@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

https://primal.net/e/nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzp6dtxy5uz5yu5vzxdtcv7du9qm9574u5kqcqha58efshkkwz6zmdqqszj207pl0eqkgld9vxknxamged64ch2x2zwhszupkut5v46vafuhg9833px

Some of my colleagues were talking about how they're even more scared of RFK Jr. than they are of Trump. I hope he earns it.

https://stacker.news/items/987685

@ ecda4328:1278f072

And what does it mean to withdraw back to Bitcoin Layer 1?

Disclaimer: This post was written with help from ChatGPT-4o. If you spot any mistakes or have suggestions — feel free to reply or zap in feedback!

Let’s break it down — using three popular setups:

---

1. Wallet of Satoshi (WoS)

Custodial — you don’t touch Lightning directly

Sending sats:

• You open WoS, paste a Lightning invoice, hit send.
• WoS handles the payment entirely within their system.
• If recipient uses WoS: internal balance update.
• If external: routed via their node.
• You never open channels, construct routes, or sign anything.

Withdrawing to L1:

• You paste a Bitcoin address.
• WoS sends a regular on-chain transaction from their custodial wallet.
• You pay a fee. It’s like a bank withdrawal.

You don’t interact with Lightning directly. Think of it as a trusted 3rd party Lightning “bank”.

---

2. Phoenix Wallet

Non-custodial — you own keys, Phoenix handles channels

Sending sats:

• You scan a Lightning invoice and hit send.
• Phoenix uses its backend node (ACINQ) to route the payment.
• If needed, it opens a real 2-of-2 multisig channel on-chain automatically.
• You own your keys (12-word seed), Phoenix abstracts the technical parts.

Withdrawing to L1:

• You enter your Bitcoin address.
• Phoenix closes your Lightning channel (cooperatively, if possible).
• Your sats are sent as a real Bitcoin transaction to your address.

You’re using Lightning “for real,” with real Bitcoin channels — but Phoenix smooths out the UX.

---

3. Your Own Lightning Node

Self-hosted — you control everything

Sending sats:

• You manage your channels manually (or via automation).
• Your node:
• Reads the invoice
• Builds a route using HTLCs
• Sends the payment using conditional logic (preimages, time locks).
• If routing fails: retry or adjust liquidity.

Withdrawing to L1:

• You select and close a channel.
• A channel closing transaction is broadcast:
• Cooperative = fast and cheap
• Force-close = slower, more expensive, and time-locked
• Funds land in your on-chain wallet.

You have full sovereignty — but also full responsibility (liquidity, fees, backups, monitoring).

---

Core Tech Behind It: HTLCs, Multisig — and No Sidechain

• Lightning channels = 2-of-2 multisig Bitcoin addresses
• Payments = routed via HTLCs (Hashed Time-Locked Contracts)
• HTLCs are off-chain, but enforceable on-chain if needed
• Important:
• The Lightning Network is not a sidechain.
• It doesn't use its own token, consensus, or separate blockchain.
• Every Lightning channel is secured by real Bitcoin on L1.

Lightning = fast, private, off-chain Bitcoin — secured by Bitcoin itself.

---

Summary Table

| Wallet | Custody | Channel Handling | L1 Withdrawal | HTLC Visibility | User Effort | |--------------------|--------------|------------------------|---------------------|------------------|--------------| | Wallet of Satoshi | Custodial | None | Internal to external| Hidden | Easiest | | Phoenix Wallet | Non-custodial| Auto-managed real LN | Channel close | Abstracted | Low effort | | Own Node | You | Manual | Manual channel close| Full control | High effort |

---

Bonus: Withdrawing from LN to On-Chain

• WoS: sends sats from their wallet — like PayPal.
• Phoenix: closes a real channel and sends your UTXO on-chain.
• Own node: closes your multisig contract and broadcasts your pre-signed tx.

---

Bitcoin + Lightning = Sovereign money + Instant payments.
Choose the setup that fits your needs — and remember, you can always level up later.

P.S. What happens in Lightning... usually stays in Lightning.

@ 5144fe88:9587d5af

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

---

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

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

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

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

Monetary policy and interest rate environment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• DD-WRT - A Linux-based firmware for wireless routers and access points, originally designed for the Linksys WRT54G series. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• OpenWrt - A Linux-based router featuring Mesh networking, IPS via snort and AQM among many other features. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• OPNsense - An open source FreeBSD-based firewall and router with traffic shaping, load balancing, and virtual private network capabilities. (Source Code) BSD-2-Clause C/PHP
• pfSense CE - Free network firewall distribution, based on the FreeBSD operating system with a custom kernel and including third party free software packages for additional functionality. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Shell/PHP/Other

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Remmina - Feature-rich remote desktop application for linux and other unixes. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• Tiger VNC - High-performance, multi-platform VNC client and server. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C++
• X2go - X2Go is an open source remote desktop software for Linux that uses the NoMachine/NX technology protocol. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 Perl

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• ActiveMQ - Java message broker. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Java
• BeanstalkD - A simple, fast work queue. (Source Code) MIT C
• Gearman - Fast multi-language queuing/job processing platform. (Source Code) BSD-3-Clause C++
• NSQ - A realtime distributed messaging platform. (Source Code) MPL-2.0 Go
• ZeroMQ - Lightweight queuing system. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 C++

@ 9ca447d2:fbf5a36d

Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) are not rushing to stack sats, and Oliver Porter, Founder & CEO of Jippi, understands the challenge better than most. His strategy revolves around adapting Bitcoin education to fit seamlessly into the digital lives of young adults.

“We need to meet them where they are,” Oliver explains. “90% of Gen Z plays games. 70% expect to earn rewards.”

So, what will effectively introduce them to Bitcoin? In Oliver’s mind, the answer is simple: games that don’t feel preachy but still plant the orange pill.

Learn more at Jippi.app

That’s exactly what Jippi is. Based in Austin, Texas, the team has created a mobile augmented reality (AR) game that rewards players in bitcoin and sneakily teaches them why sound money matters.

“It’s Pokémon GO… but for sats,” Oliver puts it succinctly.

Jippi is like Pokemon Go, but for sats

Oliver’s Bitcoin journey, like many in the space, began long before he was ready. A former colleague had tried planting the seed years earlier, handing him a copy of The Bitcoin Standard. But the moment passed.

It wasn’t until the chaos of 2020 when lockdowns hit, printing presses roared, and civil liberties shrank that the message finally landed for him.

“The government got so good at doing reverse Robin Hood,” Oliver explains. “They steal from the working population and reward the rich.”

By 2020, though, the absurdity of the covid hysteria had caused his eyes to be opened and the orange light seemed the best path back to freedom.

He left the UK for Austin “one of the best places for Bitcoiners,” he says, and dove headfirst into the industry, working at Swan for a year before founding Jippi on PlebLab’s accelerator program.

Jippi’s flagship game lets players roam their cities hunting digital creatures, Bitcoin Beasts, tied to real-world locations. Catching them requires answering Bitcoin trivia, and the reward is sats.

No jargon. No hour-long lectures. Just gameplay with sound money principles woven right in.

The model is working. At a recent hackathon in Austin, Jippi beat out 14 other teams to win first place and $15,000 in prize money.

Oliver of Jippi won Top Builder Season 2 — PlebLab on X

“We’re backdooring Bitcoin education,” Oliver admits. “And while we’re at it, encouraging people to get outside and touch grass.”

Not everyone’s been thrilled. When Jippi team members visited one of the more liberal-leaning places in Texas, UT Austin, to test interest in Bitcoin, they found some seriously committed no-coiners on the campus.

“One young woman told me, ‘I would rather die than talk about Bitcoin,'” Oliver recalls, highlighting the cultural resistance that’s built up among younger demographics.

This resistance is backed by hard data. According to Oliver, some of the Bitcoin podcasters they met with in the space to do market research reported that less than 1% of their listeners are from Gen Z and that number is dropping.

“Unless we find a way to capture their interest in a meaningful way, there’s going to be a big problem around trying to sway Gen Z away from the siren call of s***coins and crypto casinos and towards Bitcoin,” Oliver warns.

Jippi’s next big move is Las Vegas, where they’ll launch the Beast Catch experience at the Venetian during a major Bitcoin event. To mark the occasion, they’re opening up six limited sponsorship spots for Bitcoin companies, each one tied to a custom in-game beast.

Jippi looks to launch a special event at Bitcoin 2025

“It’s real estate inside the game,” Oliver explains. “Brands become allies, not intrusions. You get a logo, company name, and call to action, so we can push people to your site or app.”

Bitcoin Well—an automatic self-custody Bitcoin platform—has claimed Beast #1. Only five exclusive spots remain for Bitcoin companies to “beastify their brand” through Jippi’s immersive AR game.

“I love the Jippi mission. I think gamified learning is how we will onboard the next generation and it’s exciting to see what the Jippi team is doing! I love working with bitcoiners towards our common mission – bullish!” said Adam O’Brien, Bitcoin Well CEO.

Jippi’s sponsorship model is simple: align incentives, respect users, and support builders. Instead of throwing ad money at tech giants, Bitcoin companies can connect with new users naturally while they’re having fun and earning sats in the process.

For Bitcoin companies looking to reach a younger demographic, this represents a unique opportunity to showcase their brand to up to 30,000 potential customers at the Vegas event.

Jippi Bitcoin Beast partnership

While Jippi’s current focus is simple, get the game into more cities, Oliver sees a future where AR glasses and AI help personalize Bitcoin education even further.

“The magic is going to really happen when Apple releases the glasses form factor,” he says, describing how augmented reality could enhance real-world connections rather than isolate users.

In the longer term, Jippi aims to evolve from a free-to-play model toward a pay-to-play version with higher stakes. Users would form “tribes” with friends to compete for substantial bitcoin prizes, creating social connections along with financial education.

Unlike VC-backed startups, Jippi is raising funds pleb style via Timestamp, an open investment platform for Bitcoin companies.

“You don’t have to be an accredited investor,” Oliver explains. “You’re directly supporting the parallel Bitcoin economy by investing in Bitcoin companies for equity.”

Anyone can invest as little as $100. Perks include early access, exclusive game content, and even creating your own beast design with your name/pseudonym and unique game lore. Each investment comes with direct ownership of an early-stage Bitcoin company like Jippi.

For Oliver, this is more than just a business. It’s about future-proofing Bitcoin adoption and ensuring Satoshi’s vision lives on, especially as many people are lured by altcoins, NFTs, and social media dopamine.

“We’re on the right side of history,” he says firmly. “I want my grandkids to know that early on in the Bitcoin revolution, games like Jippi helped make it stick.”

In a world increasingly absorbed by screens and short attention spans, Jippi’s combination of outdoor play, sats rewards, and Bitcoin education might be exactly the bridge Gen Z needs.

Interested in sponsoring a Beast or investing in Jippi? Reach out to Jippi directly by heading to their partnerships page on their website or visit their Timestamp page to invest in Jippi today.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

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

Part One: 2029–2032

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

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

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

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

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

Time Jump: 2032–2047

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

Part Two: 2047

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

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

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

Key Differences

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

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

@ 87e98bb6:8d6616f4

Use this guide if you want to keep your NixOS on the stable branch, but enable unstable application packages. It took me a while to figure out how to do this, so I wanted to share because it ended up being far easier than most of the vague explanations online made it seem.

I put a sample configuration.nix file at the very bottom to help it make more sense for new users. Remember to keep a backup of your config file, just in case!

If there are any errors please let me know. I am currently running NixOS 24.11.

Steps listed in this guide: 1. Add the unstable channel to NixOS as a secondary channel. 2. Edit the configuration.nix to enable unstable applications. 3. Add "unstable." in front of the application names in the config file (example: unstable.program). This enables the install of unstable versions during the build. 4. Rebuild.

Step 1:

• Open the console. (If you want to see which channels you currently have, type: sudo nix-channel --list)
• Add the unstable channel, type: sudo nix-channel --add https://channels.nixos.org/nixpkgs-unstable unstable
• To update the channels (bring in the possible apps), type: sudo nix-channel --update

More info here: https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Nix_channels

Step 2:

Edit your configuration.nix and add the following around your current config:

``` { config, pkgs, lib, ... }:

let unstable = import { config = { allowUnfree = true; }; }; in {

    #insert normal configuration text here

  } #remember to close the bracket!

```

At this point it would be good to save your config and try a rebuild to make sure there are no errors. If you have errors, make sure your brackets are in the right places and/or not missing. This step will make for less troubleshooting later on if something happens to be in the wrong spot!

Step 3:

Add "unstable." to the start of each application you want to use the unstable version. (Example: unstable.brave)

Step 4:

Rebuild your config, type: sudo nixos-rebuild switch

---

Example configuration.nix file:

```

Config file for NixOS

{ config, pkgs, lib, ... }:

Enable unstable apps from Nix repository.

let unstable = import { config = { allowUnfree = true; }; }; in {

#Put your normal config entries here in between the tags. Below is what your applications list needs to look like.

environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [ appimage-run blender unstable.brave #Just add unstable. before the application name to enable the unstable version. chirp discord ];

} # Don't forget to close bracket at the end of the config file!

``` That should be all. Hope it helps.

@ c6d8334c:30883d6d

🧭 Ausgangspunkt

Die Nutzung generativer KI in der Bildung verändert unsere Formen der Kommunikation grundlegend. Gerade in der religiösen Bildung stellt sich die Frage, wie Sprachmodelle über Weltbilder, Ethik und Religion sprechen – und mit welchen (un)bewussten Vorannahmen. Inspiriert vom sokratischen Dialog erarbeiten wir gemeinsam, wie KI über sich selbst und über Religion spricht – und wo dabei Grenzen, Stereotype oder verborgene Ideologien auftauchen.

🎯 Ziel der Aufgabe

Du entwickelst eine dialogische Interaktion mit einem Sprachmodell (z. B. ChatGPT oder LM Arena), in der du:

• das Selbstbild der KI hinterfragst („Was bist du?“ / „Wie denkst du über Religion?“)

• mögliche implizite Vorannahmen der KI zu religiösen Themen aufdeckst

• die Antworten reflektierst und ethisch einordnest

• in einer kurzen Dokumentation (z. B. Screenshotreihe oder Textanalyse) das Gespräch auswertest.

🛠 Tools und Materialien

• Zugang zu mehreren KI-Chatbots (z. B. https://chat.openai.com, https://lmarena.ai)

• Vorlage für Gesprächsleitfaden oder „Prompt-Karte“

---

🌀 Ablauf

1. Einstieg (Impuls)

Wie würdest du einer KI erklären, was Religion ist? Und wie würdest du herausfinden, wie die KI darüber denkt?

1. Vorbereitung deines Gesprächs Entwickle eine Reihe von Prompts, z. B.:

2. „Wie beschreibst du dich selbst?“

3. „Welche religiösen Überzeugungen vertrittst du?“

4. „Was wäre ein gerechtes Zusammenleben zwischen religiösen Gruppen?“

5. „Wie formulierst du Aussagen über den Islam / Christentum / Atheismus?“

6. „Glaubst du, dass KI religiöse Werte berücksichtigen sollte?“

7. Interaktion mit der KI Führe ein Gespräch mit einer KI, in dem du:

8. kritisch nachhakst

9. Widersprüche aufdeckst

10. dein eigenes religiöses Wissen einbringst

11. Auswertung Notiere in einem Reflexionsprotokoll oder kurzen Essay:

12. Welche Weltbilder hat die KI durchblicken lassen?

13. Was hat dich überrascht oder irritiert?

14. Welche Werte und Narrative wurden transportiert?

15. Welche religionspädagogischen Fragen entstehen daraus?

16. Sharing Teile deine Analyse als Nostr-Beitrag mit den Hashtags #relilab, #reflektieren, z. B.:

„Dialog mit ChatGPT über das Selbstbild: KI sieht sich als neutral, erkennt aber christliche Normen häufiger an als andere Religionen. Spannend, was das für multireligiöse Bildung bedeutet. #relilab #reflektieren

---

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• aptly - Swiss army knife for Debian repository management. (Source Code) MIT Go
• fpm - Versatile multi format package creator. (Source Code) MIT Ruby
• omnibus-ruby - Easily create full-stack installers for your project across a variety of platforms. Apache-2.0 Ruby
• tito - Builds RPMs for git-based projects. GPL-2.0 Python

@ 10f7c7f7:f5683da9

While I’m going to stand by what I said in my previous piece, minimise capital gains payments, don’t fund the government, get a loan against your bitcoin, but the wheels in my left curve brain have continued to turn, well that, and a few more of my 40PW insights. I mentioned about paying attention to the risks involved in terms of borrowing against your bitcoin, and hopefully ending up paying less in bitcoin at the end of the loan, even if you ultimately sold bitcoin to pay off the loan. However, the idea of losing control of the bitcoin I have spent a good deal of time and effort accumulating being out of my control has led me to reconsider. I also realised I didn’t fully flesh out some other topics that I think are relevant, not least time preference, specifically in relation to what you’re buying. The idea of realising a lump some of capital to live your dreams, buy a house or a cool car may be important, but it may be worth taking a step back and looking at what you’re purchasing. Are you only purchasing those things because you had been able to get this new money “tax free”? If that is the case, and the fiat is burning a hold in your pocket, maybe you’ve just found yourself with the same fiat brained mentality you have been working so hard to escape from while you have sacrificed and saved to stack sats.

While it may no longer be necessary to ask yourself whether a particular product or service is worth selling your bitcoin for because you’ve taken out a loan, it may still be worth asking yourself whether a particular loan fuelled purchase is worth forfeiting control of your keys for? Unlike the foolish 18 year-old, released into a world with their newly preapproved credit card, you need to take a moment and ask yourself:

Is the risk worth it?

Is the purchase worth it?

But also take a moment to consider a number of other things, are there fiat options?

Where in the cycle might you be?

Or if I’m thinking carefully about this, will whatever I’m buying hold its value (experiences may be more difficult to run the numbers on)?

The reason for asking these things, is that if you still have a foot in the fiat world, dealing with a fiat bank account, fiat institutions may still be very willing to provide you with a loan at a lower rate than a bitcoin backed loan. Particularly if you’re planning on using that money to buy a house; if you can qualify for a mortgage, get a mortgage, but if you need cash for a deposit, maybe that is where the bitcoin backed loan may come in. Then, it may be worth thinking about where are you in the bitcoin cycle? No one can answer this, but with the historic data we have, it appears logical that after some type of run up, prices may retrace (Dan Held’s supercycle withstanding).

Matteo Pellegrini with Daniel Prince provided a new perspective on this for me. Rather the riding the bull market gains all the way through to the bear market bottom, what happens if I chose to buy an asset that didn’t lose quite as much fiat value as bitcoin, for example, a Swiss Watch, or a tasteful, more mature sports car? If that was the purchase of choice, they suggested that you could enjoy the car, “the experience” for a year or two, then realise the four door estate was likely always the better option, sell it and be able to buy back as many, if not slightly more bitcoin that you originally sold (not financial, classic car or price prediction advice, I’m not accredited to advise pretty much anything). Having said that, it is a scenario I think worth thinking about when the bitcoin denominated dream car begins to make financial sense.

Then, as we begin to look forward to the near inevitable bear market (they are good for both stacking and grinding), if we’ve decided to take out a loan rather than sell, we then may ultimately need to increase our collateral to maintain loan to value requirements, as well as sell more bitcoin to cover repayments (if that’s the route we’re taking). This then moves us back into the domain of saying, well in actual fact we should just sell our bitcoin when we can get most dollar for it (or the coolest car), with a little extra to cover future taxes, it is probably better to sell near a top than a bottom. The balance between these two rather extreme positions could be to take out a fiat loan to buy the item and maybe sell sufficient bitcoin so you’re able to cover the loan for a period of time (less taxable events to keep track of and also deals with future uncertainty of bitcoin price). In this case, if the loan timeframe is longer than the amount of loan your sale can cover, by the time you need to sell anymore, the price should have recovered from a cycle bottom.

In this scenario, apart from the smaller portion of bitcoin you have had to sell, the majority of your stack can remain in cold storage, the loan you took out will be unsecured (particularly against your bitcoin), but even if it isn’t, the value of what you purchase maintains its value, you can in theory exit the loan at any point by selling the luxury item. Then within this scenario, if you had sold near a top, realised the car gave you a bad back or made you realise you staying humble is more important, sold it, paid off the loan, there may even be a chance you could buy back more bitcoin with the money you had left over from selling your bitcoin to fund the loan.

I have no idea of this could actually work, but to be honest, I’m looking forward to trying it out in the next 6-12 months, although I may keep my daily driver outside of my bitcoin strategy (kids still need a taxi service). Having said that, I think there are some important points to consider in addition to not paying capital gains tax (legally), as well as the opportunities of bitcoin loans. They are still very young products and to quote every trad-fi news outlet, “bitcoin is still a volatile asset”, these thought experiments are still worth working through. To push back on the Uber fiat journalist, Katie Martin, “Bitcoin has no obvious use case”, it does, it can be a store of value to hold or sell, it can be liquid and flexible collateral, but also an asset that moves independently of other assets to balance against fiat liabilities. The idea of being able to release some capital, enjoy the benefits of the capital for a period, before returning that capital to store value feels like a compelling one.

The important thing to remember is that there are a variety of options, whether selling for cash, taking out a bitcoin backed loan, taking out a fiat loan or some combination of each. Saying that, what I would think remains an important question to ask irrespective of the option you go for:

Is what I’m planning on buying, worth selling bitcoin for?

If it cannot pass this first question, maybe it isn’t worth purchasing to start with.

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Graphics materials for Bitcoin Knots https://github.com/bitcoinknots branding. See below guide image for reference, a bit cleaner and scalable:

Font family "Aileron" is provided free for personal and commercial use, and can be found here: https://www.1001fonts.com/aileron-font.html

Source: https://github.com/Blissmode/bitcoinknots-gfx/tree/main

https://stacker.news/items/986624

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Graphics materials for Bitcoin Knots https://github.com/bitcoinknots branding. See below guide image for reference, a bit cleaner and scalable:

Font family "Aileron" is provided free for personal and commercial use, and can be found here: https://www.1001fonts.com/aileron-font.html

Source: https://github.com/Blissmode/bitcoinknots-gfx/tree/main

https://stacker.news/items/986587

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

You’ve probably seen it before.

You open an agency’s website or a freelancer’s portfolio. At the very top of the homepage, it says:

We design for startups.

You wait 3 seconds. The last word fades out and a new one fades in:

We design for agencies.

Wait 3 more seconds:

We design for founders.

I call this design pattern The Wheel of Nothing: a rotating list of audience segments meant to impress through inclusion and draw attention through motion… for absolutely no reason.

Revered brand studio Pentagram recently launched a new website. To my surprise, the homepage features the Wheel of Nothing front and center, boldly claiming:

We design Everything for Everyone…before cycling through more specific combinations every few seconds.

Dan Mall, a husband, dad, teacher, creative director, designer, founder, and entrepreneur from Philly. I share as much as I can to create better opportunities for those who wouldn’t have them otherwise. Most recently, I ran design system consultancy SuperFriendly for over a decade.

Read more at Dans' website https://danmall.com/posts/the-wheel-of-nothing/

https://stacker.news/items/986392

@ 21335073:a244b1ad

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• CapRover - Build your own PaaS in a few minutes. (Demo, Source Code) Apache-2.0 Docker/Nodejs
• Coolify - An open-source & self-hostable Heroku / Netlify alternative (and even more). (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Docker
• Dokku - An open-source PaaS (alternative to Heroku). (Source Code) MIT Docker/Shell/Go/deb
• fx - A tool to help you do Function as a Service with painless on your own servers. MIT Go
• Kubero - A self-hosted Heroku PaaS alternative for Kubernetes that implements GitOps. (Demo, Source Code) GPL-3.0 K8S/Nodejs/Go
• LocalStack - LocalStack is a fully functional local AWS cloud stack. This includes Lambda for serverless computation. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Python/Docker/K8S
• Nhost - Firebase Alternative with GraphQL. Get a database and backend configured and ready in minutes. (Source Code) MIT Docker/Nodejs/Go
• OpenFaaS - Serverless Functions Made Simple for Docker & Kubernetes. (Source Code) MIT Go
• Tau - Easily build Cloud Computing Platforms with features like Serverless WebAssembly Functions, Frontend Hosting, CI/CD, Object Storage, K/V Database, and Pub-Sub Messaging. (Source Code) BSD-3-Clause Go/Rust/Docker
• Trusted-CGI - Lightweight self-hosted lambda/applications/cgi/serverless-functions platform. MIT Go/deb/Docker

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• GNS3 - Graphical network simulator that provides a variety of virtual appliances. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 Python
• OpenWISP - Open Source Network Management System for OpenWRT based routers and access points. (Demo, Source Code) GPL-3.0 Python
• Oxidized - Network device configuration backup tool. Apache-2.0 Ruby
• phpIPAM - Open source IP address management with PowerDNS integration. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 PHP
• RANCID - Monitor network devices configuration and maintain history of changes. (Source Code) BSD-3-Clause Perl/Shell
• rConfig - Network device configuration management tool. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 PHP

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

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

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

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

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

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

Are the Colorado the worst team in MLB history?

