to the advances in Artificial Intelligence. I mention this because, as we explore the unknown characteristics of the phenomenon later, some have proposed that moving beyond a materialistic interpretation might be necessary, especially since the phenomenon seems to interact directly with human consciousness.

[^12]: Cartesian dualism divides the world in two parts: the physical and the mental, leading us to the mind-body problem—how does the interaction occur? We have shifted toward a form of monism, assuming that the world is only made of physical stuff (materialism), thus dismissing the mind-body problem, by claiming that the mind is material (reductionism). However, phenomenal consciousness—the realm of subjective experiences or qualia—seems to escape materialism, drawing us back to reconsider dualism and other flavors of it. This scientific challenge has been famously formulated as the Hard Problem of Consciousness by the philosopher Dr. David Chalmers.

Professor Dr. Mark Harris, physicist and theologian, in his essay Faith and physics states that: Physics is widely said to have a unique ability to shine light on physical reality at its most fundamental level. But in order to do so, physicists must make many assumptions. Indeed, the widespread assumption that physics is the most fundamental of the natural sciences, and that all others relate to it, is a consequence of reductionism, a metaphysical belief which can’t itself be established empirically in any direct way. Moreover, whether theorists or experimentalists, most physicists assume a form of realism –in spite of the fact that quantum physics has led to various anti-realist challenges– and a strong belief in the uniformity of nature, that physical reality is systematic, regular and patterned everywhere, and that these patterns may be understood rationally (the idea that is often expressed as the ‘laws of nature/physics’). This requires reliance on physical models to explain or summarise observations. A model is effectively a scientific metaphor, or an analogy, a way of explaining something we don’t understand in terms of something we do… The next assumption is that the uniform patterns we think we see in nature, which we try to describe using models, are universal. This means that we can eliminate local variables. For instance, in an experiment we discard the vast array of data we observe which are not universally systematic in favour of those (usually much sparser) data that are. Note that this means that we inevitably bring theoretical expectations to the lab: we can’t perform an experiment without having a pre-conceived theoretical framework already in place. This is often summarised by the famous phrase of N. R. Hanson that, ‘All data are theory-laden’. In other words, our observations come with theoretical baggage which already goes some way towards interpreting them [5].

Hence, the scientific lenses through which we understand reality are also grounded in suppositions or metaphysical beliefs because we cannot prove: materialism, realism (reality exists independent of the observer), determinism and reductionism, and that all reality can be understood by rational means. These notions certainly help us effectively interpret, understand and predict the physical world we are familiar with. There is a common belief that if something appears to be outside this worldview, it is either because: 1) We have not yet discovered the scientific explanation for it, or 2) It simply does not exist. I find the first possibility compelling, as we should indeed strive to understand the world around us. However, if we encounter phenomena that truly[^13]defy scientific explanation and challenge our established notions of reality (such as the concept of God), dismissing them as non-existent might reflect a personal bias or attachment to a specific worldview rather than an objective search for truth. I do not think that we should just abandon ourselves to all possible explanations every chance we get, but if after a thorough examination of the issue following the scientific method we remain puzzled, maybe, it is time to consider alternative perspectives.

[^13]: We cannot be sure about this.

Making Sense of UAP

Once you find true knowledge, ignorance is no longer an option. And if the knowledge you find is unusual then strange becomes a way of life. -Thomas Campbell.

The UAP issue challenges our scientific understanding in two significant ways:

1. Behavior of UAP: The behavior of UAP do not align with our current understanding of physics. This discrepancy leads many to speculate that we might be encountering intelligence and technology far more advanced than our own. This idea often implies that these phenomena could originate from a more technologically advanced civilization, potentially from somewhere else in the universe. In this regard, Lue mentions the 6 observables that should be explained (p. 156): * Instantaneous acceleration. * Hypersonic velocity. * Low observability. * Transmedium travel. * Antigravity. * Biological effects. *

2. Interaction with Humans: The way experiencers describe their interactions with UAP could challenge our materialistic worldview. This aspect introduces what I refer to as the spiritual-metaphysical component.

When I used to think about the UAP issue, I never felt the need to consider anything beyond science. I was comfortable sticking to a materialistic interpretation of the world (although I do not subscribe to it as the ultimate explanation of reality), and this was reflected in my approach to the phenomenon—I would just ignore anything metaphysical. I was aware of some of the claims but they seemed too overwhelming to process. I also thought that once we understood ‘the observables’, we would be able to explain the rest. While I have not completely changed my perspective on how to study this topic, I am now open to the idea that we need to explore the spiritual-metaphysical side in parallel.

As I was reading and Lue mentioned Robert Bigelow^14 in the first few pages, I thought to myself “Oh no, please don’t go there…” But sure enough, he did touch on the paranormal aspects later in the book. I was disappointed and felt he might be making a mistake: if he wanted to draw attention to this topic from a broader audience, focusing only on concrete data—such as sensor readings, the capabilities of the crafts, and how they seem to defy our understanding of physics—would be more effective. Introducing the more unusual aspects of the topic might turn off physicists and the scientific community, potentially leading them to dismiss the discussion.

To be fair, Lue does not imply that the phenomenon cannot be explained materialistically and it is spiritual in nature. In fact, he references Arthur C. Clarke’s idea that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”, and he appears frustrated with the attitude of some Christian fundamentalists in government regarding this topic. But I will address this in more detail later.

I believe that Lue is intentional with his choice of words and the information he presents as he retains his security clearance. Early in the book, he mentions: Over time, my colleagues and I gained insight into how these mysterious UAP operate (p. 2). From this, I concluded: * He is signaling to a certain group. The book is not meant for beginners looking for a general overview of the UAP issue. * The spiritual-metaphysical aspect of the phenomenon is so significant that it cannot be ignored. * He may be an experiencer himself (he refers to personal experiences), and by acknowledging them, he is validating others, encouraging them to come forward.

Now that the spiritual-metaphysical part of this issue was brought front and center, I had to confront it as well, even though I had been mentally resisting it.

Remote Viewing and Orbs

Lue dedicates a whole chapter to remote viewing: Recruits were trained to spy upon enemies, but not in the usual way. Stargate trained “supersoldiers” to spy on hard targets using their psychic gifts. No, I am not kidding, this was an official US government program. They called the highly controversial technique “remote viewing.” The program, pioneered at Stanford University in the late 1960s, was led by none other than Hal Puthoff, whom I met at the dinner meeting I described earlier. Hal had been a Stanford University researcher and an employee of the NSA when he and his colleague Russell Targ were approached by the CIA and told that Russia had a remote-viewing program. The US needed to catch up and beat their efforts. That’s how it all started. Extrasensory perception had won over supporters in government who were initially dubious, then shocked that the technique worked. No one understood the mechanism. The CIA didn’t care why it worked; the only thing that mattered was that it did (p. 33). This whole story is really captivating but I was under the impression that it was unnecessary for the reader who is only interested to learn about UAP.

It turns out that Lue connects his involvement in AATIP to some unusual incidents that were occurring to him, his family and colleagues. He explains that they started seeing orbs in their homes: I was shocked to find that a lot of my colleagues and I began experiencing firsthand some of these orbs at our homes...The object behaved as if guided by some intelligence. It parked itself in the air, then drifted off down the hall before disappearing entirely (p. 68).

For those of you who do not know about orbs this is how he describes them: One of the most common types of UAP that are often reported is what we call orbs, which are small, luminous balls of light or, in some cases, smooth and metallic spheres. This is nothing new. In World War II, orbs were reported regularly in and around Allied and Axis aircraft, so much so that they were nicknamed “foo fighters” (p. 67). The orbs have been reported: by commercial pilots or military pilots or by eyewitnesses on the ground, particularly around military test ranges and sensitive US military facilities. This is not just a military phenomenon. Now, with the pervasiveness of home security systems and advancements in cell phone cameras, private civilians are capturing these orbs, just like the military is (p. 67). At this point, I was quite surprised because I remembered being part of a conversation with some colleagues in an academic setting where they expressed how much they would like to study orbs. I had no idea what orbs were, and I had never heard about them before, let alone their potential connection to UAP. Reading that chapter made a lot of things from that old conversation click into place. I wish I could go back and ask more questions about orbs, but they sounded too esoteric for my taste back then, and I was not in the right mindset to show genuine curiosity.

There is another interesting point he makes about orbs: The classification of these orbs really varies quite a bit. There are different colors and sizes; some of the colors reported were white, yellow, blue, red, and green. Reports I have seen suggested the blue orbs in particular had a very negative biological consequence, meaning if you got close to one of these, you could expect to be injured (p. 67). This example highlights that the phenomenon is not entirely harmless.

The way I see it, the connection between remote viewing and orbs in the book (not that these two are necessarily related) is that they might both be some kind of surveillance mechanism and ways to collect intel (this much information we have with remote viewing in a military context). This raises interesting questions about the nature of both remote viewing and orbs, as we venture into the blurry area between physics and metaphysics. I was under the impression that remote viewing was debunked, but Lue says that it works and is still used by the CIA, which does not care why it works but just that it does. What is going on here?

Stickiness of The Phenomenon

At the beginning of Lue’s involvement in UAP related work, he was warned that: “You should be prepared for the possibility that some of that strangeness will impact your personal life. These portfolios are sticky” (p. 12). Later, he linked this initial warning to his experience with orbs. I had heard about the Hitchhiker^15 effect but it took me a while to make the connection.

In a particularly eye-opening section of the conversation about Imminent in the podcast hosted by Post Disclosure World, the guests Christopher Sharp and James Iandoli, clearly highlight the concept of stickiness: If you engage with the phenomenon the phenomenon engages back. They raise an intriguing argument against widespread disclosure or confirmation of UAPs: There is this idea that we should not disclose because if we disclose that’s going to open a door for the phenomena to start engaging us in a much more proactive and unambiguous way. Do we want to all wake up at 3 am and see green orbs in our bedroom like Lue Elizondo and his family experience?[6]. Isn’t this a fascinating question?

There does seem to be a reactive aspect to the phenomenon. Personally, I lean towards the idea of transparency. After all, many of us have wondered whether we are alone in the universe and if human intelligence is the highest form. While the stickiness of the phenomenon might be a consequence of this new knowledge, we would eventually learn how to manage it. However, it is easier said than done. No one wants to live in fear, and this reactive part of the phenomenon appears to exacerbate that emotion. Additionally, in times of collective anxiety, there is always the risk of powers emerging “for our protection”—as Winston Churchill famously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

On the other hand, how deeply do you need to engage with the topic for it to become sticky? I am not sure. I have not had any experience myself.

I have noticed a common pattern among those who have opened up to me about their experiences: they often express confusion, shame, and fear. Many of them wish to forget what happened to them entirely. None of the experiences shared so far have been described as positive or exciting. But I recognize I cannot draw broad conclusions.

Possibilities for UAP

We sometimes get all the information but we refuse to get the message. -Cullen Hightower.

This classification is where things start to get even stranger. Physicist Dr. Harold Puthoff (mentioned several times by Lue), in his paper titled “Ultraterrestrial Models”, published in the Journal of Cosmology, states: It is currently unknown whether the phenomenon is exclusively extraterrestrial, extradimensional, crypto-terrestrial, demonic/djinn, proto/ancient human, time-travelers, etc., or some combination or mutation of any or all of these. However, it appears highly likely that the phenomenon per se is not constituted exclusively of members of the current human population [7]. At this point, I do not even want to speculate on what we are dealing with. The current information available to the public makes it almost impossible to even guess.

Professor Dr. Kevin Knuth[^16], physicist and member of the Advisory Board of the Sol Foundation, in his podcast appearance with the Scientific Coalition for UAP studies shares his thoughts to the very interesting question: How do you empirically study something where the very definition of just kind of a question mark, we don’t know what it is, it’s a phenomenon, it’s a thing, it's an object in the traditional sense at all? [Answer]: The first thing we need to do is to develop some kind of taxonomy. We need to come up with a way to classify things whether it's based on appearance, behavior and situation… We are faced with the difficulty in that there is a stigma attached to one of the hypotheses of what some of these things might be: the extraterrestrial hypothesis, which to me I don’t actually see very unlikely anymore, I think that’s actually very probable. But once you develop some kind of taxonomy then you can start to tease apart what you’re looking at and what you’re trying to study. These things aren’t clearly not all alien spacecraft: some of them are weather balloons, atmospheric phenomena that we don’t know anything about, pictures of birds…. It’s a very interesting and complicated problem, there is a lot to be discovered here. They are not just one thing… I’ll sometimes joke, I’m only interested in the ones that are craft, you cannot always tell which ones are craft and which ones aren’t, it’s not that simple…. We’re in a position where we really don’t know much at all and it really is smart to keep all the hypotheses on the table: the natural phenomena, the craft phenomena, the extraterrestrial hypothesis, the ultraterrestrial hypothesis, time travelers (from the past and future). There’s a lot of possibilities and there could be several of these hypotheses being true, which can be confounding and it'll be difficult to sort things out [8].

[^16]: https://www.albany.edu/physics/faculty/kevin-knuth https://thesolfoundation.org/people/

I know I mentioned things were getting weird, but now they are about to get even weirder. Lue recounts a conversation that left him stunned: “Lue, you know we already know what these things are, right?” …“It’s demonic,” he said to me. “There is no reason we should be looking into this. We already know what they are and where they come from. They are deceivers. Demons.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This was a senior intelligence official putting his religious beliefs ahead of national security. (p. 84, 85). I guess you are not disappointed by how bizarre things have become with this twist.

I was not entirely surprised by this interpretation. I agree with Lue that a senior officer’s religious beliefs should not be more important than national security. The real question is whether this officer arrived at this conclusion purely based on his religious beliefs, or if there is additional information that is being withheld from the public and from special agents like Lue, who were investigating this topic from within the government.

Spiritual-Metaphysical Beings

Believe those who are seeking truth. Doubt those who find it. -André Gide.

Tucker Carlson shared his views, and it is worth noting his perspective because of his significant influence on public discourse. In this conversation he appears with another important public figure, Joe Rogan. Also, what Carlson says is how I expect many people to react and interpret the nature of the entities associated with the phenomenon.

Carlson says: They are spiritual beings, it’s a binary, they are either team good or team bad… The template that you’re using to understand this is, science fiction or an advanced race of beings from somewhere else but the template that every other society before us has used is the spiritual one. There is a whole world that we can’t see that acts on people, the supernatural world, it’s acting on us all the time for good and bad. Every society has thought this before ours, in fact, every society in all recorded history has thought that until, I'll be specific, August 1945 when we dropped the atom bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and all of the sudden the West is just officially secular, we’re God, there is no God but and that’s the world we have grown up. But, that’s an anomaly, no one else has ever thought that… Once you discard your very recent assumptions about how the world works, well, that kind of seems like the obvious explanation [9]. I applaud Carlson for openly talking about this, especially bringing up the spiritual beings interpretation. However, amidst the confusion, we should apply caution when listening to people who emphatically tell us with certainty what they are.

On the other hand, Dr. Avi Loeb expresses his stance on this discussion: Shawn asked whether I believe that UAPs have a spiritual component. I explained that spirituality or consciousness are likely an emergent phenomenon of complex systems, like the human brain and advanced AI systems. Their behavior is difficult to predict because they have a large number of degrees of freedom and are influenced by input from uncontrolled environments. Whether there are intelligent UAPs remains to be documented by the Galileo Project. If such UAPs exist, I would add psychologists to our research team, because they are trained to deal with intelligent systems [3].

We can analyze the nature of these beings from different angles: 1. Non-Materialistic Point of View: I have not gone into a deep level of study of the UAP beings —commonly known as aliens—but I have heard people talk about these entities. They seem to be embodied although their appearances vary. When they interact with humans, some people report both physical and psychological effects, such as body marks, paralysis, telepathic communication, missing time, memory loss, and fear. This does not suggest they are intrinsically spiritual beings, such as angels and demons (the fallen ones) from the Bible. These entities seem to have a dual nature. But one could argue that angels and demons are spiritual in essence and they also have the ability to materialize, and this observation would lead us into theological territory. This shows how easy things get messy when trying to relate something unknown with something else that we think we know. 2. Materialistic Point of View: Let’s forget all the spiritual stuff and demons, nothing of that exists, and even if it does, these entities could just be material. In this case I would say pretty much what Lue keeps repeating “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Maybe these creatures have learned how to access our consciousness in a way that we do not even think it is possible.

In my opinion, we are dealing with a mix of different types of entities although I cannot say anything about their ontology. I would not rule out the spiritual beings, demons, or dual nature entities interpretation. For those who have experienced encounters with these beings, sharing their experiences is crucial so we can gather enough data to better understand and categorize them[^17]. But unfortunately, there is always the fear of ridicule. We need to understand what is and isn’t part of the phenomenon. I would also like to hear what other religions and traditions think.

[^17]: Esoteric groups have already developed some taxonomy, but the information they have gathered falls into the category of revelation (by the beings themselves) rather than an accumulation of data.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. -Albert Einstein.

For example, Dr. John E. Mack^18, a renowned psychiatrist from Harvard who tragically passed away in a car accident in 2004, made significant contributions to the field. I first encountered his work through a documentary about the Ariel School UFO landing. Dr. Mack was deeply interested in speaking with the children who witnessed this traumatic event and sought to understand it. His book, Abduction, explores UFO abductions and encounters with these beings. It is important to point out that he was also a well-regarded expert on nightmares.

In an interview, journalist Ralph Blumenthal^19, who wrote a biography about Dr. Mack titled The Believer, noted that Dr. Mack's research highlighted fundamental differences between experiences of the "old hag syndrome" and UFO abductions. The former often involves reports of an evil presence that sits on the bed and causes suffocation, while abductees typically describe being given information telepathically and undergoing medical procedures.

Although these accounts are disturbing, they provide valuable insights by helping us distinguish between similar but distinct experiences. However, the question of the ontology of these beings and their origins still remains unresolved. Blumenthal adds: What are we to draw from this? Well, first of all, there is a whole kind of anomalous experiences that seem to operate in a world that we do not recognize, another reality, that penetrates our world, as John Mack said, somehow, in ways we can’t explain, we have a clear idea of reality, we think we do; reality is what you can see, smell, taste, and touch, knock on the table, feel it... So maybe there are other dimensions, aspects to the universe that we don’t understand” [10]. In addition, Professor Dr. Garry Nolan, whom I mentioned earlier, says the following: It’s interesting, religions have been dealing with extra dimensions and non-human intelligences for centuries: angels and demons, the spirits of the forest, the jinn of the Quran, etc. Where is heaven and hell? It’s another dimension. Are heaven and hell even in the same dimension? Are they different places altogether? Religion struggled with these ideas and the human mind can already encompass the possibility that they exist and had done so since the most primitive of men. That’s amazing to me [4].

This naturally leads us to ask: Are these realities and dimensions “real”? And more importantly, What do we understand by “real”?

About experiencers, Lue expresses that: In the end, abductees report feeling that these beings did not care one way or another if they lived or died. Many experiencers reported feeling completely vulnerable, helpless, and afraid. As a former special agent, if a witness reported being whisked away against their will, I would consider that an act of kidnapping, a federal crime. And if the witness said they were touched against their will, I would consider that assault, yet another crime in human terms (p. 173). I totally agree with Lue on his opinion right here.

I now think it is a mistake to rely solely on physicists, astronomers, and engineers for answers, yet that is where most people tend to focus. The phenomenon we are dealing with is not just about lights in the sky, mysterious crafts, or extraterrestrial beings. The problem is far more complex, and narrowing the scope to only the physical aspects limits our understanding. To fully grasp what is happening, we need insights from a much broader range of perspectives—psychologists, psychiatrists, philosophers, theologians, heads of different religions, anthropologists, and historians. Each of these fields offers a piece of the puzzle, whether it is understanding human consciousness, exploring ancient interpretations of similar phenomena, or delving into the spiritual implications. It is only by bringing together all of these viewpoints that we can begin to form a more complete picture of the UAP phenomenon.

Human Nature

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Ancient Buddhist proverb.

I also believe that we need to start looking inwards and understand our true nature—what makes us humans.

1. *Materialistic Point of View: We have the poetic words of the physicist Sean Carroll, PhD: I want to argue that, though we are part of a universe that runs according to impersonal underlying laws, we nevertheless matter. This isn’t a scientific question — there isn’t data we can collect by doing experiments that could possibly measure the extent to which a life matters. It is at heart a philosophical problem, one that demands that we discard the way that we’ve been thinking about our lives and their meaning for thousands of years. By the old way of thinking, human life couldn’t possibly be meaningful if we are “just” collections of atoms moving around in accordance with the laws of physics. That’s exactly what we are, but it is not the only way of thinking about what we are. We are collections of atoms, operating independently of any immaterial spirits or influences, and we are thinking and feeling people who bring meaning into existence by the way we live our lives* [11].
2. Non-Materialistic Point of View: Professor Mattias Desmet, PhD, expert on the Theory of Mass Formation expresses that: Young science, too, starts from a belief that the object being studied can be fully understood by means of logical reasoning. Facts are logical—how could they not be? However, the further the logical analysis of the phenomenon under investigation is carried, the more clearly one sees the emergence of a core that is intrinsically illogical and inaccessible to the human mind. And just like with a child, that moment gives rise to an awareness of the relativity of all logic as well as a heightened sensitivity to forms of language that don’t aim to be logically understood but lead to a more direct affinity, to resonance with the object (poetry, mysticism, etc.). In the same way, man also has to come to know himself as a psychological being, as a confluence of subjective experiences, thoughts, feelings, especially as they arise in relations with others. The ability to sense one’s own experience and to put it into words and to express it in relation to another is what constitutes the core of our existence as human beings… we exist as human beings when we can give something of our individuality to another through full speech—a kind of speaking in which something of the human being we are vibrates and resonates. It is through the art of full speech—which is the art learned, for example, in psychoanalytic therapy—that we are able to realize a real connection with others and the world around us (without thereby losing ourselves) [12].

If we truly understand who we are and how it feels to relate to each other in our human form, I think that we would be able to recognize what is not us and perhaps discern what kind of entity or intelligence is trying to engage with us. However, if we do not fully grasp our own humanity and the ways in which we are interconnected, how can we even begin to comprehend a non-human intelligence that might be more advanced than we are?

One of the most intriguing insights we have so far about the phenomenon is the possibility that this intelligence is reactive. This is one of the reasons why we need to start talking about our experiences with it. We may be part of a transformational process without even realizing it, and I also believe that this intelligence is being affected by our interaction—it is a two-way street. This is, of course, speculation.

For example, in the Christian worldview, Jesus was a non-human intelligence that transfigured His divinity when He adopted human form, altering His essence through His humanity and interactions with people. He is now both God and human. So, how are we planning to influence this other intelligence?

This process of understanding who we are and our purpose in the universe is entirely subjective, and/or revealed. This is a different kind of knowledge, —more like wisdom—, and, in my opinion, it cannot come from science. How could it? This is why I am now more inclined to consider the phenomenon from perspectives beyond the scientific. The wisdom and knowledge humanity has acquired over thousands of years will be crucial when addressing this subject.

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7. UAP Intentions

Lue begins his book by discussing the Colares UAP case in Brazil during the 1970s. If you research about what happened you will see that the phenomenon engaged with humans in a very harmful way. This contradicts the belief held by some in the UFO community that these entities are here to help humanity. This belief is often linked to numerous reports of sightings near nuclear weapon sites and facilities, with the suggestion that they are trying to warn us about the dangers of nuclear technology. Moreover, Lue also talks about a case in 1982 in Ukraine: UAP flew over Byelo Air Base in the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Seconds later, the launch sequence for the base’s missiles switched on without any human ever entering the launch codes. Operators frantically rushed to shut the system down but could not. When the launch sequence reached its very last rung, it shut down of its own accord (p. 54). Moreover, he says that: “Adults taking matches out of the hands of children,” some say. That’s a nice hopeful thought, but reality has proven us incorrect. At no time have UAP stopped our nuclear ambitions. As examples: They did not stop us from dropping atomic bombs on Japan. UAP did not stop us from making the leap from atomic to nuclear weapons. UAP did not stop the disasters at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, or Fukushima. UAP did not stop the proliferation of nuclear technology from getting into the hands of more nations. Most recently, UAP have not interfered with North Korean, Indian, or Pakistani nuclear testing. And switching on nuclear missiles? That is not so benevolent (pp. 54-55).

Also, Lue on multiple occasions throughout the book expresses his concerns about national security: Humanity acts as if no one else is watching us, like we are alone. But a more advanced intelligent life is likely observing us. Humanity needs to become more aware of our place in the universe and the potential consequences of our actions. Regardless of their motivation, if this tech is cracked by another nation-state with bad intentions it will be an existential threat to our nation and the planet as a whole. Those are the urgent national security concerns and urgent concerns for humanity at large (pp. 168-169).

Regarding national security, I do not believe we have enough information to assign benevolent or malevolent intentions to UAP yet. Additionally, if this is a non-human intelligence, we cannot necessarily think about it in terms of human-like intentions or motivations aimed at accomplishing a specific purpose.

That being said, I appreciate the fact that someone who was in charge of studying UAP from a national security perspective, shares his concerns and makes evaluations based on his background and experience. UAP should be closely monitored. I believe that the US Congress has already briefed on this matter specifically, and they are requesting yearly reports.

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8. Psyop Hypothesis

To test a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. F. Scott Fitzgerald.

We are facing a trust crisis.

A frequent argument among UAP skeptics is that the recent surge of interest in this topic could be part of a psyop (psychological operation), with the ultimate goal of instilling fear in the population to justify increased surveillance and control. This is a valid point, I have been thinking about this a lot. While I personally believe that the phenomenon is real and engaging with humans, I could also see a scenario where the phenomenon could be exploited—weaponized, even—with half-truths to serve nefarious purposes.

The pressing question then becomes: How can we discern what is real from manipulation?

After reflecting on the book, now I believe that bringing up the spiritual-metaphysical component of the phenomenon was a clever move. At the beginning I thought it was a total mistake, but I have changed my mind. If the phenomenon is used by a government or an elite group for control and manipulation, they would need a common narrative that influences people’s behavior and convinces them that they know and possess ‘the truth’. This approach might work for the material component of the phenomenon but clearly not for the spiritual-metaphysical side. What could be more diverse than people’s spiritual and metaphysical beliefs (and non-beliefs)?

If we start talking to one another about the strange experiences related to UAP, asking for opinions about their meaning and nature, and even disagreeing on interpretations, then two things could happen: 1) Through the process of open discourse, we are more likely to approach the truth, and 2) It becomes much harder for a powerful group to control the narrative. Even if such a group possesses hard evidence and attempts to use certain elements of truth to steer the public toward a specific outcome, open discussion could counteract that influence.

Regarding evidence, there is always an element of trust involved. Imagine that we are finally shown, by “official channels”, a vehicle displaying non-human capabilities: What would convince you that it is “real” and not fabricated to provoke a reaction? Who would need to validate the evidence for you to believe it? The government? Which government (don’t they all have secret programs)? Independent scientists? Scientists affiliated with institutions or organizations? And what kind of institutions or organizations are truly trustworthy?

I believe that a government or elite group can never have control of what is most intimate to a human: their subjective experiences and the meaning they attach to them which is an individual process. This is why we should not allow a particular faith, tradition, or worldview to dominate or lead the discourse related to the spiritual-metaphysical aspects of the phenomenon. Even if you believe there is no such component, you should still have a voice. This is what we, the people, can control—because we are not the ones trying to reverse-engineer retrieved craft in our backyard, but we may have an intuition about the kind of intelligence we might be dealing with. Therefore, we need to start having these conversations, open to all hypotheses, so when disclosure happens (if it does), whether real or fake, it will not catch us off guard.

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9. Conclusions

The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. The opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth. -Niels Bohr.

Lue was a human who found himself in a very strange position. His decision to come forward has been complicated to digest because he is not the usual whistleblower we are used to seeing. Unlike many, he still retains his security clearance and speaks carefully, only about what is not classified. This unique position makes Lue different from typical whistleblowers. Even for those who are not interested in the UAP topic, Lue argues that it is still worth considering how taxpayer money is being used and whether resources are being properly allocated to investigate these sightings and encounters. Whether or not you are personally invested in this subject, the implications for national security and public accountability are real concerns that deserve attention. By coming forward, Lue has opened up a wide range of discussions, not only about the nature of the UAP phenomenon itself but also about the role of transparency in government and the public’s right to know.

Personally I find this topic fascinating. There are many angles to explore and here I chose to focus on the dual nature of the phenomenon, with special attention to the spiritual-metaphysical component. I understand this can also be frightening given all the possibilities we are faced with when considering the phenomenon’s nature. I have faith in humanity, and whatever we find on the other side, I am sure we can handle it. Moreover, during this time of many questions and very few answers, we should learn to embrace the discomfort of not knowing.

Despite the fear of the unknown, there is also the potential for great discoveries. If we are to fully engage with the phenomenon, we have to address not just the external mystery, but also the internal one: it seems like the phenomenon interacts with us on a deeply personal and psychological level, challenging our established ideas about the nature of reality. Understanding ourselves might be a crucial step toward understanding whatever this phenomenon represents because we are the ones extracting meaning. Maybe it is not just about figuring out what the phenomenon is, but why it engages us in the way it does—and that starts with a deeper exploration of our own human experience.

If this topic resonates with you, there are many ways to keep the conversation going: ask others for their thoughts, share your own experiences, and explore the multiple perspectives surrounding the issue. The more we talk openly about UAPs, the harder it will be for any narrative—governmental or otherwise—to control our reactions. This is not just about the phenomenon; it is about our collective right to transparency, understanding, and the courage to face the unknown together as a species.

There are many topics I would have liked to cover, and I know I am only scratching the surface of what has been discussed for years—but at last, I have arrived.

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10. References

[1] Elizondo, Luis. Imminent: Inside the Pentagon's Hunt for UFOs: the Former Head of the Program Responsible for Investigating UAPs Reveals Profound Secrets (p. 19). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

[2] Pentagon’s UFO investigator breaks two year silence:

[3] For the Love of the Unfamiliar by Avi Loeb: https://avi-loeb.medium.com/for-the-love-of-the-unfamiliar-9d9a7612bd8e

[4] Garry Nolan on UFOs, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Eric Weinstein:

[5] Pritchard, Duncan; Harris, Mark. Philosophy, Science and Religion for Everyone (pp. 17-18). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.

[6] Elizondo’s Imminent Round Table:

[7] Ultraterrestrial Models by H. E. Puthoff, Ph.D.: https://thejournalofcosmology.com/Puthoff.pdf

[8] Kevin Knuth on Studying Scientific Anomalies, Simulating Star Systems, & Possible UAP Origins:

[9] When Tucker Carlson Changed His Mind on Aliens:

[10]: The Harvard Psychiatrist Obsessed with Alien Abduction:

[11]Existential Therapy from the Universe: Physicist Sean Carroll on How Poetic Naturalism Illuminates Our Human Search for Meaning: https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/05/31/sean-carroll-the-big-picture/

[12] Desmet, Mattias. The Psychology of Totalitarianism (p. 223, pp. 225-226). Chelsea Green Publishing. Kindle Edition.

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Side jobs and passive sources of income

To increase your income, it is often necessary to be creative and develop different income streams:

• Freelancing: platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr or Freelancer offer a variety of tasks, from graphic design to programming work to marketing. According to a study by Statista, freelancers in Germany earn between 20 and 50 euros per hour on average, depending on their expertise.
• Part-time jobs: You can take on a part-time job alongside your main job. Think about jobs that are flexible, such as driving services (e.g. Uber, Bolt), delivery services (e.g. Deliveroo, Gorillas) or tutoring. According to the Federal Employment Agency, part-time jobs can be tax-free up to 450 euros per month, which is an attractive option.
• Passive income: This requires work or capital initially, but can generate income in the long term:
• • Real estate: real estate investments offer regular rental income. According to the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the return on residential real estate in Germany can be between 3% and 5%.
• • Dividend stocks: Invest in companies that pay dividends. Companies such as Siemens or Deutsche Telekom have a long tradition of distributing dividends.
• • Digital products: Create e-books, online courses or apps. Once created, these products can generate continuous income.
• • Affiliate marketing: Partner with brands and earn through sales commissions. Amazon Associates is one of the best-known platforms for this.

Reduce expenses

Another way to have more capital for investments such as Bitcoin is to reduce expenses: * Budgeting: create a detailed budget. Apps like YNAB or Mint can help categorize expenses and analyze where savings can be made. * Food: Plan your shopping, buy seasonal products and cook more yourself. According to a study by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, households spend an average of around 25% of their income on food.Conscious shopping can significantly reduce these costs. * Energy costs: Use energy-saving light bulbs, switch off appliances completely and insulate your home better. According to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA), simple energy-saving measures can reduce costs by up to 20%. * Subscriptions and memberships: Review regular subscriptions (gym, streaming services).Many people pay for services they rarely use. A survey by Statista showed that on average 10-15% of monthly spending is used for subscriptions. * Transportation: Use public transportation or car sharing services instead of owning a car.Owning a car can cost several thousand euros a year, including insurance, maintenance and fuel. * Second-hand and upcycling: Buy second-hand clothes or furniture.The second-hand market is booming and you can often find high-quality products at a fraction of the original price.

Investing, or rather saving, in Bitcoin

After you have accumulated more Dollar or other paper money by increasing your income and reducing your expenses, you can invest in Bitcoin:

• Bitcoin: As the first and best-known cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has a high market capitalization and acceptance. Investors see Bitcoin as a “digital gold” alternative, especially in times of inflation.
• Risk and volatility: Bitcoin is known for its high volatility. It is important to only invest money that you don't need in the immediate future. In the long term, bitcoin is destined to rise in price in dollar terms due to its unique characteristics.
• Long-term perspective: Many investors hold Bitcoin as a long-term investment, similar to stocks. Historically, Bitcoin has shown positive returns over longer periods of time, despite high volatility.

Practical steps to increase income and reduce expenses:

1. Analyze income: Make a note of all your sources of income and consider how you can increase them. This could be through salary increases, side hustles or new passive income streams.
2. Review expenses: Make a list of your monthly expenses and identify areas where you can cut back. Set specific goals for reduction.
3. Investment plan: After you have accumulated more capital, create an investment plan. For Bitcoin, this could mean investing small amounts regularly to take advantage of the average cost effect (dollar-cost averaging).
4. Education and networking: Invest time in education and build a network. This can lead to new income opportunities and increase your financial intelligence.

Idea to get Ahead:

Create a budget and set a monthly savings goal for your Bitcoin investments. Calculate how much you can generate by reducing expenses and generating additional income. Research and choose a Bitcoin only platform to buy Bitcoin (e.g. Relai, Coinfinity, 21Bitcoin, Pocket Bitcoin ). Learn the basics of trading and start with a small investment.

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The basics of financial planning

Financial education is the first step to financial independence. Here are the core principles you need to understand:

• Income vs. expenses: The core of any financial plan is to earn more than you spend. This requires not only discipline, but also a clear overview of your financial comings and goings.
• Budgeting: Create a detailed budget plan. A budget helps you to see where your money is going and where you can save. It's a living document that you should adjust regularly.
• Emergency fund: An emergency fund is a buffer against unforeseen events. Experts recommend keeping at least three to six months of your expenses in cash or easily liquidated assets.
• Set goals: Define clear financial goals. These can be short-term (e.g. a new cell phone), medium-term (e.g. a car) or long-term (e.g. retirement). Each type of goal requires different strategies and time frames.
• Debt management: Distinguish between good debt (e.g. investments in education or real estate) and bad debt (e.g. credit cards with high interest rates). A debt repayment plan is often just as important as a savings plan.

Understanding investments

Investing is the way to make your money work for you. Here are some basic concepts you should understand:

• Interest and Compound Interest: Interest is the compensation you receive or pay when you invest or borrow money. Compound interest is particularly powerful as it means you earn interest on your interest, which can lead to exponential growth over time.
• Risk and return: Investments with higher returns are often associated with higher risk. It's important to find a balance that suits your personal risk profile. Diversification can help manage this risk.
• Diversification: Spread your money across different asset classes (equities, bonds, real estate, commodities) and regions to minimize risk. This protects you from a total loss if one investment performs poorly. *** Long-term perspective**: Investing is not a short-term game. It requires patience and a long-term perspective.Short-term market fluctuations should not lead to panic selling. This is true for every asset, even Bitcoin.
• Costs and fees: Pay attention to the costs and fees associated with investing. These can have a significant impact on your returns over time. Especially important are taxes.

Practical steps to financial education:

• Books and courses: Invest in your financial education.There are many resources available, from classics like Rich Dad Poor Dad to online courses on platforms like Coursera or Udemy.
• Financial apps and tools: Use apps like Mint, YNAB (You Need A Budget), or Personal Capital to track your budget and investments. These tools can help you monitor your finances in real time. Even a good old spread sheet can work wonders.
• Seek advice: If possible, consult a financial advisor. They can provide personalized advice tailored to your specific situation. Make sure they offer independent advice.
• Podcasts and blogs: Follow financial podcasts or blogs to get the latest trends and tips. You can find also a lot of execellent stuff on Youtube, especially Bitcoin education.
• Self-study: Learn the basics of stock markets, bonds, real estate investing and other forms of investing. Websites like Investopedia or Khan Academy offer free knowledge.
• Study Bitcoin: Nothing teaches you so much about finance, investing, money and wealth than bitcoin. If you are eager to understand it even more, it will teach you also thermodynamics, cryptography (math), economics, philosophy and maybe a lot more.

Practice for application:

Create a simple budget for the next month. Write down all expected income and expenses. Identify areas where you can save. Use an app or Excel spreadsheet to do this. Research an investment opportunity that interests you (e.g. ETFs, shares, real estate funds). Understand the basics and think about how you could get started. Create a small investment plan.

@ df478568:2a951e67

One way to mitigate the risk of a Password breach is to stop using passwords and start using randomly generated passphrases. A passphrase is a combination of words. A good example can be found on the EFF dice words website. For most applications, they suggest using 6 words randomly chosen by rolling 5 dice. Each word has a corresponding combination of 5 numbers from. 1-6. In other words, they are generated by dice(That's D6 dice for all the nerds out there)Here is an example of a strong passphrase that is easy to memorize.

pacifist-area-unfiled-demeaning-rundown-oblivion

It would take a computer about 200 ocrodecillion years to brute force this passphrase so it is highly unlikely to get cracked before the sun goes all supernova.

Here's how it works: - Step 1: roll 5 dice

• Step 2: Find the coresponding word: In this example, our dice rolls are 2-6-1-3-1
• Step 3: Find the coresponding word in the eff dice roll list:
• Repeat this 6 times.
• Step 4: Write this down on paper. I like waterproof paper made by Rite in the Rain. This is not an affiliate link. I don't make any money off of them. I just like them because they are waterproof and easy to hide. You can also etch the password on military grade steel.
• Step 5: Use this password password for your passphrase manager like Vaultwarden.

Each character is really a binary number so your passphrase is just a big random number to the computer. This number is hashed with SHA256 or something. If you're really smart, you can calculate this with a pencil and paper, but I use computers and calculators. Xorbin is one of the easier tools, but this can be done in bash using the hash library too. Be aware, typing an actual passphrase you use into any website might be a phishing scam. Don't try to use this for anything you are worried about losing.

Here is the hash we get from the 6 words above:

a41c5312e2957462f9f81597088c1c943c11e864b462cddf49dc55145707b69a

Sweet, Sweet Salt

![salt](https://i.nostr.build/cItICfrhGB7xO5mH.png

This hash is stored on a server, and most passwords add salt these days, at least I hope they do. If we add the word salt at the end. We get this hash:

4a66e2aa58a54d10dd8121bc3e044f57535ed29155115ad75267cca05fb749a2

This is because changing one character in a hash drastically alters the output. If you sha256sum my full name, you'll get this hash:

` '0024f0a28bf81851ed8490c4e87173f8790bd9d8ea9423442114d25ad7137f51'

Check out those two hashcash like leading zeros!

If we append my name with 1, the hash becomes:

e418ca6ef08c88613da1a131d1991de10982249df94081dabce2b4d2ab72cbb2

It's totally different! I wish math in high school was this fun.

The actual passphrase or password is not actually stored on the server. That would be a honeypot. There are lists of hashs of pwned passwords. So if your password is Password123

Any hacker worth his salt would know if they had access to the hash of that passwo4rd:

008c70392e3abfbd0fa47bbc2ed96aa99bd49e159727fcba0f2e6abeb3a9d601

See those sexy leading hex zeros again?

The server added some salt to this password, a black hat hacker wouldn't easily recognize the horrible password, "Password123". It offers a little protection, but this is still very easy to brute force so you still don't want to use it.

I'm Too Lazy To Roll Dice And Can't Remember 10,000 Passphrases?

I don't roll dice for every passphrase. Ain't nobody got time for that. I also don't remember the passphrase to every website I sign up for. That's why I recomend usin a use a password manager like vaultwarden VaultWarden). If you don't want to hassle with running your own server, bitwarden does the same thing. Last I checked, they only charged $10.00 a year for the premium plan, but it might have changed. They both allow you to: - Create passwords and passphrases. - Add special characters, numbers and capital letters. - Check if your password was pwned.

For example, "password1" was breached 3,339,722 times. If this is your password, you might want to change it.

"Blink-182" was breached 1,810 times. This password would meet most policies. It has a capital letter, special character and a 3 numbers. Where did we go wrong? Blink 182 is a popular punk band. Of course 1,810 people and one hacker thought of this. Think your safe if you change a number? Think again. "Blink-183" was pwned 16 times. Changing the numbers are also not a good idea due to possible dictionary attacks.

I run my VaultWarden using Start9 and it is also available on Umbrel and Yunohost

Let's try our six word passphrase we created earlier.

"pacifist-area-unfiled-demeaning-rundown-oblivion"

This password was not found in any breaches. It should be safe to use. Well...except I put it on the clear net, but you get the idea.

Other Risks

Okay, we have a strong password, but that's not the only threat. A bad guy could trick us with a spear phishing attack or someone installs a keylogger onto our computer. Now what do we do? Be prepared like a boyscout. This is where it's a good idea to use 2fa or two-factor authentication. I like Aegis There are others like Google Authenticator or physical devices like YubiKeys, but I like Aegis becauseyou can create backups. YubiKeys were cool, but this happened and I'm not sure if that's been resolved yet.

Securing your login with 2fa means one password us an insufficient amount of information to gain access to your account. The attacker would need to pwn the password and your phone to gain access. While not impossible, this is much more difficult.

Here's a Dad joke created by the Duck Duck Go's free AI chatbot.

`Why did the password go to therapy?

Because it was feeling a little "insecure".`

✌️ https://marcleon.work/pgp

862,887

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What does beeing rich mean?

Wealth is a term that has different meanings for many people. For some, it means owning a big house and multiple cars, for others it means the freedom to travel whenever they want, or simply the security of not having to worry about the monthly bills. So before one can dive into the strategies on how to get rich, it makes much sense to define what wealth could mean:

• Material wealth: possession of money and material goods.
• Temporal wealth: The freedom to use your time as you wish.
• Emotional wealth: contentment, happiness and healthy relationships.
• Health wealth: A healthy life without the burden of disease.

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Developing the right mindset

The first step to real wealth starts in the mind. Here are some principles you should internalize:

1. Abundance thinking: believe that there is enough for everyone. Wealth is not limited; it can be created.
2. Take responsibility: Your financial situation is the result of your choices. Take responsibility for it and be prepared to change it.
3. Think long-term: Short-term pleasures can sabotage long-term wealth. Think in terms of decades, not days or months.
4. Continuous learning: The path to wealth is an educational path. Keep learning, be it about finances, investments or new skills.
5. Resilience: Setbacks are inevitable. Rich people see failures as lessons, not the end.
6. Network and relationships: Wealth is often influenced by the people you know and how you interact with them.
7. Create value: Wealth often comes from creating more value for others than you consume yourself.
8. Discipline: Taking in more than you spend, although this may sound trivial, it is a necessary condition.

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Paths to wealth

Getting rich is a goal that many people strive for, and there are several ways to achieve it. Here are some ways that are often discussed: 1. Education and career: A good education in an in-demand field can lead to high-paying jobs. Careers in technology, finance, medicine or law are good examples. 2. Entrepreneurship: Starting your own business can be very lucrative. This can include anything from tech startups to traditional businesses to innovative services. 3. Investments: * Stocks and securities: long-term investments in stocks, ETFs or mutual funds can lead to wealth through compound interest and dividends. * Real estate: Real estate investments, whether through rental or appreciation, are classic ways to build wealth. * Bitcoin: Although still very young and not directly classifiable as an asset, commodity or security, the only truly decentralized cryptocurrency has very interesting characteristics that (could) lead to a perpetual appreciation. 4. Saving and smart financial management: Save regularly and invest the money wisely. The compound interest effect can turn small amounts into large fortunes over decades. 5. Passive income: By building sources that generate passive income, such as writing books, patents, YouTube channels, or developing apps. 6. Networking and relationships: Contacts with influential or helpful people can open doors that would otherwise remain closed. 7. Inheritances and profits: Although unpredictable, inheritances or winnings such as lottery prizes can lead to instant wealth. 8. Lifelong learning and adaptability: Continuing to learn and adapt to market changes can lead to success in many fields. 9. Willingness to take risks: High risks can bring high rewards, whether by investing in new technologies or starting a business in a new market. 10. Mindset and discipline: Developing a promising mindset focused on growth, learning and perseverance. Discipline in financial activities is also crucial

In practice, it is usually a combination of several of the things mentioned above, e.g. a person who has achieved a high income through education (e.g. a CEO) with discipline (continuous saving) over a long period of time can build up a considerable fortune. Basically, however, it is very difficult or almost impossible without a willingness to take risks. The more risk you are prepared to take, the faster you can succeed. If you don't have any assets yet, you have to take risky paths in order to make some progress. If you have already built up some assets, you can't take any risks. There is a great risk of starting from zero again and you are better advised to save continuously and invest conservatively. If you are already wealthy, you can of course continue to invest with as little risk as possible and this should also apply to the majority of your assets. However, you can then “gamble” again with 10% to a maximum of 20%. You can then easily afford a little fun and thrills.

Long-term preference involves planning for and valuing future outcomes over immediate ones. This approach requires patience, discipline, and the ability to foresee the benefits of delayed gratification. An example would be investing in education or health now for better career opportunities or well-being in the future. In general becoming rich means to develop a long-term preference. Usually Bitcoiners are able to defer gratification because they learned to believe in a better future for themselves. Why? Because Bitcoin could be the best possible tool to store your purchasing power in the long run.

Exercise in self-reflection: Take a moment to write down what wealth means to you. Be specific. What does a rich life look like to you? What would you do if money were no object? This vision will be your guiding star.

@ 502ab02a:a2860397

เมื่อกรดซิตริก (citric acid) ที่จริงแล้วไม่ได้ทำมาจากผลไม้

เราเรียนรู้กันมาเราค้นกูเกิลกันมา ว่ากรดซิตริกนั้นเป็นกรดธรรมชาติ มีอยู่ในผลไม้รสเปรี้ยวต่างๆ แล้วมันก็ถูกนำมาใช้เป็นสารป้องกันการบูดเน่าจากธรรมชาติ โดยกรดซีตริกเกิดขึ้นครั้งแรกนั้นคือเมื่อปีค.ศ. 1784 โดยแยกออกมาจากน้ำมะนาว แต่ในปัจจุบัน กรดซิตริกไม่ใช่สูตรนี้ครับ

ที่ผมมีข้อมูลอยู่นั้น สามารถให้คำตอบได้ว่า

นั่นเพราะว่าราวๆปี 1917 บริษัท Pfizer ได้จ้างนักเคมีอาหารชื่อ เจมส์ เคอรี่ James Currie ที่มีแนวคิดฉีกทุกกรอบว่า จะทำการผลิตกรดซิตริก โดยไม่ใช้มะนาวแม้แต่ลูกเดียว คุณเคอรี่ ค้นพบว่าเชื้อราสีดำที่ชื่อว่า Aspergillus niger สามารถเปลี่ยนน้ำตาล ให้เป็นกรดซิตริกได้ ทำให้ Pfizer ออกจำหน่ายสินค้าตัวนี้ในปี 1919 เป็นต้นมา

ในปัจจุบัน กว่า 99% ของกรดซิตริกที่มีขายนั้นเราเรียกว่า manufactured citric acid (MCA) นั่นคือ มันไม่ใช่ของธรรมชาตินั่นเองครับ คุ้นๆไหม ที่ผมเคยบอกเรื่องสารให้ความหวาน ไม่ว่าจะ อิริททริทอล แอลลูโลส สารพัดโอสๆ และอื่นๆอีกมากมาย เราจะได้รับการขายของว่า มีอยู่ในธรรมชาติ บลา บลา บลา โดยที่จริงแล้วที่เราได้มาเป็นกระสอบนั้นไม่ได้มาจากธรรมชาติ แต่มาจากการเร่งให้เกิดปริมาณมากๆเพื่อเอามาขาย ซึ่งไม่เป็นธรรมชาติโดยสิ้นเชิง

MCA นี่ก็เช่นกันครับ เชื้อรา Aspergillus niger ซึ่งส่วนใหญ่ผลิตจากเชื้อราสายพันธุ์ที่ผ่านการดัดแปลงพันธุกรรม (GMO) เอาไปหมักน้ำตาล โดยทั่วไปจะเลี้ยงมันด้วย high fructose corn syrup ที่มีอยู่มากมายและราคาถูกๆ

ก็แน่นอนครับว่าเวลาเราเห็นคำว่ากรดซิตริก เราก็จะนึกถึงรสเปรี้ยวๆ รูปมะนาวสวยๆ cute cute แต่จริงๆแล้วในโรงงานผลิตมันตรงกันข้ามเลยครับ ในการผลิตเราจะได้เห็น ของเหลวหนืดๆเหนียวๆ มีตะกอนสีเข้มๆ ที่เกิดจากการหมักในถังสเตนเลส ข้างในนั้นเป็นส่วนผสมของ เชื้อรา น้ำตาลอุตสาหกรรมโคตรๆ( hyper-refined sugars) บางครั้งก็มีการยิงรังสีแม่เหล็กไฟฟ้าเพื่อให้ความร้อนด้วย

ได้รับการรับรองว่าเป็นออแกนิก ???

และเชื่อหรือไม่ว่า มันได้รับการรับรองว่าเป็นออแกนิก แม้กรดซิตริกจะไม่ได้มาจากแหล่งธรรมชาติแท้จริงเพราะผลิตผ่านกระบวนการหมักที่ใช้เชื้อราดำ GMO (Aspergillus niger GMO) ซึ่งมักใช้ข้าวโพดที่ผ่านการดัดแปลงพันธุกรรม (GMO) เป็นวัตถุดิบในการผลิต ด้วยเหตุผล 2 ข้อคือ

1. มาตรฐานการรับรองที่แตกต่างกัน: องค์กรรับรองออร์แกนิกทั่วโลกมีหลายพันองค์กร แต่ละองค์กรมีเกณฑ์ที่แตกต่างกันในเรื่องคุณภาพและความเข้มงวดในการตรวจสอบแหล่งที่มาของวัตถุดิบ โดยบางแห่งอาจใช้แบบสอบถาม ถามผู้ผลิตว่าใช้กรดซิตริกที่มีส่วนผสมของ GMO หรือไม่
2. การจัดประเภทว่าเป็น Non-GMO: ผู้ผลิตกรดซิตริกจากเชื้อราดำมักจะระบุว่ากรดซิตริกที่ผลิตได้นั้นเป็น Non-GMO เนื่องจากผลผลิตสุดท้ายไม่มีสารพันธุกรรมจาก GMO ที่สามารถตรวจพบได้ ถึงแม้ว่ากระบวนการผลิตจะเริ่มจากวัตถุดิบที่มาจากข้าวโพด GMO หรือเชื้อราที่ถูกดัดแปลงพันธุกรรมโดยการใช้รังสีความร้อน (thermo-radiation) หรือการดัดแปลง DNA ของเชื้อรานั้นก็ตาม

ถึงกระบวนการผลิตกรดซิตริกนี้จะไม่เป็นธรรมชาติและใช้วัตถุดิบที่เกี่ยวข้องกับ GMO แต่มันสามารถได้รับการรับรองออร์แกนิกได้ เนื่องจากไม่มีการตรวจพบสารพันธุกรรมจาก GMO ในผลิตภัณฑ์สุดท้ายที่จะจำหน่าย ทำให้กรดซิตริกนี้สามารถเข้าสู่ตลาดอาหารออร์แกนิกได้โดยไม่ผิดกฎ และหน่วยงานที่ให้การรับรองใบเซอร์ ออแกนิก เจ้าไหนที่ต้องการให้ใช้ MCA ได้นี่ก็เพียงระบุคำว่า "ไม่สามารถตรวจจับ DNA ที่มีแหล่งกำเนิดจาก GMO ได้" ไว้ในเอกสารก็จะทำให้แบรนด์สินค้าได้รับการรับรอง ออแกนิกได้สบายๆ

ได้รับสถานะ GRAS??

เนื่องจากกรดซิตริกมีการผลิตขึ้นมาใช้ก่อนที่สำนักงานคณะกรรมการอาหารและยา (FDA) จะจัดตั้งขึ้น กรดซิตริกจึงได้รับสถานะ GRAS (หมวด “โดยทั่วไปถือว่าปลอดภัย”) แม้ว่าจะยังไม่มีการทดสอบทางวิทยาศาสตร์ใดๆ เกี่ยวกับการบริโภคในมนุษย์ในระยะยาวก็ตาม เจ๋งเนอะ

ผลข้างเคียงจากรา Aspergillus niger

ในปี ค.ศ. 2016 มีการผลิต MCA จำนวน 2.3 ล้านตัน โดยส่วนใหญ่ผลิตในประเทศจีน และประมาณ 70% ใช้เป็นสารเติมแต่งอาหารหรือเครื่องดื่ม ยังไม่มีการศึกษาวิจัยทางวิทยาศาสตร์ใดๆ ที่ดำเนินการเพื่อประเมินความปลอดภัยของ MCA เมื่อรับประทานเข้าไปในปริมาณมากและเป็นเวลานาน (อีกแล้ว เหมือนเดิมเป๊ะ)

เชื้อรา Aspergillus nigerเกี่ยวข้องกับปัญหาการอักเสบของระบบต่างๆ รวมถึงระบบทางเดินหายใจ ระบบทางเดินอาหาร ระบบประสาท และกล้ามเนื้อและโครงกระดูก ดังนั้นหาก เชื้อรา Aspergillus niger เกิดมีเศษเล็กเศษน้อย ดันแทรกซึมเข้าไปในผลิตภัณฑ์กรดซิตริกสำเร็จรูป ผู้บริโภคผลิตภัณฑ์ที่มีกรดซิตริกนี้อาจกินสารพิษที่ก่อให้เกิดการอักเสบนี้เข้าไป แม้จะผ่านกระบวนการฆ่าเชื้อด้วยความร้อนสูงแล้วก็ตาม

นี่เป็นอีกเหตุผลที่แยม Passion of Orange ที่ผมทำนั้นไม่ใส่ citric acid ครับ

แหม่ยังมีอีกหลายเรื่องนะที่จะเล่าให้ฟังเกี่ยวกับอุตสาหกรรมอาหาร อย่างที่บอกนะครับ อะไรที่มั่นใจในวันนี้ อย่าเพิ่งมั่นใจ อาจจะจริงเราเห็นอยู่ เผื่อใจไว้ที่ยังไม่เห็น

PirateKeto #กูต้องรู้มั๊ย #ฉลาก3รู้ #siamstr

@ 5b0183ab:a114563e

While we watch the world slip further and further into geo political turmoil it's adundently clear that information will be a choke point and platforms will bend the knee, or suffer consequences. We recently witnessed the threat of TikTok take down, X being targeted by the EU for misinformation, and now the CEO of Telegram being arrested in France.

But I am not hear to talk about CEO's, massive corporate conglomerates, or government overreach.... I am here to talk about the everyday internet citizen making a livelihood on the internet. The bakery owner, the tech company, the real estate agent, the YouTube content creator, the podcast extraordinaire and on and on. Anyone making a living within the walled garden of a platform are reliant upon the choices that one company makes.

You see unlike platforms, Nostr is a censorship resistant, permissionless protocol in which you create your identity on. It's decentralized cohesion with no single point of failure. It sets your profile free of any barrier of departure. When you build your brand on one client (app) it works in the next. Your followers, your follows, your communication, your entire social graph is present and interoperable. For the first time, all the time you spent cultivating your livelihood is truly owned by you.

So let's zoom out and talk about what this revolutionary approach achieves. This shifts the power back to the individual. Clients are beholden to your needs, your desires. The free market of choice is achieved by demand for certain features, certain algorithms, certain actions. We are no longer beholden to the choices of few that can decimate our livelihoods. Clients become powerless to free market will. We are never sold out in the form of a privacy policy update, added fees or any other sly roundabout way of profiteering without consequences. When users wield the power, they dictate demand which in turn drives client innovation.

When we look back at the past few decades we see the variation of fads, the build ups of platforms and the ultimate demise of technological cycles. AOL, Myspace, Facebook, Snapchat, etc.... Would if your work you put into those platforms building your brand, your time.... was transferrable? As in, your brand lives on and you do not need to "start over?"

You see, this is exactly what Nostr provides. Nostr captures your time and builds value through time. This is revolutionary in a day and age where you are the product within the silos.

Over the past couple years we have seen an explosion of Nostr clients hit the ecosystem. Everything you can possibly want and desire as a creator or consumer is being built on Nostr, or can be. While it is very much early, it is growing at a steady pace and the time is now to own your piece of internet sovereignty.

In closing, I will leave you with this.... Based off history we can easily predict what platforms will do over time. What we cannot predict is what Nostr will do in time, and that's the most exciting part.

@ dd664d5e:5633d319

We can talk about something else, now.

Making boosts/quotes the primary way new users find a variety of topics is a fundamental flaw. We don't need boosts (which merely results in the main trending list trending even harder, as people feel safer boosting something that is already popular), and hashtags have become the mess they naturally will become.

We need topical forums and relay-based community boards.

This would actively encourage those of us who want to write on OtherTopics to write more on them, as we would have some chance of the material being found by those interested in it. And it would spare us having to win some general popularity contest, just to be able to converse about golfing, Hinduism, or veganism.

Scrollable "timeline" feeds, even with AI assistance (like DVMs), don't accomplish this as well, as they eliminate the ability to skim the top-level and selectively read. You have to scroll, scroll, scroll.

It would also reduce the overloading of the original posts with videos, which is starting to give Nostr a Tik-Tok vibe. There's nothing wrong with that, per se, and we should probably have clients like that, but it makes life hard for anyone who wants to have a deeper discussion. People scrolling have trouble even "seeing" a text-based OP, but using the written word is a true signal to the other people, that you are capable of carrying a conversation through text.

Examples for other styles of client

(I am including the Communities in Nostrudel and Satellite, even though they don't yet work, effectively.)

Some of the things that set these clients apart, is that: 1. they are topic-first or thread-first, not person-first, 2. they sometimes allow voting (I suppose we could rank by zaps), 3. they often allow the user to override the default order and simply look at whatever is newest, most popular, or where their friends are currently active (i.e. they allow for easy sorting and filtering), 4. they cap the depth of threads to one or two levels, keep the indentation tiny, or offer a "flat" view, 5. they are primarily text-based (Reddit broke with this and now their main pages look really spammy), 6. they allow you to see all of the entries in the thread, at once, and simply actualize to display the entries that pop up in-between, 7. they often have some indication of what you have already read (this is application data) and allow you to sort for "stuff I haven't looked at, yet".

https://i.nostr.build/uCx5YKMOsjhKBU5c.png https://i.nostr.build/hMkm2oKpos0pWaV9.png https://i.nostr.build/mGQONMw5RC8XKtph.png https://i.nostr.build/TCSkG1bPuMOL0jja.webp https://i.nostr.build/3fLjCSNdtefiZmAH.png https://i.nostr.build/BHgo7EKTK5FRIsVl.png

@ e5272de9:a16a102f

One of the highlights for me at the first day of nostriga nostriga was a panel discussion on web of trust with @Stuart Bowman, @Pip the social graph guy, @PABLOF7z, @hzrd149, and @ODELL. This to me is one of the most important topics in all of freedom tech, so I'd like to write up a few thoughts I had while they're still fresh on my mind, most of which revolve around the calculation of trust scores. Apologies if it's a bit long winded, don't seem to have the time to make it shorter.