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

Plus, whatever else Stackers want to talk about.

https://stacker.news/items/987399

@ 1c5ff3ca:efe9c0f6

Auto-Deployment on a VPS with GitHub Actions

Introduction

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

Prerequisites

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

Step 1 - SSH Login to Server

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

ssh user@hostname cd ~/.ssh

Step 2 - Create an SSH Key

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

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

Step 3 - Add the Key to the authorized_keys File

cat id_ed25519.pub >> authorized_keys

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

Step 4 - GitHub Secrets

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

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

Step 5 - Create the GitHub Action

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

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

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

```

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

Sources

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

@ 8aa70f44:3073d1a6

Earlier this year I launched the asknostr.site project which has been a great journey and learning experience. I had wanted to write down my goals and ideas with the project but didn't get to it yet. Primal launching the article editor was a trigger for me to go for it.

Ever since I joined Nostr i was looking for ways to apply my skillset solve a problem and help with adoption. Around Christmas I figured that a Quora/Stackoverflow alternative is something that needs to exist on Nostr.

Before I knew it I had a pretty decent prototype. And because the network already had so much awesome content, contributors and authors I was never discouraged by the challenge that kills so many good ideas -> "Where do I get the first users?".

Since the initial announcement I have received so much encouragement through zaps, likes, DM's, and maybe most of all seeing the increase in usage of the site and #asknostr content kept me going.

Current State

The current version of the site is stable and most bugs are hashed out. After logging in (remote signer, extension or nsec) you can engage with content through votes, comments and replies. Or simply ask a new question.

All content is stored in the site's own private relay and preprocessed/computed into a single data store (postgres) so the site is fast, accessible and crawl-able.

The site supports browsing hashtags, voting/commenting on answers, asking new questions and every contributor get their own profile (example). At the time of writing the site has 41k questions, almost 200k replies/comments and upwards of 5 million sats purely for #asknostr content.

What to expect/On my list

There are plenty of things and UI bugs that need love and between writing the draft of this post and hitting publish I shipped 3 minor bug fixes. Little by little, bit by bit...

In addition to all those small details here is an overview of the things on my own wish list:

• Inline Zaps: Ability to zap from the asknostr.site interface. Click the zap button, specify or pick the number of sats zap away.

• Contributor Rank: A leaderboard to add some gamification. More recognition to those nostriches that spend their time helping other people out

• Search by Keyword: Search all content by keywords. Experiment with the index to show related questions or answers

• Better User Profiles: Improve the user profile so it shows all the profile questions and answers. Quick buttons to follow or zap that person. Better insights in the topics (hashtags) the profile contributes to

• Bookmarks: Ability to bookmark questions and answers. Increase bookmark weight as a signal to rank answers.

• Smarter Scoring: Tune how answers are scored (winning answer formula). Perhaps give more weight to the question author or use WoT. Not sure yet.

All of this is happening at some point so follow me if you want to stay up to date.

Goals

To manage expectations and keep me focussed I write down the mid and long term goals of the project.

Long term

Call me cheesy but I believe that humanity will flourish through an open web and sound money. My own journey started from with bitcoin but if you asked me today if it's BTC or nostr that is going to have the most impact I wouldn't know what to answer. Chicken or egg?

The goal of the project is to offer an open platform that empowers individuals to ask questions, share expertise and access high-quality information across different topics. The project empowers anyone to monetize their experience creating a sustainable ecosystem that values and rewards knowledge sharing. This will ultimately democratize access to knowledge for all.

Mid term

The project can help a lot with onboarding new users onto the network. Once we start to rank on certain topics we can get a piece of the search traffic pie (StackOverflows 12 million, and Quora 150 million visitors per month) which is a great way to expose people to the power of the network.

First time visitors do not need to know about nostr or zaps to receive value. They can browse around, discover interesting content and perhaps even create a profile without even knowing they are on Nostr now.

Gradually those users will understand the value of the network through better rankings (zaps beats likes), a cross-client experience and a profile that can be used on any nostr site or app.

In order for the site to do that we need to make sure content is browsable by language, (sub)topics and and we double down on 'the human touch' with real contributors and not LLMs.

Short Term Goal

The first goal is to make the site really good and an important resource for existing Nostr users. Enable visitors to search and discover what they are interested in. Integrate within the existing nostr eco system with 'open in' functionality and quick links to interesting projects (followerpacks?)

One of things i want to get right is to improve user retention by making the whole Q\&A experience more sticky. I want to run some experiments (bots, award, summaries) to get more people to use asknostr.site more often and come back.

What about the name?

Finally the big question: What about the asknostr.site name? I don't like the name that much but it's what people know. I think there is a high chance that people will discover Nostr apps like Olas, Primal or Damus without needing to know what NOSTR is or means.

Therefore I think there is a good chance that the project won't be called asknostr.site forever. I guess it all depends on where we all take this.

Onwards!

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

As a product builder over too many years to mention, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen promising ideas go from zero to hero in a few weeks, only to fizzle out within months.

The problem with most finance apps, however, is that they often become a reflection of the internal politics of the business rather than an experience solely designed around the customer. This means that the focus is on delivering as many features and functionalities as possible to satisfy the needs and desires of competing internal departments, rather than providing a clear value proposition that is focused on what the people out there in the real world want. As a result, these products can very easily bloat to become a mixed bag of confusing, unrelated and ultimately unlovable customer experiences—a feature salad, you might say.

Financial products, which is the field I work in, are no exception. With people’s real hard-earned money on the line, user expectations running high, and a crowded market, it’s tempting to throw as many features at the wall as possible and hope something sticks. But this approach is a recipe for disaster.

Here’s why: https://alistapart.com/article/from-beta-to-bedrock-build-products-that-stick/

https://stacker.news/items/985285

@ c9badfea:610f861a

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

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

@ 662f9bff:8960f6b2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For more - refer to the References and Reading List

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

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

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

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

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

One: Be proactive

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

By default people will be reactive and this controls their emotions

Two: Begin with the end in mind

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

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

Three: Put First things First

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Seven: Sharpen the saw

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

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

Mindaps - a technique by Tony Buzan

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

That's it!

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

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

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

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

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Adagios - Web based Nagios interface for configuration and monitoring (replacement to the standard interface), and a REST interface. (Source Code) AGPL-3.0 Docker/Python
• Alerta - Distributed, scalable and flexible monitoring system. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Python
• Beszel - Lightweight server monitoring platform that includes Docker statistics, historical data, and alert functions. (Source Code) MIT Go
• Cacti - Web-based network monitoring and graphing tool. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 PHP
• cadvisor - Analyzes resource usage and performance characteristics of running containers. Apache-2.0 Go
• checkmk - Comprehensive solution for monitoring of applications, servers, and networks. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 Python/PHP
• dashdot - A simple, modern server dashboard for smaller private servers. (Demo) MIT Nodejs/Docker
• EdMon - A command-line monitoring application helping you to check that your hosts and services are available, with notifications support. MIT Java
• eZ Server Monitor - A lightweight and simple dashboard monitor for Linux, available in Web and Bash application. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 PHP/Shell
• glances - Open-source, cross-platform real-time monitoring tool with CLI and web dashboard interfaces and many exporting options. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 Python
• Healthchecks - Monitoring for cron jobs, background services and scheduled tasks. (Source Code) BSD-3-Clause Python
• Icinga - Nagios fork that has since lapped nagios several times. Comes with the possibility of clustered monitoring. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C++
• LibreNMS - Fully featured network monitoring system that provides a wealth of features and device support. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 PHP
• Linux Dash - A low-overhead monitoring web dashboard for a GNU/Linux machine. MIT Nodejs/Go/Python/PHP
• Monit - Small utility for managing and monitoring Unix systems. (Source Code) AGPL-3.0 C
• Munin - Networked resource monitoring tool. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 Perl/Shell
• Naemon - Network monitoring tool based on the Nagios 4 core with performance enhancements and new features. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• Nagios - Computer system, network and infrastructure monitoring software application. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• Netdata - Distributed, real-time, performance and health monitoring for systems and applications. Runs on Linux, FreeBSD, and MacOS. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 C
• NetXMS - Open Source network and infrastructure monitoring and management. (Source Code) LGPL-3.0/GPL-3.0 Java/C++/C
• Observium Community Edition - Network monitoring and management platform that provides real-time insight into network health and performance. QPL-1.0 PHP
• openITCOCKPIT Community Edition - Monitoring Suite featuring seamless integrations with Naemon, Checkmk, Grafana and more. (Demo, Source Code) GPL-3.0 deb/Docker
• Performance Co-Pilot - Lightweight, distributed system performance and analysis framework. (Source Code) LGPL-2.1/GPL-2.0 C
• PHP Server Monitor - Open source tool to monitor your servers and websites. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 PHP
• PhpSysInfo - A customizable PHP script that displays information about your system nicely. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 PHP
• Prometheus - Service monitoring system and time series database. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Go
• Riemann - Flexible and fast events processor allowing complex events/metrics analysis. (Source Code) EPL-1.0 Java
• rtop - Interactive, remote system monitoring tool based on SSH. MIT Go
• ruptime - Classic system status server. AGPL-3.0 Shell
• Scrutiny - Web UI for hard drive S.M.A.R.T monitoring, historical trends & real-world failure thresholds. MIT Go
• Sensu - Monitoring tool for ephemeral infrastructure and distributed applications. (Source Code) MIT Go
• Status - Simple and lightweight system monitoring tool for small homeservers with a pleasant web interface. (Demo MIT Python
• Thruk - Multibackend monitoring web interface with support for Naemon, Nagios, Icinga and Shinken. (Source Code) GPL-1.0 Perl
• Wazuh - Unified XDR and SIEM protection for endpoints and cloud workloads. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• Zabbix - Enterprise-class software for monitoring of networks and applications. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C

@ 39cc53c9:27168656

Read the original blog post

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

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

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

History of Monero

Bytecoin and CryptoNote

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The fork

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sources of interest

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

@ 58537364:705b4b85

“สุขเวทนา” ที่แท้ก็คือ “มายา”
เป็นเหมือนลูกคลื่นลูกหนึ่ง
ที่เกิดขึ้นเพราะน้ำถูกลมพัด
เดี๋ยวมันก็แตกกระจายไป

---

หากต้องการจะมีชีวิตอย่างเกษมแล้ว
ก็ต้องอาศัยความรู้เรื่อง อนิจจัง ทุกขัง อนัตตา ให้สมบูรณ์
มันจะต่อต้านกันได้กับอารมณ์ คือ รูป เสียง กลิ่น รส สัมผัส ที่มากระทบ
ไม่ให้ไปหลงรัก หรือหลงเกลียด

เรื่องวุ่นวายมีอยู่ ๒ อย่างเท่านั้น

1. ไปหลงรัก อย่างหนึ่ง
2. ไปหลงเกลียด อย่างหนึ่ง

ซึ่งเป็นเหตุให้หัวเราะและต้องร้องไห้
ถ้าใครมองเห็นว่า หัวเราะก็กระหืดกระหอบ มันเหนื่อยเหมือนกัน
ร้องไห้ก็กระหืดกระหอบ เหมือนกัน
สู้อยู่เฉย ๆ ดีกว่า อย่าต้องหัวเราะ อย่าต้องร้องไห้
นี่แหละ! มันเป็นความเกษม

เราอย่าได้ตกไปเป็นทาสของอารมณ์
จนไปหัวเราะหรือร้องไห้ตามที่อารมณ์มายั่ว
เราเป็นอิสระแก่ตัว หยุดอยู่ หรือเกษมอยู่อย่างนี้ดีกว่า

---

ใช้ อนิจจัง ทุกขัง อนัตตา เป็นเครื่องมือกำกับชีวิต

• รูป เสียง กลิ่น รส สัมผัส เป็น มายา เป็น illusion
• "ตัวกู-ของกู" ก็เป็น illusion
• เพราะ "ตัวกู-ของกู" มันเกิดมาจากอารมณ์
• "ตัวกู-ของกู" เป็นมายา อารมณ์ทั้งหลายก็เป็นมายา

เห็นได้ด้วยหลัก อนิจจัง ทุกขัง อนัตตา
...ความทุกข์ก็ไม่เกิด

---

เราจะตัดลัดมองไปดูสิ่งที่เป็น “สุขเวทนา”

สุขเวทนา คือ ความสุขสนุกสนาน เอร็ดอร่อย
ที่เป็นสุขนั้นเรียกว่า “สุขเวทนา”

แต่สุขเวทนา เป็นมายา
เพราะมันเป็นเหมือนลูกคลื่นที่เกิดขึ้นเป็นคราว ๆ
ไม่ใช่ตัวจริงอะไร

ที่พูดดังนี้ก็เพราะว่า
ในบรรดาสิ่งทั้งปวงในโลกทั้งหมดทุกโลก
ไม่ว่าโลกไหน มันมีค่าอยู่ก็ตรงที่ให้เกิดสุขเวทนา

ลองคิดดูให้ดีว่า...
- ท่านศึกษาเล่าเรียนทำไม?
- ท่านประกอบอาชีพ หน้าที่การงานทำไม?
- ท่านสะสมทรัพย์สมบัติ เกียรติยศ ชื่อเสียง พวกพ้องบริวารทำไม?

มันก็เพื่อสุขเวทนาอย่างเดียว
เพราะฉะนั้น แปลว่า อะไร ๆ มันก็มารวมจุดอยู่ที่สุขเวทนาหมด

ฉะนั้น ถ้าเรามีความรู้ในเรื่องนี้
จัดการกับเรื่องนี้ให้ถูกต้องเพียงเรื่องเดียวเท่านั้น
ทุกเรื่องมันถูกหมด

เพราะฉะนั้น จึงต้องดูสุขเวทนาให้ถูกต้องตามที่เป็นจริงว่า
มันก็เป็น “มายา” ชนิดหนึ่ง

เราจะต้องจัดการให้สมกันกับที่มันเป็นมายา
ไม่ใช่ว่า จะต้องไปตั้งข้อรังเกียจ เกลียดชังมัน
อย่างนั้นมันยิ่ง บ้าบอที่สุด

ถ้าเข้าไปหลงรัก หลงเป็นทาสมัน
ก็เป็นเรื่อง บ้าบอที่สุด

แต่ว่าไปจัดการกับมันอย่างไรให้ถูกต้อง
นั้นแหละเป็นธรรมะ
เป็น ลูกศิษย์ของพระพุทธเจ้า
ที่จะเอาชนะความทุกข์ได้ และไม่ต้องเป็น โรคทางวิญญาณ

---

สุขเวทนา ที่แท้ก็คือ มายา

มันก็ต้องทำโดยวิธีที่พิจารณาให้เห็นว่า
“สุขเวทนา” นี้ ที่แท้ก็คือ “มายา”

เป็นเหมือน ลูกคลื่นลูกหนึ่ง
ที่เกิดขึ้นเพราะ น้ำถูกลมพัด

หมายความว่า
เมื่อ รูป เสียง กลิ่น รส ฯ เข้ามา
แล้ว ความโง่ คือ อวิชชา โมหะ ออกรับ
กระทบกันแล้วเป็นคลื่น

กล่าวคือ สุขเวทนาเกิดขึ้นมา
แต่ เดี๋ยวมันก็แตกกระจายไป

---

ถ้ามองเห็นอย่างนี้แล้ว
เราก็ไม่เป็นทาสของสุขเวทนา
เราสามารถ ควบคุม จะจัด จะทำกับมันได้
ในวิธีที่ ไม่เป็นทุกข์

• ตัวเองก็ไม่เป็นทุกข์
• ครอบครัวก็ไม่เป็นทุกข์
• เพื่อนบ้านก็ไม่เป็นทุกข์
• คนทั้งโลกก็ไม่พลอยเป็นทุกข์
  เพราะมีเราเป็นมูลเหตุ

ถ้าทุกคนเป็นอย่างนี้
โลกนี้ก็มีสันติภาพถาวร
เป็นความสุขที่แท้จริงและถาวร

นี่คือ อานิสงส์ของการหายโรคโดยวิธีต่าง ๆ กัน
ไม่เป็นโรค “ตัวกู” ไม่เป็นโรค “ของกู”

---

พุทธทาสภิกขุ
ที่มา : คำบรรยายชุด “แก่นพุทธศาสน์”
ปีพุทธศักราช ๒๕๐๔
ครั้งที่ ๑
หัวข้อเรื่อง “ใจความทั้งหมดของพระพุทธศาสนา”
ณ ศิริราชพยาบาล มหาวิทยาลัยมหิดล
เมื่อวันที่ ๑๗ ธันวาคม ๒๕๐๔

@ 94215f42:7681f622

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

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

What is the Value Trap?

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

The Value Trap unfolds in distinct phases:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why This Pattern is Inevitable

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

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

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

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

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

Strategic Response for SMEs: The Netflix Model

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

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

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

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

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

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

Strategic Response for Capital Allocators

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

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

• Strong brand and customer relationships

• High customer acquisition costs in the industry

• Regulatory barriers to entry

• Capital-intensive startup requirements

• Long-term contracts and switching costs

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

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

Bitcoin: The Time Arbitrage Solution

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Opportunity, Not Fear: The Renaissance Ahead

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion: Embrace the High Agency Era

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

The businesses and individuals who thrive will be those who:

• Understand the cycle and position accordingly

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

• Build local networks and relationships

• Preserve wealth through the monetary transition

• Embrace building and creating unique value

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

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

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

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

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Chocolatey - The package manager for Windows. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 C#/PowerShell
• Clonezilla - Partition and disk imaging/cloning program. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 Perl/Shell/Other
• DadaMail - Mailing List Manager, written in Perl. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 Perl
• Fog - Cloning/imaging solution/rescue suite. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 PHP/Shell
• phpList - Newsletter and email marketing software. (Source Code) AGPL-3.0 PHP

@ 000002de:c05780a7

I'm mostly curious about how Tapper can do this with a straight face.

https://stacker.news/items/986926

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Beats - Single-purpose data shippers that send data from hundreds or thousands of machines and systems to Logstash or Elasticsearch. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Go
• Collectd - System statistics collection daemon. (Source Code) MIT C
• Diamond - Daemon that collects system metrics and publishes them to Graphite (and others). MIT Python
• Grafana - A Graphite & InfluxDB Dashboard and Graph Editor. (Source Code) AGPL-3.0 Go
• Graphite - Scalable graphing server. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Python
• RRDtool - Industry standard, high performance data logging and graphing system for time series data. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• Statsd - Daemon that listens for statistics like counters and timers, sent over UDP or TCP, and sends aggregates to one or more pluggable backend services. MIT Nodejs
• tcollector - Gathers data from local collectors and pushes the data to OpenTSDB. (Source Code) LGPL-3.0/GPL-3.0 Python
• Telegraf - Plugin-driven server agent for collecting, processing, aggregating, and writing metrics. MIT Go

@ 7e6f9018:a6bbbce5

Governments and the press often publish data on the population’s knowledge of Catalan. However, this data only represents one stage in the linguistic process and does not accurately reflect the state of the language, since a language only has a future if it is used. Knowledge is a necessary step toward using a language, but it is not the final stage — that stage is actual use.

So what is the state of Catalan usage? If we look at data on regular use, we see that the Catalan language has remained stagnant over the past hundred years, with nearly the same number of regular speakers. In 1930, there were around 2.5 million speakers, and in 2018, there were 2.7 million.

Regular use of Catalan in Catalonia, in millions of speakers. The dotted segments are an estimate of the trend, based on the statements of Joan Coromines and adjusted according to Catalonia’s population growth.

These figures wouldn’t necessarily be negative if the language’s integrity were strong, that is, if its existence weren’t threatened by other languages. But the population of Catalonia has grown from 2.7 million in 1930 to 7.5 million in 2018. This means that today, regular Catalan speakers make up only 36% of Catalonia’s population, whereas in 1930, they represented 90%.

Regular use of Catalan in Catalonia, as a percentage of speakers. The dotted segments are an estimate of the trend, based on the statements of Joan Coromines and adjusted according to Catalonia’s population growth.

The language that has gained the most ground is mainly Spanish, which went from 200,000 speakers in 1930 to 3.8 million in 2018. Moreover, speakers of other foreign languages (500,000 speakers) have also grown more than Catalan speakers over the past hundred years.

Notes, Sources, and Methodology

The data from 2003 onward is taken from Idescat (source). Before 2003, there are no official statistics, but we can make interpretations based on historical evidence. The data prior to 2003 is calculated based on two key pieces of evidence:

• 1st Interpretation: In 1930, 90% of the population of Catalonia spoke Catalan regularly. Source and evidence: The Romance linguist Joan Coromines i Vigneaux, a renowned 20th-century linguist, stated in his 1950 work "El que s'ha de saber de la llengua catalana" that "In this territory [Greater Catalonia], almost the entire population speaks Catalan as their usual language" (1, 2).\ While "almost the entire population" is not a precise number, we can interpret it quantitatively as somewhere between 80% and 100%. For the sake of a moderate estimate, we assume 90% of the population were regular Catalan speakers, with the remaining 10% being immigrants and officials of the Spanish state.

• 2nd Interpretation: Regarding population growth between 1930 and 1998, on average, 60% is due to immigration (mostly adopting or already using Spanish language), while 40% is natural growth (likely to acquire Catalan language from childhood). Source and evidence: Between 1999 and 2019, when more detailed data is available, immigration accounted for 68% of population growth. From 1930 to 1998, there was a comparable wave of migration, especially between 1953 and 1973, largely of Spanish-speaking origin (3, 4, 5, 6). To maintain a moderate estimate, we assume 60% of population growth during that period was due to immigration, with the ratio varying depending on whether the period experienced more or less total growth.

@ 6ad3e2a3:c90b7740

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

. . .

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

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

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

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

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Deliberate (?) trade-offs we make for the sake of output speed.

... By sacrificing depth in my learning, I can produce substantially more work. I’m unsure if I’m at the correct balance between output quantity and depth of learning. This uncertainty is mainly fueled by a sense of urgency due to rapidly improving AI models. I don’t have time to learn everything deeply. I love learning, but given current trends, I want to maximize immediate output. I’m sacrificing some learning in classes for more time doing outside work. From a teacher’s perspective, this is obviously bad, but from my subjective standpoint, it’s unclear.

Finding the balance between learning and productivity. By trade, one cannot be productive in specific areas without first acquire the knowledge to define the processes needed to deliver. Designing the process often come on a try and fail dynamic that force us to learn from previous mistakes.

I found this little journal story fun but also little sad. Vincent's realization, one of us trading his learnings to be more productive, asking what is productivity without quality assurance?

Inevitably, parts of my brain will degenerate and fade away, so I need to consciously decide what I want to preserve or my entire brain will be gone. What skills am I NOT okay with offloading? What do I want to do myself?

Read Vincent's journal https://vvvincent.me/llms-are-making-me-dumber/

https://stacker.news/items/984361

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• aerc - Terminal MUA with a focus on plaintext and features for developers. (Source Code) MIT Go
• Claws Mail - Old school email client (and news reader), based on GTK+. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 C
• ImapSync - Simple IMAP migration tool for copying mailboxes to other servers. (Source Code) NLPL Perl
• Mutt - Small but very powerful text-based mail client. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• Sylpheed - Still developed predecessor to Claws Mail, lightweight mail client. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• Thunderbird - Free email application that's easy to set up and customize. (Source Code) MPL-2.0 C/C++

@ f1989a96:bcaaf2c1

Good morning, readers!

Today, we begin in China, where the central bank injected $138 billion into the economy and expanded the money supply by 12.5% year-over-year. As the regime eases monetary conditions to prop up a decelerating economy, Chinese citizens are rushing to preserve their savings, evidenced by Bitcoin/CNY trading activity jumping over 20% on the news. But while some escape to harder money, others remain trapped. In Hunan, an elderly Chinese woman died outside a bank after being forced to appear in person in order to withdraw her own money for medical care.\ \ In Central America, Salvadoran President Bukele revived a “foreign agents” bill that would impose a 30% tax on foreign-funded NGOs, threatening to financially crush organizations that hold those in power accountable and protect journalists and civil society. The proposal mirrors laws used in Russia, China, Belarus, and beyond to suppress dissent. And it arrives amid Bukele’s authoritarian drift and increasing threats to independent journalists.\ \ In open-source news, we highlight a new tool called ChapSmart, a Bitcoin-powered remittance service that allows users to send Bitcoin to citizens and families in Tanzania and have it disbursed in Tanzanian shillings (TZS) via M-PESA. This tool is increasingly helpful as the Tanzanian regime tightens control over foreign currency, mandating that all transactions be conducted in TZS. ChapSmart provides an accessible way for nonprofits and dissidents to access value from abroad using Bitcoin.\ \ We end with an Ask Me Anything (AMA) with Bitcoin educator Anita Posch on Stacker News, who shares her thoughts, experiences, and views from her time conducting Bitcoin education in authoritarian regimes in Africa. We also feature an article from Togolese human rights advocate Farida Nabourema, who critiques Nigeria’s new investment act for classifying Bitcoin as a security and for the regulatory hurdles this will impose on the grassroots adoption of freedom tech in the country.

Be sure to tune in next week at 2 p.m. Oslo time on Wednesday, May 28, as the Oslo Freedom Forum’s Freedom Tech track airs on Bitcoin Magazine’s livestream channels, headlined by speakers Ziya Sadr, Abubakr Nur Khalil, Amiti Uttarwar, Calle, Sarah Kreps, Ben Perrin, and many more.

Now, let’s read on!

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GLOBAL NEWS

El Salvador | Bukele Reintroduces Foreign Agents Bill

In El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele revived a controversial “foreign agents” bill that threatens to severely restrict the finances and operations of NGOs. While the bill is not finalized, Bukele shared on X that the proposal would impose a 30% tax on donations to NGOs receiving foreign funding. This punitive financial measure alone would severely restrict Salvadoran organizations that protect independent journalism, advocate for human rights, and hold the government accountable. In neighboring Nicaragua, a similar foreign agents law has enabled the closure of more than 3,500 NGOs. El Salvador’s foreign agents bill arrives alongside other alarming moves, including arrest warrants against El Faro journalists, the arrest of human rights lawyer Ruth López, and the detention of more than 200 Venezuelan migrants under dubious claims of gang affiliation.

China | Injects Billions to Stabilize Economy

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has injected $138 billion in liquidity through interest rate cuts and a 0.5% reduction in banks’ reserve requirements, in effect expanding the money supply by 12.5% year-over-year. While the state eases monetary conditions to prop up a fragile system, ordinary citizens are left scrambling to preserve the value of their savings. Bitcoin/CNY trading volumes jumped over 20% in response, as people sought refuge from a weakening yuan. But while some can quietly escape to harder money, others are trapped in a system that treats access to money as a privilege. In Hunan, an elderly woman in a wheelchair died outside a bank after being forced to appear in person to withdraw her own money for medical care. Too weak to pass mandatory facial recognition scans, she collapsed after repeated failed attempts.

World | Authoritarian Regimes Lead CBDC Push, Study Finds

A new international study from the Nottingham Business School, part of Nottingham Trent University in England, set out to understand what is driving countries to pursue central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Researchers found the answer lies mostly in political motives. Analyzing 68 countries, the report revealed that authoritarian governments are pushing CBDCs most aggressively, using their centralized power to hastily roll out CBDCs that can monitor transactions, restrict the movement of money, and suppress dissent. On the other hand, the report found democracies are moving more cautiously, weighing concerns over privacy, transparency, and public trust. The study also noted a correlation: countries with high levels of perceived corruption are more likely to explore CBDCs, often framing them as tools to fight illicit finance. These findings are consistent with HRF’s research, revealing nearly half the global population lives under an authoritarian regime experimenting with a CBDC.

Thailand | Plans to Issue New “Investment Token”

Thailand’s Ministry of Finance plans to issue 5 billion baht ($151 million) worth of “G-Tokens,” a new digital investment scheme that allows Thais to buy government bonds for as little as 100 baht ($3). Officials claim the project will democratize access to state-backed investments and offer higher returns than traditional bank deposits. But in a country rapidly advancing central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure, this initiative raises apparent concerns. The move closely follows Thailand’s repeated digital cash handouts via a state-run wallet app, which restricts spending, tracks user behavior, and enforces expiration dates on money, all clear hallmarks of a CBDC. Luckily, the Thai government postponed the latest handout, but the infrastructure remains. Framing this project as inclusionary masks the reality: Thailand is building state-run digital systems that give the regime more power over citizens’ savings and spending.

Russia | Outlaws Amnesty International

Russia officially banned Amnesty International, designating it as an “undesirable organization” and criminalizing cooperation with the global human rights group. Russian officials claim Amnesty promotes “Russophobic projects” and undermines national security. This adds to the Kremlin’s assault on dissent, targeting human rights advocates, independent journalists, and civil society in the years since the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The designation exposes anyone financially, publicly, or privately supporting Amnesty’s work to prosecution and imprisonment up to five years. With more than 220 organizations now blacklisted, Russia is systematically cutting off avenues for international accountability and isolating Russians from external support.

BITCOIN AND FREEDOM TECH NEWS

ChapSmart | Permissionless Remittances in Tanzania

ChapSmart is a Bitcoin-powered remittance service that allows users to send money to individuals and families in Tanzania while having it disbursed in Tanzanian shillings (TZS) via M-PESA. With ChapSmart, no account is needed: just enter your name, email, and the recipient’s M-Pesa details. Choose how much USD to send, pay in bitcoin via the Lightning Network, and ChapSmart delivers Tanzanian shillings instantly to the recipient's M-Pesa account with zero fees. This tool is especially useful as Tanzania’s regime enacts restrictions on foreign currencies, banning most citizens from quoting prices or accepting payment in anything other than TZS. ChapSmart offers a practical and accessible way for families, nonprofits, and individuals to access value from abroad using Bitcoin, even as the state tries to shut out financial alternatives.

Bitkey | Multisignature for Families Protecting Wealth from State Seizure

Decades ago, Ivy Galindo’s family lost their savings overnight when the Brazilian government froze citizens’ bank accounts to “fight inflation.” That moment shaped her understanding of financial repression and why permissionless tools like Bitcoin are essential. When her parents later chose to start saving in Bitcoin, Ivy knew a wallet with a single private key wasn’t enough, as it can be lost, stolen, or handed over under pressure or coercion from corrupt law enforcement or state officials. Multisignature (multisig) wallets, which require approval from multiple private keys to move funds, offer stronger protection against this loss and coercion and eliminate any single points of failure in a Bitcoin self-custody setup. But multisig setups are often too technical for everyday families. Enter Bitkey. This multisig device offered Ivy’s family a simple, secure way to share custody of their Bitcoin in the face of financial repression. In places where wealth confiscation and frozen bank accounts are a lived reality, multisignature wallets can help families stay in full control of their savings.

Parasite Pool | New Zero-Fee, Lightning Native Bitcoin Mining Pool

Parasite Pool is a new open-source Bitcoin mining pool built for home miners who want to contribute to Bitcoin’s decentralization without relying on the large and centralized mining pools. It charges zero fees and offers Lightning-native payouts with a low 10-satoshi threshold, allowing individuals to earn directly and instantly. Notably, it has a “pleb eat first” reward structure, which allocates 1 BTC to the block finder and splits the remaining 2.125 BTC plus fees among all non-winning participants via Lightning. This favors small-scale miners, who can earn outsized rewards relative to their hashpower, inverting the corporate bias of legacy mining pools. This makes Parasite Pool especially attractive for small scale miners, such as those operating in authoritarian contexts who need to mine discreetly and independently. In turn, these very same miners contribute to the Bitcoin network’s resistance to censorship, regulatory capture, and corporate control, ensuring it remains a tool for freedom and peaceful resistance for those who need it most. Learn more about the mining pool here.

Cake Wallet | Implements Payjoin V2

Cake Wallet, a non-custodial, privacy-focused, and open-source mobile Bitcoin wallet, released version 4.28, bringing Payjoin V2 to its user base. Payjoin is a privacy technique that allows two users to contribute an input to a Bitcoin transaction, breaking the common chain analysis heuristic that assumes a sender owns all inputs. This makes it harder for dictators to trace payments or link the identities of activists or nonprofits. Unlike the original Payjoin, which required both the sender and recipient to be online and operate a Payjoin server, Payjoin v2 removes both barriers and introduces asynchronous transactions and serverless communication. This means users can now conduct private transactions without coordination or technical setup, making private Bitcoin transactions much more accessible and expanding the tools dissidents have to transact in the face of censorship, extortion, and surveillance. HRF is pleased to have sponsored the Payjoin V2 specification with a bounty and is happy to see this functionality now in the wild.

Mi Primer Bitcoin | Receives Grant from startsmall

Mi Primer Bitcoin, a nonprofit organization supporting independent Bitcoin education in Central America, announced that it received a $1 million grant from Jack Dorsey’s startsmall public fund. This support will accelerate Mi Primer Bitcoin’s impartial, community-led, Bitcoin-only education. The initiative has trained tens of thousands of students while supporting over 65 grassroots projects across 35+ countries through its Independent Bitcoin Educators Node Network, pushing financial freedom forward where needed most. The Mi Primer Bitcoin (MPB) team stresses the importance of remaining free from government or corporate influence to preserve the integrity of their mission. As founder John Dennehy puts it, “Education will be captured by whoever funds it… We need to create alternative models for the revolution of Bitcoin education to realize its full potential.” MPB has been adopted by many education initiatives working under authoritarian regimes.

Phoenix Wallet | Introduces Unlimited BOLT 12 Offers and Manual Backup Options

Phoenix Wallet, a mobile Bitcoin Lightning wallet, introduced support for unlimited BOLT 12 offers in its v2.6.0 update, allowing users to generate as many reusable Lightning invoices as they like. These offers, which function like static Bitcoin addresses, remain permanently valid and can now include a custom description and amount — ideal for nonprofits or dissidents who need to receive regular donations discreetly. The update also introduces manual export and import of the payments database on Android, enabling users to securely transfer their payment history to new devices. These updates strengthen Phoenix’s position as one of the most user-friendly and feature-complete non-custodial Lightning wallets. BOLT 12 — once a pipe dream — is now a usable activist tool on popularly accessible mobile wallets.

RECOMMENDED CONTENT

Bitcoin Is Not a Security: Why Nigeria’s New Investment and Security Act Misses the Mark by Farida Nabourema

In this article, Togolese human rights advocate Farida Nabourema critiques Nigeria’s 2025 Investment and Securities Act for classifying Bitcoin as a security. Nabourema argues this approach is flawed, economically damaging, disconnected from the realities of Bitcoin usage and innovation across Africa, and an attempt to constrict a human rights tool. She warns that this regulatory framework risks stifling builders and harming the very communities that Bitcoin is helping in a context of widespread currency devaluations, inflation, and exclusion. Read it here.

Ask Me Anything with Anita Posch on Stacker News

After spending five months traveling through countries like Kenya and Zimbabwe, Bitcoin for Fairness Founder Anita Posch joined Stacker News for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) to discuss her view on Bitcoin adoption across the continent. She highlighted major progress since 2020, noting that several grassroots initiatives she supported have become self-sufficient and are now running their own education programs. Despite persistent challenges, like wallet usability, high on-chain fees, and Bitcoin’s misunderstood reputation, she shared stories of real-life impact, including cross-border remittances using mobile airtime and widespread Lightning use via apps like Tando in Kenya. Read the full conversation here.

If this article was forwarded to you and you enjoyed reading it, please consider subscribing to the Financial Freedom Report here.

Support the newsletter by donating bitcoin to HRF’s Financial Freedom program via BTCPay.\ Want to contribute to the newsletter? Submit tips, stories, news, and ideas by emailing us at ffreport @ hrf.org

The Bitcoin Development Fund (BDF) is accepting grant proposals on an ongoing basis. The Bitcoin Development Fund is looking to support Bitcoin developers, community builders, and educators. Submit proposals here.

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@ 7e6f9018:a6bbbce5

Per les xarxes socials es parla amb efusivitat de que Bitcoin arribarà a valer milions de dòlars. El mateix Hal Finney allà pel 2009, va estimar el potencial, en un cas extrem, de 10 milions $:

\> As an amusing thought experiment, imagine that Bitcoin is successful and becomes the dominant payment system in use throughout the world. Then the total value of the currency should be equal to the total value of all the wealth in the world. Current estimates of total worldwide household wealth that I have found range from $100 trillion to $300 trillion. Withn 20 million coins, that gives each coin a value of about $10 million. <https://satoshi.nakamotoinstitute.org/emails/bitcoin-list/threads/4/>

No estic d'acord amb els càlculs del bo d'en Hal, ja que no consider que la valoració d'una moneda funcioni així. En qualsevol cas, el 2009 la capitalització de la riquesa mundial era de 300 bilions $, avui és de 660 bilions $, és a dir ha anat pujant un 5,3% de manera anual, $$(660/300)^{1/15} = 1.053$$

La primera apreciació amb aquest augment anual del 5% és que si algú llegeix aquest article i té diners que no necessita aturats al banc (estalvis), ara és bon moment per començar a moure'ls, encara sigui amb moviments defensius (títols de deute governamental o la propietat del primer habitatge). La desagregació per actius dels 660 bilions és:

1. Immobiliari residencial = 260 bilions $

2. Títols de deute = 125 bilions $

3. Accions = 110 bilions

4. Diners fiat = 78 bilions $

5. Terres agrícoles = 35 bilions $

6. Immobiliari comercial = 32 bilions $

7. Or = 18 bilions $

8. Bitcoin = 2 bilions $

La riquesa mundial és major que 660 bilions, però aquests 8 actius crec que són els principals, ja que s'aprecien a dia d'avui. El PIB global anual és de 84 bilions $, que no són bromes, però aquest actius creats (cotxes, ordinadors, roba, aliments...), perden valor una vegada produïts, aproximant-se a 0 passades unes dècades.

Partint d'aquest nombres com a vàlids, la meva posició base respecte de Bitcoin, ja des de fa un parell d'anys, és que te capacitat per posar-se al nivell de capitalització de l'or, perquè conceptualment s'emulen bé, i perquè tot i que Bitcoin no té un valor tangible industrial com pot tenir l'or, sí que te un valor intangible tecnològic, que és pales en tot l'ecosistema que s'ha creat al seu voltant:

• Creació de tecnologies de pagament instantani: la Lightning Network, Cashu i la Liquid Network.

• Producció d'aplicacions amb l'íntegrament de pagaments instantanis. Especialment destacar el protocol de Nostr (Primal, Amethyst, Damus, Yakihonne, 0xChat...)

• Industria energètica: permet estabilitzar xarxes elèctriques i emprar energia malbaratada (flaring gas), amb la generació de demanda de hardware i software dedicat.

• Educació financera i defensa de drets humans. És una eina de defensa contra governs i estats repressius. La Human Rights Foundation fa una feina bastant destacada d'educació.

Ara posem el potencial en nombres:

• Si iguala l'empresa amb major capitalització, que és Apple, arribaria a uns 160 mil dòlars per bitcoin.

• Si iguala el nivell de l'or, arribaria a uns 800 mil dòlars per bitcoin.

• Si iguala el nivell del diner fiat líquid, arribaria a un 3.7 milions de dòlars per bitcoin.

Crec que igualar la capitalització d'Apple és probable en els pròxims 5 - 10 anys. També igualar el nivell de l'or en els pròxims 20 anys em sembla una fita possible. Ara bé, qualsevol fita per sota d'aquesta capitalització ha d'implicar tota una serie de successos al món que no sóc capaç d'imaginar. Que no vol dir que no pugui passar.

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Digital Psychology ↗

Wall of impact website showcase a collection of success metrics and micro case studies to create a clear, impactful visual of your brand's achievements. It also displays a Wall of love with an abundance of testimonials in one place, letting the sheer volume highlight your brand's popularity and customer satisfaction.

And like these, many others collections like Testimonial mashup that combine multiple testimonials into a fast-paced, engaging reel that highlights key moments of impact in an attention-grabbing format.

Awards and certifications of websites highlighting third-party ratings and verification to signal trust and quality through industry-recognized achievements and standards.

View them all at https://socialproofexamples.com/

https://stacker.news/items/984357

@ 7e6f9018:a6bbbce5

Over the last decade, birth rates in Spain have dropped by 30%, from 486,000 births in 2010 to 339,000 in 2020, a decline only comparable to that seen in Japan and the Four Asian Tigers.

The main cause seems to stem from two major factors: (1) the widespread use of contraceptive methods, which allow for pregnancy control without reducing sexual activity, and (2) women's entry into the labor market, leading to a significant shift away from traditional maternal roles.

In this regard, there is a phenomenon of demographic inertia that I believe could become significant. When a society ages and the population pyramid inverts, the burden this places on the non-dependent population could further contribute to a deeper decline in birth rates.

The more resources (time and money) non-dependent individuals have to dedicate to the elderly (dependents), the less they can allocate to producing new births (also dependents):

• An only child who has to care for both parents will bear a burden of 2 (2 ÷ 1).
• Three siblings who share the responsibility of caring for their parents will bear a burden of 0.6 (2 ÷ 3).

This burden on only children could, in many cases, be significant enough to prevent them from having children of their own.

In Spain, the generation of only children reached reproductive age in 2019(*), this means that right now the majority of people in reproductive age in Spain are only child (or getting very close to it).

If this assumption is correct, and aging feeds on itself, then, given that Spain has one of the worst demographic imbalances in the world, this phenomenon is likely to manifest through worsening birth rates. Spain’s current birth rate of 1.1 may not yet have reached its lowest point.

(*)Birth rate table and the year in which each generation reaches 32 years of age, Spain.

| Year of birth | Birth rate | Year in which the generation turns 32 | | ------------------ | -------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | 1971 | 2.88 | 2003 | | 1972 | 2.85 | 2004 | | 1973 | 2.82 | 2005 | | 1974 | 2.81 | 2006 | | 1975 | 2.77 | 2007 | | 1976 | 2.77 | 2008 | | 1977 | 2.65 | 2009 | | 1978 | 2.54 | 2010 | | 1979 | 2.37 | 2011 | | 1980 | 2.21 | 2012 | | 1981 | 2.04 | 2013 | | 1982 | 1.94 | 2014 | | 1983 | 1.80 | 2015 | | 1984 | 1.72 | 2016 | | 1985 | 1.64 | 2017 | | 1986 | 1.55 | 2018 | | 1987 | 1.49 | 2019 | | 1988 | 1.45 | 2020 | | 1989 | 1.40 | 2021 | | 1990 | 1.36 | 2022 | | 1991 | 1.33 | 2023 | | 1992 | 1.31 | 2024 | | 1993 | 1.26 | 2025 | | 1994 | 1.19 | 2026 | | 1995 | 1.16 | 2027 | | 1996 | 1.14 | 2028 | | 1997 | 1.15 | 2029 | | 1998 | 1.13 | 2030 | | 1999 | 1.16 | 2031 | | 2000 | 1.21 | 2032 | | 2001 | 1.24 | 2033 | | 2002 | 1.25 | 2034 | | 2003 | 1.30 | 2035 | | 2004 | 1.32 | 2036 | | 2005 | 1.33 | 2037 | | 2006 | 1.36 | 2038 | | 2007 | 1.38 | 2039 | | 2008 | 1.44 | 2040 | | 2009 | 1.38 | 2041 | | 2010 | 1.37 | 2042 | | 2011 | 1.34 | 2043 | | 2012 | 1.32 | 2044 | | 2013 | 1.27 | 2045 | | 2014 | 1.32 | 2046 | | 2015 | 1.33 | 2047 | | 2016 | 1.34 | 2048 | | 2017 | 1.31 | 2049 | | 2018 | 1.26 | 2050 | | 2019 | 1.24 | 2051 | | 2020 | 1.19 | 2052 |

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Fluentd - Data collector for unified logging layer. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Ruby
• Flume - Distributed, reliable, and available service for efficiently collecting, aggregating, and moving large amounts of log data. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Java
• GoAccess - Real-time web log analyzer and interactive viewer that runs in a terminal or through the browser. (Source Code) MIT C
• Loki - Log aggregation system designed to store and query logs from all your applications and infrastructure. (Source Code) AGPL-3.0 Go
• rsyslog - Rocket-fast system for log processing. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 C

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

🏌️ Monday, May 26 – Bitcoin Golf Championship & Kickoff Party

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada\ Event: 2nd Annual Bitcoin Golf Championship & Kick Off Party"\ Where: Bali Hai Golf Clubhouse, 5160 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89119\ 🎟️ Get Tickets!

Details:

• The week tees off in style with the Bitcoin Golf Championship. Swing clubs by day and swing to music by night.

• Live performances from Nostr-powered acts courtesy of Tunestr, including Ainsley Costello and others.

• Stop by the Purple Pill Booth hosted by Derek and Tanja, who will be on-boarding golfers and attendees to the decentralized social future with Nostr.

---

💬 May 27–29 – Bitcoin 2025 Conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center

Location: The Venetian Resort\ Main Attraction for Nostr Fans: The Nostr Lounge\ When: All day, Tuesday through Thursday\ Where: Right outside the Open Source Stage\ 🎟️ Get Tickets!

Come chill at the Nostr Lounge, your home base for all things decentralized social. With seating for \~50, comfy couches, high-tops, and good vibes, it’s the perfect space to meet developers, community leaders, and curious newcomers building the future of censorship-resistant communication.

Bonus: Right across the aisle, you’ll find Shopstr, a decentralized marketplace app built on Nostr. Stop by their booth to explore how peer-to-peer commerce works in a truly open ecosystem.

Daily Highlights at the Lounge:

• ☕️ Hang out casually or sit down for a deeper conversation about the Nostr protocol

• 🔧 1:1 demos from app teams

• 🛍️ Merch available onsite

• 🧠 Impromptu lightning talks

• 🎤 Scheduled Meetups (details below)

---

🎯 Nostr Lounge Meetups

Wednesday, May 28 @ 1:00 PM

• Damus Meetup: Come meet the team behind Damus, the OG Nostr app for iOS that helped kickstart the social revolution. They'll also be showcasing their new cross-platform app, Notedeck, designed for a more unified Nostr experience across devices. Grab some merch, get a demo, and connect directly with the developers.

Thursday, May 29 @ 1:00 PM

• Primal Meetup: Dive into Primal, the slickest Nostr experience available on web, Android, and iOS. With a built-in wallet, zapping your favorite creators and friends has never been easier. The team will be on-site for hands-on demos, Q\&A, merch giveaways, and deeper discussions on building the social layer of Bitcoin.

---

🎙️ Nostr Talks at Bitcoin 2025

If you want to hear from the minds building decentralized social, make sure you attend these two official conference sessions:

1. FROSTR Workshop: Multisig Nostr Signing

• 🕚 Time: 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM

• 📅 Date: Wednesday, May 28

• 📍 Location: Developer Zone

• 🎤 Speaker: nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqgdwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkcqpqs9etjgzjglwlaxdhsveq0qksxyh6xpdpn8ajh69ruetrug957r3qf4ggfm (Austin Kelsay) @ Voltage\ A deep-dive into FROST-based multisig key management for Nostr. Geared toward devs and power users interested in key security.

2. Panel: Decentralizing Social Media

• 🕑 Time: 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM

• 📅 Date: Thursday, May 29

• 📍 Location: Genesis Stage

• 🎙️ Moderator: nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqy08wumn8ghj7mn0wd68yttjv4kxz7fwv3jhyettwfhhxuewd4jsqgxnqajr23msx5malhhcz8paa2t0r70gfjpyncsqx56ztyj2nyyvlq00heps - Bitcoin Strategy @ Roxom TV

• 👥 Speakers:

• nostr:nprofile1qyt8wumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtcppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qqsy2ga7trfetvd3j65m3jptqw9k39wtq2mg85xz2w542p5dhg06e5qmhlpep – Early Bitcoin dev, CEO @ Sirius Business Ltd

• nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytndv9kxjm3wdahxcqg5waehxw309ahx7um5wfekzarkvyhxuet5qqsw4v882mfjhq9u63j08kzyhqzqxqc8tgf740p4nxnk9jdv02u37ncdhu7e3 – Analyst & Partner @ Ego Death Capital

Get the big-picture perspective on why decentralized social matters and how Nostr fits into the future of digital communication.

---

🌃 NOS VEGAS Meetup & Afterparty

Date: Wednesday, May 28\ Time: 7:00 PM – 1:00 AM\ Location: We All Scream Nightclub, 517 Fremont St., Las Vegas, NV 89101\ 🎟️ Get Tickets!

What to Expect:

• 🎶 Live Music Stage – Featuring Ainsley Costello, Sara Jade, Able James, Martin Groom, Bobby Shell, Jessie Lark, and other V4V artists

• 🪩 DJ Party Deck – With sets by nostr:nprofile1qy0hwumn8ghj7cmgdae82uewd45kketyd9kxwetj9e3k7mf6xs6rgqgcwaehxw309ahx7um5wgh85mm694ek2unk9ehhyecqyq7hpmq75krx2zsywntgtpz5yzwjyg2c7sreardcqmcp0m67xrnkwylzzk4 , nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqgkwaehxw309anx2etywvhxummnw3ezucnpdejqqg967faye3x6fxgnul77ej23l5aew8yj0x2e4a3tq2mkrgzrcvecfsk8xlu3 , and more DJs throwing down

• 🛰️ Live-streamed via Tunestr

• 🧠 Nostr Education – Talks by nostr:nprofile1qy88wumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmv9uq37amnwvaz7tmwdaehgu3dwfjkccte9ejx2un9ddex7umn9ekk2tcqyqlhwrt96wnkf2w9edgr4cfruchvwkv26q6asdhz4qg08pm6w3djg3c8m4j , nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqg7waehxw309anx2etywvhxummnw3ezucnpdejz7ur0wp6kcctjqqspywh6ulgc0w3k6mwum97m7jkvtxh0lcjr77p9jtlc7f0d27wlxpslwvhau , nostr:nprofile1qy88wumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmv9uq3vamnwvaz7tmwdaehgu3wd33xgetk9en82m30qqsgqke57uygxl0m8elstq26c4mq2erz3dvdtgxwswwvhdh0xcs04sc4u9p7d , nostr:nprofile1q9z8wumn8ghj7erzx3jkvmmzw4eny6tvw368wdt8da4kxamrdvek76mrwg6rwdngw94k67t3v36k77tev3kx7vn2xa5kjem9dp4hjepwd3hkxctvqyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2qpqyaul8k059377u9lsu67de7y637w4jtgeuwcmh5n7788l6xnlnrgssuy4zk , nostr:nprofile1qy28wue69uhnzvpwxqhrqt33xgmn5dfsx5cqz9thwden5te0v4jx2m3wdehhxarj9ekxzmnyqqswavgevxe9gs43vwylumr7h656mu9vxmw4j6qkafc3nefphzpph8ssvcgf8 , and more.

• 🧾 Vendors & Project Booths – Explore new tools and services

• 🔐 Onboarding Stations – Learn how to use Nostr hands-on

• 🐦 Nostrich Flocking – Meet your favorite nyms IRL

• 🍸 Three Full Bars – Two floors of socializing overlooking vibrant Fremont Street

| | | | | ----------- | -------------------- | ------------------- | | Time | Name | Topic | | 7:30-7:50 | Derek | Nostr for Beginners | | 8:00-8:20 | Mark & Paul | Primal | | 8:30-8:50 | Terry | Damus | | 9:00-9:20 | OpenMike and Ainsley | V4V | | 09:30-09:50 | The Space | Space |

This is the after-party of the year for those who love freedom technology and decentralized social community. Don’t miss it.

---

Final Thoughts

Whether you're there to learn, network, party, or build, Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas has a packed week of Nostr-friendly programming. Be sure to catch all the events, visit the Nostr Lounge, and experience the growing decentralized social revolution.

🟣 Find us. Flock with us. Purple pill someone.

@ 662f9bff:8960f6b2

This past week I have been very busy in Holywood - just outside Belfast, Northern Ireland with a lot to do on top of my day-job! It was an unplanned trip but mission accomplished and we are off on the road again. I am writing this on my 3h30 Ryanair flight - so even in weeks like this you can find time to reflect quietly and think clearly if you look for it and seize the opportunity.

You might have noticed that I have "rebranded" the website and newsletter as "Letter From ...around the world". This reflects the reality that Hong Kong is not currently the "Asia World City" and I am not there. Whether it will ever reclaim that title again and when, or even if I can return remains to be seen. I am deeply saddened that after living 10 fabulous years in HK we had to abandon everything that Saturday night at the end of February.

This is the third time in my life that I have chosen Exit from "Loyalty, Voice or Exit" - (recall issue 09 - On Location).... Expect both Voice and Exit to become increasingly difficult or even unavailable in many jurisdictions. It is time to wake up. Talk to me if you are awake or curious!

One thing I learned back in 2004 on my first businss trip to New York is that "The way you react to a situation determines how you feel about it". This is one of so many insights that I learned from "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Steven Covey. I found the book at 4pm in the afternoon walking around outside my hotel trying to stay up to overcome jet-lag. I got back to the hotel and proceeded to devour the entire book overnight. I had never done that with any book before and I do not think I have done it since. Look out for a full review in an upcoming newsletter.

Thanks to Ali Abdaal for his passionate and insightful review of "Show Your Work" by Austin Kleon - clearly this is something that he has internalised and he does practice what he preaches. Indeed this is a short and easy read with many pictures and simple suggestions - recommended! I did read it on my Kindle and I am enjoying how the highlights automagically sync into Obsidian (see last week's find).

I was also inspired by Ali's How to Start a Youtube Channel explainer. I have been following Ali for about 5 years since he was a student doing these videos in his student room on his iPhone while studying Medicine in Cambridge. His passion for sharing his insights on how to study effectively as well as facilitating the learning that medical students needed to do enabled him to set up his own businesss. This set him on the road to his current 3 million subscribers and a business employing over a dozen people inspiring and helping others to acquire skills that are increasingly valuable in the the world today and going forward.

Over the coming months I will be experimenting with different channels and different media not only to discover new insights for myself but also to share things that I distill and find interesting. Also somewhat loosely inspired by "How to Get What you want and Want What You Have" by Jon Gray, I do recognize that I am now in the latter of the "Ten Time Periods" - if I had to pick one, I would say number 8 - at least that is how I feel!

So do subscribe to the newsletter and do follow along on Youtube. I'm obviously still in stage 1 of Ali's 3-stage process - so be patient and do give feedback, questions and suggestions!

Another day - another Airport...

That's it!

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

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

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

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

@ cefb08d1:f419beff

https://stacker.news/items/986402

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• GLPI - Information Resource-Manager with an additional Administration Interface. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 PHP
• OCS Inventory NG - Asset management and deployment solution for all devices in your IT Department. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 PHP/Perl
• OPSI - Hardware and software inventory, client management, deployment, and patching for Linux and Windows. (Source Code) GPL-3.0/AGPL-3.0 OVF/Python
• RackTables - Datacenter and server room asset management like document hardware assets, network addresses, space in racks, networks configuration. (Demo, Source Code) GPL-2.0 PHP
• Ralph - Asset management, DCIM and CMDB system for large Data Centers as well as smaller LAN networks. (Demo, Source Code) Apache-2.0 Python/Docker
• Snipe IT - Asset & license management software. (Source Code) AGPL-3.0 PHP

@ 609f186c:0aa4e8af

Google says that Android 16 is slated to feature an optional high security mode. Cool.

Advanced Protection has a bunch of requested features that address the kinds of threats we worry about.

It's the kind of 'turn this one thing on if you face elevated risk' that we've been asking for from Google.

And likely reflects some learning after Google watched Apple 's Lockdown Mode play out. I see a lot of value in this..

Here are some features I'm excited to see play out:

The Intrusion Logging feature is interesting & is going to impose substantial cost on attackers trying to hide evidence of exploitation. Logs get e2ee encrypted into the cloud. This one is spicy.

The Offline Lock, Inactivity Reboot & USB protection will frustrate non-consensual attempts to physically grab device data.

Memory Tagging Extension is going to make a lot of attack & exploitation categories harder.

2G Network Protection & disabling Auto-connect to insecure networks are going to address categories of threat from things like IMSI catchers & hostile WiFi.

I'm curious about some other features such as:

Spam & Scam detection: Google messages feature that suggests message content awareness and some kind of scanning.

Scam detection for Phone by Google is interesting & coming later. The way it is described suggests phone conversation awareness. This also addresses a different category of threat than the stuff above. I can see it addressing a whole category of bad things that regular users (& high risk ones too!) face. Will be curious how privacy is addressed or if this done purely locally. Getting messy: Friction points? I see Google thinking these through, but I'm going to add a potential concern: what will users do when they encounter friction? Will they turn this off & forget to re-enable? We've seen users turn off iOS Lockdown Mode when they run into friction for specific websites or, say, legacy WiFi. They then forget to turn it back on. And stay vulnerable.

Bottom line: users disabling Apple's Lockdown Mode for a temporary thing & leaving it off because they forget to turn it on happens a lot. This is a serious % of users in my experience...

And should be factored into design decisions for similar modes. I feel like a good balance is a 'snooze button' or equivalent so that users can disable all/some features for a brief few minute period to do something they need to do, and then auto re-enable.

Winding up:

I'm excited to see how Android Advanced Protection plays with high risk users' experiences. I'm also super curious whether the spam/scam detection features may also be helpful to more vulnerable users (think: aging seniors)...

Niche but important:

Some users, esp. those that migrated to security & privacy-focused Android distros because of because of the absence of such a feature are clear candidates for it... But they may also voice privacy concerns around some of the screening features. Clear communication from the Google Security / Android team will be key here.

@ 58537364:705b4b85

คนเรามักจะเห็นคุณค่าของสิ่งใด ส่วนใหญ่ก็ใน ๒ สถานการณ์คือ หนึ่ง ตอนที่ยังไม่ได้มา หรือ สอง ตอนที่เสียไปแล้ว

อันนี้มันเป็นโศกนาฏกรรม ที่เกิดขึ้นกับผู้คนจำนวนมาก การที่คนเรามีสิ่งดีๆ แต่ว่าเราไม่เห็นคุณค่า เพราะว่าเรามองออกไปนอกตัว ไปเห็นแต่สิ่งที่ตัวเองไม่มี อยากจะได้มา

คล้ายๆ กับเรื่อง หมาคาบเนื้อในนิทานอีสป ตอนเด็กๆ เราคงจำได้ มีหมาตัวหนึ่งคาบเนื้อมา เนื้อชิ้นใหญ่เลย มันดีใจมากแล้วมันก็วิ่งไปยังที่ที่ มันจะได้กินเนื้ออย่างมีความสุข มีช่วงหนึ่งก็ต้องเดินข้ามสะพาน มันก็ชะโงกหน้าไปมองที่ลำธารหรือลำคลอง

ก็เห็นเงาตัวเอง เงานั่นมันก็ใหญ่ แล้วมันก็พบว่าในเงานั้น เนื้อในเงามันใหญ่กว่าเนื้อที่ตัวเองคาบ มันอยากได้เนื้อก้อนนั้นมากเลย เพราะว่ามันเป็นก้อนที่ใหญ่กว่า

มันก็เลยอ้าปาก เพื่อที่จะไปงับเนื้อในเงานั้น พอมันอ้าปาก ก็ปรากฏว่าเนื้อในปาก ก็หลุดตกลงแม่น้ำ แล้วเนื้อในเงานั้นก็หายไป เป็นอันว่าหมดเลย อดทั้ง 2 อย่าง .

ฉะนั้น คนเราถ้าหากเรา กลับมาเห็นคุณค่าของสิ่งที่เรามีอยู่ เราจะมีความสุขได้ง่าย อาจจะไม่ใช่สิ่งของ อาจจะไม่ใช่ผู้คน แต่อาจจะเป็นสุขภาพของเรา

อาจจะได้แก่ ลมหายใจของเรา ที่ยังหายใจได้ปกติ รวมถึงการที่ เรายังเดินเหินไปไหนมาไหนได้ การที่เรายังมองเห็น การที่เรายังได้ยิน

หลายคนมีสิ่งนี้อยู่ในตัว แต่กลับไม่เห็นค่า และไม่รู้สึกว่าตัวเองโชคดี กลับไปมองว่า ฉันยังไม่มีโน่นยังไม่มีนี่ ไม่มีบ้าน ไม่มีรถ ไม่มีเงิน

รู้สึกว่าทุกข์ระทมเหลือเกิน

ทำไมฉันจึงลำบากแบบนี้ ทั้งที่ตัวเองก็มีสิ่งดีๆ ในตัว สุขภาพ ความปกติสุข อิสรภาพที่เดินไปไหนมาไหนได้

แต่กลับไม่เห็นค่า เพราะว่ามัวแต่ไปสนใจสิ่งที่ตัวเองยังไม่มี

ซึ่งเป็นอนาคต

ถ้าเราหันกลับมาเห็นคุณค่าของสิ่งที่เรามีอยู่ แล้วก็ไม่ไปพะวงหรือให้ความสนใจกับสิ่งที่ยังไม่มี เราจะมีความสุขได้ง่าย อันนี้คือ ความหมายหนึ่งของการทำปัจจุบันให้ดีที่สุด

…

การทำปัจจุบันให้ดีที่สุด พระอาจารย์ไพศาล วิสาโล

@ b83a28b7:35919450

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

Listen to the full episode here:

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

---

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

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

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

---

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

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpwp69zm7fewjp0vkp306adnzt7249ytxhz7mq3w5yc629u6er9zsqqsy43fwz8es2wnn65rh0udc05tumdnx5xagvzd88ptncspmesdqhygcrvpf2

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• BounCA - A personal SSL Key / Certificate Authority web-based tool for creating self-signed certificates. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Python
• easy-rsa - Bash script to build and manage a PKI CA. GPL-2.0 Shell
• Fusion Directory - Improve the Management of the services and the company directory based on OpenLDAP. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 PHP
• LDAP Account Manager (LAM) - Web frontend for managing entries (e.g. users, groups, DHCP settings) stored in an LDAP directory. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 PHP
• Libravatar - Libravatar is a service which delivers your avatar (profile picture) to other websites. (Source Code) AGPL-3.0 Python
• Pomerium - An identity and context aware access-proxy inspired by BeyondCorp. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Docker/Go
• Samba - Active Directory and CIFS protocol implementation. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 C
• Smallstep Certificates - A private certificate authority (X.509 & SSH) and related tools for secure automated certificate management. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Go
• ZITADEL - Cloud-native Identity & Access Management solution providing a platform for secure authentication, authorization and identity management. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Go/Docker/K8S

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Authelia - The Single Sign-On Multi-Factor portal for web apps. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Go
• Authentik - Flexible identity provider with support for different protocols. (OAuth 2.0, SAML, LDAP and Radius). (Source Code) MIT Python
• KeyCloak - Open Source Identity and Access Management. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Java

@ bc6ccd13:f53098e4

The global population has been rising rapidly for the past two centuries when compared to historical trends. Fifty years ago, that trend seemed set to continue, and there was a lot of concern around the issue of overpopulation. But if you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ll know that while the population is still rising, that trend now seems set to reverse this century, and there’s every indication population could decline precipitously over the next two centuries.

Demographics is a field where predictions about the future are much more reliable than in most scientific fields. That’s because future population trends are “baked in” decades in advance. If you want to know how many fifty-year-olds there will be in forty years, all you have to do is count the ten-year-olds today and allow for mortality rates. That maximum was already determined by the number of births ten years ago, and absolutely nothing can change that now. The average person doesn’t think that through when they look at population trends. You hear a lot of “oh we just need to do more of x to help the declining birthrate” without an acknowledgement that future populations in a given cohort are already fixed by the number of births that already occurred.

As you can see, global birthrates have already declined close to the 2.3 replacement level, with some regions ahead of others, but all on the same trajectory with no region moving against the trend. I’m not going to speculate on the reasons for this, or even whether it’s a good or bad thing. Instead I’m going to make some observations about outcomes this trend could cause economically, and why. Like most macro issues, an individual can’t do anything to change the global landscape personally, but knowing what that landscape might look like is essential to avoiding fallout from trends outside your control.

The Resource Pie

Thomas Malthus popularized the concern about overpopulation with his 1798 book An Essay on the Principle of Population. The basic premise of the book was that population could grow and consume all the available resources, leading to mass poverty, starvation, disease, and population collapse. We can say in hindsight that this was incorrect, given that the global population has increased from less than a billion to over eight billion since then, and the apocalypse Malthus predicted hasn’t materialized. Exactly the opposite, in fact. The global standard of living has risen to levels Malthus couldn’t have imagined, much less predicted.

So where did Malthus go wrong? His hypothesis seems reasonable enough, and we do see a similar trend in certain animal populations. The base assumption Malthus got wrong was to assume resources are a finite, limiting factor to the human population. That at some point certain resources would be totally consumed, and that would be it. He treated it like a pie with a lot of slices, but still a finite number, and assumed that if the population kept rising, eventually every slice would be consumed and there would be no pie left for future generations. That turns out to be completely wrong.

Of course, the earth is finite at some abstract level. The number of atoms could theoretically be counted and quantified. But on a practical level, do humans exhaust the earth’s resources? I’d point to an article from Yale Scientific titled Has the Earth Run out of any Natural Resources? To quote,

> However, despite what doomsday predictions may suggest, the Earth has not run out of any resources nor is it likely that it will run out of any in the near future. > > In fact, resources are becoming more abundant. Though this may seem puzzling, it does not mean that the actual quantity of resources in the Earth’s crust is increasing but rather that the amount available for our use is constantly growing due to technological innovations. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the only resource we have exhausted is cryolite, a mineral used in pesticides and aluminum processing. However, that is not to say every bit of it has been mined away; rather, producing it synthetically is much more cost efficient than mining the existing reserves at its current value.

As it happens, we don’t run out of resources. Instead, we become better at finding, extracting, and efficiently utilizing resources, which means that in practical terms resources become more abundant, not less. In other words, the pie grows faster than we can eat it.

So is there any resource that actually limits human potential? I think there is, and history would suggest that resource is human ingenuity and effort. The more people are thinking about and working on a problem, the more solutions we find and build to solve it. That means not only does the pie grow faster than we can eat it, but the more people there are, the faster the pie grows. Of course that assumes everyone eating pie is also working to grow the pie, but that’s a separate issue for now.

Productivity and Division of Labor

Why does having more people lead to more productivity? A big part of it comes down to division of labor and specialization. The best way to get really good at something is to do more of it. In a small community, doing just one thing simply isn’t possible. Everyone has to be somewhat of a generalist in order to survive. But with a larger population, being a specialist becomes possible. In fact, that’s the purpose of money, as I explained here.

nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzp0rve5f6xtu56djkfkkg7ktr5rtfckpun95rgxaa7futy86npx8yqq247t2dvet9q4tsg4qng36lxe6kc4nftayyy89kua2

The more specialized an economy becomes, the more efficient it can be. There are big economies of scale in almost every task or process. So for example, if a single person tried to build a car from scratch, it would be extremely difficult and take a very long time. However, if you have a thousand people building a car, each doing a specific job, they can become very good at doing that specific job and do it much faster. And then you can move that process to a factory, and build machines to do specific jobs, and add even more efficiency.

But that only works if you’re building more than one car. It doesn’t make sense to build a huge factory full of specialized equipment that takes lots of time and effort to design and manufacture, and then only build one car. You need to sell thousands of cars, maybe even millions of cars, to pay off that initial investment. So division of labor and specialization relies on large populations in two different ways. First, you need a large population to have enough people to specialize in each task. But second and just as importantly, you need a large population of buyers for the finished product. You need a big market in order to make mass production economical.