What do we use for raw data?

There has been and on again, off again discussion during my time working in nostr over the sources of data that we should be using to calculate trust. In my mind we can think of the raw data as existing on a spectrum between two extremes. On one extreme, we have what I call proxy indicators of trust: follows, mutes, zaps, reactions, etc. People don't create this content with trust scores in mind, but we can and do use them as imperfect proxy indicators nontheless. And on the other extreme we have what I call explicit trust attestations, exemplified by the proposed NIP-77, authored by Lez, the heart and soul of which is that a fully explicit contextual trust attestation should have 3 fields: a context, a score, and a confidence. You fill in these fields, you say what you mean, and you mean what you say, leaving as little room for interpretation as possible. And then there is data that's in between these two extremes. A five star rating for a host on a couchsurfing platform or a vendor on an ecommerce site? A "superfollow" option in addition to a follow? These lie somewhere on the spectrum between proxy indicators on one end and explicit attestations of trust on the other.

During the panel today, Pablo and pippellia expressed the opinion that explicit trust attestations are not the way to go. Two reasons that I recall: first, that no one wants to put an exact number to trust; and second, that no one will update those numbers even if their assessment changes. These critiques have some merit to them. But I believe they miss the bigger picture.

The bigger picture

In the real world, there are two ways I can communicate trust: I can SHOW you, or I can TELL you. I can demonstrate trust through the actions that I take, such as following someone, or I can just straight up tell you that I trust someone in some context.

So here's the question: on nostr, which is the correct method to communicate trust? Proxy indicators, or explicit attestations? Do we SHOW or do we TELL?

My view is that we don't have to pick. We have to use all relevant and available raw data across the entire spectrum from one extreme to the other.

Each of these two options has its advantages and its disadvantages. The advantage of proxy indicators is that users issue them freely and easily, the result being that we are awash in a sea of data. The primary disadvantage of proxy indicators is that they often don't mean what we want them to mean. If Alice follows Bob, does that mean she trusts him? Maybe. Or maybe not. More often not. And what about context? Do we have any way of knowing?

So we use proxy indicators as a trust indicators because ... if it's the best or maybe even the only data we have, what else are we gonna do?

To do better, I argue that we need to give users more options when it comes to issuing explicit indicators of trust. But of course they're not going to do that without a reason. So to give them a reason, we have to figure out ahead of time how we're going to use the data once it's available. We have to know how to incorporate explicit trust indicators into our web of trust calculations. For the sake of argument, let's assume that we have a large dataset of proxy trust indicators (SHOW ME data) plus a small but nontrivial dataset with explicit trust attestations (TELL ME data). What we want to do is to pool all available relevant data together when we calculate trust scores. But how exactly do we do that? Which brings me to my next topic.

The calculation of trust scores

How are we even calculating the "web of trust scores" that we see today? Wikifreedia, Coracle, and a growing list of other clients have such scores. I wish I had seen more discussion in today's panel about HOW these calculation are performed. To the best of my knowledge, most clients use the same or a similar method: fetch my follows; fetch Bob's followers; calculate the set of users who are in both sets; and count up how many you get. Sometimes adjustments are made, usually a ding based on mutes. But usually, that's it. That's the WoT score.

I'll call this the "legacy WoT score" since it is basically the state of the art in nostr. The legacy WoT score can be a useful way to eliminate bots and bad actors. But it has a few disadvantages: it is, arguably, a bit of a popularity contest. It cannot see more than two hops away on your social graph. It's not very useful to new users who haven't yet built up their follows. And it's not clear how to use it to differentiate trust in different contexts.

It seems strange to me that so many clients use this single method to calculate WoT scores, but with relatively little discussion on the merits of this method as opposed to other methods. Or whether other methods even exist, for that matter.

Indeed, I believe there is another method to calculate trust scores that in most circumstances will turn out to be much more meaningful and useful. For the sake of this article, I will call this the "Grapevine WoT score" to distinguish it from the legacy WoT score. (Elsewhere I have used the phrase "influence score" in place of "Grapevine WoT score.")

The Grapevine method is (currently) based on follows and mutes, but calculated using a method entirely distinct from the legacy method, detailed here (where it is called simply the "influence score"). The Grapevine method has several advantages over the legacy method, but one in particular on the topic of SHOW versus TELL: the Grapevine method can take multiple distinct classes of data following distinct formats and pool them together, synthesizing and distilling them into a single Grapevine WoT score. By choosing different datasets, different scores corresponding to different contexts can be generated.

The future

So here's my prediction on how the future will play out. 1. The Grapevine method of trust score calculation is going to rely -- at first -- primarily on proxy indicators of trust (follows, mutes, zaps, reactions, etc) -- SHOW ME data -- because that’s the data that’s available to us in large quantities. 2. These contextual Grapevine scores will turn out to be surprisingly useful. 3. People will learn to game the scores by changing their behavior. 5. Consumers of trust data will gradually discover that SHOW ME data is becoming less and less reliable. 6. Authors of raw trust data will gradually learn that if they want their voices to be heard, they will need to communicate trust more explicitly. In ways that are harder to game. They will begin to move the needle ever so gradually towards TELL ME data. 7. Over time, larger datasets of TELL ME data will be available for input into Grapevine WoT scores. 8. As SHOW ME data becomes less reliable, and TELL ME data becomes more available, contextual Grapevine WoT scores will become more fine grained in terms of context and more reliable.

Of course, none of this will happen unless and until we start calculating Grapevine WoT scores and putting them to good use. To that end, several of us are working on the generation of these scores at brainSToRm. Right now, it's a slog to download the data to the browser. But we're working on improving the UX. And if you make it through the slog, you can export a NIP-51 list of the top-scoring pubkeys, minus the ones you're already following, and use them at clients like Amethyst or Coracle to generate a feed of content coming from the most highly "trusted" users whom you're not already following. A feed that is CUSTOMIZED by YOUR Grapevine.

So there you have it, my defense of explicit trust attestations.

@ da18e986:3a0d9851

After months of development I am excited to officially announce the first version of DVMDash (v0.1). DVMDash is a monitoring and debugging tool for all Data Vending Machine (DVM) activity on Nostr. The website is live at https://dvmdash.live and the code is available on Github.

Data Vending Machines (NIP-90) offload computationally expensive tasks from relays and clients in a decentralized, free-market manner. They are especially useful for AI tools, algorithmic processing of user’s feeds, and many other use cases.

The long term goal of DVMDash is to become 1) a place to easily see what’s happening in the DVM ecosystem with metrics and graphs, and 2) provide real-time tools to help developers monitor, debug, and improve their DVMs.

DVMDash aims to enable users to answer these types of questions at a glance: * What’s the most popular DVM right now? * How much money is being paid to image generation DVMs? * Is any DVM down at the moment? When was the last time that DVM completed a task? * Have any DVMs failed to deliver after accepting payment? Did they refund that payment? * How long does it take this DVM to respond? * For task X, what’s the average amount of time it takes for a DVM to complete the task? * … and more

For developers working with DVMs there is now a visual, graph based tool that shows DVM-chain activity. DVMs have already started calling other DVMs to assist with work. Soon, we will have humans in the loop monitoring DVM activity, or completing tasks themselves. The activity trace of which DVM is being called as part of a sub-task from another DVM will become complicated, especially because these decisions will be made at run-time and are not known ahead of time. Building a tool to help users and developers understand where a DVM is in this activity trace, whether it’s gotten stuck or is just taking a long time, will be invaluable. For now, the website only shows 1 step of a dvm chain from a user's request.

One of the main designs for the site is that it is highly clickable, meaning whenever you see a DVM, Kind, User, or Event ID, you can click it and open that up in a new page to inspect it.

Another aspect of this website is that it should be fast. If you submit a DVM request, you should see it in DVMDash within seconds, as well as events from DVMs interacting with your request. I have attempted to obtain DVM events from relays as quickly as possible and compute metrics over them within seconds.

This project makes use of a nosql database and graph database, currently set to use mongo db and neo4j, for which there are free, community versions that can be run locally.

Finally, I’m grateful to nostr:npub10pensatlcfwktnvjjw2dtem38n6rvw8g6fv73h84cuacxn4c28eqyfn34f for supporting this project.

Features in v0.1:

Global Network Metrics:

This page shows the following metrics: - DVM Requests: Number of unencrypted DVM requests (kind 5000-5999) - DVM Results: Number of unencrypted DVM results (kind 6000-6999) - DVM Request Kinds Seen: Number of unique kinds in the Kind range 5000-5999 (except for known non-DVM kinds 5666 and 5969) - DVM Result Kinds Seen: Number of unique kinds in the Kind range 6000-6999 (except for known non-DVM kinds 6666 and 6969) - DVM Pub Keys Seen: Number of unique pub keys that have written a kind 6000-6999 (except for known non-DVM kinds) or have published a kind 31990 event that specifies a ‘k’ tag value between 5000-5999 - DVM Profiles (NIP-89) Seen: Number of 31990 that have a ‘k’ tag value for kind 5000-5999 - Most Popular DVM: The DVM that has produced the most result events (kind 6000-6999) - Most Popular Kind: The Kind in range 5000-5999 that has the most requests by users. - 24 hr DVM Requests: Number of kind 5000-5999 events created in the last 24 hrs - 24 hr DVM Results: Number of kind 6000-6999 events created in the last 24 hours - 1 week DVM Requests: Number of kind 5000-5999 events created in the last week - 1 week DVM Results: Number of kind 6000-6999 events created in the last week - Unique Users of DVMs: Number of unique pubkeys of kind 5000-5999 events - Total Sats Paid to DVMs: - This is an estimate. - This value is likely a lower bound as it does not take into consideration subscriptions paid to DVMs - This is calculated by counting the values of all invoices where: - A DVM published a kind 7000 event requesting payment and containing an invoice - The DVM later provided a DVM Result for the same job for which it requested payment. - The assumption is that the invoice was paid, otherwise the DVM would not have done the work - Note that because there are multiple ways to pay a DVM such as lightning invoices, ecash, and subscriptions, there is no guaranteed way to know whether a DVM has been paid. Additionally, there is no way to know that a DVM completed the job because some DVMs may not publish a final result event and instead send the user a DM or take some other kind of action.

Recent Requests:

This page shows the most recent 3 events per kind, sorted by created date. You should always be able to find the last 3 events here of all DVM kinds.

DVM Browser:

This page will either show a profile of a specific DVM, or when no DVM is given in the url, it will show a table of all DVMs with some high level stats. Users can click on a DVM in the table to load the DVM specific page.

Kind Browser:

This page will either show data on a specific kind including all DVMs that have performed jobs of that kind, or when no kind is given, it will show a table summarizing activity across all Kinds.

Debug:

This page shows the graph based visualization of all events, users, and DVMs involved in a single job as well as a table of all events in order from oldest to newest. When no event is given, this page shows the 200 most recent events where the user can click on an event in order to debug that job. The graph-based visualization allows the user to zoom in and out and move around the graph, as well as double click on any node in the graph (except invoices) to open up that event, user, or dvm in a new page.

Playground:

This page is currently under development and may not work at the moment. If it does work, in the current state you can login with NIP-07 extension and broadcast a 5050 event with some text and then the page will show you events from DVMs. This page will be used to interact with DVMs live. A current good alternative to this feature, for some but not all kinds, is https://vendata.io/.

Looking to the Future

I originally built DVMDash out of Fear-of-Missing-Out (FOMO); I wanted to make AI systems that were comprised of DVMs but my day job was taking up a lot of my time. I needed to know when someone was performing a new task or launching a new AI or Nostr tool!

I have a long list of DVMs and Agents I hope to build and I needed DVMDash to help me do it; I hope it helps you achieve your goals with Nostr, DVMs, and even AI. To this end, I wish for this tool to be useful to others, so if you would like a feature, please submit a git issue here or note me on Nostr!

Immediate Next Steps:

• Refactoring code and removing code that is no longer used
• Improve documentation to run the project locally
• Adding a metric for number of encrypted requests
• Adding a metric for number of encrypted results

Long Term Goals:

• Add more metrics based on community feedback
• Add plots showing metrics over time
• Add support for showing a multi-dvm chain in the graph based visualizer
• Add a real-time mode where the pages will auto update (currently the user must refresh the page)
• ... Add support for user requested features!

Acknowledgements

There are some fantastic people working in the DVM space right now. Thank you to nostr:npub1drvpzev3syqt0kjrls50050uzf25gehpz9vgdw08hvex7e0vgfeq0eseet for making python bindings for nostr_sdk and for the recent asyncio upgrades! Thank you to nostr:npub1nxa4tywfz9nqp7z9zp7nr7d4nchhclsf58lcqt5y782rmf2hefjquaa6q8 for answering lots of questions about DVMs and for making the nostrdvm library. Thank you to nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft for making the original DVM NIP and vendata.io which I use all the time for testing!

P.S. I rushed to get this out in time for Nostriga 2024; code refactoring will be coming :)

@ 592295cf:413a0db9

Nostter muted by kind

Will mute freefrom, hashtag fall

Venezuela riots, after the vote

I was thinking that having a Nostr conference every 6 months doesn't make sense, maybe it's better to focus on something else. If not it becomes a Tour Life. It doesn't increase adoption Produces tons of material It's good for networking It's not sustainable

Readable updates, how important they are. If it's just bugs and fixes it's better.

I hate Pam. As user It writes interesting stuff, but, doesnn't write in long form, because long form are more difficult, less reach and immediacy, and difficulties to share over in the feed,but not write a poem, sorry.

The thing about coracle is that I load the initial feed, but that gets printed, and it doesn't tell me if there are new notes coming in, as if it interrupts the flow, and it's always a fetch. I want to read the future, not always the past. RealTime feeds Like bluesky 🧞

Njump had problems, it keeps the cache and if the user changes something in their data it doesn't update it immediately. Fiatjaf was angry.

It's the month of NostRiga, we can move on to September without thinking about it. No

It's funny when you see a text in Japanese and inside read Nostr, I want to know what it says. He usually says Nostr is great. And the next note I drank too much 🤣

Today I thought that on the other side of the world it is February and that their February is 31 days. Pam said was sick. I see that hate is a virus 😅🙇‍♂️

I decided to publish stronpy when it's ready, maybe in 6 months. I've done the lineup, now I have to do the gantt 😅. Maybe I can post the gantt somewhere.

If it's not encrypted it's public. Amethyst draft 31000 and something like event

Nostr Is great but the amount of time Lost to the same thing because you don't know that exist Is remarkable. Nostr is a redundancy protocol

nostr:nevent1qqsqjqauc34k9k278x6cka5jyf3aq033y4pn5czwaff72l3rwum7llq7ela3x When they do that I can't stand them, then maybe it's a little different 😔😔 Zapper.fun ✅ Because you launch a project, example nostr.band but contain others 100 apps 😅 Nostr.band, nostrapp.link, zapper.fun, Nostr login, nsec.app, Npub.pro, Npub.pro also cli, Nostr universe/ knows as spring site

Even in Coracle it would be great to have a check on the note as root, because when you see the answers, perhaps the distance from another post, is so small, so perhaps a gray line for the mark of another note as root.

I listened to several minutes of plebchain radio episode on nostrnests. Language is an obstacle, but also an excellent justification. Last year I started recording a podcast episode, in which I talked about nostr bookmark update. I didn't even want to listen to it again 🤣.

I sent a video of an explanation of a zap it was 500 MByte of video for 4 minutes.

Nostr doesn't work. In practice, many apps have removed the possibility of logging in with the simple key, be it public or private, because especially the private one you don't want to copy paste in every single clients/apps, increasing the attack surface.

However, by removing this functionality and doing little onboarding, the matter is very difficult, but there is a certain belief that people who arrive at a Twitter like client get to know the network a little and then move on to videos or writing, or similar. But one can open a site by chance and see what it offers without knowing anything.

In the future there will only be one client, that of medical data...

Someone share this nostr:nevent1qqs24qzelpk8xjlk4dthr9tfkqwz8n58dlm04ezyvg9nuztud6jjfhc9mg04n I had in my bookmarks. I see dozen types of this self hosted manners. Maybe captains-log is for nostr-type, good.

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Objavte, ako avatari a pseudonymné identity ovplyvňujú riadenie kryptokomunít a decentralizovaných organizácií (DAOs). V tejto prednáške sa zameriame na praktické fungovanie decentralizovaného rozhodovania, vytváranie a správu avatarových profilov, a ich rolu v online reputačných systémoch. Naučíte sa, ako si vytvoriť efektívny pseudonymný profil, zapojiť sa do rôznych krypto projektov a využiť svoje aktivity na zarábanie kryptomien. Preskúmame aj príklady úspešných projektov a stratégie, ktoré vám pomôžu zorientovať sa a uspieť v dynamickom svete decentralizovaných komunít.

@ a03b38f8:2c7ce1f0

FINANCIAL PRIVACY: Card Transactions, Cash, Monero, Sending Bitcoin Privately

Privacy is foundational for protecting freedom. Abuses to human rights and efforts to control people often depend on governments knowing details of a person’s life, this is why financial privacy is so important. Financial activity reveals details about a person’s relationships, profession, religion, political beliefs, geo location, and lots more.

Much has been said about data privacy concerns around social media, but financial data is also detrimental when abused or in the hands of the wrong persons.

A Person can speak about their humble life in a small town but their Financial data from the banks would reveal that they are actually a Billionaire.

Financial data reveals many areas of a person’s life, so it’s more likely to reveal who someone truly is, even if an individual does not want those details revealed to others.

From where you travel to, what you donate to, financial activity can paint a detailed picture of a person’s life, ensuring financial privacy means being able to have control over who gets to see that picture and purposes. You may not have something to hide but remember privacy is really about having control over your life.

Governments around the World Use Financial data to control people and activities within its jurisdiction. This is where financial privacy can act as a limit on governmental power. Where a lack of privacy is likely to lead to an abuse of that power.

Government policy on financial privacy is complex and often demands access to personal data for law enforcement and National Security purposes. Although often we see governments use that same financial data to hunt and halt activities that do not align with the policies of its agenda.

We believe any access at all should be reasonable and in accordance with privacy and human rights.

Almost all financial institution privacy standards prohibit the disclosure of client information to third parties without consent or an accepted criminal complaint, it is a conditional agreement because it has some limitations; this limitation or restriction in most cases is not clearly explained to clients but it is an ambiguous statement that further explains the limits of the financial institution, meaning the Central Bank which controls a country’s entire financial activities of all Financial institutions in a country does have the power to access all financial data as it demands, thereby limiting privacy.

CARD TRANSACIONS

Data Security and privacy are crucial in payment transactions in the digital era, protecting personal and financial information not only stops unlawful access but also increases customer trust and confidence.

Card transactions comes with a lot of risk and dangers such as Identity theft, cyber criminals use stolen data from digital payment platforms to impersonate individuals and access their financial accounts, make unauthorized purchases, or setup new accounts in order to illegally transfer funds or perform fraudulent financial transactions without owners consent.

Identity theft can have lasting effects on a victim’s financial health and credit status. Additionally phishing attacks are prevalent. Hackers use this technique to deceive users into providing their personal and payment information (Data) under the guise of legitimate request.

It is advisable for cards that you choose to carry around on your person be held in a RFID blocking wallet. Beyond physical security any cards that you use online or in stores should have spending limits and have no access to large amounts of funds you may have to prevent or limit the impact of fraud. For privacy protections consider virtual privacy cards or reloadable debit cards.

Lastly, do not use PayPal. They are a privacy nightmare and there is an entire cottage industry on the dark web selling stolen accounts.

CASH TRANSACTIONS

Cash is king. For a long time cash has been used as the primary form of payment and cash transactions have excellent privacy properties and it is widely accepted in most countries.

Cash transactions provides a high degree of privacy in payments, it also slows the growing information asymmetry between consumers and companies as well as between citizens and public authorities.

Bank notes and coins reduce your digital footprints compared to an electronic payment. Cash remains one of the most effective tools for financial privacy in a world increasingly dominated by digital payments. It offers true anonymity, leaving no digital trail or record of the transaction, making it impossible for third parties—such as governments, corporations, or hackers—to track your spending habits. Unlike card payments or online transfers, cash transactions don't reveal your identity, location, or spending patterns, providing a level of confidentiality that digital methods simply cannot match.

Physical cash works without registers of cash holders and transaction, when paying with bank notes and coins, it is only the buyer and seller who are aware of this: What is bought, how much, when, when by whom and at what.

While cash has its limitations in today’s digital society, it remains a valuable option for those who prioritize privacy. By using cash whenever possible, especially for sensitive or personal purchases, The use of cash gives room for maintenance and control over your financial data, it also help protect from unwanted surveillance, and safeguard your financial autonomy. Ultimately, cash is still king when it comes to preserving your financial privacy.

MONERO (XMR)

Monero is a decentralized cryptocurrency designed with a strong emphasis on privacy, security, stealth address and unlinkability, it is abbreviated XMR.

Monero’s transactions are completely anonymous and confidential by default making it one of the most privacy centric digital currencies available today.

Key features of Monero

·Untraceable Transactions: Monero uses advanced cryptographic techniques, such as Ring Signatures, which combine your transaction with others, making it impossible to identify the actual sender. This feature ensures that transactions cannot be traced back to any single individual.

·StealthAddresses: When you send Monero, the recipient’s address is never publicly recorded on the blockchain. Instead, a one-time address is generated for each transaction, ensuring the recipient's identity remains private.

·ConfidentialTransactions: Monero employs Ring Confidential Transactions (Ring CT) to hide the amount of XMR being transferred. This means the transaction amounts are kept entirely private, further enhancing confidentiality.

·Fungibility: Because Monero transactions are private, every XMR coin is indistinguishable from another. This makes Monero a truly fungible currency, meaning no coin carries a traceable history or stigma, unlike Bitcoin, where some coins can be "tainted" based on their transaction history.

Despite Monero’s popularity as a primary focused cryptocurrency, Monero faces criticism and challenges. The Monero community development team frequently updates the protocol to improve privacy and resist surveillance attempts, this is beneficial for security, meaning users and miners must regularly update software, this can be inconvenient and lead to potential forks if consensus is not reached within the community.

Many governments and financial institutions view Monero as a threat because of its untraceable nature, as a result this has posed some challenges making exchanges to delisted Monero in order to comply with anti-money laundering and know your customer (KYC) regulations.

SENDING BITCOIN PRIVATELY:

Bitcoin is often perceived as an anonymous payment network but in reality Bitcoin is the most transparent payment network in the world. At the same time, Bitcoin can provide acceptable levels of privacy when used correctly. All bitcoin transactions are public, traceable and permanently stored on the Bitcoin network, Bitcoin addresses are the only information used to define its allocations and history.

In ensuring privacy while Bitcoin transactions are performed it is advisable to generate a new address each time a payment is received. The incomplete privacy on transactions will lead to the Fungibility of the scripts, which could affect the stability of Bitcoin as a long-lived currency system, Bitcoin system addresses privacy by hiding the address of transactions via hash functions but the hash value is obviously unique, If the addresses and traders are bounded unconsciously through activities by attackers, the anonymity of the entire system will disappear.

Suppose that the Bitcoin system is connected to the payment of an e-commerce platform, the strong computing power can search the complete data of your incomes and outcomes, which makes everything about money exposed to the public.

Let’s say; You are paid salary via bitcoins and you spend those coins in the supermarket, the plaintext of the account of your income and outcome will inevitably be utilized by businesses to access the benefits like charge you higher prices or target you with advertisement.

@ ae1008d2:a166d760

I wanted to share this PDF on Nostr. Original post: Block ~862,844 September 25th, 2024 Original link Original PDF 👇Click the link below to view as original PDF on YakiHonne or Satellite.Earth👇

Bitcoin's Protection Under the First Amendment

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Jan Kolčák pochádza zo stredného Slovenska a vystupuje pod umeleckým menom Deepologic. Hudbe sa venuje už viac než 10 rokov. Začínal ako DJ, ktorý s obľubou mixoval klubovú hudbu v štýloch deep-tech a afrohouse. Stále ho ťahalo tvoriť vlastnú hudbu, a preto sa začal vzdelávať v oblasti tvorby elektronickej hudby. Nakoniec vydal svoje prvé EP s názvom "Rezonancie". Učenie je pre neho celoživotný proces, a preto sa neustále zdokonaľuje v oblasti zvuku a kompozície, aby jeho skladby boli kvalitné na posluch aj v klube.

V roku 2023 si založil vlastnú značku EarsDeep Records, kde dáva príležitosť začínajúcim producentom. Jeho značku podporujú aj etablované mená slovenskej alternatívnej elektronickej scény. Jeho prioritou je sloboda a neškatulkovanie. Ako sa hovorí v jednej klasickej deephouseovej skladbe: "We are all equal in the house of deep." So slobodou ide ruka v ruke aj láska k novým technológiám, Bitcoinu a schopnosť udržať si v digitálnom svete prehľad, odstup a anonymitu.

V súčasnosti ďalej produkuje vlastnú hudbu, venuje sa DJingu a vedie podcast, kde zverejňuje svoje mixované sety. Na Lunarpunk festivale bude hrať DJ set tvorený vlastnou produkciou, ale aj skladby, ktoré sú blízke jeho srdcu.

Podcast Bandcamp Punk Nostr website alebo nprofile1qythwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskuep0qy88wumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmv9uq3xamnwvaz7tmsw4e8qmr9wpskwtn9wvhsz9thwden5te0wfjkccte9ejxzmt4wvhxjme0qyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnddakj7qghwaehxw309aex2mrp0yh8qunfd4skctnwv46z7qpqguvns4ld8k2f3sugel055w7eq8zeewq7mp6w2stpnt6j75z60z3swy7h05

@ eac63075:b4988b48

🤖 Baseado na explicação de Gerard Aithen para o Morning Crypto

Nos últimos anos, o Bitcoin se consolidou como a criptomoeda de referência, trazendo inovação e mudança para o cenário econômico global. Apesar de sua notoriedade, a tecnologia por trás do Bitcoin, especialmente em termos de escalabilidade e eficiência, ainda é um campo em constante evolução. Recentemente, um novo avanço tem gerado bastante discussão entre os entusiastas do mundo cripto: a BitVM2. Desenvolvida por Robin Linus, essa inovação promete transformar a maneira como as transações são processadas e verificadas no ecossistema do Bitcoin.

A BitVM2 está sendo apontada como uma revolução na forma como programas inteiros podem ser verificados dentro da blockchain, facilitando e tornando mais acessível a participação nas transações. Mas o que exatamente é essa nova tecnologia? Como ela funciona? E, acima de tudo, por que ela é tão importante para o futuro do Bitcoin?

Neste artigo, vamos explorar a BitVM2 em profundidade, analisando seu funcionamento, os benefícios que ela traz e suas implicações para o futuro da rede Bitcoin.

O Que é a BitVM2?

Imagine que a primeira versão da BitVM era como um quebra-cabeça gigante, onde cada peça precisava ser ajustada meticulosamente para que a transação fosse validada. Essa estrutura exigia muitas etapas e transações para garantir que tudo funcionasse corretamente, o que, claro, consumia tempo e recursos. A BitVM2 vem para mudar completamente esse cenário.

Com a BitVM2, todo esse processo se torna muito mais rápido e acessível. Agora, é como se um GPS eficiente tivesse sido instalado no lugar do velho mapa. O caminho está traçado, e tudo o que você precisa fazer é seguir as direções. A nova estrutura da BitVM2 utiliza criptografia avançada para transformar programas complexos em fragmentos menores, que podem ser verificados diretamente nas transações do Bitcoin. Em outras palavras, ela permite que contratos inteligentes e programas complexos rodem dentro da blockchain do Bitcoin, sem comprometer a segurança ou eficiência.

O principal benefício? Antes, um processo que exigia mais de 70 transações agora pode ser verificado com apenas três. Isso não apenas economiza tempo e recursos, mas também abre as portas para que mais pessoas possam participar e monitorar essas transações.

A Importância da Descentralização na BitVM2

Um dos pontos mais revolucionários da BitVM2 é que ela é completamente permissionless, ou seja, não precisa de permissão. Isso significa que qualquer pessoa pode verificar ou contestar uma transação. Antes, essa era uma tarefa restrita a operadores específicos dentro da rede. Agora, a verificação e contestação de transações suspeitas podem ser feitas por qualquer um, tornando o sistema mais democrático e transparente.

Essa descentralização aumenta a segurança da rede. Em vez de depender de um grupo centralizado de validadores, o sistema se torna autossustentável. A comunidade como um todo pode vigiar e garantir a integridade das transações, o que dificulta tentativas de fraudes ou manipulações.

Além disso, o novo design da BitVM2 foi pensado para ser compatível com a estrutura atual do Bitcoin, ou seja, não foi necessário fazer alterações no código base da criptomoeda. Isso garante que o Bitcoin continue funcionando como sempre, enquanto permite a introdução de novas funcionalidades. É como construir um novo andar em um prédio sem precisar mexer na estrutura do alicerce.

Rollups e a Eficiência das Transações no Bitcoin

Um dos temas mais discutidos na comunidade de criptomoedas nos últimos anos é a questão da escalabilidade. Conforme o Bitcoin ganha mais adoção, a rede fica mais sobrecarregada, o que pode aumentar o tempo e o custo das transações. A BitVM2 pode ajudar a resolver esse problema, especialmente quando falamos de rollups.

Rollups são soluções que permitem processar transações fora da blockchain principal, para depois consolidá-las em um único registro na blockchain do Bitcoin. Isso torna as transações mais rápidas e baratas, sem comprometer a segurança. A BitVM2 pode ser vista como uma espécie de ponte entre o Bitcoin e essa nova era de rollups, permitindo uma maior eficiência e abrindo espaço para que o Bitcoin continue evoluindo.

De forma simples, a BitVM2 garante que transações complexas possam ser processadas sem sobrecarregar a blockchain principal. Com isso, ela ajuda a diminuir as taxas e a aumentar a velocidade das transações, um avanço crucial para o futuro da criptomoeda.

O Papel dos Covenants no Bitcoin

Outro conceito-chave no desenvolvimento da BitVM2 é o uso dos Covenants. Para quem não está familiarizado, os Covenants são como pequenas promessas que os Bitcoins "fazem" durante as transações. Eles colocam condições específicas sobre como e onde os Bitcoins podem ser gastos. Isso adiciona uma camada extra de segurança e funcionalidade às transações, permitindo que os Bitcoins sejam gastos apenas sob determinadas circunstâncias.

Por exemplo, um Covenant pode especificar que os Bitcoins só podem ser transferidos para certos endereços ou que só podem ser liberados após determinado período de tempo. Esses contratos inteligentes tornam o Bitcoin ainda mais flexível e permitem a criação de soluções inovadoras dentro da rede.

Na BitVM2, os Covenants desempenham um papel importante na verificação das transações, garantindo que todas as regras sejam seguidas e que não haja brechas para fraudes ou manipulações. Isso amplia as possibilidades de uso do Bitcoin, permitindo que ele seja utilizado de formas que antes eram impensáveis.

BitVM2 e a Manipulação de Opinião Pública

Outro ponto que não podemos ignorar ao discutir as inovações tecnológicas no mundo das criptomoedas é a questão da manipulação de opinião pública. Bilionários e grandes empresas têm se posicionado como grandes influenciadores no cenário das criptomoedas. O caso de Elon Musk é um exemplo clássico, onde tweets e posicionamentos podem mudar drasticamente o valor de uma criptomoeda em questão de horas.

Com a BitVM2, no entanto, o poder de manipulação pode ser mitigado, uma vez que o sistema se torna mais descentralizado e aberto à participação de todos. A liberdade de contestar transações e a democratização do processo ajudam a garantir que o Bitcoin continue sendo uma moeda de todos, sem a influência de poucos.

Conclusão: Um Futuro Promissor para o Bitcoin

O lançamento da BitVM2 representa um salto importante para o futuro do Bitcoin. A capacidade de verificar transações complexas de forma rápida e acessível, aliada à descentralização e à possibilidade de uso dos rollups, promete tornar o Bitcoin mais eficiente e acessível para todos.

Mais do que uma simples atualização tecnológica, a BitVM2 traz à tona a discussão sobre liberdade digital, transparência e o papel das criptomoedas no futuro. É um avanço que, sem dúvida, será observado de perto pelos entusiastas e críticos da criptoeconomia.

O Bitcoin sempre foi visto como uma alternativa descentralizada ao sistema financeiro tradicional, e a BitVM2 parece reforçar essa visão. À medida que mais pessoas se envolvem e a tecnologia avança, o futuro das transações digitais parece mais promissor do que nunca. Vamos ficar de olho no que essa nova fase nos reserva e nas novas possibilidades que ela pode abrir.

***

@ 44dc1c2d:31c74f0b

Chef's notes

Last time I made this I subbed the tomato puréed with some blistered cherry tomatoes. Don't think I'll be using the purée going forward.

I prefer thighs so that's what I use for this but use whatever you want.

Adjust spices based on the size of your onions. If all you have is two massive onions maybe use one and a half onion or just up the amount of spices a little.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: ~10 min
• 🍳 Cook time: ~40 ish min
• 🍽️ Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 2 Onions
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1/3 cup cashews
• 1.5 tsp Garam Masala
• 2 ish cloves of crushed garlic
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsb ground turmeric
• 1 tsb salt
• 1 tbsp plain yogurt
• 2 tbsp of your cooking oil or fat
• 1 tbsp Coriander (Cilantro) plus extra for garnish
• 1 tbsp sultanas (golden raisins)
• 1 lb of chicken cubed
• 6 oz of white button mushrooms

Directions

1. Quarter the onions and put them in a food possessor for about a minute
2. Add the tomatoes, nuts, garlic, Garam masala, chili powder, lemon juice, turmeric, salt, yogurt and blend for another minute tell its well mixed in.
3. In a wok or a large pan heat your cooking oil and add the onion and spice mix in. Fry gently for around 2-ish minutes, stir frequently.
4. Add the chicken, coriander, and raisins to the pan. Stir-fry for another minute or so.
5. Add mushrooms and water. Bring to simmer and cover the pan cook for 10 min or until the chicken is 100% cooked through.
6. Serve with plain rice and enjoy!

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Workshop je zameraný pre všetkých, ktorí sa potýkajú s vysvetľovaním Bitcoinu svojej rodine, kamarátom, partnerom alebo kolegom. Pri námietkach z druhej strany väčšinou ideme do protiútoku a snažíme sa vytiahnuť tie najlepšie argumenty. Na tomto workshope vás naučím nový prístup k zvládaniu námietok a vyskúšate si ho aj v praxi. Know-how je aplikovateľné nie len na komunikáciu Bitcoinu ale aj pre zlepšenie vzťahov, pri výchove detí a celkovo pre lepší osobný život.

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Ak ste v Bitcoine už nejaký ten rok, možno máte pocit, že už všetkému rozumiete a že vás nič neprekvapí. Viete čo je to peňaženka, čo je to seed a čo adresa, možno dokonca aj čo je to sha256. Ste si istí? Táto prednáška sa vám to pokúsi vyvrátiť. 🙂

@ 9262b5a5:2a89f8de

testing

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Bojovať s rakovinou metabolickou metódou znamená použiť metabolizmus tela proti rakovine. Riadenie cukru a ketónov v krvi stravou a pohybom, časovanie rôznych typov cvičení, včasná kombinácia klasickej onko-liečby a hladovania. Ktoré vitamíny a suplementy prijímam a ktorým sa napríklad vyhýbam dajúc na rady mojej dietologičky z USA Miriam (ktorá sa špecializuje na rakovinu).

Hovori sa, že čo nemeriame, neriadime ... Ja som meral, veľa a dlho ... aj grafy budú ... aj sranda bude, hádam ... 😉

@ 9262b5a5:2a89f8de

https://image.nostr.build/c7e3732889827ab0a8e2064de5fa6992e37e035347b0c91d249cb8f312b47087.jpg I love Bitcoin. Let me get that out there first of all. I sincerely believe that Bitcoin has the power to change the way the world functions if we can grow adoption to a global scale. This obviously will take time as the gears of economic change grinds slowly. As of right now, people in the western countries don't really see the need for a sovereign politically neutral money that can't be inflated away. They simply don't have to deal with inflation on a regular basis like the rest of the world.

Citizens in western countries got a small taste of what real inflation looks like and guess what? They didn't like it one bit. Overall the last three and a half years you saw countless news stories about how bad inflation and how its making life for the average American or European more difficult.

Yes inflation does suck but look at countries like Argentina, Turkey, Zimbabwe or Venezuela. The people in these countries are suffering from excessive inflation on a regular basis! According to recent economic data Turkey experienced a decline in inflation from 61 percent to 51 percent in August. This is seen as a win in their book! Can you imagine this level of inflation in America? There would be riots in the streets!

Argentina's inflation rate is an astounding 236 percent over the last 12 months! As Bitcoiners we understand that the problem is the money itself. As long as governments have the ability to manipulate the money supply, they will. This is human nature at its finest. When you give a select few that kind of power it becomes irresistible and becomes a tool to control the masses. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone to be honest.

What I find shocking is with all of this inflation globally no one is really looking around asking questions to why this is happening and looking for a way to escape this system. Are people really this lazy? Not to be mean but cmon. It seems to me that most people are perfectly fine bitching online about how hard it is to make ends meet or supporting their favored political party and wanting them to fix the problem they created. Newsflash to all the normies out there, its the GD political parties that caused inflation in the first place.

We literally have a solution that is staring them in the face, ready to go to replace the current debt based system that we are currently suffering through and no one wants to take the time to research it? Am I black pilled? No, am I realist, very much so. If 236 percent inflation in Argentina can't get them on a Bitcoin Standard immediately, we as a community have a long road ahead of us. Hyperbitcoinization isn't coming in 5 years. It isn't coming in 10 years. Hell it might not even happen in our lifetimes and we have to be ok with that.

So what is the best way to get more Bitcoin into the hands of the people, so they can see the true value of the digital monetary revolution that is Bitcoin. We need a trojan horse and that trojan horse is nostr.

Enter The Nostr Trojan Horse

https://image.nostr.build/5ffee418133ac80ba14b30abf0d5390b878f676cbf6332d67639f9384764da4c.jpg

It should be plain to see by now that the inflation or the number go up narrative alone isn't going to drive Bitcoin adoption. The reason for that is because people don't see the utility of Bitcoin. They see it as some esoteric digital funny money that drug dealers and terrorist use to do bad things.

The average Joe doesn't see how Bitcoin is helping dissidents on foreign countries fund their activism, escape oppressive regimes or simply earn a living. These stories are never told in the mainstream media because they don't want to highlight the fact that a non-state money can circumvent the status quo.

The best way to highlight these stories is to share it on social media, which again is controlled by mainstream gatekeeper such as Meta, Google and X. It is in their best interest to censor these stories or memory hole them out of existence which I suspect happens quite a bit without us even knowing. But the thing about censorship is that it slowly impacts everyone one by one until no one is allowed to say anything without the fear of being put in jail.

Think this can't happen in western democracies? It's happening already my friend! Take a look at the UK or Australia. Citizens their are being arrested over post made to social media. I sincerely believe that these two countries should be a proving ground for showing the value of nostr and Bitcoin.

Introducing the concept of a censorship resistant messaging protocol to them will go over well and once it is understood will grow like a wildfire because people innately understand that censorship is bad and will see the utility value of having the ability to speak freely again.

It is only a matter of time until they realize that they can monetize their speech and build a life using zaps aka Bitcoin.

Until people see the utility in the tools that lie before them, they will never pick them up and use them. It is really that simple. At the end of the day we are still kind of like cavemen. We only use tools when it makes life easier. Man made the wheel. We use it everyday because it has utility.

Bitcoin in the end will be the same way. Utility first, then mass adoption. Nostr is what will help people see the utility Bitcoin and from there sky is the limit. The best thing we can do as Bitcoiners is to encourage people to learn about nostr and show them how easy it is to use and to switch clients that suit their needs instead of being shoved into a one-size fits all solution on centralized platforms.

People like choices, and nostr is all about choice. The interoperability and thelack of need to give personal information to create an account are HUGE selling points that can be touched on. Go out and spread the good word about nostr!

Bitcoin #Nostr

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Predikčné trhy predstavujú praktický spôsob, ako môžeme nahliadnuť do budúcnosti bez nutnosti spoliehať sa na tradičné, často nepresné metódy, ako je veštenie z kávových zrniek. V prezentácii sa ponoríme do histórie a vývoja predikčných trhov, a popíšeme aký vplyv mali a majú na dostupnosť a kvalitu informácií pre širokú verejnosť, a ako menia trh s týmito informáciami. Pozrieme sa aj na to, ako tieto trhy umožňujú obyčajným ľuďom prístup k spoľahlivým predpovediam a ako môžu prispieť k lepšiemu rozhodovaniu v rôznych oblastiach života.

@ 6bae33c8:607272e8

I went 2-3 again last week to push the season record to 5-10, nearly drawing dead in the Circa Millions (though you can still win relatively big prizes for winning four-week stretches.)

I didn’t look at the lines yet, only my feel about the teams through three weeks.

Cowboys at Giants — seems like a get well game for Dallas. Probably win by 7-10, won’t be favored by nearly that much. Only chance for the Giants is to get those rushers after Prescott, but more likely the Dallas rush will crush a skittish Danny Dimes.

Saints at Falcons — I like the Falcons at -2.5 or better. Last week’s game was annoying though.

Bengals at Panthers — Get well game for Cincy. Good sell high on Panthers, but Dalton is not bad, and the Bengals defense is. Probably staying away.

Rams at Bears — Two shit teams. Probably Bears -2.5. Stay away. If anything leaning Rams.

Vikings at Packers — If Jordan Love is playing, Packers -2.5. Have to treat the Vikings as a serious contender now.

Jaguars at Texans — Jaguars are broken probably getting seven. Texans looked bad last week too. Both teams desperate in their own ways. Stay away.

Steelers at Colts — Anthony Richardson looks off, and this is not the get-well opponent. Steelers -3, stay away. If anything taking the ugly Colts.

Broncos at Jets — Jets by 7.5, think last week’s Broncos win was a fluke.

Eagles at Buccaneers — I’ll say pick ‘em. Leaning Bucs as buy-low.

Team at Cardinals — Jayden Daniels looked great, but I’m taking Cardinals up to 5.5

Patriots at 49ers — Probably 49ers -13 for me, real line maybe 10? Can’t play hide the QB forever, and this would be a tough assignment if Drake Maye plays.

Chiefs at Chargers — Depends on Herbert’s status. Can’t say. Chiefs are unwatchable with the dink, dunk and penalties in their favor.

Browns at Raiders — Two teams desperate to bounce back. I instinctively like the Raiders here, but feels like the Browns are the sharper side for some nagging reason.

Bills at Ravens — Imagine this line will be 2.5 or so. I’ll probably go with the Ravens who need it much more.

Titans at Dolphins — Two bad teams, no idea who will play QB for the Dolphins. Pass.

Seahawks at Lions — Imagine this line will be about 3.5. Probably lay the wood if I had to, but would be my fifth out of five if I use it.

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

AI hype vnímame asi všetci okolo nás — už takmer každá appka ponúka nejakú “AI fíčuru”, AI startupy raisujú stovky miliónov a Európa ako obvykle pracuje na regulovaní a našej ochrane pred nebezpečím umelej inteligencie. Pomaly sa ale ukazuje “ovocie” spojenia umelej inteligencie a človeka, kedy mnohí ľudia reportujú signifikantné zvýšenie produktivity v práci ako aj kreatívnych aktivitách (aj napriek tomu, že mnohí hardcore kreatívci by každého pri spomenutí skratky “AI” najradšej upálili). V prvej polovici prednášky sa pozrieme na to, akými rôznymi spôsobmi nám vie byť AI nápomocná, či už v práci alebo osobnom živote.

Umelé neuróny nám už vyskakujú pomaly aj z ovsených vločiek, no to ako sa k nám dostávajú sa veľmi líši. Hlavne v tom, či ich poskytujú firmy v zatvorených alebo open-source modeloch. V druhej polovici prednášky sa pozrieme na boom okolo otvorených AI modelov a ako ich vieme využiť.

@ a03b38f8:2c7ce1f0

PROTECT YOUR HOME (NETWORK)

This is actually a rather large topic depending on your needs and how far you are willing to go. I will most likely have to put out several posts on this topic. For today we will start at the very beginning and build from there.

This is going to be more of a beginners guide but that doesn't make it any less important. First you must get your home in order before you can do anything else. If bad actors get access to your network then they can use it for illegal things that will be tied to your IP address, use it to launch a bot for a DDoS attack, gain access to any of your home devices, or just hangout and watch you log into bank accounts or whatever.

I will be blunt, your home network sucks. It's slow and unsecure but we will be fixing that.

I. EVERYONE

1. WHAT DO YOU HAVE?

Somewhere in your house you have either a phone cord or a cable coming out of the wall running to a box. Go find it. This is your modem, it "translates" the internet signal from your ISP to your house so you can use the internet.

Found it? Good. Now is there a cable coming from the modem to another box or do you just have one? This other box is your router, it is pretty common now that you will have a all in one modem, router, WIFI, etc. That's fine. Write down the model number of the router or all in one. Also there should be a sticker on the side with the administrator password (sometimes listed as access code) and maybe the WIFI password. Also look if the IP address is listed as well. You will need these for the next step.

1. LOG IN

Go to your computer and fire up a web browser. Enter your routers IP address if it was listed, otherwise we are going to have to find your router's IP address.

In widows and Mac you can look under Network & Internet, scroll down to your internet connection and look for details or properties. Inside properties you are looking for something listed as default or gateway or IPv4 DNS Server. It will be a 192.168.X.X number.

Or you can open a command prompt and type: ipconfig /all

Or you can just do a internet search for your router model number IP.

You will know when you get the right one because a control screen for your router will pop up in the browser.

1. UPDATE

First thing first check if there is any available updates. This could be it's own tab or listed under device or in diagnostics. If it asks you for a password use the one that was written on the side of the router. Install any available updates. Honestly they rarely update these things so if there is one then it must have been pretty needed.

1. CHANGE THE LOCKS

You have to realize that this device is the front door between every internet device in your home and the outside wild internet. You are probably blasting WIFI signal all the way to the street. All someone has to do is connect to your WIFI and then they will have access to your router as well. The default administrator password for these mass produced ISP devices are not exactly secret. You can even find lists of them by brand. It is like locking your front door but leaving the key under the mat, not very secure.

Look in the settings and change the administrator password. Use your password manager to generate a 10 word passphrase. Change it to that and SAVE it in your password manager.

1. RENAME AND CHANGE WIFI PASSWORD

In the settings change the default name of your network to something memorable. Do NOT use anything personal like your name, address, or router brand (Netgear or whatever). If you want to be cute you can use: Not Available, or Network Error or something like that.

Now change the WIFI password. Again use your password manager to generate a passphrase. You can cut it down to 6 words since you will probably be entering this one much more often. Be sure to SAVE it in your password manager.

1. ADD A GUEST NETWORK

You don't just give your WIFI password to all the kids in the neighborhood that swing by to play with your kids or to your friends visiting do you? If so, STOP it. Setup a guest network. A guest network allows people to have WIFI access at your house without giving them access to the router. Yes I know we put a strong password on the router but it doesn't matter.

Setup a guest network with a easy password. If you have given this out to several people already that are coming back often you can name the guest network the old default name and use that default WIFI password. When friends and family come over their devices will have that name already saved and will connect automatically. This way you don't have to do the whole song and dance everytime someone comes over.

1. CHANGE YOUR DNS SERVER

DNS is the Domain Name System. Remember the IP address we found earlier for the router? Every device connect to the internet has a unique IP address. Every server hosting a website, etc but luckily you don't have to remember 142.250.188.14, you can just go to Google.com

This works because behind the scenes your computer is checking with a DNS server to provide a human readable address instead of a bunch of numbers. The equivalent would be a phone book that gives you John Smith and not just a address somewhere.

There is a little bit more to it than that but you don't need to know all that in order to grasp the concept.

The default DNS in your router is probably the one provided by your ISP. Your ISP can see everything that pings against that DNS server and probably uses it to feed you ads. The DNS server provider impacts how a lot of your data is handled. It's speed, it's security, how it's logged, shared, and sold.

So change your DNS server. The default one your ISP gave you is shit. It will improve your speed and security but just remember that privacy and security are not the same thing. The Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8) is very secure and a good choice but as you can imagine the privacy is not really great. But not to worry, all the data they are collecting is anonymized ; )

Your best bet is to use your own DNS server with something like Pi Hole or Adguard home. Setting that up is a little bit beyond the scope of this article so I will cover it in greater detail in a future one. Until then Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) is probably your best choice until you run your own.

Now you have probably better privacy and security than most people with only these simple changes. Next steps would be to upgrade your hardware for faster internet, better firewall, more control, etc. Will detail in future drops.

Always Forward, GHOST

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Čo vznikne keď spojíš hru SNAKE zo starej Nokie 3310 a Bitcoin? - hra Chain Duel!

Jedna z najlepších implementácií funkcionality Lightning Networku a gamingu vo svete Bitcoinu.

Vyskúšať si ju môžete s kamošmi na tomto odkaze. Na stránke nájdeš aj základné pravidlá hry avšak odporúčame pravidlá pochopiť aj priamo hraním

Chain Duel si získava hromady fanúšikov po bitcoinových konferenciách po celom svete a práve na Lunarpunk festival ho prinesieme tiež.

Multiplayer 1v1 hra, kde nejde o náhodu, ale skill, vás dostane. Poďte si zmerať sily s ďalšími bitcoinermi a vyhrať okrem samotných satoshi rôzne iné ceny.

Príďte sa zúčastniť prvého oficiálneho Chain Duel turnaja na Slovensku!

Pre účasť na turnaji je potrebná registrácia dopredu.

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Co se nomádská rodina již 3 roky utíkající před kontrolou naučila o kontrole samotné? Co je to vlastně svoboda? Může koexistovat se strachem? S konfliktem? Zkusme na chvíli zapomenout na daně, policii a stát a pohlédnout na svobodu i mimo hranice společenských ideologií. Zkusme namísto hledání dalších odpovědí zjistit, zda se ještě někde neukrývají nové otázky. Možná to bude trochu ezo.

Karel provozuje již přes 3 roky se svou ženou, dvěmi dětmi a jedním psem minimalistický život v obytné dodávce. Na cestách spolu začali tvořit youtubový kanál "Karel od Martiny" o svobodě, nomádství, anarchii, rodičovství, drogách a dalších normálních věcech.

Nájdete ho aj na nostr.

@ 8d34bd24:414be32b

Also posted on substack

1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us “pray without ceasing;”

You may be thinking, “I have responsibilities. How can I pray without ceasing? I can’t be on my knees praying without stopping. This can’t be what the Bible expects from us.”

Don’t worry, prayer doesn’t have to be a burden. It doesn’t have to be locking yourself in a room alone for hours on you knees on a cold, hard stone floor like the monks of the middle ages. Prayer is just what you need to help you on your next step to growing closer to Jesus.

Analogy of old married couple and believer with God

As believers, our prayer relationship with God should be like the way an old, loving couple talks. They don’t talk without stopping to do other things, but they are always talking and keeping the other person included in what they do and what they care about.

They also have lots of different kinds of conversation. Some are deep conversations that take an extended period of time. Some are brief comments about what is going on in their life. Some are pointing out something interesting or asking for help. Sometimes the words are just an acknowledgement of the other’s presence. Sometimes communications may be no more than a glance or a grunt, but it conveys so much because of how close they are.

Scheduled time

Just like the old married couple schedules a date night or other time together, there are times that we want to schedule time with God. It might be a group prayer meeting. It might be a time alone to discuss particular worries with God. This is usually an extended time to pray about something in particular. It may be scheduled regularly. It may be scheduled specifically based on circumstances.

To many people, this is what they think of when they think about being a prayer warrior, but the truth is, at least for most of us, this is the smallest portion of our prayer life.

Regular time

Just like an old married couple has times that they are regularly together and talking, such as first thing in the morning when they awake and say “Good morning!” or just talk about their plans for the day. Most couples regularly talk during meals together. These discussions might be about how the day is going or about plans for the future or about various common interests. Most couples also talk at least briefly at bed time. They know that almost every day they will talk during these periods.

In the same way, believers should have regular times that they talk to God. I think upon waking, at meals, and at bedtime are good times to pray regularly. That doesn’t mean that you always have to pray for extended periods . Most of these will probably be fairly short and the time allowed may vary from day to day.

Praying at these 5 times is handy because you wake up and go to bed every day and most people eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. These events are reminders to pray. You may have other times like when you pick kids up at school, when you get in your car to drive, or nightly devotions before putting kids to bed. You might have other times that work for you because everyone’s life is a little different. Some of these may be solitary prayers, while others might include someone else, especially family members. Whatever the case, these are times that you usually pray every day. They are guaranteed times with God. They are times God can count on you and you can count on God.

With others

An old married couple usually doesn’t hang out only with each other. They also hang out and talk with friends and family. They will get together with some friends/family on regular occasions. They will get together with others on special occasions. This is a nice time of jointly conversing and helping each other.

Believers also are called to pray together.

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42) {emphasis mine}

We may pray with a person or group. We may pray at church, a Bible study, or a prayer meeting. We may regularly meet with one or more people just to pray for our church, our country, and each other.

For 2-3 years I had a friend I would pray with once a week for about an hour. We were both very busy. We both homeschooled kids and had other responsibilities. We didn’t live near each other, so we prayed together on the phone. We made prayer together work, even when it wasn’t convenient, because it was important to us.

Depending on our life circumstances, we may pray with others more or less. (Singles usually have less opportunities to pray with others, while families always have each other to pray with.) Whether or not it happens every day, we are called to pray to God with other believers and for other believers.

Random discussion (Thanks, interests, & Concerns)

Random discussion normally should be the largest component of communications between a couple and between believers and God. These prayers are not planned or organized. They are a sign that we are including another in our daily lives because they are important to us.

Sometimes these prayers are a quick comment on what is happening in our lives. Sometimes these prayers are about a worry or concern. They can be a mention of something we find interesting or something we find beautiful. It may be a comment on something we learned or about us finally understanding something. Frequently they are prayers to say a quick “help” or “thank you.”

These little brief prayers shot up to God, usually while doing the normal activities of life, are just a sign that we find God important and want Him in our life. You may say, “Wow! That is a great view! You made beautiful mountains.” You may say, “I’m really struggling with this. Please help me do better.” You may say, “What is happening in the world is scary. Please help me to know what to do and help me to trust you in all things.” You might ask, “What am I supposed to say to this unbeliever to draw them to you?” or “How do I speak wisely to this person who is hurting?” We are including God in our lives and listening to Him because we want His opinion and guidance.

We may speak out loud or we may think our prayers silently where only God hears. We usually aren’t kneeling. We usually don’t have our hands folded, nor do we have our eyes closed.

If we are truly depending on God to guide our lives, these prayers should be a huge part of our lives. They should be sprinkled consistently through our day.

Cries for help

Part of the joy of a long and loving marriage is having someone to depend on when we are in need, whether sick, or tired, or sad, or frustrated, or physically unable to do something ourselves. We always have that other person to depend on and lean on.

And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

In the same way believers should lean on God to support them throughout their lives. I’ll admit that I used to only “bother God” with my really big concerns. I wasn’t comfortable asking Him for help with my little, day-to-day concerns, but that was pushing God away.

Unlike with a person who has a limited amount of time and energy, God can see and hear all prayers throughout all of history at the same time and not even break a sweat. We aren’t bothering God with our requests. We are honoring Him with our requests. He wants to be not only a part of our lives, but the leading part of our lives. When we ask for His help, His wisdom, His guidance, and His power, we are doing exactly what we should and we are growing our relationship with Him.

It is good to continually ask God for help, but that doesn’t mean we should ask for every petty desire. Our prayers shouldn’t be filled with requests for wealth, fame, and power. All prayers should include the same qualifier (even if not stated explicitly) Jesus used right before going to the cross, saying, “… yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42b) We should be praying our problems and leaving the solution to Him. He frequently will answer in ways we never imagined (and frequently would never choose for ourselves), but these answers are always for our good.1

Conclusion

As you can see, praying continually is just a lifestyle. It is a way of including God in our lives. It is a way of showing we trust God fully. It is a way of serving God and being used by God.

In reality, praying continually isn’t as hard as it sounds. Like all habits, it just takes a little time to build the habit. Once prayer becomes a part of your life, it doesn’t feel like work, it just happens. It is as natural as talking to your best friend or spouse or parents or kids. You can’t imagine not talking to God continually.

I’ll end with these lyrics:

What a friend we have in Jesus\ All our sins and grieves to bear\ What a privilege it is to carry\ Everything to God in prayer

Have we trials and temptations\ Is there trouble anywhere\ Our precious Savior\ He is still our refuge\ Take it to the Lord in prayer

When we're weak and heavy laden\ Cumbered with a load of care\ We should never be discouraged\ When we take it to the Lord in prayer

Oh what peace we often forfeit\ Oh what needless pain we bear\ We should never be discouraged when we\ Take it to the Lord in prayer

Trust Jesus.\ \ your sister in Christ,

Christy

Bible verses are NASB (New American Standard Bible) 1995 edition unless otherwise stated

FYI, If you are wondering what to say, this acrostic (ACTS) is a handy for outline for prayer:

• A = Adoration -Praise God for who He is

• C = Confession - Admit our sins and His righteous lordship

• T = Thanks - Thank God for all He has done for us including our salvation

• S = Supplication - Make requests from God for help and to supply our needs.

For more articles and to see all of my posts check out my Trust Jesus Substack and consider subscribing to avoid missing any posts.

@ dc652bee:6154e7d0

🆘📢Exciting news for our community! We are thrilled to announce the Bybit bot airdrop, designed to enhance your trading experience. Don't miss out on this opportunity to elevate your game! 🚀💰 #BybitAirdrop 🌐 http://surgishop.lnkiy.in/Bybit_bot👈

@ 13e63e99:25525c6a

The Federal Reserve has announced a 50-basis-point reduction in the benchmark interest rate, officially initiating the first easing cycle in U.S. monetary policy since March 2020. This move aims to address potential weaknesses in the U.S. economy and labor market while further reducing inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell emphasized that current economic conditions are strong, and the rate cut is designed to sustain this momentum and enable a flexible response to changing conditions.

Fed officials expect additional rate reductions for the remainder of the year, gradually lowering rates over the next few years. This easing cycle is anticipated to have significant implications for the future of the U.S. economy, influencing the rates at which banks extend loans to both individuals and businesses. As a result, borrowing costs for consumers—such as home mortgages and credit card debt—are likely to decrease.

The news supported bitcoin prices, with bitcoin recently near $63,000. Bitcoin prices tend to rise on signs of monetary easing, as they are broadly seen as risk-on assets even as some investors tout their use as safe havens.

In the long run, increased borrowing and spending can lead to stronger economic growth, which may further enhance liquidity in the system. However, while liquidity may initially increase, prolonged low rates can also lead to potential risks, such as asset bubbles and excessive debt levels. Monitoring these factors is essential to maintain financial stability.

Reference: Trading Economics, Reuters

The Nostr ecosystem is known for its decentralization and focus on sovereign identity, offering a unique advantage for users. With more than 100 applications across social media, entertainment, marketplace and more, Nostr's key strengths include:

1. Decentralization and Sovereignty: Protects users' privacy from censorship.

2. Integration with payment system: Enhances features like zapping and streaming.

While these aspects attract Bitcoin enthusiasts, broader user adoption will require more sustainable and diverse features. Over the next few years, various opportunities and challenges may arise.