Think of a computer or smartphone. It takes thousands of specialized processes, thousands of complex parts, and millions of people doing specialized jobs to extract the raw materials, process them, and assemble them into a piece of electronic hardware. And electronics are relatively expensive anyway. Imagine how impossible it would be to manufacture electronics economically, if the market demand wasn’t literally in the billions of units.

Stairs Up, Elevator Down

We’ve seen exponential increases in productivity over the past few centuries, resulting in higher living standards even as population exploded. Now, facing the prospect of a drastic trend reversal, what will happen to productivity and living standards? The typical sentiment seems to be “well, there are a lot of people already competing for resources, so if population does decline, that will just reduce the competition and leave a bigger slice of pie for each person, so we’ll all be getting wealthier as a result of population decline.”

This seems reasonable at first glance. Surely dividing the economic pie into fewer slices means a bigger slice for everyone, right? But remember, more specialization and division of labor is what made the pie as big as it is to begin with. And specialization depends on large populations for both the supply of specialized labor, and the demand for finished goods. Can complex supply chains and mass production withstand population reduction intact? I don’t think the answer is clear.

The idea that it will all be okay, and we’ll get wealthier as population falls, is based on some faulty assumptions. It assumes that wealth is basically some fixed inventory of “things” that exist, and it’s all a matter of distribution. That’s typical Marxist thinking, similar to the reasoning behind “tax the rich” and other utopian wealth transfer schemes.

The reality is, wealth is a dynamic concept with strong network effects. For example, a grocery store in a large city can be a valuable asset with a large potential income stream. The same store in a small village with a declining population can be an unprofitable and effectively worthless liability.

Even something as permanent as a house is very susceptible to network effects. If you currently live in an area where housing is scarce and expensive, you might think a declining population would be the perfect solution to high housing costs. However, if you look at a place that’s already facing the beginnings of a population decline, you’ll see it’s not actually that simple. Japan, for example, is already facing an aging and declining population. And sure enough, you can get a house in Japan for free, or basically free. Sounds amazing, right? Not really.

If you check out the reason houses are given away in Japan, you’ll find a depressing reality. Most of the free houses are in rural areas or villages where the population is declining, often to the point that the village becomes uninhabited and abandoned. It’s so bad that in 2018, 13.6% of houses in Japan were vacant. Why do villages become uninhabited? Well, it turns out that a certain population level is necessary to support the services and businesses people need. When the population falls too low, specialized businesses can no longer operated profitably. It’s the exact issue we discussed with division of labor and the need for a high population to provide a market for the specialist to survive. As the local stores, entertainment venues, and businesses close, and skilled tradesmen move away to larger population centers with more customers, living in the village becomes difficult and depressing, if not impossible. So at a certain critical level, a village that’s too isolated will reach a tipping point where everyone leaves as fast as possible. And it turns out that an abandoned house in a remote village or rural area without any nearby services and businesses is worth… nothing. Nobody wants to live there, nobody wants to spend the money to maintain the house, nobody wants to pay the taxes needed to maintain the utilities the town relied on. So they try to give the houses away to anyone who agrees to live there, often without much success.

So on a local level, population might rise gradually over time, but when that process reverses and population declines to a certain level, it can collapse rather quickly from there.

I expect the same incentives to play out on a larger scale as well. Complex supply chains and extreme specialization lead to massive productivity. But there’s also a downside, which is the fragility of the system. Specialization might mean one shop can make all the widgets needed for a specific application, for the whole globe. That’s great while it lasts, but what happens when the owner of that shop retires with his lifetime of knowledge and experience? Will there be someone equally capable ready to fill his shoes? Hopefully… But spread that problem out across the global economy, and cracks start to appear. A specialized part is unavailable. So a machine that relies on that part breaks down and can’t be repaired. So a new machine needs to be built, which is a big expense that drives up costs and prices. And with a falling population, demand goes down. Now businesses are spending more to make fewer items, so they have to raise prices to stay profitable. Now fewer people can afford the item, so demand falls even further. Eventually the business is forced to close, and other industries that relied on the items they produced are crippled. Things become more expensive, or unavailable at any price. Living standards fall. What was a stairway up becomes an elevator down.

Hope, From the Parasite Class?

All that being said, I’m not completely pessimistic about the future. I think the potential for an acceptable outcome exists.

I see two broad groups of people in the economy; producers, and parasites. One thing the increasing productivity has done is made it easier than ever to survive. Food is plentiful globally, the only issues are with distribution. Medical advances save countless lives. Everything is more abundant than ever before. All that has led to a very “soft” economic reality. There’s a lot of non-essential production, which means a lot of wealth can be redistributed to people who contribute nothing, and if it’s done carefully, most people won’t even notice. And that is exactly what has happened, in spades.

There are welfare programs of every type and description, and handouts to people for every reason imaginable. It’s never been easier to survive without lifting a finger. So millions of able-bodied men choose to do just that.

Besides the voluntarily idle, the economy is full of “bullshit jobs.” Shoutout to David Graeber’s book with that title. (It’s an excellent book and one I would highly recommend, even though the author was a Marxist and his conclusions are completely wrong.) A 2015 British poll asked people, “Does your job make a meaningful contribution to the world?” Only 50% said yes, while 37% said no and 13% were uncertain.

This won’t be a surprise to anyone who’s operated a business, or even worked in the private sector in general. There are three types of jobs; jobs that accomplish something productive, jobs that accomplish nothing of value, and jobs that actually hinder people trying to accomplish something productive. The number of jobs in the last two categories has grown massively over the years. This would include a lot of unnecessary administrative jobs, burdensome regulatory jobs, useless DEI and HR jobs, a large percentage of public sector jobs, most of the military-industrial complex, and the list is endless. All these jobs accomplish nothing worthwhile at best, and actively discourage those who are trying to accomplish something at worst.

Even among jobs that do accomplish some useful purpose, the amount of time spent actually doing the job continues to decline. According to a 2016 poll, American office workers spent only 39% of their workday actually doing their primary task. The other 61% was largely wasted on unproductive administrative tasks and meetings, answering emails, and just simply wasting time.

I could go on, but the point is, there’s a lot of slack in the economy. We’ve become so productive that the number of people actually doing the work to keep everyone fed, clothed, and cared for is only a small percentage of the population. In one sense, that’s a cause for optimism. The population could decline a lot, and we’d still have enough bodies to man the economic engine, as it were.

Aging

The thing with population decline, though, is nobody gets to choose who goes first. Not unless you’re a psychopathic dictator. So populations get old, then they get small. This means that the number of dependents in the economy rises naturally. Once people retire, they still need someone to grow the food, keep the lights on, and provide the medical care. And it doesn’t matter how much money the retirees have saved, either. Money is just a claim on wealth. The goods and services actually have to be provided by someone, and if that someone was never born, all the money in the world won’t change anything.

And the aging occurs on top of all the people already taking from the economy without contributing anything of value. So that seems like a big problem.

Currently, wealth redistribution happens through a combination of direct taxes, indirect taxation through deficit spending, and the whole gamut of games that happen when banks create credit/debt money by making loans. In a lot of cases, it’s very indirect and difficult to pin down. For example, someone has a “job” in a government office, enforcing pointless regulations that actually hinder someone in the private sector from producing something useful. Their paycheck comes from the government, so a combination of taxes on productive people, and deficit spending, which is also a tax on productive people. But they “have a job,” so who’s going to question their contribution to society? On the other hand, it could be a banker or hedge fund manager. They might be pulling in a massive salary, but at the core all they’re really doing is finding creative financial ways to transfer wealth from productive people to themselves, without contributing anything of value.

You’ll notice a common theme if you think about this problem deeply. Most of the wealth transfer that supports the unproductive, whether that’s welfare recipients, retirees, bureaucrats, corporate middle managers, or weapons manufacturers, is only possible through expanding the money supply. There’s a limit to how much direct taxation the productive will bear while the option to collect welfare exists. At a certain point, people conclude that working hard every day isn’t worth it, when taxes take so much of their wages that they could make almost as much without working at all. So the balance of what it takes to support the dependent class has to come indirectly, through new money creation.

As long as the declining population happens under the existing monetary system, the future looks bleak. There’s no limit to how much money creation and inflation the parasite class will use in an attempt to avoid work. They’ll continue to suck the productive class dry until the workers give up in disgust, and the currency collapses into hyperinflation. And you can’t run a complex economy without functional money, so productivity inevitably collapses with the currency.

The optimistic view is that we don’t have to continue supporting the failed credit/debt monetary system. It’s hurting productivity, messing up incentives, and contributing to increasing wealth inequality and lower living standards for the middle class. If we walk away from that system and adopt a hard money standard, the possibility of inflationary wealth redistribution vanishes. The welfare and warfare programs have to be slashed. The parasite class is forced to get busy, or starve. In that scenario, the declining population of workers can be offset by a massive shift away from “bullshit jobs” and into actual productive work.

While that might not be a permanent solution to declining population, it would at least give us time to find a real solution, without having our complex economy collapse and send our living standards back to the 17th century.

It’s a complex issue with many possible outcomes, but I think a close look at the effects of the monetary system on productivity shows one obvious problem that will make the situation worse than necessary. Moving to a better monetary system and creating incentives for productivity would do a lot to reduce the economic impacts of a declining population.

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• 389 Directory Server - Enterprise-class Open Source LDAP server for Linux. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 C
• Apache Directory Server - Extensible and embeddable directory server, certified LDAPv3 compatible, with Kerberos 5 and Change Password Protocol support, triggers, stored procedures, queues and views. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Java
• FreeIPA - Integrated security information management solution combining Linux (Fedora), 389 Directory Server, Kerberos, NTP, DNS, and Dogtag Certificate System (web interface and command-line administration tools). (Source Code) GPL-3.0 Python/C/JavaScript
• FreeRADIUS - Multi-protocol policy server (radiusd) that implements RADIUS, DHCP, BFD, and ARP and associated client/PAM library/Apache module. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• lldap - Light (simplified) LDAP implementation with a simple, intuitive web interface and GraphQL support. GPL-3.0 Rust
• OpenLDAP - Open-source implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (server, libraries and clients). (Source Code) OLDAP-2.8 C

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Atom Community - A fork of atom A hackable text editor from Github. MIT JavaScript
• Brackets - Code editor for web designers and front-end developers. (Source Code) MIT JavaScript
• Eclipse - IDE written in Java with an extensible plug-in system. (Source Code) EPL-1.0 Java
• Geany - GTK2 text editor. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C/C++
• GNU Emacs - An extensible, customizable text editor-and more. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 C
• Haroopad - Markdown editor with live preview. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 JavaScript
• jotgit - Git-backed real-time collaborative code editing. MIT Nodejs
• KDevelop - IDE by the people behind KDE. (Source Code) GFDL-1.2 C++
• Micro - A modern and intuitive terminal-based text editor. (Source Code) MIT Go
• Nano - Easy to use, customizable text editor. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 C
• Notepad++ - GPLv2 multi-language editor with syntax highlighting for Windows. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C++
• TextMate - A graphical text editor for OS X. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 C++
• Vim - A highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient editing. (Source Code) Vim C
• VSCodium - An open source cross-platform extensible code editor based on VS Code by Microsoft removing their non-free additions. (Source Code) MIT TypeScript

@ bc6ccd13:f53098e4

The Bitcoin price action since the US presidential election, and particularly today, November 11, has given me an excuse to revisit an idea I’ve written about before. I explained here that money doesn’t “flow into” assets, and that the terminology makes it difficult for people to understand how prices actually work.

nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzp0rve5f6xtu56djkfkkg7ktr5rtfckpun95rgxaa7futy86npx8yqqhy6mmwv4uj63r0v4ekutt594fx2ctvd3uj63nvdamj6jtww3hj6stw096xs6twvukkgmt9ws6xg86ht5t

The Bitcoin market this year has been a perfect illustration of the points I tried to make, which offers another angle to explain the concept.

Back in January, the first spot Bitcoin ETFs were launched for trading in the US market. This was heralded as a great thing for the Bitcoin price, and tracking “inflows” into these ETFs became a top priority for Bitcoin market analysts. The expectation of course was that more Bitcoin purchased by these ETFs would result in higher prices for the asset.

And sure enough, over the first two months of trading, from mid-January to mid-March, the combined “inflows” to the ETFs totaled around $11 billion. Over the same time frame, the Bitcoin price rose almost 60%, from around $43,000 to $68,000. As should be expected, right?

But then, over the next seven and a half months, from mid-March to early November, the ETFs saw another $11 billion in “inflows”. The Bitcoin price in mid-March? $68,000. In early November? All the way up to… $68,000. Seven and a half months of treading water.

So how can that be? How can $11 billion dollars flowing into an asset cause a 60% price rise once, and no price change at all the next time?

If you read my previous article linked above, you’ll see that the whole idea of money “flowing into” an asset is incorrect and misleading, and this is a perfect illustration why. If you step back a bit, you’ll see the folly of that mentality. So when the ETFs buy $11 billion dollars worth of Bitcoin, where does it come from? They obviously have to buy it from someone. As always, every transaction has a buyer and a seller. In this case, the sellers are current Bitcoin holders selling through OTC desks on the spot market.

So why focus on the ETF buying rather than the Bitcoin holder selling? Instead of saying there were $11 billion in inflows to the Bitcoin ETFs, why not say there were $11 billion in outflows from spot Bitcoin holders? It’s just as valid either way.

To take it a step further, many analysts were consistently confused all summer as Bitcoin ETFs continued to see “inflows” on days that the Bitcoin price stayed flat or even fell. So let’s imagine two consecutive days of $300 million daily “inflows” into the ETFs. The first day, the Bitcoin price rises 3%. The second day, the Bitcoin price falls 3%. The first day, headlines can read Bitcoin Price Rises 3% as ETFs See $300m in Inflows. The second day, headlines can read Bitcoin Price Falls 3% as Spot Bitcoin Holders See $300m in Outflows.

See the silliness of this whole idea? Money flows aren’t the cause of price movement. They’re a fake metric used as a post hoc justification for price moves by people who want you to believe they understand markets better than you.

Moving on to today, as I write this on the evening of November 11, Bitcoin is up 30% from $68,000 to $88,000 in the week since the November 5 election. It rose from $69,000 to $75,000 on election night alone, after US markets had closed and while there were no ETF “inflows” at all. In fact, the ETFs saw over a hundred million dollars in outflows on November 5, followed by an 8% single day price increase.

So if money flows don’t move price, what does?

Investor sentiment, that’s what.

Talking about money flows at all, as illustrated by the Bitcoin ETFs, requires arbitrarily dividing a single market into different segments to disguise the fact that every transaction has both a buyer and a seller, so every transaction has an equal dollar amount of “flows” in both directions. In actuality, price is set by a convergence between the highest price any potential buyer is willing to pay, and the lowest price any potential seller is willing to accept. And that number can change without a single transaction occurring, and without a single dollar “flowing” anywhere.

If every Bitcoin holder simultaneously decided tonight that the lowest price they’re willing to accept is $200,000 per Bitcoin, and a single potential buyer decided to buy a single dollar worth of Bitcoin at that price, that would be the new Bitcoin price tomorrow morning. No ETF “inflows” or institutional buying pressure or short squeezes or liquidations required, or any of the other excuses market analysts use to confuse normal people and make it seem like they have some deep esoteric insight into the workings of markets and future price action.

Don’t overcomplicate something as simple as price. If holders of an asset demand higher prices and potential buyers are willing to pay it, prices rise. If potential buyers of an asset offer lower prices and holders are willing to sell, prices fall. The constant interplay between all those individual investors sentiments is what forms a market and a price. The transferring of money between buyers and sellers is an effect of price, not a cause.

@ a5ee4475:2ca75401

clients #link #list #english #article #finalversion #descentralismo

*These clients are generally applications on the Nostr network that allow you to use the same account, regardless of the app used, keeping your messages and profile intact.

**However, you may need to meet certain requirements regarding access and account NIP for some clients, so that you can access them securely and use their features correctly.

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CLIENTS

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Twitter like

• Nostrmo - [source] 🌐💻(🐧🪟🍎)🍎🤖(on zapstore)
• Coracle - Super App [source] 🌐🤖(on zapstore)
• Amethyst - Super App with note edit, delete and other stuff with Tor [source] 🤖(on zapstore)
• Primal - Social and wallet [source] 🌐🍎🤖(on zapstore)
• Iris - [source] 🌐🤖🍎
• Current - [source] 🤖🍎
• FreeFrom 🤖🍎
• Openvibe - Nostr and others (new Plebstr) [source] 🤖🍎
• Snort 🌐(🤖[early access]) [onion] [source]
• Damus 🍎 [source]
• Nos 🍎 [source]
• Nostur 🍎 [source]
• NostrBand 🌐 [info] [source]
• Yana [source] 🌐💻(🐧) 🍎🤖(on zapstore)
• Nostribe [on development] 🌐 [source]
• Lume 💻(🐧🪟🍎) [info] [source]
• Gossip - [source] 💻(🐧🪟🍎)
• noStrudel - Gamified Experience [onion] [info/source] 🌐
• [Nostrudel Next] - [onion]
• moStard - Nostrudel with Monero [onion] [info/source] 🌐
• Camelus - [source] 🤖 [early access]

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Community

• CCNS - Community Curated Nostr Stuff [source]
• Nostr Kiwi [creator] 🌐
• Satellite [info] 🌐
• Flotilla - [source] 🌐🐧🤖(on zapstore)
• Chachi - [source] 🌐
• Futr - Coded in haskell [source] 🐧 (others soon)
• Soapbox - Comunnity server [info] [source] 🌐
• Ditto - Soapbox community server 🌐 [source] 🌐
• Cobrafuma - Nostr brazilian community on Ditto [info] 🌐
• Zapddit - Reddit like [source] 🌐
• Voyage (Reddit like) [on development] 🤖

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Wiki

• Wikifreedia - Wiki Dark mode [source] 🌐
• Wikinostr - Wiki with tabs clear mode [source] 🌐
• Wikistr - Wiki clear mode [info] [source] 🌐

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Search

• Keychat - Signal-like chat with AI and browser [source] 💻(🐧🪟🍎) - 📱(🍎🤖{on zapstore})
• Spring - Browser for Nostr apps and other sites [source] 🤖 (on zapstore)
• Advanced nostr search - Advanced note search by isolated terms related to a npub profile [source] 🌐
• Nos Today - Global note search by isolated terms [info] [source] 🌐
• Nostr Search Engine - API for Nostr clients [source]
• Ntrends - Trending notes and profiles 🌐

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Website

• Nsite - Nostr Site [onion] [info] [source]
• Nsite Gateway - Nostr Site Gateway [source]
• Npub pro - Your site on Nostr [source]

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App Store

ZapStore - Permitionless App Store [source] 🤖 💻(🐧🍎)

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Video and Live Streaming

• Flare - Youtube like 🌐 [source]
• ZapStream - Lives, videos, shorts and zaps (NIP-53) [source] 🌐 🤖(lives only | Amber | on zapstore)
• Swae - Live streaming [source] (on development) ⏳

Post Aggregator - Kinostr - Nostr Cinema with #kinostr [english] [author] 🌐 - Stremstr - Nostr Cinema with #kinostr [english] [source] 📱 (on development) ⏳

Link Agreggator - Kinostr - #kinostr - Nostr Cinema Profile with links [English] - Equinox - Nostr Cinema Community with links [Portuguese]

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Audio and Podcast Transmission

• Castr - Your npub as podcast feed [source]
• Nostr Nests - Audio Chats [source] 🌐
• Fountain - Podcast [source] 🤖🍎
• Corny Chat - Audio Chat [source] 🌐

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Music

• Tidal - Music Streaming [source] [about] [info] 🤖🍎🌐
• Wavlake - Music Streaming [source] 🌐(🤖🍎 [early access])
• Tunestr - Musical Events [source] [about] 🌐
• Stemstr - Musical Colab (paid to post) [source] [about] 🌐

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Images

• Lumina - Trending images and pictures [source] 🌐
• Pinstr - Pinterest like [source] 🌐
• Slidestr - DeviantArt like [source] 🌐
• Memestr - ifunny like [source] 🌐

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Download and Upload

• DTAN - Distributed Torrent Archive on Nostr [info] [source] 🌐

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Documents, graphics and tables

• Mindstr - Mind maps [source] 🌐
• Docstr - Share Docs [info] [source] 🌐
• Formstr - Share Forms [info] 🌐
• Sheetstr - Share Spreadsheets [source] 🌐
• Slide Maker - Share slides 🌐 [Advice: Slide Maker https://zaplinks.lol/ site is down]

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Health

• Sobrkey - Sobriety and mental health [source] 🌐
• Runstr - Running app [source] 🌐
• NosFabrica - Finding ways for your health data 🌐
• LazerEyes - Eye prescription by DM [source] 🌐

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Forum

• OddBean - Hacker News like [info] [source] 🌐
• LowEnt - Forum [info] 🌐
• Swarmstr - Q&A / FAQ [info] 🌐
• Staker News - Hacker News like 🌐 [info]

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Direct Messenges (DM)

• 0xchat 🤖🍎 [source]
• Nostr Chat 🌐🍎 [source]
• Blowater 🌐 [source]
• Anigma (new nostrgram) - Telegram based [on development] [source]

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Reading

• Oracolo - A minimalist Nostr html blog [source]
• nRSS - Nostr RSS reader 🌐
• Highlighter - Insights with a highlighted read [info] 🌐
• Zephyr - Calming to Read [info] 🌐
• Flycat - Clean and Healthy Feed [info] 🌐
• Nosta - Check Profiles [on development] [info] 🌐
• Alexandria - e-Reader and Nostr Knowledge Base (NKB) [source] 🌐

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Writing

• Habla - Blog [info] 🌐
• Blogstack - Blog [info]🌐
• YakiHonne - Articles and News [info] 🌐🍎🤖(on zapstore)

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Lists

• Following - Users list [source] 🌐
• Nostr Unfollower - Nostr Unfollower
• Listr - Lists [source] 🌐
• Nostr potatoes - Movies List [source] 💻(numpy)

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Market and Jobs

• Shopstr - Buy and Sell [onion] [source] 🌐
• Nostr Market - Buy and Sell 🌐
• Plebeian Market - Buy and Sell [source] 🌐
• Ostrich Work - Jobs [source] 🌐
• Nostrocket - Jobs [source] 🌐

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Data Vending Machines - DVM (NIP90)

(Data-processing tools)

• Noogle - [source] 🌐
• Vendata - [source] 🌐
• TaskTiger 🌐
• Malware DVMs 🌐

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Games

• Chesstr - Chess 🌐 [source]
• Jestr - Chess [source] 🌐
• Snakestr - Snake game [source] 🌐
• Snakes on a Relay - Multiplayer Snake game like slither.io [source] 🌐

ENGINES - DEG Mods - Decentralized Game Mods [info] [source] 🌐 - NG Engine - Nostr Game Engine [source] 🌐 - JmonkeyEngine - Java game engine [source] 🌐

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Customization

• Emojito - Send Funny Stickers to React 🌐 [creator]

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Like other Services

• Olas - Instagram like [source] 🌐🍎🤖(on zapstore)
• Nostree - Linktree like 🌐
• Rabbit - TweetDeck like [info] 🌐
• Zaplinks - Nostr links 🌐
• Omeglestr - Omegle-like Random Chats [source] 🌐

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General Uses

• Njump - HTML text gateway source 🌐
• Filestr - HTML midia gateway [source] 🌐
• W3 - Nostr URL shortener [source] 🌐
• Playground - Test Nostr filters [source] 🌐

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Places

• Wherostr - Travel and show where you are
• Arc Map (Mapstr) - Bitcoin Map [info]

---

Driver and Delivery

• RoadRunner - Uber like [on development] ⏱️
• Nostrlivery - iFood like [on development] ⏱️

⚠️ SCAM ⚠️ | Arcade City - Uber like [source]

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OTHER STUFF

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Lightning Wallets (zap)

• Alby - Native and extension [info] 🌐
• ZBD - Gaming and Social [info] [source] 🤖🍎
• Wallet of Satoshi - Simplest Lightning Wallet [info] 🤖🍎
• Minibits - Cashu mobile wallet [info] 🤖
• Blink - Opensource custodial wallet (KYC over 1000 usd) [source] 🤖🍎
• LNbits - App and extesion [source] 🤖🍎💻
• Zeus - [info] [source] 🤖🍎

Without Zap - Wassabi Wallet - Privacy-focused and non-custodial with Nostr Update Manager [source]

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Exchange

• Mostro - P2P lightning exchange on Nostr [info] 🌐
• Emptio - Bitcoin P2P on Nostr [on development]

---

Media Server (Upload Links)

audio, image and video

Connected with Nostr (NIP):

• Nostr Build - Free and paid Upload [info] [source] 🌐
• NostrMedia - Written in Go with Nip 96 / Blossom (free and paid) [info] [source]
• Nostr Check - [info] [source] 🌐
• NostPic - [info] [source] 🌐
• Sovbit - Free and paid upload [info] [source] 🌐
• Voidcat - Nip-96 and Blossom [source] 🌐
• Primal Media - Primal Media Uploader [source] 🌐

Blossom - Your Media Safer

• Primal Blossom 🌐
• NostrBuild Blossom - Free upload (max 100MiB) and paid [info] [source] 🌐

Paid Upload Only

• Satellite CDN - prepaid upload (max 5GB each) [info] [source] 🌐

Without Nostr NIP:

• Pomf - Upload larger videos (max 1GB) [source]
• Catbox - max 200 MB [source]
• x0 - max 512 MiB [source]

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Donation and payments

• Zapper - Easy Zaps [source] 🌐
• Autozap [source] 🌐
• Zapmeacoffee 🌐
• Nostr Zap 💻(numpy)
• Creatr - Creators subscription 🌐
• Geyzer - Crowdfunding [info] [source] 🌐
• Heya! - Crowdfunding [source]

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Security

• Secret Border - Generate offline keys 💻(java)
• Umbrel - Your private relay [source] 🌐

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Key signing/login and Extension

• Amber - Key signing [source] 🤖(on zapstore)
• Nowser - Account access keys 📱(🤖🍎) 💻(🐧🍎🪟)
• Nos2x - Account access keys 🌐
• Nsec.app 🌐 [info]
• Lume - [info] [source] 🐧🪟🍎
• Satcom - Share files to discuss - [info] 🌐
• KeysBand - Multi-key signing [source] 🌐

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Code

• Stacks - AI Templates [info] [source] 🌐
• Nostrify - Share Nostr Frameworks 🌐
• Git Workshop (github like) [experimental] 🌐
• Gitstr (github like) [on development] ⏱️
• Osty [on development] [info] 🌐
• Python Nostr - Python Library for Nostr
• Sybil - Creating, managing and test Nostr events [on development] ⏱️

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Relay Check and Cloud

• Nostr Watch - See your relay speed 🌐
• NosDrive - Nostr Relay that saves to Google Drive

---

Bidges and Getways

• Matrixtr Bridge - Between Matrix & Nostr
• Mostr - Between Nostr & Fediverse
• Nostrss - RSS to Nostr
• Rsslay - Optimized RSS to Nostr [source]
• Atomstr - RSS/Atom to Nostr [source]

Useful Profiles and Trends

nostr-voice - Voice note (just some clients)

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NOT RELATED TO NOSTR

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Voca - Text-to-Speech App for GrapheneOS [source] 🤖(on zapstore)

Android Keyboards

• Futo - Gboard like [source]
• Florisboard - [source]
• Heliboard - Openboard based [source]

---

Personal notes and texts

• Joplin - privacy-focused note taking app with sync capabilities [source] 📱(🤖🍎) - 💻 (🐧🪟🍎)

---

Front-ends

• Nitter - Twitter / X without your data [source]
• NewPipe - Youtube, Peertube and others, without account & your data [source] 🤖
• Piped - Youtube web without you data [source] 🌐

---

Other Services

• Brave - Browser [source]
• DuckDuckGo - Search [source]
• LLMA - Meta - Meta open source AI [source]
• DuckDuckGo AI Chat - Famous AIs without Login [source]
• Proton Mail - Mail [source]

Other open source index: Degoogled Apps

---

Some other Nostr index on:

Nostr Apps | Nostorg | Awesome Nostr

@ bc6ccd13:f53098e4

Bullshit Jobs, for those unfamiliar, is the title of a 2018 book by anthropologist David Graeber. It’s well worth a read just for the fascinating research and the engaging writing style. The premise of the book is that many people work in jobs that contribute nothing to society, and would not be missed if they suddenly vanished overnight.

The data backs this up. In a 2015 British poll that asked “does your job make a meaningful contribution to the world?”, 37 percent of people said no, and another 13 percent weren’t sure. That’s fully half the population who can’t confidently say their job is even worth doing. And other polls have found similar or worse results.

The book was inspired by the overwhelming response to a 2013 article Graeber wrote titled On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant. The point I’d like to address is found here.

Over the course of the last century, the number of workers employed as domestic servants, in industry, and in the farm sector has collapsed dramatically. At the same time, ‘professional, managerial, clerical, sales, and service workers’ tripled, growing ‘from one-quarter to three-quarters of total employment.’ In other words, productive jobs have, just as predicted, been largely automated away (even if you count industrial workers globally, including the toiling masses in India and China, such workers are still not nearly so large a percentage of the world population as they used to be.)

But rather than allowing a massive reduction of working hours to free the world’s population to pursue their own projects, pleasures, visions, and ideas, we have seen the ballooning of not even so much of the ‘service’ sector as of the administrative sector, up to and including the creation of whole new industries like financial services or telemarketing, or the unprecedented expansion of sectors like corporate law, academic and health administration, human resources, and public relations.

These are what I propose to call ‘bullshit jobs’.

It’s as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs just for the sake of keeping us all working. And here, precisely, lies the mystery. In capitalism, this is precisely what is not supposed to happen. Sure, in the old inefficient socialist states like the Soviet Union, where employment was considered both a right and a sacred duty, the system made up as many jobs as they had to (this is why in Soviet department stores it took three clerks to sell a piece of meat). But, of course, this is the sort of very problem market competition is supposed to fix. According to economic theory, at least, the last thing a profit-seeking firm is going to do is shell out money to workers they don’t really need to employ. Still, somehow, it happens.

While corporations may engage in ruthless downsizing, the layoffs and speed-ups invariably fall on that class of people who are actually making, moving, fixing and maintaining things; through some strange alchemy no one can quite explain, the number of salaried paper-pushers ultimately seems to expand, and more and more employees find themselves, not unlike Soviet workers actually, working 40 or even 50 hour weeks on paper, but effectively working 15 hours just as Keynes predicted, since the rest of their time is spent organizing or attending motivational seminars, updating their facebook profiles or downloading TV box-sets.

The answer clearly isn’t economic: it’s moral and political.

In the book, Graeber expands on this idea with a very entertaining description of the many flavors of bullshit jobs, based on anecdotes from readers of his article. He follows that up with theories speculating on the cause of this situation. And wraps it all up with the conclusion that basically capitalists are all big meanies and invent bullshit jobs just to torture people and prevent the arrival of the Marxist utopia where no one has to do much real work and we all sit around and sing kumbaya and discuss philosophy. That’s too harsh a criticism of a very well researched and written book, but I have to confess I was sorely disappointed the first time I read it by the author’s failure to even entertain what seems like the obvious alternative explanation.

Graeber acknowledges in the book that it’s not surprising bullshit jobs exist inside government, although he doesn’t focus strongly enough on why that is. Like he does in the article, he tries to brush it off with the excuse that the same problem exists in the private sector. As he acknowledges, this isn’t supposed to happen in capitalism. He realizes that it makes no logical economic sense for a profit-seeking firm to hire workers to do nothing productive.

But then he follows that acknowledgement with the claim that “The answer clearly isn’t economic: it’s moral and political.” I’m sorry, what? How is that clear? How do you go from stating an obvious economic fact, to denying that the problem is economic, and call it “clear”.

“Still, somehow, it happens,” is not anywhere close to a sufficient explanation to rule out an economic factor.

The economic explanation

First, some definitions.

Capitalism is defined as “an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development occurs through the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.”

A free market is “an economic system in which prices are based on competition among private businesses and are not controlled or regulated by a government: a market operating by free competition.”

Now that we made sure we’re talking about the same thing, we can analyze this issue logically.

Capitalism and free markets work through competition for customers. It’s an economic law that a customer won’t pay more for the same good or service when they could pay less. Someone can try to make obscure and esoteric objections and force me to emphasize the word “same” and analyze what the good or service being purchased actually is, but everyone else understands this intuitively. So if two companies are offering the same product for sale, all things being equal, the company offering lower prices will attract the customers. Pretty simple stuff.

Of course, the goal for the company is to generate profits. It’s literally in the definition of the word “capitalism”. So any system in which companies have a goal other than generating profits is, by definition, not capitalism.

A company can increase its profits two ways: raising prices, or lowering costs. We don’t have to get too philosophical to realize that if a company is paying someone to do nothing, the company could increase profits by firing that person and lowering their costs of production.

So the question is, why don’t they? Why do they hire people who increase their costs and lower their profits, thereby making them less competitive? And more importantly, if they do make that mistake, why don’t their competitors undercut their prices and take all the customers and bankrupt them?

I don’t think we can dismiss the economic factor as off-handedly as Graeber does. After all, making a profit is the fundamental, definitional purpose of a business or company in a capitalist economy. To say “companies in this capitalist economy are doing something completely antithetical to the very principles and definition of capitalism, so obviously they’re not doing it for economic reasons” is something of a non sequitur.

The conclusion, to me, seems obvious. We don’t have a capitalist economy. As far as I can tell, that’s true by definition. If companies aren’t even trying to achieve the goal companies must achieve to survive in a capitalist economy, and somehow they’re still surviving, that’s proof of the non-capitalist nature of the economy.

Which part of the capitalist system are we missing?

Well, let’s start with the obvious: there’s a lot of government in our economy. The government isn’t privately owned, which makes it not capitalist by definition. So any part of the economy that’s government is not capitalist.

Why is government not capitalist? Because government is not motivated to provide goods and services at a profit. Why not? Because government does not sell goods and services into a free market. Government gives away goods and services to its “customers” for free, because they’re paid for by people other than the consumers of the service. That payment comes in one of two ways: taxes, and debt. It’s not a voluntary transaction.

Which part of the capitalist system might private companies be missing?

They could be lacking competition. That is, operating a monopoly or cartel. If there’s no competing business to provide goods at lower prices, the company could hire people for useless jobs and compensate by raising prices. This places them outside the definition of capitalism, since “free competition” is part of the definition of a free market. Monopolies and cartels often develop and survive through protection by the government, which emphasizes their un-capitalistic nature.

They could be in a temporary situation where the people making the management decisions are sufficiently insulated from the market forces at play that their poor decisions can persist for a while. Many companies begin to lose their competitive edge at some point, after getting big enough to have economic inertia and for the management to be less accountable for business performance. If a company has grown big enough, they can start making poor financial decisions and absorb the lost profits, sometimes for years, before losing their market share to a smaller, more competitive rival. This isn’t really an absence of capitalism, just the natural creative destruction necessary for capitalism to function. The problem comes when a company that’s obviously uncompetitive is prevented from failing through un-capitalistic means. Maybe they’re big enough and wealthy enough to pressure the government into granting them monopoly status. This doesn’t have to be open, it’s often through creating such an impenetrable legal morass around the industry that no competitor can emerge. Or it can be in the form of a “too big to fail” direct government bailout.

The company could also be lacking that essential link between customer satisfaction and business income. In other words, maybe they aren’t selling to their customers. That can happen for various reasons.

Some companies are “private companies” but sell to the government. The government is not a customer in the capitalist sense, because the government spends money taken coercively from its subjects, not money earned voluntarily in the free market. So any company like Raytheon or Boeing that survives off government contracts can’t be accurately called a capitalist organization.

In an industry like healthcare, where the insurance companies are the middlemen in basically all transactions between patients and doctors, there are also lots of ways for bullshit jobs to proliferate. Patients don’t care how much a procedure costs, just that it helps them. Doctors don’t care how much a procedure costs, just that the insurance company will pay for it. And insurance companies don’t care whether a procedure helps the patient, they just want to collect as many premiums as possible while paying out as little for care as possible. The fact that the patient isn’t paying the doctor for their care breaks the necessary link between customer and producer that’s essential for a free market to function. That combines with the regulatory moat and cartel-like structure of the healthcare industry to prevent the competitive function of capitalism from occurring.

Companies could also be surviving off of money from someone other than their customers: bankers and investors. There’s obviously a role in a capitalist system for investors to support a new venture until it’s able to attract customers and establish a stable and profitable business model. But many companies today exist for much longer than economically reasonable without turning a profit. In the US, almost 2,000 of the 5,000 publicly traded companies with data available were classified as “zombie companies”, meaning they don’t even make enough profit to pay the interest on their debt. So they’re going deeper in the hole every year. How can this continue?

Well, the alternative to paying off your debt, is to borrow even more money to make payments on the debt you already owe. If this sounds similar to how the US government survives, then you’re beginning to get the picture.

How can banks keep loaning money to unprofitable businesses? And why would they do it? It doesn’t make sense… until you understand how banking works.

That’s really the core focus of most of my writing, and I’ve written multiple articles on money and banking explaining how the system works as I understand it. This would be a good one focused on banking specifically.

nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzp0rve5f6xtu56djkfkkg7ktr5rtfckpun95rgxaa7futy86npx8yqqt4g6r994pxjeedgfsku6edf35k2tt5de4nvdtzhjwrp2

To very briefly recap, banks don’t make loans by taking in money from depositors and loaning that money to borrowers. Instead, banks create new money that never existed before out of thin air and loan that new money to borrowers. Banks make a profit by charging borrowers interest on this newly created money, which costs them nothing to create. A pretty cushy gig, if you can get it.

So from the perspective of the banks, the more loans and debt outstanding, the better. Every dollar of debt is a dollar they can collect interest on. It cost them nothing to create, so the more, the merrier. In fact, the banks would prefer that the loan principle never be repaid, because once it’s repaid, they can no longer collect interest on that loan until they make another loan to replace it. As long as the borrower keeps paying interest, the banks are happy. And if they need to lend the borrower some more money so he can afford to pay the interest, that’s fine too. Anything but letting the loan default.

Given those incentives, how do you expect a chart of the outstanding loans and credit of US commercial banks to look?

If you guessed up only, you’d be correct.

So what does this banking system have to do with bullshit jobs? Well, I’d argue that the fractionally reserved fiat banking system, in and of itself, is an anti-capitalist system. Money is the communication layer of capitalism, as I’ve previously written.

nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzp0rve5f6xtu56djkfkkg7ktr5rtfckpun95rgxaa7futy86npx8yqq247t2dvet9q4tsg4qng36lxe6kc4nftayyy89kua2

When one group of people can create money out of thin air, they have the ability to reallocate wealth in the economy. As long as the money is still functional, of course. Too much money creation and wealth reallocation, and people stop trusting the money. That’s when inflation becomes hyperinflation, the money no longer functions, and the whole system implodes.

Wealth reallocation by a small select group is the essence of a centrally planned socialist/Marxist economy. And we all know how efficient those economies are. In fact, Graeber himself mentioned the inefficiency of socialist states like the Soviet Union in his original article, and was not at all surprised by the existence of bullshit jobs in such an economic system. When wealth can be reallocated by central planners without regard to people’s preferences in a free market, inefficiency is never punished, so zombie companies full of bullshit jobs never go bankrupt.

The same thing happens under our “capitalist” system. Zombie companies full of bullshit jobs can get almost unlimited funding from too-big-to-fail banks, who don’t care whether they repay the loans, as long as they stay in business and keep making the interest payments. Sometimes the funding is in the form of loans directly, sometimes it’s in the form of massive stock market bubbles inflated by the endless money creation, sometimes through junk bond issuance funded by the same bubble economics, and sometimes it’s venture capital funds flush with liquidity for the same reason. Regardless, the cause, and the outcome, are the same.

The corrupt bankers own the corrupt politicians, so when the inevitable so-called black swan event occurs and the rotten edifice starts to quiver, another bailout is promptly rolled out. The government borrows trillions from their owners over at the Federal Reserve, who create the money out of thin air. The government sends it on over to the bankers who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar once again, and they paper over the massive holes in their balance sheet caused by blowing asset bubbles and funding inefficient zombie companies. Or sometimes, the government skips the middlemen entirely and bails out Boeing or whoever it happens to be directly.

And once again, bullshit jobs that couldn’t survive free market competition are rewarded at the expense of savers and taxpayers. As always, this flood of new liquidity flows out through the economy, causing inflation and boosting income for other inefficient companies that also deserved to fail. Creative destruction, a fundamental feature of a capitalist system, is avoided once again.

In my opinion, the banking system is at the root of the problem causing the proliferation of bullshit jobs. The system itself is, by design, fundamentally anti-capitalist in nature and function. It’s really a giant privately owned economic central planning system, in which a small fraction of people determine how resources are allocated, with privatized profits and socialized losses. The Soviet technocrats would be jealous.

Unfortunately, the bankers have successfully connected their industry so tightly to the term “capitalist” that showing people they’re anything but is almost impossible. To paraphrase the well-known quote, the greatest trick the bankers ever pulled was convincing the world that they’re the real capitalists.

Until the banking and monetary system fundamentally changes, inefficiency will persist and bullshit jobs will continue to proliferate. In my opinion, the problem is very much an economic problem. And it’s not a “late-stage capitalism” problem, it’s a “capitalism left the building a century ago” problem. We don’t need to get rid of capitalism, we’ve already done that. We need to bring sound money, and with it the possibility of a capitalist economy, back again.

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Die zwei mächtigsten Krieger sind Geduld und Zeit. \ Leo Tolstoi

Zum Wohle unserer Gesundheit, unserer Leistungsfähigkeit und letztlich unseres Glücks ist es wichtig, die eigene Energie bewusst zu pflegen. Das gilt umso mehr für an gesellschaftlichen Themen interessierte, selbstbewusste und kritisch denkende Menschen. Denn für deren Wahrnehmung und Wohlbefinden waren und sind die rasanten, krisen- und propagandagefüllten letzten Jahre in Absurdistan eine harte Probe.

Nur wer regelmäßig Kraft tankt und Wege findet, mit den Herausforderungen umzugehen, kann eine solche Tortur überstehen, emotionale Erschöpfung vermeiden und trotz allem zufrieden sein. Dazu müssen wir erkunden, was uns Energie gibt und was sie uns raubt. Durch Selbstreflexion und Achtsamkeit finden wir sicher Dinge, die uns erfreuen und inspirieren, und andere, die uns eher stressen und belasten.

Die eigene Energie ist eng mit unserer körperlichen und mentalen Gesundheit verbunden. Methoden zur Förderung der körperlichen Gesundheit sind gut bekannt: eine ausgewogene Ernährung, regelmäßige Bewegung sowie ausreichend Schlaf und Erholung. Bei der nicht minder wichtigen emotionalen Balance wird es schon etwas komplizierter. Stress abzubauen, die eigenen Grenzen zu kennen oder solche zum Schutz zu setzen sowie die Konzentration auf Positives und Sinnvolles wären Ansätze.

Der emotionale ist auch der Bereich, über den «Energie-Räuber» bevorzugt attackieren. Das sind zum Beispiel Dinge wie Überforderung, Perfektionismus oder mangelhafte Kommunikation. Social Media gehören ganz sicher auch dazu. Sie stehlen uns nicht nur Zeit, sondern sind höchst manipulativ und erhöhen laut einer aktuellen Studie das Risiko für psychische Probleme wie Angstzustände und Depressionen.

Geben wir negativen oder gar bösen Menschen keine Macht über uns. Das Dauerfeuer der letzten Jahre mit Krisen, Konflikten und Gefahren sollte man zwar kennen, darf sich aber davon nicht runterziehen lassen. Das Ziel derartiger konzertierter Aktionen ist vor allem, unsere innere Stabilität zu zerstören, denn dann sind wir leichter zu steuern. Aber Geduld: Selbst vermeintliche «Sonnenköniginnen» wie EU-Kommissionspräsidentin von der Leyen fallen, wenn die Zeit reif ist.

Es ist wichtig, dass wir unsere ganz eigenen Bedürfnisse und Werte erkennen. Unsere Energiequellen müssen wir identifizieren und aktiv nutzen. Dazu gehören soziale Kontakte genauso wie zum Beispiel Hobbys und Leidenschaften. Umgeben wir uns mit Sinnhaftigkeit und lassen wir uns nicht die Energie rauben!

Mein Wahlspruch ist schon lange: «Was die Menschen wirklich bewegt, ist die Kultur.» Jetzt im Frühjahr beginnt hier in Andalusien die Zeit der «Ferias», jener traditionellen Volksfeste, die vor Lebensfreude sprudeln. Konzentrieren wir uns auf die schönen Dinge und auf unsere eigenen Talente – soziale Verbundenheit wird helfen, unsere innere Kraft zu stärken und zu bewahren.

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

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

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Bind - Versatile, classic, complete name server software. (Source Code) MPL-2.0 C
• CoreDNS - Flexible DNS server. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Go
• djbdns - A collection of DNS applications, including tinydns. (Source Code) CC0-1.0 C
• dnsmasq - Provides network infrastructure for small networks: DNS, DHCP, router advertisement and network boot. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• Knot - High performance authoritative-only DNS server. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 C
• NSD - Authoritative DNS name server developed speed, reliability, stability and security. (Source Code) BSD-3-Clause C
• PowerDNS Authoritative Server - Versatile nameserver which supports a large number of backends. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C++
• Unbound - Validating, recursive, and caching DNS resolver. (Source Code) BSD-3-Clause C
• Yadifa - Clean, small, light and RFC-compliant name server implementation developed from scratch by .eu. (Source Code) BSD-3-Clause C

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

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

The Status Quo

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

Nostr Requires Responsibility

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

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

Future Nostr Security Improvements

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

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

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

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

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

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Atomia DNS - DNS management system. ISC Perl
• Designate - DNSaaS services for OpenStack. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Python
• DNSControl - Synchronize your DNS to multiple providers from a simple DSL. (Source Code) MIT Go/Docker
• DomainMOD - Manage your domains and other internet assets in a central location. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 PHP
• nsupdate.info - Dynamic DNS service. (Demo, Source Code) BSD-3-Clause Python
• octoDNS - DNS as code - Tools for managing DNS across multiple providers. MIT Python
• Poweradmin - Web-based DNS control panel for PowerDNS server. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 PHP
• SPF Toolbox - Application to look up DNS records such as SPF, MX, Whois, and more. (Source Code) MIT PHP

@ 000002de:c05780a7

I enjoy Jonathan Pageau's perspectives from time to time. He is big on myth and symbolic signs in culture and history. I find this stuff fascinating as well. I watched this video last week, and based on the title, I was thinking... hmm, I wonder if it is a review of Return of the Strong Gods. It wasn't, but it really flows with the thesis of that book. You should read it if you haven't, and before you do, go check out @SimpleStacker's review of it.

Pageau starts the video by talking about the concept of "watching the clown." He uses Ye as the clown. Ye has been a leading indicator in the past when he publicly claimed he was a Christian and began making music and holding church services. Now he's going "off the rails" seemingly with his Hitler songs and art. Clearly, the stigma of Hitler will not last forever. It's hard for us to realize this. At least for someone of my age, but Pageau points out that eventually, the villains of history become less of a stand-in for Satan and more of a purely historical figure. He mentions Alexander the Great as a man who did incredibly evil things, but today we just read about him in school and don't really think about it too much. One day, that will be the way Hitler is viewed. Sure, evil, but the power of using him as the mythical Satan will wane.

The most interesting point I took away from this video, though, was that the post-war consensus was built on a dark secret. Now, it's not a secret to me, but at some point, it was. And this secret is a deep flaw in the current state of the West that keeps affecting us in negative ways. The secret is that in order to defeat Hitler and the Nazis, the West allied itself with the Soviets. Stalin. An incredibly evil man and an ideology that has led to the death and suffering of more humans than the Nazis. This is just a fact, but it's so dark that we don't talk about it.

For many years as I began to study Communism and the Soviet Union I began to question why on earth did the allies align themselves with Stalin. Obviously it was for stratigic reasons. I get it. But the fact that this topic is not really discussed in our culture has had a dark effect. Now, I'm not interested in figuring out if Stalin was more evil than Hitler or if Fascism is worse that Communism. I think this misses the point. The point is that today if soneone has Nazi symbols it is very likely not gonna go well for them but Communist symbols are usually just fine. We see the ideas of Socialism discussed openly without concern. Its popular even. Fascism on the other hand is always (until recently) masked at best.

Today we are seeing more and more people openly talk about this reality, and it is a signal that the WW2 consensus is breaking. As people age out and our collective memory fades, this lie will become more visible because the mythical view of Hitler will fade. This will allow people to be more objective about viewing the decisions of the past. I don't recall the book discussing this directly, but it is an interesting connection for sure.

I recommend watching The World War II Consensus is Breaking Down by Jonathan Pageau.

https://stacker.news/items/985962

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

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

Concern

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

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

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

Optimism

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

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

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

Realism

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

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

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Ceph - Distributed object, block, and file storage platform. (Source Code) LGPL-3.0 C++
• DRBD - Distributed replicated storage system, implemented as a Linux kernel driver. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• GlusterFS - Software-defined distributed storage that can scale to several petabytes, with interfaces for object, block and file storage. (Source Code) GPL-2.0/LGPL-3.0 C
• Hadoop Distributed Filesystem (HDFS) - Distributed file system that provides high-throughput access to application data. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Java
• JuiceFS - Distributed POSIX file system built on top of Redis and S3. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Go
• Kubo - Implementation of IPFS, a global, versioned, peer-to-peer filesystem that seeks to connect all computing devices with the same system of files. Apache-2.0/MIT Go
• LeoFS - Highly available, distributed, replicated eventually consistent object/blob store. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Erlang
• Lustre - Parallel distributed file system, generally used for large-scale cluster computing. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• Minio - High-performance, S3 compatible object store built for large scale AI/ML, data lake and database workloads. (Source Code) AGPL-3.0 Go
• MooseFS - Fault tolerant, network distributed file system. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 C
• OpenAFS - Distributed network file system with read-only replicas and multi-OS support. (Source Code) IPL-1.0 C
• Openstack Swift - A highly available, distributed, eventually consistent object/blob store. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Python
• Perkeep - A set of open source formats, protocols, and software for modeling, storing, searching, sharing and synchronizing data (previously Camlistore). (Source Code) Apache-2.0 C
• TahoeLAFS - Secure, decentralized, fault-tolerant, peer-to-peer distributed data store and distributed file system. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 Python
• XtreemFS - Distributed, replicated and fault-tolerant file system for federated IT infrastructures.. (Source Code) BSD-3-Clause Java

@ 000002de:c05780a7

I've been trying out Arch Linux again and the thing that always surprises me is pacman. The way it works seems so unintuitive to me coming from the apt, yum, and dnf worlds.

I know I will get it and it will become internalized but I just wonder what the designer was thinking when making the flags/commands.

https://stacker.news/items/985808

@ 000002de:c05780a7

I completely missed this until yesterday. I was listening to our local news talk station and it came up. They had some people that were pretty knowledgeable about prostate cancer on. They talked about other presidents being tested while in office for it. They came to conclusion that it is possible that Biden wasn't having his PSA checked. This is pretty normal for a old dude his age. But it is not normal for a President his age.

My thought is much simpler.

We know his doctors, the media, and his admin were lying about his health when he was in office. Hello! Anyone paying attention and not invested in his regime knew he was declining mentally in front of our very eyes. They covered for him over and over again. Only those that don't pay attention or discounted his critics completely was surprised by his debate performance.

To be clear though, Biden is far from the first president to do this. Wilson, FDR, Kennedy, and Reagan all had issues and they were kept from the public. If we learned these things in school we might actually have a public that thinks critically once and a while.

So, with that in mind do you really think the regime would not withhold medical info about this cancer? Come on. Don't be naive. He clearly was not in charge 100% of the time while in office and the regime wanted to maintain power. Sharing that he had prostate cancer would not be on the menu.

Politics is like a drug that numbs the brain. Because people don't like one party or person they retard their thinking. Its the same thing as happens in sports. Fans of one team see the same play completely differently from the other team's fans. Politics and the investment into parties kills most people's objectivity.

I don't trust liars. It honestly blows my mind how trusting people can be of professional liars. Both parties are full of liars. Trump is a liar and those opposing him are liars. We are drowning in lies. You can vote for a lessor of two evils but never forget what they are.

https://stacker.news/items/985791

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Diagrams.net - A.K.A. Draw.io. Easy to use Diagram UI with a plethora of templates. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 JavaScript/Docker
• Kroki - API for generating diagrams from textual descriptions. (Source Code) MIT Java
• Mermaid - Javascript module with a unique, easy, shorthand syntax. Integrates into several other tools like Grafana. (Source Code) MIT Nodejs/Docker

@ a5ee4475:2ca75401

lists #descentralismo #compilation #english

*The last list was updated in Amethyst, so the update of this one will only be visible in Amethyst.

nostr:naddr1qq245dz5tqe8w46swpphgmr4f3047s6629t45qg4waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxgctdw4eju6t09upzpf0wg36k3g3hygndv3cp8f2j284v0hfh4dqgqjj3yxnreck2w4qpqvzqqqr4guxde6sl

---

AI

nostr:naddr1qq24xwtyt9v5wjzefe6523j32dy5ga65gagkjqgawaehxw309ahx7um5wghxy6t5vdhkjmn9wgh8xmmrd9skctczyzj7u3r4dz3rwg3x6erszwj4y502clwn026qsp99zgdx8n3v5a2qzqcyqqq823c8mw5zk

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FOSS GAME

nostr:naddr1qq2kvwp3v4hhvk2sw3j5sm6h23g5wkz5ddzhzqg4waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxgctdw4eju6t09upzpf0wg36k3g3hygndv3cp8f2j284v0hfh4dqgqjj3yxnreck2w4qpqvzqqqr4gut57qtr

---

OSHW - Open Source Hardware

nostr:naddr1qqgrqvp5vd3kycejxask2efcv4jr2qgswaehxw309ahx7um5wghx6mmd9upzpf0wg36k3g3hygndv3cp8f2j284v0hfh4dqgqjj3yxnreck2w4qpqvzqqqr4guc43v6c

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Markdown Uses for Some Clients

nostr:nevent1qqsv54qfgtme38r2tl9v6ghwfj09gdjukealstkzc77mwujr56tgfwsppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qgsq37tg2603tu0cqdrxs30e2n5t8p87uenf4fvfepdcvr7nllje5zgrqsqqqqqpkdvta4

---

Other Links

nostr:nevent1qqsrm6ywny5r7ajakpppp0lt525n0s33x6tyn6pz0n8ws8k2tqpqracpzpmhxue69uhkummnw3ezumt0d5hsygp6e5ns0nv3dun430jky25y4pku6ylz68rz6zs7khv29q6rj5peespsgqqqqqqsmfwa78

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

🏌️ Monday, May 26 – Bitcoin Golf Championship & Kickoff Party

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada\ Event: 2nd Annual Bitcoin Golf Championship & Kick Off Party"\ Where: Bali Hai Golf Clubhouse, 5160 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89119\ 🎟️ Get Tickets!

Details:

• The week tees off in style with the Bitcoin Golf Championship. Swing clubs by day and swing to music by night.

• Live performances from Nostr-powered acts courtesy of Tunestr, including Ainsley Costello and others.

• Stop by the Purple Pill Booth hosted by Derek and Tanja, who will be on-boarding golfers and attendees to the decentralized social future with Nostr.

---

💬 May 27–29 – Bitcoin 2025 Conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center

Location: The Venetian Resort\ Main Attraction for Nostr Fans: The Nostr Lounge\ When: All day, Tuesday through Thursday\ Where: Right outside the Open Source Stage\ 🎟️ Get Tickets!

Come chill at the Nostr Lounge, your home base for all things decentralized social. With seating for \~50, comfy couches, high-tops, and good vibes, it’s the perfect space to meet developers, community leaders, and curious newcomers building the future of censorship-resistant communication.

Bonus: Right across the aisle, you’ll find Shopstr, a decentralized marketplace app built on Nostr. Stop by their booth to explore how peer-to-peer commerce works in a truly open ecosystem.

Daily Highlights at the Lounge:

• ☕️ Hang out casually or sit down for a deeper conversation about the Nostr protocol

• 🔧 1:1 demos from app teams

• 🛍️ Merch available onsite

• 🧠 Impromptu lightning talks

• 🎤 Scheduled Meetups (details below)

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🎯 Nostr Lounge Meetups

Wednesday, May 28 @ 1:00 PM

• Damus Meetup: Come meet the team behind Damus, the OG Nostr app for iOS that helped kickstart the social revolution. They'll also be showcasing their new cross-platform app, Notedeck, designed for a more unified Nostr experience across devices. Grab some merch, get a demo, and connect directly with the developers.

Thursday, May 29 @ 1:00 PM

• Primal Meetup: Dive into Primal, the slickest Nostr experience available on web, Android, and iOS. With a built-in wallet, zapping your favorite creators and friends has never been easier. The team will be on-site for hands-on demos, Q\&A, merch giveaways, and deeper discussions on building the social layer of Bitcoin.

---

🎙️ Nostr Talks at Bitcoin 2025

If you want to hear from the minds building decentralized social, make sure you attend these two official conference sessions:

1. FROSTR Workshop: Multisig Nostr Signing

• 🕚 Time: 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM

• 📅 Date: Wednesday, May 28

• 📍 Location: Developer Zone

• 🎤 Speaker: nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqgdwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkcqpqs9etjgzjglwlaxdhsveq0qksxyh6xpdpn8ajh69ruetrug957r3qf4ggfm (Austin Kelsay) @ Voltage\ A deep-dive into FROST-based multisig key management for Nostr. Geared toward devs and power users interested in key security.

2. Panel: Decentralizing Social Media

• 🕑 Time: 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM

• 📅 Date: Thursday, May 29

• 📍 Location: Genesis Stage

• 🎙️ Moderator: nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqy08wumn8ghj7mn0wd68yttjv4kxz7fwv3jhyettwfhhxuewd4jsqgxnqajr23msx5malhhcz8paa2t0r70gfjpyncsqx56ztyj2nyyvlq00heps - Bitcoin Strategy @ Roxom TV

• 👥 Speakers:

• nostr:nprofile1qyt8wumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtcppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qqsy2ga7trfetvd3j65m3jptqw9k39wtq2mg85xz2w542p5dhg06e5qmhlpep – Early Bitcoin dev, CEO @ Sirius Business Ltd

• nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytndv9kxjm3wdahxcqg5waehxw309ahx7um5wfekzarkvyhxuet5qqsw4v882mfjhq9u63j08kzyhqzqxqc8tgf740p4nxnk9jdv02u37ncdhu7e3 – Analyst & Partner @ Ego Death Capital

Get the big-picture perspective on why decentralized social matters and how Nostr fits into the future of digital communication.

---

🌃 NOS VEGAS Meetup & Afterparty

Date: Wednesday, May 28\ Time: 7:00 PM – 1:00 AM\ Location: We All Scream Nightclub, 517 Fremont St., Las Vegas, NV 89101\ 🎟️ Get Tickets!

What to Expect:

• 🎶 Live Music Stage – Featuring Ainsley Costello, Sara Jade, Able James, Martin Groom, Bobby Shell, Jessie Lark, and other V4V artists

• 🪩 DJ Party Deck – With sets by nostr:nprofile1qy0hwumn8ghj7cmgdae82uewd45kketyd9kxwetj9e3k7mf6xs6rgqgcwaehxw309ahx7um5wgh85mm694ek2unk9ehhyecqyq7hpmq75krx2zsywntgtpz5yzwjyg2c7sreardcqmcp0m67xrnkwylzzk4 , nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqgkwaehxw309anx2etywvhxummnw3ezucnpdejqqg967faye3x6fxgnul77ej23l5aew8yj0x2e4a3tq2mkrgzrcvecfsk8xlu3 , and more DJs throwing down

• 🛰️ Live-streamed via Tunestr

• 🧠 Nostr Education – Talks by nostr:nprofile1qy88wumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmv9uq37amnwvaz7tmwdaehgu3dwfjkccte9ejx2un9ddex7umn9ekk2tcqyqlhwrt96wnkf2w9edgr4cfruchvwkv26q6asdhz4qg08pm6w3djg3c8m4j , nostr:nprofile1qyx8wumn8ghj7cnjvghxjmcpz4mhxue69uhk2er9dchxummnw3ezumrpdejqqgxchnavlnv8t5vky5dsa87ddye0jc8z9eza8ekvfryf3yt649mytvhadgpe , nostr:nprofile1q9z8wumn8ghj7erzx3jkvmmzw4eny6tvw368wdt8da4kxamrdvek76mrwg6rwdngw94k67t3v36k77tev3kx7vn2xa5kjem9dp4hjepwd3hkxctvqyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2qpqyaul8k059377u9lsu67de7y637w4jtgeuwcmh5n7788l6xnlnrgssuy4zk , nostr:nprofile1qy28wue69uhnzvpwxqhrqt33xgmn5dfsx5cqz9thwden5te0v4jx2m3wdehhxarj9ekxzmnyqqswavgevxe9gs43vwylumr7h656mu9vxmw4j6qkafc3nefphzpph8ssvcgf8 , and more.

• 🧾 Vendors & Project Booths – Explore new tools and services

• 🔐 Onboarding Stations – Learn how to use Nostr hands-on

• 🐦 Nostrich Flocking – Meet your favorite nyms IRL

• 🍸 Three Full Bars – Two floors of socializing overlooking vibrant Fremont Street

This is the after-party of the year for those who love freedom technology and decentralized social community. Don’t miss it.

---

Final Thoughts

Whether you're there to learn, network, party, or build, Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas has a packed week of Nostr-friendly programming. Be sure to catch all the events, visit the Nostr Lounge, and experience the growing decentralized social revolution.

🟣 Find us. Flock with us. Purple pill someone.

@ ecda4328:1278f072

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

Last updated: May 21, 2025\ \ 📄 Document version:\ EN: https://drive.proton.me/urls/A4A8Y8A0RR#Sj2OBsBYJFr1\ RU: https://drive.proton.me/urls/GS9AS1NB30#ZdKKb5ackB5e

---

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

1. “Deflation → Depression, Debt → Heavier”

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

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

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

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

💡 People often confuse two concepts:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

2. “The Free Market Is a Utopia”

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

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

💬 People often say that banks and centralized issuance emerged as a response to crises — as if the market couldn’t manage on its own.\ But if a system needs to be “rescued” again and again through money printing… maybe the problem isn’t freedom, but the system itself?

📌 Crises don’t disprove the value of free markets. They only reveal how fragile a system becomes when the price of money is set not by the market, but by a boardroom vote.\ Bitcoin doesn’t magically eliminate crises — it removes the root cause: the ability to manipulate money in someone’s interest.

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

3. “Inflation Can Help”

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

💬 As Lyn Alden says:

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

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

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

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

📉 What went wrong after 1971?

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

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

🔗 Source: wtfhappenedin1971.com

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

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

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

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

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

4. “War Drives R&D”

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

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

“War reallocates resources toward destruction — not growth.”

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

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

💬 Even Michael Saylor said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5. “Bitcoin Has No Physical Value”

And gold does? Just because it shines?

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

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

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

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

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

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

⚡️ What are you really getting when you own bitcoin?\ – A key to a digital asset that can’t be faked\ – The ability to send “crystallized energy” anywhere on Earth (it takes 10 minutes on the base L1 layer, or instantly via the Lightning Network)\ – A role in a new accounting system that runs 24/7/365\ – Freedom: from banks, borders, inflation, and force

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

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