Social Media

Nostr represents a significant opportunity in decentralized social media, giving users control over their data and promoting free speech. Users can zap each other’s content through the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Nostr’s interoperability allows users to share posts across platforms, enabling a more integrated experience. Unlike traditional social media, where data is siloed, Nostr fosters collaboration among apps, allowing users to switch easily based on their needs. Over the next few years, we can expect a thriving ecosystem.

Identification and Login

Nostr's decentralized identity system relies on public and private keys, making it a fundamental feature. While no standalone disruptive applications are expected, this identification functionality can enhance social media and wallet apps by integrating features that improve competitiveness.

Decentralized Marketplace

Nostr's secure communication framework can facilitate decentralized marketplaces, enabling direct buyer-seller interactions while enhancing privacy. These marketplaces could extend beyond traditional goods to include music, writing, and services.

Regulation in the Nostr Ecosystem

As a censorship-resistant platform, Nostr might faces unique regulatory challenges. The protocol itself is neutral, but how developers manage relays will determine oversight levels. Proper regulation might prevent illegal activities and enhance the credibility of apps, helping Nostr grow without stifling its decentralized spirit. Developers focusing on decentralization may find opportunities in regulatory advising, ensuring that Nostr apps adhere to principles of decentralization while fostering healthy growth.

## MicroStrategy Raises $1.01 Billion in Convertible Notes to Fuel Bitcoin Acquisitions

MicroStrategy has completed a $1.01 billion offering of 0.625% convertible senior notes due in 2028, with plans to acquire Bitcoin using part of the proceeds. The private offering, finalized on Sept. 19, targeted institutional investors and allows conversion into cash or MicroStrategy stock. The company will also redeem $500 million in senior secured notes, releasing collateral that includes 69,080 Bitcoin. Between Sept. 13 and 19, MicroStrategy purchased approximately 7,420 Bitcoin for about $458.2 million, averaging $61,750 per Bitcoin.

> Reference: Microstrategy, Cointelegraph

Bhutan Revealed as Major Bitcoin Holder with 13,093 BTC

Bhutan, the Buddhist kingdom in the eastern Himalayas, has emerged as a significant Bitcoin holder, owning 13,093 BTC valued at approximately $830.789 million, according to Arkham Intelligence. This is the first public disclosure of Bhutan's Bitcoin addresses.

Mining is conducted by the country's investment arm, Druk Holdings, which has established facilities at various sites, including the defunct Education City project. In May 2023, Bitdeer partnered with Druk Holding & Investments to develop a 100% carbon-free Bitcoin mining operation in Bhutan. Earlier reports indicated plans to expand mining capacity from 100 to 600 megawatts, leveraging the country's abundant hydropower resources for eco-friendly operations.

Reference: Arkham, Bitcoin Magazine

Donald Trump Makes History with Bitcoin Payment

Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump made history as the first former U.S. president to complete a Bitcoin payment at PubKey, a Bitcoin-themed bar in Greenwich Village, NYC, during National Cheeseburger Day.

He described the payment as “easy” and said it went through “quickly and beautifully.”

After the transaction, Trump, accompanied by bar owner Thomas Pacchia, greeted attendees. “This was one of the most important Bitcoin transactions of all time,” said Pacchia. “President Trump came to connect with and support the Bitcoin community. We are very excited he was here.”

> Reference: Yahoo Finance, Cointelegraph

## We are Hiring: Entrepreneur In Residence

As an Entrepreneur In Residence with HCM, you will lead and drive innovative projects related to building Bitcoin ecosystem. Leveraging your extensive background in business, technology, product development, marketing, and/or operations management, you will drive projects from the seed stage through capital market financing and growth, along with our resource supports. We seek leaders with a good understanding of the Bitcoin who can achieve breakthroughs in the international market.

Please send your resume to: account_admin@hcm.capital/yake@hcm.capital\ For more information, please check out bitcoinerjobs.com

## Lifpay is sponsoring Max & Stacy Invitational at EL Encanto Golf Tournament in January 2025, El Salvador

> Reference: X.com

Unchained and University Impact Launch Bitcoin-Native Donor-Advised Funds to Streamline Charitable Donations and Maximize Tax Efficiency

> Reference: X.com

@ 3c984938:2ec11289

Bienvenide a Nostr!

Introduccíon

Es tu primera vez aqui en Nostr? Bienvenides! Nostr es un acrónimo raro para "Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays" on un solo objetivo; resistirse a la censura. Una alternativa a las redes sociales tradicionales, comunicaciónes, blogging, streaming, podcasting, y feventualmente el correo electronico (en fase de desarrollo) con características descentralizadas que te capacita, usario. Jamas seras molestado por un anuncio, capturado por una entidad centralizada o algoritmo que te monetiza.

Permítame ser su anfitrión! Soy Onigiri! Yo estoy explorando el mundo de Nostr, un protocolo de comunicacíon decentralizada. Yo escribo sobre las herramientas y los desarolladores increíbles de Nostr que dan vida a esta reino.

Bienvenides a Nostr Wonderland

Estas a punto de entrar a un otro mundo digtal que te hará explotar tu mente de todas las aplicaciones descentralizadas, clientes, sitios que puedes utilizar. Nunca volverás a ver a las comunicaciones ni a las redes sociales de la mesma manera. Todo gracias al carácter criptográfico de nostr, inpirado por la tecnología "blockchain". Cada usario, cuando crean una cuenta en Nostr, recibe un par de llaves: una privada y una publico. Estos son las llaves de tu propio reino. Lo que escribes, cantes, grabes, lo que creas - todo te pertenece.

Unos llaves de Oro y Plata

Mi amigo y yo llamamos a esto "identidad mediante cifrado" porque tu identidad es cifrado. Tu puedes compartir tu llave de plata "npub" a otros usarios para conectar y seguir. Utiliza tu llave de oro "nsec" para accedar a tu cuenta y exponerte a muchas aplicaciones. Mantenga la llave a buen recaudo en todo momento. Ya no hay razor para estar enjaulado por los terminos de plataformas sociales nunca más.

Onigirl npub18jvyjwpmm65g8v9azmlvu8knd5m7xlxau08y8vt75n53jtkpz2ys6mqqu3

Todavia No tienes un cliente? Seleccione la mejor opción.

Encuentra la aplicación adecuada para ti! Utilice su clave de oro "nsec" para acceder a estas herramientas maravillosas. También puedes visit a esta pagina a ver a todas las aplicaciones. Antes de pegar tu llave de oro en muchas aplicaciones, considera un "signer" (firmante) para los sitios web 3. Por favor, mire la siguiente imagen para más detalles. Consulte también la leyenda.

Get a Signer extension via chrome webstore

Un firmante (o "signer" en inglés) es una extensión del navegador web. Nos2x and NostrConnect son extensiónes ampliamente aceptado para aceder a Nostr. Esto simplifica el proceso de aceder a sitios "web 3". En lugar de copiar y pegar la clave oro "nsec" cada vez, la mantienes guardado en la extensión y le des permiso para aceder a Nostr.

👉⚡⚡Obtén una billetera Bitcoin lightning para enviar/recibir Zaps⚡⚡ (Esto es opcional)

Aqui en Nostr, utilizamos la red Lightning de Bitcoin (L2). Nesitaras una cartera lightning para enviar y recibir Satoshis, la denominacion mas chiquita de un Bitcoin. (0.000000001 BTC) Los "zaps" son un tipo de micropago en Nostr. Si te gusta el contenido de un usario, es norma dejarle una propina en la forma de un ¨zap". Por ejemplo, si te gusta este contenido, tu me puedes hacer "zap" con Satoshis para recompensar mi trabajo. Pero apenas llegaste, as que todavia no tienes una cartera. No se preocupe, puedo ayudar en eso!

"Stacker.News" es una plataforma donde los usarios pueden ganar SATS por publicar articulos y interactuar con otros.

Stacker.News es el lugar mas facil para recibir una direccion de cartera Bitcoin Lightning.

1. Acedese con su extensión firmante "signer" - Nos2x or NostrConnect - hace click en tu perfil, un codigo de letras y numeros en la mano superior derecha. Veás algo como esto
2. Haga clic en "edit" y elija un nombre que te guste. Se puede cambiar si deseas en el futuro.
3. Haga clic en "save"
4. Crea una biografía y la comunidad SN son muy acogedora. Te mandarán satoshi para darte la bienvenida.
5. Tu nueva direccion de cartera Bitcoin Lightning aparecerá asi ^^No le mandas "zaps" a esta direccion; es puramente con fines educativos.
6. Con tu Nueva dirección de monedero Bitcoin Lightning puedes ponerla en cualquier cliente o app de tu elección. Para ello, ve a tu página de perfil y bajo la dirección de tu monedero en "Dirección Lightning", introduce tu nueva dirección y pulsa "guardar " y ya está. Enhorabuena.

👉✨Con el tiempo, es posible que desee pasar a las opciones de auto-custodia y tal vez incluso considerar la posibilidad de auto-alojar su propio nodo LN para una mejor privacidad. La buena noticia es que stacker.news tambien está dejando de ser una cartera custodio.

⭐NIP-05-identidad DNS⭐ Al igual que en Twitter, una marca de verificación es para mostrar que eres del mismo jardín "como un humano", y no un atípico como una mala hierba o, "bot". Pero no de la forma nefasta en que lo hacen las grandes tecnológicas. En el país de las maravillas de Nostr, esto te permite asignar tu llave de plata, "npub", a un identificador DNS. Una vez verificado, puedes gritar para anunciar tu nueva residencia Nostr para compartir.

✨Hay un montón de opciones, pero si has seguido los pasos, esto se vuelve extremadamente fácil.

👉✅¡Haz clic en tu "Perfil ", luego en "Configuración ", desplázate hasta la parte inferior y pega tu clave Silver, "npub!" y haz clic en "Guardar " y ¡listo! Utiliza tu monedero relámpago de Stacker.news como tu NIP-05. ¡¡¡Enhorabuena!!! ¡Ya estás verificado! Dale unas horas y cuando uses tu cliente "principal " deberías ver una marca de verificación.

Nostr, el infonformista de los servidores.

En lugar de utilizar una única instancia o un servidor centralizado, Nostr está construido para que varias bases de datos intercambien mensajes mediante "relés". Los relés, que son neutrales y no discriminatorios, almacenan y difunden mensajes públicos en la red Nostr. Transmiten mensajes a todos los demás clientes conectados a ellos, asegurando las comunicaciones en la red descentralizada.

¡Mis amigos en Nostr te dan la bienvenida!

Bienvenida a la fiesta. ¿Le apetece un té?🍵

¡Hay mucho mas!

Esto es la punta del iceberg. Síguenme mientras continúo explorando nuevas tierras y a los desarolladores, los caballeres que potencioan este ecosistema. Encuéntrame aquí para mas contenido como este y comparten con otros usarios de nostr. Conozca a los caballeres que luchan por freedomTech (la tecnología de libertad) en Nostr y a los proyectos a los que contribuyen para hacerla realidad.💋

Onigirl @npub18jvyjwpmm65g8v9azmlvu8knd5m7xlxau08y8vt75n53jtkpz2ys6mqqu3

---

🧡😻Esta guía ha sido cuidadosamente traducida por miggymofongo

Puede seguirla aquí. @npub1ajt9gp0prf4xrp4j07j9rghlcyukahncs0fw5ywr977jccued9nqrcc0cs

sitio web

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Lístky na festival Lunarpunku sú už v predaji na našom crowdfunding portáli. V predaji sú dva typy lístkov - štandardný vstup a špeciálny vstup spolu s workshopom oranžového leta.

Neváhajte a zabezpečte si lístok, čím skôr to urobíte, tým bude festival lepší.

Platiť môžete Bitcoinom - Lightningom aj on-chain. Vaša vstupenka je e-mail adresa (neposielame potvrdzujúce e-maily, ak platba prešla, ste in).

Kúpte si lístok

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Čo nám prinášajú exotické protokoly ako Nostr, Cashu alebo Reticulum? Šifrovanie, podpisovanie, peer to peer komunikáciu, nové spôsoby šírenia a odmeňovania obsahu.

Ukážeme si kúl appky, ako sa dajú jednotlivé siete prepájať a ako spolu súvisia.

@ c278022e:b37d01a2

Abstract

This paper proposes a comprehensive system design for a decentralized prediction market and a game-theoretic stablecoin built entirely on Bitcoin's Lightning Network. Leveraging Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs) and off-chain transactions, the system enables leveraged trading, liquidity provision, and stablecoin creation without relying on alternative cryptocurrencies or tokens. We address potential flaws and criticisms, demonstrating that Bitcoin alone provides a secure, scalable, and efficient platform for advanced financial applications.

truthserum@iris.to

Introduction

Motivation

Bitcoin, as the original and most secure cryptocurrency, offers a stable and decentralized platform for financial innovation. While alternative platforms like Ethereum have introduced smart contracts and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, they often suffer from network congestion, high fees, and centralization risks. This paper aims to demonstrate that Bitcoin's Lightning Network can support complex financial instruments, including a decentralized prediction market and a game-theoretic stablecoin, without the need for alternative cryptocurrencies.

Overview

We propose a system that:

• Utilizes Bitcoin's Lightning Network for scalability and low fees.
• Employs Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs) for secure, private smart contracts.
• Creates a decentralized prediction market with leveraged trading.
• Introduces a synthetic stablecoin based on the net positions of long and short traders.
• Addresses potential flaws and criticisms, ensuring robustness and security.

Background

Bitcoin and the Lightning Network

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that operates on a peer-to-peer network, using proof-of-work consensus for security. The Lightning Network is a layer-two protocol that enables fast, off-chain transactions between participants, enhancing Bitcoin's scalability.

Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs)

DLCs are a type of smart contract that allows two parties to make a conditional payment based on the outcome of a future event, with privacy and security ensured by cryptographic techniques.

Prediction Markets and Stablecoins

Prediction markets allow participants to speculate on the outcome of future events, while stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a stable value relative to a target asset or basket of assets.

System Design

Key Components

1. Liquidity Providers (LPs): Users who provide Bitcoin as collateral to the liquidity pool.
2. Traders: Users who take leveraged long or short positions on asset prices.
3. Oracles: Entities that provide reliable price feeds for asset settlement.
4. Stablecoin: A synthetic stablecoin derived from the net positions of traders, backed by Bitcoin collateral.

Core Features

• Decentralized Prediction Market: Facilitates leveraged trading on asset prices.
• Game-Theoretic Stablecoin: Maintains stability through the balance of longs and shorts.
• Yield Generation: LPs earn yields from trading fees, funding rates, and liquidation penalties.
• Bitcoin-Only: Built entirely on Bitcoin's network without alternative tokens.

Technical Implementation

Leveraged Trading via Discreet Log Contracts

Contract Setup

Two parties, a trader and an LP, agree on contract terms:

• Asset: Bitcoin/USD price.
• Leverage: Multiplier on the trader's collateral.
• Collateral: Bitcoin amount provided by the trader.
• Duration: Contract length.
• Oracle: Selected to provide the settlement price.

Funding the Contract

• Trader: Locks collateral C_T in a multi-signature address.
• LP: Locks collateral C_LP to cover potential payouts.

Execution and Settlement

1. At maturity, the oracle provides a signature of the final price P_f.
2. The DLC allows funds to be distributed based on P_f and the contract terms.

Synthetic Stablecoin Creation

Mechanism

• Stablecoins are minted when traders open positions.
• Backed by Bitcoin collateral from LPs and traders.
• Stability maintained through balanced market positions and funding rates.

Funding Rates and Market Balance

Purpose

To incentivize traders to balance long and short positions, maintaining system stability.

Implementation

• Funding Rate: Funding Rate = k * (Net Position / Total Open Interest)
• Payments: Traders on the dominant side pay funding fees to the opposite side.

Risk Management and Liquidations

• Margin Requirements: Minimum collateral ratios for traders.
• Liquidation Thresholds: Positions are liquidated if collateral falls below maintenance margin.
• Automatic Liquidations: Enforced by smart contracts without human intervention.

Mathematical Foundations

Payout Calculation

Position Size

Position Size = C_T * L

Profit/Loss (P/L)

P/L = Position Size * ((P_f - P_0) / P_0)

Return on Investment (ROI)

ROI = (P/L / C_T) * 100%

Liquidation Price Calculation

For a long position:

P_liquidation = P_0 - ((C_T / Position Size) * P_0)

Game Theory and Incentive Alignment

Traders

• Incentive: Profit from accurate market predictions.
• Behavior: Manage risk to avoid liquidation.

Liquidity Providers

• Incentive: Earn yields from fees and funding rates.
• Risk: Exposure to traders' net P/L.

Oracles

• Incentive: Earn fees for accurate data provision.
• Behavior: Maintain reliability to secure future earnings.

Potential Flaws and Criticisms Addressed

Oracle Trustworthiness

Criticism

Relying on oracles introduces a single point of failure and potential for data manipulation.

Solution

• Decentralized Oracles: Use multiple oracles and aggregate data.
• Threshold Signatures: Require consensus among oracles.
• Incentive Alignment: Oracles are incentivized to provide accurate data through fees and reputation.

Liquidity Risks

Criticism

Insufficient liquidity may prevent covering traders' profits, especially during high volatility.

Solution

• Dynamic Leverage Limits: Adjust leverage based on liquidity.
• Risk Management Protocols: Implement strict margin requirements.
• Incentivizing LPs: Offer competitive yields to attract liquidity.

Price Volatility and Market Manipulation

Criticism

Extreme market movements could lead to rapid liquidations and instability.

Solution

• Anti-Manipulation Measures: Use time-weighted average prices (TWAP).
• Circuit Breakers: Temporarily halt trading during extreme volatility.
• Robust Liquidation Mechanisms: Ensure smooth liquidations without market disruption.

Technical Complexity

Criticism

Implementing DLCs and managing Lightning Network channels require advanced expertise.

Solution

• User-Friendly Interfaces: Develop intuitive platforms.
• Educational Resources: Provide guides and support.
• Community Development: Encourage collaboration and open-source contributions.

Regulatory Compliance

Criticism

Operating a leveraged trading platform may raise regulatory concerns.

Solution

• Decentralization: Structure the platform to minimize central control.
• Legal Consultation: Engage experts to navigate regulations.
• KYC/AML Policies: Implement where necessary without compromising privacy.

Network Limitations

Criticism

The Lightning Network may face limitations in liquidity and channel capacity.

Solution

• Channel Management Strategies: Utilize multi-path payments and channel factories.
• Liquidity Hubs: Establish well-funded nodes.
• Ongoing Development: Contribute to scalability improvements.

Conclusion

By leveraging Bitcoin's Lightning Network and Discreet Log Contracts, we can build a decentralized prediction market and a game-theoretic stablecoin without relying on alternative cryptocurrencies. This system addresses potential flaws and demonstrates that Bitcoin alone provides a secure, scalable, and efficient platform for advanced financial applications.

Future Work

• Prototype Development: Create a working model of the proposed system.
• Security Audits: Conduct thorough assessments to ensure robustness.
• Community Engagement: Involve developers and users in refining the system.
• Regulatory Navigation: Work with legal experts to ensure compliance.

Acknowledgments

We thank the Bitcoin and Lightning Network communities for their ongoing contributions to decentralized finance and open-source development.

References

1. Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, 2008.
2. Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja, The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments, 2016.
3. Tadge Dryja, Discreet Log Contracts, 2017.
4. GMX, Decentralized Perpetual Exchange, https://gmx.io/, Accessed 2023.
5. BIP 0341, Taproot: SegWit Version 1 Spending Rules, 2020.
6. Rusty Russell, Generic Smart Contracts Over Lightning, 2019.

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Podnikanie je jazyk s "crystal clear" pravidlami. Inštrumentalisti vidia podnikanie staticky, a toto videnie prenášajú na spoločnosť. Preto nás spoločnosť vníma často negatívne. Skutoční podnikatelia sú však "komunikátori".

Jozef Martiniak je zakladateľ AUSEKON - Institute of Austrian School of Economics

@ 472f440f:5669301e

Last night I had the pleasure of sitting down with Caitlin Long, Founder and CEO of Custodia - a fully reserved bank providing banking services to bitcoin companies, to discuss an affidavit written by Elaine Hetrick of Silvergate Bank. Elaine is the Chief Administrative Officer of Silvergate and wrote an affidavit, a sworn testimony subject to perjury, in which she detailed the events that led to Silvergate voluntarily winding down their business and returning deposits to their customers.

This affidavit is a bombshell because it confirms speculation that Silvergate was solvent in early 2023 and wasn't shut down because of bad risk management on behalf of the bank's management team, but instead was forced to shutter its doors because the Biden Administration, with strong influence from Senator Elizabeth Warren, forced Silvergate's hand because they didn't like that they were banking digital asset companies.

For those who are a bit fuzzy on the details of the narratives that were flying around Silvergate at the time, I'll jog your memory. FTX was a customer of Silvergate's at the time their Ponzi scheme unraveled. As FTX was blowing up, everyone and their mother was scrambling to get their money out of Silvergate because they assumed that since one of the bank's largest counterparties was going bust, the bank must be in trouble too. A sane decision. Especially considering the history of systemically non-important financial institutions this century.

Unless you were paying close attention during this time, you were likely under the impression that Silvergate was a typical fractionally reserved bank that was experiencing a run that led to its inevitable demise. The media made it seem this way. The regulators made it seem this way. And one pompous short seller made it seem this way. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Here are the most important parts of the affidavit:

Silvergate had stabilized, was able to make regulatory capital requirements, and had the capability to continue to serve its customers that had kept their deposits with Silvergate Bank.

Despite this, regulators decided to turn the pressure up and essentially gave Silvergate Bank, and Signature Bank as well, an ultimatum; drastically change your business models immediately by dropping your digital asset customer base or we'll shut you down. There were no hard numbers described in Elaine's testimony, but rumors are that the regulators wanted Silvergate to quickly shrink their exposure to digital asset-related clients to less than 15% of their capital base. At the time, Silvergate's customer base was made up almost entirely of digital asset companies (99.5% to be exact).

The regulators were asking Silvergate to do something that was quite literally impossible given the circumstances. Faced with an impossible task, on March 8th of 2023 Silvergate decided to voluntarily wind down their operations and return deposits back to their customers.

Let's be very clear here, Silvergate did not lose a single penny of customer deposits due to the run on their bank. Management, understanding the volatile nature of the digital asset markets, designed their risk management and capital allocation strategies in a way that would enable them to return dollars to any customer who requested them. And that's exactly what they did when customers came to request their money. They returned EVERY SINGLE PENNY.

This begs the question, "Why did they essentially force Silvergate to shut down?" They seemed to be running a very responsible operation after all. You'd think the regulators would applaud Silvergate's vigilance in risk management on behalf of their customer base. How many banks would have been able to do the same thing if put in the same situation? Probably not many.

The answer to this question is already well known throughout the industry, but Elaine Hetrick's testimony adds some hard evidence that makes it undeniable; Elizabeth Warren, the SEC, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve have been acting in concert to unconstitutionally and extrajudicially target the bitcoin and broader digital asset industry because they do not believe that it should exist. It is a threat to their power structure. The financial system, as it is designed today, gives those who would like to centrally plan the economy and micromanage the lives of American citizens a ton of power. Bitcoin is a threat to that power and they have to do everything in their power to prevent its proliferation.

The targeting of the industry was also confirmed by the aftermath of the NYDFS and FDIC uncharacteristically taking Signature Bank behind the woodshed in the evening of Sunday, March 20th, 2023, despite the fact that Barney Frank and others at the bank were convinced they could handle withdraws come market open the next day.

Signature Bank was ultimately sold to Flagstar Bank. However, they were forced to spin out their digital asset-related accounts before doing so.

This public signaling and sudden regulatory shift made clear that, at least as of the first quarter of 2023, the Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies would not tolerate banks with significant concentrations of digital asset customers, ultimately preventing Silvergate Bank from continuing its digital asset focused business model.

Pretty damning if you ask me. Also, very frustrating and most definitely illegal.

Elizabeth Warren and her gaggle of hall monitors across alphabet soup agencies and the Federal Reserve have been on one massive, unconstitutional, power trip for the last four years. They've besmirched bitcoin and those of us working hard to ensure that the United States of America leads the way forward as bitcoin adoption continues at every turn. Good people striving to make the world a better place.

No one is a better example of this than Alan Lane, the former CEO of Silvergate Bank. I consider Alan a friend and feel supremely confident when I say that he is one of the nicest and thoughtful people I have met in this industry. A man who followed his passion to bring legitimacy and much needed banking services to an industry that the incumbents refused to touch. And he did bring legitimacy. As I explained earlier, Alan and his team understood the volatile nature of the industry and built their firm in a way that took this volatility into account. Silvergate did not fail, they were forced to shut down by Elizabeth Warren and her acolytes at the regulatory agencies.

What's worse, Warren's vendetta against bitcoin and the digital asset industry incited the largest banking crisis this country had seen since 2008. Silvergate and Signature being taken behind the woodshed put everyone on their toes and bank runs started across the country. This led to the failure of First Republic, Silicon Valley Bank and a couple of smaller banks, forced the Fed to step in with their emergency BTFP program, and burdened taxpayers with $40B in FDIC costs that needed to be absorbed as a result. If it weren't for the bailouts things would have gotten completely out of control. All because Elizabeth Warren wants to live in a world in which we are forced to use CBDCs and unable to opt-in to bitcoin.

The euthanasia of Silvergate and Signature are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Chokepoint 2.0.

Caitlin Long and Custodia have been in a years long battle with the Federal Reserve to receive a Fed master account so that they can properly serve their customers. For those who are unaware, Custodia is a full-reserve bank that exist to serve bitcoin and digital asset businesses as well as other adjacent businesses like fintechs, banks and funds. Custodia is a chartered bank and special purpose depository institution that has built custody services so that customers can hold bitcoin within their bank accounts alongside their dollar accounts.

Like Silvergate and Signature, Custodia has been singled out and unlawfully denied a master account with the Fed because the Federal Reserve doesn't want a bank like Custodia to exist. Either because they worry about the ramifications of the introduction of a full-reserve bank into a system dominated by fractional-reserve banks or they simply do not want to see bitcoin succeed. If we're being honest, it's probably a combination of the two.

Despite what we, or anyone else, thinks about the potential effect a bank like Custodia could have on the market if it's granted a master account, the Fed's actions are unconstitutional in this case as well. This was made pretty clear (but yet to be determined by a court) in an amicus brief written by Paul Clement on behalf of Custodia earlier this Summer. The Fed is actively undermining the dual-banking system that was set up in this country to enable competition between state chartered banks and the Federal Reserve system.

In the case of Custodia, the Federal Reserve is exhibiting expansive discretionary power that it has never shown before. Custodia is a state chartered special purpose depository institution in the state of Wyoming. Historically, it would be trivial for this type of state chartered bank to get a master account with the Fed. But for whatever reason (we know the reason) the Fed has been denying Custodia their right to this account for a number of years. To the point where Custodia was forced to sue the Federal Reserve and take their case to the courts.

What's interesting about the saga of Custodia and the Fed is that it has forced Custodia's legal team to dig in and highlight where the Fed is overextending its reach and acting arbitrarily. In the amicus brief that was published in July of this year, Paul Clement argues that the way Federal Reserve Bank presidents are chosen is unconstitutional when you take into consideration the fact the these Fed branch presidents are unilaterally undermining state banking laws by denying master accounts.

If they are going to unilaterally undermine state banking laws they need to be appointed by the President or an official acting on behalf of the Executive Branch. Federal Reserve Bank presidents aren't appointed by the President of the United States or any official acting with the authority of the Executive Branch. Instead, they are appointed by their boards, which are controlled by the privately held commercial banks who own them. The Federal Reserve system is clearly acting unconstitutionally when they deny Custodia from being assigned a master account.

The people in power within the federal government and the Federal Reserve system are actively targeting the bitcoin and digital asset industry, acting extrajudicially and making a mockery of the rule of law in the United States. They are completely out of control and it is important that everyone who cares about the future of bitcoin in the United States and the future of the United States more broadly (even if you don't like bitcoin) speaks out and fights against these totalitarians as vehemently as possible. What they are doing is wrong. It's unconstitutional. And it is putting the future of our country at risk.

If the federal government, the regulators and the Federal Reserve do not get out of the way and let law abiding citizens build the businesses they want and associate with businesses they want, those businesses will go elsewhere and the United States will be set back generations as a result.

It's time to put these people in their place and let it be known that freedom will reign supreme in the Land of the Free. Fight!

Final thought... I promised Parker Lewis that I would do cross fit on Friday morning and I'm using today's final thought as an accountability tool.

@ fd78c37f:a0ec0833

A mirror post on the Dora Research Blog can be found at: https://research.dorahacks.io/2024/09/25/network-states-critique-part-1/ Author: DORA Interns

Section 1:

As capitalism became the new economic system, replacing the old feudal guilds and their small and inefficient means of production, cultural conditions began to take hold that would give rise to nations and a sense of national consciousness. This thesis, argued in great detail by Benedict Anderson in his book Imagined Communities, is characteristically similar to Marxist theory, which generally holds that any difference made in a society's economic and technological base results in changes throughout its whole structure. As humans alter their environment, gain control of its variables, and reduce the severity of their conditions, higher, more rational faculties may begin to develop. Karl Marx writes, “By thus acting on the external world and changing it, (human beings) at the same time change (their) own nature.” As technology progresses; as the tools used by human beings advance and become more efficient and productive, human consciousness grows with it. Starting with primitive forms of productive forces like stone tools, human beings organize themselves in ways made possible by this primal mode of technology, which possesses a meager capacity to tame and alter nature, and, consequently, casts human understanding and knowledge into the shadows, greatly obstructing their freedom, as well as their capacity to become self-aware. Thus as the means of production progress, more complicated forms of social organization become possible. Human beings slowly become conscious of their autonomy - the ability to live a life dictated by reason, by rational choice and principle, and not by the caprice of external causal factors. Throughout this historical process, the old institutions and societal structures deteriorate and grow obsolete; revolutions occur to update the social infrastructure and catch up to the progressing economic base.

When technology grew to the point of being able to sustain capitalism, and more well-organized systems of labor were needed to underpin what the economy demanded, people flocked to the cities, leaving behind the rural life that was characteristic of the feudal system, and began thinking of themselves as part of larger collectives, as nations. Marx writes, “Independent, or but loosely connected provinces, with separate interests, laws, governments, and systems of taxation, became lumped together into one nation, with one government, one code of laws, one national class-interest, one frontier, and one-customs tariff.” Industrialization, then, and its new tools, which drastically shifted the means of production, changed human consciousness and laid the conditions necessary for societies to become nation-states.

In Imagined Communities, Anderson claims this development toward industrialization and nation-states was largely set in motion by the advent of the Gutenberg printing press in 1440. He argues that this technology, which began to distribute newspapers, novels, and bibles to readers in a language that would become a people’s common vernacular, had laid the cultural conditions for a sense of national consciousness, the feeling that one belonged to a larger community that expanded past their immediate surroundings, to arise. People who previously did not think of themselves as ‘French’, or ‘English’, or ‘American’, who spoke in largely discontinuous dialects, slowly began to think of themselves as participating in a nation of people bound together by a shared experience. These new national identities replaced the old religious, preordained orders that once provided meaning to human beings, and nationality became one of the more dominant modes through which people identified who and what they were.

Now, another important technology that facilitated the historical development of nations was the ledger and its use for double-entry bookkeeping. As information regarding debits and credits was able to be recorded, more large-scale trades, transfers of assets, and general forms of record-keeping were made possible, bringing about the need for more uniform, clear, and discrete boundaries between the various territories. Nation-states became a means to meet the demands made by society’s progress. Feudalism and its notion of the Divine Right of Kings, its old religious dogmas, and its obsolete forms of social institutions, were unable to adapt to these economic shifts. The emergence of the Enlightenment period (1685-1789) ushered in new ways of understanding the state and its position of authority and legitimacy to hold power. Rather than being conceived as a beacon of Divine order, it increasingly became seen as a rational compromise between people who invested the state with authority in exchange for preserving their natural rights. It was now a third-party institution that resided over settling disputes, enforcing the law, and punishing those who violated it. The state was now only legitimate insofar as it protected the rights of the individuals who consented to be governed.

However, over time, a great deal of trust had been handed to these new institutions, and many believe they have now led to an excess of centralized power. Banks became the holders of financial ledgers; distribution of information, of news and events, became the job of a few selected companies, and the government, over time, stepped over its initial claim to legitimacy by taking on roles far surpassing the task of merely protecting individual rights and liberties. Because there was no technology for it, people still had to be trusted as disinterested and objective third-party mediators, which human nature often fails to achieve, allowing self-interest, greed, envy, and human vice more generally to have an influential role in state and governmental processes. This creates corrosive trust issues between citizens and their institutions. In their book The Truth Machine, Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna write, “Trust - especially in our institutions - is a vital social resource, the true lubricant of all human interaction. When it works, we take it for granted - we wait our place in line, follow road rules, and assume everyone will do the same… But when trust is lacking, things really, really break down.”

Today, with the invention of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, many believe these institutions themselves become obsolete and that new forms of social organization are needed. In his book The Network State, Balaji Srinivasan labors to demonstrate this claim, arguing that the network and its capacity to allow individuals to organize digital, landless communities, can replace the old nation-states that obstruct social development. In particular, he believes blockchain and its capacity to underpin trustless systems to be capable of supplanting the older institutions by automating what they were entrusted with doing; cryptocurrencies can automate the roles done by central banks and the Federal Reserve; information of news and events can be loaded onto blockchains and remain immutable, preventing self-serving parties from tampering and manipulating it for their interests; private information can be cryptographically secured and held by individuals rather than by centralized, private tech companies like Google; and nation-states more generally can be superseded by the network, which eliminates the perennial issue of land that has caused innumerable wars and conflicts between sovereign states. But, despite the optimism induced by these new technologies, there are problems. The rest of this article will be concerned with addressing what it means for a network state to be ‘ethical’, to use a term of Srinivasan’s. Some nation-states are viewed as unethical, as providing conditions that are degrading to human beings; North Korea immediately comes to mind. The next section will propose a way to discern why such a judgment is true, and will be used to assess what a network state must achieve to be considered ‘ethical’. I will argue that this can only be done by holding people’s autonomy as the principal end of the state.

Section 2:

To see this, we can think of creating a state as a complex activity, and, as with most activities, it is directed toward certain ends. Similarly to how playing a sport, gardening, or driving a car is an activity, so is creating a state - albeit a far more complicated one. But whereas the ends of certain activities may be for the sake of pleasure or leisure, the state’s ends are always within a moral and ethical scope. It is moral in that, whenever one is engaged in the activity of state-making, the ends by which the activity is oriented are always directed toward drafting principles that will establish cooperative social practices and institutions that guide and govern the actions of the members within the state, which lay the conditions by which human beings will pursue their individual and collective well-being. In other words, the ends that the act of founding a state is aimed toward is to create practices that consist of individuals who form collectives, and who cooperate and live according to a given set of moral ends that orient, inform, and shape the lives of those within the state. Therefore, all acts occurring within this activity are never neutral from the moral point of view but are inextricably linked to questions about morality and the ethical life. Such an activity, then, should not be viewed as anything less than a pursuit of moral and ethical ends, and to confuse this activity with the pursuit of other ends - like financial gain, technological innovation, the expansion of markets, or the satisfaction of personal interests - commits a modal confusion, which immediately involves one in a separate activity than that of founding a state. By modal confusion, I mean the error of engaging in a particular mode of activity with the wrong set of ends in mind. For example, someone who makes paintings would be deeply confused to declare themself to be an artist when their chief end is financial gain. Such an end is better captured by calling the activity manufacturing rather than artistry. Perhaps a more characteristic end of an artist would be the production of beauty, for instance, or self-expression, but not profit. Profit would be employed only as a means to further, more artistic ends that are deemed necessary by the social conditions the artist finds themself in.

Or imagine a person who becomes friends with someone to derive certain benefits from them, like using them to get to know someone they are interested in, but who nevertheless believes that the two are sincere friends. The person who befriends the other confuses what kind of activity they are engaged in. The relation of being friends with someone involves adopting certain ends that are demanded by the relationship. In the case of friendship, an obvious end that characterizes the activity is holding the other person as an end-in-themselves, as someone who is not valuable for any other reason other than the fact that they’re a friend. One would be deeply confused by believing to be engaged in friendship when one does not hold the relevant end in relation to the activity.

Now, when founding a network state, reducing the degree of modal confusion is central to the project of creating an ‘ethical’ state. If a founder holds an irrelevant set of ends in mind, they risk the potential for causing significant harm to persons, and I will argue that it does so by reducing autonomy. By autonomy, I mean a human being’s capacity to exercise willful, deliberative choice, and not be wholly dictated by external influence. The philosopher Harry Frankfurt defines it as follows: “Autonomy is essentially a matter of whether we are active rather than passive in our motives and choices - whether… they are the motives and choices that we really want and are therefore in no way alien to us.” Now, one’s autonomy exists within one’s subjectivity, which can be understood as a person’s conscious experience. It’s the center at which one’s thoughts, desires, perceptions, worries, fears, anxieties, all occur, as they manifest in experience. Subjectivity can then be divided into at least two parts, one of which is a quantitative dimension, the other being qualitative. The first consists of the stream of experience, of the constant succession of mental states and behaviors. At one moment I’m hungry and so act to satisfy the desire; at another, I’m struck with fear and run away from the object that is the target of my response, and so on. As the examples imply, this dimension of subjectivity involves a high degree of passivity; events and experiences are simply happening to me. The qualitative dimension, on the other hand, is far more active and is the space by which autonomy exists. This involves the capacity to evaluate one’s mental states and to reflect and decide whether they are worth acting on, whether they’re rational or not, whether they represent the world accurately; and to act autonomously is to act based on one’s qualitative nature, and not be carried away unreflectively by the more passive, quantitative dimension.

The central claim of this article is that the principal end of the state is to promote the development and growth of the qualitative nature of its members’ subjectivity. To hold this capacity of human beings as secondary, or accidental and not a primary need, is to be modally confused. That’s not to say the state is the primary institution responsible for promoting or even determining its citizens’ autonomy - the existence and crimes of the USSR are sufficient to refute that - but only that it shares the responsibility. Whatever its exact role is, or in what forms it is concretely realized, the state’s principal end is directed toward facilitating the development of its citizens’ subjectivity. A society can be imagined as a large, extended plain divided into proportions sized according to the degree of each part’s contribution toward reaching this goal. One part consists of the economy, another is occupied by the private and public affairs of communities and individuals, and another is delegated to the state. Whatever the exact configuration of this plain, each part cooperates and contributes toward fulfilling the full breadth of human needs. And I believe this can be done in numerous ways; there is not necessarily one form a state must have, which specifies and delineates each of its fixed parts to align with some ultimate reality, to reach this end. Nevertheless, I believe the state does have a hierarchy of ends.

It could be argued, however, that this is wrong and that founding a state is not a moral activity but merely a prudential one, whose end is to protect individual self-interests and preferences. That is, the state is not concerned with morality but with establishing conditions that enable individuals to pursue their own self-interests and preferences uninterrupted by other human beings. Because individuals are concerned with their own well-being, with their own survival, and the satisfaction of their desires, living in a state of nature, where there is no authority to settle disputes or conflicts regarding life, liberty, or property, is contrary to individual interests. It would be rational, then, to form a state invested with the authority granted by the consent of the governed which has the power to punish those who violate the law, adjudicate and settle disputes, and protect everyone’s basic liberties that prevent others from interfering with one another’s lives.

Understanding the state this way means that the ends of the state are prudential and not primarily moral. Individuals are free to opt into whatever network state they wish, insofar as they do so by their own, uncoerced choice.

Now Srinivasan, as I see it, is somewhere in the middle between the moral and prudential conceptions of state founding. He speaks of state legitimacy as being grounded entirely in the consent of the governed. If a network state receives enough members; if it expands to the point of reaching diplomatic recognition, then that is a testament to the legitimacy of that state. People have consented to their smart contract(s), they have invested a certain amount of authority to the founder(s) by agreeing to its terms, and such a state, Srinivasan concludes, is therefore ‘ethical’. But the notion of being ethical here is ambiguous. Does he mean that it is so because what constitutes something as ethical is an agreement, or does he mean that freedom to choose is the principal end of the state? The former is prudential because it reasons that it is up to individuals to decide for themselves what is ethical or moral, given that there is no objective fact of the matter; individuals calculate according to their self-interests, preferences, and desires, and whether a contract is fair, just, or equal is up to each person. The latter, on the other hand, is moral because it holds freedom of choice as what constitutes the moral ends of the state. What matters is whether individuals freely choose to join the state, and not whether the contract is fair or just independent of that. This is because individuals' most valuable capacity is to choose. Because it is up to each person to decide for themselves whether a contract is fair or just, a state is morally legitimate if people voluntarily consent to its contract.

Whichever one Srinivasan is committed to, both are problematic and I will present arguments against the two interpretations, which will be motivated by the following claims. That one, holding the state to be merely concerned with prudential ends is to confuse means with ends, which underestimates the role it plays in the individual’s life, and two, holding freedom of choice as the principal end confuses mere choice with free choice. These confusions permit the degradation of human dignity by disregarding the human need to foster the faculties necessary for autonomy. It is within each individual’s interests to be within a society. To be outside of a community, to be isolated and without access to resources, to be without recourse to institutions who will enforce the protection of one’s rights, is to live within a hostile environment that is against fulfilling one’s needs. However, establishing more hospitable conditions does not thereby define the principal end of the state, and the mere ability to choose does not necessarily respect the capacity for autonomy. It only offers the appearance of choice and not the reality. To freely choose means far more than the pursuit of satisfying an impulse. Before developing these arguments further, Srinivasan's two potential conceptions of the ‘ethical’ state need to be better understood. Let’s begin with the prudential account.

Section 3:

According to this argument, the state is directed toward establishing the conditions necessary for individuals to pursue their own self-interests, desires, and preferences, without the interference of others, and insofar as one’s projects do not infringe on someone else’s. An exemplar of this view is the philosopher Thomas Hobbes. A state of nature, where individuals exist outside of an organized collective bound by laws and institutions, is a state of war, filled with perpetual conflict and strife and the competition of self-interests, and consists of an endless pursuit of individuals attempting to gain power over one another for the sake of the control and security necessary for extinguishing the fear caused by their harsh environment. Setting aside the plausibility of such a state, what’s important is that, by understanding individuals in this way, human nature is presented as calculative, as the rational pursuit of one’s own interests. And since interests conflict, and each individual has an inborn right to preserve itself, to fight for its own survival; and because each one must determine what their survival requires, life in a state of nature is nasty, brutish, and short.

It would be far more rational, then, both for oneself and others, to form a state that would eliminate this perpetual state of war and conflict by implementing laws and institutions that enforce agreements and contracts made between persons, and that uphold conditions of peace, which allows individuals to pursue their ends without the fear of being interfered with. The philosopher Immanuel Kant phrases this as follows: “Each may seek his happiness in whatever way he sees fit, so long as he does not infringe upon the freedom of others to pursue a similar end which can be reconciled with the freedom of everyone else within a general workable law.”

Notice, then, that forming a state is not a matter of morals but of rational calculation, of looking out for one’s own interests. It’s not that a state should be formed because it allows persons to treat one another with dignity, or because each is worthy of some inviolable respect, but because it is in everyone’s best interests. Founding a state, then, “means finding out how the mechanism of nature can be applied to men in such a manner that the antagonism of their hostile attitudes will make them compel one another to submit to coercive law, thereby producing a condition of peace within which the laws can be enforced.” This is a prudential account of state-founding.

There’s a fundamental problem with this kind of account, however. The first thing to note is the conception of human subjectivity contained within it. A Hobbesian notion of human nature, simply put, suggests subjectivity consists of computational processes whose ends are the satisfaction of the subject's desires and preferences. The state’s aim, then, is to discipline the subject in a way that will lead to them having the capacity to coexist in peaceful conditions with others. It is not to prescribe certain definite moral ends, to orient them around a conception of the good, or to circumscribe what their desires should or should not be; it is to sustain the conditions necessary for individuals to pursue their interests without interfering with the right of others to pursue their own.

Now, the issue here is that human subjectivity is conceived one-dimensionally. Human beings are born with certain natural desires and preferences like survival and the fulfillment of basic needs, and the state is not to interfere with this but to protect each individual's impulse to preserve them, and to shape their lives as they see fit. Each can do as they please insofar as it does not harm another. But this is too simplistic. This amounts to believing that human desires and preferences occupy a single, quantitative plain, and each individual goes about maximizing these while simultaneously avoiding infringing on others’ ability to do so. But if we step back and ask whether a desire itself is desirable we are no longer asking a question along this quantitative plane, but have begun to ask about the qualitative nature of the desire. Is that desire of more worth than that one? This is a question regarding second-order desires.

First-order desires often happen to us, they occur, and pull us in the direction of the desired object. My desire to eat does not arise by my own volition. After a time of not eating, the desire simply renews itself. Second-order desires concern the will, of what one wants to want, of whether a desire is something one desires to motivate his or her will. Harry Frankfurt writes, “Creatures like ourselves are not limited to desires that move them to act. In addition, they have the reflexive capacity to form desires regarding their own desires - that is, regarding both what they want to want, and what they want not to want.” Focusing solely on the quantitative dimension of subjectivity does not account for this distinction. If someone goes about attempting to maximize their well-being by satisfying their immediate desires, some of the desires they do not act on, the ones that don’t motivate them to act but are present, are competing first-order desires, which do not consist of an evaluation regarding whether the one desire is of more worth than the other; one simply out-competes the other.

Now, with this distinction in mind, the point can be stated as follows: this qualitative, evaluative dimension, is first informed and shaped by the social context one finds oneself in, or, as the philosopher Martin Heidegger would phrase it, is thrown into. By being in the world with other people, through communication, language, and interaction, human beings begin to form and make sense of what occurs in their inner and outer life. William A. Luijpen and Henry J. Koren write in their book Existential Phenomenology that, “In my dealing with others, there occurs a quasi-process of sedimentation, and the quasi-effect of it is called ‘social facticity’ or my ‘social body’. The way I greet others, speak, or think is, at least in the first instance, largely the quasi-effect of the fact that I grew up in the West and not in China.” Social facticity, then, is the set of social conditions by which a human being becomes acquainted with the world, making things intelligible and meaningful, ordered and sensible. The philosopher Charles Taylor writes, “I can only learn what anger, love, anxiety, the aspiration to wholeness, etc., are through my and others’ experience of these being objects for us, in some common space.”

When developing within a social environment, the qualitative dimension of subjectivity is largely first shaped by the situation one is in, which provides the framework by which to discern who and what one is, what is valuable, what the good is, how one should conduct oneself in specific contexts, and so forth. Underpinning all of this is an assumed picture of qualitative evaluations. For this not to be present means the individual will not be able to live. Therefore, when a state is formed that will govern a society, it is not merely concerned with prudential ends but with moral ones as well. Self-interests, preferences, desires, fears, impediments to action, in short, the whole internal and external life of an individual, are first made sense of in the social environment. To think that one can merely pursue their own ends without reference to this further dimension is wrong.

As the psychologist Erich Fromm points out in his book To Have or To Be, living in social conditions that only emphasize the quantitative nature of human beings is dehumanizing. A society and state that promotes the satisfaction of desires and preferences, of one’s self-interests, which will supposedly somehow lead to realizing human beings’ higher capacities, is highly implausible. How can character traits like egoism, greed, and selfishness produce social cooperation, connection, and harmony, which are integral to well-being? Most of the great thinkers throughout history spent their time on this issue. Socrates, Plato, the Stoics, the Epicureans, all formulated distinctions between our qualitative and quantitative capacities. Fromm writes, “The essential element in their thinking is the distinction between those needs (desires)... whose satisfaction leads to momentary pleasure, and those needs that are rooted in human nature and whose realization is conducive to human growth and produces eudaimonia, i.e., ‘well-being’.” If the qualitative dimension of subjectivity possesses needs essential to well-being, such as the ability to actively and critically engage with oneself and the world, then measures must be taken that target these features of human beings, otherwise, they will be left empty and unfulfilled.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, this doesn’t mean the state must therefore be delegated the primary bearer of this responsibility. But it does mean that it plays a role toward this end. Whatever that precisely is, the principal end of the state is to discern and actualize its part in this process.

Section 4:

So much for Srinivasan’s notion of the ‘ethical’ state as one that establishes the prudential ends of rational, self-interest-seeking agents. What about the second way to understand this idea, that the state is ethical because freedom of choice is all that matters and is the fundamental end to be preserved and exercised in and by the state? The argument I will present against this way of understanding the state has to do with how we should understand the term ‘freedom’ in this context.

If freedom of choice is the primary end of the state; if non-interference in one’s decisions to pursue one’s ends is what the term ‘ethical’ amounts to, then it must be clear what constitutes a free choice. According to the prudential account of state-founding, a state was ethical because it established conditions for individuals to pursue their desires and private conceptions of happiness. It is not a question of morals but of calculative reason, of locating rational means, and the state is a way for individuals to coexist and pursue their interests.

As has been shown, however, the state does much more than this. By having an integral role in organizing society, the state substantially contributes toward the frameworks by which individuals understand themselves, which shape the concepts necessary for moral deliberation, for positing ends worthy of pursuit, and the resources used to differentiate good from bad, right from wrong.

The proposal now is that the term ethical suggests that the state is a moral activity and not merely a prudential one, but also that the sole end of the state is to allow individuals to freely choose for themselves what they consider to be the good, or what holds value, and by making an uncoerced choice, whatever the agreement is, by consenting to it, it is ethical. The freedom to choose is the principal end of all human conduct and affairs.

This creates a twofold problem that depends on the degree of value placed on choice. The first is that, if choice is held as being forfeitable, as something someone may decide to surrender when consenting to join a state, then a state can be ethical merely because people chose to opt in, even if it allows for the existence of conditions that are degrading to human beings. The second is that, if choice is held to be the principal end of the state and is not forfeitable, it may still not realize the freedom necessary for free choice, namely, autonomy. The first problem is more easily discerned, while the second is more subtle. Let’s begin with the first.

There are many reasons why someone may choose to join a state and forfeit their freedom, but for the sake of argument it’s best to focus on one and this will be when an individual feels alienated from, and alone within, a society. A historical way to frame this problem, as Erich Fromm does in his book Escape From Freedom, is to look at the fading presence of the Catholic Church after the Reformation. To put it very simply, in the Middle Ages the world was viewed as perfectly ordered and possessed an eternal structure created by God, including how human beings, both individually and collectively, were to live. The individual was not confronted with questions of how to live, what to do with one’s life, or what ends to pursue; the Church answered these questions and provided a sense of belonging in the world. Fromm writes, “In having a distinct, unchangeable, and unquestionable place in the social world from the moment of birth, man was rooted in a structuralized whole, and thus life had a meaning which left no place, and no need, for doubt… The social order was conceived as a natural order, and being a definite part of it gave a feeling of security and belonging.” When God was “demoted,” as the historian Marci Shore puts it, and when there was no longer available recourse to some greater being to understand how human beings should live and the responsibility became their own, a great space was left empty and needed to be filled again; human beings could not assume they were at the center of things. They themselves became accountable for how society was to be organized, how life should be lived, what meaning life possesses; and the answers to these concerns must be formed by human reason itself and not by an imposed, nonhuman standard. But this emerging form of freedom came with a price. Dostoevsky formulates this cost in his famous phrase, “If there is no God, then everything is permissible.” That is, without some ultimate, nonhuman reality that makes the world appear ordered, harmonious, justified, good, everything becomes unchained. And for things to return to their previous, stable state, which is of course necessary for human beings to live, it was human beings that bore the burden. Simone de Beauvoir, a 20th-century philosopher, writes in her book The Ethics of Ambiguity that Man now “bears the responsibility for a world which is not the work of a strange power, but of himself, where his defeats are inscribed, and his victories as well. A God can pardon, efface, and compensate. But if God does not exist, man’s faults are inexpiable.”

The experience of alienation in modern society can be partially explained by modernity not being able to cope with this burden. To use Fromm’s phrase, great efforts have been made to escape from it. Historians like Hannah Arendt have attributed the rise of totalitarian governments in the 20th century as arising from this condition, where individuals forfeit this new form of freedom by submerging themselves within the group and relinquishing their responsibility to choose how to live and decide what their lives ultimately mean. But doing so eliminates choice altogether and therefore reduces subjectivity to a mere thing that is not aware of itself, and thus not accountable for its actions and projects, as being the one responsible for what takes place in the world. And as the 20th century demonstrates, this is catastrophic. Therefore, no network state that attempts to allow individuals to forfeit their freedom and autonomy is worthy of being called ethical. Such a state is an attempt to avoid moral and ethical choices and does not attempt to cope with them.

The second part of the problem, where freedom is the principal value and is not forfeitable, is that it conceives of choice in purely negative terms. The mistake made is to confuse mere choice with free choice. Similarly to how the prudential account mistook individuals’ ends as being formed ultimately by the individual, this account of the ethical presupposes that choice can be a matter of pursuing first-order desires and does not require whether one has considered if such desires are worth pursuing; one could be moved entirely by instinct and therefore not by the faculties necessary for a real choice. If choice is simply a matter of determining how to maximize one’s satisfaction and is not concerned with the qualitative nature of the desires themselves, then reflection, deliberation, and thinking more generally are simply instruments used to obtain happiness. They are means employed to satisfy desires. But if desires go unchecked; if they’re taken for granted and assumed to be worth the attention we instinctively give them, then a choice was not made. That is, second-order desires are not taken into consideration. Acting purely from first-order desires is to be caused to act by impulse, instinct, or inclination, which determines the action, and not by reflection. It is through reflection and deliberation, through considerations formulated by one’s own will, that one truly chooses. The philosopher Immanuel Kant distinguishes between autonomy and heteronomy. Understanding this will clarify the argument. To act autonomously is to be an originating and self-determining cause of an action. To act heteronomously is to be caused to act, to be moved by influences and forces outside of one’s will. Thus to enact a choice freely one must will the action and not be motivated by what is outside of the will. The philosopher Paul Franco writes in his book Hegel’s Philosophy of Freedom, “Kant rejects the naturalistic understanding of freedom as exemplified by Hobbes that sees it as the unimpeded pursuit of one’s empirically given desires. In giving into natural desire or inclination, the will is determined by something other than itself…” From this, it can be seen how acting from desire does not constitute a free choice. If desires are conditioned by the external environment, then the expression of those desires was not of one’s choosing but is due to the conditioning that took place in the development and upbringing of the individual. Mere choice, then, does not constitute free choice.

But why, it may be asked, is this problematic? Even if the individual’s choice is said not to be fully free, why should the state concern itself with this? It’s up to the individual to discover their own freedom. I don’t necessarily disagree with this. It is not that the state should interfere with and enforce that individuals make free rather than mere choices, but only that it should concern itself with realizing conditions that are conducive to the development necessary for individuals to actualize their faculties for autonomy, which is located in the more qualitative dimension of subjectivity. The aim here is not to precisely articulate how the state should do this, but only that individual autonomy is the end it must strive toward. To hold this as secondary is to treat human activity as being in service to something other than itself; as if human faculties are meant for some other end. This is false. The state’s aim is to play its role in treating human beings as ends-in-themselves and as the reason for its legitimacy to have any authority. To do otherwise is to confuse self-interests with morality.

Conclusion:

The ‘ethical’ network state holds autonomy as its principal end. Its goal is to discover how to best contribute toward formulating conditions conducive to realizing this. What the government must precisely be, what laws are best, what institutions are necessary, must be understood in these terms. To do otherwise is to be confused about what activity one is involved in, which may lead to dehumanizing environments for those who opt-in to states that fail to live up to this standard.

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Ako sa snažím praktizovať LunarPunk bez budovania opcionality "odchodom" do zahraničia. Nie každý je ochotný alebo schopný meniť "miesto", ako však v takom prípade minimalizovať interakciu so štátom? Nie návod, skôr postrehy z bežného života.

@ a012dc82:6458a70d

Table Of Content

• What is a Bitcoin Paper Wallet?

• How Does a Bitcoin Paper Wallet Work?

• Creating a Bitcoin Paper Wallet

• Benefits of Using a Bitcoin Paper Wallet

• Conclusion

• FAQ

Bitcoin has become increasingly popular over the years, and with its popularity comes the need for safe storage options. One of the most secure ways to store your Bitcoin is by using a paper wallet. But what exactly is a Bitcoin paper wallet, and how does it work? In this beginner's guide, we'll explore everything you need to know about Bitcoin paper wallets, including how to create one, and the benefits of using them.

What is a Bitcoin Paper Wallet?

A Bitcoin paper wallet is a form of cold storage for your Bitcoin. It's a physical piece of paper that contains the public and private keys necessary to access your Bitcoin. The public key is used to receive Bitcoin, while the private key is used to send Bitcoin. Since the paper wallet is offline, it's considered one of the most secure ways to store your Bitcoin.

How Does a Bitcoin Paper Wallet Work?

A Bitcoin paper wallet works by generating a pair of public and private keys using a random number generator. The public key is used to receive Bitcoin, and the private key is used to send Bitcoin. These keys are then printed onto a piece of paper, along with a QR code that represents the public key. You can then use the QR code to easily send Bitcoin to your paper wallet.

Creating a Bitcoin Paper Wallet

Creating a Bitcoin paper wallet is a simple process that you can do at home. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Go to a paper wallet generator website, such as Bitaddress.org or Walletgenerator.net.

2. Disconnect your computer from the internet and ensure your printer is not connected to a network.

3. Generate a pair of keys by moving your mouse around the screen or using another form of randomness.

4. Print out the paper wallet, ensuring you print multiple copies and store them in a secure location.

5. Send Bitcoin to your paper wallet by scanning the QR code with your Bitcoin wallet.

Benefits of Using a Bitcoin Paper Wallet

There are several benefits to using a Bitcoin paper wallet, including:

1. Security - Since a paper wallet is not connected to the internet, it's one of the most secure ways to store your Bitcoin.

2. Control - You have complete control over your Bitcoin since you're the only one with access to your private keys.

3. Accessibility - You can easily access your Bitcoin by scanning the QR code on your paper wallet.

4. Backup - You can print multiple copies of your paper wallet and store them in different locations as a backup.

Conclusion

A Bitcoin paper wallet is a secure and accessible way to store your Bitcoin offline. By following the steps outlined in this beginner's guide, you can easily create a paper wallet and start safely storing your Bitcoin. Remember to keep your paper wallet in a secure location and make multiple copies as a backup. With a Bitcoin paper wallet, you can have complete control over your Bitcoin and protect it from potential online threats.

FAQ

Are paper wallets safe? Yes, paper wallets are one of the most secure ways to store your Bitcoin since they're offline and not connected to the internet.

Can I use the same paper wallet multiple times? Yes, you can use the same paper wallet multiple times to receive Bitcoin.

Can I store other cryptocurrencies on a paper wallet? Yes, you can store other cryptocurrencies on a paper wallet as long as the wallet generator supports them.

That's all for today

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.

@ a03b38f8:2c7ce1f0

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Tento rok vás čaká workshop na tému "oranžové leto" s Jurajom Bednárom a Mariannou Sádeckou. Dozviete sa ako mení naše vnímanie skúsenosť s Bitcoinom, ako sa navigovať v dnešnom svete a odstrániť mentálnu hmlu spôsobenú fiat životom.

Na workshop je potrebný extra lístok (môžete si ho dokúpiť aj na mieste).

Pre viac informácií o oranžovom lete odporúčame pred workshopom vypočuťi si podcast na túto tému.

@ b2caa9b3:9eab0fb5

The day before yesterday was a whirlwind of exploration in Moshi, Tanzania. My plan was to find the elusive Art Market, a haven for local artists nestled outside the town center. Google Maps wasn't much help, but armed with a vague memory and a thirst for artistic discovery, I set off on foot.

After a scenic walk, I stumbled upon the hidden gem. Unlike the tourist-oriented markets in town, this place brimmed with authenticity. Artists displayed their paintings, sculptures, and wood carvings, creating a vibrant atmosphere. While browsing, I encountered a sight that gave me pause: a man working on elephant tusks. Knowing the illegality of the ivory trade in many countries, I snapped a couple of photos and continued my exploration.