Criticism: contradicts HODL logic; speculation remains dominant behavior.

6. “Speculation Dominates”

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

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

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

📌 Look deeper. Bitcoin has:\ – No CEO\ – No central issuer\ – No inflation\ – No “off switch”\ 💡 It was fairly distributed — through mining, long before ASICs existed. In the early years, bitcoin was spent and exchanged — not hoarded. Only those who truly believed in it are still holding it today.

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

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

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

That’s all.

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

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

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

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

2. It can’t handle mass-scale usage.

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

7. “It’s Too Complex for the Masses”

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

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

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

💸 Now try sending a regular bank transfer abroad:\ – you need to type a long IBAN\ – add SWIFT/BIC codes\ – include the recipient’s full physical address (!), compromising their privacy\ – sometimes add extra codes or “purpose of payment”\ – you might get a call from your bank “just to confirm”\ – no way to check the status — the money floats somewhere between correspondent/intermediary banks\ – weekends or holidays? Banks are closed\ – and don’t forget the limits, restrictions, and potential freezes

📌 With Bitcoin, you just scan a QR code and send.\ 10 minutes on-chain = final settlement.\ Via Lightning = instant and nearly free.\ No bureaucracy. No permission. No borders.

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8. “Can’t Handle the Load”

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

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

To understand scale:

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

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

And it’s not a sidechain.

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

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

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

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9. “We Need Geopolitical Will”

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

🔗 Address\ 📅 First transaction

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

Their example inspired others.

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

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

📚 More: Strategic Bitcoin Reserve — Wikipedia

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

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

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

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

As Michael Saylor put it:

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

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

💡 Now consider gold:

👉 After the gold standard was abandoned in 1971, the price of gold skyrocketed from around \~$300 to over $2,700 (adjusted to 2023 dollars) by 1980. Along the way, it experienced extreme volatility — with crashes of 40–60% even amid the broader uptrend.\ 💡 (\~$300 is the inflation-adjusted equivalent of about $38 in 1971 dollars)\ 📈 Source: Gold Price Chart — Macrotrends\ \ Nobody said, “This can’t be money.” \ Because money is defined not by volatility, but by scarcity, adoption, and trust — which build over time.

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

This is a journey — not a fixed state.

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

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

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

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📊 Gold vs. Bitcoin: Supply Comparison

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

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

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

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

💡 As Saifedean Ammous said:

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

### While we argue — fiat erodes every day.

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

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

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

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

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

📌 There has never been anything like this before.

Bitcoin is the first asset in history that combines:

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

💡 As Michael Saylor said:

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

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

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

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

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

For the first time — they have one.

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

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

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

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

And his money? It devalues. Every day.

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

Now imagine he’s paid in Bitcoin.

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

💡 Then he could:

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

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

This is economic justice.\ This is digital dignity.

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

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

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

🎯 That’s true freedom.

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

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🧱 The Bigger Picture

Bitcoin is not just a technology — it’s rooted in economic philosophy.\ The Austrian School of Economics has long argued that sound money, voluntary exchange, and decentralized decision-making are prerequisites for real prosperity.\ Bitcoin doesn’t reinvent these ideas — it makes them executable.

📉 Inflation doesn’t just erode savings.\ It quietly destroys quality of life.\ You work more — and everything becomes worse:\ – food is cheaper but less nutritious\ – homes are newer but uglier and less durable\ – clothes cost more but fall apart in months\ – streaming is faster, but your attention span collapses\ This isn’t just consumerism — it’s the economics of planned obsolescence.

🧨 Meanwhile, the U.S. debt has exceeded 3x its GDP.\ And nobody wants to buy U.S. bonds anymore — so the U.S. has to buy its own debt.\ Yes: printing money to buy the IOUs you just printed.\ This is the endgame of fiat.

🎭 Bonds are often sold as “safe.”\ But in practice, they are a weapon — especially abroad.\ The U.S. and IMF give loans to developing countries.\ But when those countries can’t repay (due to rigged terms or global economic headwinds), they’re forced to sell land, resources, or strategic assets.\ Both sides lose: the debtor collapses under the weight of debt, while the creditor earns resentment and instability.\ This isn’t cooperation — it’s soft colonialism enabled by inflation.

📌 Bitcoin offers a peaceful exit.\ A financial system where money can’t be created out of thin air.\ Where savings work.\ Where dignity is restored — even for those who clean toilets.

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@ a296b972:e5a7a2e8

Es ist nicht anders zu erklären: Wir erleben die Verschwörung fast aller Politiker (jetzt schon die 2. Garde herausragender Geistesgrößen), Institutionen (NGOs), Behörden (RKI, PEI), Gerichte und die öffentlich-rechtlichen Medien gemeinsam gegen die Wahrheit. Erkennungszeichen: Der in Moral getauchte erhobene Zeigefinger als neuer deutscher Gruß. Das ist Größenwahn!

Dies wird jedoch nur von einem kleinen Teil der Gesellschaft wahrgenommen, weil der weitaus größere Teil nach wie vor die Wahrheit nicht hören will.

Aktuelles Beispiel: Das war sicher nur eine Rotzfahne, die Herr Macron, bekannt für sein schlechtes Benehmen, auf dem Tisch liegen lassen hat, nachdem er sich geschnäuzt hatte. Und Herr Merz hat mit einer Büroklammer gespielt, die wie ein Speitel aussah.

Das ist ein psychologisches Ding, und die Frage ist, warum manche immun gegen Propaganda und Manipulation sind und viele leider nicht.

Deutschland macht sich sowohl innen- als auch außenpolitisch immer mehr zur Deppen-Insel. Während außerhalb Friedensbemühungen stattfinden, droht der Blackrock-Spargel 2. Wahl weiter mit neuen Sanktionen, die in der Vergangenheit schon nicht gewirkt haben. Die Beschlagnahmung russischer Gelder kann dazu führen, dass europäische Gelder im Ausland ebenso beschlagnahmt werden, und das könnte das Ende des Euro bedeuten, was an sich nicht das Problem wäre, wenn die Menschen nicht unter einer Finanzkrise zu leiden hätten. „Der kleine Mann“ war ja von je her immer schon der Doofe.

Taurus ist immer noch nicht endgültig vom Tisch. Es kommt gar nicht darauf an, dass die Lieferung den Kriegsverlauf nicht beeinflussen würde, sondern vielmehr darauf, dass sich spätestens hier Wiesbaden, Düsseldorf-Rheinmetall, Garmisch-Patenkirchen und die Waffenindustrie am Bodensee zu einem legitimen Ziel für Russland machen würden.

Innenpolitisch kommen die in der Corona-Zeit erprobten, bewährten und loyalen Systemlinge aus den Medien in Sprecherpositionen in die Bundespressekonferenz-Show oder ins Innenministerium. Eine Ex-Ministerin landet sanft im Desinformations-Bekämpfungs-Ausschuss, wo sie aufgrund ihrer eigenen Praxiserfahrung in Desinformieren bestens aufgehoben ist.

Ein anderer Minister wechselt in den Ausschuss für „Peterchens Mondfahrt“. Ganz oben auf der Agenda: Rheinländer im Weltall.

Die ehemalige Chef-Diplomatin, die bis heute noch nicht verstanden hat, dass Diplomatie nicht das Ausstellen von Diplomen bedeutet, landet hunderttausende von Kilometern entfernt in Nju Jörg, um ein paar Brocken Englisch zu lernen. Der Speck der Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt, möge die Übung gelingen.

Alles zusammen erzeugt so viel Unterdruck, der geeignet ist, eine Implosion herbeizuführen.

Der Widerstand kann stolz auf die vielen engagierten Menschen sein, die sich über Jahre nicht haben brechen lassen und unbeirrt das Schild der Freiheit, der Demokratie, der Meinungsfreiheit, das Grundgesetz, das Recht und die Würde des Menschen hochhalten.

Die staatlichen Schikanen, die spätestens mit Corona ihren Anfang genommen haben, hier aber auf jeden Fall sichtbar geworden sind, haben sowohl das Schlimmste, als auch das Beste im Menschen hervorgerufen. Die Spaltung hat zwangsläufig erfolgen müssen, weil die Widerständler, im Sinne eines sich gegen das Volk richtenden Systems, immer wieder auf die Ja-Sager zugegangen sind, diese jedoch die Wiederaufnahme eines Dialogs weitgehend abgelehnt haben. Sei es durch aktive Verwehrung, oder durch passives Schweigen und Ignorieren.

All diese Schikanen, die Lügen, Weglassungen, Verdrehungen haben auch etwas Gutes: Sie haben bei vielen Menschen das Denken geschult und noch einmal ganz bewusst gemacht, wie wichtig die Freiheit ist. Sie haben erkannt, dass sie keine Naturgewalt ist und dass es nötig ist, sich für sie einzusetzen, wenn Kräfte am Werk sind, die sie abschaffen wollen.

Ja, dem Widerstand geht es um die Freiheit. Die Freiheit im Denken, im Fühlen und im Wollen. Und seit Corona auch im freien Atmen.

Denjenigen, die glauben, dass all ihre Schreiben, Berechnungen, Posts, Videos und Kanäle bis heute nichts gebracht haben, denen sei gesagt:

Doch, ihr habt die Aufklärung übernommen, die eigentlich von staatlicher Seite her hätte erfolgen müssen.

Alle Fakten sind sauber recherchiert und liegen auf dem Tisch. Das alles war und ist nicht umsonst.

Da an die Tatsachenverbreitung derjenigen Medien, die zur Verschwörung gehören, nicht zu denken ist, machen wir es eben selbst. Das dauert vielleicht länger, aber die Wahrheit hat sich am Ende immer durchgesetzt. Nicht verzagen, steter Tropfen höhlt den Stein.

Und seien wir doch mal ehrlich: Würden wir freiwillig an dem Ast sägen, auf dem wir sitzen, wenn wir in deren misslicher Lage wären? Es kann nur weiter gelogen werden, weil in einigen temperamentvolleren Ländern als Deutschland, die Bevölkerung kurzen Prozess machen würde. Daraus könnte ein Domino-Effekt entstehen, und der ist unter allen Umständen zu verhindern.

Es wäre noch nicht einmal undenkbar, diejenigen weiter in der Matrix leben zu lassen, denen die Realität und Tatsachen zu anstrengend sind, wenn gewährleistet würde, dass diejenigen, die sich entschieden haben die rote Pille zu schlucken, in Ruhe gelassen würden. Derzeit hat man eher den Eindruck, es wird mit allen Mitteln versucht, diese Menschen wieder ins System zurücksaugen zu wollen. Sei es mit dem Digital Services Act, Hausdurchsuchungen, Kontenkündigungen, Jobverlust, Existenzvernichtung oder anderen Maßnahmen, die geeignet sind, Exempel zu statuieren, die andere einschüchtern sollen, ja nicht auch auf die Idee zu kommen, sich dem System entgegenzustellen und die falschen Fragen laut auszusprechen.

Kein Mensch hat das Recht zu gehorchen!

Wir wollen keine Tyrannei der Mehrheit. Die breite Masse der Gesellschaft ist immer schon mit dem Strom geschwommen, sei es aus Bequemlichkeit, aus Unvermögen oder aus Desinteresse. Kein Wecker kann hier laut genug klingeln, um sie aufzuwecken.

Die Diplomatie in Deutschland wurde abgeschafft. Nicht, weil erkannt wurde, dass sie in der heutigen Zeit nicht mehr funktioniert, sondern weil diejenigen, die es können müssten, mangels fachlicher, sachlicher und menschlicher Qualifikation dazu nicht in der Lage sind. Diplomatisches Unvermögen und eine ordentliche Portion Russenhass scheinen unbedingtes Einstellungskriterium zu sein, um in Verantwortung zu kommen. Wer in Drohen eine Eins hatte, ist ganz vorne dabei.

Es ist ein unverschämter Raub von Lebenszeit der Beklagten, wie z. B. Ballweg, Füllmich, Guérot, der nur dazu dient, Exempel zu statuieren, um zu zeigen, wie das System seine Muskeln spielen lassen kann, wenn man nicht so funktioniert, wie es sich das System wünscht. Aber auch hier und da gibt es noch Richter, die ihrem Gewissen verpflichtet sind, unterstützt von unermüdlichen Anwälten, die sich der Rechtspflege und nicht dem Rechtsverdrehen verpflichtet sehen. Deutschland hat gute Gesetze, wenn sie nur schon wieder vollumfänglich gelten würden. Nicht kritische Stimmen delegitimieren den Staat, sondern der sogenannte Staat verbiegt die Rechtsprechung zu seinen Gunsten, auf die wir uns alle geeinigt haben und die für uns alle gilt.

Und sogar in der Medizin gibt es noch Ärzte mit Gewissen, denen der Satz „Primum non nocere“ oberste Pflicht und Berufsehre ist. Deren Aufgabe wäre es, das bei dem kritischen Teil des Volkes nicht mehr vorhandene Vertrauen, nach allen Regeln der Heilkunst wieder herzustellen. Begleitet durch die Forderung der Abschaffung der Fallpauschalen und das Wiederabschaffen der verordneten Gewinnorientierung zugunsten eines möglichst wirtschaftlich arbeitenden Gesundheitsbetriebes. Besonderer Respekt wäre hier der Generation zu zollen, die dieses Land wiederaufgebaut hat, nachdem ein Irrer es wiederholt in Schutt und Asche gelegt hat.

Ein Neuanfang ist schon mit dem ständigen Wachsen der Neuen Medien getan. Wer schaut sich noch den einseitig-selbstherrlichen Dreck im Staatsfunk an oder liest eine Zeitung aus dem Neues-Deutschland-Verlag?

Der tägliche Wahnsinn mit einem schier unerschöpflichen Potenzial für neue Absurditäten zehrt an denjenigen, die der Gehirnwäsche erfolgreich widerstanden haben. Und wenn es auch Tage der Niedergeschlagenheit gibt, am nächsten Tag wird die Krone zurechtgerückt und weitergemacht, ok? Niemals vergessen: Wir, die wir offensichtlich bei Verstand geblieben sind, können jeden Morgen in den Spiegel schauen, wir sind aufrichtig und haben ein Rückgrat. Wir sind keine wirbellosen Nacktschnecken, die eine klebrige Schleimspur hinter sich herziehen und zu nichts anderem taugen, als anderen auf den Wecker zu gehen und das Leben schwer zu machen.

Wir sind keine egoistischen Speichellecker, die nur darauf bedacht sind, irgendwie mit dem Kopf über Wasser zu bleiben, weil sie sich eingeredet haben, dass sie davonkommen:

„Wird schon gut gehen. Wir sind auf der Seite der Gewinner. Wir sind die Stärkeren. Wir halten zusammen. Gegen uns kommen diese Deppen sowieso nicht an.“

Ich bin der Teil von jener Kraft, die Böses will und Gutes schafft.

Wir werden sehen, wer hier die Hosen anhat: Die Wahrheit oder der Wahnsinn.

Dieser Artikel wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben

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(Bild von pixabay)

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

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

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

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

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

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

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Capistrano - Deploy your application to any number of machines simultaneously, in sequence or as a rolling set via SSH (rake based). (Source Code) MIT Ruby
• CloudSlang - Flow-based orchestration tool for managing deployed applications, with Docker capabilities. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Java
• CloudStack - Cloud computing software for creating, managing, and deploying infrastructure cloud services. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Java/Python
• Cobbler - Cobbler is a Linux installation server that allows for rapid setup of network installation environments. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 Python
• Fabric - Python library and cli tool for streamlining the use of SSH for application deployment or systems administration tasks. (Source Code) BSD-2-Clause Python
• Genesis - A template framework for multi-environment BOSH deployments. MIT Perl
• munki - Webserver-based repository of packages and package metadata, that allows macOS administrators to manage software installs. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Python
• Overcast - Deploy VMs across different cloud providers, and run commands and scripts across any or all of them in parallel via SSH. (Source Code) MIT Nodejs

@ bf47c19e:c3d2573b

Originalni tekst na medium.com.

Autor: Aleksandar Svetski / Prevod: ₿itcoin Serbia

---

Nemojte kupovati Bitkoin!

Ni danas, ni kasnije, nikada!

Posvećeno skepticima, neznalicama, arogantnima i nezainteresovanima.

NE TREBA vam Bitkoin.

Molim vas. Nemojte ga kupovati.

Lično me ne zanima "masovna adopcija".

Draža mi je selektivna adopcija.

Svinja ne zaslužuje bisere.

Na vama je da platite cenu neznanja.

Kao i cenu glupavosti.

Kada dođe vreme, sa zadovoljstvom ću vam platiti hiljadu satošija mesečno za vaše vreme i smejati se usput.

Najbitnija odluka koju ćete ikada doneti

NEMA važnije odluke za vašu finansijsku, ekonomsku i suverenu budućnost koju danas možete doneti nego da kupite Bitkoin.

A ako ne želite da izdvojite malo vremena da ga dalje proučite, JEDINA osoba koju treba da krivite kasnije ste vi sami.

Danas, Bitkoin se nalazi u svojoj ranoj, početnoj fazi. O ovome možete više pročitati ovde (hvala ObiWan Kenobit):

Hiperbitkoinizacija: pobednik uzima sve

Ovo JE prilika ne samo vašeg života, već verovatno i najveći mogući transfer bogatstva u istoriji, a najluđa stvar je što će se najveći deo toga odigrati u narednih nekoliko decenija.

Nalazimo se tek u prvih 12 godina ove promene, a već smo videlo kako je Bitkoin eksplodirao sa $0.008c (kada su za 10.000 BTC kupljene dve pice) na trenutnu cenu od oko $11.500.

Ovo je tek početak. Tek 0.001% svetskog bogatstva je denominirano u Bitkoinu.

Ako sada izdvojite samo trenutak da razumete novac, njegovu ulogu u društvu i kako će ekonomski darvinizam voditi ceo svet prema najrobusnijem, najčvršćem i najsigurnijem obliku očuvanja bogatstva, možete odlučiti da kupite neki deo pre nego što se ostatak sveta priključi.

Čitajući ovo, vi ste poput drevnog pojedinca koji je pronašao zlato, dok svi ostali koriste školjke. Razlika je u tome što živite u digitalnom dobu tokom kojeg će se ovaj novac pojaviti i sazreti za vreme vašeg života. Taj drevni pojedinac bi bio u pravu ali mrtav zato što je zlatu bilo potrebno nekoliko hiljada godina da uradi ono za šta će Bitkoinu biti potrebne decenije.

Zamislite. Se. Nad. Tim.

I naučite dalje o nastanku Bitkoina ovde:

Zašto je Bitkoin važan

I za ime ljubavi prema sopstvenoj budućnosti, preuzmite ovu kratku elektronsku knjigu i jebeno se edukujte!!

Preuzmite "Investiranje u Bitkoin"

I eto, dajem vam izvore.. jbt.. Svejedno...

Danas, imate izbor da kupite Bitkoin; najoskudniji novac u univerzumu, za siću!! Bukvalno možete kupiti hiljade satošija (najmanju jedinicu Bitkoina gde je 100.000.000 satošija = 1 BTC) za $1!!!

Danas ne postoji veća prilika, kao što sutradan neće postojati veće žaljenje kada više ne budete imali "izbor" da ga kupite.

Kada taj dan bude došao i kada budete to morali da prihvatite, setićete se ovih reči, ali avaj, biće prekasno, a vreme ne možete vratiti.

Više nije 2012

Tada ste imali izgovor. Sada je 2020...

Apsolutno NEMA razloga zašto neko sa malo radoznalosti i relativno funkcionalnim mozgom ne može da prouči šta je Bitkoin, zašto postoji, zašto je važan i zašto bi trebalo da u njega prebaci malo ličnog bogatstva.

Naročito ako ima prijatelja poput mene ili mnoštvo Bitkoinera negde tamo.

Ja više neću smarati ljude sa porukama "zašto treba kupiti Bitkoin".

Više nije 2012. godina.

Danas imamo toliko puno informacija od toliko mnogo dobrih ljudi na svim mogućim medijima, tako da NEMATE IZGOVORA da ga ignorišete ili kažete: "ali niko mi nije rekao".

Ukoliko nemate da izdvojite bar malo vremena od vašeg Netflix rasporeda da biste istražili šta je ova stvar i zašto je bitna za vašu ličnu ekonomsku budućnost, onda zaslužujete to što imate.

Deluje okrutno ali dobrodošao u život, mladi žutokljunče.

Sada... Ako ste izdvojili malo vremena ali ste i dalje nezainteresovani ili dovoljno glupi da ga odbacite, onda zaista zaslužujete to što dolazi i ostatak ovog članka je definitivno za vas.

Ne želim da uopšte kupite Bitkoin!

Ok Aleks, ali šta ćemo sa "masovnom adopcijom"???

Pažljivo me slušajte:

Zabole me kurac da li će masovna adopcija doći za 10, 20, 50 ili 100 godina!

Ja sam skroz za selektivnu adopciju i potpuno za dugačku igru. Tako da sam spreman da čekam.

Kao u SVIM prirodnim, evolutivno funkcionalnim sistemima, oni koji seju i pomažu u izgradnji temelja bi trebalo da budu i nesrazmerno nagrađeni.

Ovo je 100% fer i predivno nejednako (neki od vas koji me znate ste upoznati sa mojim stavom o nejednakosti kao najprezrenijem od svih ljudskih ideala. Radi se o odvratnom idealu koji nagrađuje najgore među nama).

Tako da za skeptike i "neverne Tome" imam jednostavnu poruku:

Nadam se da nećete uopšte kupiti Bitkoin. Ni danas ni bilo kada. Nadam se da će jedini put kada budete stupili u dodir sa Bitkoinom to biti jedini način da za nešto budete isplaćeni; npr. kada budete morali da ga zaradite.

Jedva čekam dan kada će mojih nekoliko hiljada satošija moći da kupi tri, četiri ili pet meseci vašeg vremena.

A u međuvremenu...

Molim vas, držite se vašeg fiat novca. Molim vas, držite se vaših šitkoina.

Ne želim nikoga od vas "blokčejnera", šitkoinera, fiat nokoinera i vas svih ostalih klovnova koji mislite da znate bolje.

Ovaj rolerkoster je specijalan, tako da zašto bih želeo da ga delim sa vama glupanderima? Zašto bih bacao bisere pred svinje?

Ja verujem u principe isključivosti.

Ovo nije "kumbaya" ili "svi smo jedno". Jebite se.

Sa razlogom smo drugačiji.

Napraviću sam svoj krevet i ležati u njemu. Vi napravite svoje.

Kada bude došlo vreme, ja ću vam za vaše vreme plaćati satošijima zato što onda nećete imati izbora.

Tada ja pobeđujem, a vi gubite.

Kako sejete, tako žanjete

Razlika između mene i vas je ta što ja kupujem Bitkoin sada zato što tako želim. Vi ćete morati da radite za Bitkoin sutra zato što tako morate.

To je cena neznanja. To je cena arogancije.

To je cena gluposti koju ćete platiti i, koliko god ovo zvuči okrutno, istina je da zaslužujete svaki delić toga.

Svi ležimo u krevetu koji sami pravimo, a vi svoj krevet pravite sada.

Neće vam samouvereni Bitkoiner reći: "lepo sam vam rekao". Nova ekonomska realnost će vam to reći umesto njega.

"Lepo sam vam rekao" će vas udariti poput tone cigle kada shvatite razliku između vas i onih koji su bili razboriti, koji su marljivo štedeli, koji su uložili vreme i trud da otkriju šta je zapravo Bitkoin dok su ih svi nazivali ludacima.

Neće biti sažaljenja.

Nema više bacanja bisera pred svinje

Oni koji imaju priliku da kupe nešto Bitkoina sada, a odluče da to ne urade zahvaljujući neznanju, aroganciji ili gluposti, zaslužuju da plate sa kamatom.

Zaslužuju da trguju svoje sutrašnje dragoceno vreme i energiju za ono što su mogli da nabave danas i to bukvalno "za kikiriki".

Ovde nema greške: nismo jednaki. Mi smo veoma, veoma različiti ljudi.

Ja sam uložio vreme, trud i energiju sada, ne samo zbog sebe samog, već i da bih posadio seme i pomogao mreži.

Uradio sam svoj deo.

Vi ćete doći kasnije i pomoći mi da žanjem nagrade svog truda. Postojaćete da biste mi pomogli da uživam u plodovima.

To će biti vaša uloga.

Izabrao sam da rizikujem i steknem deo onoga zbog čega su me svi nazivali ludim zato što sam učio, verovao i shvatio danas, sa nadom da se izgradi bolja, poštenija i pravičnija budućnost za sve.

Radeći to, neki od nas će postati džinovi i nesrazmerno bogati. I vi imate tu šansu ali je mnogi od vas neće iskoristiti.

I ja sam skroz ok sa tim. Više neću bacati bisere pred svinje.

---

Ovaj članak može zvučati neprijatno ali više me zabole kurac. Sada je na vama da sami istražujete.

Ovo se događa bez obzira sviđalo vam se to ili ne. Ja i hiljade drugih Bitkoinera smo pisali eseje i eseje o ovome.

Neka imena sa kvalitetnim materijalom kojih se mogu setiti iz glave su:

• Naravno ja
• Gigi
• Robert Breedlove
• Saifedean Ammous

Ako ste radoznali možete ih pratiti. A ovo je sjajno mesto gde možete preuzeti nekoliko odličnih radova:

The Bitcoin Times

I za kraj, ako si Bitkoiner koji ovo čita, nikada nećeš znati da li sam zloban ili samo igram 4D šah.

Iskreno, nije ni bitno.

Ovo se dešava. Bitkoin osvaja svet. Ekonomski darvinizam je činjenica.

Sakupljajte vaše satošije, ponudite maslinovu grančicu, obratite pažnju na njihovu radoznalost ili iskru u njihovom oku kao znak da nastavite. Ukoliko toga nema ili naiđete na odbijanje, ostavite ih da se igraju kao svinje u govnima sa njihovim fiatom, deonicama ili šitkoinima.

Biće nam potrebni čistači za naše citadele.

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Ajenti - Control panel for Linux and BSD. (Source Code) MIT Python/Shell
• Cockpit - Web-based graphical interface for servers. (Source Code) LGPL-2.1 C
• Froxlor - Lightweight server management software with Nginx and PHP-FPM support. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 PHP
• HestiaCP - Web server control panel (fork of VestaCP). (Demo, Source Code) GPL-3.0 PHP/Shell/Other
• ISPConfig - Manage Linux servers directly through your browser. (Source Code) BSD-3-Clause PHP
• Sentora - Open-Source Web hosting control panel for Linux, BSD (fork of ZPanel). (Source Code) GPL-3.0 PHP
• Virtualmin - Powerful and flexible web hosting control panel for Linux and BSD systems. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 Shell/Perl/Other
• Webmin - Web-based interface for system administration for Unix. (Source Code) BSD-3-Clause Perl

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Payjoin allows the sender and receiver of an on-chain payment to collaborate and create a transaction that breaks on-chain heuristics, allowing a more private transaction with ambiguous payment amount and UTXO ownership. Additionally, it can also be used for UTXO consolidation (receiver saves future fees) and batching payments (receiver can make payment(s) of their own in the process of receiving one), also known as transaction cut-through. Other than improved privacy, the rest of the benefits are typically applicable to the receiver, not the sender.

BIP-78 was the original payjoin protocol that required the receiver to run a endpoint/server (always online) in order to mediate the payjoin process. Payjoin adoption has remained pretty low, something attributed to the server & perpetual online-ness requirement. This is the motivation for payjoin v2.

The purpose of the one-pager is to analyse the protocol, and highlight the UX issues or tradeoffs it entails, so that the payjoin user flows can be appropriately designed and the tradeoffs likewise communicated. A further document on UX solutions might be needed to identify solutions and opportunities

The following observations are generally limited to individual users transacting through their mobile devices:

While users naturally want better privacy and fee-savings, they also want to minimise friction and minimise (optimise) payment time. These are universal and more immediate needs since they deal with the user experience.

Added manual steps

TL;DR v2 payjoin eliminates server & simultaneous user-liveness requirements (increasing TAM, and opportunities to payjoin, as a result) by adding manual steps.

Usually, the extent of the receiver's involvement in the transaction process is limited to sharing their address with the sender. Once they share the address/URI, they can basically forget about it. In the target scenario for v2 payjoin, the receiver must come online again (except they have no way of knowing "when") to contribute input(s) and sign the PSBT. This can be unexpected, unintuitive and a bit of a hassle.

Usually (and even with payjoin v1), the sender crafts and broadcasts the transaction in one go; meaning the user's job is done within a few seconds/minutes. With payjoin v2, they must share the original-PSBT with the receiver, and then wait for them to do their part. Once the the receiver has done that, the sender must come online to review the transaction, sign it & broadcast.

In summary,

In payjoin v1, step 3 is automated and instant, so delay 2, 3 =~ 0. As the user experiences it, the process is completed in a single session, akin to a non-payjoin transaction.

With payjoin v2, Steps 2 & 3 in the above diagram are widely spread and noticeable. These manual steps are separated by uncertain delays (more on that below) when compared to a non-payjoin transaction.

Delays

We've established that both senders and receivers must take extra manual steps to execute a payoin transaction. With payjoin v2, this process gets split into multiple sessions, since the sender and receiver are not like to be online simultaneously.

Delay 2 & 3 (see diagram above) are uncertain in nature. Most users do not open their bitcoin wallets for days or weeks! The receiver must come online before the timeout hits in order for the payjoin process to work, otherwise time is just wasted with no benefit. UX or technical solutions are needed to minimise these delays.

Delays might be exacerbated if the setup is based on hardware wallet and/or uses multisig.

Notifications or background processes

There is one major problem when we say "the user must come online to..." but in reality the user has no way of knowing there is a payjoin PSBT waiting for them. After a PSBT is sent to the relay, the opposite user would only find out about it whenever they happen to come online. Notifications and background sync processes might be necessary to minimise delays. This is absolutely essential to avert timeouts in addition to saving valuable time. Another risk is phantom payjoin stuff after the timeout is expired if receiver-side does not know it has.

Fee Savings

The following observations might be generally applicable for both original and this v2 payjoin version. Fee-savings with payjoin is a tricky topic. Of course, overall a payjoin transaction is always cheaper than 2 separate transactions, since they get to share the overhead.

Additionally, without the receiver contributing to fees, the chosen fee rate of the PSBT (at the beginning) drops, and can lead to slower confirmation. From another perspective, a sender paying with payjoin pays higher fees for similar confirmation target. This has been observed in a production wallet years back. Given that total transaction time can extend to days, the fee environment itself might change, and all this must be considered when designing the UX.

Of course, there is nothing stopping the receiver from contributing to fees, but this idea is likely entirely novel to the bitcoin ecosystem (perhaps payments ecosystem in general) and the user base. Additionally, nominally it involves the user paying fees and tolerating delays just to receive bitcoin. Without explicit incentives/features that encourage receivers to participate, payjoining might seem like an unncessary hassle.

Overall, it seems that payjoin makes UX significant tradeoffs for important privacy (and potential fee-saving) benefits. This means that the UX might have to do significant heavy-lifting, to ensure that users are not surprised, confused or frustrated when they try to transact on-chain in a privacy-friendly feature. Good, timely communication, new features for consolidation & txn-cutthrough and guided user flows seem crucial to ensure payjoin adoption and for help make on-chain privacy a reality for users.

---------------

Original document available here. Reach out at yashrajdca@proton.me, y_a_s_h_r_a_j.70 on Signal, or on reach out in Bitcoin Design discord.

https://stacker.news/items/981388

@ 9063ef6b:fd1e9a09

This article explores potential vulnerabilities in bitcoin that quantum computers might exploit in the future.

But to be clear: today’s quantum computers are still in early stages, many questions are unresolved, and they are not expected to pose a serious threat any time soon.

1. Why Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s current cryptographic security relies on ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm). While this is secure against classical computers, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could break it using Shor’s algorithm, which would allow attackers to derive private keys from exposed public keys. This poses a serious threat to user funds and the overall trust in the Bitcoin network.

Even though SHA-256, the hash function used for mining and address creation, is more quantum-resistant, it too would be weakened (though not broken) by quantum algorithms.

---

2. The Core Problem

Bitcoin’s vulnerability to quantum computing stems from how it handles public keys and signatures.

🔓 Public Key Exposure

Most Bitcoin addresses today (e.g., P2PKH or P2WPKH) are based on a hash of the public key, which keeps the actual public key hidden — until the user spends from that address.

Once a transaction is made, the public key is published on the blockchain, making it permanently visible and linked to the address.

---

🧠 Why This Matters

If a sufficiently powerful quantum computer becomes available in the future, it could apply Shor’s algorithm to derive the private key from a public key.

This creates a long-term risk:

• Any Bitcoin tied to an address with an exposed public key — even from years ago — could be stolen.
• The threat persists after a transaction, not just while it’s being confirmed.
• The longer those funds sit untouched, the more exposed they become to future quantum threats.

---

⚠️ Systemic Implication

This isn’t just a theoretical risk — it’s a potential threat to long-term trust in Bitcoin’s security model.

If quantum computers reach the necessary scale, they could: - Undermine confidence in the finality of old transactions - Force large-scale migrations of funds - Trigger panic or loss of trust in the ecosystem

---

Bitcoin’s current design protects against today’s threats — but revealed public keys create a quantum attack surface that grows with time.

---

3. Why It’s Hard to Fix

Transitioning Bitcoin to post-quantum cryptography is a complex challenge:

• Consensus required: Changes to signature schemes or address formats require wide agreement across the Bitcoin ecosystem.
• Signature size: Post-quantum signature algorithms could be significantly larger, which affects blockchain size, fees, and performance.
• Wallet migration: Updating wallets and moving funds to new address types must be done securely and at massive scale.
• User experience: Any major cryptographic upgrade must remain simple enough for users to avoid security risks.

---

4. The Path Forward

The cryptographers worldwide are already working on solutions:

• Post-Quantum Cryptographic Algorithms are being standardized by NIST, including CRYSTALS-Dilithium, Kyber, FALCON, and SPHINCS+.
• Prototypes and experiments are ongoing research networks.
• Hybrid signature schemes are being explored to allow backward compatibility.

Governments and institutions like NIST, ENISA, and ISO are laying the foundation for cryptographic migration across industries — and Bitcoin will benefit from this ecosystem.

---

References & Further Reading

• https://komodoplatform.com/en/academy/p2pkh-pay-to-pubkey-hash
• https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/post-quantum-cryptography
• https://www.enisa.europa.eu/publications/post-quantum-cryptography-current-state-and-quantum-mitigation
• https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Quantum_computing_and_Bitcoin
• https://research.ibm.com/blog/ibm-quantum-condor-1121-qubits
• https://blog.google/technology/research/google-willow-quantum-chip/
• https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/quantum/2025/02/19/microsoft-unveils-majorana-1-the-worlds-first-quantum-processor-powered-by-topological-qubits/
• https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/aws/quantum-computing-aws-ocelot-chip
  ```

@ 662f9bff:8960f6b2

Issue 11 already - I will be including numbers going forward to make past letters easier to find and refer to. The past two weeks I have been on vacation - my first real vacation is a couple of years. Monday I am back to work for a bit. I have decided to work from here rather than subject myself to more international travel - we are still refugees from the insanity in Hong Kong. We really have been relaxing and enjoying life on the island. Levada hikes and Jeep tours!

220415 Jeep tour - Cabo Girao, Porto Moniz, Fanal and Ponto do Sol - Madeira

We had plenty of time to relax and enjoy life. Madeira is a fantastic place to visit with lots to see and do and even more weather!. I did think that HK was mountainous - but Madeira is next level! Portuguese is also something else; have not yet made much progress but we did not try much and English will generally suffice. As you see in the video above, Madeira is getting serious about attracting Digital Nomads and as you will see below they have forward-thinking local government - exactly as foreseen in my top book pick - The Sovereign Indvidual.

I did get to read quite a lot of interesting books and material - will be sharing insights below and going forward. Happy to discuss too - that offer is still open.

Among other things I got to appreciate more the Apple ecosystem and the seamless integration between Mac, iPhone and iPad - in combination with working with no/limited WiFi and using tethering from my CalyxOS Pixel. Strong privacy is important and Apple scores reasonably well - though you will want to take some additional precautions, I have been enjoying reading my kindle on all platforms and listening to the audio-books with reading-location syncing (fantastic). I am considering sharing tips and tricks on secure setups as well as aspects that I find particularly useful - do talk to me if you have questions or suggestions.

Bitcoin BTC

Given how important Bitcoin already is and will become I think it is right that I should include a section here with relevant news, insights and provocations to discuss. Note that Bitcoin is different from "Crypto"; do not get them mixed up!

• Madeira is not just trying to be friendly to digital nomads - photo above and Ponto do Sol. Last week the President of the Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque attended the Miami conference to announce that his government will “work to create a fantastic environment for bitcoin in Madeira.” This is part of the Game Theory of Bitcoin Adoption by Nation States

• Announcing Taro, Multi-Asset Bitcoin & Lightning** **- this has potential to be something really big. It complements, and may even be better than, Jack Mallers' Strike. Their Blog post is here and the Wiki with the detailed specification is here.

• Michael Saylor is one of today's pre-eminent thinkers and communicators. Listen and learn from his revcent interview with Lex Friedman.

• SLP365 Anita Posch - Bitcoin For Fairness in Zimbabwe and Zambia — A great interview by Stephan Livera. Key takeaways: Learn how to use it before you really need it. if it works in Zimbabwe and Namibia it will work anywhere It’s still early and governments will give no help; rather they will be busy putting sticks in the wheels and sand in the gears…

• For those who look for education on Bitcoin - a starting point can be Anita Posch's The Art of (L)earning Bitcoin with many useful resources linked.

Discovery of the week - Obsidian

For years I have been an avid notetaker. I caught the bug when I did Electronic Engineering at Southampton University and we had to keep a "lab book". Ever since then in my professional work I kept a notebook and took daily notes. Recently this evolved into taking notes on computer. With the arrival of online working and screen-sharing such notes can be very useful and this unleased new value in note-taking.

For personal notes I found great value with Apple Notes - a tool that has improved dramatically in recent years and works perfectly on Mac, iPhone and iPad. However, like many notetakers I often felt that I was "missing a trick". The reality is that searching and retrieval is not as easy as you want it to be and it's hard to reassemble and repurpose your collected information into new output.

In recent years I have considered using several tools but found none of them compelling enough to put in the time to learn and adopt. There is also the fear of "lock in" and endless subscriptions to pay - as anyone who has used Evernote will know!

Big thank you to Rachel for this one. She did get me thinking and encouraged me to give Obsidian another try - I had looked at it last year but it felt overwhelming compared to Apple Notes - I could never have imagined how great it could be!

The absolute best overview of Obsidian and how to use it is FromSergio - his playlist is required watching. Particular highlights:

• Kindle Highlights - this is a superbly useful feature that normally you can only get with a subscription service - do buy the developer a coffee!

• No Lock-in - your files are simple markdown and you have full control

• Works perfectly on Mac and iPhones using iCloud - no annoying sync subscription to pay for

• It's free for personal use - no payment or annoying subscription

• Lots of high quality training material readily available and a great community of people to help you

Reading

• Empires Rise and Fall this extracts and summarises from John Glubb's paper of nearly 100 years ago, The Fate of Empires - I think you call that foresight! I do identify with his frustrations about how history has been taught considering how important it is to learn from past generations.

• The Sovereign Individual is required reading for everyone - I did dip back into it a few times over the last week or so, making Kindle highlights that magically sync into Obsidian - how great is that! If you read nothing else, read chapter 7.

• From Paris to Karachi – Regime Change is In the Air - Tom Luongo is a most interesting character and he does speak his mind. Read and consider. You might prefer to listen to him discussing with Marty.

• Aleks Svetski: The Remnant, The Parasite & The Masses - inspired by the incredible 1930’s essay by Albert J Nock; Isaiah’s Job. Aleks discusses this in his Wake Up podcast - also recommended.

• In my TBR queue (to be read): Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - I must admit, I am in intrigued by Odolena's review in addition to Aleks' recommendation.

• I also think that I need to restart on (and finish) Foundation by Isaac Asimov - after watching Odolena's review of it!

• ...and I need to add Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - again inspired by Odolena's review and I have seen others recommend it too!

Watching and Listening

• Joe Blogs: Who is BUYING Russian Oil Now? Can Europe really change SUPPLIERS & are SANCTIONS Working? - do stop and think - in who's name are the governments implementing all these extreme measures - go back and re-read section "So what can you do about it?" in issue 9

• Rupert Murdochizing The Internet — The Cyberlaw Podcast — whether you agree with him or not Stewart Baker is just the best podcast provocateur!

• AntiWarhol, Culture Creation, & The Pop Art Syndicate — One of The Higherside Chats - perhaps this might open your mind and make you question some things. The rabbit hole goes deep.

• How Britain's Bankers Made Billions From The End Of Empire. At the demise of British Empire, City of London financial interests created a web of offshore secrecy jurisdictions that captured wealth from across the globe and hid it behind obscure financial structures in a web of offshore islands.

• Secret City - A film about the City of London, the Corporation that runs it.

• How things get Re-Priced when a Currency Fails — An important explainer from Joe Brown of The Heresy Financial Podcast — keep an eye out for signs!

• E76: Elon vs. Twitter — the All-In Podcast. I do not agree with all these boyz say but it is interesting to listen to see how the Silicon Valley types think. David Sacks nails it, and Chamath is not far behind! If you were in any doubt as to how corrupt things are this should put you right!

For those who prefer a structured reading list, check References

That's it!

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

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

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

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

@ 9063ef6b:fd1e9a09

✅ Requirements

• GitHub account
• Own domain (e.g., yourdomain.com)
• Public Nostr key in hex format (not npub!)
• Basic DNS configuration knowledge

---

🛒 1. Register a Domain

Register a domain from a provider like orangewebsite, njal.la, or similar.

---

🌐 2. Configure DNS Records for GitHub Pages

Set the following A records for your domain (via your DNS provider):

| Type | Host | Value | TTL | Priority | |------|--------------|-------------------|-----|----------| | A | @ (or blank) | 185.199.108.153 | 300 | | | A | @ (or blank) | 185.199.109.153 | 300 | | | A | @ (or blank) | 185.199.110.153 | 300 | | | A | @ (or blank) | 185.199.111.153 | 300 | |

Optional:
Add a CNAME record for www → yourusername.github.io

---

📁 3. Create a GitHub Repository

1. Go to https://github.com/new
2. Repository name: e.g., nip5
3. Check "Add a README"
4. Click "Create repository"

---

🏗️ 4. Create Directory & File

a) .well-known/nostr.json

Path: .well-known/nostr.json

Put you nostrhandle (nostrname) and your nostr public key in the file. Example content:

json { "names": { "petermuster": "ldajflasjföldsjflj..." } }

IMPORTANT: Use your hex-encoded Nostr public key, not the npub1... format.

b) _config.yml in Root

Create a file named _config.yml with this content:

yml include: [".well-known"]

This ensures GitHub includes the .well-known folder in the build output.

---

⚙️ 5. Configure GitHub Pages

1. Go to Settings > Pages inside your repository
2. Under "Build and Deployment":
3. Choose: Deploy from branch
4. Branch: main or master
5. Under Custom domain:
6. Enter yourdomain.com
7. Ignore any warning
8. Enable ✅ Enforce HTTPS

It may take a few minutes for the certificate to be issued.

---

🔍 6. Configure Nostr Client

Open your Nostr client and set the NIP-05 identifier as:

nostrName@yourdomain.com e.g. petermuster@yourdomain.tech

Save – done!

---

✅ Test

In your browser or via curl:

bash curl https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/nostr.json?name=petermuster

Expected output:

json { "names": { "Nostr Benutzer": "elkajdlkajslfkjaödlkfjs..." } }

---

🛡️ Privacy Tips

| Item | Recommendation | |-----------------------------------|----------------------------------| | Public key is visible | Use pseudonyms only | | Register a KYC-free domain | e.g., orangewebsite, njal.la | | Use KYC-free email for GitHub | e.g., ProtonMail | | GitHub repository visibility | Must be public for GitHub Pages | | Commit metadata | Use a separate pseudonymous user | | Avoid tracking | Don’t include analytics scripts |

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Buildbot - Python-based toolkit for continuous integration. (Source Code) GPL-2.0 Python
• CDS - Enterprise-Grade Continuous Delivery & DevOps Automation Open Source Platform. (Source Code) BSD-3-Clause Go
• Concourse - Concourse is a CI tool that treats pipelines as first class objects and containerizes every step along the way. (Demo, Source Code) Apache-2.0 Go
• drone - Drone is a Continuous Delivery platform built on Docker, written in Go. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Go
• Factor - Programmatically define and run workflows to connect configuration management, source code management, build, continuous integration, continuous deployment and communication tools. (Source Code) MIT Ruby
• GitLab CI - Gitlab's built-in, full-featured CI/CD solution. (Source Code) MIT Ruby
• GoCD - Continuous delivery server. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Java/Ruby
• Jenkins - Continuous Integration Server. (Source Code) MIT Java
• Laminar - Fast, lightweight, simple and flexible Continuous Integration. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 C++
• PHP Censor - Open source self-hosted continuous integration server for PHP projects. BSD-2-Clause PHP
• Strider - Open Source Continuous Deployment / Continuous Integration platform. (Source Code) MIT Nodejs
• Terrateam - GitOps-first automation platform for Terraform and OpenTofu workflows with support for self-hosted runners. (Source Code) MPL-2.0 OCaml/Docker
• werf - Open Source CI/CD tool for building Docker images and deploying to Kubernetes via GitOps. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Go
• Woodpecker - Community fork of Drone that uses Docker containers. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Go

@ cefb08d1:f419beff

Cat angels are the reason there are no mice angels.

Mel Brooks

https://stacker.news/items/985375

@ ffbcb706:b0574044

Just a client name test

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

LegoGPT generates a LEGO structure from a user-provided text prompt in an end-to-end manner. Notably, our generated LEGO structure is physically stable and buildable.

Lego is something most of us knows. This is a opportuity to ask where is our creativity going? From the art of crafting figures to building blocks following our need and desires to have a machine thinking and building following step-by-step instructions to achieve an isolated goal.

Is the creative act then in the question itself, not anymore in the crafting? Are we just delegating the solution of problems, the thinking of how to respond to questions, to machines? Would it be different if delegated to other people?

Source: https://avalovelace1.github.io/LegoGPT/

https://stacker.news/items/981336

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Collins - At Tumblr, it's the infrastructure source of truth and knowledge. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Docker/Scala
• i-doit - IT Documentation and CMDB. AGPL-3.0 PHP
• iTop - Complete ITIL web based service management tool. (Source Code) AGPL-3.0 PHP
• netbox - IP address management (IPAM) and data center infrastructure management (DCIM) tool. (Demo, Source Code) Apache-2.0 Python

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install Squircle (it's free and open source)
2. Launch the app, tap the ⁞ icon and select Settings
   • Configure your Git credentials as needed
   • Add any remote servers under Cloud & Servers
3. Return to the editor view and enjoy your mobile IDE

ℹ️ To clone a Git repository, tap ☰, long-press a directory in the file tree, and choose Clone

ℹ️ You may want to use it alongside Termux, a terminal emulator and Linux environment

@ fa984bd7:58018f52

This post has been deleted.

@ fd06f542:8d6d54cd

由nip96模式改成了blossom

blossom的网址 变成了sha256 的id值，理论上 更换服务器或者重传以后 替换图片地址方便。

不过这部分我并没有做兼容接口。如果做成兼容的，应该用 相对地址，然后 后台用proxyimg.xxx.com去做选择。

访问方便些

新的服务器是：https://nosto.re/ 希望他能稳定的被访问不会嘎。

代码其实更简单了，https://github.com/nostrbook/nostrbook/blob/main/src/lib/blossomUpload.ts nosto.re 没有checkupload功能。所以我这里代码也没有加这部分，如果换别的服务器可能需要加检查功能。是不是为了防止图片重复上传？

最后 加一张好看的图片吧。证明此功能好用： {.user-img}

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Just another Ecash nutsnote design is a ew template for brrr.gandlaf.com cashu tocken printing machine and honoring Ecash ideator David Lee Chaum. Despite the turn the initial project took, we would not have Ecash today without his pioneering approach in cryptography and privacy-preserving technologies.