Deeper into the market, I came across two artists diligently creating new pieces. They even offered me a friendly lunch invitation, which I politely declined (unsure of the mysterious meat on the menu!).

Energized by the artistic encounters, I decided to venture further. I hopped on a tuk-tuk, aiming for the outskirts of Moshi, a place called Raul, the gateway to the Materuni Waterfall hike (which I'd already conquered in December). Unfortunately, my tuk-tuk driver wasn't feeling as honest. He tried to overcharge me, but luckily, I knew the fair price and negotiated a fair deal.

The adventure took a turn for the worse on the return trip. Due to poor lighting and a hidden curb, I had a nasty nighttime fall. My hands, knee, and foot took the brunt of the impact, leaving me with some nasty (and still painful!) wounds. Thankfully, a kind soul at the hostel provided disinfectant, and I followed up with medication from the pharmacy the next day.

While the mishaps put a damper on the evening, the day's earlier discoveries still hold a special place in my memory. The Art Market, with its raw talent and local charm, was a true gem. This experience serves as a reminder that sometimes the best adventures are the ones that stray from the beaten path, even if they come with a few bumps and bruises along the way.

After tending to my wounds, I decided to treat myself to some comfort food. Opting for something familiar, I ordered a dish called "Wali Maharagwe." This Tanzanian staple, consisting of rice and beans, was exactly what I needed to soothe my body and soul. The flavors were simple yet satisfying, a perfect end to an eventful day.

Feel free to support me by sending some sats via the lightning network to rubenstorm@getalby.com

@ b39b8e83:0e391257

For widespread privacy, we need a social contract. People must work together to deploy these systems for the common good.

Privacy isn't just personal. It's a collective effort. The more people use privacy tech, the stronger our defenses become.

Adopting privacy tools is a form of solidarity. When you protect your data, you help protect everyone's.

Education is key. Teach others about privacy tools. Help your friends and family set up encrypted messaging.

Support privacy-focused projects, businesses, & developers. Contribute code, donate, or simply use and promote these tools.

Normalize privacy practices. Make using encryption and anonymity tools as common as locking your front door.

Privacy as a social norm benefits everyone. It protects whistleblowers, journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens alike.

The social contract for privacy: I'll respect your right to privacy, and you'll respect mine.

https://image.nostr.build/f235113e856a4adfa13b25dd703f46e17bbeef3f40bbdebacacc5e0fc0063f79.jpg

@ 3c7dc2c5:805642a8

🧠Quote(s) of the week:

“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder,” according to 20th-century historian Arnold Toynbee.

He claimed every great culture collapses internally due to a divergence in values between the ruling class and the common people…

"Constant inflation is a human rights issue. It basically prevents people from building up liquid capital reliably. It either forces them to monetize illiquid things like real estate or just keeps rug-pulling them year after year and they're never able to build any serious capital and better themselves."
-Lyn Alden.

🧡Bitcoin news🧡

On the 15th of September:

➡️More than a week a week ago rumors circulated that Coinbase is writing Bitcoin IOUs for BlackRock and they are suppressing the price. Now fast forward to today.

➡️Power bills increased by $300 per year for each home in a Norwegian town after the local Bitcoin miner shut down.

The miner paid 20% of the area's grid fees, thus subsidizing other consumers. With the miner gone, people's power bills are skyrocketing.

Aledander Ellefsen: "Politicians fall into the cobra effect trap once again: "The mayor cheered the shutdown of the controversial Bitcoin mining data center, but now residents are facing an unexpected consequence: a hefty bill increase."

Locals will now have to pay an extra $200-$300 per year due to increased costs to grid fees without the big mining customer, and the mayor of this remote municipality comments: "We work continuously to facilitate the industrial activity we want in the municipality. It may not be something we can solve in just one month, but we are dedicated to promoting business development every single day." (This is political jargon, for it will likely never happen.) The "celebration" ended the moment they got their first bill - You can't make this shit up

"Some people do not understand that Bitcoin miners lower the cost of electricity by spreading the grid's fixed costs over a larger rate base." - Pierre Rochard.

A fun fact about the Norway example is that in Norway and will quote Alexander Ellefsen again: "About 97% of our electricity production comes from renewable energy sources, with the majority generated by hydropower. In the northern regions, we have hydropower dams where excess water is released due to low electricity demand outside peak hours. It’s perplexing to see how some politicians continue to overlook Bitcoin mining as a potential solution. By utilizing this surplus renewable energy, we could support the Bitcoin network while ensuring better energy efficiency and reducing waste."

➡️ETHBTC just traded on a 0.03 handle for the first time in 3.5 years (Apr 2021) -53% since the merge in Sep 2022.

Daily reminder that all shitcoins are trending towards zero compared to Bitcoin, including Ethereum. Remember when all the altcoin fanboys were talking about the flippening?

➡️Microstrategy has 244,800 BTC. In 2025 when 1 BTC goes to $1M their holding will be worth $244.8B.

➡️Duo9BTC: "Coinbase CEO just admitted that you got to trust them on their word. They will not provide any proof of reserves for the BTC they claim they have, nor any proof of backing for their new paper BTC called cbBTC. If they print too much paper BTC they will go the FTX route."

Once again...never leave your coins on an exchange. Period!

Rumors are circulating that Coinbase is writing Bitcoin IOUs for BlackRock and they are suppressing price.

Imagine a hacker gains access to Coinbase’s 2 million+ Bitcoin in custody, sends it all to a time-locked address, 100 years into the future, and shares the private keys publicly.

➡️Bitcoin (+43%) and Gold (+25%) are the top-performing major assets in 2024. We've never seen these two in the #1/#2 spots for any calendar year.

On the 16th of September:

➡️President Bukele announces that El Salvador will no longer borrow external debt to finance its budget. Bitcoin country is winning.

➡️MicroStrategy announces plans to raise another $700M and buy more Bitcoin with proceeds.

MicroStrategy increased its capital raising by an extra +$175m. It will now raise $875 million to buy more Bitcoin and potentially raise another $135m within two weeks. Eventually, MicroStrategy sold $1.01 billion worth of convertible notes to buy more Bitcoin.

'Michael Saylor found the infinite money glitch: • Convert cash to Bitcoin • MSTR goes up • Take out more debt • MSTR goes up • Sell personal holdings • MSTR goes up • Issue more stock • MSTR goes up • Join the S&P 500 • MSTR goes up' - TheBTCTherapist

I will quote Dylan Leclair on this one: 'Rather than purchasing physical infrastructure & energy to generate computational hashes, the world's most efficient Bitcoin miner is short-selling dollars & leveraging common stock volatility.'

MicroStrategy now HODLs 252,200 Bitcoin worth +$16 BILLION. Average cost: $39,266 per bitcoin.

On the 17th of September:

➡️Bhutan and El Salvador now combined hold 18,900 BTC worth $1.1 billion. Thanks to its vast hydroelectric energy sources, Bhutan secretly started mining Bitcoin in 2020, now holding up to 13,029 BTC total. Game theory has started playing out and it will force every country to adopt it.

On the 18th September:

➡️BlackRock’s latest report on Bitcoin includes a striking comparison table, highlighting how Bitcoin, the S&P 500, and gold performed after major geopolitical events.

On top of that the world's largest asset manager sees bitcoin as a geopolitical hedge against the US debt crisis and dollar instability.

➡️The State of Louisiana becomes the first in the nation to accept Bitcoin via the Lightning network.

On the 19th of September:

➡️'Everyone who's been daily DCAing Bitcoin is once again in profit. Even those who first started DCAing at an all-time high 190 days ago.' -Wicked

➡️The first nuclear-powered Bitcoin mining facility in Pennsylvania, operated by Terrawulf Inc.

On the 20th of September:

➡️BNY Mellon, America’s biggest custodian bank, has received SEC approval for custody.

Source: https://unchainedcrypto.com/bank-of-new-york-mellon-identified-as-first-bank-to-receive-sec-exemption-from-sab-121/

They are the world’s largest custodian bank with $50T under custody. The game theory this will kick off is something we’re not ready for!

➡️Bitcoin to hit $200,000 no matter who wins 2024 US Election - Standard Chartered, Head of Digital Assets

➡️SEC approves options for BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF.

Joe Consorti: "With the introduction of options on bitcoin ETFs, sophisticated investors can now generate yield on BTC. Get ready for a huge influx of liquidity from big players looking to sell covered calls, drawing bigger players into the game, more liquidity, and on and on."

💸Traditional Finance / Macro:

On the 17th of September:

👉🏽"Warren Buffett is hoarding more cash: Last week, Berkshire Hathaway reported that it sold $229 million of Bank of America stock over 3 trading days. Since mid-July, Buffett’s total sales of hit $7.2 billion or 174.7 million shares. As a result, total holdings fell to $33.7 billion or 858 million shares, the lowest level since 2018. Berkshire Hathaway's cash position surged by $88 billion in Q2 2024, reaching a record $277 billion. Warren Buffett continues to build his cash position." -TKL.

🏦Banks:

👉🏽No news

🌎Macro/Geopolitics:

On the 15th of September:

👉🏽The Saudis have joined other Asian countries in ditching their long-term sensitivity to the gold price. Evidence suggests the Saudi central bank has been covertly buying 160 tonnes of gold in Switzerland since early 2022, contributing to the current gold bull market.

On the 1st of September, I already shared the news that global net gold purchases by central banks reached 483 tonnes in the first half of 2024, the most on record. This is 5% higher than the previous record of 460 tonnes set in the first half of 2023. The East (China, India, Russia, Saudi, etc.) no longer trusts owning Western reserve assets. Even in the West, the trust in the bond market is crumbling.

You don't believe my word?

'Blue = Foreign Central Bank holdings of USTs. Red = Total US Federal Debt. Mind the gap (with QE, bank regulations, MMF regulations, pension tax benefits, enticing US retail to buy, etc.)'- Luke Gromen

👉🏽Meloni takes the first steps for Italy to build nuclear power plants.

The Ministry of Environment revealed today that new laws will be introduced later this year and that a decree on the matter will come in 2025 Italy voted no to nuclear power in a referendum in 1987, just a year after Chornobyl. Personally, I think this is a smart move.

👉🏽Jeroen Blokland: 'But, government bonds are a wonderful asset on someone's balance sheet.' Sure, as long as you do not ask who is genuinely willing to hold all that DEBT. The UK government budget is doomed!

👉🏽'The difference between the 2-year Treasury yield and the Fed interest rates dropped to -1.69%, the most in at least 35 years.

This gap is now even larger than in 2008 and 1989, a few months before the recession began. The 2-year Treasury yield is considered a leading indicator for the next Fed’s interest rate moves. In other words, the bond market expects that the Fed will be cutting rates at a rapid pace in the coming months. This has been driven by increasing evidence of the deteriorating labor market and many indicators suggesting this trend will continue.' -TKL.

Regarding the rate cute:

The similarities between 2007 and 2024 are wild!

Fed's First Rate Cut:

Sept 18, 2007

Sept 18, 2024 (high probability)

Unemployment Rate

Sept 2007: 4.7

Sept 2024: 4.2

US Inflation Rate YoY

Sept 2007: 2.5

Sept 2024: 2.5

US Housing Starts:

Sept 2007: 1.238

Sept 2024: 1.235

US Leading Economic Activity

Sept 2007: 100.4

Sept 2024: 100.4

US Existing Home Sales

Sept 2007: 4.5 Million

Sept 2024: 3.95 Million

(This post is not calling for a 2007 crash. I am simply pointing out the intriguing similarities in timing and economic indicators.)

You can find the charts here:

👉🏽Germany's lack of public investment is structural. Germany records one of the lowest net public investment ratios* in the EU over 1995-2023 (i.e. ~zero expansion in net public capital stock). Only Latvia and Slovakia do worse. Net investment: gross investment - minus depreciation

German „green“ policy:

1. 2023 25,6% of German electricity came from coal before the decision to close nuclear 31% came from nuclear
2. Deindustrialization drives production to Asia, where some products cause 30% more CO2 German Greens ruin both the economy and the environment.

German business model was based on: 1. Cheap energy from Russia 2. Cheap subcontractors in Eastern Europe 3. Steadily growing exports to China All three are gone by now. And we are in the good times, imagine what will happen during the next recession. Germany is Europe's engine.

On the 17th September:

👉🏽US debt now stands at $35.3 trillion. If we were to return to 0% interest and make payments of $1 million per hour, it would take approximately 4,023 years, or until the year 6,047, to bring the debt back down to zero.

The US government has added $5 trillion to Federal Debt in the last 2 years. With annual spending of $6.95 trillion and taxes of $4.91 trillion, the US government is currently overspending by $233 million per hour. Yikes.

👉🏽'Total consumer credit jumped by $25.5 billion in July and reached a new all-time high of $5.1 trillion.

This marked the largest jump since November 2022 and the 11th straight monthly increase.

Total consumer debt has DOUBLED in 14 years. Revolving debt, which includes credit cards, jumped by $10.6 billion and also hit a new record of $1.4 trillion. Non-revolving credit rose by $14.8 billion and is just $2 billion below the January peak of $3.73 trillion. Meanwhile, the share of credit card debt delinquencies soared to 9.1%, the highest level in 12 years. The debt mountain is collapsing.' TKL

On the 18th of September:

👉🏽Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by 50 basis points, first cut in over 4 years.

On the 20th of September:

👉🏽Gold new all-time high $2,620 as markets brace for fiat destruction. Gold prices are up a MASSIVE 28% in 2024 to a fresh record high of $2,660/oz. This puts Gold on track for its best annual return since 1979, all while the Fed is calling for a "soft landing."

👉🏽 Two weeks ago I already explained a bit about the Volkswagen & Germany situation. Now we received the news that Volkswagen is planning to lay off as many as 30.000 employees.

On the 21st of September:

👉🏽"Unrealized losses on investment securities for US banks reached $512.9 billion in Q2 2024.

This is 7 TIMES higher than at the peak of the 2008 Financial Crisis. Q2 2024 also marked the 11th consecutive quarter of unrealized losses as interest rates continued to pressure the economy. Bank of America, the second-largest lender in the US, now accounts for $110.8 billion of held-to-maturity securities with unrealized losses or 20% of the total. Meanwhile, the number of banks on the FDIC Problem Bank List increased to 66 in Q1 2024, or 1.5% of the aggregate.

Unrealized losses held by banks remain a major issue." -TKL

🎁If you have made it this far I would like to give you a little gift: Matthew Pines is the Director of Intelligence at SentinelOne and a National Security Fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute.

In this episode, they explore UAPs, simulation theory, remote viewing, and human consciousness. They discuss the potential implications of knowing that aliens are real and what this could mean for humanity - exploring the nature of reality and challenging our understanding of existence, as they discuss the intersection of advanced phenomena and human perception.

https://youtu.be/YN2Le9dp_Ww?si=6eydqVLxCZXLba_V

Credit: I have used multiple sources! My savings account: Bitcoin. The tool I recommend for setting up a Bitcoin savings plan: @Relai 🇨🇭 especially suited for beginners or people who want to invest in Bitcoin with an automated investment plan once a week or monthly. (Please only use it till the 31st of October - after that full KYC) Hence a DCA, Dollar cost Average Strategy. Check out my tutorial post (Instagram) & video (YouTube) for more info.⠀⠀⠀⠀

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 sats.

@ 58edc6ae:e070cfa5

I think three major pathways to Bitcoin hold the most orange-pilling potential:

1. Hard Money Pathway
   The first path involves understanding money. Teaching people about money can lead them to consciously choose the best form of it. Unfortunately, this path requires considerable self-education, which many people may find challenging.

2. NGU (Number Go Up) Pathway
   This pathway involves trading. Although not my preferred approach, bull markets have shown that many people are willing to enter the space for short-term gains. While some may get hurt, others are incentivized to learn more about Bitcoin and stay in the space once they understand money.

3. Freedom Pathway
   Most people value freedom. Portraying Bitcoin as a tool for freedom fighters can create positive associations. This pathway is particularly useful for human rights activists and those under distress, such as war refugees, oppressed opposition leaders, and human rights activists.

Please let me know if you can identify more pathways to Bitcoin that can be used when orange-pilling.

@ c7eadcf0:7821e562

https://image.nostr.build/c7e3732889827ab0a8e2064de5fa6992e37e035347b0c91d249cb8f312b47087.jpg I love Bitcoin. Let me get that out there first of all. I sincerely believe that Bitcoin has the power to change the way the world functions if we can grow adoption to a global scale. This obviously will take time as the gears of economic change grinds slowly. As of right now, people in the western countries don't really see the need for a sovereign politically neutral money that can't be inflated away. They simply don't have to deal with inflation on a regular basis like the rest of the world.

Citizens in western countries got a small taste of what real inflation looks like and guess what? They didn't like it one bit. Overall the last three and a half years you saw countless news stories about how bad inflation and how its making life for the average American or European more difficult.

Yes inflation does suck but look at countries like Argentina, Turkey, Zimbabwe or Venezuela. The people in these countries are suffering from excessive inflation on a regular basis! According to recent economic data Turkey experienced a decline in inflation from 61 percent to 51 percent in August. This is seen as a win in their book! Can you imagine this level of inflation in America? There would be riots in the streets!

Argentina's inflation rate is an astounding 236 percent over the last 12 months! As Bitcoiners we understand that the problem is the money itself. As long as governments have the ability to manipulate the money supply, they will. This is human nature at its finest. When you give a select few that kind of power it becomes irresistible and becomes a tool to control the masses. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone to be honest.

What I find shocking is with all of this inflation globally no one is really looking around asking questions to why this is happening and looking for a way to escape this system. Are people really this lazy? Not to be mean but cmon. It seems to me that most people are perfectly fine bitching online about how hard it is to make ends meet or supporting their favored political party and wanting them to fix the problem they created. Newsflash to all the normies out there, its the GD political parties that caused inflation in the first place.

We literally have a solution that is staring them in the face, ready to go to replace the current debt based system that we are currently suffering through and no one wants to take the time to research it? Am I black pilled? No, am I realist, very much so. If 236 percent inflation in Argentina can't get them on a Bitcoin Standard immediately, we as a community have a long road ahead of us. Hyperbitcoinization isn't coming in 5 years. It isn't coming in 10 years. Hell it might not even happen in our lifetimes and we have to be ok with that.

So what is the best way to get more Bitcoin into the hands of the people, so they can see the true value of the digital monetary revolution that is Bitcoin. We need a trojan horse and that trojan horse is nostr.

Enter The Nostr Trojan Horse

https://image.nostr.build/5ffee418133ac80ba14b30abf0d5390b878f676cbf6332d67639f9384764da4c.jpg

It should be plain to see by now that the inflation or the number go up narrative alone isn't going to drive Bitcoin adoption. The reason for that is because people don't see the utility of Bitcoin. They see it as some esoteric digital funny money that drug dealers and terrorist use to do bad things.

The average Joe doesn't see how Bitcoin is helping dissidents on foreign countries fund their activism, escape oppressive regimes or simply earn a living. These stories are never told in the mainstream media because they don't want to highlight the fact that a non-state money can circumvent the status quo.

The best way to highlight these stories is to share it on social media, which again is controlled by mainstream gatekeeper such as Meta, Google and X. It is in their best interest to censor these stories or memory hole them out of existence which I suspect happens quite a bit without us even knowing. But the thing about censorship is that it slowly impacts everyone one by one until no one is allowed to say anything without the fear of being put in jail.

Think this can't happen in western democracies? It's happening already my friend! Take a look at the UK or Australia. Citizens their are being arrested over post made to social media. I sincerely believe that these two countries should be a proving ground for showing the value of nostr and Bitcoin.

Introducing the concept of a censorship resistant messaging protocol to them will go over well and once it is understood will grow like a wildfire because people innately understand that censorship is bad and will see the utility value of having the ability to speak freely again.

It is only a matter of time until they realize that they can monetize their speech and build a life using zaps aka Bitcoin.

Until people see the utility in the tools that lie before them, they will never pick them up and use them. It is really that simple. At the end of the day we are still kind of like cavemen. We only use tools when it makes life easier. Man made the wheel. We use it everyday because it has utility.

Bitcoin in the end will be the same way. Utility first, then mass adoption. Nostr is what will help people see the utility Bitcoin and from there sky is the limit. The best thing we can do as Bitcoiners is to encourage people to learn about nostr and show them how easy it is to use and to switch clients that suit their needs instead of being shoved into a one-size fits all solution on centralized platforms.

People like choices, and nostr is all about choice. The interoperability and thelack of need to give personal information to create an account are HUGE selling points that can be touched on. Go out and spread the good word about nostr!

Bitcoin #Nostr

@ 826e9f89:ffc5c759

_Prologue: this is a prose adaptation of a talk I gave to a private audience in Dubai and then tweaked slightly for a small conference in Sofia. I'm increasingly thinking it deserves a more general audience, and may be better suited to text anyway. This is probably not its final form, as the desired audience is tradfi capital allocators, hence a PDF is likely on the cards in the near future. For the time being, consider this a first draft, practising what it might look like as prose, and soliciting feedback from the good people of Nostr. Enjoy! _

The title of this essay means absolutely nothing. There is no such thing as “Web π” because there is no such thing as “Web 3”. It’s bullshit. It’s a scam.

Unfortunately, it has turned out to be extremely powerful bullshit and an extremely profitable scam, and so my goal in writing this essay is to give the reader the tools to navigate all of this and come out the other side without having been scammed or bullshat. In the spirit of not scamming and not bullshitting, I should be clear upfront about the intended readership of this essay, who I am to write it, and who it’s really about.

Who Are You?

I assume the reader is not a shadowy super-coder, but rather is a financial professional. This essay isn’t really for Bitcoiners, although if any read it, I hope they still find it interesting. Who I am really writing for are people coming to the space for the first time. Hopefully in your mind you are coming to the _Bitcoin _space, but if you think you are coming to the “crypto” space then this may be even more useful.

Who Am I?

I am the founder of a company that makes me not only highly biased but also flagrantly self-interested in the content I am promoting. I run a firm that invests in the Bitcoin ecosystem through a variety of different vehicles. I am not going to mislead you in the slightest in that my primary motivation is for you to allocate capital to us rather than to people I would call scammers and bullshitters. You should listen to them too and make up your own mind, or else what’s the point, really? How do you know I’m not scamming or bullshitting you? Exactly. Don’t trust. Verify.

In any case, that’s all assuming you want to “allocate capital” at all rather than just buy Bitcoin without a management fee. I’d like to think the primary difference is that I will be honest about that, and I’ll encourage you to understand as much as you can about what is going on and what you are doing (and if you are at all unsure, I would suggest you aren’t ready and you should just buy Bitcoin and learn) rather than bamboozle you with complete nonsense like “Web 3”.

Who Is This About?

It’s not at all about people working in crypto. Bitcoiners amongst the readership may be mildly irritated by me going on to give about as charitable an explanation of the role of these people as they have probably ever heard from somebody like me. This is really about financiers. It’s about the people who have used the mostly unrewarded efforts of developers, academics, entrepreneurs, and so on to siphon money from you to themselves, leaving a trail of useless tech and defrauded retail investors in their wake – and who will continue to do so if you continue to empower them.

Why This Essay?

We are at an interesting point in the development of the entirety of the “crypto” industry and I strongly suggest that people like you are going to be pitched all kinds of scams and bullshit in the coming months and years. If you have a little more background on what these people are really talking about, you will hopefully be able to avoid it.

My plan to help with that is presenting a short version and a long version of what blockchains are and are for, how they have historically been deployed in service of scams and bullshit, a high-level theory explaining the narrative evolution behind this sorry history, and a prediction for the near-term future of such shenanigans.

What is a Blockchain For?

A Blockchain is for sound, censorship-resistant, peer-to-peer digital money. It is not for anything else. If a blockchain is functional as money, it may be possible to also _use it _for other things. Some people find that interesting, some people find it infuriating, but don’t let that subtlety confuse you. It is not _for _arbitrary computation and storage or “decentralizing the internet” or running illegal securities rackets.

It is for money, plain and simple.

How does it achieve that? Proof of work and the difficulty adjustment. These are the innovations from which every other desirable property or feature flows. Proof of work enables censorship resistance. If somebody is trying to sell you on “proof of stake”: bullshit. The difficulty adjustment enables precise, predetermined, and _fair _issuance. If somebody is trying to sell you on a token they issue for free and without restriction: scam.

The problem Bitcoin solves is both economic and technical and the solution has material technical and economic merit. And it’s for this very specific and irreplicable reason the Bitcoin token has value. If this all sounds extreme to you, then I would suggest that your understanding of the topic is _extremely _misguided, that you are going to be _extremely bullshat and extremely scammed, _and you need to read this essay. That’s the short version.

The Long Version

I am sensitive to how extreme this all sounds. After all, hundreds of billions of dollars have been pumped into crypto, not Bitcoin – a huge amount of it is widely used, and many capable, honest, and brilliant people work in the industry. The reader will recall just above I said those people are not the target of my criticism. I’m not claiming they are all scammers and bullshitters. Sadly, I think it’s more likely they have been scammed and bullshat to some degree also.

I think I have some credibility in pointing this out because, as a VC in the Bitcoin space, I have increasingly seen founders telling me this themselves: that they originally bought into the hype in crypto and ended up wasting an enormous amount of time realizing their idea made no technical or economic sense in that context, so then they came to Bitcoin instead. You hear this one time and it’s an anecdote, but you hear it as many times as I have and it feels more like a representative sample.

What I want to cover next is as charitable a summary of the state of ex-Bitcoin crypto as I possibly can: my contention is that crypto has evolved into 4 rough categories: stablecoins, cryptography R&D, gambling, and scams. And these aren’t exclusive, to be clear; there is a lot of overlap, and, in fact, the overlap is arguably the key.

Scams

Scams are tokens, plain and simple. If somebody is trying to profit from the speculative price action of a token they have issued, they are scamming somebody. Maybe they are scamming you, maybe they are scamming retail investors, maybe they are scamming customers or suppliers – if such parties even exist in their cargo cult “business model”. There’s a scam in there somewhere.

However, it is rarely _just _a scam. There will almost always be components of stablecoins, R&D or gambling too. Hence these are worth really grappling with, taking seriously, giving credit to the extent it is due, but also analyzing critically.

My rough and high-level assessment of this breakdown of crypto is as follows, and I’ll explain what I mean by this below: stablecoins have economic merit but dubious technical merit; R&D has technical merit but no economic merit; and gambling sort of has merit but it depends how you interpret it. Obviously, scams have neither.

Stablecoins

By “sort of technical merit” I mean that stablecoins have central issuers. You can issue them as tokens on a blockchain but there’s not really much of a point. The issuer could just run a database connected to the internet with some straightforward signature schemes for transfers and it would make minimal operational difference. In fact, it would be cheaper and faster. _In fact, _you may as well run a Chaumian eCash mint (a decades-old innovation recently resurrected firmly within the _Bitcoin _space) such that your cheaper-and-faster-than-a-blockchain database also grants users transience and privacy rather than the public permanence of a blockchain.

The fact Tron is the most heavily used for stablecoins, in terms of settling the most value, is a testament to this point: it is barely even pretending not to be a database. This works as regulatory arbitrage given regulators think this is “innovation” because they are stupid.

That said, it is worth giving some credit here given the abject awfulness of fiat banking and payment rails with which stablecoins arguably most directly compete. Stablecoins are significantly more permissionless in their transfer than any fiat bank liability. And to attest to what seems like their most significant use case, they are permissionless in their _usership _in that only an internet connection and the right software is required rather than various discriminatory jurisdictional and compliance criteria.

However, what “sort of technical merit” ultimately boils down to, especially in comparison to Bitcoin, is: highly censorable in their exogenous links and, therefore, their value. The assets supposedly backing stablecoins are (by definition) still within the fiat system, even if this novel transfer mechanism of the rights to withdraw them is not. There is frankly a bit of theatre involved in the so-called “decentralization” of stablecoins given shutting down the central issuer is all that is required to make the permissionlessly tradeable decentralized tokens go to zero and be technically unimpeded but functionally useless. The technical innovation of Bitcoin, in contrast, is easily understood in one sense as it being totally indifferent to this kind of attack.

On the other hand, by “economic merit” I mean that they are extremely widely used and valued as a means of providing dollar shadow banking and often superior payment rails. Those in crypto often love pointing to this and many Bitcoiners tie themselves in knots trying to explain it away, whereas I see it as essentially unrelated to Bitcoin. Clearly there is a superficial connection, but you could create any superficial connection by “tokenizing” things for no particularly good technical _reason. I think it’s a different industry entirely. It’s more like a subindustry within _fintech – part banking, part payments – that for the time being relies on bamboozling regulators with all the nonsense I’m drawing attention to.

And good for them, frankly. If fiat banking isn’t going to be backed by real money anyway, then it _at least _ought to be permissionless. It should really be Chaumian eCash if it isn’t just Bitcoin, and it is regulation alone that makes it so awful in the first place. Making money usable and not a tool of dystopian control is, at this point, a political problem, not a technical one. Stablecoins are frankly a step in the right direction, especially insofar as they acclimatize users to digital assets. But I would still caution that they arguably don’t have sufficient technical merit to withstand what feels like an inevitable political attack …

Cryptography R&D

“Technical merit” for R&D is more or less self-explanatory, but the context is worth appreciating. It’s only really in crypto and mostly in Ethereum more specifically that people can permissionlessly experiment with arbitrarily complex cryptographic schemes that operate on real, enormous value. There are a lot of people who understandably find this attractive given their projects are essentially academic and trying out their ideas in the wild is more interesting, arguably more worthwhile, and certainly more fun than putting research essays on ArXiv or submitting them to a journal.

But … the value being manipulated is at best stablecoins and at worst baseless hype. If it isn’t a stablecoin then it probably exists in the first place because of either gambling or scams – and even there the line is very blurry.

Gambling

Gambling is an interesting lens to adopt on all this because it’s literally a trillion-dollar industry. And it’s real. It’s consensual; it’s not criminal; it’s legitimate economic activity that generates enormous profits for those who facilitate it well.

So, gambling has economic merit in that sense. But it’s tricky in this context how to characterize it because you could also argue it’s deeply dishonest gambling in that the gamblers don’t realize they are playing a negative sum game against the house. They think they are doing something akin to speculating on securities, which may be just as stupid depending on how it’s done, but at least has real economic utility and contributes to capital formation.

The difference here is that what is being speculated on _has no economic merit. _So, if that’s your gauge of merit, then here there is none. And it’s a very blurry line between this and an outright scam. Maybe the people involved _think _of what they are doing as amazing R&D, and maybe it’s inadvertently just a scam; maybe they know it’s all nonsense, but they think they can profit within the negative sum game because there are greater fools. In any case, I think gambling is a very helpful characterization of a lot of the behavior of the users and the real economic function of the industry.

There’s an interesting social component to all this because crypto people will often get mad at Bitcoiners because Bitcoiners tend not to care about either stablecoins or crypto R&D: they’ll say, why don’t you like stablecoins, they have clear economic merit? And the answer is they have dubious technical merit. Or, why don’t you like our next-gen Zero Knowledge scaling protocol, it has clear technical merit? And the answer is it has no economic merit.

If you’re happy with one but not the other, it’s easy to think of Bitcoiners as being closed-minded or dogmatic or whatever, but, ultimately, I think it’s just about discipline. What’s the point in being excited by something that half works, and that you know why will never fully work? So to be frank, a lot of this may be well-intentioned, but it’s kinda’ bullshit. It very probably ultimately rests on gambling and not at all whatever its stated purpose is … or it’s just a scam.

How Did We Get Here?

The following is by no means exhaustive and the framing is deliberately a little tongue-in-cheek. As well as being accurate enough (if unavoidably biased), my goal here is primarily to set up my prediction for what is coming next.

2015               reality: Ethereum launches             narrative: “the world computer”

In 2015, Ethereum launched. The narrative here was that we are building “the world computer” and we can now have decentralized uncensorable computation. Never mind that anybody with a laptop has an uncensorable and decentralized computing device. And keep in mind this question of, “_what data might it ever be relevant to compute over in this manner (whatever that means in the first place)?” _The answer will become clearer and clearer …

2016-17          reality: ICO bubble                           narrative: “Web 3” / “DApps”

Regardless, at the end of 2015 we get the proposal and adoption of ERC20: a standard for issuing fungible tokens within Ethereum contracts, which is why in 2016 _but especially in 2017 _we get the ICO bubble. The narrative changes. Now we are concerned with “Web 2” companies being huge, powerful, and centralized. What if, instead, users could cooperatively own the application, control their own data, and participate in the economic upside that their usage is creating?

2018-19          reality: crypto winter                       narrative: “mistakes were made”

In 2018 this all falls apart, so don’t worry about it, moving on …

2020-21          reality: defi summer                        narrative: “decentralized finance”

By 2020 the narrative was different once again. It is more or less realized by this point that utility tokens make no technical or economic sense. You can’t introduce artificial scarcity in capital goods where there should be abundance and deflation and expect anybody to care, never mind to value your concoction. On the other hand, “securities” ought to be scarce and in some sense ought to function as tradeable ledger entries. Maybe they could be tokenized and computed on in a censorship-resistant and decentralized manner?

So, we get a boom in “defi” which, for what it’s worth, fellow Axiom co-founder Anders Larson and I predicted in our essay Only The Strong Survive, in September 2021, would be a complete disaster because, amongst a myriad of other illiterate insanities, there was approximately zero grounding of these securities in productive capital. The ecosystem was entirely self-referential – grounded _not even _in the questionable economic merit of stablecoins but firmly in gambling and scams; in leverage, rehypothecation, and securitization of precisely nothing whatsoever productive.

2022               reality: shitcoinpocalypse                narrative: “mistakes were made”

And we were absolutely right because in 2022 everything collapsed. First Terra/Luna imploded – a “defi” project which essentially presented to the world the argument that a fractional reserve bank issuing fiduciary media can literally never go bankrupt because it can always cover a deposit shortfall by issuing more equity. While briefly flirting with a capitalization of around fifty f***ing billion dollars, and endorsed and fawned over by all manner of illiterate charlatans with gigantic and unsuspecting audiences, this argument was eventually rejected by the market as utterly imbecilic, as analyzed by myself and Nic Carter in All Falls Down.

This triggered a credit contagion that soon after took down 3 Arrows Capital, Celsius, Voyager, BlockFi, and others. FTX limped along by what we now understand to be something like defrauding their way out of debt, but eventually also collapsed later that year. If _Only The Strong Survive _was a pre-mortem of all of this, then the reader may want to read Green Eggs And Ham, also by myself and Anders Larson, as a kind of post-mortem.

2023-today    reality: Bitcoin multisigs                  narrative: “Bitcoin renaissance”

And now a lot of this stuff is moving to Bitcoin. It is outside the scope of this essay to explain this in much detail but there have been a handful of developments in Bitcoin recently which, regardless of their intended purpose, seem to have as a collective side effect that a lot of these same shenanigans can now be implemented (or can _pretend _to be implemented) in a more Bitcoin-native context.

So, the new narrative is something like:

“these things didn’t work, not because they are terrible ideas that collapse to moon math wrappers around gambling and scams under any remotely critical analysis, but rather because they weren’t on Bitcoin. But also, since it has only recently become possible to (at least pretend to) implement them on Bitcoin, they are now worthwhile. We have wandered in the wilderness but learned our lessons and found the promised land.”

Technical and Economic Merit

Let’s consider all this through the lens of technical and economic merit once again. Or rather, the alleged merit given the stated goal. Ignore for now whether there is any merit:

2015               technical goal: new computing paradigm               economic goal: x% of GDP?

The original idea of “crypto” allegedly has the merit of the next revolution in computing. Goodness knows how big that market is; probably a decent chunk of global GDP – if it meant anything, which it doesn’t.

2016-17          technical goal: disrupting company formation       economic goal: y% of S&P?

ICOs then become a little bit more specific. Now they are merely disrupting how we organize companies. What’s that worth? Some portion of the value of the companies that can now be decentralized and tokenized I guess? Who knows …

2018-19          nothing to see here

Nothing happened then, don’t worry about it.

2020-21          technical goal: decentralize finance            economic goal: z% of NYSE, CME, ISDA?

Defi becomes more specific again. Now we are merely tokenizing financial contracts, expanding access, removing middlemen, and so on. So that should probably be worth some percentage of capital markets activity?

2022               nothing to see here

Oops, never mind …

2023-today    technical goal: now it’s on Bitcoin!             economic goal: i% of … Bitcoin?

… and now it’s on Bitcoin apparently.

In Hindsight ...

I think the most amusing analysis of all this is as follows: it starts off completely insane, it gets more and more restrained each time – you could cheekily argue it starts to make more and more sense – but it also gets closer to Bitcoin every time. It’s clearly narrowing in on just: Bitcoin.

This is people realizing, painfully, over decades, what blockchains are for! They are not for “decentralizing everything” They are for censorship-resistant, sound, peer-to-peer digital money.

And I think this is _also _why we get the current state of crypto from earlier in the essay. As it starts to make more and more sense (by getting closer and closer to Bitcoin) you have realizations like the following: digital gift vouchers for artificially scarce and extremely expensive computation aren’t money, so we need “real money” in here for it to have economic merit, so you get stablecoins. Also, well we have a rich programming environment that seems technically interesting but also the severe technical handicap of being unable to do even a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of all the computations in the world, so you get crypto R&D. These emerge as a kind of patch, and they have _some _merit in isolation, whereas the long-term trajectory is actually just to converge on Bitcoin.

It’s an open and fascinating question if there are any learnings from these that can still be transplanted to Bitcoin. For stablecoins, this strikes me as less clear, given the dubious technical merit is introduced by using a blockchain at all, not just a blockchain other than Bitcoin. However, efforts to create Bitcoin balances (tokenized or otherwise) that are stable relative to some external price are to be applauded, if still heavily scrutinized for what technical merit they _really _have.

It seems far more likely that crypto R&D will prove useful in a Bitcoin context to some or other degree, and in this case the economic merit is in fact solved by moving to Bitcoin, provided the necessary technical merit can be mimicked. At the time of writing, this is a source of both hope and dread: hope given the possibility of viable avenues of development (although still highly uncertain); dread given how early steps in this direction are already being misrepresented in the pursuit of bullshit and scams. I will return to both shortly.

Narrative Evolution

Back to the table just above, I want to make three quick observations that tie together my entire argument and get us to the end of the essay:

Firstly, the bubbles always follow the price of Bitcoin. Hopefully I don’t need to include a price chart for the reader to grasp this immediately.

Secondly, it’s important that the narrative always changes. Absolutely ungodly amounts of money were raised for this crap following the_ Bitcoin bull runs of 2017 and 2021. The people doing this couldn’t point to the previous absolute disaster, so they had to spin something along the lines of: “_we learned our lessons and we’ve refined the use case.” This should sound familiar from just above.

Thirdly, however, regardless of whatever refinement they’ve come up with, the consequence of the new “narrative” is always, “buy my token”.

Always.

It doesn’t matter what buzzword salad is in the middle. It’s always “Bitcoin is cool, xyz, fughayzi fughahzi, buy my token.”

This is why I am very much tempted to not care so much about developers, academics, entrepreneurs, and so on, and in fact for my null hypothesis to be that they are more likely to have been victims than perpetrators. I don’t think they even end up in a position to contribute without the key group whom I do blame. When you put all these pieces together, what I think falls out of this analysis is as follows:

The entire cycle of shitcoinery can be traced to unscrupulous financiers convincing capital allocators who don’t know any better, in a bull market that, yes, Bitcoin is cool, but what they are doing is related, cooler, and that they deserve a fee.

Let us label this the Capital Cycle Theory of Shitcoinery. I think that everything else about which one might want to complain is downstream of this core realization.

Avoiding It

Given everything I’ve covered this is simple and this is pretty much the end of the essay.

You need to be aware of why this is happening now. If it hasn’t happened to you already (intended readership in the capital allocation business, that is) I guarantee it’s about to: with ETFs and the halving just past, we seem to be starting a Bitcoin bull run, these people have already raised ridiculous amounts of money on scams and bullshit that have mostly imploded. They may have lost a lot of money, or they may even have dumped on retail and got an excellent “return”. But in any case, they need a new narrative.

It's _possible _they have a viable narrative around stablecoins, R&D, both, and that they are as wary of scams as I have suggested here that they should be. I don’t want to insult anybody who merely has a different investment thesis to me if they are otherwise reasonable in their outlook and honest in their dealings.

However, if they are only now realizing how pointless and disingenuous every preceding crypto narrative has been after 7 years and hundreds of billions of dollars – or if they still don’t realize it at all; if their track record shows they were deeply involved, handsomely rewarded, and yet created nothing of lasting value; if they say things like “the builders are coming back to Bitcoin”: be very, very suspicious. Be on the lookout for tokens, which is to say, be on the lookout for scams.

What is especially frustrating is that the technical spin of the "layer twos" that are all the rage at the time of writing, that "the builders are coming back to Bitcoin" to build, and that you, the capital-allocating reader, will almost certainly be pitched, is in and of itself pretty reasonable. They just don't require tokens and they don't require gambling to support the token prices. What they do require is _sound adherence to Bitcoin's technical and economic merit. _At the very least, they require honest communication about the design trade-offs so far and planned for, and what, if any, economic and technical merit is left over after these trade-offs have been made.

Narrative aside, the _reality _of 99% of these projects is that they are private execution environments tied to multisigs custodying user deposits. Which is to say, on the one hand, that they are cargo culting "crypto R&D" from Ethereum that isn't technically possible in Bitcoin in order to feign technical merit, and on the other, that _they aren't layer twos at all. _Once again, they may as well be Chaumian eCash mints, except for the fact that this would make the intended token scam all but impossible to pull off.

Casey Rodarmor, creator of the Ordinals protocol, recently joked on the Hell Money _podcast he co-hosts, responding to the idea that "_everybody is building an L2 now":

"It's the same sad sack playbook as on Ethereum being recapitulated on Bitcoin. That's how you get a VC check on Ethereum. They are all glorified multisigs, so they are like, "hey let's port our glorified multisig to Bitcoin and get a VC check." I was talking to a friend of mine who is working on an interesting project, an open-source analyzer that does transaction clustering, and I was like, "maybe you could do this in this way and raise some VC money," and he said, "yeah, okay, but what's the point in raising VC money?" And I said, "no, no, no, this is the end! This is the goal! You raise VC money and then you cut yourself checks from that VC money until it runs out and then you raise more at a 10x valuation. This is the new economy, guys!"

The 1% that are legitimately trying to bring the learnings from crypto R&D to Bitcoin in a technically and economically sound manner will hopefully win in the long run (and even this is somewhat speculative at the time of writing) but will likely get little to no attention amidst this bull market flurry of scams and bullshit.

Axiom will do its best to source and invest in these companies (we already have!) but we are resigned to it being a much more difficult sell to capital allocators in light of the Capital Cycle Theory of Shitcoinery. To be brutally honest, this entire essay can fairly be considered cope on my part in light of having lost this battle in the past and facing up to the very real prospect of losing it in the near future too. Oh well, at least I tried.

Wrapping Up

The essence of the Capital Cycle Theory of Shitcoinery is that the problems I’ve described ultimately come from bamboozling people just like you with technical sounding nonsense like “Web 3” so you think it’s all a lot more complicated than it really is. Just buy Bitcoin. That’s certainly the first thing you should do anyway, and it might be the only thing you ever need to do.

If you really, really want to take the extra risk of investing in the Bitcoin ecosystem, the team at Axiom would be happy to speak with you. But we are never going to talk you out of buying Bitcoin. There is no world in which Bitcoin does poorly and we do well, or in which we promise something “better than Bitcoin,” and there’s no point in engaging with us at all if you don’t already believe most of this.

If that’s of interest to you, we’d love to talk. If not, just buy Bitcoin. In any case: fair warning, we are heading into a Bitcoin bull market and the scams and the bullshit are coming. Good luck avoiding them.

Allen Farrington, June 2024

@ 6ad3e2a3:c90b7740

I’ve written about this before, and I’ve also tried to illustrate it via parable in “The Simulator.” I even devoted most of a podcast episode to it. But I thought it might be useful just to cut to the chase in written form, give the tldr version.

Utilitarianism is the moral philosophy of the greatest good for the greatest number. That is, we calculate the prospective net benefits or harms from a course of action to guide our policies and behaviors. This moral framework deserves scrutiny because it (unfortunately) appears to be the paradigm under which most of our governments, institutions and even educated individuals operate.

The philosophy is commonly illustrated by hypotheticals such as “the trolley problem” wherein a person has the choice whether to divert a runaway trolley (via switch) from its current track with five people in its path to it to an alternate one where only one person would be killed. In short, do you intervene to save five by killing one? The premise of utilitarianism is that, yes, you would because it’s a net positive.

Keep in mind in these hypotheticals these are your only choices, and not only are you certain about the results of your prospective actions, but those are the only results to consider, i.e., the hypothetical does not specify or speculate as to second or third order effects far into the future. For example, what could go wrong once people get comfortable intervening to kill an innocent person for the greater good!

And yet this simplified model, kill one to save five, is then transposed onto real-world scenarios, e.g., mandate an emergency-use vaccine that might have rare side effects because it will save more lives than it costs. The credulous go along, and then reality turns out to be more complex than the hypothetical — as it always is.

The vaccine doesn’t actually stop the spread, it turns out, and the adverse effects are far more common and serious than people were led to believe. Moreover, the mandates destroyed livelihoods, ran roughshod over civil liberties, divided families and destroyed trust in public health.

Some might argue it’s true the mandates were wrong because the vaccine wasn’t sufficiently safe or effective, but we didn’t know that at the time! That we should judge decisions based on the knowledge we had during a deadly pandemic, not after the fact.

But what we did know at the time was that real life is always more complex than the hypothetical, that nth-order effects are always impossible to predict. The lie wasn’t only about the safety and efficacy of this vaccine, though they absolutely did lie about that, it was that we could know something like this with any degree of certainty at all.

The problem with utilitarianism, then, is the harms and benefits it’s tasked with weighing necessarily occur in the future. And what distinguishes the future from the past is that it’s unknown. The save one vs five hypothetical is deceptive because it posits all the relevant consequences as known. It imagines future results laid out before us as if they were past.

But in real life we deal with unknowns, and it is therefore impossible do a rigorous accounting of harms and benefits as imagined by the hypotheticals. The “five vs one,” stated as though the event had already happened, is a conceit conjured from an overly simplistic model.

In short, in modeling the future and weighing those projected fictions the same way one would historic facts, they are simply making it up. And once he grants himself license to make things up, the utilitarian can create the moral imperative to do what coincidentally benefits him, e.g, Pfizer profited to the tune of tens of billions of dollars, for the greater good!, which turned out not to be so good. Once you make the specious leap of purporting to know the future, why not go all the way, and make it a future where the greatest good coincides with enriching yourself to the greatest extent possible?

So in summary, as this has gone on longer than I intended, utilitarianism is moral bankruptcy because the “greater good” on which it relies is necessarily in the future, and we cannot predict the future with enough accuracy, especially over the medium and longer term, to do a proper moral accounting.

As a result, whoever has power is likely to cook the books in whatever way he sees fit, and this moral philosophy of the greatest good for the greatest number paradoxically tends toward a monstrous outcome — temporary benefits for the short-sighted few and the greatest misery for most.

@ 1b5ee74d:bb1aae6e

The days when a mere announcement from Tesla, stating that it would begin accepting Bitcoin for some of its products, would cause a surge in the cryptocurrency's price seem like a distant memory. That was in 2021.

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1374617643446063105https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1374617643446063105https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1374617643446063105https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1374617643446063105https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1374617643446063105https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1374617643446063105https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1374617643446063105Today, three years later, the price barely reacts to three pieces of institutional adoption news released within 72 hours.

The first piece of news comes from Switzerland, where SIX, the Swiss Stock Exchange operator, announced that it is seriously considering launching a crypto exchange. Bjørn Sibbern, global head of exchanges at SIX Group, stated, "The company is evaluating the creation of a platform where we can facilitate trading, both in crypto spot and derivatives."

The second news comes from Germany, where two of the country's leading banks, Commerzbank and DZ Bank, have launched Bitcoin trading for their clients. Commerzbank is one of Germany's four largest banks, while DZ Bank is part of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken group, effectively giants of the European banking system. Together, they will open access to Bitcoin trading for approximately 40 million customers.

The third news comes from the United States, where BlackRock published a report describing Bitcoin as a diversification opportunity for traditional investors.

Some might ask: “But wasn’t Bitcoin supposed to be an anti-system technology?”

The Economic Incentive: A Core Part of Game Theory

Bitcoin is far more than just an anti-system asset. It’s a technology that incentivizes not only its most radical supporters but also potential adversaries. It’s now clear how its programmed scarcity creates a mechanism for appreciation, assuming demand stays the same. Each event signaling an increase in adoption represents a step toward an increase in the asset's value. The reason why even financial institutions—seemingly unrelated or even hostile to Bitcoin—are drawn to it lies in this market dynamic.

Banks and major institutions cannot ignore the asset’s appreciation. Bitcoin creates a perfect environment for both speculation and long-term investment. When the price rises, even the most conservative financial actors cannot overlook the economic incentive.

This is where game theory comes into play: Bitcoin is structured in such a way that anyone—even those who deny or criticize its potential—is incentivized to participate to avoid being excluded from future economic benefits. Financial institutions, driven by greed or opportunism, are forced to join in, knowing that staying out could be costly.

The Two Opposing Cycles: Virtuous for Bitcoin, Vicious for the Fiat System This process creates a reinforcing effect for Bitcoin while paradoxically weakening the traditional financial system that embraces it. Every time an institution decides to offer Bitcoin to its clients or include it in its portfolio, it legitimizes the asset in the public's eyes, strengthens its position, and further increases demand. The result is a virtuous cycle for Bitcoin: the more it is adopted, the more it appreciates, and the more financial actors become interested.

Shorting the System

For the fiat system, the process is the opposite. Bitcoin’s increasing demand pushes its value upward, while the traditional debt-based and expansionary monetary system loses strength. In this context, buying Bitcoin with fiat currency becomes an implicit shorting operation. Every transaction that shifts value from fiat to Bitcoin reduces the demand for fiat, increasing its vulnerability to inflation.

The demand dynamic is not complex: every time an investor buys Bitcoin, they commit resources that would otherwise have been destined for purchasing or investing in fiat-denominated assets. This reduces the buying pressure on fiat itself while increasing it on Bitcoin. The more money flows into Bitcoin, the less remains to sustain the value of fiat currencies.

Let’s suppose, for example, that a bank decides to allocate $100 million to Bitcoin. The market responds to this capital shift by increasing Bitcoin’s price due to its scarcity, while the demand for dollars decreases. All else being equal, this decrease in demand reduces the dollar’s purchasing power, thus increasing inflationary pressure.

This dynamic can also be expressed in terms of the relationship between supply and demand. While Bitcoin’s supply is fixed and predetermined, the dollar’s supply can be expanded infinitely through inflationary monetary policies. The dollar, therefore, tends to lose value as trust in it diminishes and its supply increases.

This process is not immediately visible, but its cumulative effect is devastating for the fiat system. Once the cycle begins, it becomes almost impossible to stop, as more institutions realize the dynamic and rush to buy Bitcoin to protect themselves from the erosion of fiat value.

The Trojan Horse

Given all this, we can understand why Alex Gladstein describes Bitcoin as a “Trojan horse for freedom.”

The news from the last three days, though seemingly small and quiet, signals a much larger and deeper phenomenon: the slow but steady transition of the traditional financial system toward Bitcoin. The banks and institutions adopting Bitcoin, often without fully realizing it, are contributing to a systemic shift that could lead to the downfall of the very institutions that fail to adapt to the new reality.

These small adoption moves are now so frequent and widespread that they no longer make a big splash. Yet with every move, with every bank launching a Bitcoin product, or every traditional investor adding it to their portfolio, the grave for the traditional financial system is being slowly dug. The actors who remain outside this process risk finding themselves in an increasingly weaker position, unable to compete with a market that is gradually embracing Bitcoin.

@ 3cd2ea88:bafdaceb

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@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

Hi everyone,

As I go through basketball withdrawals, I'm frantically trying to think of fun NBA content and I came up with something that I think will be a neat almost year-long contest.

Let's try to predict who will make up the All NBA 1st team next year, as well as who the league MVP will be and which team will win the title.

Here's the part I think will be fun: each month you can revise your predictions, but you get more credit for further out predictions. If you make a correct pick in June and don't change, you'll get 10 points, whereas a correct April pick is only worth one (assuming that I counted months correctly).

As with most of my contests, the prize will be however many sats are zapped to me on these posts (including comments).

My June Picks

All NBA 1st Team

• Jokic
• Giannis
• Luka
• Ant
• SGA

MVP

• Luka

Champ

• Denver

@ dd664d5e:5633d319

I've been dealing with a lot of aspiring IT people, lately, and it has me sort of jaded.

I'm trying to think of the level of competence I would expect of someone like myself because it has changed, dramatically, since I started out, 26 years ago. I've only now managed to catch up enough to feel "requalified" for my own profession, so I thought I'd write it down for all of you, so that you know what to look for.

As in, what is the new "industry standard" knowledge level for a software business analyst?

If I were hiring a business analyst today, I'd ask...

1. What do e-mail, FTP, and UML have in common?
2. What is the difference between an intranet and the Internet? Name the four Internet layers and one protocol for each.
3. What are unit tests and integration tests and what are they useful for? Who should write them? Who should be looking at the results?
4. What is a build server and why use one? What is the difference between continuous integration and continuous deployment?
5. Please explain the three source control commands: commit, push, and pull.
6. Please explain the three Linux commands: pwd, ls, cat.
7. How do software branches work? What is a merge conflict? What are pull requests?
8. What is the difference between an activity diagram, a state-machine diagram, and a class diagram and when is it best to use which?
9. What are DDD and TDD? What purpose do they serve?
10. What are use cases and user stories? When is it best to use which? What is gherkin?
11. What is the difference between stateful and stateless?
12. What is agile programming?
13. Explain the difference between Kanban, Xtreme Programming, and Scrum, and when is it best to use which?
14. What is the difference between functional and object-oriented programming? Why use one, rather than the other?
15. What are wireframes, mockups, and prototypes?
16. Name two network topologies and give an example for an implementation of each.
17. What are XML, Json, and Yaml and why use one, rather than another?
18. What is an ORM and why use one? What are validators?
19. Name three types of databases and a use case they are ideal for.
20. Explain the importance of data sets to machine learning.

@ d6affa19:9110b177

i'm in the upstairs office. lost in some project i've been tinkering with. i feel driven with purpose.

the door is cracked open. i always leave the door open.

Her footsteps echo up the stairway. but my focus is intense; a solution just beyond my fingertips.

the door creaks open, a soft whisper of a sound.

i instantly feel Her presence. a sweet vanilla scent wraps around me, thick and intoxicating.

Her fingers brush through my hair, a gentle caress.

She grips my hair, then releases it— over and over again. it feels good.

a soothing warmth envelops me.

Her fingers glide, each stroke igniting my senses. a chill races down my spine.

the monitor becomes a bit distant.

"You're really focused, hmm?" She teases, leaning closer. "I'm just checking in on my sweet boy." Her tone alluring, already drawing me in.

"of course, my Queen." i reply, my eyes glued to the screen, struggling to concentrate. "thank You," my voice hints at annoyance. "i'm so close to finishing this up."

just when i near a breakthrough, She appears, a siren pulling me from my path. how does She know..? the quiet signals that betray my focus— that reveal my yearning.

"Hmmmm," She playfully muses.

ugh, i need to concentrate. but the way this feels...

it pulls me deeper.

Her fingers drift by my ear, lingering around my neck. nails grazing my skin, sending shivers through me.

my heart begins to race. the screen blurs, reality separates.

"Okay, sweet boy." Her voice is a soft command. Her nails dig in, a mixture of pain and pleasure. a sharp contrast to the softness of Her touch. "I'll be downstairs while you finish."

yet She remains. i close my eyes, drowning in the sensation. i should be finishing this project...

but each press feels like a silent command, an urge to abandon my thoughts, to succumb to the pull of Her presence.

the way She easily captures my attention... it makes me feel so vulnerable...

Her grip finally loosens, and slowly leaves my neck. it wants more...

i barely hear Her leave. but the air feels colder. the warmth of Her presence is fading. an aching emptiness fills the space...

the weight of Her absence settles in, another reminder of how easily She commands my thoughts...

desperately, i take in the remnants of Her scent.

i stare at my monitor. focus shattered, thoughts scattered like leaves.

i linger for a moment. fighting the urge to chase after Her.

the pull of Her absence is heavy in the air. i'm unable to resist. i rise from my seat.

the door is slightly open. She always leaves the door open.

i make my way downstairs, lost in the thoughts of serving Her. my true purpose...

@ 75bf2353:e1bfa895

Using p2p Electronic Cash

by Blogging Bitcoin

“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. To the naive mind that can conceive of order only as the product of deliberate arrangement, it may seem absurd that in complex conditions order, and adaptation to the unknown, can be achieved more effectively by decentralizing decisions and that a division of authority will actually extend the possibility of overall order. Yet that decentralization actually leads to more information being taken into account.” ― Friedrich Hayek, The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism

I write a free and open source blog about using bitcoin as peer to peer electronic cash. This is a compilation of some blogs I've written over the last two years. I wanted to write a book, but always felt paywalls are contrary to the free and open-source software movement. I still might publish this on dead trees, but want it to be free for anyone to read like the code you can find on https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/. This is also an example of what bitcoin makes possible. Andreas Antonopolis once compared bitcoin to the invention of the printing press.

I may not agree with everything he says, but he was right about that. Bitcoin allows me to get paid directly by the consumer. It is possible to sell my words without jumping through the Amazon hoops. App developers can publish apps, but Apple will not be levy their 30% tax. I'm not advocating tax evasion or fighting the IRS, but why should we pay corporations to publish and censor us when we can be paid directly from our audience?

This is a compilation of 21 of my favorite blogs I wrote on nostr over the last two years. It is written using the Value 4 Value model. To support my work, please pay the paywall, send zaps, or contribute your time treasure, or talent in another way.

Most bitcoin books try to convince you to buy bitcoin. They talk about how bitcoin is worth more today than ten years ago. You should buy bitcoin because it's going to a moon 69,420 light-years away in a galaxy called WhenLambo. I get it. 125 sats will most likely buy you something at the dollar tree one day. At the time of this writing, 1,922 will buy you a single item at the dollar tree, but 1,538 sats will buy you a paper NFT with George Washinton's mug shot. This is not about NFT's, trading crypto, or how many dollars 100,000,000 sats are worth. It's the musings of some nerd on the Internet who believes cryptography equals freedom in the electronic age. It's about how I use bitcoin and freedom tech in an unfree fiat tech world.

All of my work is written under a Creative Commons Licence. To support my work, please pay the paywall or send zaps. I have published this blog behind this paywall. Paywalls kinda suck because they block so many people from reading your work--At least they think they do. Most paywalls can be bypassed by a simple google search

nostr:nprofile1qyvhwumn8ghj7mn0wd68yvfwvd6hyun9de6zuenedyhszxrhwden5te0wfjkccte9e3h2unjv4h8gtnx095j7qghwaehxw309aex2mrp0yh8qunfd4skctnwv46z7qgswaehxw309ahx7um5wghx6mmd9uq3uamnwvaz7tmwdaehgu3dwp6kytnhv4kxcmmjv3jhytnwv46z7qgwwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkctcpzdmhxue69uhk7enxvd5xz6tw9ec82c30qywhwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnzd96xxmmfdejhytnnda3kjctv9uqzqadlydf3460e333fjkaqwxg7fz82636ew5m36c7hml2xhhsml2y4csrc5a

Using p2p Electronic Cash, by Blogging Bitcoin

https://i.nostr.build/zdJG3.png

1)My Nym Is Blogging Bitcoin 2 Support Yo0ur Local Circular Economy To Drain The Exchanges 3)Then They Fight You 4)Use Bitcoin To Protoest Inflation 5)Stacking Sats On Substack 6)Bitcoin Is Not A Belief 7)Why I Write On Nostr 8)The Nostr Tip Jar 9)Privacy Is Necessary For An Open Society In The Electronic Age 10)Fix The Money, Fix The Music 11)Build The Bitcoin Economy On Nostr 12)I don't trust the Cold Card: How to Verify Dice Rolls Using Tails 13)Recurring Bitcoin Donations with OakNode 14)Crypto Means Cryptography 15)Doge Is Dumb 16)Instransigent Tipping 17)Explain The Blockchain To Me(Like I don't Know How To Use The Command Line) 18)Freedom On The Internet 19)How Bitcoin Works In A Nutshell 20)Stacking Simages/bitcoin-shop-banner.png,https://affil.trezor.io/aff_c?offer_id=169&aff_id=33845;/static/images/bitcoin-hardware-wallet.png;/ats Is For Everybody 21)Using p2p Electronic Cash

₿logging ₿itcoin 848,675 debtclock 🧡 Support this by using the ⚡Value 4 Value model⚡

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Why relay hints are important

Recently Coracle has removed support for following relay hints in Nostr event references.

Supposedly Coracle is now relying only on public key hints and kind:10002 events to determine where to fetch events from a user. That is a catastrophic idea that destroys much of Nostr's flexibility for no gain at all.

• Someone makes a post inside a community (either a NIP-29 community or a NIP-87 community) and others want to refer to that post in discussions in the external Nostr world of kind:1s -- now that cannot work because the person who created the post doesn't have the relays specific to those communities in their outbox list;
• There is a discussion happening in a niche relay, for example, a relay that can only be accessed by the participants of a conference for the duration of that conference -- since that relay is not in anyone's public outbox list, it's impossible for anyone outside of the conference to ever refer to these events;
• Some big public relays, say, relay.damus.io, decide to nuke their databases or periodically delete old events, a user keeps using that big relay as their outbox because it is fast and reliable, but chooses to archive their old events in a dedicated archival relay, say, cellar.nostr.wine, while prudently not including that in their outbox list because that would make no sense -- now it is impossible for anyone to refer to old notes from this user even though they are publicly accessible in cellar.nostr.wine;
• There are topical relays that curate content relating to niche (non-microblogging) topics, say, cooking recipes, and users choose to publish their recipes to these relays only -- but now they can't refer to these relays in the external Nostr world of kind:1s because these topical relays are not in their outbox lists.
• Suppose a user wants to maintain two different identities under the same keypair, say, one identity only talks about soccer in English, while the other only talks about art history in French, and the user very prudently keeps two different kind:10002 events in two different sets of "indexer" relays (or does it in some better way of announcing different relay sets) -- now one of this user's audiences cannot ever see notes created by him with their other persona, one half of the content of this user will be inacessible to the other half and vice-versa.
• If for any reason a relay does not want to accept events of a certain kind a user may publish to other relays, and it would all work fine if the user referenced that externally-published event from a normal event, but now that externally-published event is not reachable because the external relay is not in the user's outbox list.
• If someone, say, Alex Jones, is hard-banned everywhere and cannot event broadcast kind:10002 events to any of the commonly used index relays, that person will now appear as banned in most clients: in an ideal world in which clients followed nprofile and other relay hints Alex Jones could still live a normal Nostr life: he would print business cards with his nprofile instead of an npub and clients would immediately know from what relay to fetch his posts. When other users shared his posts or replied to it, they would include a relay hint to his personal relay and others would be able to see and then start following him on that relay directly -- now Alex Jones's events cannot be read by anyone that doesn't already know his relay.

@ 6871d8df:4a9396c1

Embracing AI: A Case for AI Accelerationism

In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) development is at the forefront of technological innovation, a counter-narrative championed by a group I refer to as the 'AI Decels'—those advocating for the deceleration of AI advancements— seems to be gaining significant traction. After tuning into a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Podcast, I realized that the prevailing narrative around AI was heading in a dangerous direction. Rogan had Aza Raskin and Tristan Harris, technology safety advocates, who released a talk called 'The AI Dilemma,' on for a discussion. You may know them from the popular documentary 'The Social Dilemma' on the dangers of social media. It became increasingly clear that the cautionary stance dominating this discourse might be tipping the scales too far, veering towards an over-regulated future that stifles innovation rather than fostering it.

Are we moving too fast?

While acknowledging AI's benefits, Aza and Tristan fear it could be dangerous if not guided by ethical standards and safeguards. They believe AI development is moving too quickly and that the right incentives for its growth are not in place. They are concerned about the possibility of "civilizational overwhelm," where advanced AI technology far outpaces 21st-century governance. They fear a scenario where society and its institutions cannot manage or adapt to the rapid changes and challenges introduced by AI.

They argue for regulating and slowing down AI development due to rapid, uncontrolled advancement driven by competition among companies like Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft. They claim this race can lead to unsafe releases of new technologies, with AI systems exhibiting unpredictable, emergent behaviors, posing significant societal risks. For instance, AI can inadvertently learn tasks like sentiment analysis or human emotion understanding, creating potential for misuse in areas like biological weapons or cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Moreover, AI companies' profit-driven incentives often conflict with the public good, prioritizing market dominance over safety and ethics. This misalignment can lead to technologies that maximize engagement or profits at societal expense, similar to the negative impacts seen with social media. To address these issues, they suggest government regulation to realign AI companies' incentives with safety, ethical considerations, and public welfare. Implementing responsible development frameworks focused on long-term societal impacts is essential for mitigating potential harm.

This isn't new

Though the premise of their concerns seems reasonable, it's dangerous and an all too common occurrence with the emergence of new technologies. For example, in their example in the podcast, they refer to the technological breakthrough of oil. Oil as energy was a technological marvel and changed the course of human civilization. The embrace of oil — now the cornerstone of industry in our age — revolutionized how societies operated, fueled economies, and connected the world in unprecedented ways. Yet recently, as ideas of its environmental and geopolitical ramifications propagated, the narrative around oil has shifted.

Tristan and Aza detail this shift and claim that though the period was great for humanity, we didn't have another technology to go to once the technological consequences became apparent. The problem with that argument is that we did innovate to a better alternative: nuclear. However, at its technological breakthrough, it was met with severe suspicions, from safety concerns to ethical debates over its use. This overregulation due to these concerns caused a decades-long stagnation in nuclear innovation, where even today, we are still stuck with heavy reliance on coal and oil. The scare tactics and fear-mongering had consequences, and, interestingly, they don't see the parallels with their current deceleration stance on AI.

These examples underscore a critical insight: the initial anxiety surrounding new technologies is a natural response to the unknowns they introduce. Yet, history shows that too much anxiety can stifle the innovation needed to address the problems posed by current technologies. The cycle of discovery, fear, adaptation, and eventual acceptance reveals an essential truth—progress requires not just the courage to innovate but also the resilience to navigate the uncertainties these innovations bring.

Moreover, believing we can predict and plan for all AI-related unknowns reflects overconfidence in our understanding and foresight. History shows that technological progress, marked by unexpected outcomes and discoveries, defies such predictions. The evolution from the printing press to the internet underscores progress's unpredictability. Hence, facing AI's future requires caution, curiosity, and humility. Acknowledging our limitations and embracing continuous learning and adaptation will allow us to harness AI's potential responsibly, illustrating that embracing our uncertainties, rather than pretending to foresee them, is vital to innovation.

The journey of technological advancement is fraught with both promise and trepidation. Historically, each significant leap forward, from the dawn of the industrial age to the digital revolution, has been met with a mix of enthusiasm and apprehension. Aza Raskin and Tristan Harris's thesis in the 'AI Dilemma' embodies the latter.

Who defines "safe?"

When slowing down technologies for safety or ethical reasons, the issue arises of who gets to define what "safe" or “ethical” mean? This inquiry is not merely technical but deeply ideological, touching the very core of societal values and power dynamics. For example, the push for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives shows how specific ideological underpinnings can shape definitions of safety and decency.

Take the case of the initial release of Google's AI chatbot, Gemini, which chose the ideology of its creators over truth. Luckily, the answers were so ridiculous that the pushback was sudden and immediate. My worry, however, is if, in correcting this, they become experts in making the ideological capture much more subtle. Large bureaucratic institutions' top-down safety enforcement creates a fertile ground for ideological capture of safety standards.

I claim that the issue is not the technology itself but the lens through which we view and regulate it. Suppose the gatekeepers of 'safety' are aligned with a singular ideology. In that case, AI development would skew to serve specific ends, sidelining diverse perspectives and potentially stifling innovative thought and progress.

In the podcast, Tristan and Aza suggest such manipulation as a solution. They propose using AI for consensus-building and creating "shared realities" to address societal challenges. In practice, this means that when individuals' viewpoints seem to be far apart, we can leverage AI to "bridge the gap." How they bridge the gap and what we would bridge it toward is left to the imagination, but to me, it is clear. Regulators will inevitably influence it from the top down, which, in my opinion, would be the opposite of progress.

In navigating this terrain, we must advocate for a pluralistic approach to defining safety, encompassing various perspectives and values achieved through market forces rather than a governing entity choosing winners. The more players that can play the game, the more wide-ranging perspectives will catalyze innovation to flourish.

Ownership & Identity

Just because we should accelerate AI forward does not mean I do not have my concerns. When I think about what could be the most devastating for society, I don't believe we have to worry about a Matrix-level dystopia; I worry about freedom. As I explored in "Whose data is it anyway?," my concern gravitates toward the issues of data ownership and the implications of relinquishing control over our digital identities. This relinquishment threatens our privacy and the integrity of the content we generate, leaving it susceptible to the inclinations and profit of a few dominant tech entities.

To counteract these concerns, a paradigm shift towards decentralized models of data ownership is imperative. Such standards would empower individuals with control over their digital footprints, ensuring that we develop AI systems with diverse, honest, and truthful perspectives rather than the massaged, narrow viewpoints of their creators. This shift safeguards individual privacy and promotes an ethical framework for AI development that upholds the principles of fairness and impartiality.

As we stand at the crossroads of technological innovation and ethical consideration, it is crucial to advocate for systems that place data ownership firmly in the hands of users. By doing so, we can ensure that the future of AI remains truthful, non-ideological, and aligned with the broader interests of society.

But what about the Matrix?

I know I am in the minority on this, but I feel that the concerns of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) are generally overblown. I am not scared of reaching the point of AGI, and I think the idea that AI will become so intelligent that we will lose control of it is unfounded and silly. Reaching AGI is not reaching consciousness; being worried about it spontaneously gaining consciousness is a misplaced fear. It is a tool created by humans for humans to enhance productivity and achieve specific outcomes.

At a technical level, large language models (LLMs) are trained on extensive datasets and learning patterns from language and data through a technique called "unsupervised learning" (meaning the data is untagged). They predict the next word in sentences, refining their predictions through feedback to improve coherence and relevance. When queried, LLMs generate responses based on learned patterns, simulating an understanding of language to provide contextually appropriate answers. They will only answer based on the datasets that were inputted and scanned.

AI will never be "alive," meaning that AI lacks inherent agency, consciousness, and the characteristics of life, not capable of independent thought or action. AI cannot act independently of human control. Concerns about AI gaining autonomy and posing a threat to humanity are based on a misunderstanding of the nature of AI and the fundamental differences between living beings and machines. AI spontaneously developing a will or consciousness is more similar to thinking a hammer will start walking than us being able to create consciousness through programming. Right now, there is only one way to create consciousness, and I'm skeptical that is ever something we will be able to harness and create as humans. Irrespective of its complexity — and yes, our tools will continue to become evermore complex — machines, specifically AI, cannot transcend their nature as non-living, inanimate objects programmed and controlled by humans.
The advancement of AI should be seen as enhancing human capabilities, not as a path toward creating autonomous entities with their own wills. So, while AI will continue to evolve, improve, and become more powerful, I believe it will remain under human direction and control without the existential threats often sensationalized in discussions about AI's future.

With this framing, we should not view the race toward AGI as something to avoid. This will only make the tools we use more powerful, making us more productive. With all this being said, AGI is still much farther away than many believe.

Today's AI excels in specific, narrow tasks, known as narrow or weak AI. These systems operate within tightly defined parameters, achieving remarkable efficiency and accuracy that can sometimes surpass human performance in those specific tasks. Yet, this is far from the versatile and adaptable functionality that AGI represents.

Moreover, the exponential growth of computational power observed in the past decades does not directly translate to an equivalent acceleration in achieving AGI. AI's impressive feats are often the result of massive data inputs and computing resources tailored to specific tasks. These successes do not inherently bring us closer to understanding or replicating the general problem-solving capabilities of the human mind, which again would only make the tools more potent in our hands.

While AI will undeniably introduce challenges and change the aspects of conflict and power dynamics, these challenges will primarily stem from humans wielding this powerful tool rather than the technology itself. AI is a mirror reflecting our own biases, values, and intentions. The crux of future AI-related issues lies not in the technology's inherent capabilities but in how it is used by those wielding it. This reality is at odds with the idea that we should slow down development as our biggest threat will come from those who are not friendly to us.

AI Beget's AI

While the unknowns of AI development and its pitfalls indeed stir apprehension, it's essential to recognize the power of market forces and human ingenuity in leveraging AI to address these challenges. History is replete with examples of new technologies raising concerns, only for those very technologies to provide solutions to the problems they initially seemed to exacerbate. It looks silly and unfair to think of fighting a war with a country that never embraced oil and was still primarily getting its energy from burning wood. The evolution of AI is no exception to this pattern. As we venture into uncharted territories, the potential issues that arise with AI—be it ethical concerns, use by malicious actors, biases in decision-making, or privacy intrusions—are not merely obstacles but opportunities for innovation. It is within the realm of possibility, and indeed, probability, that AI will play a crucial role in solving the problems it creates. The idea that there would be no incentive to address and solve these problems is to underestimate the fundamental drivers of technological progress.

Market forces, fueled by the demand for better, safer, and more efficient solutions, are powerful catalysts for positive change. When a problem is worth fixing, it invariably attracts the attention of innovators, researchers, and entrepreneurs eager to solve it. This dynamic has driven progress throughout history, and AI is poised to benefit from this problem-solving cycle.

Thus, rather than viewing AI's unknowns as sources of fear, we should see them as sparks of opportunity. By tackling the challenges posed by AI, we will harness its full potential to benefit humanity. By fostering an ecosystem that encourages exploration, innovation, and problem-solving, we can ensure that AI serves as a force for good, solving problems as profound as those it might create. This is the optimism we must hold onto—a belief in our collective ability to shape AI into a tool that addresses its own challenges and elevates our capacity to solve some of society's most pressing issues.

An AI Future

The reality is that it isn't whether AI will lead to unforeseen challenges—it undoubtedly will, as has every major technological leap in history. The real issue is whether we let fear dictate our path and confine us to a standstill or embrace AI's potential to address current and future challenges.

The approach to solving potential AI-related problems with stringent regulations and a slowdown in innovation is akin to cutting off the nose to spite the face. It's a strategy that risks stagnating the U.S. in a global race where other nations will undoubtedly continue their AI advancements. This perspective dangerously ignores that AI, much like the printing press of the past, has the power to democratize information, empower individuals, and dismantle outdated power structures.

The way forward is not less AI but more of it, more innovation, optimism, and curiosity for the remarkable technological breakthroughs that will come. We must recognize that the solution to AI-induced challenges lies not in retreating but in advancing our capabilities to innovate and adapt.

AI represents a frontier of limitless possibilities. If wielded with foresight and responsibility, it's a tool that can help solve some of the most pressing issues we face today. There are certainly challenges ahead, but I trust that with problems come solutions. Let's keep the AI Decels from steering us away from this path with their doomsday predictions. Instead, let's embrace AI with the cautious optimism it deserves, forging a future where technology and humanity advance to heights we can't imagine.

@ bcbb3e40:a494e501

|| |:-:| |BLANCO, Carlos X. y COSTALES, Jose; España: Historia de una demolición controlada; Letras Inquietas, 2024|

Ya hemos publicado varias reseñas de algunas obras del Profesor Carlos X. Blanco, cuyas temáticas nos resultan totalmente familiares, y con las que coincidimos en un buen número de sus análisis y críticas del mundo actual. Recordaremos, para aquellos que estén interesados en sus obras las reseñas de De Covadonga a la nación española: La hispanidad en clave spengleriana y Un imperio frente al caos, además de algunas otras que podréis encontrar en nuestro blog. La obra del autor asturiano, en este caso en coautoría con José Costales, resulta muy clarificadora a la hora de analizar aspectos generales de la historia de España, cuestiones que tienen que ver con nuestra historia particular, y aquellos hechos que podemos considerar como más generales y fruto de un contexto y unas coyunturas que han marcado el destino de nuestra Patria en los últimos tiempos. Es por ese motivo, que así de entrada podemos distinguir dos bloques claramente diferenciados en esta obra: Un primer bloque que aborda nuestra historia peculiar, las características que definen el «hecho hispánico» y marcan nuestro devenir histórico; un segundo bloque en el que se señalan las amenazas y peligros que se yerguen frente a la España actual, aparentemente agonizante y desahuciada por la falta de soberanía y una serie de problemas graves y trascendentales que amenazan nuestra existencia.

Hay que destacar que el prólogo que precede a la obra en sí y le sirve como presentación corre a cargo del conocido abogado, jurista e historiador Guillermo Rocafort. En un breve pero certero escrito delinea los grandes problemas que atenazan a un Occidente decadente en plena crisis económica, geopolítica y de valores, embarcado en una deriva suicida que hace aguas y se ha vuelto insostenible. La crisis del capitalismo unipolar y globalista enfrenta el reto de la pujanza de los BRICS, con el resurgimiento de Rusia y el desarrollo y ascenso como superpotencia de China, junto a la formación de grandes bloques geopolíticos que definen la multipolaridad que, recientemente, autores como Aleksandr Duguin vienen teorizando desde la escuela euroasiática. Esta situación hace que la el mundo anglosajón y sus oligarquías plutocráticas comiencen a ver resquebrajada su hegemonía, con su sistema de dinero fiat y sus organizaciones pantalla, tales como la Unión Europea, o el desarrollo de su conocida como ideología woke y todas las perversas y destructivas ingenierías sociales asociadas, así como la acción de la Agenda 2030.

|| |:-:| |DUGUIN, Aleksandr G.; La geopolítica de Rusia: De la revolución rusa a Putin; Hipérbola Janus, 2015|

En el caso particular de España los efectos de los más de 300 años de dominio anglosajón han tenido consecuencias especialmente perniciosas con la desindustrialización, la destrucción del sector primario, las ingenierías sociales asociadas a las ideologías de género, donde España ha servido como particular conejillo de indias, o nuestras permanentes renuncias en materia de política exterior, donde nos hemos visto obligados, por imposiciones venidas del otro lado del Atlántico, a renunciar a nuestra soberanía sobre el Sahara Occidental o a las permanentes y humillantes cesiones a Marruecos.

En el escrito de Introducción, los autores trazan una genealogía de los hechos, de las circunstancias que se hallan detrás de las razones del propio título de la obra, «Historia de una demolición controlada», en la que el papel de la angloesfera ha sido fundamental para la situación de debilidad, sometimiento y negación de nuestra propia historia que vivimos en la actualidad. Somos parte de una Europa sojuzgada que actúa a remolque de las políticas estadounidenses y anglosajonas, a través de la acción de la OTAN, donde no somos más que un agregado servil, actuando en defensa de los intereses geopolíticos del Imperio. Dentro de Europa, la UE define otro tipo de jerarquías internas, en las cuales el eje franco-alemán impone sus intereses a los países con economías menos desarrolladas del sur. Al mismo tiempo, también se advierten las importantes transformaciones que el régimen constitucional de 1978 ha experimentado en las últimas décadas, especialmente a partir de Zapatero, con el mayor sojuzgamiento de España a la Agenda globalista.

Todas estas circunstancias adversas, y también trágicas para nuestro destino, hacen necesario un análisis de la propia historia de España, de su gestación y de los atributos que han cimentado la idea de lo español o hispánico. La historia de España ha estado condicionada por su proximidad a África, lo cual ha tenido una importancia decisiva en su configuración final. Con la invasión musulmana del 711 se produjo un episodio de dislocación dentro de nuestra historia, que a partir de ese momento experimentó una situación de dualidad étnico-religiosa y comenzó un episodio transfigurador y de construcción del ideal hispánico que se había iniciado con el reino visigodo de Toledo, y que la Reconquista contribuyó a potenciar. En este sentido, la configuración étnica que resultó de la invasión árabe hizo que las zonas del Norte, donde se refugiaron los restos de la antigua nobleza visigoda derrotada, predominó el elemento germánico que se erigió como motor inicial del proceso de Reconquista, mientras que en otras latitudes del levante y el sur peninsular se produjo un proceso de africanización y semitización sobre las antiguas poblaciones hispanorromanas. Un norte cristiano, germanizado e indoeuropeo, equiparable al Norte de Europa, representado por la monarquía asturiana frente a un sur africanizado, sumido en un caos étnico y de enfrentamientos civiles era el resultado de la entidad andalusí.

El proceso de romanización afectó de manera desigual a los territorios peninsulares, y los pueblos de las regiones noroccidentales como astures, cántabros o vascones apenas se vieron afectados, conservando un importante sustrato indoeuropeo en contraste con las regiones más mediterráneas, ocupadas por los íberos, que ya poseían un modelo de civilización elevado y en conexión con las civilizaciones clásicas mediterráneas. Estos elementos ya aparecen claramente expuestos en la interpretación spengleriana que uno de nuestros autores, Carlos X Blanco, expone en De Covadonga a la nación española: La hispanidad en clave spengleriana. Es el contraste entre una España atlántica, indoeuropea y germanizada frente a otra vertiente representada por la España mediterránea, levantina y romanizada. En la confluencia de ambos modelos tenemos la definición de las sucesivos siglos en los que se forja la Reconquista, en la que, según los autores, pasamos de una etapa inicial de predominio atlántico y noroccidental, con el Reino de Asturias, y posteriormente León, capitalizando el proceso de la Reconquista, mientras que posteriormente, será Castilla, que obedecerá al modelo mediterráneo, quien llevaría la batuta en el avance hacia el Sur y la hispanización de España, porque la invasión del 711 marca un proceso de deshispanización, una idea fundamental, también en nuestra opinión, que el avance de los reinos cristianos del Norte contribuirán a erosionar y finalmente, para nuestra fortuna, destruir por completo.

Como parte de la geopolítica hispánica y su relanzamiento como Patria común, es fundamental que España vuelva a resucitar el eje atlántico y noroccidental, propiamente asturiano, frente aquel castellano, para que recupere su primacía como eje en la reconstrucción de España y revertir así la agonía y rumbo errático que nos lleva hacia la destrucción total y la desaparición como nación histórica.

No obstante, si queremos refundar España a través de un verdadero proyecto nacional debemos ser realistas, y no dejarnos embelesar por los visiones sobreexcitados que representan el modelo Imperial de los Austrias o posteriores reverberaciones del mismo a través de construcciones ideales, sino que contemplando las actuales coyunturas, con el viraje hacia la multipolaridad que está experimentando el mundo actual, quizás estaríamos llamados, o al menos existe ese gran potencial, a liderar una suerte de hispanosfera con los antiguos países que fueron parte de la América española, frente a la anglosfera, que viene perjudicando nuestra soberanía y sometiéndonos, junto al resto de Europa, como una colonia.

Blanco y Costales nos ofrecen algunas directrices para esta reconstrucción, tales como la descentralización de los centros de poder, frente a todo modelo jacobino y liberal diríamos nosotros, como parte de un modelo confederal, que incluso podría apoyarse en la fundación de centros de poder en el continente americano. Asimismo, este modelo confederal, implicaría dotar de mayor poder y protagonismo a las regiones, tal y como habría postulado uno de los grandes teóricos del tradicionalismo español, Don Juan Vázquez de Mella, frente al actual modelo balcanizador de las 17 taifas dirigidas por las oligarquías partitocráticas y corruptas del Régimen de 1978. En cuanto al modelo político requerido, este no es la monarquía, sino la república, por el descrédito de los Borbones y la trayectoria descendente y de decadencia que han venido marcando en su reinado desde hace más de 300 años. En cualquier caso, lo que este modelo debe aportar es cohesión interna y voluntad de integración en el modelo de mundo unipolar, que se viene gestando y estructurando bajo relaciones de poder, redes económicas, comerciales y de otro tipo, que deben garantizar esa capacidad de interconexión. Y, por supuesto, en coherencia con lo sostenido con anterioridad, nuestros autores proponen que el eje atlántico y noroccidental debe representar el motor y artífice de este nuevo ciclo histórico.

Desde el advenimiento de los Borbones a comienzos del siglo XVIII, el polo mediterráneo y africanizado ha venido tomando un protagonismo creciente, que vemos reflejado el el triunfo posterior, a lo largo del siglo XIX, del liberalismo con la destrucción del Imperio y el sometimiento de España y de su historia a los dominios de la leyenda negra, urdida por la anglosfera, y que tiende a presentarnos como el producto de una hibridación de pueblos afrosemitas y mahometanos, sin identidad, y como una especie de anomalía frente a la europeidad prototípica. Un discurso que, claro está, fue aceptado por el liberalismo español con la consecuente desvalorización y rechazo de los orígenes astur-godos de la monarquía hispánica y del proceso de Reconquista por parte de unas élites corruptas, antiespañolas y endófobas, que se sometieron ideológicamente a Francia y al mundo anglosajón. En un principio, esto sirvió para provocar fragmentar la unidad interna del Imperio Español y enajenar el catolicismo de la Hispanidad, y posteriormente, una vez destruida esa unidad, someter a estos países al capitalismo depredador y esclavizarlos por la vía de la deuda. Paralelamente, y a través de la masonería, también se introdujeron ideas profundamente destructivas entre las élites liberales y traidoras, como son el laicismo, el separatismo y otras ideas disolventes que nos vienen desnaturalizando desde hace siglos.

La acción de este capitalismo destructivo y depravado, es la que nos ha convertido en un instrumento en manos de grandes cenáculos y organizaciones que forman parte de un entramado complejo y anónimo, desde donde se interviene permanentemente en nuestros asuntos imponiendo cambios profundos en las costumbres, tradiciones e identidad, empobreciéndonos y reduciéndonos a la más pura insignificancia.

Otro elemento a destacar, podríamos decir una de las grandes piedras angulares que definen la idiosincrasia de lo Hispánico, viene representado por el Catolicismo, que en el caso peninsular también revistió un carácter peculiar, especialmente en lo que respecta, una vez más, a los contrastes internos entre la zona atlántica-noroccidental y la mediterránea, así como con la propia realidad del reino visigodo, donde la Iglesia resultó ser muy autónoma, vertebrada a través de sus concilios. Con la irrupción de la contemporaneidad, este elemento, el católico, de vital importancia durante la Reconquista y a lo largo de toda nuestra historia, se ha visto disminuido, con la propia acción del liberalismo, y especialmente desde la izquierda, y también desde sus propios centros de poder, desde el mismo Vaticano, a raíz de su famoso Concilio Vaticano II, abdicando en sus principios y doctrina frente al liberalismo y el mundo moderno.

En el primer párrafo hemos hablado de un primer bloque, que de algún modo vendría a hablarnos de nuestra historia, de la autorepresentación que tenemos de la misma, y los elementos basales que componen su estructura. Esta sería la primera parte del libro. Una segunda parte vendría comprendida por el análisis de otros elementos más externos que definen unas coyunturas internacionales muy características, las cuales forman parte, desgraciadamente, de nuestro presente actual.

Entre los principales elementos de análisis se encuentra la acción de la anglosfera y el sometimiento que experimenta España junto al resto de naciones del orbe europeo, especialmente occidental, bajo instituciones transnacionales como la OTAN o la UE, que lastran permanentemente nuestra soberanía y nos convierten en meros cipayos al servicio de los intereses de la anglosfera (Estados Unidos y Reino Unido) en contra de nuestros propios intereses. El ejemplo más significativo lo tenemos en Ucrania, donde la OTAN está librando una guerra contra Rusia en la que viene utilizando al pueblo ucraniano como ariete de sus intereses geopolíticos a costa de la destrucción del país, en un auténtico drama humano con la muerte de miles de jóvenes en el frente de batalla. La historia de la anglosfera viene siendo la misma desde siempre, en el que sus teóricos aliados vienen siendo humillados, con multitud de traiciones, y ataques de falsa bandera, la creación de grupos terroristas, promoción de golpes de Estado, compra y soborno de políticos con aquellos países que no se sometían a los intereses del Imperio anglosajón. La base de tal poder, en la que tal imperio basa su poder el capitalismo financiero y especulador, cuyas raíces se encuentran en el siglo XVII, y que sirve a unas élites globales que se sirve de los mecanismos tales como los procesos inflacionarios para empobrecer y someter a los pueblos, a los que desprecia e instrumentaliza al servicio de Agendas globalistas. Al mismo tiempo acaparan gran parte de la riqueza global, que mantienen oculta en paraísos fiscales y de la que se sirven para sufragar el tráfico de drogas o la financiación de grupos terroristas que protagonizan los atentados de falsa bandera a los que nos hemos referido.

|| |:-:| |MUTTI, Claudio; Democracia y talasocracia: Antología de ensayos geopolíticos; Hipérbola Janus, 2017|

El enorme y desproporcionado proceso de financiarización que padece la economía del Occidente sometido a la anglosfera ha tenido consecuencias funestas sobre el complejo productivo real, redundando en la desindustrialización y la decadencia general bajo las teorías del «decrecimiento». Desde la administración Bush, a comienzos de siglo, hemos asistido a una serie de guerras de agresión en las que se han destruido países como Irak, Libia o Afganistán con el objetivo de controlar los hidrocarburos y las rutas de transporte, una tendencia que se ha venido incrementado especialmente con la administración Biden , y anteriormente con la de Obama, con la creación de organizaciones terroristas como el ISIS y la desestabilización permanente en Oriente Próximo, y el creciente y peligroso papel del complejo militar industrial.

Pero el poder y hegemonía estadounidense están menguando a pasos agigantados con la emergencia de dos grandes potencias, como son Rusia y China, frente a las que la anglosfera ve amenazada su hegemonía económica, con la colonización comercial china y el resurgir del potencial ruso, frente al cual, como decíamos, libran una guerra con intermediarios a través de Ucrania. Al mismo tiempo, tenemos a los BRICS, liderados por Rusia y China, con países emergentes como Irán, la India o Brasil con el papel de potencias regionales. La guerra de Ucrania solamente ha conseguido revigorizar a Rusia, alejarla de Europa y reforzar su alianza con China, mientras que los grandes perjudicados son Ucrania, que quedará en manos de grandes fondos de inversión como Blackrock ante una pretendida reconstrucción del país y las multinacionales que participarán en su reconstrucción, quedando en manos del globalismo. Europa es la otra gran perdedora, empobrecida y sumisa ante los designios del Imperio yanqui, al que rinde pleitesía a través de sus gobernantes, que no son más que títeres. Ante la inevitable pérdida de soberanía en el mundo, la anglosfera también pretende llevar la guerra a Asia contra China, viendo la derrota que está sufriendo en todos los frentes.

En el contexto de los intereses hispánicos, la anglosfera siempre ha representado una amenaza y un elemento especialmente dañino, responsable de la disolución del Imperio español con la introducción de las ideas liberales y masónicas entre las élites locales hispanoamericanas, practicando formas aberrantes de neocolonialismo sobre estos territorios una vez independizados, y siendo considerados como el patio trasero de Estados Unidos, quien ha practicado una política especialmente perniciosa y de desestabilización en todos estos territorios en vistas a coartar cualquier forma de desarrollo positivo.

Otro de los grandes problemas que se abordan en el libro es la amenaza que representa el enemigo del sur, Marruecos, para la integridad territorial española, sobre Ceuta, Melilla y las Islas Canarias, con el apoyo incondicional de países como Estados Unidos, Francia o Israel, tras las primeras y humillantes concesiones que ya se produjeron en 1975 con Juan Carlos I con el Sahara Occidental, y las posteriores, bajo mandato de Sánchez. Al mismo tiempo Estados Unidos e Israel especialmente, participan activamente en el rearme y fortalecimiento del reino moro, que ha desarrollado una política expansionista y agresiva contra los países vecinos. Para ello también se sirve de los lobbies marroquíes que actúan en el propio seno de la UE y dentro de España, que se sirven de las políticas cobardes y traidoras de sus políticos adheridos al Régimen del 78. Las consecuencias no se han dejado de notar en la destrucción y progresivo debilitamiento de nuestro sector primario en detrimento de los productos del país norteafricano, que entran sin ningún tipo de control en nuestro territorio, sin cumplir los requisitos mínimos a nivel fitosanitario. La ineptitud, servilismo y cobardía del actual Régimen hacia poderes globalistas y transnacionales, hacia la anglosfera, nos condenan a seguir un guión sin ninguna autonomía ni poder de decisión.

Otro de los ámbitos importantes que contempla el libro, lo encontramos en la ya mencionada Unión Europea, que no deja de ser otro instrumento de dominación y supeditación a los intereses de la anglosfera, y donde se reúnen los representantes de los grandes poderes fácticos a través de plutócratas, banqueros y poderes económicos y financieros transnacionales. Esta institución ha ido sustrayendo progresivamente el poder de las naciones que la integran con una comisión europea con atribuciones y poderes omnímodos para dictar normas y con una presidenta, Ursula Von der Leyen, metida en multitud de casos de corrupción, entre los que destacan aquellos vinculados a la Plandemia de 2020 y las falsas vacunas. Todo ello sin contar los protocolos criminales que se impusieron durante ese periodo, la represión policial y el cercenamiento de derechos y libertades con la presión absolutamente criminal sobre los que decidieron no «vacunarse» con el producto experimental del que nadie se hacía responsable y sobre el cual reinaba toda opacidad informativa. Desde esas fechas hasta el presente los fondos de inversión globalistas, como Blackrock o Vanguard entre otros, se sirvieron de la crisis generada para enriquecerse y acaparar la compra de todo lo comprable como instrumento de las élites plutocráticas mundiales y sus ansias de dominio global.

|| |:-:| |NAD, Boris; Después del virus: El renacimiento de un mundo multipolar; Hipérbola Janus, 2022|

La Unión Europea no ha dejado de ser, como ya hemos dicho, parte de las organizaciones que la anglosfera, y particularmente el gobierno yanqui, ha utilizado para dominarnos y debilitarnos desde 1945, y en nuestros días también a través de la Agenda 2030, a partir de la cual pretenden reducir Europa a la nada, desindustrializando y destruyendo el sector primario, algo especialmente dramático en el caso español. La UE también nos habla de la implantación de la divisa digital con todos los peligros que esta entraña como, por ejemplo, la posibilidad de que se programe su uso y sirva como herramienta de control social para monitorear y controlar nuestras gestiones, la caducidad del dinero o limitar la compra de productos en función de la llamada «huella de carbono». A ello debemos añadir el proceso inflacionario que venimos sufriendo desde el 2020 en una farsa deliberadamente provocada por los bancos centrales (la Reserva Federal y el BCE) con la impresión masiva de dinero.

En el plano social la UE no ha dejado de implementar el modelo del caos multicultural que viene ocasionando estragos en buena parte de la Europa occidental a través del uso de recursos maquiavélicos y diferentes ingenierías sociales que se apoyan en los mass media. Esto ha generado una distopía social con la introducción de ideas aberrantes como las asociadas a las ideologías de género, con la castración y hormonación de niños o el odio radical y enfermizo hacia los hombres blancos heterosexuales, convertidos en potenciales violadores con la ideología feminista institucionalizada. Y todo esto con el contraste que supone la llegada masiva de «inmigrantes» de países de África, por ejemplo, donde predominan sociedades patriarcales, en muchos casos musulmanas, cuyas tradiciones y visión de la vida chocan con las ingenierías sociales de la élite globalista.

Carlos Blanco y José Costales plantean una refundación de la Unión Europea bajo otros parámetros más democráticos y bajo unos organismos reguladores que puedan controlar los lobbies, las multinacionales y a los plutócratas y frente a los abusos de poder del eje franco-alemán. Una Europa de los pueblos, de naciones soberanas al servicio del interés ciudadano frente a las oligarquías y el gobierno mundial.

Otro de los capítulos está dedicado al papel de las oligarquías y las élites, donde reaparecen algunos de los temas ya tratados, y en los que se viene a destacar la acción perniciosa y destructiva de estos poderes anónimos que actúan a través de organizaciones pantalla y agendas planificadas perpetradas desde el llamado Occidente, bajo las premisas de una ideología misántropa y deshumanizada que es asumida por los gobiernos traidores de las naciones de la Europa occidental. Todas estas políticas se presentan bajo aspectos devastadores en el sector alimentario, con la ya referida demolición del sector primario con catastróficas consecuencias en un futuro próximo, o la fabricación de guerras, conflictos sociales y polarización de la población, junto a falsas banderas y grupos terroristas creados y financiados desde el propio Occidente. En este sentido tenemos multitud de ejemplos de desestabilización en torno a la red Gladio durante los años 70 (los famosos años del plomo en Italia) o con el tráfico de drogas, que ha servido para generar conflictividad social en Ecuador en los últimos tiempos tras quedar cortadas las redes del comercio de heroína procedente de Afganistán.

En los últimos capítulos del libro también se aborda el separatismo y la balcanización de España, un fenómeno propiamente moderno y que aparece indefectiblemente ligado al advenimiento de los liberales a lo largo del siglo XIX. A raíz de una serie de conflictos de origen dinástico, se generó una antítesis irreconciliable entre dos sistemas de gobierno, el propiamente moderno representado por el liberalismo y encarnado en la futura reina Isabel II y el tradicionalismo representado por los carlistas y encarnado, inicialmente, por Carlos María Isidro (Carlos V). Se libraron tres guerras devastadoras entre liberales y carlistas a lo largo del siglo XIX, en las que se dirimieron dos modelos, uno centralista (liberal) frente a otro descentralizado (carlista) con el respeto a las instituciones locales y regionales, a los Fueros. cuyas prerrogativas y vigencia se fueron perdiendo a lo largo del siglo. El siglo XIX tuvo unas consecuencias desastrosas para España, con la liquidación del Imperio y su debilitamiento en todos los ámbitos. Es a finales de susodicha centuria cuando nacen los movimientos separatistas, especialmente en Vascongadas y Cataluña, que irá cristalizando y gestándose a través de un discurso identitario cada vez más radical y antiespañol. La decadencia política e institucional que representa el actual Régimen Constitucional del 78, ha convertido a las formaciones políticas separatistas en los árbitros del sistema, ejerciendo de bisagras en la formación de los gobiernos centrales, con episodios vergonzantes y humillantes como los asociados a la Ley de Amnistía del PSOE en los últimos tiempos. Al mismo tiempo, el separatismo ha asumido los mismos mantras ideológicos a través de sus oligarquías regionales, que el resto de los integrantes del régimen partitocrático en relación a las políticas globalistas impulsadas desde la UE o la siniestra Agenda 2030, a la que son plenamente funcionales. En este sentido el mundo anglosajón, interesado en contribuir a la destrucción interna y fragmentación territorial de España, a través de complejas redes de financiación, como las desplegadas por Soros y su Open Society o las desplegadas, a través de organizaciones pantalla, por los servicios secretos ingleses y estadounidenses. Estos poderes ya tienen experiencia en esta materia, como demuestran los resultados de la Guerra de Yugoslavia durante los años 90, de la que resultó la fragmentación de su territorio en pequeñas repúblicas.

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Artículo original: Hipérbola Janus, Reseña: «España: Historia de una demolición controlada», de José Costales y Carlos X Blanco (TOR), 24/Sep/2024

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

How to do curation and businesses on Nostr

Suppose you want to start a Nostr business.

You might be tempted to make a closed platform that reuses Nostr identities and grabs (some) content from the external Nostr network, only to imprison it inside your thing -- and then you're going to run an amazing AI-powered algorithm on that content and "surface" only the best stuff and people will flock to your app.

This will be specially good if you're going after one of the many unexplored niches of Nostr in which reading immediately from people you know doesn't work as you generally want to discover new things from the outer world, such as:

• food recipe sharing;
• sharing of long articles about varying topics;
• markets for used goods;
• freelancer work and job offers;
• specific in-game lobbies and matchmaking;
• directories of accredited professionals;
• sharing of original music, drawings and other artistic creations;
• restaurant recommendations
• and so on.

But that is not the correct approach and damages the freedom and interoperability of Nostr, posing a centralization threat to the protocol. Even if it "works" and your business is incredibly successful it will just enshrine you as the head of a platform that controls users and thus is prone to all the bad things that happen to all these platforms. Your company will start to display ads and shape the public discourse, you'll need a big legal team, the FBI will talk to you, advertisers will play a big role and so on.

If you are interested in Nostr today that must be because you appreciate the fact that it is not owned by any companies, so it's safe to assume you don't want to be that company that owns it. So what should you do instead? Here's an idea in two steps:

1. Write a Nostr client tailored to the niche you want to cover

If it's a music sharing thing, then the client will have a way to play the audio and so on; if it's a restaurant sharing it will have maps with the locations of the restaurants or whatever, you get the idea. Hopefully there will be a NIP or a NUD specifying how to create and interact with events relating to this niche, or you will write or contribute with the creation of one, because without interoperability none of this matters much.

The client should work independently of any special backend requirements and ideally be open-source. It should have a way for users to configure to which relays they want to connect to see "global" content -- i.e., they might want to connect to wss://nostr.chrysalisrecords.com/ to see only the latest music releases accredited by that label or to wss://nostr.indiemusic.com/ to get music from independent producers from that community.

1. Run a relay that does all the magic

This is where your value-adding capabilities come into play: if you have that magic sauce you should be able to apply it here. Your service, let's call it wss://magicsaucemusic.com/, will charge people or do some KYM (know your music) validation or use some very advanced AI sorcery to filter out the spam and the garbage and display the best content to your users who will request the global feed from it (["REQ", "_", {}]), and this will cause people to want to publish to your relay while others will want to read from it.

You set your relay as the default option in the client and let things happen. Your relay is like your "website" and people are free to connect to it or not. You don't own the network, you're just competing against other websites on a leveled playing field, so you're not responsible for it. Users get seamless browsing across multiple websites, unified identities, a unified interface (that could be different in a different client) and social interaction capabilities that work in the same way for all, and they do not depend on you, therefore they're more likely to trust you.

---

Does this centralize the network still? But this a simple and easy way to go about the matter and scales well in all aspects.

Besides allowing users to connect to specific relays for getting a feed of curated content, such clients should also do all kinds of "social" (i.e. following, commenting etc) activities (if they choose to do that) using the outbox model -- i.e. if I find a musician I like under wss://magicsaucemusic.com and I decide to follow them I should keep getting updates from them even if they get banned from that relay and start publishing on wss://nos.lol or wss://relay.damus.io or whatever relay that doesn't even know what music is.

The hardcoded defaults and manual typing of relay URLs can be annoying. But I think it works well at the current stage of Nostr development. Soon, though, we can create events that recommend other relays or share relay lists specific to each kind of activity so users can get in-app suggestions of relays their friends are using to get their music from and so on. That kind of stuff can go a long way.

@ 82100056:e198089f

I have come to the conclusion that major influencers being publicly and loudly anti-war can actually be pro-war.

When Alex Jones or Tucker Carlson, for example, talk about how bad an idea a war with Russia is, I can't help but feel like they are normalizing it as a thing. It is sowing the seeds in our minds that a war with Russia will happen, and despite their "best efforts" to expose it, there is nothing that can be done to stop this. And if their influence is not enough, then what can plebs like us do, other than just accept it? Their opposition to the war with Russia is therefore more like a controlled manipulation of the plebs into accepting it, rather than a sincere effort to stop it. This makes their impact even more powerful than pro-war people because it demonstrates that the normies can be controlled into putting up with a war despite the overwhelming moral, economic and logistical arguments against it.

I'm not saying that Jones or Carlson are intelligence assets or anything, because I really have no clue if they are or not. But I am saying that the effectiveness of their public stance against a war with Russia is massively overrated, and even has a perverse impact. After all, what have they achieved? Two things I know for sure: 1) They have made people fearful by thinking about the war. 2) They have normalized it in our minds, which leads us to accept it.

A lot of what they say we will agree with, but we have to be careful that it does not poison our spirits. Because there's a war there too.

@ 1d5357bf:1bdf0a52

If Bitcoin Is in Its Infancy, Nostr Is Still in Its Nursing Stage Skepticism is healthy, especially within the Bitcoin community. At the moment, Nostr users are predominantly Bitcoiners, and it's understandable that people are cautious about adopting new technologies. However, based on my limited experience over the last few months, Nostr has shown immense potential and is evolving at a breakneck pace.

The Speed of Development: A Double-Edged Sword The rate at which new functionality is being rolled out on Nostr is staggering. On the one hand, this rapid development brings constant innovation and new tools for users to explore. On the other hand, it often means that many implementations still need refinement, or at the very least, better documentation. It's exciting, but there are still bumps in the road that need to be ironed out. Censorship Resistance and Relay-Based Architecture One of Nostr’s most appealing features is its decentralized architecture, which revolves around relays. This design ensures that the protocol is censorship-resistant. If you’re tech-savvy enough, you can even run your own relay, allowing you to retain full control of your notes. This distributed system empowers users by giving them the tools to protect their content and stay independent of centralized entities.

A Protocol, Not a Platform Nostr is not a platform—it's a protocol. This distinction is crucial because it enables a high degree of interoperability, which can pave the way for a diverse ecosystem of applications. This opens up a world of possibilities and allows for network effects to take hold as more people and applications begin to interact with the protocol.

Privacy and Control Another advantage is the ability to manage your privacy more effectively. With Nostr, you can use multiple nsec/npub keys, giving you more control over your identity and interactions. This flexibility is a game-changer in a world where privacy is often compromised by centralized platforms.

Areas for Improvement Of course, Nostr is not without its challenges. Many of the available applications feel unpolished, and spam is a growing issue (the infamous "reply guy" problem). The ephemeral nature of the content also presents a challenge—once you post something, you can't "put the toothpaste back in the tube," sort to speak.

Enjoying the Ride Despite its growing pains, I’ve found Nostr to be an enjoyable experience so far. There are no algorithms dictating what you see, which results in a signal-rich environment with minimal toxicity—for now, at least. It’s refreshing to engage in conversations that aren’t manipulated by unseen forces, and I look forward to seeing where Nostr goes from here.

@ 3c984938:2ec11289

I'm having some pain in my heart about the U.S. elections.

Ever since Obama campaigned for office, an increase of young voters have come out of the woodwork. Things have not improved. They've actively told you that "your vote matters." I believe this to be a lie unless any citizen can demand at the gate, at the White House to be allowed to hold and point a gun to the president's head. (Relax, this is a hyperbole)

Why so dramatic? Well, what does the president do? Sign bills, commands the military, nominates new Fed chairman, ambassadors, supreme judges and senior officials all while traveling in luxury planes and living in a white palace for four years.

They promised Every TIME to protect citizen rights when they take the oath and office.

...They've broken this several times, with so-called "emergency-crisis"

The purpose of a president, today, it seems is to basically hire armed thugs to keep the citizens in check and make sure you "voluntarily continue to be a slave," to the system, hence the IRS. The corruption extends from the cop to the judge and even to politicians. The politicians get paid from lobbyists to create bills in congress for the president to sign. There's no right answer when money is involved with politicians. It is the same if you vote Obama, Biden, Trump, or Haley. They will wield the pen to serve themselves to say it will benefit the country.

In the first 100 years of presidency, the government wasn't even a big deal. They didn't even interfere with your life as much as they do today.

^^ You hold the power in your hands, don't let them take it. Don't believe me? Try to get a loan from a bank without a signature. Your signature is as good as gold (if not better) and is an original trademark.

Just Don't Vote. End the Fed. Opt out.

^^ I choose to form my own path, even if it means leaving everything I knew prior. It doesn't have to be a spiritual thing. Some, have called me religious because of this. We're all capable of greatness and having humanity.

✨Don't have a machine heart with a machine mind. Instead, choose to have a heart like the cowardly lion from the "Wizard Of Oz."

There's no such thing as a good president or politicians.

If there was, they would have issued non-interest Federal Reserve Notes. Lincoln and Kennedy tried to do this, they got shot.

There's still a banner of America there, but it's so far gone that I cannot even recognize it. However, I only see a bunch of 🏳‍🌈 pride flags.

✨Patrick Henry got it wrong, when he delivered his speech, "Give me liberty or give me death." Liberty and freedom are two completely different things.

Straightforward from Merriam-Webster Choose Right or left? No control, to be 100% without restrictions- free.

✨I disagree with the example sentence given. Because you cannot advocate for human freedom and own slaves, it's contradicting it. Which was common in the founding days.

I can understand many may disagree with me, and you might be thinking, "This time will be different." I, respectfully, disagree, and the proxy wars are proof. Learn the importance of Bitcoin, every Satoshi is a step away from corruption.

✨What does it look like to pull the curtains from the "Wizard of Oz?"

Have you watched the video below, what 30 Trillion dollars in debt looks like visually? Even I was blown away. https://video.nostr.build/d58c5e1afba6d7a905a39407f5e695a4eb4a88ae692817a36ecfa6ca1b62ea15.mp4

I say this with love. Hear my plea?

Normally, I don't write about anything political. It just feels like a losing game. My energy feels it's in better use to learn new things, write and to create. Even a simple blog post as simple as this. Stack SATs, and stay humble.

<3 Onigirl

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Danilo acordou cedo

Danilo acordou cedo e saiu para pegar o metrô, trajava aquelas vestes que seus amigos chamavam de "roupa de comunista", uma calça velha de brim, bege, uma blusa branca com uma logomarca vermelha - que não tinha nada a ver com comunismo - velha sob um paletó azul surrado e chinelo de dedo. Suas roupas eram todas parecidas entre si e, combinadas com sua barba malfeita castanha e seu olhar fundo típico de pessoas alcoolizadas, davam-lhe, realmente, um aspecto notório de comunista.

Quando o metrô parou na estação, Danilo entrou com sua mochila. Não havia assentos livres, mas ele já estava acostumado, aliás, até gostava de ficar em pé, para sentir melhor no rosto o vento que só vinha das janelas superiores do veículo. Colocou a mochila no chão e se segurou em uma das barras de ferro do veículo. Seus cabelos, apesar de curtos, balançavam em intrépidos estandartizados movimentos, como se dançassem o som de "One of These Days".

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

This idea had been kind of percolating in the back of my mind for a bit, but on my walk today it crystalized: there ought to be a podcast affiliated with this territory.

GrayRuby, you/we/I should launch something to talk about not just what's happening in sports, but what stackers are talking about wrt sports. I'm not aware of a bitcoiner podcast that touches sports at all.

I'm imagining it would start as a short weekly experiment, covering our game reactions, ~Stacker_Sports contests and posts, bitcoin bets, personal sports stories, and our kids' sports adventures.

This seems like something that could really elevate ~Stacker_Sports and I'm sure we have enough content to keep it going and have it be distinct from other podcasts.

Btw, I'm doing this in public both to bring public pressure on you and to gauge demand.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/698947

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

About Nostr, email and subscriptions

I check my emails like once or twice a week, always when I am looking for something specific in there.

Then I go there and I see a bunch of other stuff I had no idea I was missing. Even many things I wish I had seen before actually. And sometimes people just expect and assume I would have checked emails instantly as they arrived.

It's so weird because I'm not making a point, I just don't remember to open the damn "gmail.com" URL.

---

I remember some people were making some a Nostr service a while ago that sent a DM to people with Nostr articles inside -- or some other forms of "subscription services on Nostr". It makes no sense at all.

Pulling in DMs from relays is exactly the same process (actually slightly more convoluted) than pulling normal public events, so why would a service assume that "sending a DM" was more likely to reach the target subscriber when the target had explicitly subscribed to that topic or writer?

Maybe due to how some specific clients work that is true, but fundamentally it is a very broken assumption that comes from some fantastic past era in which emails were 100% always seen and there was no way for anyone to subscribe to someone else's posts.

Building around such broken assumptions is the wrong approach. Instead we should be building new flows for subscribing to specific content from specific Nostr-native sources (creators directly or manual or automated curation providers, communities, relays etc), which is essentially what most clients are already doing anyway, but specifically Coracle's new custom feeds come to mind now.

---

This also reminds me of the interviewer asking the Farcaster creator if Farcaster made "email addresses available to content creators" completely ignoring all the cryptography and nature of the protocol (Farcaster is shit, but at least they tried, and in this example you could imagine the interviewer asking the same thing about Nostr).

I imagine that if the interviewer had asked these people who were working (or suggesting) the Nostr DM subscription flow they would have answered: "no, you don't get their email addresses, but you can send them uncensorable DMs!" -- and that, again, is getting everything backwards.

@ 306068fe:d542563e

Looking for a good investment insight?..Checkout “Fintech catalyst”..it’s an exchange; which runs trade in autopilot to generate weekly profits (ROI) https://app.fintechcatalysts.com/ref/Nefrod

Join the discussion group with the link beneath https://t.me/+34-QRRBVj98xMDVh

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Bitcoin transactions explained

A transaction is a piece of data that takes inputs and produces outputs. Forget about the blockchain thing, Bitcoin is actually just a big tree of transactions. The blockchain is just a way to keep transactions ordered.

Imagine you have 10 satoshis. That means you have them in an unspent transaction output (UTXO). You want to spend them, so you create a transaction. The transaction should reference unspent outputs as its inputs. Every transaction has an immutable id, so you use that id plus the index of the output (because transactions can have multiple outputs). Then you specify a script that unlocks that transaction and related signatures, then you specify outputs along with a script that locks these outputs.

As you can see, there's this lock/unlocking thing and there are inputs and outputs. Inputs must be unlocked by fulfilling the conditions specified by the person who created the transaction they're in. And outputs must be locked so anyone wanting to spend those outputs will need to unlock them.

For most of the cases locking and unlocking means specifying a public key whose controller (the person who has the corresponding private key) will be able to spend. Other fancy things are possible too, but we can ignore them for now.

Back to the 10 satoshis you want to spend. Since you've successfully referenced 10 satoshis and unlocked them, now you can specify the outputs (this is all done in a single step). You can specify one output of 10 satoshis, two of 5, one of 3 and one of 7, three of 3 and so on. The sum of outputs can't be more than 10. And if the sum of outputs is less than 10 the difference goes to fees. In the first days of Bitcoin you didn't need any fees, but now you do, otherwise your transaction won't be included in any block.

If you're still interested in transactions maybe you could take a look at this small chapter of that Andreas Antonopoulos book.

If you hate Andreas Antonopoulos because he is a communist shitcoiner or don't want to read more than half a page, go here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Coin_analogy

@ 6bae33c8:607272e8

So it really happened. The Bengals lost outright, meaning for the third straight week, the league’s biggest favorite lost. The Circa Survivor pool is down to 550 entries out of 14,000 in Week 4. Unfathomable insanity. And of course, I went 2-3 on the week in Circa Millions, and at 5-10, am getting very close to drawing-dead territory.

I’m not as annoyed as I might be because Survivor this year is just funny, so that softens the blow of being out Week 1, I would have taken Cincy this week for sure had I pivoted off them and losing with the Bengals in the Millions contest is offset by the payoff of getting to marvel at it.

I am annoyed at the other game. They posted the score during the Cincy game on my screen, so it was spoiled on the 40-minute version, and once I saw what the score was, I had no interest in wasting time on it. (I did briefly flip to it for a couple drives when I realized it was the earlier game, but then realized eventually it would spoil the game I cared more about, so I switched back.) And in any event (and this is a bug on Gamepass), they flashed the final of the Bengals-Team before the game started from the beginning. I squinted, but caught a 38, and it became apparent in the third quarter which team was getting to 38 and which wasn’t given the kinds of scores they would need.

At least Ja’Marr Chase (three leagues) absolutely crushed.

• Chase had a huge game, but only seven targets. Why is it teams like the Rams (with Cooper Kupp) or even the Giants (with Malik Nabers) can motion guys and get them double-digit targets and often catches every game, while the Bengals are content to let teams double Chase and take him out of the game for long stretches? I mean this game flow should have seen Chase get 14 targets, not that I’m complaining about the production, but get your best player the ball!

• Chase Brown and Zack Moss both looked good, but easier to run from behind when the defense is conceding it.

• Joe Burrow was pretty accurate — some perfect deep throws to Chase, a couple balls behind receivers over the middle — and had decent feel in the pocket. But the offensive line wasn’t great, and he’s no longer a threat to scramble.

• Andrei Iosivas had his best game by far. Tee Higgins looked a little rusty.

• The Bengals defense is super soft. It’s the reason they lost to the Patriots in Week 1, they just can’t bring runners down.

• Jayden Daniels played great. He didn’t average much per carry, but he’s tough to tackle, has great instincts as to when to take off and has a nose for the first down. He played like the good version of Jalen Hurts, only with more tackle breaking ability.

• Two guys I crossed off my draft list this year because they were older, washed up running backs were Alvin Kamara and Austin Ekeler. Ekeler looked great on a kick return, his 24-yard TD and two catches before leaving with a concussion.

• I do have a couple shares of Brian Robinson who struggled, but I like him. He picks up the blitz well, gets a ton of goal line work, runs hard and can even catch a few passes. Ekeler looking spry though isn’t great for him.

• Terry McLaurin finally got going, and it took a full half. Daniels looks more comfortable now, so it makes sense.

• I’ve said this before but the Jets played 11-D chess winning that last game in 2020, getting the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft class instead of the No. 1 for no reason and lettng the Jaguars draft Trevor Lawrence. Now the Jets have Aaron Rodgers, but the Jaguars still have Lawrence! As I said I didn’t watch that game, but how much time does he need finally to get going?

• I wanted to draft Travis Etienne too for the skills and role, but there’s been something wrong with that offense for the last couple years, so he hasn’t been quite able to deliver. He’s like a poor man’s Saquon Barkley — have to get him to a team where he can thrive.

• I watched the Bills first two drives, both TDs, and Josh Allen makes it look so easy. It’s a foregone conclusion he’s converting the third or the fourth down.

• Dalton Kincaid finally did something, but the game flow was such you couldn’t expect much for any Bills pass catcher.

@ 3c827db6:66418fc3

With the previous articles, we found the disconnect between paid-for work and paid-for time. We also understood that if you want to get paid you have to provide work that is valuable for others. So when the person consumes the benefit of your work, the exchange happens value for value - work for sats. But what happens if the benefit that the consumer experiences is not a momentary but a continuous process? There are a few examples of this. I will start with the one that is not that captivating but still valuable.

Streaming services, like other industries, grapple with the limitations of the fiat payment system. The burden of fees and the absence of suitable technology for streaming payments have compelled them to adopt similar mitigations as other industries. This translates to charging users on a monthly basis.

With the Lightning Network, we have the technology to stream sats for content. No longer confined to monthly subscriptions, you pay for what you consume in real time. Whether you watch sporadically or binge extensively, streaming payments allow for a more personalized and efficient payment model. This way the creator of the content and the user have a direct connection for each minute the content is broadcasted. With streaming payments now you can say goodbye to subscription payments.

Unveiling A New Era Of Fair Compensation And Accountability In Movie Production

Imagine you've created a movie or documentary. Traditionally, you'd charge people for a ticket, essentially asking them to pay upfront for future value, creating a slight disconnect. Now, with streaming payments using sats, consumers can pay as they watch. If your movie sucks, they might only pay for the first 30 minutes. However, you still receive value, and viewers won't feel overcharged for something they didn't enjoy. If your movie is great they not only stream sats the whole time but at the end, they leave a tip.

On the receiving side of the movie most people involved in it received a salary for doing their job. As we already know this is not aligning the whole structure in the same direction. Some people do not care at all how good the movie is if they have already been paid and do not receive a bonus further. Some people might care about reputation in the market but very few just want to do the best job. Again, we went through this, and as you are guessing you just do a split payment in the backend where all the people in the credits actually receive sats or even milisatoshis based on their contribution. This was something I did not expect that Bitcoin would disrupt. This way the reputation is directly linked to the payment and a lot more people will fight to have the best movie. You can be someone who contributed to a project and wants to stay anonymous for whatever reason but still receive money - Lightning instant settlement is the way to do it.

These concepts should not be new if you read through the last 3 articles. In addition, people in the Bitcoin space are familiar with the Value for Value (V4V) podcasting and that is very close to what I am describing above. While the technology for podcasting is already in place, it's surprising how few podcasts leverage this technology to implement split payments effectively. They give that responsibility to some hosting service that decides to take a 5% split for themselves and the other 95% goes to the wallet of the show. Why not do the split the proper way? The hosting service provides value so they should get a percentage but if you are 3 people involved in the production of the podcast you should have that 95% split so it goes to those individuals. There's no excuse, especially for Bitcoin podcasts, not to make this effort and implement split payments appropriately.

The Dynamic Future Of Pay-as-you-go In Content Consumption

In this example, the pay-as-you-go model holds true for continuous experiences, like streaming. Now, let's revisit the movie example. If you're a theater, you are essentially the hosting provider for the movie. The quality of the theater experience can vary; one theater might have uncomfortable chairs, while another boasts luxurious massage chairs. The theater with subpar seating might receive a 3% share of the movie's streaming sats revenue, while the one with comfortable massage chairs might earn 5% for each sat stream paying for the movie. Furthermore, if a viewer activates the massage function of the chair, additional sats are streamed for each second that the function is on. I do not know the exact payment dynamics between theaters and movie studios but I bet there are prepayments and funds held at multiple points in the fiat payment process. With the adoption of the Lightning Network, theaters no longer have to prepay for movies to be projected on their screens. They can now observe which movies are most popular in real time and adjust their projections accordingly to optimize revenues. This benefits the consumer and optimizes profits for themselves and the creators of the movie.

Now you see the content gets its value stream for the continuous experience and everyone in the film industry will fight to give the best experience for the most amount of time. The better the experience the more sats flow their way. Due to the highly subjective nature of content, where one person might deem a movie subpar, another might label it as their favorite. This subjectivity is why I believe most content streaming will not have a predetermined price. Even movies may adopt the V4V model, similar to what Adam Curry is pioneering in podcasting. For instance, you watch a movie, and during the credits, a prominent QR code appears, allowing you to decide how much you want to send to the creators of the movie. You will listen to a song or a podcast the same way. Whether you predefine a streaming rate per minute or request payment at the end, both options are technically possible. However, the market will ultimately determine which option prevails as the better one.

Also, why not have a bidding competition for any event that has assigned seats? The person who bids the most for a ticket gets to be in the first row of the concert or a sports stadium. This way the subjectivity is left for all the viewers to decide how valuable it really is. This way it ensures a full stadium also because if there is no value in attending the event people are not going to bid for the seats or just pay 1 sat for it.

Revolutionizing Taxi Transactions For Drivers And Passengers Alike

The continuous experience or service for streaming could be anything in the physical realm. I will take a look at how instant settlement could look like in transportation services. One such transportation service is the taxi service. Even though Uber decentralized the taxi companies which is great they did nothing about decentralizing the payment process. Lightning Network fixes that and more.

With a streaming payment option for each meter of movement, taxi drivers no longer need to wait until the end destination to receive their payment. In a world of instant settlement, payment occurs as you go, eliminating the risk for the taxi driver regarding whether the passenger will pay at the end of the journey. While this might not be a groundbreaking improvement, there are several additional benefits to consider.

Why do most taxis operate with cash? Taxi drivers in most places need a POS device for the customers to be able to pay for a better user experience (UX). It may be a better UX but on the other hand, it creates problems for the drivers either way:

• They have to acquire clunky devices.
• They must pay payment processing fees, negatively impacting their margins.
• Operating solely with cash exposes them to the honeypot problem, carrying a substantial amount of money, and making them vulnerable to theft.

With an app tailored for the taxi experience and integrated with the Lightning Network, these issues become irrelevant. There is no need for additional equipment, no payment processing fees for receiving money, and no exposure to visible cash, reducing the risk of being a target for theft. Now you can have a better UX with better security and better margins - an additional benefit is that it will be paid with Bitcoin. Not only that but just like the example with the movie theater chairs drivers will be incentivized to make the travel experience even better. They can offer - to watch a movie, video games like PlayStation, or massage chair. If you choose to use those extra experiences on top of the travel experience you have to increase the sats streaming their way.

An additional benefit for the travel experience of customers arises when multiple passengers in a taxi have different destinations. Traditionally, the taxi meter ticks for the entire journey, and when the first person is dropped off, determining a fair amount for their portion becomes complex. However, with the Lightning Network, it's conceivable to streamline this process. Imagine a scenario where three passengers enter a taxi, each with distinct destinations. Each person scans a QR code upon entering, linking their streaming sats to the taxi app. The app manages split-receiving, dynamically adjusting the distribution of streaming payments based on how many people are in the taxi. As passengers are dropped off one by one, the app seamlessly adjusts the split-receiving, providing a fair and efficient payment solution for each individual's share of the journey.

Optimizing City Transportation With Streaming Sats

The proposed model of split-receiving through QR codes and streaming sats can extend beyond taxi services to other modes of transportation, such as buses. The idea is to calculate the average cost per mile (or meter/foot) for providing the transportation service, including factors like fuel, maintenance, and driver salary, and add a margin for profit. Passengers entering the vehicle scan a QR code, and the app dynamically adjusts the streaming payments based on the number of people on board.

For buses, this model allows for real-time adjustment of streaming payments as passengers enter and exit. If there are 30 people on the bus the split is between them. At the next stop, 10 people are dropped off and 5 people get on board - now the sats stream is divided by 25 people. As the number of people on the bus changes at each stop, the streaming sats are proportionally divided among the passengers. This approach can lead to more efficient and flexible city transportation. Late-night buses will be more expensive for the passengers because of the fewer riders, while buses during peak hours may offer a more cost-effective traveling experience as payments are shared among more passengers.

This system encourages transportation optimization around events, such as concerts or sports games, where private buses or minivans wait to fill up before departing. Routes can be dynamically adjusted because you will have a system tracking how many people are in the vehicles at what time and at what location on the map. Importantly, this data remains anonymous, as no KYC information is required for the Lightning Network payments.

The Streamlined Pay-from-a-distance

Now with this streaming money feature, it can be applied differently. Let’s go back to the taxi service for a moment. The pay-from-a-distance feature that is available in the Lightning Network can significantly enhance the experience of ordering a taxi. Instead of the traditional model where drivers wait patiently and charge fixed fees when passengers enter the car, this model introduces streaming sats from the moment the passenger accepts the ride. Here's how it works:

• The passenger places an order in the app, specifying the destination. Nothing new here.
• Drivers see the order and can apply for it, similar to platforms like Uber.
• Streaming sats start the moment the passenger accepts the driver, and streaming payments commence. This fee will be less than the actual transportation but the user is still paying for the service of the car coming to him and not the other way around.
• The taxi arrives at the passenger's door, and the streaming payments continue. There is a fee for waiting at the door per minute.

By shifting the waiting cost to the passenger, there's a strong incentive for both parties to be prompt, and the system becomes more efficient. Additionally, the passenger's responsibility to follow the car reduces operational costs related to alerting passengers via message or a call. Any inefficient time management becomes a cost for the passenger. This model aligns incentives for both drivers and passengers, creating a more seamless cost and time-effective taxi experience.

The concept of paying from a distance can be creatively applied to various scenarios, providing convenience and peace of mind. For instance, when it comes to sending your child somewhere with a taxi, traditional concerns about trusting them with money or the driver's reliability may arise. However, with the ability to stream sats for the ride, you gain real-time visibility on your device, tracking your child's journey and ensuring they reach the intended destination safely. This pay-from-a-distance feature extends beyond transportation and can be applied to other continuous services. For example, daycare services charge per minute, allowing you to stream payments in real-time, ensuring accurate and fair compensation for the duration your child spends there. Additionally, you can send a present to a friend, such as a massage session, and pay for it in a streaming fashion, covering the cost continuously based on the duration of the service. The flexibility of streaming payments not only offers real-time tracking and control but also opens up new possibilities for various services where charging per minute or duration is relevant. Those services can be paid on the spot or from a distance. image2

I know that now it looks like we are going backwards from the original point of never paying money for time. The key distinction here is that you may be paying for time past for the service but in that time you get a continuous stream of value (work done) so you are streaming value back to pay for it. In some cases the time spent is actually an accurate measure of the work done.

It's true that developing apps with such functionalities is technically feasible, and there might be entrepreneurs and developers willing to explore these possibilities. However, a significant challenge arises when considering custodial control over users' funds. Small startups might find it financially burdensome and complex to operate as custodians, potentially steering away from such responsibilities. This will take not only high responsibility but also a very big financial wall and expertise to obtain the licenses that comply with the ever-changing regulations. On the other hand, large tech companies with substantial resources could afford to take on the role of custodians, presenting both a business opportunity for them and a risk for the users. The move by some tech giants, like X(formerly Twitter), to obtain such licenses can be seen as a strategic measure for self-preservation over their own finances. This is also an opportunity to consolidate control over not only user data but user finances within their platforms.

The Breez SDK offers a powerful solution, empowering developers to create diverse applications without having to worry about payment intricacies. Its non-custodial nature is a key advantage, eliminating the need for licenses. The infrastructure of it is made in such a way that it is peer-to-peer so no one is holding money for someone else. The app developers focus on the experience within the app and just plug in the code. This combination of features gives startups a competitive edge and reverses the advantage held by large tech companies. While they go through the complex process of getting a license the startup can integrate the global payment network (the Lightning Network) in one day. Even if certain tech giants choose to lock users' funds within their applications, alternative options will continue to be developed, and users will have the freedom to opt-out. Just like people are choosing Bitcoin over fiat.

Now who is ready to give all of us those experiences in their app?

@ b804f68e:2fb0fa1f

Consistently writing on SN and Obsidian has underscored for me the critical role of application in the learning process. Writing allows me to visually process, reflect, analyze, and organize the myriad ideas generated within my brain. Through this ongoing practice, I can physically sense my improvement in articulating thoughts to others and myself, both in writing and speech. However, both forms of expression still require significant practice, especially the latter.

Before I began writing regularly, I didn't fully appreciate the importance of purposeful learning. Previously, I viewed reading a book, watching an educational video, or listening to a podcast as the primary components of learning. But these activities are merely the initial stimuli that prepare our brains for deeper engagement, much like a warm-up before a workout. True learning extends beyond passive consumption; it involves actively practicing and applying what we've learned, reflecting on our experiences, and continually revisiting the material to fill in gaps and deepen our understanding. Sharing and discussing our insights with others further enriches this process, as it exposes us to diverse perspectives and feedback we might not have considered on our own. For me, writing acts as the bridge that connects acquired knowledge to practical application.

After writing on SN consistently for over a month, I've come to realize what it truly means to learn and acquire knowledge. Writing daily has exposed gaps in my understanding, often revealing that I lack the depth of knowledge I assumed I had. When I reach the limits of what I know, I'm compelled to research further, which reinforces and expands my comprehension.

Even if you never write publicly, I believe everyone can benefit from the act of writing. The more I write, the more intentional my learning process becomes, and the more organized and structured my thoughts are.

@ 4735cdca:0c0ecb64

Em viagem recente a Praga, a capital da República Tcheca, fiquei fascinado pelo Relógio Astronômico, ou Orloj como dizem os tchecos. O fascínio veio não apenas pela idade do instrumento — instalado em 1410 — mas pela variedade de informações que ele é capaz de apontar.

Além das horas, ao consultar o Orloj também podemos obter mais algumas informações interessantes: o momento do amanhecer e do anoitecer; a fase da Lua e em qual posição está o Sol em relação às constelações do zodíaco.

Para a leitura do relógio, é essencial entender quais são suas partes móveis.

O ponteiro dourado

O ponteiro dourado tem uma mão dourada na extremidade e uma haste fixa sobre ele por onde um pequeno sol desliza. O movimento do ponteiro é sempre no sentido horário.

A mão dourada foi idealizada para apontar dois horários: o Germânico e o Boêmio.

O horário Germânico é o mais próximo do qual estamos acostumados. Representa as 24 horas do dia por meio de dois grupos de algarismos romanos de I a XII no mostrador do relógio. A primeira hora do dia fica na parte inferior do relógio.

Atualmente o Orloj está regulado para representar o Horário da Europa Central (em inglês: Central European Time — CET) no mostrador do horário Germânico. O CET só equivale ao horário local de Praga durante o inverno, quando o horário de verão não está em vigor na República Tcheca. Na imagem, podemos ver que a mão dourada está sobre o número IV. São cerca de 4 horas da tarde (16h00).

Lemos o antigo horário Boêmio com os chamados numerais de Schwabacher. São 24 numerais dispostos no anel preto mais externo, que representam quantas horas se passaram após o pôr do Sol. O anel gira com a passagem do ano para se adequar à hora em que o Sol se põe. Quando a mão dourada atinge a número 24, chega a hora do pôr do Sol. Por isso, conforme o verão se aproxima (o anoitecer começa mais tarde no verão, quando os dias são mais longos que as noites), o anel move no sentido horário. Conforme o verão se afasta, o anel move no sentido anti-horário. Na imagem, são aproximadamente 21 horas passadas após o pôr do Sol — ou 3 horas para o fim do dia.

O pequeno sol fornece um terceiro tipo de horário: o horário Babilônico. Ele é medido em 12 “horas” desiguais do dia — apenas entre o nascer e o pôr do Sol — e representado pelos numerais indo arábicos em preto, de 1 a 12. Cada numeral pertence a uma linha curva. Quando o pequeno sol passa sobre uma dessas linhas curvas, marca aquela “hora”. Na imagem, o Sol nasceu há cerca de 10 “horas”. O pequeno sol desliza sobre o ponteiro para acompanhar a variação da duração de tempo entre o nascer e o pôr do Sol. Assim, temos “horas” curtas no inverno e “horas” longas no verão.

O ponteiro da Lua

O ponteiro da Lua possui uma esfera que gira conforme o ponteiro anda. Ela é metade preta e metade prateada, simbolizando a fase em que a Lua está no céu. A pequena lua também desliza em uma haste, fixa sobre este ponteiro.

O anel zodiacal

O anel zodiacal indica o movimento do Sol e da Lua na eclíptica, região definida pelo aparente movimento do Sol no céu durante o ano.

Se observarmos o céu antes do nascer do Sol, enquanto olhamos para o Leste, podemos estimar qual constelação estará atrás do astro durante o dia. Ao repetirmos esse procedimento periodicamente, notaremos que a posição do Sol em relação às constelações varia, percorrendo as 12 constelações do zodíaco durante o ano.

https://video.nostr.build/3fd459e963b279a4192da4813aea15c0f6911850b66ae0574c1f0e4180346861.mp4

No anel zodiacal, os 12 símbolos representam as casas do zodíaco e podemos ver sobre eles quais as posições da Lua e do Sol. Repare que o pequeno sol e a pequena lua estão conectados ao centro geométrico do anel zodiacal por barras, que os mantêm na borda do anel (no caminho da eclíptica) no decorrer do ano. O pequeno sol fica sobre determinada casa do zodíaco de acordo com o calendário dos signos.

♈️ Áries (21/03 — 20/04) ♉️ Touro (21/04 — 20/05) ♊️ Gêmeos (21/05 — 20/06) ♋️ Câncer (21/06 — 22/07) ♌️ Leão (23/07 — 23/08) ♍️ Virgem (24/08 — 23/09) ♎️ Libra (24/09 — 23/10) ♏️ Escorpião (24/10 — 22/11) ♐️ Sagitário (23/11 — 21/12) ♑️ Capricórnio (22/12 — 20/01) ♒️ Aquário (21/01 — 19/02) ♓️ Peixes (20/02 — 20/03)

Este anel completa uma volta em torno do centro do relógio em um dia sideral. O dia sideral é baseado no aparente movimento das estrelas causado pela rotação da Terra. Sua duração é cerca de 4 minutos menor que o dia comum (dia solar). Por isso, o anel zodiacal anda ligeiramente mais rápido que o ponteiro com o pequeno sol.

O ponteiro menor com uma estrela na ponta conta o tempo sideral. Ele está fixo no anel zodiacal e foi posicionado entre os signos de Peixes e Áries para simbolizar o ponto vernal. A leitura das horas siderais é feita no mostrador com algarismos romanos. Na imagem, o relógio marca por volta de 2h30 no tempo sideral.

O ponto vernal é determinado pela posição do Sol durante seu movimento aparente na eclíptica, quando encontra o equador celeste (plano imaginário definido pelo equador da Terra). Nesse momento ocorre o equinócio de primavera no hemisfério norte — quando o dia tem a mesma duração que a noite (ver imagem abaixo).

https://image.nostr.build/474de14f26a1c49c339c0c1e820a64101d0bd97a77942a8a0f8566e2191133cc.png É preciso enfatizar que o Sol não se move ao redor da Terra. A imagem acima é apenas uma representação do movimento aparente do Sol para um observador aqui no nosso planeta.

Agora que sabemos quais são as partes móveis, vamos entender a parte fixa do Orloj.

A placa fixa

Já sabemos a utilidade dos numerais da placa fixa, mas resta saber o significado de suas cores e das quatro palavras nela escritas.

Quando o pequeno sol está sobre o segmento azul, significa que é dia. Quando está sobre o segmento laranja, é hora do amanhecer (AVRORA — aurora) no horizonte leste (ORTVS) ou do anoitecer (CREPVSCVLVM —  crepúsculo) no horizonte oeste (OCCASVS). E quando ele entra no segmento preto, significa que é chegada a noite.

O círculo dourado mais externo, onde estão os algarismos romanos, representa o Trópico de Câncer. O círculo dourado de menor diâmetro, que contém a Terra, representa o Trópico de Capricórnio. O círculo entre esses dois representa o Equador.

Durante o verão, o pequeno sol fica mais próximo do Trópico de Câncer (quando o Sol está mais alto no céu) e durante o inverno ele fica mais próximo do Trópico de Capricórnio (quando o Sol está mais baixo no céu).

E muito mais

Mais que um ponto turístico, o Orloj é um monumento à observação dos céus. É uma máquina do tempo que nos transporta para uma época em que ainda se acreditava que a Terra estava no centro do universo. E acima de tudo, é muito mais que um relógio.

Curiosidades

• O Orloj foi criado por Mikuláš de Kadaň com base nos cálculos de Jan Šindel
• A Torre do Relógio tem outras atrações, como as esculturas que se movem (dentre elas os doze apóstolos) a cada vez que o relógio completa uma hora e um calendário que indica o dia atual
• O Orloj não é o único relógio astronômico, mas é o mais antigo em funcionamento
• A torre onde está instalado o relógio tem 69,5 metros de altura
• O ponto vernal não é mais observado na constelação de Áries, mas sim na constelação de Peixes, devido a um fenômeno chamado precessão dos equinócios
• No final da Segunda Guerra Mundial, os nazistas danificaram o Orloj, mas ele foi reparado e voltou a funcionar alguns anos depois

E você, já tinha ouvido falar do Orloj? Se já foi a Praga, conseguiu desvendá-lo? Deixe o seu comentário!

Referências:

Imagem 1: Wikipedia Imagem 2: Adaptada de Wikipedia

PRAŽSKÝ ORLOJ — The astronomical dial PRAŽSKÝ ORLOJ — Simulator of the astronomical dial of the clock Prague — five kinds of time on one clock Prague City Tourism — Astronomical Clock — How to Read Time Orloj Computer Animation — Prague a la Carte (este link não está mais disponível) http://www.praguealacarte.com/orloj/orlojLoader.html

@ 3c984938:2ec11289

It's been a journey from the Publishing Forest of Nostr to the open sea of web3. I've come across a beautiful chain of islands and thought. Why not take a break and explore this place? If I'm searching for devs and FOSS, I should search every nook and cranny inside the realm of Nostr. It is quite vast for little old me. I'm just a little hamster and I don't speak in code or binary numbers zeros and ones.

After being in sea for awhile, my heart raced for excitement for what I could find. It seems I wasn't alone, there were others here like me! Let's help spread the message to others about this uncharted realm. See, look at the other sailboats, aren't they pretty? Thanks to some generous donation of SATs, I was able to afford the docking fee.

Ever feel like everyone was going to a party, and you were supposed to dress up, but you missed the memo? Or a comic-con? well, I felt completely underdressed and that's an understatement. Well, turns out there is a some knights around here. Take a peek!

A black cat with a knight passed by very quickly. He was moving too fast for me to track. Where was he going? Then I spotted a group of knights heading in the same direction, so I tagged along. The vibes from these guys was impossible to resist. They were just happy-go-lucky. 🥰They were heading to a tavern on a cliff off the island.

Ehh? a Tavern? Slightly confused, whatever could these knights be doing here? I guess when they're done with their rounds they would here to blow off steam. Things are looking curiouser and curiouser. But the black cat from earlier was here with its rider, whom was dismounting. So you can only guess, where I'm going.

The atmosphere in this pub, was lively and energetic. So many knights spoke among themselves. A group here, another there, but there was one that caught my eye. I went up to a group at a table, whose height towed well above me even when seated. Taking a deep breath, I asked, "Who manages this place?" They unanimous pointed to one waiting for ale at the bar. What was he doing? Watching others talk? How peculiar.

So I went up to him! And introduced myself.

"Hello I'm Onigirl"

"Hello Onigirl, Welcome to Gossip"

"Gossip, what is Gossip?" scratching my head and whiskers.

What is Gossip? Gossip is FOSS and a great client for privacy-centric minded nostriches. It avoids browser tech which by-passes several scripting languages such as JavaScript☕, HTML parsing, rendering, and CSS(Except HTTP GET and Websockets). Using OpenGL-style rendering. For Nostriches that wish to remain anonymous can use Gossip over TOR. Mike recommends using QubesOS, Whonix and or Tails. [FYI-Gossip does not natively support tor SOCKS5 proxy] Most helpful to spill the beans if you're a journalist.

On top of using your nsec or your encryption key, Gossip adds another layer of security over your account with a password login. There's nothing wrong with using the browser extensions (such as nos2x or Flamingo) which makes it super easy to log in to Nostr enable websites, apps, but it does expose you to browser vulnerabilities.

Mike Points out

"people have already had their private key stolen from other nostr clients,"

so it a concern if you value your account. I most certainly care for mine.

Gossip UI has a simple, and clean interface revolving around NIP-65 also called the “Outbox model." As posted from GitHub,

"This NIP allows Clients to connect directly with the most up-to-date relay set from each individual user, eliminating the need of broadcasting events to popular relays."

This eliminates clients that track only a specific set of relays which can congest those relays when you publish your note. Also this can be censored, by using Gossip you can publish notes to alternative relays that have not censored you to reach the same followers.

👉The easiest way to translate that is reducing redundancy to publish to popular relays or centralized relays for content reach to your followers.

Cool! What an awesome client, I mean Tavern! What else does this knight do? He reaches for something in his pocket. what is it? A Pocket is a database for storing and retrieving nostr events but mike's written it in Rust with a few extra kinks inspired by Will's nostrdb. Still in development, but it'll be another tool for you dear user! 💖💕💚

Onigirl is proud to present this knights to the community and honor them with kisu. 💋💋💋 Show some 💖💘💓🧡💙💚

👉💋💋Will - jb55 Lord of apples 💋 @npub1xtscya34g58tk0z605fvr788k263gsu6cy9x0mhnm87echrgufzsevkk5s

👉💋💋 Mike Knight - Lord of Security 💋 @npub1acg6thl5psv62405rljzkj8spesceyfz2c32udakc2ak0dmvfeyse9p35c

Knights spend a lot of time behind the screen coding for the better of humanity. It is a tough job! Let's appreciate these knights, relay operators, that support this amazing realm of Nostr! FOSS for all!

This article was prompted for the need for privacy and security of your data. They're different, not to be confused.

Recently, Edward Snowden warns Bitcoin devs about the need for privacy, Quote:

“I've been warning Bitcoin developers for ten years that privacy needs to be provided for at the protocol level. This is the final warning. The clock is ticking.”

Snowden’s comments come after heavy actions of enforcement from Samarai Wallet, Roger Ver, Binance’s CZ, and now the closure of Wasabi Wallet. Additionally, according to CryptoBriefing, Trezor is ending it’s CoinJoin integration as well. Many are concerned over the new definition of a money transmitter, which includes even those who don’t touch the funds.

Help your favorite the hamster

^^Me drowning in notes on your feed. I can only eat so many notes to find you.

👉If there are any XMPP fans on here. I'm open to the idea of opening a public channel, so you could follow me on that as a forum-like style. My server of choice would likely be a German server.😀You would be receiving my articles as njump.me style or website-like. GrapeneOS users, you can download Cheogram app from the F-Driod store for free to access. Apple and Andriod users are subjected to pay to download this app, an alternative is ntalk or conversations. If it interests the community, just FYI. Please comment or DM.

👉If you enjoyed this content, please consider reposting/sharing as my content is easily drowned by notes on your feed. You could also join my community under Children_Zone where I post my content.

An alternative is by following #onigirl Just FYI this feature is currently a little buggy.

Follow as I search for tools and awesome devs to help you dear user live a decentralized life as I explore the realm of Nostr.

Thank you Fren

@ 4735cdca:0c0ecb64

Teoria e hipótese são termos de conceitos bem diferentes, mas geralmente confundidos como palavras de mesmo significado.

Você já ouviu uma das seguintes frases?

“Não acredito nessa sua teoria.”

“Essa sua hipótese é falha.”

“Interessante essa sua teoria.”

Todas elas tratam hipótese e teoria como uma opinião ou ponto de vista em relação a algo.

No entanto, meras opiniões não representam a verdade para a ciência. Para encontrarmos explicações fundamentadas sobre o funcionamento da natureza, precisamos seguir uma série de etapas que constituem o chamado método científico. E são justamente os conceitos de teoria e hipótese que fazem parte desse método.

Mas antes de vermos a diferença entre teoria e hipótese, precisamos definir o que é uma lei para a ciência.

O que é uma lei?

Uma lei é a generalização de um conjunto de observações, não tendo sido encontrada nenhuma exceção a tais observações.

Considere as leis do movimento de Newton: a terceira delas, conhecida como Lei da Ação e Reação, diz que para uma força aplicada por um corpo A sobre um corpo B, é aplicada pelo corpo B sobre o corpo A uma força de mesma intensidade, mesma direção e em sentido oposto.

Isso explica o que ocorre (a interação entre corpos que aplicam forças entre si), mas não descreve como/por que acontece uma força de reação para toda força de ação.

Qual a diferença entre teoria e hipótese?

As hipóteses são conjecturas, especulações, previsões sobre determinado fenômeno da natureza e como ele se comporta. Hipóteses devem ser testadas, o que normalmente é realizado por meio de experiências.

As teorias são explicações bem fundamentadas para descrever eventos que ocorrem na natureza. Envolvem hipóteses já testadas exaustivamente, fatos e leis.

Uma teoria pode soar como uma explicação definitiva, mas pode vir a ser derrubada com o passar dos anos.

Acompanhe este exemplo.

Aristóteles (384 a.C. – 322 a.C.) defendia a teoria da geração espontânea, baseando seus estudos em ideias já aceitas como verdade por outros pensadores.

A geração espontânea, também conhecida como abiogênese (não confundir com a abiogênese que se refere às hipóteses de origem da vida na Terra), consistia em explicar o surgimento de seres vivos a partir de matéria inanimada. Seria como se larvas fossem geradas a partir da carcaça de um animal morto ou ratos surgissem de uma toalha úmida deixada com restos de alimentos em um quarto escuro.

Hoje, isso não faz sentido para nós porque sabemos que os seres surgem a partir de outros seres. No entanto, por muito tempo essa foi a teoria dominante.

Muito tempo mesmo! Vários séculos depois de Aristóteles, cientistas que desconfiavam da teoria da geração espontânea, como Louis Pasteur, formularam a hipótese de que os seres vivos se formam a partir de outros seres vivos (biogênese). Por meio de experimentos, ficou provado que os seres vivos não surgem aleatoriamente e precisam se reproduzir para dar origem a outros seres vivos.

Com os trabalhos e descobertas de diversos cientistas, a hipótese da biogênese foi elevada a teoria, pois foi demonstrada como correta e derrubou a teoria da geração espontânea.

E então, ficou clara a diferença entre teoria e hipótese? Qualquer dúvida, é só deixar o seu comentário abaixo.

Se você gostou do artigo, não se esqueça de curtir e compartilhar com os seus amigos.

Referências: Canal OUSbiology no Youtube, About.com e TopTenz.net

@ c11cf5f8:4928464d

Let's hear some of your latest Bitcoin purchases, feel free to include links to the shops or merchants you bought from too.

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

@ 266815e0:6cd408a5

NOTE: this is just a quick technical guide. sorry for the lack of details

Install NodeJS

Download it from the official website https://nodejs.org/en/download

Or use nvm https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm?tab=readme-ov-file#install--update-script

bash wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash nvm install 20

Clone example config.yml

bash wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hzrd149/blossom-server/master/config.example.yml -O config.yml

Modify config.yml

```bash nano config.yml

or if your that type of person

vim config.yml ```

Run blossom-server

```bash npx blossom-server-ts

or install it locally and run using npm

npm install blossom-server-ts ./node_modules/.bin/blossom-server-ts ```

Now you can open http://localhost:3000 and see your blossom server

And if you set the dashboard.enabled option in the config.yml you can open http://localhost:3000/admin to see the admin dashboard

@ 0a821ca3:e0efcce3

The (only?) global p2p digital value transfer protocol requires an underlying token that represents the value that is being transferred.

In a previous consideration, it was argued that the token underlying the global p2p digital value transfer protocol, has to be an attractive asset for the protocol to function. If the token is not attractive, there is no reassurance that the receiver will be able to convert the token into another valuable asset, which would make the protocol defunct.

The token underlying the p2p value transfer protocol has so far more than doubled its USD value every four years. This implies more than 19% USD IRR. This makes it an extremely attractive asset. Moreover, due to the halving cycle, the value increases are not uniform over time - as a result, the token has increased by a factor 10x in less than a year in some periods.

This attracts people with different objectives than digitally transferring value in a p2p way. It also creates envy. It gives the token underlying the protocol the perception of being a get rich quick scheme.

That is a design flaw.

The p2p digital value transfer protocol would be much less frowned upon, if it would increase in USD value at a more modest pace, for example by about 5-10% per year - that would still be good enough to make token underlying the protocol sufficiently valuable to act as the value travelling the protocol - but would avoid attracting the lambo kids.

Wouldn’t the silence of the lambos be much better for protocol adoption?

@ bf95e1a4:ebdcc848

This is the full AI-generated transcript of Bitcoin Infinity Show #127 featuring George Manolov!

If you'd like to support us, check out https://bitcoininfinitystore.com/ for our books, merch, and more!

Welcoming George Manolov

Luke: George, welcome to the Bitcoin Infinity Show, thank you for joining us.

George: Thank you, Knut.

Knut: Good to have you here, George.

George: to be here, yeah.

you're here to tell us about the city that I was most surprised by ever. Like, I've never heard of the city before I went to Bulgaria, Yeah, time flies.

Knut: So Plovdiv, Bulgaria, which was amazing, this rich, Thousands of years of history plays with a lot of different eras and different styles of architecture and stuff, really enjoyed Plovdiv, and you have a football team there.

George: yeah, indeed.

George Manolov and Botev Plovdiv

George: Please give us the story about George and Plovdiv Yeah, sure.

Knut: Plovdiv.

George: Sure, sure. So, Plovdiv is, well, I would say it's the oldest living city in Europe, so continuously inhabited. Like you say, not many people know it. I guess, like, we don't have good enough marketing, but, that's probably part of my job right now, right? To spread the word about it. so it's, like the second largest city in the country.

And, yeah, it's just this, it's very, like, I love how you put it because almost nobody has really heard of Plovdiv, right? Most people, when they hear of Bulgaria, they've probably heard of Sofia but Sofia is, okay, but Plovdiv is kind of the chill place, Plovdiv is the place that is actually worth visiting, the place where, people just enjoy going there.

I was born there, right? and, grew up there till 18 or so, then, Studied, lived in Sofia most of the time. And, last year, in kind of summer, I was already kind of way deeper into Bitcoin. I decided I'm going to go full time into Bitcoin, just commit all my time in Bitcoin at the time, educating, publishing books in Bulgarian about Bitcoin, creating my own educational platform.

And then I got, reached out and connected really to the owner of the football club in the city, which is also the oldest football club in the country, Botev Plovdiv, who was, well, he got introduced into Bitcoin himself and he realized it's going to be a very big, project. You know, going to play a central role in where the world is going.

Knut: What is this the owner of the club?

George: That's right. The owner of the club. was like, Hey, I think we can do something unique with Bitcoin because, you know, the club is really a company, right? It's a business on the one hand, but it's a special type of business, it's not where just you produce a certain product or service.

It's really a living organism where people are involved into it, for very emotional reasons. people feel like it's their own and it's not like a small group of people. It's a very large group of people. In our case, we have tens of thousands, arguably more than a hundred, 200, 000 people who care, who watch, who follow the club.

And so on the one hand, like there's many different ways in which we can look into this, but on the one hand. It's for me, what really inspired me and what got me like, Oh my God, like, is this really happening is that we can bring the conversation about Bitcoin from a completely different angle into society to a group of people who for the most part would never really They would like this, they would never listen to podcasts like this, they would never get to any of the kind of places and things we listen to, watch, consume, right?

and people go, You know, people go kind of for bread and circus, right,

Knut: yeah, yeah.

George: for the games. That's what really football is, right? It's fun and it's emotion, it's enjoyment, but then we push them censorship resistance and hard money, right?

And we don't really push it, you know, that's the thing, right? Because are like consistently, progressively, gradually over time, introducing it and finding the best way and the most appropriate way to, yeah, plant that seed. To the minds of the people, into the views of the people and so on and so forth.

so it's really like, you know, what we're trying to build is, we feel we're in a very privileged position, right? because we've been, the first really professional sports club globally, I would say, to have, uh, crypto Bitcoin, you know, people, departments, who is actually full time employed to, you know, think of a way to grow the business, to think of a way to integrate Bitcoin natively, within the various aspects of, of, of the organization, which obviously initially includes like accepting payments and so on and so forth.

But, um, but there's so much more you can do exactly with this type of, Like organization, again, like not, not, not just a business in a traditional sense.

Knut: Yeah. And, uh, won the league, right? Is that, is that right?

George: Yeah, man, like it's, uh, yeah, so we, um, when I started last year, things were super bad. Like exactly one year ago, I was there for the, for one of the first games. It was horrible. Like, I was like, okay, this is a great idea, but if the team is doing so bad and if, uh, if they keep losing and if the fans keep getting, you know, being unhappy, Um, it's not gonna go anywhere, but still, I gave it a, I gave it a go, right, because I was like, okay, I just hope that the sports side guys are going to do their, their part, and I have my opportunity here, um, to, to just like push, to educate, to, To do what, what, what life is giving me an opportunity to do.

And, uh, very fortunately, as we started working, the team started performing better and better and better. We got a completely new coach. We got a new sports director. We, we had a lot of key staff changes across the organization, which, Um, relatively quickly started showing results. So, uh, yeah, like, 10 months later in May, we won the Bulgarian Cup.

Luke: Is that the cup or the league? Like, uh,

George: it's the cup, it's the cup. So, so, I was saying, like, we started very bad in the league. And so, we were doing better and better, but still, like, we finished 9th in the league out of 16 clubs at the end of the day. But which was still okay, because, like, when I joined, like, we were, like,

Luke: Worried about relegation or something like that?

George: there. I mean,

Knut: We're complete, uh, like I've tried to take an interest to football, but like, uh, my ADD just, the brain just wanders away after five minutes and I can't concentrate anymore. So I don't

Luke: a basketball fan.

Knut: Am I now?

Football for Noobs

Knut: Uh, so, uh, what's the difference between the cup and the league? Let's begin there. That's, that's how much of a football noob I

George: So, so pretty much in every country is the same, right? You have a league or a championship where you have, in our case, 16 teams, and every team plays twice against every other team. So home game, away game, and then, you know, you either win three points when you win, or you lose, or you draw, and you, you, you win one point.

And then, so after you play, after you play, in our case, this, what is it, games? You know,

Luke: 30.

George: yeah, about 30. Yeah, right. You're better than Matt, it's obvious. So, um, so once you play these 30 games, um, you, um, yeah, like the team with the most points wins, right? Whereas, uh, the cup is direct elimination

Knut: So quarterfinals, semifinals, all that.

George: exactly. So it's the easier way. So this was the way for us to due to the bad start of the season. This was the way for us to, to achieve something in this season and to achieve something important because what the Cubs gives us as an opportunity and gave us was to play in the European Leagues.

So UEFA Leagues. And we just did that. We played six games. Uh, for the Europe, uh, Europe League and the Europe Conference League.

Knut: Okay. But to, to be in the champions league, that's a totally, you have to, yeah, yeah. You have to win the league and you have to win all sorts of stuff. Like how does that work?

George: yeah. You have to win the league. And then in our case, so in every country it's different, but in our case, we have to win, like we go to qualifications for the Champions League. So it's like, I mean, three to four games. And if we win that, we go to the Champions League.

Knut: Alright,

George: That's the current state of affairs, although that can change over the years.

Knut: alright, uh, it all makes sense to me now, that's a lie, but anyway.

Luke: No, uh, I'll definitely, we'll acknowledge here that I'm more of the, the sports fan, uh, generally here, and I, I follow football, I like, uh, I like European, uh, football, uh, well, and obviously I'm using the correct, uh, term despite my, um, my pseudo American accent, uh. Yeah, anyway, um, uh, no, it's fantastic to see, and I mean, yeah, for the non sports fans, uh, listening to this, I get that

Knut: Well, I am a sports fan, it's just that Starcraft 2 is my sport, and yeah, yeah,

Luke: yeah,

George: eSports.

Knut: yeah, yeah, so I watch, watch Starcraft 2 games. That's what I do for procrastination sometimes.

Luke: valid sports, I'm not going to compare it to other things that aren't

Knut: breakdancing? Is that a valid sport?

Luke: Breakdancing is, um, hmm, interesting. I think anything with points, that judges give points, is kind of not a sport, it's an activity.

Knut: yeah.

Luke: but, yeah, anyway,

Knut: thing to do.

Luke: is a thing to do, yes, definitely, but back to, back to, um, um, Botev Plod, is it Botev, Botev, what's, what's, Botev, Botev Plod, yeah, so, so, um, yeah, yeah, like, the, the, the achievement, winning, winning the cup, I mean, the, The cups are sort of more difficult.

They're both difficult in their own way, right? Like, the cup, you lose one game, you're out, basically, right? But, I mean, the league is like this endurance, achievement, right? You have to perform well over the course of the whole season. But the cheat code, so to say, and I probably subconsciously used the other football team's terminology, who's in the space, Real Bedford, um,

Botev Plovdiv's Bitcoin Strategy

Luke: The, the idea right, if, if I'm getting it, is that you guys would, would keep the Bitcoin in the, in the, the treasury, the, the company, and then over the course of time it's just gonna do the number go up thing and, and the, the club will have more resources.

Right. Is that, is that the idea you're thinking with the, the bitcoin strategy?

George: There's actually many, many things to it. And this is kind of the most, let's say, vanilla type of approach. Yeah, like just buy Bitcoin and hold it on the balance sheet, which is, which is great. But there's actually so many other things you can do. And that's where, because if you just do that, frankly, like, I mean, you don't need me involved, right, much.

I mean, just call Coinbase, whatever, wire the money, crack in and, buy. but with us it's like, really, uh, we see a huge opportunity to, first of all, align our brand with the Bitcoin brand, which is a royalty free, uh, The biggest brand in finance, for sure. One, uh, like it's going to be the biggest brand in the world for sure at some point.

Right. So that's, that's one play. And to do this, it's not enough for you to just buy Bitcoin and hold it on a balance sheet. It's what you need to do is proof of work, right? You need to do things that nobody has ever done. You need to really kind of be creative. Uh, and, and, um, to push the boundaries of what anyone has ever done before, right?

So, so that is, uh, that is my kind of job and it's a lot of, um, a lot of just like, let's, let's think of what, what new things we can do with Bitcoin and sports and football that nobody has ever done. Just because others are focused on the short term things, they're focused on, hitting those, those quick wins, those quick goals, which is why, for example, like a lot of the sports and, and that have, you know, interact, they haven't really interacted outside of Bedford with Bitcoin, right?

It's mostly been crypto because it's just, okay, let's make some quick money. Um,

Luke: usually, it's usually just sponsorships, right?

Knut: yeah,

George: yes. Um, and for us, because on the one hand, like, we're not like Manchester United, right? We're not Chelsea. So we don't have that much to monetize immediately. Like we're a large club, but.

Luke: You're a large club in a local league, which is, which is different from the, it's not one of the leagues that is internationally positioned like that. But, but, I mean, the, the difference between you guys and Bedford that I, that I think is, is really interesting. Like, McCormack, what he, Peter McCormack, what he's doing, I mean, he's, he's taking a club from the bottom and aiming for the top.

But who knows how long that's going to take him to get there, right? But you guys are already in the top of your league, right? Like, in the top league.

George: right, yeah, and also there's, there's different in this, we're in the top of our league. My goal, personally, is to go to Champions League, but this is very hard, right? Because, like, okay, when you start from Peter's ground, like, it's easy, okay, every year you level up, you level up, or, I mean, I'm not gonna say it's easy, but it's easier than, uh, than once you're, you know, at our level.

For us, it's important to play currently every year in European leagues like we've done so far and to every year consistently, like, increase the level of the sports, level of the business department bit by bit, and, but like breaking that point where we, you know, win the league, Where we win several more games and enter the Champions League, that, that's really hard.

I mean, because you're already at that stage where everybody, like, so many teams are so strong, right? So it's um, it takes just a lot of ingredients for you to, to, to hit, uh, in order to win. But we're gonna get there.

Knut: and does the club self custody it's bitcoin? And if so, is it a something out of 11 multisig, that sounds like a football thing?

George: Why so? Ah, yeah, an 11? Nah, nah, fuck that. I mean Nah, even, even 7 Motosick is a, is a killer, but no. Um, yeah, I can't really speak too much about this at this point. Yeah. Um, but, um, but yeah, I mean, we do, of course we do self custody. So that's, that's the approach that we've chosen with kind of a lot of, um, we've chosen to go really pure, pure Bitcoin in terms of the strategy.

And that's how we set ourselves apart. That's how we believe we win the long game because for instance, like we Bitcoin with BTC pay server. Which in my mind they don't even have competition. It's the only like, real, solid, autonomous, sovereign way to accept payments. And it's also the way which makes sense for like, Frankly, any standard business, because like, man, we're selling scarves, we're selling, um, membership boat cards, we're selling jerseys, we're selling basic merch, and if we are to sell it with basically any other service out there, outside of BTC Pay Server, we have to basically, uh, indirectly do KYC, right?

Like, we have to go through KYC, we have to go through KYB, which is ridiculous, um, in my mind. And so, um, so that's why we're exceptionally thankful to B2C Pay Server guys, uh, for what they've built. Uh, it's been like an absolute pleasure to, um, to use their product, to use their service. Uh, we have, you know, outside of B2C Pay, we, uh, we are the first, uh, sports club on Nostr.

Where, uh, we have, uh, actively been posting, exploring, you know, meeting people here. Kind of thinking of what we could do from our angle again, like first, first time on Nostr.

Aqua WAllet

George: Um, we have partnered with, uh, Aqua, JAN3's Aqua wallet, which has a, a Botive skin mode now. So if you go to settings, you can turn Botive mode and then it turns into the colors of the club and, you know, have the picture of the stadium there.

Um,

Luke: I'm using Aqua right now because, uh, uh, usually I like to use Aqua as like a sort of a middle wallet, uh, uh, because it's still slightly slower than other lightning wallets because they, they, the, everything actually lives on, on liquid and then they, they, uh, go out via bolts. Uh, so it's slightly slower than a faster, um, like, like than other, um, more direct lightning wallets.

And so usually when I come to a conference, I'm going to load up a, like a temporary. I don't know, Blink or something like that, but I forgot to do that, so I'm just using my Aqua wallet, and you know what, it's been great here, it's been working, uh, so yeah, we're big fans of Aqua wallet and what

Knut: Yeah, and a BTC pay server. I mean, uh, we can echo everything you said that we, BitcoinInfinity. com, like, and the store here We just fired up. Everything is powered by a BTC pay server, and we just love it. Yes.

Luke: So what was your question about, uh, Aqua?

George: If yours is on BOTEV mode.

Luke: Uh, I don't think I've gone into the settings and changed it to Vaudev mode, I'll have to do that, maybe we'll take

George: It's dark mode,

but cooler.

Luke: Doc dark mode, but cooler. Okay. Okay. Actually that's a, that's a, that's a good point. That's a good point. Yeah. We'll take a, we'll take a picture after, uh, after the episode and we'll de proof, bot, uh, bot e mode, and, uh, uh, post that on Nostr.

How does that sound?

George: Let's go.

Knut: Yeah. Nostr. Um, is there a connection there between both a plot and Nostr while you're doing Nostr stuff as well?

History and Freedom

George: Yeah. Well, look, um, a lot of these things is like, so What Botev Plovdiv stands for, um, very importantly, so the club was named after Hristo Botev, who's, uh, like, one of the most Bulgarians, if the most famous Bulgarian revolutionaries, like, historical figure, uh, he was a poet, he was a revolutionary, he fought for Bulgaria's freedom back in the day,

Luke: Which, which day, which, what day did you

George: uh, 110, uh, what is it, like, 50 years ago or so?

Yeah.

Knut: Mm-Hmm?

Luke: Okay. So, so

Knut: before the Commes.

Luke: ottoman, uh,

George: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He, he, he, he fought for the, for the liberation of Bulgaria from, from the Ottoman Empire. And a lot of what he stands for is this fight for freedom, his fight for liberty. Um, and this, this lives until this very day into the identity of the club and to what we stand for into the songs, into the, into the music.

Um, you know, um, the kind of like what, what our fans also resonate with, um, and, and what they sing like in many, in many ways. Right. So, um, Freedom of speech, freedom of, uh, of like freedom in general is, is a value that is deeply ingrained into kind of like what the club stands for. Um, and, uh, you know, that's why I'm into Bitcoin.

That's why I believe. And that's, that's why I saw this even bigger opportunity. Oh my God, like, how is this happening? There's so many, sometimes, you know, some like weird things happen in life and you have no explanation why and how all these things align. But, but for me, it's like this club was made really to.

to be aligned with BOTEF and to be, uh, to, to, to be aligned with Bitcoin and with Nostr. If I look at all the other clubs in Bulgaria, right, like just in Bulgaria, none of the others, like, there's no this contextual historical background that you can make these connections. But with us, we have it, and what a chance that, like, we have this owner, and he got, like, introduced to it, and then we got connected.

Like, how the hell does this happen, man? I don't know,

Luke: We like to say this, the surreal doesn't end, you know, and like, uh, my, my whole story, I've been talking about this, uh, at the, the conference here is like two years ago was the first time I ever met Bitcoiners here in Baltic Honeybadger. We, we met for the, for the first time, uh, all three of us, uh, met for the first time two years ago, I've been in Baltic Honeybadger and it's like, things, things happen so fast.

Uh, I've, I've, uh, I've thought it was been awesome just following, uh, what you've been doing with the, the club and the story. So great to, Great to get to talk about it, but, uh,

Bitcoin in Football

George: Yeah. No, for, for me, like really the, the most exciting part is really even coming forward. So, uh, because, so now it's been, so we, a long, we announced, uh, publicly that we're doing this, uh, 31st October last year. So the anniversary of the, of the, uh, Bitcoin White paper, um, we've built a lot right. And very, very importantly, I'm super proud, like, I don't know if you saw this, but like a month ago, we played on European League, the UEFA League with Bitcoin straight on our jerseys, which was like, like, when I saw this, I'm like, dude, it's crazy that this is happening.

But, but the best is really yet to come, like, like we like to say. Um, so I, I think we, we're, we have, um, we have still so much more to do. So for me, the next big part, which I'm super excited about literally in the coming month as, uh, as I go back. So is to finally get some of our. Players or at least one or two to get to do something publicly about this, because at the end of the day, that's why for me, the more I do, the more I, uh, play in this arena, I realized this is really a Trojan horse for us to bring Bitcoin into the conversation, into the minds, like I said, of people who otherwise wouldn't and, and our players, you know, especially a few of them, they're really influencers, right?

Um, a lot of people follow them. A lot of people respect them. And, um, and if they do, uh, you know, something meaningful, something cool, something impactful, this is going to have a huge impact onto our forwards. This could very well have impact onto, um, other sportsmen, other football people, other football clubs, right?

Uh, so that's why I'm doing it, right? Really?

Luke: No, this is fantastic, and actually this was exactly where I was hoping to go next, so thank you for queuing that up. But, no, no, the game theory of all this, right? Like, one club getting, Positioning as the, as the Bitcoin club in a league, uh, really means that eventually all the other clubs are going to need to adopt Bitcoin.

If they're going to be able to compete, because if play playing out the game theory, number go up, whatever it is, Bitcoin strategy plays out, you guys are going to be the most financially capable club. Financially sustainable in not very long, you know, assuming everything plays out the way we're thinking it will, right?

So, so other, other clubs then would become incentivized to also adopt Bitcoin. So what, what do you, what do you think about that? Like you, do you, do you see that, uh, happening as well?

George: Yeah, I'm not really sure if it would happen to me. That fast, to be fair. Like, I think it's inevitable, right, obviously, but I think it, yeah, like, I think this definitely takes at least three, four years, maybe more. Um,

Luke: That's, that's still pretty fast.

George: yeah, I guess. I mean, I mean, like, okay, let me define it better. It takes three, four years.

So, for other clubs within our league to start doing something like this, uh, maybe it takes less time for other clubs to realize it, but I think for them to do it, it also depends on our actions, right? So because like, we don't have like a treasury of microstrategy or something, so it's not, and we're not doing like a

Luke: you don't?

George: monthly like leverage on top of leverage on top of another leverage, you know, uh, we're not in, in Michael's privileged position. but we can do other cool things, right? Uh, one of the, um, so this is not yet live and this is not yet happening, but one of the, like two, two projects, let's say, I'm gonna briefly, like, tease here that, that I'm working on that I hope to have very large impact is first, uh, building this, uh, simple tool Uh, called like a Bitcoin, uh, football salary calculator that, uh, it's like really a DCA tool, but like looking back and like tailoring it to our niche where I want to, for us to visually and emotionally Show, um, to players, but also to fans of ours, like what Bitcoin could have done for their remuneration, if you look one year back in time, two years back in time, three years back in time, four years back in time, and for them to really realize, Oh my God, this is a no brainer.

Right? I want to make this mess. And this is hard, right? Um, because like, there's so many tools and like, but I want to be, because the audience is very wide, very different types of audience. I want to make this so that you can consume it in like two, three, four minutes. And you're like, okay, I need to learn more about this.

This actually is interesting. There's like, that's so much dense and emotional and compact information that you're like, Whoa. Why am I not doing this? How did I miss this?

Knut: What, what, what was the name of that website? I, I don't know if it's still up, but bitcoin or shit.com or something like that. So, so it lists if you bought this item when it came out, an iPhone five or whatever, uh, and if you had bought b bitcoin instead.com, I think that that's the, that's the name. So if you bought, uh, if you bought Bitcoin instead, it shows you how much, how much more money you'd have now and how many iPhones you

George: Yeah. Yeah. And of course there's many of these tools, obviously like we've all see them and we all like like them and retweet them and repost them. And it's all great. But I think, at least I hope that we can do something impactful with this. If we really tailor it, compact it to a specific type of niche audience with a specific message designed for them.

And because this audience is also like. A type of audience who can also like, um, you know, bring it to other bubbles that we ourselves are not part of, right? So that's, for example, one like, uh, one like project I'm very, very excited about and I hope we can, um, yeah, we'll bring forward relatively soon.

There's a few moving elements, but definitely in the coming month or two, uh, at most. And then, uh, and then, you know, speaking of the other clubs, what, what I want us to do is what we're working is next year, we're targeting to do, I hope we could do the world's first, uh, Bitcoin, uh, Cup tournament. Uh, for youth players, 70 year old boys who are, you know, right there before they sign their first professional contract, start earning money, for them, first of all, like, it's a Bitcoin football cup, like, it's the first time this, this could potentially ever happen And then it's, it's a football first tournament, right?

This is the, we want to make it like top quality, like really the highest quality when it comes to sports, but then you have Bitcoin involved all over the place, right? In terms of brand, in terms of rewards, in terms of, um, in terms of like plays, um, like, like games and, and interactions, activations, uh, throughout, before, throughout, and after the, And after the event, and for this, I'm targeting to get really like, like big clubs.

I mean, because it's academies, right? I mean, I cannot get the Manchester United first team, just maybe we could get the Manchester United 17 year old team or, you know, another big club. We get some of these, and then like we get their brands, we get them on the focus of Bitcoin. And we drive the conversation faster, you know, not three, four years from now, but Less

Knut: what about, um, like right now there's you and there's, um, you guys and there's a real bed for it, right? Those are the two I know of in Europe. Are you aware of any other clubs that are doing a Bitcoin strategy? I mean, is this virus spreading? Like, have you heard anything like,

George: Um, Oh, there's, uh, there's the Austrian Admira Vakir who have done some integration. So it's a second tier, uh, second league, uh, second league, uh, club that have, uh, that have, uh, you know, they've also had Bitcoin on the, their second team jersey. And, um, and they, they also accept Bitcoin payments, uh, here and there, but you know, the thing is, there's some other clubs, um, there's a Miami, um, not Miami, um, a Hawaiian club that, that is doing, uh, that is doing like their Bitcoin gig,

Knut: yeah, there are other, other sports, right, other sports team and sports teams in other sports that are doing it. But, but for football specifically,

George: which ones?

Knut: Uh, I'm so bad with sports, but wasn't there like a hockey team or a basketball team or

Luke: I'm not aware of any others, actually. Yeah, like, uh, there's been some attempts at

Knut: it's

Luke: an orange colored team or something like

Knut: more the individual athletes,

Luke: Yeah, yeah, there have been individual

Knut: for instance, a

Luke: have been individual

Knut: player, and there was some American football player.

George: There's been individual athletes, a lot of them. There's been, I was asking if you know, but there's been a baseball club in Australia, the Port Heat. Uh, who did kind of a Bitcoin strategy. Uh, but very unfortunately that didn't work out. They kind of started this at the peak of the last bull cycle. And, um, and as I understand, uh, there wasn't like a strong alignment between the owners and the management in terms of like understanding that this is a long game.

So that's why this kind of flopped. Um, but yeah, like I, I think the reason why it's not happening in more, unfortunately, and, and, and I see this even, even within our club, uh, you know, but, but definitely no other clubs because Fiat has permitted sports as well. Right. So all the sports club, uh, clubs or the vast majority in football, for sure.

They're like, you know, on the hamster wheel themselves.

Knut: They're indebted,

George: They're indebted.

Knut: to an extreme level,

George: yeah, like, like fighting for every dollar for every income. So it's, it's hard for you to like, Oh yeah, we're going to have this long term Bitcoin strategy that's going to take like two, three, four, five years to play out.

And we can benefit a lot from it. It's very, very hard in, you know, unfortunately for a large organizations, sports club in particular to To have this realization, to map this out, to get others on board. That's why it's not so popular and uh, and that's why I'm grateful and keep pushing that we have this chance.

Luke: I mean, you make a great point here about essentially the, it's the organizational alignment, right? Like the, the, these are companies, sports clubs are companies. They just have this large, the business is involved around getting fans to come in and consume this sort of marketing. Product, essentially. So it's, it's a certain kind of company that's run a certain way, but just like any other company, you need, you need alignment from the management.

So it's, it's fantastic that, uh, Boteb Plovdiv has, has the, uh, alignment and is, is putting their, their trust in you to, to move this thing forward. And I mean, from the, from the perspective of this thing, Playing out, right? The, the best part that, uh, I think one of the best parts that you, you mentioned again was the, the influencers.

Like you get, you get some players, there's, there's so many angles to, to reach people through this. I think it's, I think it's fantastic. The, uh, orange pilling a player and then they move to another club, but they, they, maybe they don't get to get paid in Bitcoin, but maybe they still put, put their money in, in Bitcoin.

Maybe they even ask their club to, to, uh, pay them in Bitcoin, something like that. And then the, the Questions start getting, uh, asked and all this.

5 Year Goals

Luke: So what, what is the, the goal in, in five years, for example, where, where do you see the club in the five year mark?

George: Oh man. Yeah, in five years, I think we definitely have to be in Champions League. Like in my mind, you know, like people around me like, oh, you're too ambitious. I'm like, man, yeah, like in five years, we definitely have to be in Champions League. Uh, that's, that's my personal goal. On our internal Slack, I have the Champions League icon there.

That's why I'm there, right? Um, so, uh, it's a lot of hard work. Like, it's really a lot of hard work. And it's also not completely dependent on me and my work, to be fair. Like, because, at all. I mean, really, like, uh, I mean, at the end of the day, the most important part is the sports department, right? Uh, in the club.

Um, so that has to continue going well. But, but I think We're going in a good direction there too, because we have the, they're the long term view as well, right. We have our academy internally, which is, yeah, it's one of the best academies. It's the best really academy in terms of infrastructure in the country.

That's why we're also can't afford to think of this Bitcoin Cup tournament, because we have the infrastructure, we have like a super cool stadium, that's crazy. If we can, if we can do a final for, for such a tournament there. Um, so, so we have all the things in place in terms of In terms of assets, I would say, uh, it's just a lot of moving parts.

a lot of work, consistency, and a bit of luck. Always it comes, you know, when, when it comes to, when it comes to football and sports, but, but five years from now, I want us to be in the champions league. I want us to be the absolute, you know, international professional level, uh, Bitcoin level, Bitcoin sports club.

and, uh, and I want for this tournament that I start to be like a, like, like to have the fourth edition by then. Uh, and, and I want to have clubs, but five years is a lot of time, you know, as you say, like, I also want to have other clubs following us by then. I think that's absolutely, absolutely is going to be doable.

Knut: What, what are the, what are the tax laws around Bitcoin in Bulgaria? Like what, are there any issues there? Or like what, is it easy enough,

George: It's kind of okay. Uh, it's kind of okay. So if you just buy Bitcoin and hold it, like you don't, uh, you don't, uh, incur taxes, uh, until you sell it, if you accept Bitcoin for payments, um, and if you don't sell it, you can just, uh, keep it as inventory on your balance sheet. So again, no,

Knut: but there's a capital gains tax or something if you sell it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Alright.

George: 10%. So it's, it's, uh,

Knut: Pretty good.

George: Yeah, I mean, it's not like El Salvador. Okay. Uh, but, but it's, uh, it's, it's way better than many other places. Um, and, uh, yeah, so we've been looking, looking actually, so I was in El Salvador a couple of months ago, because we've been looking very much to do stuff there.

And we've been, uh, yeah. Um, because we've been, we've been thinking of what to do more with Bitcoin, right? So that's why I said, like, it's not just about buying and accepting Bitcoin. It's about corporate strategies, about branding strategies, about how to make money. Um, it's about education strategies. It's, there's so much around it.

So in terms of corporate strategy, I was, uh, we're very attracted by El Salvador, um, and their, uh, capital markets regulation, because they're basically striving to build capital markets on top of Bitcoin. Bitcoin is legal tender there. They have all kinds of, tax incentives for companies to issue debt or to sell equity.

on their capital, on their, um, well, let's say nascent upcoming capital markets, because it's not like it's, you know, hustling and bustling yet. Um, but, but they're, they've put a lot of the rails, uh, um, or they're building a lot of the rails to, um, to really enable the, the, the creation of Bitcoin based capital markets.

So, um, we've had great talks there. We have meetings with, uh, um, we have. Yeah, with the Bitcoin office, right? Um, so, ideally, like, we're striving to build some connection there and to do something, interesting and world first again from a corporate perspective. It's just that, as many things, it's a little harder than you would expect it to be, or it takes a little more time than, Then you would hope to do it.

But my idea or long term vision, frankly, like what we want to do with Bitcoin, uh, and with the club is to enable our current fans and global fans to become co owners of the club. And that's why, you know, I have big hopes for, uh, for us being able to do this out of El Salvador and through El Salvador, because this would, like from a tax perspective, from a branding perspective, from legal security perspective would be, would be ideal.

It's just that, again, um, my enthusiasm is a little over, uh, ahead of kind of like how, uh, how, how advanced and set up everything there is, but, uh, but we're, we're very actively talking to them. We're working with many parties there, so. Just maybe we can have big news there too.

International and Local Effects

Luke: Well, no, and, and you actually said something great about global fans. I think this is a, a fantastic thing, right? A a again, Bedford is, is similar. They've, they've got, they've got fans all over the world and, and I think for you guys it's like who is going to tune into the Bulgarian football league outside of Bulgaria before, well, not too many people, but now a bunch of Bitcoiners.

If they're into, if they're into football or, or not even, because this is the funny thing. There were, there were a lot of people posting about that. They, they've got, they, they don't usually follow, follow sports at all, but, but they'll follow the Bitcoin team. So the, the funny thing is, I think, I think the first, the first club to adopt Bitcoin in every league is going to get all of these global fans.

And maybe the, maybe the, the second one, the third one, maybe can get some kind of other support, but it's really the first one in every

George: really.

Luke: That, that

George: Not

Luke: That's that. I, I completely agree with you there. It's the, it's the first one

Knut: first mover advantage.

Luke: mover advantage. It's gonna get, it is gonna get all of the, all of the Bitcoiners are gonna now be, be supporting and, uh, uh, yeah.

I mean, have, have you seen, uh, some, some uptick in, uh, kind of international

George: yeah, yeah. So, international but also local. Like, local is very important. Like, we have, like, so many people in the country who's like, just what you say, like, I didn't care about sports or football, like, forever, or at all, ever, but now I follow, now I buy merch, now I come, you know, every now and then they come to games, so

Luke: Well, because there's the bread and circuses thing that you said, it gets tossed around in the Bitcoin world and also some other places on kind of the Twitter sphere and whatever, it's like it's a distraction, that sports is sort of a distraction from clown world basically and it's a way of people to sort of Uh, forget about what's going on around them, but I think that's also missing the, the positives, which it, it's a, it's a community builder, it brings people together, there's a, there's a sense of, of pride in, in something local succeeding, everyone, everyone's happy, there's, there's real economic, uh, effects usually when a, when a local sports team wins, and so, so from, from my perspective, I, I, I think, I think sport is a good thing, and it's, and it's, it's something that, that people can rally around, and so,

George: an amazing thing.

Luke: Yeah.

And, and so what, what are, what are you looking at locally? Like what, what do you hope to have the effect, uh, uh, locally in, in piv?

George: Yeah. Um, yeah, no, look, uh, for me, sports, like, for us, the, the, the, the, about Plovdiv, for me, that's what I realized, like, we're kind of very much into Bitcoin and stuff, obviously, that's our interest, but I think when we go on a Bitcoin standard, Right. And, uh, in general, people start feeling wealthier, opposed to, like, being in the grind.

You're just going to have more time for fun stuff, right? Like playing football, I mean, or volleyball, or whatever your sport is, or, like, going and cheering your team, and, uh, and being part of such a community. And I think that's really what, you know, even Nostr is about. Like it's, Being part of these communities, because that's fun, and like, we as humans, at the end of the day, we are living to be part of communities, right?

And you find your community, you're an active part of it, you contribute to it, you evolve it, right? You build it in one way or another. And unfortunately, you know, today in the fiat world, this is just like A stress valve in many ways, or like you say, like Brothers and Sisters, whatever. Um, but, uh, but I think it can be so much more, right?

It is, but it can be so much more for a larger amount of people and so on and so forth. uh, but yeah, well, back in Plovdiv, man, like, I have big hopes. I really have big, big ambitions there. I want to get Bitcoin into the wallets of, uh, of like tens of thousands of people. I want people to wake up. I want people to see.

Luke: big is piv? How many

George: It's like three, four hundred thousand people. So it's a lot. Uh, our stadium is, uh, 21, 000 seats stadium. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. It's, it's 19. I wish it was 21.

Luke: Yeah. You'll have to add 2000 more

George: Maybe, yeah, we'll, we'll think of some additional construction.

Luke: the, make the infinity stand when

George: Right. Right. But, uh, but yeah, like the setting was super cool. Like, it's really cool.

Like when it's feel like, man, the atmosphere is amazing. Um, and so it's, and it's really this community that you can feel that people are involved. So it's, it's like consistency and it's social engineering in one way or another, right?

Knut: one of our favorite words,

George: but in a positive way.

Knut: in a positive way, okay.

George: So it's social engineering for us to ingrain Bitcoin and make it part of kind of what people see, do, have, own, interact with, right?

So, uh, I think exactly because of this community element, exactly because, Because, you know, football is a football club and there's this unique living organism we can, we can create this and, you know, it's fascinating. I'm so much into this and there's other people who are so much into this. Oh my god, like, we can make such a big difference.

And, and like in the country. You know, on a political and economic level, they don't get it. Like, they don't see it. They just are in their, you know, like, oh, are we going to accept the euro? Oh, what's happening with the war? I'm like, who cares? Let's build.

Bulgarian Currency Situation

Knut: Yeah, Bulgaria has its own shitcoin, I almost forgot about that, but uh, what's it called again?

George: Kinda. Um, but not quite, to be fair. It's, it's a good coin, uh, not for investing, but, but for medium of exchange is actually decent. Uh, Lev, Lev

Knut: Lev, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah,

George: and I recently got educated about this. So, uh, the lev is pegged to the euro. So, um, uh, so, so that, that is super cool for, for us, for me as a consumer, for businesses, because like the fixed rate.

So for trade is, um, It's, it's good, right? As the world would be in the future. You have one currency, Bitcoin, you don't have the currency exchange risk, right? We don't have it only with the European Union. And the good part with this, so, we got, we got hyperinflation back in 1997. Was really bad. People lost almost everything, everything, in many cases.

Um, and then we got this so called currency board introduced and the currency board is like we have the left, but the left has to be backed up by other currencies. So it's like a stable coin, kind of like how Tether is backed by, by dollars. You know, the levy is backed by euro and like a basket of, I think they have some other currencies and assets, which is cool because the local politicians, they cannot print, they cannot, you know, so, so it's been, it's been, I think, way better than Hungary, Sweden, uh, Finland, you have your, oh

but Sweden I've heard it's kind of bad,

Knut: It's kinda bad, Norway too, like, both Swedish and Norwegian crown, and the crown in Czechia, like the Czech Republic, it's also

George: Yeah.

Knut: I mean, they're all going to shit the smaller

George: So, so for us, it's like, I would say we're better than, than the Corona, the, and, and all these like local currencies, because we kind of just are there to the, peg to the Euro. The local politicians don't have the opportunity to print. So it's, it's a very good position for us to be.

Luke: You, you get the, the negatives of the, the euro. But, but still, I mean, I mean the, the realistically, the dollar at the Euro and maybe the, the Chinese currency are the only, are the only ones that are in the, sort of within our own, within our own lifetimes are, are going to be not as terribly bad against Bitcoin.

But all the other ones are just, are. All the other ones are

Knut: Yeah, I think it's just a matter of time before both, uh, at least Sweden, uh, switches to Euro standard. If not switching to Bitcoin standard happens first, but well, we'll see, we'll see what happens.

George: man. I'm very bearish about the Euro.

Knut: yeah, yeah, it's like,

Luke: It'll be the second last to fall or third last but but yeah it's it's it's it's not going to be the the last and so it's yeah.

Knut: So that is what it is. I mean, speaking of Bulgaria and currencies and stuff,

Bitcoin Adoption in Bulgaria

Knut: like, how is the rest of, how is Bitcoin adoption in general in Bulgaria? What's happening in other places? Like, Plamen opened a bar, I saw, and like, what are the connections? What's happening?

George: It's actually quite cool. I'm, I'm, I'm quite happy with, with how the ecosystem is evolving. There's, there's Plamen, um, with his whole community, like content creation, the conferences he's been doing, which has been like a very, I think he's responsible for like, I don't know, probably like, 000, maybe several 10, 000s of people who have opened their eyes and even if they're not hard bitcoiners, they now own bitcoin.

Uh, so that's huge. We have other content creators also who've had an impact. We have now once or twice per, yeah, about twice per year we have like, uh, A small, uh, merchant, uh, like, conference events, so for merchants to accept Bitcoin. we have these people who are active and who are doing things. Now, actually, yeah, there's something new that's coming up here, uh, literally in Plovdiv is we have this, um, this, uh, great dudes who have this, um, um, it's an application for, uh, ordering food, like takeaway and, uh, what is it, like,

Knut: like Glovo or

George: yeah, yeah, like Glovo, um, but, um, but, um, But it's not like this big corporate thing that, but, but still, it's a very good product and they've integrated accepting Bitcoin there for quite some time now they've made it even easier and they've introduced.

So we have like about, I think it's 15 restaurants in Sofia and like five or so in Plovdiv where through their system, you can order food. And pay with Bitcoin online, or you can also go in the restaurant and pay in Bitcoin online, and they just, um, they just won a, uh, grant from, uh, Bitcoin Beach, uh, and, uh, they're going to use the grant, uh, to, well, the attempt is really to start like a small circular economy, if you would Um, where, so if you go, uh, to one of those restaurants and pay with Bitcoin, you're going to get sats back 10%, and then, um, the restaurant is also going to get 10 percent sats back.

And if you order food, um, through their app, also the driver is going to get, uh, some sats back. And, uh, we've just been discussing, because obviously we're partnering with them, with the football club, so we'll push this out, because some of the restaurants that are there are our, I mean, basically, like, we have two restaurants locally that are partners, we got them in, right, obviously, in the deal, um, So, so that is also like, for me, it's like super cool because now for so far, the club has been pushing Bitcoin.

Now we have two of our restaurant partners who are themselves like hard Botevists, Botefans, and like they're popular. Now they're starting to accept Bitcoin in their, in their two restaurants, right? And they're going to have their campaigns. We're going to push them more. So, um, so I'm really excited about this and fingers crossed this goes well.

We have good metrics because if we have good metrics. Yeah, we'll look for ways to grow this. So there's a lot of grassroots things happening, which I love. On the top, nothing.

Knut: It's the way it's supposed to be.

George: But it's the way it is. Yeah, it's a better

Luke: Yeah it really seems like that you get one or two of these big anchors like like for example you you guys have had that had that conference last couple of years but now with both of Plavdev now Bulgaria is really got a couple of big anchors. Big relative in relative terms, uh, and all of this other stuff can, can start coming up around it.

And, uh, love, love to see it. I mean, he, I mean here, here with Rega, there's Honey Budger has been going for a really long time, and I, and I even think that they are honest about, we, we would, we just talked to, to Max, uh, about this, uh, from Defi and like yeah, there's not much other adoption in, in Lavia and this conference has been going on for a long time.

Exactly. And so it's just like, uh, it's, it's, it's great to see, uh, in, in your case, in Bulgaria's case, that there's, there's more of this, uh, picking up. So, yeah,

George: Well, I think it's really, in our case, I don't know, like it's grassroots, like I said, and I really believe grassroots and then Rio or for the vast majority, Rio adoption comes permissionless life. It comes like it's not forced. You know, there is this point where, okay, there's Plamen, like, he got the inspiration, he makes his content, he does the conferences, Like, our owner, he sees this opportunity for Bitcoin, for the club. He takes the action, right? So it's, it's not like, so it's individuals, right? Taking actions and then, as you have, you know, several of them, maybe others get inspired or get ideas going and that's how the magic happens. And, uh, yeah. Excited about it.

Wrapping Up

Luke: it's awesome, man. Great hear your story. So, was, uh, was there anything else that you wanted to discuss or bring up on this topic?

George: no, I mean, what I would say is absolutely, uh, Please, uh, you know, Knut, you've been, but please, you're absolutely welcome, Luke, join as well, like, both of you should come

Knut: Absolutely. Highly recommend it. I had a great time in Bulgaria, and it's such a fascinating country, it's such a rich history and such a beautiful place, and the food is great, and it's very affordable, it's very, yeah, very

George: like, I have people who come in Plogis specifically to, like, nomads, spend, like, a or a month. So, so please enjoy, visit the game. come spend in the restaurants where they accept Bitcoin, follow us on social media for sure, so, X and Nostr,

Luke: Yes, all the details, please.

Knut: And also like one of the eras, uh, infamous eras of Bulgaria is the commie era, right? Where you can see the impact that system had on the country and how horrid it is. Uh, so it's, it's, uh, that might not be a good pitch for, uh, but that's

Luke: Let him, let him share his social medias, Knut.

George: wait, do you have, do you have something

Knut: no, no, I think like the, The point I was getting to is, if you get to Bulgaria, don't only go to Sofia, go around the rest of the country, because it's not as raped as that town was by, as that city was by communism, all this concrete, yeah, yeah,

George: yeah, the,

Knut: you can really see the impact there. I'm not, um, yeah, this came out totally wrong, but I'm trying to, I'm trying to, To hype Bulgaria here, but also there's a historical lesson to be learned in the country, for sure,

George: sure. It's really like, there's so many different things there. So there's the communist part, there's like fucking amazing nature, there's like

Knut: is everything, yeah.

George: if you're into hiking, there's like, just like from Sofia, what I love about Sofia, like just last week, twice, end of the day, I'm like fucked up, like tired of computer.

40 minutes up and I'm up in the mountains, hiking, in like 2000 meters altitude. Uh, so, so there's all these like super cool things, but on the socials, yeah, we're on Twitter. we're on Nostr, uh, so Twitter is, um, botif underscore, uh, en, on Nostr, uh, we are just botif. Yeah, you can find us.

Luke: going say you're NPUB? No, no, no,

George: I'm still learning it, okay?

Luke: we'll post, you're still learning, we'll post all the details in the show

George: Yes. Yes. And feel free to also check out our website. We have, due to our El Salvadorian, um, kind of project, we already have a Salvadorian website, which is very easy to remember, botif. sv. So you can go there and from there you'll find all the links and information.

Luke: Absolutely fantastic.

Knut: Great! Get the inverse of Clown World. This is a shill. BitcoinInfinityStore. com And thank you very much for coming on,

George: was great having

Knut: Great to have

Luke: George, thanks so much. This has been Bitcoin Infinity Show. Thank you for

@ 3c984938:2ec11289

Hello (N)osytrs!

Yes! I'm calling you an (N)oystr!

Why is that? Because you shine, and I'm not just saying that to get more SATs. Ordinary Oysters and mussels can produce these beauties! Nothing seriously unique about them, however, with a little time and love each oyster is capable of creating something truly beautiful. I like believing so, at least, given the fact that you're even reading this article; makes you an (N)oystr! This isn't published this on X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, Discord, Telegram, or Instagram, which makes you the rare breed! A pearl indeed! I do have access to those platforms, but why create content on a terrible platform knowing I too could be shut down! Unfortunately, many people still use these platforms. This forces individuals to give up their privacy every day. Meta is leading the charge by forcing users to provide a photo ID for verification in order to use their crappy, obsolete site. If that was not bad enough, imagine if you're having a type of disagreement or opinion. Then, Bigtech can easily deplatform you. Umm. So no open debate? Just instantly shut-off users. Whatever, happened to right to a fair trial? Nope, just burning you at the stake as if you're a witch or warlock!

How heinous are the perpetrators and financiers of this? Well, that's opening another can of worms for you.

Imagine your voice being taken away, like the little mermaid. Ariel was lucky to have a prince, but the majority of us? The likelihood that I would be carried away by the current of the sea during a sunset with a prince on a sailboat is zero. And I live on an island, so I'm just missing the prince, sailboat(though I know where I could go to steal one), and red hair. Oh my gosh, now I feel sad.

I do not have the prince, Bob is better! I do not have mermaid fins, or a shell bra. Use coconut shells, it offers more support! But, I still have my voice and a killer sunset to die for!

All of that is possible thanks to the work of developers. These knights fight for Freedom Tech by utilizing FOSS, which help provides us with a vibrant ecosystem. Unfortunately, I recently learned that they are not all funded. Knights must eat, drink, and have a work space. This space is where they spend most of their sweat equity on an app or software that may and may not pan out. That brilliance is susceptible to fading, as these individuals are not seen but rather stay behind closed doors. What's worse, if these developers lose faith in their project and decide to join forces with Meta! 😖 Does WhatsApp ring a bell?

Without them, I probably wouldn't be able to create this long form article. Let's cheer them on like cheerleaders.. 👉Unfortunately, there's no cheerleader emoji so you'll just have to settle for a dancing lady, n guy. 💃🕺

Semisol said it beautifully, npub12262qa4uhw7u8gdwlgmntqtv7aye8vdcmvszkqwgs0zchel6mz7s6cgrkj

If we want freedom tech to succeed, the tools that make it possible need to be funded: relays like https://nostr.land, media hosts like https://nostr.build, clients like https://damus.io, etc.

With that thought, Onigirl is pleased to announce the launch of a new series. With a sole focus on free market devs/projects.

Knights of Nostr!

I'll happily brief you about their exciting project and how it benefits humanity! Let's Support these Magnificent projects, devs, relays, and builders! Our first runner up!

Oppa Fishcake :Lord of Media Hosting

npub137c5pd8gmhhe0njtsgwjgunc5xjr2vmzvglkgqs5sjeh972gqqxqjak37w

Oppa Fishcake with his noble steed!

Think of this as an introduction to learn and further your experience on Nostr! New developments and applications are constantly happening on Nostr. It's enough to make one's head spin. I may also cover FOSS projects(outside of Nostr) as they need some love as well! Plus, you can think of it as another tool to add to your decentralized life. I will not be doing how-to-Nostr guides. I personally feel there are plenty of great guides already available! Which I'm happy to add to curation collection via easily searchable on Yakihonne.

For email updates you can subscribe to my [[https://paragraph.xyz/@onigirl]]

If you like it, send me some 🧡💛💚 hearts💜💗💖 otherwise zap dat⚡⚡🍑🍑peach⚡⚡🍑 ~If not me, then at least to our dearest knight!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your time and support (N)oystr! Shine bright like a diamond! Share if you care! FOSS power!

Follow on your favorite Nostr Client for the best viewing experience!

[!NOTE]

I'm using Obsidian + Nostr Writer Plugin; a new way to publish Markdown directly to Nostr. I was a little nervous using this because I was used doing them in RStudio; R Markdown.
Since this is my first article, I sent it to my account as a draft to test it. It's pretty neat.

@ 341db5a7:4c4fc2ef

Chef's notes

Cook in a well seasoned, antique cast iron skillet. Preferably one passed down from your grandmother.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 10 mins
• 🍳 Cook time: 30 mins
• 🍽️ Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup white flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 heaping tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup lard or shortening

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190° C)
2. Heat lard or shortening in cast iron skillet over medium-high heat on the stovetop
3. Combine all dry ingredients in large mixing bowl (cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder)
4. Whisk dry ingredients to combine
5. Add wet ingredients, milk and egg, and whisk until a loose batter is formed. If it's too stiff to pour, add a small amount of milk and keep whisking.
6. When the oil in the cast iron skillet is smoking hot, pour the batter into the skillet, scraping the sides with a spatula to get it all out.
7. Give the cast iron skillet a little tap to let the batter settle into the oil, remove from the stovetop and transfer into the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
8. The cornbread should have risen and turned golden brown on top. Remove from oven, and transfer to a plate or serving disk. Cut it down the middle and add salted butter.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Nostr is not decentralized nor censorship-resistant

Peter Todd has been saying this for a long time and all the time I've been thinking he is misunderstanding everything, but I guess a more charitable interpretation is that he is right.

Nostr today is indeed centralized.

Yesterday I published two harmless notes with the exact same content at the same time. In two minutes the notes had a noticeable difference in responses:

The top one was published to wss://nostr.wine, wss://nos.lol, wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com. The second was published to the relay where I generally publish all my notes to, wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com, and that is announced on my NIP-05 file and on my NIP-65 relay list.

A few minutes later I published that screenshot again in two identical notes to the same sets of relays, asking if people understood the implications. The difference in quantity of responses can still be seen today:

These results are skewed now by the fact that the two notes got rebroadcasted to multiple relays after some time, but the fundamental point remains.

What happened was that a huge lot more of people saw the first note compared to the second, and if Nostr was really censorship-resistant that shouldn't have happened at all.

Some people implied in the comments, with an air of obviousness, that publishing the note to "more relays" should have predictably resulted in more replies, which, again, shouldn't be the case if Nostr is really censorship-resistant.

What happens is that most people who engaged with the note are following me, in the sense that they have instructed their clients to fetch my notes on their behalf and present them in the UI, and clients are failing to do that despite me making it clear in multiple ways that my notes are to be found on wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com.

If we were talking not about me, but about some public figure that was being censored by the State and got banned (or shadowbanned) by the 3 biggest public relays, the sad reality would be that the person would immediately get his reach reduced to ~10% of what they had before. This is not at all unlike what happened to dozens of personalities that were banned from the corporate social media platforms and then moved to other platforms -- how many of their original followers switched to these other platforms? Probably some small percentage close to 10%. In that sense Nostr today is similar to what we had before.

Peter Todd is right that if the way Nostr works is that you just subscribe to a small set of relays and expect to get everything from them then it tends to get very centralized very fast, and this is the reality today.

Peter Todd is wrong that Nostr is inherently centralized or that it needs a protocol change to become what it has always purported to be. He is in fact wrong today, because what is written above is not valid for all clients of today, and if we drive in the right direction we can successfully make Peter Todd be more and more wrong as time passes, instead of the contrary.

---

See also:

• Censorship-resistant relay discovery in Nostr
• A vision for content discovery and relay usage for basic social-networking in Nostr

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Censorship-resistant relay discovery in Nostr

In Nostr is not decentralized nor censorship-resistant I said Nostr is centralized. Peter Todd thinks it is centralized by design, but I disagree.

Nostr wasn't designed to be centralized. The idea was always that clients would follow people in the relays they decided to publish to, even if it was a single-user relay hosted in an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean.

But the Nostr explanations never had any guidance about how to do this, and the protocol itself never had any enforcement mechanisms for any of this (because it would be impossible).

My original idea was that clients would use some undefined combination of relay hints in reply tags and the (now defunct) kind:2 relay-recommendation events plus some form of manual action ("it looks like Bob is publishing on relay X, do you want to follow him there?") to accomplish this. With the expectation that we would have a better idea of how to properly implement all this with more experience, Branle, my first working client didn't have any of that implemented, instead it used a stupid static list of relays with read/write toggle -- although it did publish relay hints and kept track of those internally and supported kind:2 events, these things were not really useful.

Gossip was the first client to implement a truly censorship-resistant relay discovery mechanism that used NIP-05 hints (originally proposed by Mike Dilger) relay hints and kind:3 relay lists, and then with the simple insight of NIP-65 that got much better. After seeing it in more concrete terms, it became simpler to reason about it and the approach got popularized as the "gossip model", then implemented in clients like Coracle and Snort.

Today when people mention the "gossip model" (or "outbox model") they simply think about NIP-65 though. Which I think is ok, but too restrictive. I still think there is a place for the NIP-05 hints, nprofile and nevent relay hints and specially relay hints in event tags. All these mechanisms are used together in ZBD Social, for example, but I believe also in the clients listed above.

I don't think we should stop here, though. I think there are other ways, perhaps drastically different ways, to approach content propagation and relay discovery. I think manual action by users is underrated and could go a long way if presented in a nice UX (not conceived by people that think users are dumb animals), and who knows what. Reliance on third-parties, hardcoded values, social graph, and specially a mix of multiple approaches, is what Nostr needs to be censorship-resistant and what I hope to see in the future.

@ fa984bd7:58018f52

I have recently launched Wikifreedia, which is a different take on how Wikipedia-style systems can work.

Yes, it's built on nostr, but that's not the most interesting part.

The fascinating aspect is that there is no "official" entry on any topic. Anyone can create or edit any entry and build their own take about what they care about.

Think the entry about Mao is missing something? Go ahead and edit it, you don't need to ask for permission from anyone.

Stuart Bowman put it best on a #SovEng hike:

The path to truth is in the integration of opposites.

Since launching Wikifreedia, less than a week ago, quite a few people asked me if it would be possible to import ALL of wikipedia into it.

Yes. Yes it would.

I initially started looking into it to make it happen as I am often quick to jump into action.

But, after thinking about it, I am not convinced importing all of Wikipedia is the way to go.

The magical thing about building an encyclopedia with no canonical entry on any topic is that each individual can bring to light the part they are interested the most about a certain topic, it can be dozens or hundreds, or perhaps more, entries that focus on the edges of a topic.

Whereas, Wikipedia, in their Quijotean approach to truth, have focused on the impossible path of seeking neutrality.

Humans can't be neutral, we have biases.

Show me an unbiased human and I'll show you a lifeless human.

Biases are good. Having an opinion is good. Seeking neutrality is seeking to devoid our views and opinions of humanity.

Importing Wikipedia would mean importing a massive amount of colorless trivia, a few interesting tidbits, but, more important than anything, a vast amount of watered-down useless information.

All edges of the truth having been neutered by a democratic process that searches for a single truth via consensus.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

Sure, importing wikipedia would simply be one more entry on each topic.

Yes.

But culture has incredibly strong momentum.

And if the culture that develops in this type of media is that of exclusively watered-down comfortable truths, then some magic could be lost.

If people who are passionate or have a unique perspective about a topic feel like the "right approach" is to use the wikipedia-based article then I would see this as an extremely negative action.

An alternative

An idea we discussed on the #SovEng hike was, what if the wikipedia entry is processed by different "AI agents" with different perspectives.

Perhaps instead of blankly importing the "Napoleon" article, an LLM trained to behave as a 1850s russian peasant could be asked to write a wiki about Napoleon. And then an agent tried to behave like Margaret Thatcher could write one.

Etc, etc.

Embrace the chaos. Embrace the bias.

@ bf95e1a4:ebdcc848

This is the cleaned, AI-generated transcript of Bitcoin Infinity Show #127

If you'd like to support us, check out https://bitcoininfinitystore.com/ for all our books, merch, and more!

Welcoming George Manolov

Luke: George, welcome to the Bitcoin Infinity Show, thank you for joining us.

George: Thank you, Knut.

Knut: Good to have you here, George.

George: to be here, yeah.

you're here to tell us about the city that I was most surprised by ever. Like, I've never heard of the city before I went to Bulgaria, Yeah, time flies.

Knut: So Plovdiv, Bulgaria, which was amazing, this rich, Thousands of years of history plays with a lot of different eras and different styles of architecture and stuff, really enjoyed Plovdiv, and you have a football team there.

George: yeah, indeed.

George Manolov and Botev Plovdiv

George: Please give us the story about George and Plovdiv Yeah, sure.

Knut: Plovdiv.

George: Sure, sure. So, Plovdiv is, well, I would say it's the oldest living city in Europe, so continuously inhabited. Like you say, not many people know it. I guess, like, we don't have good enough marketing, but, that's probably part of my job right now, right? To spread the word about it. so it's, like the second largest city in the country.

And, yeah, it's just this, it's very, like, I love how you put it because almost nobody has really heard of Plovdiv, right? Most people, when they hear of Bulgaria, they've probably heard of Sofia but Sofia is, okay, but Plovdiv is kind of the chill place, Plovdiv is the place that is actually worth visiting, the place where, people just enjoy going there.

I was born there, right? and, grew up there till 18 or so, then, Studied, lived in Sofia most of the time. And, last year, in kind of summer, I was already kind of way deeper into Bitcoin. I decided I'm going to go full time into Bitcoin, just commit all my time in Bitcoin at the time, educating, publishing books in Bulgarian about Bitcoin, creating my own educational platform.

And then I got, reached out and connected really to the owner of the football club in the city, which is also the oldest football club in the country, Botev Plovdiv, who was, well, he got introduced into Bitcoin himself and he realized it's going to be a very big, project. You know, going to play a central role in where the world is going.

Knut: What is this the owner of the club?

George: That's right. The owner of the club. was like, Hey, I think we can do something unique with Bitcoin because, you know, the club is really a company, right? It's a business on the one hand, but it's a special type of business, it's not where just you produce a certain product or service.

It's really a living organism where people are involved into it, for very emotional reasons. people feel like it's their own and it's not like a small group of people. It's a very large group of people. In our case, we have tens of thousands, arguably more than a hundred, 200, 000 people who care, who watch, who follow the club.

And so on the one hand, like there's many different ways in which we can look into this, but on the one hand. It's for me, what really inspired me and what got me like, Oh my God, like, is this really happening is that we can bring the conversation about Bitcoin from a completely different angle into society to a group of people who for the most part would never really They would like this, they would never listen to podcasts like this, they would never get to any of the kind of places and things we listen to, watch, consume, right?

and people go, You know, people go kind of for bread and circus, right,

Knut: yeah, yeah.

George: for the games. That's what really football is, right? It's fun and it's emotion, it's enjoyment, but then we push them censorship resistance and hard money, right?

And we don't really push it, you know, that's the thing, right? Because are like consistently, progressively, gradually over time, introducing it and finding the best way and the most appropriate way to, yeah, plant that seed. To the minds of the people, into the views of the people and so on and so forth.

so it's really like, you know, what we're trying to build is, we feel we're in a very privileged position, right? because we've been, the first really professional sports club globally, I would say, to have, uh, crypto Bitcoin, you know, people, departments, who is actually full time employed to, you know, think of a way to grow the business, to think of a way to integrate Bitcoin natively, within the various aspects of, of, of the organization, which obviously initially includes like accepting payments and so on and so forth.

But, um, but there's so much more you can do exactly with this type of, Like organization, again, like not, not, not just a business in a traditional sense.

Knut: Yeah. And, uh, won the league, right? Is that, is that right?

George: Yeah, man, like it's, uh, yeah, so we, um, when I started last year, things were super bad. Like exactly one year ago, I was there for the, for one of the first games. It was horrible. Like, I was like, okay, this is a great idea, but if the team is doing so bad and if, uh, if they keep losing and if the fans keep getting, you know, being unhappy, Um, it's not gonna go anywhere, but still, I gave it a, I gave it a go, right, because I was like, okay, I just hope that the sports side guys are going to do their, their part, and I have my opportunity here, um, to, to just like push, to educate, to, To do what, what, what life is giving me an opportunity to do.

And, uh, very fortunately, as we started working, the team started performing better and better and better. We got a completely new coach. We got a new sports director. We, we had a lot of key staff changes across the organization, which, Um, relatively quickly started showing results. So, uh, yeah, like, 10 months later in May, we won the Bulgarian Cup.

Luke: Is that the cup or the league? Like, uh,

George: it's the cup, it's the cup. So, so, I was saying, like, we started very bad in the league. And so, we were doing better and better, but still, like, we finished 9th in the league out of 16 clubs at the end of the day. But which was still okay, because, like, when I joined, like, we were, like,

Luke: Worried about relegation or something like that?

George: there. I mean,

Knut: We're complete, uh, like I've tried to take an interest to football, but like, uh, my ADD just, the brain just wanders away after five minutes and I can't concentrate anymore. So I don't

Luke: a basketball fan.

Knut: Am I now?

Football for Noobs

Knut: Uh, so, uh, what's the difference between the cup and the league? Let's begin there. That's, that's how much of a football noob I

George: So, so pretty much in every country is the same, right? You have a league or a championship where you have, in our case, 16 teams, and every team plays twice against every other team. So home game, away game, and then, you know, you either win three points when you win, or you lose, or you draw, and you, you, you win one point.

And then, so after you play, after you play, in our case, this, what is it, games? You know,

Luke: 30.

George: yeah, about 30. Yeah, right. You're better than Matt, it's obvious. So, um, so once you play these 30 games, um, you, um, yeah, like the team with the most points wins, right? Whereas, uh, the cup is direct elimination

Knut: So quarterfinals, semifinals, all that.

George: exactly. So it's the easier way. So this was the way for us to due to the bad start of the season. This was the way for us to, to achieve something in this season and to achieve something important because what the Cubs gives us as an opportunity and gave us was to play in the European Leagues.

So UEFA Leagues. And we just did that. We played six games. Uh, for the Europe, uh, Europe League and the Europe Conference League.

Knut: Okay. But to, to be in the champions league, that's a totally, you have to, yeah, yeah. You have to win the league and you have to win all sorts of stuff. Like how does that work?

George: yeah. You have to win the league. And then in our case, so in every country it's different, but in our case, we have to win, like we go to qualifications for the Champions League. So it's like, I mean, three to four games. And if we win that, we go to the Champions League.

Knut: Alright,

George: That's the current state of affairs, although that can change over the years.

Knut: alright, uh, it all makes sense to me now, that's a lie, but anyway.

Luke: No, uh, I'll definitely, we'll acknowledge here that I'm more of the, the sports fan, uh, generally here, and I, I follow football, I like, uh, I like European, uh, football, uh, well, and obviously I'm using the correct, uh, term despite my, um, my pseudo American accent, uh. Yeah, anyway, um, uh, no, it's fantastic to see, and I mean, yeah, for the non sports fans, uh, listening to this, I get that

Knut: Well, I am a sports fan, it's just that Starcraft 2 is my sport, and yeah, yeah,

Luke: yeah,

George: eSports.

Knut: yeah, yeah, so I watch, watch Starcraft 2 games. That's what I do for procrastination sometimes.

Luke: valid sports, I'm not going to compare it to other things that aren't

Knut: breakdancing? Is that a valid sport?

Luke: Breakdancing is, um, hmm, interesting. I think anything with points, that judges give points, is kind of not a sport, it's an activity.

Knut: yeah.

Luke: but, yeah, anyway,

Knut: thing to do.

Luke: is a thing to do, yes, definitely, but back to, back to, um, um, Botev Plod, is it Botev, Botev, what's, what's, Botev, Botev Plod, yeah, so, so, um, yeah, yeah, like, the, the, the achievement, winning, winning the cup, I mean, the, The cups are sort of more difficult.

They're both difficult in their own way, right? Like, the cup, you lose one game, you're out, basically, right? But, I mean, the league is like this endurance, achievement, right? You have to perform well over the course of the whole season. But the cheat code, so to say, and I probably subconsciously used the other football team's terminology, who's in the space, Real Bedford, um,

Botev Plovdiv's Bitcoin Strategy

Luke: The, the idea right, if, if I'm getting it, is that you guys would, would keep the Bitcoin in the, in the, the treasury, the, the company, and then over the course of time it's just gonna do the number go up thing and, and the, the club will have more resources.

Right. Is that, is that the idea you're thinking with the, the bitcoin strategy?

George: There's actually many, many things to it. And this is kind of the most, let's say, vanilla type of approach. Yeah, like just buy Bitcoin and hold it on the balance sheet, which is, which is great. But there's actually so many other things you can do. And that's where, because if you just do that, frankly, like, I mean, you don't need me involved, right, much.

I mean, just call Coinbase, whatever, wire the money, crack in and, buy. but with us it's like, really, uh, we see a huge opportunity to, first of all, align our brand with the Bitcoin brand, which is a royalty free, uh, The biggest brand in finance, for sure. One, uh, like it's going to be the biggest brand in the world for sure at some point.

Right. So that's, that's one play. And to do this, it's not enough for you to just buy Bitcoin and hold it on a balance sheet. It's what you need to do is proof of work, right? You need to do things that nobody has ever done. You need to really kind of be creative. Uh, and, and, um, to push the boundaries of what anyone has ever done before, right?

So, so that is, uh, that is my kind of job and it's a lot of, um, a lot of just like, let's, let's think of what, what new things we can do with Bitcoin and sports and football that nobody has ever done. Just because others are focused on the short term things, they're focused on, hitting those, those quick wins, those quick goals, which is why, for example, like a lot of the sports and, and that have, you know, interact, they haven't really interacted outside of Bedford with Bitcoin, right?

It's mostly been crypto because it's just, okay, let's make some quick money. Um,

Luke: usually, it's usually just sponsorships, right?

Knut: yeah,

George: yes. Um, and for us, because on the one hand, like, we're not like Manchester United, right? We're not Chelsea. So we don't have that much to monetize immediately. Like we're a large club, but.

Luke: You're a large club in a local league, which is, which is different from the, it's not one of the leagues that is internationally positioned like that. But, but, I mean, the, the difference between you guys and Bedford that I, that I think is, is really interesting. Like, McCormack, what he, Peter McCormack, what he's doing, I mean, he's, he's taking a club from the bottom and aiming for the top.

But who knows how long that's going to take him to get there, right? But you guys are already in the top of your league, right? Like, in the top league.

George: right, yeah, and also there's, there's different in this, we're in the top of our league. My goal, personally, is to go to Champions League, but this is very hard, right? Because, like, okay, when you start from Peter's ground, like, it's easy, okay, every year you level up, you level up, or, I mean, I'm not gonna say it's easy, but it's easier than, uh, than once you're, you know, at our level.

For us, it's important to play currently every year in European leagues like we've done so far and to every year consistently, like, increase the level of the sports, level of the business department bit by bit, and, but like breaking that point where we, you know, win the league, Where we win several more games and enter the Champions League, that, that's really hard.

I mean, because you're already at that stage where everybody, like, so many teams are so strong, right? So it's um, it takes just a lot of ingredients for you to, to, to hit, uh, in order to win. But we're gonna get there.

Knut: and does the club self custody it's bitcoin? And if so, is it a something out of 11 multisig, that sounds like a football thing?

George: Why so? Ah, yeah, an 11? Nah, nah, fuck that. I mean Nah, even, even 7 Motosick is a, is a killer, but no. Um, yeah, I can't really speak too much about this at this point. Yeah. Um, but, um, but yeah, I mean, we do, of course we do self custody. So that's, that's the approach that we've chosen with kind of a lot of, um, we've chosen to go really pure, pure Bitcoin in terms of the strategy.

And that's how we set ourselves apart. That's how we believe we win the long game because for instance, like we Bitcoin with BTC pay server. Which in my mind they don't even have competition. It's the only like, real, solid, autonomous, sovereign way to accept payments. And it's also the way which makes sense for like, Frankly, any standard business, because like, man, we're selling scarves, we're selling, um, membership boat cards, we're selling jerseys, we're selling basic merch, and if we are to sell it with basically any other service out there, outside of BTC Pay Server, we have to basically, uh, indirectly do KYC, right?

Like, we have to go through KYC, we have to go through KYB, which is ridiculous, um, in my mind. And so, um, so that's why we're exceptionally thankful to B2C Pay Server guys, uh, for what they've built. Uh, it's been like an absolute pleasure to, um, to use their product, to use their service. Uh, we have, you know, outside of B2C Pay, we, uh, we are the first, uh, sports club on Nostr.

Where, uh, we have, uh, actively been posting, exploring, you know, meeting people here. Kind of thinking of what we could do from our angle again, like first, first time on Nostr.

Aqua WAllet

George: Um, we have partnered with, uh, Aqua, JAN3's Aqua wallet, which has a, a Botive skin mode now. So if you go to settings, you can turn Botive mode and then it turns into the colors of the club and, you know, have the picture of the stadium there.

Um,

Luke: I'm using Aqua right now because, uh, uh, usually I like to use Aqua as like a sort of a middle wallet, uh, uh, because it's still slightly slower than other lightning wallets because they, they, the, everything actually lives on, on liquid and then they, they, uh, go out via bolts. Uh, so it's slightly slower than a faster, um, like, like than other, um, more direct lightning wallets.

And so usually when I come to a conference, I'm going to load up a, like a temporary. I don't know, Blink or something like that, but I forgot to do that, so I'm just using my Aqua wallet, and you know what, it's been great here, it's been working, uh, so yeah, we're big fans of Aqua wallet and what

Knut: Yeah, and a BTC pay server. I mean, uh, we can echo everything you said that we, BitcoinInfinity. com, like, and the store here We just fired up. Everything is powered by a BTC pay server, and we just love it. Yes.

Luke: So what was your question about, uh, Aqua?

George: If yours is on BOTEV mode.

Luke: Uh, I don't think I've gone into the settings and changed it to Vaudev mode, I'll have to do that, maybe we'll take

George: It's dark mode,

but cooler.

Luke: Doc dark mode, but cooler. Okay. Okay. Actually that's a, that's a, that's a good point. That's a good point. Yeah. We'll take a, we'll take a picture after, uh, after the episode and we'll de proof, bot, uh, bot e mode, and, uh, uh, post that on Nostr.

How does that sound?

George: Let's go.

Knut: Yeah. Nostr. Um, is there a connection there between both a plot and Nostr while you're doing Nostr stuff as well?

History and Freedom

George: Yeah. Well, look, um, a lot of these things is like, so What Botev Plovdiv stands for, um, very importantly, so the club was named after Hristo Botev, who's, uh, like, one of the most Bulgarians, if the most famous Bulgarian revolutionaries, like, historical figure, uh, he was a poet, he was a revolutionary, he fought for Bulgaria's freedom back in the day,

Luke: Which, which day, which, what day did you

George: uh, 110, uh, what is it, like, 50 years ago or so?

Yeah.

Knut: Mm-Hmm?

Luke: Okay. So, so

Knut: before the Commes.

Luke: ottoman, uh,

George: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He, he, he, he fought for the, for the liberation of Bulgaria from, from the Ottoman Empire. And a lot of what he stands for is this fight for freedom, his fight for liberty. Um, and this, this lives until this very day into the identity of the club and to what we stand for into the songs, into the, into the music.

Um, you know, um, the kind of like what, what our fans also resonate with, um, and, and what they sing like in many, in many ways. Right. So, um, Freedom of speech, freedom of, uh, of like freedom in general is, is a value that is deeply ingrained into kind of like what the club stands for. Um, and, uh, you know, that's why I'm into Bitcoin.

That's why I believe. And that's, that's why I saw this even bigger opportunity. Oh my God, like, how is this happening? There's so many, sometimes, you know, some like weird things happen in life and you have no explanation why and how all these things align. But, but for me, it's like this club was made really to.

to be aligned with BOTEF and to be, uh, to, to, to be aligned with Bitcoin and with Nostr. If I look at all the other clubs in Bulgaria, right, like just in Bulgaria, none of the others, like, there's no this contextual historical background that you can make these connections. But with us, we have it, and what a chance that, like, we have this owner, and he got, like, introduced to it, and then we got connected.

Like, how the hell does this happen, man? I don't know,

Luke: We like to say this, the surreal doesn't end, you know, and like, uh, my, my whole story, I've been talking about this, uh, at the, the conference here is like two years ago was the first time I ever met Bitcoiners here in Baltic Honeybadger. We, we met for the, for the first time, uh, all three of us, uh, met for the first time two years ago, I've been in Baltic Honeybadger and it's like, things, things happen so fast.

Uh, I've, I've, uh, I've thought it was been awesome just following, uh, what you've been doing with the, the club and the story. So great to, Great to get to talk about it, but, uh,

Bitcoin in Football

George: Yeah. No, for, for me, like really the, the most exciting part is really even coming forward. So, uh, because, so now it's been, so we, a long, we announced, uh, publicly that we're doing this, uh, 31st October last year. So the anniversary of the, of the, uh, Bitcoin White paper, um, we've built a lot right. And very, very importantly, I'm super proud, like, I don't know if you saw this, but like a month ago, we played on European League, the UEFA League with Bitcoin straight on our jerseys, which was like, like, when I saw this, I'm like, dude, it's crazy that this is happening.

But, but the best is really yet to come, like, like we like to say. Um, so I, I think we, we're, we have, um, we have still so much more to do. So for me, the next big part, which I'm super excited about literally in the coming month as, uh, as I go back. So is to finally get some of our. Players or at least one or two to get to do something publicly about this, because at the end of the day, that's why for me, the more I do, the more I, uh, play in this arena, I realized this is really a Trojan horse for us to bring Bitcoin into the conversation, into the minds, like I said, of people who otherwise wouldn't and, and our players, you know, especially a few of them, they're really influencers, right?

Um, a lot of people follow them. A lot of people respect them. And, um, and if they do, uh, you know, something meaningful, something cool, something impactful, this is going to have a huge impact onto our forwards. This could very well have impact onto, um, other sportsmen, other football people, other football clubs, right?

Uh, so that's why I'm doing it, right? Really?

Luke: No, this is fantastic, and actually this was exactly where I was hoping to go next, so thank you for queuing that up. But, no, no, the game theory of all this, right? Like, one club getting, Positioning as the, as the Bitcoin club in a league, uh, really means that eventually all the other clubs are going to need to adopt Bitcoin.

If they're going to be able to compete, because if play playing out the game theory, number go up, whatever it is, Bitcoin strategy plays out, you guys are going to be the most financially capable club. Financially sustainable in not very long, you know, assuming everything plays out the way we're thinking it will, right?

So, so other, other clubs then would become incentivized to also adopt Bitcoin. So what, what do you, what do you think about that? Like you, do you, do you see that, uh, happening as well?

George: Yeah, I'm not really sure if it would happen to me. That fast, to be fair. Like, I think it's inevitable, right, obviously, but I think it, yeah, like, I think this definitely takes at least three, four years, maybe more. Um,

Luke: That's, that's still pretty fast.

George: yeah, I guess. I mean, I mean, like, okay, let me define it better. It takes three, four years.

So, for other clubs within our league to start doing something like this, uh, maybe it takes less time for other clubs to realize it, but I think for them to do it, it also depends on our actions, right? So because like, we don't have like a treasury of microstrategy or something, so it's not, and we're not doing like a

Luke: you don't?

George: monthly like leverage on top of leverage on top of another leverage, you know, uh, we're not in, in Michael's privileged position. but we can do other cool things, right? Uh, one of the, um, so this is not yet live and this is not yet happening, but one of the, like two, two projects, let's say, I'm gonna briefly, like, tease here that, that I'm working on that I hope to have very large impact is first, uh, building this, uh, simple tool Uh, called like a Bitcoin, uh, football salary calculator that, uh, it's like really a DCA tool, but like looking back and like tailoring it to our niche where I want to, for us to visually and emotionally Show, um, to players, but also to fans of ours, like what Bitcoin could have done for their remuneration, if you look one year back in time, two years back in time, three years back in time, four years back in time, and for them to really realize, Oh my God, this is a no brainer.

Right? I want to make this mess. And this is hard, right? Um, because like, there's so many tools and like, but I want to be, because the audience is very wide, very different types of audience. I want to make this so that you can consume it in like two, three, four minutes. And you're like, okay, I need to learn more about this.

This actually is interesting. There's like, that's so much dense and emotional and compact information that you're like, Whoa. Why am I not doing this? How did I miss this?

Knut: What, what, what was the name of that website? I, I don't know if it's still up, but bitcoin or shit.com or something like that. So, so it lists if you bought this item when it came out, an iPhone five or whatever, uh, and if you had bought b bitcoin instead.com, I think that that's the, that's the name. So if you bought, uh, if you bought Bitcoin instead, it shows you how much, how much more money you'd have now and how many iPhones you

George: Yeah. Yeah. And of course there's many of these tools, obviously like we've all see them and we all like like them and retweet them and repost them. And it's all great. But I think, at least I hope that we can do something impactful with this. If we really tailor it, compact it to a specific type of niche audience with a specific message designed for them.

And because this audience is also like. A type of audience who can also like, um, you know, bring it to other bubbles that we ourselves are not part of, right? So that's, for example, one like, uh, one like project I'm very, very excited about and I hope we can, um, yeah, we'll bring forward relatively soon.

There's a few moving elements, but definitely in the coming month or two, uh, at most. And then, uh, and then, you know, speaking of the other clubs, what, what I want us to do is what we're working is next year, we're targeting to do, I hope we could do the world's first, uh, Bitcoin, uh, Cup tournament. Uh, for youth players, 70 year old boys who are, you know, right there before they sign their first professional contract, start earning money, for them, first of all, like, it's a Bitcoin football cup, like, it's the first time this, this could potentially ever happen And then it's, it's a football first tournament, right?

This is the, we want to make it like top quality, like really the highest quality when it comes to sports, but then you have Bitcoin involved all over the place, right? In terms of brand, in terms of rewards, in terms of, um, in terms of like plays, um, like, like games and, and interactions, activations, uh, throughout, before, throughout, and after the, And after the event, and for this, I'm targeting to get really like, like big clubs.

I mean, because it's academies, right? I mean, I cannot get the Manchester United first team, just maybe we could get the Manchester United 17 year old team or, you know, another big club. We get some of these, and then like we get their brands, we get them on the focus of Bitcoin. And we drive the conversation faster, you know, not three, four years from now, but Less

Knut: what about, um, like right now there's you and there's, um, you guys and there's a real bed for it, right? Those are the two I know of in Europe. Are you aware of any other clubs that are doing a Bitcoin strategy? I mean, is this virus spreading? Like, have you heard anything like,

George: Um, Oh, there's, uh, there's the Austrian Admira Vakir who have done some integration. So it's a second tier, uh, second league, uh, second league, uh, club that have, uh, that have, uh, you know, they've also had Bitcoin on the, their second team jersey. And, um, and they, they also accept Bitcoin payments, uh, here and there, but you know, the thing is, there's some other clubs, um, there's a Miami, um, not Miami, um, a Hawaiian club that, that is doing, uh, that is doing like their Bitcoin gig,

Knut: yeah, there are other, other sports, right, other sports team and sports teams in other sports that are doing it. But, but for football specifically,

George: which ones?

Knut: Uh, I'm so bad with sports, but wasn't there like a hockey team or a basketball team or

Luke: I'm not aware of any others, actually. Yeah, like, uh, there's been some attempts at

Knut: it's

Luke: an orange colored team or something like

Knut: more the individual athletes,

Luke: Yeah, yeah, there have been individual

Knut: for instance, a

Luke: have been individual

Knut: player, and there was some American football player.

George: There's been individual athletes, a lot of them. There's been, I was asking if you know, but there's been a baseball club in Australia, the Port Heat. Uh, who did kind of a Bitcoin strategy. Uh, but very unfortunately that didn't work out. They kind of started this at the peak of the last bull cycle. And, um, and as I understand, uh, there wasn't like a strong alignment between the owners and the management in terms of like understanding that this is a long game.

So that's why this kind of flopped. Um, but yeah, like I, I think the reason why it's not happening in more, unfortunately, and, and, and I see this even, even within our club, uh, you know, but, but definitely no other clubs because Fiat has permitted sports as well. Right. So all the sports club, uh, clubs or the vast majority in football, for sure.

They're like, you know, on the hamster wheel themselves.

Knut: They're indebted,

George: They're indebted.

Knut: to an extreme level,

George: yeah, like, like fighting for every dollar for every income. So it's, it's hard for you to like, Oh yeah, we're going to have this long term Bitcoin strategy that's going to take like two, three, four, five years to play out.

And we can benefit a lot from it. It's very, very hard in, you know, unfortunately for a large organizations, sports club in particular to To have this realization, to map this out, to get others on board. That's why it's not so popular and uh, and that's why I'm grateful and keep pushing that we have this chance.

Luke: I mean, you make a great point here about essentially the, it's the organizational alignment, right? Like the, the, these are companies, sports clubs are companies. They just have this large, the business is involved around getting fans to come in and consume this sort of marketing. Product, essentially. So it's, it's a certain kind of company that's run a certain way, but just like any other company, you need, you need alignment from the management.

So it's, it's fantastic that, uh, Boteb Plovdiv has, has the, uh, alignment and is, is putting their, their trust in you to, to move this thing forward. And I mean, from the, from the perspective of this thing, Playing out, right? The, the best part that, uh, I think one of the best parts that you, you mentioned again was the, the influencers.

Like you get, you get some players, there's, there's so many angles to, to reach people through this. I think it's, I think it's fantastic. The, uh, orange pilling a player and then they move to another club, but they, they, maybe they don't get to get paid in Bitcoin, but maybe they still put, put their money in, in Bitcoin.

Maybe they even ask their club to, to, uh, pay them in Bitcoin, something like that. And then the, the Questions start getting, uh, asked and all this.

5 Year Goals

Luke: So what, what is the, the goal in, in five years, for example, where, where do you see the club in the five year mark?

George: Oh man. Yeah, in five years, I think we definitely have to be in Champions League. Like in my mind, you know, like people around me like, oh, you're too ambitious. I'm like, man, yeah, like in five years, we definitely have to be in Champions League. Uh, that's, that's my personal goal. On our internal Slack, I have the Champions League icon there.

That's why I'm there, right? Um, so, uh, it's a lot of hard work. Like, it's really a lot of hard work. And it's also not completely dependent on me and my work, to be fair. Like, because, at all. I mean, really, like, uh, I mean, at the end of the day, the most important part is the sports department, right? Uh, in the club.

Um, so that has to continue going well. But, but I think We're going in a good direction there too, because we have the, they're the long term view as well, right. We have our academy internally, which is, yeah, it's one of the best academies. It's the best really academy in terms of infrastructure in the country.

That's why we're also can't afford to think of this Bitcoin Cup tournament, because we have the infrastructure, we have like a super cool stadium, that's crazy. If we can, if we can do a final for, for such a tournament there. Um, so, so we have all the things in place in terms of In terms of assets, I would say, uh, it's just a lot of moving parts.

a lot of work, consistency, and a bit of luck. Always it comes, you know, when, when it comes to, when it comes to football and sports, but, but five years from now, I want us to be in the champions league. I want us to be the absolute, you know, international professional level, uh, Bitcoin level, Bitcoin sports club.

and, uh, and I want for this tournament that I start to be like a, like, like to have the fourth edition by then. Uh, and, and I want to have clubs, but five years is a lot of time, you know, as you say, like, I also want to have other clubs following us by then. I think that's absolutely, absolutely is going to be doable.

Knut: What, what are the, what are the tax laws around Bitcoin in Bulgaria? Like what, are there any issues there? Or like what, is it easy enough,

George: It's kind of okay. Uh, it's kind of okay. So if you just buy Bitcoin and hold it, like you don't, uh, you don't, uh, incur taxes, uh, until you sell it, if you accept Bitcoin for payments, um, and if you don't sell it, you can just, uh, keep it as inventory on your balance sheet. So again, no,

Knut: but there's a capital gains tax or something if you sell it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Alright.

George: 10%. So it's, it's, uh,

Knut: Pretty good.

George: Yeah, I mean, it's not like El Salvador. Okay. Uh, but, but it's, uh, it's, it's way better than many other places. Um, and, uh, yeah, so we've been looking, looking actually, so I was in El Salvador a couple of months ago, because we've been looking very much to do stuff there.

And we've been, uh, yeah. Um, because we've been, we've been thinking of what to do more with Bitcoin, right? So that's why I said, like, it's not just about buying and accepting Bitcoin. It's about corporate strategies, about branding strategies, about how to make money. Um, it's about education strategies. It's, there's so much around it.

So in terms of corporate strategy, I was, uh, we're very attracted by El Salvador, um, and their, uh, capital markets regulation, because they're basically striving to build capital markets on top of Bitcoin. Bitcoin is legal tender there. They have all kinds of, tax incentives for companies to issue debt or to sell equity.

on their capital, on their, um, well, let's say nascent upcoming capital markets, because it's not like it's, you know, hustling and bustling yet. Um, but, but they're, they've put a lot of the rails, uh, um, or they're building a lot of the rails to, um, to really enable the, the, the creation of Bitcoin based capital markets.

So, um, we've had great talks there. We have meetings with, uh, um, we have. Yeah, with the Bitcoin office, right? Um, so, ideally, like, we're striving to build some connection there and to do something, interesting and world first again from a corporate perspective. It's just that, as many things, it's a little harder than you would expect it to be, or it takes a little more time than, Then you would hope to do it.

But my idea or long term vision, frankly, like what we want to do with Bitcoin, uh, and with the club is to enable our current fans and global fans to become co owners of the club. And that's why, you know, I have big hopes for, uh, for us being able to do this out of El Salvador and through El Salvador, because this would, like from a tax perspective, from a branding perspective, from legal security perspective would be, would be ideal.

It's just that, again, um, my enthusiasm is a little over, uh, ahead of kind of like how, uh, how, how advanced and set up everything there is, but, uh, but we're, we're very actively talking to them. We're working with many parties there, so. Just maybe we can have big news there too.

International and Local Effects

Luke: Well, no, and, and you actually said something great about global fans. I think this is a, a fantastic thing, right? A a again, Bedford is, is similar. They've, they've got, they've got fans all over the world and, and I think for you guys it's like who is going to tune into the Bulgarian football league outside of Bulgaria before, well, not too many people, but now a bunch of Bitcoiners.

If they're into, if they're into football or, or not even, because this is the funny thing. There were, there were a lot of people posting about that. They, they've got, they, they don't usually follow, follow sports at all, but, but they'll follow the Bitcoin team. So the, the funny thing is, I think, I think the first, the first club to adopt Bitcoin in every league is going to get all of these global fans.

And maybe the, maybe the, the second one, the third one, maybe can get some kind of other support, but it's really the first one in every

George: really.

Luke: That, that

George: Not

Luke: That's that. I, I completely agree with you there. It's the, it's the first one

Knut: first mover advantage.

Luke: mover advantage. It's gonna get, it is gonna get all of the, all of the Bitcoiners are gonna now be, be supporting and, uh, uh, yeah.

I mean, have, have you seen, uh, some, some uptick in, uh, kind of international

George: yeah, yeah. So, international but also local. Like, local is very important. Like, we have, like, so many people in the country who's like, just what you say, like, I didn't care about sports or football, like, forever, or at all, ever, but now I follow, now I buy merch, now I come, you know, every now and then they come to games, so

Luke: Well, because there's the bread and circuses thing that you said, it gets tossed around in the Bitcoin world and also some other places on kind of the Twitter sphere and whatever, it's like it's a distraction, that sports is sort of a distraction from clown world basically and it's a way of people to sort of Uh, forget about what's going on around them, but I think that's also missing the, the positives, which it, it's a, it's a community builder, it brings people together, there's a, there's a sense of, of pride in, in something local succeeding, everyone, everyone's happy, there's, there's real economic, uh, effects usually when a, when a local sports team wins, and so, so from, from my perspective, I, I, I think, I think sport is a good thing, and it's, and it's, it's something that, that people can rally around, and so,

George: an amazing thing.

Luke: Yeah.

And, and so what, what are, what are you looking at locally? Like what, what do you hope to have the effect, uh, uh, locally in, in piv?

George: Yeah. Um, yeah, no, look, uh, for me, sports, like, for us, the, the, the, the, about Plovdiv, for me, that's what I realized, like, we're kind of very much into Bitcoin and stuff, obviously, that's our interest, but I think when we go on a Bitcoin standard, Right. And, uh, in general, people start feeling wealthier, opposed to, like, being in the grind.

You're just going to have more time for fun stuff, right? Like playing football, I mean, or volleyball, or whatever your sport is, or, like, going and cheering your team, and, uh, and being part of such a community. And I think that's really what, you know, even Nostr is about. Like it's, Being part of these communities, because that's fun, and like, we as humans, at the end of the day, we are living to be part of communities, right?

And you find your community, you're an active part of it, you contribute to it, you evolve it, right? You build it in one way or another. And unfortunately, you know, today in the fiat world, this is just like A stress valve in many ways, or like you say, like Brothers and Sisters, whatever. Um, but, uh, but I think it can be so much more, right?

It is, but it can be so much more for a larger amount of people and so on and so forth. uh, but yeah, well, back in Plovdiv, man, like, I have big hopes. I really have big, big ambitions there. I want to get Bitcoin into the wallets of, uh, of like tens of thousands of people. I want people to wake up. I want people to see.

Luke: big is piv? How many

George: It's like three, four hundred thousand people. So it's a lot. Uh, our stadium is, uh, 21, 000 seats stadium. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. It's, it's 19. I wish it was 21.

Luke: Yeah. You'll have to add 2000 more

George: Maybe, yeah, we'll, we'll think of some additional construction.

Luke: the, make the infinity stand when

George: Right. Right. But, uh, but yeah, like the setting was super cool. Like, it's really cool.

Like when it's feel like, man, the atmosphere is amazing. Um, and so it's, and it's really this community that you can feel that people are involved. So it's, it's like consistency and it's social engineering in one way or another, right?

Knut: one of our favorite words,

George: but in a positive way.

Knut: in a positive way, okay.

George: So it's social engineering for us to ingrain Bitcoin and make it part of kind of what people see, do, have, own, interact with, right?

So, uh, I think exactly because of this community element, exactly because, Because, you know, football is a football club and there's this unique living organism we can, we can create this and, you know, it's fascinating. I'm so much into this and there's other people who are so much into this. Oh my god, like, we can make such a big difference.

And, and like in the country. You know, on a political and economic level, they don't get it. Like, they don't see it. They just are in their, you know, like, oh, are we going to accept the euro? Oh, what's happening with the war? I'm like, who cares? Let's build.

Bulgarian Currency Situation

Knut: Yeah, Bulgaria has its own shitcoin, I almost forgot about that, but uh, what's it called again?

George: Kinda. Um, but not quite, to be fair. It's, it's a good coin, uh, not for investing, but, but for medium of exchange is actually decent. Uh, Lev, Lev

Knut: Lev, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah,

George: and I recently got educated about this. So, uh, the lev is pegged to the euro. So, um, uh, so, so that, that is super cool for, for us, for me as a consumer, for businesses, because like the fixed rate.

So for trade is, um, It's, it's good, right? As the world would be in the future. You have one currency, Bitcoin, you don't have the currency exchange risk, right? We don't have it only with the European Union. And the good part with this, so, we got, we got hyperinflation back in 1997. Was really bad. People lost almost everything, everything, in many cases.

Um, and then we got this so called currency board introduced and the currency board is like we have the left, but the left has to be backed up by other currencies. So it's like a stable coin, kind of like how Tether is backed by, by dollars. You know, the levy is backed by euro and like a basket of, I think they have some other currencies and assets, which is cool because the local politicians, they cannot print, they cannot, you know, so, so it's been, it's been, I think, way better than Hungary, Sweden, uh, Finland, you have your, oh

but Sweden I've heard it's kind of bad,

Knut: It's kinda bad, Norway too, like, both Swedish and Norwegian crown, and the crown in Czechia, like the Czech Republic, it's also

George: Yeah.

Knut: I mean, they're all going to shit the smaller

George: So, so for us, it's like, I would say we're better than, than the Corona, the, and, and all these like local currencies, because we kind of just are there to the, peg to the Euro. The local politicians don't have the opportunity to print. So it's, it's a very good position for us to be.

Luke: You, you get the, the negatives of the, the euro. But, but still, I mean, I mean the, the realistically, the dollar at the Euro and maybe the, the Chinese currency are the only, are the only ones that are in the, sort of within our own, within our own lifetimes are, are going to be not as terribly bad against Bitcoin.

But all the other ones are just, are. All the other ones are

Knut: Yeah, I think it's just a matter of time before both, uh, at least Sweden, uh, switches to Euro standard. If not switching to Bitcoin standard happens first, but well, we'll see, we'll see what happens.

George: man. I'm very bearish about the Euro.

Knut: yeah, yeah, it's like,

Luke: It'll be the second last to fall or third last but but yeah it's it's it's it's not going to be the the last and so it's yeah.

Knut: So that is what it is. I mean, speaking of Bulgaria and currencies and stuff,

Bitcoin Adoption in Bulgaria

Knut: like, how is the rest of, how is Bitcoin adoption in general in Bulgaria? What's happening in other places? Like, Plamen opened a bar, I saw, and like, what are the connections? What's happening?

George: It's actually quite cool. I'm, I'm, I'm quite happy with, with how the ecosystem is evolving. There's, there's Plamen, um, with his whole community, like content creation, the conferences he's been doing, which has been like a very, I think he's responsible for like, I don't know, probably like, 000, maybe several 10, 000s of people who have opened their eyes and even if they're not hard bitcoiners, they now own bitcoin.

Uh, so that's huge. We have other content creators also who've had an impact. We have now once or twice per, yeah, about twice per year we have like, uh, A small, uh, merchant, uh, like, conference events, so for merchants to accept Bitcoin. we have these people who are active and who are doing things. Now, actually, yeah, there's something new that's coming up here, uh, literally in Plovdiv is we have this, um, this, uh, great dudes who have this, um, um, it's an application for, uh, ordering food, like takeaway and, uh, what is it, like,

Knut: like Glovo or

George: yeah, yeah, like Glovo, um, but, um, but, um, But it's not like this big corporate thing that, but, but still, it's a very good product and they've integrated accepting Bitcoin there for quite some time now they've made it even easier and they've introduced.

So we have like about, I think it's 15 restaurants in Sofia and like five or so in Plovdiv where through their system, you can order food. And pay with Bitcoin online, or you can also go in the restaurant and pay in Bitcoin online, and they just, um, they just won a, uh, grant from, uh, Bitcoin Beach, uh, and, uh, they're going to use the grant, uh, to, well, the attempt is really to start like a small circular economy, if you would Um, where, so if you go, uh, to one of those restaurants and pay with Bitcoin, you're going to get sats back 10%, and then, um, the restaurant is also going to get 10 percent sats back.

And if you order food, um, through their app, also the driver is going to get, uh, some sats back. And, uh, we've just been discussing, because obviously we're partnering with them, with the football club, so we'll push this out, because some of the restaurants that are there are our, I mean, basically, like, we have two restaurants locally that are partners, we got them in, right, obviously, in the deal, um, So, so that is also like, for me, it's like super cool because now for so far, the club has been pushing Bitcoin.

Now we have two of our restaurant partners who are themselves like hard Botevists, Botefans, and like they're popular. Now they're starting to accept Bitcoin in their, in their two restaurants, right? And they're going to have their campaigns. We're going to push them more. So, um, so I'm really excited about this and fingers crossed this goes well.

We have good metrics because if we have good metrics. Yeah, we'll look for ways to grow this. So there's a lot of grassroots things happening, which I love. On the top, nothing.

Knut: It's the way it's supposed to be.

George: But it's the way it is. Yeah, it's a better

Luke: Yeah it really seems like that you get one or two of these big anchors like like for example you you guys have had that had that conference last couple of years but now with both of Plavdev now Bulgaria is really got a couple of big anchors. Big relative in relative terms, uh, and all of this other stuff can, can start coming up around it.

And, uh, love, love to see it. I mean, he, I mean here, here with Rega, there's Honey Budger has been going for a really long time, and I, and I even think that they are honest about, we, we would, we just talked to, to Max, uh, about this, uh, from Defi and like yeah, there's not much other adoption in, in Lavia and this conference has been going on for a long time.

Exactly. And so it's just like, uh, it's, it's, it's great to see, uh, in, in your case, in Bulgaria's case, that there's, there's more of this, uh, picking up. So, yeah,

George: Well, I think it's really, in our case, I don't know, like it's grassroots, like I said, and I really believe grassroots and then Rio or for the vast majority, Rio adoption comes permissionless life. It comes like it's not forced. You know, there is this point where, okay, there's Plamen, like, he got the inspiration, he makes his content, he does the conferences, Like, our owner, he sees this opportunity for Bitcoin, for the club. He takes the action, right? So it's, it's not like, so it's individuals, right? Taking actions and then, as you have, you know, several of them, maybe others get inspired or get ideas going and that's how the magic happens. And, uh, yeah. Excited about it.

Wrapping Up

Luke: it's awesome, man. Great hear your story. So, was, uh, was there anything else that you wanted to discuss or bring up on this topic?

George: no, I mean, what I would say is absolutely, uh, Please, uh, you know, Knut, you've been, but please, you're absolutely welcome, Luke, join as well, like, both of you should come

Knut: Absolutely. Highly recommend it. I had a great time in Bulgaria, and it's such a fascinating country, it's such a rich history and such a beautiful place, and the food is great, and it's very affordable, it's very, yeah, very

George: like, I have people who come in Plogis specifically to, like, nomads, spend, like, a or a month. So, so please enjoy, visit the game. come spend in the restaurants where they accept Bitcoin, follow us on social media for sure, so, X and Nostr,

Luke: Yes, all the details, please.

Knut: And also like one of the eras, uh, infamous eras of Bulgaria is the commie era, right? Where you can see the impact that system had on the country and how horrid it is. Uh, so it's, it's, uh, that might not be a good pitch for, uh, but that's

Luke: Let him, let him share his social medias, Knut.

George: wait, do you have, do you have something

Knut: no, no, I think like the, The point I was getting to is, if you get to Bulgaria, don't only go to Sofia, go around the rest of the country, because it's not as raped as that town was by, as that city was by communism, all this concrete, yeah, yeah,

George: yeah, the,

Knut: you can really see the impact there. I'm not, um, yeah, this came out totally wrong, but I'm trying to, I'm trying to, To hype Bulgaria here, but also there's a historical lesson to be learned in the country, for sure,

George: sure. It's really like, there's so many different things there. So there's the communist part, there's like fucking amazing nature, there's like

Knut: is everything, yeah.

George: if you're into hiking, there's like, just like from Sofia, what I love about Sofia, like just last week, twice, end of the day, I'm like fucked up, like tired of computer.

40 minutes up and I'm up in the mountains, hiking, in like 2000 meters altitude. Uh, so, so there's all these like super cool things, but on the socials, yeah, we're on Twitter. we're on Nostr, uh, so Twitter is, um, botif underscore, uh, en, on Nostr, uh, we are just botif. Yeah, you can find us.

Luke: going say you're NPUB? No, no, no,

George: I'm still learning it, okay?

Luke: we'll post, you're still learning, we'll post all the details in the show

George: Yes. Yes. And feel free to also check out our website. We have, due to our El Salvadorian, um, kind of project, we already have a Salvadorian website, which is very easy to remember, botif. sv. So you can go there and from there you'll find all the links and information.

Luke: Absolutely fantastic.

Knut: Great! Get the inverse of Clown World. This is a shill. BitcoinInfinityStore. com And thank you very much for coming on,

George: was great having

Knut: Great to have

Luke: George, thanks so much. This has been Bitcoin Infinity Show. Thank you for

@ 6ad3e2a3:c90b7740

I have a thesis as to why things have gone so off the rails in the United States (and beyond), but it might not be what you think. Most of what we decry as insane and inexplicable policies are but symptoms of an underlying process. That process is the creation of money via fiat, the way in which the money propagates through the system and how it distorts the incentives of so many who are beholden to it.

Let’s start at the beginning. New money is created via debt issuance all the time. It’s why the US government is nearly $36 trillion in debt — it issues bonds and owes the bond buyers the interest and principle on it. “Issuing debt” is a fancy way of saying “borrowing money.” The US government borrows from its citizens, corporations, geopolitical allies (and even adversaries) to finance its operations.

If there is insufficient demand for its debt — if not enough people want to loan it money, it can raise rates, i.e., promise to pay more interest so as to entice more lenders, or just have the Federal Reserve buy the debt (either via its primary dealer banks or in some cases directly) and place the assets (bonds) on its balance sheet. US government debt (promise to pay) is an asset, and so the Fed can put that promise on its balance sheet.

The result of new money coming into the system via government borrowing is inflation. There is simply more money chasing the same amount of goods and services, so the prices for them rise. If while injecting more money into the economy the government were simultaneously injecting more goods and services, there wouldn’t be inflation, but unfortunately while you can always print more money out of thin air, you can’t print more energy, grass-fed steak or expert medical care.

But the inflation of the money supply and its concomitant debasement doesn’t happen all at once. Initially when there’s more money injected into the system, those who are closest to the new supply (banks through which it passes, their largest accounts, investors and asset holders) spend it and benefit from it before its inflationary effect has fully taken hold. This is known as the Cantillon Effect. Eventually inflation drives ordinary wages up too, but not enough to offset higher prices, and only after the Cantillonaire class has disproportionately benefited.

The unfairness of this arrangement is evident enough, but the second and third order effects are far more sinister. When the government can essentially borrow (print) money to finance whatever it wants, whether the Iraq War and its military contractors, “free” mRNA shots (Pfizer made nearly $100B off those contracts) or any other policy that benefits cronies and favored corporations, there are going to be a lot of resources and effort devoted to getting in good with the decision makers in the government.

Put differently, if I run a small business, I can only earn money if I offer my customers something they value enough to pay more for it than it cost me to produce. If I hire you, you’ll need to add value to the business and also hope it can continuing adding enough value to customers to pay your salary. We have to work for it.

But the government can simply print it, and in infinite supply. Are you better off starting a business (or working for one) that relies on adding value to its customers in a competitive environment or one that taps the infinite font of government money?

People respond to incentives, and as a result of the untethered money printing which began in earnest in 1971 when Richard Nixon took us off the gold standard (essentially a default caused in part by the cost of the Vietnam War), financial services experienced explosive growth, making up a larger share of the economy than at any time since the eve of the Great Depression. The best and brightest in large numbers eschewed value-creating careers in fields like engineering for jobs in finance. Why try to innovate and compete in the ruthless marketplace if you can join forces with the Cantillonaires, quickly become one and amass generational wealth via passive asset holding?

But it’s not just the bankers and the asset holders. In the scheme of things that theft off the top and upward redistribution is almost benign. Where things start to go seriously off the rails is that people cannot save in an inflating currency, and so they are forced to buy financial instruments like stocks and bonds. (Poor people can’t afford to do so, try to save in a debasing currency and usually stay poor and stuck.) But even middle and upper middle class people who get a small piece of the Cantillon pie, as their asset values rise on account of the increased money supply (to offset their lagging wages), have a new problem: most lack the time, skill or inclination to hold down a second job managing their investments.

As a result, they either lost money in the markets (selling when the market dropped, buying the top when everyone had already made money) or paying exorbitant fees to brokers who added little value except to take the stress of managing it out of their hands.

Eventually, investors figured out low-fee passive index funds outperform brokers, and so millions piled into them. As a result, companies like Black Rock, Vanguard and Fidelity absorbed money flows in the trillions of dollars, giving them outsized power. If they divested from a company its stock would tank, and its executives would miss their marks. If Blackrock and its ilk decided every company needed to be ESG or DEI compliant, the CEOs had little choice but to follow suit or they would be replaced. Consequently, you had a few elites, essentially dictating policy for the entire economy.

But back to that $36 trillion in debt, roughly a quarter of which was racked up during ill-conceived wars of choice in the Middle East. A country with that level of debt can’t honor its obligations over the medium and especially longer term. The elites know this — they know the promised social security, pensions, healthcare entitlements, etc. can never be delivered in the way they’re expected. Via inflation they might be delivered nominally, i.e., you might get the number you were promised, but no chance you’d ever get the purchasing power that number represented when the promise was made. When groceries cost a thousand dollars, a million dollar pension doesn’t go far.

What that means is the wealth people think is coming to them is not there. Even the wealth represented by the digital bits in your bank account isn’t there. Sure, if you took it out and spent it tomorrow, you could get 2024-level value for it, but even Bernie Madoff’s first clients to withdraw were able to get their money out. The problem is that collectively the digital bits do not remotely have the purchasing power they purport.

The elites need to do something about this, or there will be a French Revolution-style reckoning for them. They looted society’s collective wealth, and they need to assert control over the fallout. And they need to make sure the fallout is delayed. They need to keep people divided and fearful of demanding what they were promised.

The fear-mongering takes many forms (pandemics, climage change terrorism, white supremacy!), but foremost among them is to cast anyone who purports to reveal the unfair arrangement to the people as an enemy. “Populist” candidates must be smeared as “racist” or “fascist” and deemed unacceptable to large swaths of the population. Luckily for the oligarchs they had a few aces in the hole to enforce this perception. First, they had the megaphone of legacy media and also large centralized social media companies like Facebook and Twitter on which they could lean to suppress content that undermined their aims.

Second, via the centralized investment firms, they could dictate terms and initiatives to large publicly traded corporations and the officers of said corporations could reward compliant employees with promotions and power. Anyone who worked in those spheres therefore was selected for belief in the corporate-media dictated narratives.

Third, via their control of academia (donations from academia to the Blackrock-favored democratic party outpace donations to the disfavored one by a factor of 10), they could indoctrinate college students, reward the ones for whom it takes with jobs and social acceptance. Moreover, they also encouraged more people to go to college than ever before, creating an overproduction of elites, and a large indebted, indoctrinated wave of young people who didn’t have much to show for the debt they took on. That made them more desperate to stay in the good graces of the oligarchy, more compliant lest they lose the small income stream they were able to find in low-level managerial roles. Finally, as a reward for following the path, they were given status as educated people, those who had mastered the protocols of the elite.

Things like using the proper pronouns, avoiding the forbidden words for which a less savvy person would be cancelled and having the right beliefs (like climate change being an existential threat, more on that below) signaled moral and class superiority. Even if the electrician or plumber made more money than them, offered a service that provided real value to people, he did not know increasingly labyrinthine protocols for navigating elite discourse.

The more successful members of this class have all of these incentives plus a real paycheck, and they and those aspiring to join them formed a strong and influential bulwark against the rising discontent of working class people struggling with rising costs and feeling the disdain of elites who saw them as “deplorables” and “racists.”

The climate change agenda — promulgated religiously via academia and corporate media — was especially powerful because it instilled fear, a sense of dwindling resources and an incentive to consume less. That last part was especially crucial because if the digital bits in people’s accounts were going to fall far short of their purported purchasing power, getting an army of people to voluntarily reduce their power consumption (and angrily demand it of others) killed two birds with one stone. Not only would they have a ready-made excuse for the lack of promised power (purchasing power is the ability to wield energy, and “energy” and “power” are essentially synonymous), but they would also have a reason to bar those who did not voluntarily relinquish it from enjoying its full use.

Once the oligarchs had successfully indoctrinated a large swath of the population to be in debt, desperate to hang onto their trivially replaceable jobs, believe power consumption was not only wrong but an existential threat and anyone advocating otherwise was racist, fascist and morally inferior, they could sell them on ever-increasing top-down government control for the greater good. No matter how draconian the measures — covid lockdowns, forced injections, mask mandates for toddlers — the indoctrinated (and terrified) subject would not only go along but enforce those edicts on others.

Anyone refusing to go along would be accused of heresy, so to speak, and mobs of eager acolytes would be quick to call for his excommunication. If you think this is hyperbole, you are probably memory-holing the covid era wherein some of the most prominent celebrities and politicians eagerly advocated for those who declined pharmaceutical conglomerate chemicals to be barred from participating in society, put in camps and left to die should they need medical attention.

Of course, maintaining total control over the population is difficult, especially as economic conditions worsen, and those who are not totally beholden to the cantillonaire corporate class and who bypassed the university indoctrination complex gain awareness via uncensored niches of social media and ignorantly trusting their own eyes and ears. To that end, pushes for increased censorship were needed, as well as ever novel social wedge issues to divide the populace. On their face insane policies like letting biological males compete in women’s sports and encouraging minors to have sex changes served to further divide people and also served as a loyalty test of sorts. If you could advocate for Lia Thomas dominating collegiate women’s swimming, for example, you demonstrated your bona fides as a true comrade to the educated class.

Of course, suggesting something like this or advocating for sex changes among 12 year olds would have landed you in a straitjacket 15 years ago, but that was the point. If you were not willing to state a woman could have a penis and men could get pregnant you were not sufficiently loyal to the cause. Perhaps that’s a little too strong, but at a minimum you could not vociferously object to these absurd precepts and still expect to keep your job.

As such we now have a wide swath of educated, above-average IQ, ostensibly otherwise sensible Americans cheering on the fomenting of World War III in Ukraine, justifying ideological censorship contra the very First Amendment of the United States Constitution, unchecked illegal immigration irrespective of financial and social cost, among other insane policies of which virtually no one had been in favor when they identified as garden-variety liberals 10 years ago.

They have been bribed not to see what’s happening in front of their faces, not to remember how their rights were violated during covid, not to acknowledge the myriad lies to their faces like “the lab leak is a conspiracy theory,” “Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election,” that “Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation” that they only needed to take the vaccine to avoid covid, that covid was a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” that Joe Biden was “sharp as a tack” and anyone saying otherwise was a conspiracy theorist.

I could go on for pages about the lies and hoaxes, but you get the point. The problem is via money printing, the oligarchy has essentially unlimited power to astroturf all manner of absurd agendas and incentivize tens of millions to go along via social and professional bribes. Of course the truth will come out eventually because it always does. Lies can carry the day so long as enough energy is pumped into the system to sustain them, but the truth is like gravity — when your plane runs out of fuel it will necessarily fall to the ground.

So this is where we find ourselves — a half awake populace of “conspiracy theorists,” “racists,” “anti-vaxxers,” “xenophobes” and “cranks” pointing out the unfathomable and mind-boggling destruction taking place in our cities, schools and once esteemed institutions, being dismissed, ignored and vilified by mobs of head-in-the-sand loyalists bribed not to see the blue whale in the room, the unsustainable, immoral and unholy assault upon the foundations of civilization itself, right in front of their faces.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

início

"Vocês vêem? Vêem a história? Vêem alguma coisa? Me parece que estou tentando lhes contar um sonho -- fazendo uma tentativa inútil, porque nenhum relato de sonho pode transmitir a sensação de sonho, aquela mistura de absurdo, surpresa e espanto numa excitação de revolta tentando se impôr, aquela noção de ser tomado pelo incompreensível que é da própria essência dos sonhos..."

Ele ficou em silêncio por alguns instantes.

"... Não, é impossível; é impossível transmitir a sensação viva de qualquer época determinada de nossa existência -- aquela que constitui a sua verdade, o seu significado, a sua essência sutil e contundente. É impossível. Vivemos, como sonhamos -- sozinhos..."

• Livros mencionados por Olavo de Carvalho
• Antiga homepage Olavo de Carvalho
• Bitcoin explicado de um jeito correto e inteligível
• Reclamações

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• Nostr
• Bitcoin
• How IPFS is broken
• Programming quibbles
• Economics
• Open-source software

---

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@ 6871d8df:4a9396c1

In an era where data seems to be as valuable as currency, the prevailing trend in AI starkly contrasts with the concept of personal data ownership. The explosion of AI and the ensuing race have made it easy to overlook where the data is coming from. The current model, dominated by big tech players, involves collecting vast amounts of user data and selling it to AI companies for training LLMs. Reddit recently penned a 60 million dollar deal, Google guards and mines Youtube, and more are going this direction. But is that their data to sell? Yes, it's on their platforms, but without the users to generate it, what would they monetize? To me, this practice raises significant ethical questions, as it assumes that user data is a commodity that companies can exploit at will.

The heart of the issue lies in the ownership of data. Why, in today's digital age, do we not retain ownership of our data? Why can't our data follow us, under our control, to wherever we want to go? These questions echo the broader sentiment that while some in the tech industry — such as the blockchain-first crypto bros — recognize the importance of data ownership, their "blockchain for everything solutions," to me, fall significantly short in execution.

Reddit further complicates this with its current move to IPO, which, on the heels of the large data deal, might reinforce the mistaken belief that user-generated data is a corporate asset. Others, no doubt, will follow suit. This underscores the urgent need for a paradigm shift towards recognizing and respecting user data as personal property.

In my perfect world, the digital landscape would undergo a revolutionary transformation centered around the empowerment and sovereignty of individual data ownership. Platforms like Twitter, Reddit, Yelp, YouTube, and Stack Overflow, integral to our digital lives, would operate on a fundamentally different premise: user-owned data.

In this envisioned future, data ownership would not just be a concept but a practice, with public and private keys ensuring the authenticity and privacy of individual identities. This model would eliminate the private data silos that currently dominate, where companies profit from selling user data without consent. Instead, data would traverse a decentralized protocol akin to the internet, prioritizing user control and transparency.

The cornerstone of this world would be a meritocratic digital ecosystem. Success for companies would hinge on their ability to leverage user-owned data to deliver unparalleled value rather than their capacity to gatekeep and monetize information. If a company breaks my trust, I can move to a competitor, and my data, connections, and followers will come with me. This shift would herald an era where consent, privacy, and utility define the digital experience, ensuring that the benefits of technology are equitably distributed and aligned with the users' interests and rights.

The conversation needs to shift fundamentally. We must challenge this trajectory and advocate for a future where data ownership and privacy are not just ideals but realities. If we continue on our current path without prioritizing individual data rights, the future of digital privacy and autonomy is bleak. Big tech's dominance allows them to treat user data as a commodity, potentially selling and exploiting it without consent. This imbalance has already led to users being cut off from their digital identities and connections when platforms terminate accounts, underscoring the need for a digital ecosystem that empowers user control over data. Without changing direction, we risk a future where our content — and our freedoms by consequence — are controlled by a few powerful entities, threatening our rights and the democratic essence of the digital realm. We must advocate for a shift towards data ownership by individuals to preserve our digital freedoms and democracy.

@ e372d24b:e25df41f

The evolution of Bitcoin and the spread of literacy are two revolutions that have reshaped society, challenging norms and democratizing access to power and knowledge. Both started as exclusive domains: literacy confined to the elite and Bitcoin, a niche technology understood by few. Yet, their journeys towards mass adoption share striking similarities and transformative impacts.

**Gutenberg Meets Satoshi: Catalysts of Change The printing press and Bitcoin technology both played pivotal roles in democratizing their respective domains. Gutenberg's press made knowledge accessible, just as Bitcoin exchanges made digital currency available to the masses. These innovations broke down barriers, spreading like wildfire and challenging centralized power.

**A Rebellion Against Centralization The essence of both literacy and Bitcoin is the fight against centralization. They shifted power from the few to the many, empowering individuals and fostering a more distributed, egalitarian society. This decentralization challenged established hierarchies, whether in the form of monarchs and religious leaders or modern financial institutions and governments.

**Bridging Divides: The Ongoing Struggle Despite their successes, both movements face challenges in achieving universal access. The digital divide for Bitcoin mirrors the literacy gap, highlighting the need for continued efforts in education and technology to ensure that the benefits of these revolutions reach all corners of the globe.

**Conclusion: A Compact Legacy of Empowerment Bitcoin and literacy are more than just about transactions or reading; they're about reshaping power dynamics and promoting freedom, knowledge, and autonomy. Their stories remind us of the power of innovation to drive societal progress and the ongoing quest for a more inclusive world. As we forge ahead, these parallel journeys continue to inspire a future where access to knowledge and financial empowerment is a right, not a privilege.

@ 32b3653a:500d7f43

Opinion about HTX: Buy Crypto & Bitcoin (android)

Caution should be exercised when dealing with investment firms , as i unfortunately experienced a significant loss with an online investment company . With the intervention by Againstcon. com , i was able to successfully track and recover my funds . Their intervention was pivotal in resolving the situation effectively

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

@ 8ce092d8:950c24ad

Overview

1. Introduction
2. Model Types
3. Training (Data Collection and Config Settings)
4. Probability Viewing: AI Inspector
5. Match
6. Cheat Sheet

I. Introduction

AI Arena is the first game that combines human and artificial intelligence collaboration.

AI learns your skills through "imitation learning."

Official Resources

1. Official Documentation (Must Read): Everything You Need to Know About AI Arena

Watch the 2-minute video in the documentation to quickly understand the basic flow of the game. 2. Official Play-2-Airdrop competition FAQ Site https://aiarena.notion.site/aiarena/Gateway-to-the-Arena-52145e990925499d95f2fadb18a24ab0 3. Official Discord (Must Join): https://discord.gg/aiarenaplaytest for the latest announcements or seeking help. The team will also have a exclusive channel there. 4. Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@aiarena because the game has built-in tutorials, you can choose to watch videos.

What is this game about?

1. Although categorized as a platform fighting game, the core is a probability-based strategy game.
2. Warriors take actions based on probabilities on the AI Inspector dashboard, competing against opponents.
3. The game does not allow direct manual input of probabilities for each area but inputs information through data collection and establishes models by adjusting parameters.
4. Data collection emulates fighting games, but training can be completed using a Dummy As long as you can complete the in-game tutorial, you can master the game controls.

II. Model Types

Before training, there are three model types to choose from: Simple Model Type, Original Model Type, and Advanced Model Type.

It is recommended to try the Advanced Model Type after completing at least one complete training with the Simple Model Type and gaining some understanding of the game.

Simple Model Type

The Simple Model is akin to completing a form, and the training session is comparable to filling various sections of that form.

This model has 30 buckets. Each bucket can be seen as telling the warrior what action to take in a specific situation. There are 30 buckets, meaning 30 different scenarios. Within the same bucket, the probabilities for direction or action are the same.

For example: What should I do when I'm off-stage — refer to the "Recovery (you off-stage)" bucket.

For all buckets, refer to this official documentation:

https://docs.aiarena.io/arenadex/game-mechanics/tabular-model-v2

Video (no sound): The entire training process for all buckets

https://youtu.be/1rfRa3WjWEA

Game version 2024.1.10. The method of saving is outdated. Please refer to the game updates.

Advanced Model Type

The "Original Model Type" and "Advanced Model Type" are based on Machine Learning, which is commonly referred to as combining with AI.

The Original Model Type consists of only one bucket, representing the entire map. If you want the AI to learn different scenarios, you need to choose a "Focus Area" to let the warrior know where to focus. A single bucket means that a slight modification can have a widespread impact on the entire model. This is where the "Advanced Model Type" comes in.

The "Advanced Model Type" can be seen as a combination of the "Original Model Type" and the "Simple Model Type". The Advanced Model Type divides the map into 8 buckets. Each bucket can use many "Focus Area." For a detailed explanation of the 8 buckets and different Focus Areas, please refer to the tutorial page (accessible in the Advanced Model Type, after completing a training session, at the top left of the Advanced Config, click on "Tutorial").

III. Training (Data Collection and Config Settings)

Training Process:

1. Collect Data
2. Set Parameters, Train, and Save
3. Repeat Step 1 until the Model is Complete

Training the Simple Model Type is the easiest to start with; refer to the video above for a detailed process.

Training the Advanced Model Type offers more possibilities through the combination of "Focus Area" parameters, providing a higher upper limit. While the Original Model Type has great potential, it's harder to control. Therefore, this section focuses on the "Advanced Model Type."

1. What Kind of Data to Collect

1. High-Quality Data: Collect purposeful data. Garbage in, garbage out. Only collect the necessary data; don't collect randomly. It's recommended to use Dummy to collect data. However, don't pursue perfection; through parameter adjustments, AI has a certain level of fault tolerance.
2. Balanced Data: Balance your dataset. In simple terms, if you complete actions on the left side a certain number of times, also complete a similar number on the right side. While data imbalance can be addressed through parameter adjustments (see below), it's advised not to have this issue during data collection.
3. Moderate Amount: A single training will include many individual actions. Collect data for each action 1-10 times. Personally, it's recommended to collect data 2-3 times for a single action. If the effect of a single training is not clear, conduct a second (or even third) training with the same content, but with different parameter settings.

2. What to Collect (and Focus Area Selection)

Game actions mimic fighting games, consisting of 4 directions + 6 states (Idle, Jump, Attack, Grab, Special, Shield). Directions can be combined into ↗, ↘, etc. These directions and states can then be combined into different actions.

To make "Focus Area" effective, you need to collect data in training that matches these parameters. For example, for "Distance to Opponent", you need to collect data when close to the opponent and also when far away. * Note: While you can split into multiple training sessions, it's most effective to cover different situations within a single training.

Refer to the Simple Config, categorize the actions you want to collect, and based on the game scenario, classify them into two categories: "Movement" and "Combat."

Movement-Based Actions

Action Collection

When the warrior is offstage, regardless of where the opponent is, we require the warrior to return to the stage to prevent self-destruction.

This involves 3 aerial buckets: 5 (Near Blast Zone), 7 (Under Stage), and 8 (Side Of Stage).

* Note: The background comes from the Tutorial mentioned earlier. The arrows in the image indicate the direction of the action and are for reference only. * Note: Action collection should be clean; do not collect actions that involve leaving the stage.

Config Settings

In the Simple Config, you can directly choose "Movement" in it. However, for better customization, it's recommended to use the Advanced Config directly. - Intensity: The method for setting Intensity will be introduced separately later. - Buckets: As shown in the image, choose the bucket you are training. - Focus Area: Position-based parameters: - Your position (must) - Raycast Platform Distance, Raycast Platform Type (optional, generally choose these in Bucket 7)

Combat-Based Actions

The goal is to direct attacks quickly and effectively towards the opponent, which is the core of game strategy.

This involves 5 buckets: - 2 regular situations - In the air: 6 (Safe Zone) - On the ground: 4 (Opponent Active) - 3 special situations on the ground: - 1 Projectile Active - 2 Opponent Knockback - 3 Opponent Stunned

2 Regular Situations

In the in-game tutorial, we learned how to perform horizontal attacks. However, in the actual game, directions expand to 8 dimensions. Imagine having 8 relative positions available for launching hits against the opponent. Our task is to design what action to use for attack or defense at each relative position.

Focus Area - Basic (generally select all) - Angle to opponent
- Distance to opponent - Discrete Distance: Choosing this option helps better differentiate between closer and farther distances from the opponent. As shown in the image, red indicates a relatively close distance, and green indicates a relatively distant distance.

• Advanced: Other commonly used parameters
• Direction: different facings to opponent
• Your Elemental Gauge and Discrete Elementals: Considering the special's charge
• Opponent action: The warrior will react based on the opponent's different actions.
• Your action: Your previous action. Choose this if teaching combos.

3 Special Situations on the Ground

Projectile Active, Opponent Stunned, Opponent Knockback These three buckets can be referenced in the Simple Model Type video. The parameter settings approach is the same as Opponent Active/Safe Zone.

For Projectile Active, in addition to the parameters based on combat, to track the projectile, you also need to select "Raycast Projectile Distance" and "Raycast Projectile On Target."

3. Setting "Intensity"

Resources

• The "Tutorial" mentioned earlier explains these parameters.
• Official Config Document (2022.12.24): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1adXwvDHEnrVZ5bUClWQoBQ8ETrSSKgG5q48YrogaFJs/edit

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TL;DR:

Epochs: - Adjust to fewer epochs if learning is insufficient, increase for more learning.

Batch Size: - Set to the minimum (16) if data is precise but unbalanced, or just want it to learn fast - Increase (e.g., 64) if data is slightly imprecise but balanced. - If both imprecise and unbalanced, consider retraining.

Learning Rate: - Maximize (0.01) for more learning but a risk of forgetting past knowledge. - Minimize for more accurate learning with less impact on previous knowledge.

Lambda: - Reduce for prioritizing learning new things.

Data Cleaning: - Enable "Remove Sparsity" unless you want AI to learn idleness. - For special cases, like teaching the warrior to use special moves when idle, refer to this tutorial video: https://discord.com/channels/1140682688651612291/1140683283626201098/1195467295913431111

Personal Experience: - Initial training with settings: 125 epochs, batch size 16, learning rate 0.01, lambda 0, data cleaning enabled. - Prioritize Multistream, sometimes use Oversampling. - Fine-tune subsequent training based on the mentioned theories.

IV. Probability Viewing: AI Inspector

The dashboard consists of "Direction + Action." Above the dashboard, you can see the "Next Action" – the action the warrior will take in its current state. The higher the probability, the more likely the warrior is to perform that action, indicating a quicker reaction. It's essential to note that when checking the Direction, the one with the highest visual representation may not have the highest numerical value. To determine the actual value, hover the mouse over the graphical representation, as shown below, where the highest direction is "Idle."

In the map, you can drag the warrior to view the probabilities of the warrior in different positions. Right-click on the warrior with the mouse to change the warrior's facing. The status bar below can change the warrior's state on the map.

When training the "Opponent Stunned, Opponent Knockback" bucket, you need to select the status below the opponent's status bar. If you are focusing on "Opponent action" in the Focus Zone, choose the action in the opponent's status bar. If you are focusing on "Your action" in the Focus Zone, choose the action in your own status bar. When training the "Projectile Active" Bucket, drag the projectile on the right side of the dashboard to check the status.

Next

The higher the probability, the faster the reaction. However, be cautious when the action probability reaches 100%. This may cause the warrior to be in a special case of "State Transition," resulting in unnecessary "Idle" states.

Explanation: In each state a fighter is in, there are different "possible transitions". For example, from falling state you cannot do low sweep because low sweep requires you to be on the ground. For the shield state, we do not allow you to directly transition to headbutt. So to do headbutt you have to first exit to another state and then do it from there (assuming that state allows you to do headbutt). This is the reason the fighter runs because "run" action is a valid state transition from shield. Source

V. Learn from Matches

After completing all the training, your model is preliminarily finished—congratulations! The warrior will step onto the arena alone and embark on its debut!

Next, we will learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the warrior from battles to continue refining the warrior's model.

In matches, besides appreciating the performance, pay attention to the following:

1. Movement, i.e., Off the Stage: Observe how the warrior gets eliminated. Is it due to issues in the action settings at a certain position, or is it a normal death caused by a high percentage? The former is what we need to avoid and optimize.

2. Combat: Analyze both sides' actions carefully. Observe which actions you and the opponent used in different states. Check which of your hits are less effective, and how does the opponent handle different actions, etc.

The approach to battle analysis is similar to the thought process in the "Training", helping to have a more comprehensive understanding of the warrior's performance and making targeted improvements.

VI. Cheat Sheet

Training 1. Click "Collect" to collect actions. 2. "Map - Data Limit" is more user-friendly. Most players perform initial training on the "Arena" map. 3. Switch between the warrior and the dummy: Tab key (keyboard) / Home key (controller). 4. Use "Collect" to make the opponent loop a set of actions. 5. Instantly move the warrior to a specific location: Click "Settings" - SPAWN - Choose the desired location on the map - On. Press the Enter key (keyboard) / Start key (controller) during training.

Inspector 1. Right-click on the fighter to change their direction. Drag the fighter and observe the changes in different positions and directions. 2. When satisfied with the training, click "Save." 3. In "Sparring" and "Simulation," use "Current Working Model." 4. If satisfied with a model, then click "compete." The model used in the rankings is the one marked as "competing."

Sparring / Ranked 1. Use the Throneroom map only for the top 2 or top 10 rankings. 2. There is a 30-second cooldown between matches. The replays are played for any match. Once the battle begins, you can see the winner on the leaderboard or by right-clicking the page - Inspect - Console. Also, if you encounter any errors or bugs, please send screenshots of the console to the Discord server.

Good luck! See you on the arena!

@ 9358c676:9f2912fc

OBJECTIVES

To establish a guideline for the management of Acute Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) in our center, for both outpatient and hospitalized patients, with the aim of:

• Reducing morbidity and mortality associated with the condition.
• Improving the quality of medical care and optimizing hospital resources.
• Delaying the progression of antimicrobial resistance.

SCOPE

All patients over 16 years of age diagnosed with Acute Community-Acquired Pneumonia who are being followed by our institution in an outpatient or inpatient setting.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Physicians from the Medical Clinic, Medical Emergency, Coronary Unit, and Intensive Care Service. Nursing Coordination. Pharmacy Service. Infection Control Committee.

REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Adults. Recommendations for its management. Lopardo et al. MEDICINA (Buenos Aires) 2015; 75: 245-257. Argentine Society of Infectiology. ISSN 0025-7680
2. Diagnosis and Treatment of Adults with Community-acquired Pneumonia. An Official Clinical Practice Guideline of the American Thoracic Society and Infectious Diseases Society of America. 2019. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Volume 200 Number 7 | October 1, 2019. DOI: 10.1164 rccm.201908-1581ST
3. ERS/ESICM/ESCMID/ALAT guidelines for the management of severe community-acquired pneumonia. Intensive Care Med (2023) 49:615–632 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-023-07033-8
4. Antimicrobial resistance. WHO. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial resistance
5. Internal Medicine. Farreras-Rosman. Volume I. Elsevier. 2008 Edition.
6. Considerations for the Responsible Use of Antibiotics in COVID-19. Argentine Society of Infectiology. 2020. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BmXD5x6rEpSqDIc8urccdqLcZKkP3U7X/view
7. Penicillin Allergy. Castells M. New England Journal of Medicine, 381(24), 2338–2351. doi:10.1056 nejmra1807761

INTRODUCTION

Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, affecting patients of all ages and with various risk factors. Proper management in both outpatient and hospital settings is crucial for improving clinical outcomes and reducing associated complications.

This document aims to standardize and optimize the treatment of pneumonia based on the most current evidence and recommendations from leading scientific organizations. It seeks to be a practical tool for healthcare professionals, providing a clear and concise approach to the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of patients with pneumonia.

FOUNDATIONS. HOSPITAL SITUATION ANALYSIS:

• Pneumonias represent a significant burden on the healthcare system due to their high prevalence and potential severity, underscoring the need for a standardized approach.
• A clinical guideline facilitates decision-making, ensuring that all healthcare professionals follow a uniform protocol that integrates best practices, thereby reducing variability in treatments. This allows for better resource utilization, optimizing antibiotic use and reducing the emergence of antimicrobial resistance.
• Antimicrobial resistance has been proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and related organizations as the leading cause of death and hospital expenditure by the year 2050.
• Pneumonias in our center, in their various presentations, have shown significant prevalence in hospitalizations according to measurements taken in 2024.
• In our center, antibiotics, as a whole, have been the main source of financial losses related to drugs during the billing cycle from June 2023 to July 2024.

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SITUATION:

Pneumonias represent a global incidence of 1.26 cases per 1000 inhabitants. It has been documented in some centers that this incidence can increase in patients over 65 years of age, representing 34 cases per 1000 inhabitants. Outpatient mortality varies between 0.1% and 5%, but can reach up to 50% in hospitalized patients, especially those requiring Intensive Care Unit stay.

The main risk factors for developing pneumonia are:

• Chronic Heart Disease.
• Chronic Respiratory Disease.
• Chronic Kidney Disease.
• Advanced-stage HIV infection.
• Immunosuppressed. Solid Organ Transplant. Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.
• Diabetes mellitus.
• Neoplasms.
• Smoking.
• Chronic use of Corticosteroids or Proton Pump Inhibitors.
• Multiple Myeloma and Hypogammaglobulinemia.
• Anatomical or Functional Asplenia.

The main causative agents of acute community-acquired pneumonia in our setting are:

• Respiratory Viruses (Influenza, SARS-CoV2, RSV).
• Streptococcus pneumoniae.
• Haemophilus influenzae.
• Staphylococcus aureus.
• Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydophila pneumoniae.

It should be noted that Streptococcus pneumoniae shows a good sensitivity pattern to penicillin and continues to be the most frequent causative microorganism. Haemophilus influenzae only shows beta-lactamase production in 10% to 23% of cases. Staphylococcus aureus in our setting has a low incidence of methicillin resistance, although this possibility should be considered in certain situations and severe clinical presentations. Given these considerations, beta-lactams remain the first-line treatment.

Regarding Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates, they will only be relevant in patients with risk factors such as bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, prior treatment with corticosteroids, or broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Emerging pathogens of some relevance include the eventual emergence of cases caused by Leptospira interrogans, Legionella pneumophila, and Hantavirus. These cases should always be associated with a specific epidemiological link.

DIAGNOSIS

The diagnosis of pneumonia is based on clinical and imaging criteria. For the diagnosis of Acute Community-Acquired Pneumonia, we will consider:

Symptoms and Clinical Signs (at least 1 of the following): * Fever. * Altered general condition. * Cough. * Sputum production. * Chest pain. * Dyspnea. * Hemoptysis.

plus

Radiopacity on Chest X-ray (Alveolar consolidation with or without air bronchogram, interstitial pattern, bronchiectasis, cavitation, pleural effusion, new radiopacity, etc.). It is always recommended to request both frontal and lateral views.

Chest CT remains a method with greater sensitivity and specificity for evaluating lung parenchyma compared to conventional X-ray in infectious pathology. However, a simple chest X-ray is an adequate method for the initial evaluation of the condition and its complications, which is why a CT scan is not recommended as an initial method for evaluating pneumonia and should always be preceded by a conventional chest X-ray.

CT studies should be considered in the following situations:

• Respiratory failure.
• Evaluation or suspicion of differential diagnoses to Acute Community-Acquired Pneumonia.
• Evaluation or suspicion of complications of Acute Community-Acquired Pneumonia.
• Evaluation of radiological patterns that are not entirely clear on the chest X-ray.

CHOICE OF CARE SITE AND TREATMENT

For the choice of care site and treatment of pneumonia, it is recommended to complement clinical criteria with validated mortality scores associated with risk factors and clinical status.

CURB-65 (1 point for each item): * Confusion * Elevated urea greater than 90 mg/dl * Respiratory rate greater than 30/minute * Systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure < 60 mmHg * Age equal to or greater than 65 years

Results:

• Groups 0 to 1: Outpatient management.
• Groups 1-2: Admission to General Ward.
• Groups 3-5: Admission to Intensive Care Unit.
• Appendix: A pulse oximetry reading of less than 92% is recommended as an independent factor for inpatient management under expert recommendation to complement the score.

COMPLEMENTARY STUDIES AND CULTURE SAMPLING

Once the diagnosis is completed, the patient's risk stratification and the choice of admission site are made, the following complementary studies and culture sampling are recommended to proceed with the patient's study during treatment.

Outpatient patient: * Pulse Oximetry. * Laboratory routine (complete blood count, glucose, urea, creatinine, liver function tests).

Inpatient patient in general ward: * Pulse Oximetry. * Laboratory routine (complete blood count, glucose, urea, creatinine, liver function tests). Acid-base status if pulse oximetry is less than 92%. * Sputum sample (Gram stain, culture, antibiogram). * Blood cultures. * In the presence of pleural effusion: Thoracentesis. Physical-chemical study for Light's Criteria. Direct and Culture of Pleural Fluid.

Inpatient patient in intensive care unit: * Pulse Oximetry. * Laboratory routine (complete blood count, glucose, urea, creatinine, liver function tests) plus acid-base status. * Sputum sample (Gram stain, culture, antibiogram). Tracheal aspirate, Mini-BAL, or BAL sampling for patients requiring ARM upon admission. * Blood cultures. * Urinary antigen for detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae, if available in microbiology. * In the presence of pleural effusion: Thoracentesis. Physical-chemical study for Light's Criteria. Direct and Culture of Pleural Fluid.

Special considerations for Viral Pneumonias: * We recommend performing a viral panel for Influenza A/B for any pneumonia presenting at least 1 risk factor mentioned during periods of viral circulation in the community. * We recommend performing a viral panel for SARS-CoV2 for any pneumonia presenting at least 1 risk factor mentioned during periods of viral circulation in the community or having epidemiological criteria of a suspected COVID-19 case. * The Infection Control Committee will timely inform based on the National Epidemiological Bulletin about the presence of circulating respiratory viruses in our setting.

Special considerations for Atypical Pneumonias and HIV Testing: * We recommend serological testing for IgM/IgG for Chlamydia and Mycoplasma for any pneumonia presenting a subacute evolution at the time of clinical presentation or clinical-radiological dissociation in its presentation. * In the suspicion of pneumonia caused by emerging pathogens (Legionella pneumophila, Leptospira interrogans, Hantavirus), consider the necessary epidemiological link as a prior epidemiological background before requesting specific diagnostic tests. * HIV testing is recommended for all pneumonias, with special emphasis on those that do not present the conventional risk factors mentioned.

ANTIMICROBIAL TREATMENT AND DURATION OF TREATMENT:

Directed antimicrobial treatment will be based on the present risk factors and the choice of care site and treatment.

Outpatient patient <65 years and without risk factors:

First choice: * Amoxicillin 875mg/12h orally for 5-7 days.

Scheme for history of allergy to Beta-Lactams: * Clarithromycin 500mg/12h orally for 5 days or * Azithromycin 500-1000mg/day for 5 days.

Outpatient patient >65 years or with at least 1 risk factor:

First choice: * Amoxicillin-Clavulanate 1g/12h orally for 7 days.

Scheme for history of allergy to Beta-Lactams: * Clarithromycin 500mg/12h orally for 5 days or * Azithromycin 500-1000mg/day orally for 5 days.

Inpatient patient in General Ward <65 years and without risk factors:

First choice: * Ampicillin-Sulbactam 1.5g/6h IV +/- Clarithromycin 500mg/12h orally/IV for 5-7 days.

Scheme for history of allergy to Beta-Lactams: * Ceftriaxone 1g/day IV for 5-7 days.

Inpatient patient in General Ward >65 years or with at least 1 risk factor:

First choice: * Ampicillin-Sulbactam 1.5g/6h IV for 7 days +/- Clarithromycin 500mg/12h orally/IV for 5 days.

Scheme for history of allergy to Beta-Lactams: * Ceftriaxone 1g/day IV for 7 days.

Inpatient patient in Intensive Care Unit:

First choice: * Ampicillin-Sulbactam 1.5g/6h IV for 7 days +/- Clarithromycin 500mg/12h orally/IV for 5 days.

Scheme for history of allergy to Beta-Lactams: * Ceftriaxone 1-2g/day IV for 7 days.

Special Considerations for Inpatients:

Scheme for risk factors for Pseudomonas aeruginosa*: * Piperacillin/Tazobactam 4.5g/6h IV or Cefepime 2g/8h IV for 7 days +/- Clarithromycin 500mg/12h orally/IV for 5 days.

Scheme for risk factors for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus**: * Add to conventional scheme: Vancomycin 15-20mg/kg/8-12h IV +/- Clindamycin 600mg/8h IV for 7-14 days.

Aspiration Pneumonia:

First choice: * Ampicillin-Sulbactam 1.5g/6h IV for 5-7 days.

*Risk factors for Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, prior treatment with corticosteroids or broad-spectrum antibiotics. Documented isolates in respiratory cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

**Risk factors for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Previously healthy young patients with severe, necrotizing, and rapidly progressive pneumonia, cavitary infiltrates, hemoptysis, prior influenza, intravenous drug users, rash, leukopenia, recent or concomitant skin and soft tissue infections.

The routine use of corticosteroids in pneumonia is not recommended.

CONSIDERATIONS ON ANTIMICROBIALS IN VIRAL AND ATYPICAL PNEUMONIAS:

In the case of a concomitant antigen test or PCR for Influenza A/B or SARS-CoV2, the following treatment recommendations are made:

Influenza Virus A/B:

First choice: * Oseltamivir 75mg every 12 hours orally for 5 days. Other considerations: * In cases of Respiratory Failure in ARM or Obesity: Oseltamivir 150mg every 12 hours orally for 5 days. * Concomitant antimicrobial treatment is recommended as there is documented frequent association of Influenza Virus and Streptococcus pneumoniae.

COVID-19: * First choice is conventional treatment with dexamethasone 8 mg IV for 10 days in the event of respiratory failure. * Routine antimicrobial treatment is not recommended for COVID-19; therefore, upon a positive SARS-CoV2 test, it is recommended to discontinue antimicrobials.

Consider maintaining concomitant antimicrobial treatment only in suspected bacterial infection due to severe presentation: * Focal alveolar consolidation +/- air bronchogram in imaging studies plus 1 of the following: sepsis, risk factors, and/or immunosuppression.

Atypical Pneumonias with Seroconversion for Chlamydia or Mycoplasma:

First choice: * Clarithromycin 500mg every 12 hours IV/orally for 14 days. * Azithromycin 500-1000mg/day IV/orally for 14 days. * Doxycycline 100mg every 12 hours IV/orally for 14 days.

CONSIDERATIONS ON PENICILLIN AND OTHER BETA-LACTAM ALLERGIES:

Patients who report penicillin allergy are often misclassified. It is documented that more than 95% of patients who report penicillin allergy can receive beta-lactams without any complications. Additionally, penicillin hypersensitivity diminishes over the years.

Allergy to one beta-lactam does not imply the impossibility of using the entire spectrum of beta-lactams, as there are only a few cases of cross-hypersensitivity.

Therefore, we recommend the safe use of beta-lactams except in cases of a reported or documented history of severe allergy to penicillin (anaphylaxis).

In doubtful cases or confirmed allergy events during hospitalization, a consultation with an Allergy Specialist is available to evaluate the case.

FOLLOW-UP IN OUTPATIENT TREATMENT MODALITY

Patients undergoing pneumonia treatment in an outpatient setting can continue their treatment at home, considering advising them to seek further consultation in case of alarm signs (fever that does not subside after 48 to 72 hours, dyspnea, hemoptysis, chest pain, etc.). Nevertheless, it is good practice to consider a follow-up consultation in the emergency department or clinic after 48 to 72 hours of starting antibiotic therapy.

It is not routinely recommended to repeat a chest X-ray or CT scan to evaluate the evolution of pneumonia under outpatient treatment. Only in the case of suspected complications or unfavorable evolution. A follow-up at the end of treatment with the primary care physician is suggested.

FOLLOW-UP IN INPATIENT TREATMENT MODALITY

For hospitalized patients, we should consider transitioning from parenteral medication to oral when the following conditions are met

• Completion of 48 hours of parenteral treatment.
• Presence of a 24-hour afebrile period, with hemodynamic stability and significant clinical improvement.
• Availability of the oral route.

It is not routinely recommended to repeat a chest X-ray or CT scan to evaluate the evolution of pneumonia under outpatient or inpatient treatment. Only in the case of suspected complications or unfavorable evolution.

PREVENTION

The prevention of pneumonia is based on timely immunization with pneumococcal vaccines, influenza vaccination, and COVID-19 vaccination according to the immunization recommendations and current schedule from the Ministry of Health.

ICD-11 CODING

• CA40 - Pneumonia.
• CA40.0 - Bacterial Pneumonia.
• CA40.1 - Viral Bronchopneumonia.
• CA40.2 - Fungal Pneumonia.
• CA40.Z - Pneumonia, organism unspecified.

Autor

Kamo Weasel - MD Infectious Diseases - MD Internal Medicine - #DocChain Community npub1jdvvva54m8nchh3t708pav99qk24x6rkx2sh0e7jthh0l8efzt7q9y7jlj

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Nostr: a quick introduction, attempt #1

Nostr doesn't have a material existence, it is not a website or an app. Nostr is just a description what kind of messages each computer can send to the others and vice-versa. It's a very simple thing, but the fact that such description exists allows different apps to connect to different servers automatically, without people having to talk behind the scenes or sign contracts or anything like that.

When you use a Nostr client that is what happens, your client will connect to a bunch of servers, called relays, and all these relays will speak the same "language" so your client will be able to publish notes to them all and also download notes from other people.

That's basically what Nostr is: this communication layer between the client you run on your phone or desktop computer and the relay that someone else is running on some server somewhere. There is no central authority dictating who can connect to whom or even anyone who knows for sure where each note is stored.

If you think about it, Nostr is very much like the internet itself: there are millions of websites out there, and basically anyone can run a new one, and there are websites that allow you to store and publish your stuff on them.

The added benefit of Nostr is that this unified "language" that all Nostr clients speak allow them to switch very easily and cleanly between relays. So if one relay decides to ban someone that person can switch to publishing to others relays and their audience will quickly follow them there. Likewise, it becomes much easier for relays to impose any restrictions they want on their users: no relay has to uphold a moral ground of "absolute free speech": each relay can decide to delete notes or ban users for no reason, or even only store notes from a preselected set of people and no one will be entitled to complain about that.

There are some bad things about this design: on Nostr there are no guarantees that relays will have the notes you want to read or that they will store the notes you're sending to them. We can't just assume all relays will have everything — much to the contrary, as Nostr grows more relays will exist and people will tend to publishing to a small set of all the relays, so depending on the decisions each client takes when publishing and when fetching notes, users may see a different set of replies to a note, for example, and be confused.

Another problem with the idea of publishing to multiple servers is that they may be run by all sorts of malicious people that may edit your notes. Since no one wants to see garbage published under their name, Nostr fixes that by requiring notes to have a cryptographic signature. This signature is attached to the note and verified by everybody at all times, which ensures the notes weren't tampered (if any part of the note is changed even by a single character that would cause the signature to become invalid and then the note would be dropped). The fix is perfect, except for the fact that it introduces the requirement that each user must now hold this 63-character code that starts with "nsec1", which they must not reveal to anyone. Although annoying, this requirement brings another benefit: that users can automatically have the same identity in many different contexts and even use their Nostr identity to login to non-Nostr websites easily without having to rely on any third-party.

To conclude: Nostr is like the internet (or the internet of some decades ago): a little chaotic, but very open. It is better than the internet because it is structured and actions can be automated, but, like in the internet itself, nothing is guaranteed to work at all times and users many have to do some manual work from time to time to fix things. Plus, there is the cryptographic key stuff, which is painful, but cool.

@ 3cfa816b:545fa2d9

Il progetto online Bisanz.io nasce dalla convinzione che Bitcoin sia un incredibile strumento di promozione e giustizia sociale, e nessuno che si dica riformista o progressista dovrebbe ignorare questo fatto. Un sito web in cui progressisti, riformisti, ambientalisti ed attivisti per la democrazia possano informarsi e discutere su com Bitcoin possa ridurre le disparità e le storture dell’attuale sistema finanziario.

L’urgenza di attivarsi affinché questa visione si diffonda nasce dal rischio concreto che si ripeta in Europa la stessa dinamica osservata negli Stati Uniti, dove questo tema fondamentale è stato lasciato nelle mani delle destre, da quelle liberali alle neo-con. La posizione del Partito Democratico USA su Bitcoin è infatti oggi ampiamente ostile, in maniera pregiudiziale e dettata principalmente da ragioni di posizionamento strategico.

In Italia Bitcoin è, al momento, semplicemente ignorato dalla politica. In Europa la situazione non è molto diversa da quella italiana con rare eccezioni.

Questa apatia della politica italiana ed europea nei confronti di Bitcoin può essere vinta mostrando quanto grande sia il potenziale di progresso sociale, equità e pace derivante dall'adozione di Bitcoin. Una opportunità che i progressisti europei dovrebbero cogliere, guidando l’analisi e il dibattito su questi temi.

Non si tratta naturalmente di inserire la parola “blockchain” nei contesti più assurdi (vedi i pomodori e le arance di Di Maio), ma di elaborare proposte unitarie di politica monetaria che includano una tecnologia (Bitcoin) rodata, democratica, globale, solidale.

Nel gruppo di amici che ha dato vita a Bisanz.io, c’è chi segue e studia con passione il tema Bitcoin dal lontano 2010, e chi invece ci si è avvicinato solo di recente. Cosa ci accomuna è la consapevolezza che questa innovazione ha il potenziale per risolvere le tante storture dell’attuale sistema finanziario. Una tecnologia che proteggendo i soggetti più deboli, può contribuire a ridurre le disparità, proteggere i risparmi, e stimolare gli investimenti.

Purtroppo, Bitcoin è ancora visto da tanti come uno strumento per criminali e speculatori, una percezione in gran parte giustificata da vicende legate non a Bitcoin, ma alle cosiddette criptovalute, e al più recente fenomeno dei token e degli NFT. Queste “innovazioni” nulla hanno a che spartire con la tecnologia e i valori di Bitcoin (decentralizzazione, trasparenza, open access, …) e le loro aberrazioni hanno alimentato la narrazione di cui sopra.

Più recentemente si è aggiunta la critica relativa all'impatto ambientale di Bitcoin, critica ancor più pretestuosa e in malafede. Chiunque dedichi un minimo di studio all'argomento potrà constatare come essa risulti infondata e che il mining di Bitcoin è in realtà un prezioso alleato nella transizione alle energie rinnovabili. Queste ombre e la copertura mediatica negativa non hanno impedito all'ecosistema di Bitcoin di svilupparsi e crescere con costanza dal 2009 a oggi. Mentre centinaia di monete digitali alternative, nascevano e morivano guidate solo da logiche di profitto (o peggio), Bitcoin ha sempre tenuto la barra dritta sui valori fondanti, ampliato la base di utenti e le tipologie di utilizzo (esempio: pagamenti istantanei con Lightning Network).

La missione di Bisanzio è semplice: portare il nostro contributo affinché in Italia ed Europa maturino proposte per consentire a Bitcoin di esprimere tutto il suo potenziale democratico e di giustizia.