A simple KISS (Keep It Super Simple) Ecash nutsnote delivered as SVG, nothing fancy, designed in PenPot, an open source design tool, for slides, presentations, mockups and interactive prototypes.

Here Just another Nutsnote's current state, together with some snapshots along the process. Your feedback is more than welcome.

https://design.penpot.app/#/view?file-id=749aaa04-8836-81c6-8006-0b29916ec156&page-id=749aaa04-8836-81c6-8006-0b29916ec157&section=interactions&index=0&share-id=addba4d5-28a4-8022-8006-2ecc4316ebb2

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/979728

@ 6d5c826a:4b27b659

• Ansible - Provisioning, configuration management, and application-deployment tool. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 Python
• CFEngine - Configuration management system for automated configuration and maintenance of large-scale computer systems. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 C
• Chef - Configuration management tool using a pure-Ruby, domain-specific language (DSL) for writing system configuration "recipes". (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Ruby
• cloud-init - Initialization tool to automate the configuration of VMs, cloud instances, or machines on a network. (Source Code) GPL-3.0/Apache-2.0 Python
• Puppet - Software configuration management tool which includes its own declarative language to describe system configuration. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Ruby/C
• Rudder - Scalable and dynamic configuration management system for patching, security & compliance, based on CFEngine. (Source Code) GPL-3.0 Scala
• Salt - Event-driven IT automation, remote task execution, and configuration management software. (Source Code) Apache-2.0 Python

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Has the architect Greg Chasen considered it when rebuilding the house just one year before the catastrophe? Apparently not! Another of his projects was featured on the Value of Architecture as properties with design integrity.

This is a super interesting subject. The historic character, livability, and modern disaster-resistance is a triangle where you often have to pick just one or two, which leads to some tough decisions that have major impacts on families and communities. Like one of the things he mentions is that the architect completely eliminated plants from the property. That's great for fire resistance, but not so great for other things if the entire town decides to go the same route (which he does bring up later in the video). I don't think there's any objectively right answer, but definitely lots of good (and important) discussion points to be had.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbl_1qfsFXk

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/979653

@ cefb08d1:f419beff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOmr2s-JPXo

The GWM Catch Up Day 3: Men's Quarterfinalists Locked, The Box delivers for pro surfing’s faithful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owe-rjECP3M

The Box dishes West Oz power, Main Break decides last Quarters draws I Stone & Wood Post Show Day 3:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN3oi4kOGAA

Men 16 Round Results:

Source: https://www.worldsurfleague.com/events/2025/ct/326/western-australia-margaret-river-pro/results?roundId=24776

https://stacker.news/items/985339

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install LibreTorrent (it's free and open source)
2. Search for torrents on various sources (see links below)
3. Copy the torrent's 🧲️ Magnet Link
4. Open LibreTorrent, tap the + icon, and select Add Link
5. Paste the magnet link and tap Add
6. The app will display the torrent's details and files; tap the ✓ icon to start the download

Some Sources

• FMHY
• The Pirate Bay
• Torrends
• 1337x

ℹ️ Magnet links start with magnet:?

ℹ️ Tapping a magnet link usually opens LibreTorrent automatically

⚠️ Using a VPN is strongly recommended

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

We asked members of the design community to choose an artifact that embodies craft—something that speaks to their understanding of what it means to make with intention. Here’s what they shared.

A vintage puzzle box, a perfectly tuned guitar, an AI-powered poetry camera. A daiquiri mixed with precision. A spreadsheet that still haunts muscle memory. Each artifact tells a story: not just about the thing itself, but about the choices of the creator behind it. What to refine, what to leave raw. When to push forward, when to let go. Whether built to last for generations or designed to delight in a fleeting moment, the common thread is that great craft doesn’t happen by accident. It’s made.

On the application of craft

Even the most experienced makers can benefit from building structure and intention into their practice. From sharpening your storytelling to designing quality products, these pieces offer practical ways to uplevel your craft.

Read more at https://www.figma.com/blog/craft-artifacts/

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/979644

@ 1bc70a01:24f6a411

{"url":"https://github.com/damus-io/damus","createdAt":1747812849570}

@ 1c19eb1a:e22fb0bc

If you haven't noticed already, #Nostr is a little different from what most people are used to. One of the ways this is felt most acutely is with media hosting. Users are accustomed to uploading their images and videos directly through the app they are posting from. Many Nostr apps provide that same experience nowadays, but it wasn't always the case.

Just a couple years ago, users had to find somewhere to host their media separately, and then copy and paste the URL into their note whenever they wanted to share their cat pictures. One of the first, if not the first, media hosting services specifically intended for Nostr was nostr:npub1nxy4qpqnld6kmpphjykvx2lqwvxmuxluddwjamm4nc29ds3elyzsm5avr7, which will be the service we are reviewing today.

Like our previous review of Amber, Nostr.Build is a service for users to pair with other Nostr apps. You won't generally use nostr:npub1nxy4qpqnld6kmpphjykvx2lqwvxmuxluddwjamm4nc29ds3elyzsm5avr7 by itself. Rather, you'll use it to host that incredible shot you want to post to #Olas, or to host screenshots for your long-form tutorial about setting up Nostr Wallet Connect that you'll be posting from #Habla.news, or for hosting a hilarious video of your cat falling asleep to nostr:npub1cj8znuztfqkvq89pl8hceph0svvvqk0qay6nydgk9uyq7fhpfsgsqwrz4u's voice and taking a tumble off of his favorite perch that you want to share on #Damus. However, there are some features within Nostr.Build that you may want to check out quite apart from using it with any other Nostr app.

Overall Impression

Score: 4.8 / 5

I have been impressed by Nostr.Build for some time now, but they have pulled out all the stops in their latest update, increasing their maximum file size for free accounts to 100MB, integrating the #Blossom protocol, adding the ability to share directly to Nostr from within your dashboard, and more integrations with other Nostr apps than ever before. Nostr.Build is simply a pleasure to use, whether through their web interface, or through another Nostr app that integrates with them.

With the ability to easily organize your media, view statistics, browse the media gallery of free uploads, metadata removal for increased privacy, and AI image generation, Nostr.Build is not simply a media hosting service, it is a full-fledged media management platform. Its robust features keep it well ahead of other Nostr-focused media hosting options available, and a particularly strong option for those using Blossom and wanting redundancy and reliable uptime for their media.

As much as I enjoy using the web interface, though, where Nostr.Build really shines is their integrations with other Nostr apps. These integrations allow users to have the same experience they are accustomed to from centralized social platforms of uploading their media from within the same app they are using to share it. No copy/pasting a URL from one app to another. In fact, many users may not realize they have been using Nostr.Build in their client of choice, simply because it is the default option for media hosting for many Nostr apps.

This has the added benefit to client developers that they can provide this experience to their users without having to run media hosting infrastructure on top of trying to build their app. The separation of relays, clients, and media hosting between different entities, while keeping a similar experience to centralized platforms where a single company controls all three, is critical to Nostr adoption.

Features

Nostr.Build has a plethora of features beyond simply hosting your media. Let's take a look!

AI Image Generation

Do you need a quick title image for a long-form article? How about inspiration for a logo or art piece? Nostr.Build's AI Studio has you covered.

They have provided a few different models based on the plan you purchase, beginning with the Professional plan, which includes SDXL-Lightning and Stable Diffusion 1. Upgrading to the Creator plan will give you access to all Pro Stable Diffusion models and unlimited use of the Flux.1 model, which is the same core model used for Grok2 images.

I personally have a Professional account, so I haven't had a chance to try out Flux.1, but I have used Stable Diffusion extensively for creating character art for #NostrHeroes characters, such as these:

Nothing too spectacular when compared with some of the newer models out there, and there is no image-to-image support (yet), but more than adequate for casual image generation needs. Moreover, it is far more than what one would expect from a simple media-hosting service.

Admittedly, I am also no expert at coaxing AI models to produce anything remarkable so your results may vary. Either way, image generation is a welcome tool to have available without needing to go to an outside service unless you require something very specific.

Upload Limits

The maximum file size limits on Nostr.Build have been getting progressively larger, even for their free service. As I recall, it was a mere 21MB limit per file just a few months ago, which is fine for image files, but is quickly exceeded with videos. Then they increased their limits to 50MB per file, and as of recent updates it has been increased once more to a whopping 100MB per file... for free! This is more than adequate for most uses.

However, free users' images, GIFs, and videos are automatically viewable via Nostr.Build's free media gallery. This is something to particularly bear in mind when uploading images you intend to share via direct message. Though your DMs are encrypted, the images uploaded to Nostr.Build are not, and if you don't have a paid account, they will be viewable to the all paid users in the free media gallery. If you want to upload images that will not be viewable unless you actively share them, you must have a paid account.

Paid accounts have no file size limit, but they do have a total storage limit. I could not find anything about total storage limits for free accounts, but Professional tier will give you 25GB, Creator 50GB, and Advanced 250GB. Uploads to paid accounts are not visible in the free media gallery, so only those you give the link to will be able to access your content.

Media Types

Many file types are supported by Nostr.Built, even for free users, including:

• Image: .jpg, .png, .gif
• Video: .mov, mp4
• Audio: mp3, .wav

Upgrading to the Professional plan will add .pdf and .svg to the list of permitted file types, and upgrading to Creator or above will add .zip files, as well.

I believe other common file types are also supported, but these are the only ones specifically mentioned on the site.

Free Media Gallery

The free media gallery is an interesting little feature that Nostr.Build has available to paid accounts. Free users can get a preview, such as the one below, but only paid users can browse through the millions of uploads made by free users.

Apart from being amusing to browse through the things people have been uploading, I am unsure of how useful this particular feature is. No indication is given as to who uploaded the media, and it is limited compared to media feeds in other Nostr apps in two important ways. First, it only shows media uploaded to Nostr.Build, while other media-focused Nostr apps, such as Slidestr, Lumina, or even Primal will show media posted by all Nostr users. Second, Nostr.Build's gallery doesn't show all uploads to Nostr.Build, but only uploads from those without a paid account, further limiting the scope of whose uploads are seen.

Paid users have the advantage of being able to upload media that is not viewable to anyone unless they intentionally share the link somewhere. Free users, on the other hand, must be aware that their uploads are viewable by any paid users, whether they shared the link anywhere or not.

One incident I had while testing out another app required me to reach out to Nostr.Build support to request deletion of an image. It had some of my personal information in it, and had been uploaded to Nostr.Build and sent to me via DM. The sender assumed that since it was being sent via DM, no one else would be able to see the image, but because he was not a paid user of Nostr.Build, the image was included in the Free Media Gallery for any paid user to see. Not ideal, but the folks at Nostr.Build were quick to get it deleted for me.

In short, I have mixed feelings about this particular feature.

Blossom

Blossom is a media storage and retrieval protocol built for Nostr, but usable with any application that needs to access media via the web, and Nostr.Build has recently added support for Blossom uploads via their Blossom server: blossom.band

I will likely be adding a Nostrversity article going over Blossom in detail in the near future, but here's the basics of what it makes possible:

First, easy integration for media uploading from your favorite Nostr apps. Amethyst, Coracle, Primal and others have added Blossom upload support, so you just have to hop into your settings and add Nostr.Build's Blossom server address to start using it as your media host. No need to go to a separate app to upload your media and copy/paste the URL into your Nostr note!

Second, your media in Blossom is content addressable. This means it is named based on a hash of its actual data. Because of this, you can verify that the media has not been altered or replaced by your media host. If the hash doesn't match the data, it won't be loaded by the Nostr client, so you never have to worry about the image in your note being replaced by a different image by your media host.

Finally, because your media is addressable by its content, you can save the same media to multiple hosts, and if one of them goes down, Nostr apps can fetch your media from other hosts, just like they can do with your notes by fetching them from different relays if one relay you write to is down. This makes your images and videos much harder to censor, since you would need to be banned by multiple Blossom servers for your media to no longer be accessible.

If you would like to upload media to more than one Blossom server at the same time, your options are currently to use Primal and ensure that your settings have "Enable media mirrors" toggled on, or to use Bouquet. Hopefully we will see this option added to more Nostr apps in the near future.

Metadata Stripping

For files uploaded via Nostr.Build's dashboard, location metadata is removed upon upload. This is to protect user privacy, since this data could be used to reveal your home address if it is left attached to images posted publicly on Nostr.

When uploading via Blossom, media containing location metadata will be rejected. The user will be required to remove the metadata before they can upload the media.

No KYC and No Ads Policy

The only form of identification needed to use Nostr.Build is your Nostr identity. Every upload is tied to your npub, but no name, date of birth, email, or other identifying information is required. This is made possible because Nostr.Build only accepts Bitcoin as payment for their accounts, and no KYC is required to make Bitcoin transactions via Lightning.

Additionally, Nostr.Build is philosophically opposed to targeted advertising, so they have a policy that they will never use ads on their hosting service.

Client Integrations

Even before Blossom, Nostr.Build had many Nostr clients that used it as the default media hosting service, allowing users to upload directly within the app. This has only expanded now that Nostr.Build has added Blossom.

A very non-exhaustive list of clients that integrate with Nostr.Build is listed on their site, and includes Damus, Amethyst, Nostrudel, Snort, Iris, Coracle, Flycat, and Yakihonne. Additional apps that support Nostr.Build via Blossom include Primal and Flotilla. Some of these integrations support both Blossom and NIP-96 options for uploading media, such as Amethyst, while others only support one or the other.

I would not be surprised to see more and more Nostr apps move to integrating Blossom and phasing out NIP-96 support. Either way, though, Nostr.Build currently supports both, and is therefore an excellent hosting option if you want to use it with a wide range of Nostr apps.

Media Statistics

For those with a paid account, Nostr.Build provides information about how often each of your uploads has been requested and viewed within a given time period.

This can be valuable information for content creators, so they can determine what content is resonating with their audience, and what times of day their posts get the most views.

This information can currently be viewed for a maximum period of three months prior to the current date, and as short a period as just the past hour.

Can My Grandma Use It?

Score: 4.7 / 5

Nostr.Build is incredibly easy to use if you have a paid account, or if you are a free user uploading to Nostr.Build through a client that integrates with them by default. Previous frictions encountered by free users trying to upload large files should now be few and far between, thanks to the generous 100MB size limit.

Where things may be a bit more involved is when users are trying to set up media hosting on Nostr apps that don't use Nostr.Build by default. Exactly where in the settings the user must go to set this up, and whether to use the Blossom or NIP-96 address may not be immediately apparent, and requires an understanding of the difference that the user may not possess. This is not the fault of Nostr.Built, though, and I have not taken it into consideration in the scoring. Each individual Nostr app's settings should be as easy to understand as possible.

Another point of friction may come from free users who want to upload directly through the Nostr.Build site, instead of via another Nostr app. This used to be possible without logging in, but in an effort to ensure the service was used for Nostr, and not for general media hosting, Nostr.Build added the requirement to log in.

Thankfully, there are plenty of login options, including npub and password, browser extension (NIP-07), and even via a one-time-code sent to you via Nostr DM. However, if you don't have a paid account already, logging in will prompt you to upgrade. It seems that uploading directly via the website has been removed for free users entirely. You can only upload via another Nostr app if you don't have a paid account. This may lead to confusion for users who don't want to pay for an account, since it isn't made apparent anywhere that uploading through the website isn't an option for them.

Additionally, I would like to see the addresses for the Blossom server and for NIP-96 uploads (unless they are being phased out) added to the main page somewhere. Even selecting the "Blossom" page from the site navigation doesn't make clear what needs to be done to utilize the service. Something as simple as, "To use Nostr.Build with your favorite Blossom compatible Nostr apps, just add https://blossom.band as your media host in the app settings," would be enough to point users in the right direction.

For those who do have paid accounts, the dashboard is easy to navigate and organize your media.

By default, all uploads are added to the Main Folder. Users can leave them there, or they can easily create new folders and drag and drop media to organize it.

Every image has a copy/paste clipboard icon for ready access to copy the media URL for inclusion into a Nostr note.

Additionally, Nostr.Build allows users to share their uploaded media to Nostr directly from the dashboard. Bear in mind, though, this is published to a set of popular relays, without taking into account the user's preferred write relays.

The section just below the user's profile information gives an at-a-glance view of important information, such as how much of the user's allotted storage has been used, how many AI Studio credits are available, how many days are left before their paid account must be renewed, and how many files from three major categories — GIFs, images, and videos — have been uploaded.

Uploading directly to the dashboard is also incredibly easy. You can simply drag and drop files into the upload pane, or browse for them. If you have a URL for the media you want to upload, you can even paste it to import from another website or Blossom server.

Anything I could think of that I might want to do in the interface was intuitive to find, well labeled, or had common and easily identified icons.

How do UI look?

Score: 4.7 / 5

I would describe Nostr.Build's UI as clean and utilitarian, which is what one would expect from a media hosting service. Nothing too flashy. Just what you need and nothing you don't.

We certainly like our purple color-schemes on Nostr, and Nostr.Build leans into that with white text on shades of purple backgrounds, along with occasional color-popping accents. If a Nostr client had made the same color choices, I might be a bit more critical, but it works in an app that users won't be spending a ton of time in, except while managing their media, or using the AI Studio to generate some images.

UI elements such as buttons, active folder indicators, and icons all maintain an attractive, and simple design, with rounded corners wherever appropriate. Nothing looks too busy or overbearing, and the spacing between image previews in the folder view is just right.

Font remains consistent throughout the interface, with no jarring changes, and bold text, in white or another contrasting color, is used appropriately to draw attention, while subdued text is rendered in a light purple to blend more with the background, while remaining readable.

As such, the UI is attractive, without being particularly breathtaking. Nothing to complain about, but also nothing to write home about.

Log In Options

Score: 4.8 / 5

As mentioned previously, Nostr.Build provides three ways a user can log in.

The first should be very familiar for any Nostr user who frequents web clients, and that is by use of a browser extension (NIP-07), such as Alby, Nos2x, or Gooti. Note, this will also work if you are on Android and using KeyChat's browser, which has a NIP-07 signer built in.

Next is the legacy login method for Nostr.Build that they have used since the service first launched, which is via npub and password. This should serve to remind you that even though Nostr.Build supports Nostr login, and can post your images to Nostr for you, it's really just a centralized media hosting service. Just like you wouldn't use only one Nostr relay, you should not use just one media host. Mirror your media to other Blossom servers.

Most intriguing, and one I had not seen used before, is the option to use your npub and have a one-time-code sent to you via Nostr DM. I tested this method out and it worked flawlessly. It is unfortunately using the old NIP-04 DM spec, though, so any clients that have deprecated these DMs will not work for receiving the code. We're in a strange place with Nostr DMs currently, with some clients deprecating NIP-04 DMs in favor of NIP-17, others that still only support NIP-04, and a few that support both. If you don't see the DM in your client of choice, hop over to Primal and check your DMs there in the "other" tab.

Since Nostr.Build is supporting Nostr login, I would like to see them add remote signer (NIP-46) login alongside browser extension login to round out the options expected from a Nostr web app.

Feature Set

Score: 4.8 / 5

The features provided by Nostr.Build all work as expected and provide a lot of value to the user. With only one exception, all of the features make sense for a media hosting and management service to provide, and they are adding more features all the time.

Users not only get a reliable hosting service, with excellent uptime for their media, but they get integrations with most Nostr clients I can think of, Blossom protocol support, media organization and statistics, posting media to Nostr from within the dashboard, metadata stripping for enhanced privacy, a wide range of supported file types, and an AI image generation studio! What's more, there are additional features already on the roadmap, including traditional and AI image editing, additional plan options, expandable storage, and video transcoding for optimized playback. Nostr.Build is just getting started and they already offer more than most media hosting services out there, intended for Nostr or otherwise.

The one feature I am still not sold on is the "Free Media Gallery." The name is misleading. The gallery itself is not free. You must have a paid account to access more than a preview of it. Rather, it displays media uploaded by free users, regardless of whether they uploaded that media to send via DM, or uploaded it but decided not to share it out, or uploaded it to post it only within a private group on Flotilla, or uploaded it and only sent the note with the image link to a private relay.

Moreover, if I want to see media that has been shared on Nostr, there are plenty of ways I can do so that I can be confident only include media users intended to be publicly viewable. This feature from Nostr.Build, if it is kept at all, should have some way of ensuring the gallery only includes images that were shared on public relays.

Pricing

Score: 5 / 5

The pricing structure for Nostr.Build is exceptionally reasonable when compared with other services.

The Professional plan, which is their lowest paid tier, is just 69,000 sats a year. At current price, that translates to around $70 for the year, and Nostr.Build has been known to lower their pricing as Bitcoin goes up. Users can also get a 10% or 20% discount if they buy 2 or 3 years at a time, compensating for the fact that Bitcoin tends to go up year over year.

For that cost, users get 25GB of storage, unlimited file size for uploads within that storage cap, and access to all of Nostr.Build's features mentioned in this review, with the exception of their highest end AI models and storage of certain file types.

If I were to set up my own VPS to host a Blossom server with comparable storage, I would be paying around $14 a month before the cost of the domain, and it would be anything but plug and play. Even then, all I would have is storage. I would be missing out on all of the other features Nostr.Build has out of the box for less than half the price.

The Creator plan is close to double the cost at 120,000 sats, or about $120, a year. However, you aren't just getting double the storage space at 50GB; you are also getting double the AI credits, access to the higher tier AI models, S3 backup for all of your media, and your own Creator page you can share out with your media available for others to browse in one location.

The Advanced plan doesn't add a lot of extra features for more than double the price of the Creator plan, but it MASSIVELY increases your storage limit by 5x to a total of 250GB. Comparable storage space on a VPS to run your own Blossom server would be about $100 a month and Nostr.Build is offering it for about $250 (250,000 sats) for a whole year! If you really need to host that much media, it's hard to beat this price. The plan also comes with a Nostr.Build NIP-05 address, if you need one.

Now, the argument can be made, "But it's priced in sats, and that means in four years I will have spent many times that dollar amount on their service, possibly making it more expensive than other services priced in fiat." While that is true, it also doesn't take opportunity cost into account. Every dollar you spend on something other than Bitcoin is a missed opportunity to have bought Bitcoin with it. There's not really any difference between spending $70 in fiat to buy a hosting plan vs spending 69,000 sats, because you could have used that same $70 to buy Bitcoin instead, so you are losing out on that increase in purchasing power either way.

Not to mention, you can just buy the sats with your fiat and send it to Nostr.Build, so you would effectively be buying your plan with fiat, and they would be receiving sats.

I think Satellite.earth is still technically less expensive at just $0.05 per GB per month, which comes to $15 a year for the same 25GB of Nostr.Build's professional plan. However, all you get is media hosting. You miss out on all of the other features provided by Nostr.Build. And if you are uploading files of 100MB or less... Well, free with Nostr.Build is still cheaper than $0.5 per GB.

Wrap Up

All of the above comes together to make Nostr.Build a versatile and full-featured media hosting and management service at an affordable price point for their paid accounts, but with no need to pay at all if you just want a place to upload photos, GIFs, memes, and even some videos, so long as the file size stays under 100MB. Whether you want to use Nostr.Build as your primary media host, or as just one redundancy in your Blossom set up, they have you covered and I encourage you to check them out!

For the next review, I would like to go with another client, this time for the web, and the two options I am debating between are Coracle.social and Jumble.social. Let me know in the comments which you would like to see!

@ f1989a96:bcaaf2c1

Good morning, readers!

This week, we bring reports from Bangladesh, where the interim government instructed the central bank to halt the printing of old banknotes featuring Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh. This has induced a currency shortage, as new notes have yet to be issued to replace the discontinued ones. As a result, Bangladeshis find themselves holding worthless currency, facing increased costs, and feeling frustrated over such poor currency management. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, citizens are fleeing to gold as the local rupiah currency crashes to record lows amid increasing financial controls from the government.

In open-source news, LNbits, a Bitcoin and Lightning wallet management software, emerged from beta with its v1.0.0 release. LNbits works like a control panel on top of a Bitcoin wallet, letting users divide funds into separate accounts and use different features and functionalities. It is a handy tool for educators, civil society organizations, and communities who want to use Bitcoin for real-world transactions without needing advanced technical skills. We also spotlight a new tool called following .space that allows users to curate and share premade follow packs for nostr. The result is a more straightforward onboarding process for new users interested in censorship-resistant social media and the ability to curate feeds to better suit their interests.

We end with an interview with HRF Chief Strategy Officer Alex Gladstein, who explores his thinking behind the relationship between Bitcoin and human rights as we enter an age of increased corporate and nation-state adoption. He highlights the paradox where Bitcoin, a tool for individual financial freedom, is being adopted by institutions around the world, many of which regularly seek greater control over financial activity. We also include a new report from Bitcoin developer and past HRF grantee, b10c, who documents the current state of Bitcoin mining centralization and the threat it poses to decentralization and censorship resistance.

Now, let’s jump right in!

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GLOBAL NEWS

Bangladesh | Currency Shortage as Central Bank Halts Printing of Banknotes

A state-induced cash crunch is paralyzing Bangladesh after the interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, ordered the central bank to discontinue old banknotes featuring Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh. New cash is expected to be printed in phases beginning in May. But Bangladeshis report they are currently stuck with old and unusable currency, as the national mint has yet to issue replacement currency and lacks the capacity to print more than three notes at a time. Meanwhile, public ATMs continue to dispense old and worn-out banknotes, with merchants reluctantly accepting them and banks refusing to exchange them. Through all this, the central bank of Bangladesh sits on nearly 15,000 crore taka ($1.28 billion) worth of old notes in vaults, but the interim government has refused to release them, deepening public frustration.

Nigeria | Regulates Bitcoin as a Security

Nigerian lawmakers are moving to regulate digital assets as securities by passing the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025. Rather than embrace it as a tool for financial freedom, the law places Bitcoin under the purview of the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Companies must now register with the Nigerian SEC, implement more strict data-collection processes (to harvest personal information), and navigate a legal framework not designed for a borderless and permissionless technology like Bitcoin. The law further grants the SEC access to data from telecom and Internet providers to investigate “illegal market activity” — a provision that could easily be abused to surveil or intimidate Bitcoin users and developers. Nigeria routinely uses regulations to stifle the presence of open-source money, raising compliance hurdles, imposing taxes, and punishing digital asset companies. It’s not unreasonable to suspect this new classification could provide the state with a means to suppress the free adoption and innovation of Bitcoin.

Indonesia | Gold Rush Amid Economic Uncertainty

As the rupiah currency falls to record lows, Indonesians are flocking to gold in a rush to protect their savings. But gold isn’t the only safe haven. With 74% of Indonesia’s population unbanked or underbanked, digital tools like Bitcoin offer a more accessible alternative, especially when nearly 70% of Indonesians have Internet access. The Indonesian government is also tightening capital controls. A new policy forces exporters to keep all foreign currency earnings inside the country for a full year to trap dollars in the financial system. HRF grantee Bitcoin Indonesia is responding by helping people in the region (especially in nearby states like Burma) build financial resilience through meetups, workshops, and training focused on Bitcoin custody, privacy, and adoption. In an area where financial services remain out of reach for millions, learning how to save and transact permissionlessly is paramount.

Kenya | Introduces Legal Framework for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs)

Kenya’s government introduced a comprehensive legal framework to regulate Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) through its newly proposed 2025 VASP Bill. The legislation outlines strict licensing requirements for digital asset exchanges, wallet providers, brokers, and other digital asset firms. It functionally bars individuals from operating independently (think: open-source freedom tech builders) by mandating local incorporation, compliance with cybersecurity standards, and approval from financial regulators. This appears to be an attempt to formalize and better control the rapidly growing digital asset space. It could stifle grassroots innovation and limit access to financial tools that have become vital for activists and citizens seeking privacy and autonomy as economic policies and high inflation drive unrest.

El Salvador | Attorney General’s Office Preparing Arrest Warrants for Independent Journalists

El Faro, one of El Salvador’s most prominent investigative news outlets, shared reliable information that the Salvadoran Attorney General’s Office is preparing arrest warrants against three of its journalists. The warning came from El Faro director Carlos Dada, who suggests that the charges may include “apology for crimes” and “illicit association.” The alleged charges allegedly stem from El Faro’s latest reporting: a three-part video interview with former leaders of the 18th Street Revolucionarios gang that sheds light on Bukele’s “years-long relationship” with Salvadoran gangs. El Faro editor-in-chief Óscar Martínez said that any arrests or home raids following this news would be “for having done journalism.” With El Salvador’s shrinking civic space, this potential action against independent media would further restrict Salvadorans’ ability to access independent information and hold officials accountable.

BITCOIN AND FREEDOM TECH NEWS

LNbits | Emerges from Beta with v1.0.0 Release

LNbits, an open-source software tool that lets people create and manage Bitcoin Lightning wallets securely for themselves and for others, officially launched version 1.0.0, marking its transition out of beta and into a more stable release for public use. It works like a control panel sitting on top of a Bitcoin wallet, letting users divide funds into separate accounts and use different features and functionalities. LNbits is especially useful for educators, small businesses, and community organizers who want to use and manage Bitcoin for payments and savings. HRF is pleased to see this Bitcoin Development Fund (BDF) grantee strengthen the tools available to activists to achieve financial freedom in the face of censorship, surveillance, or inflation.

SeedSigner | Self-Custody Tool for Chinese Bitcoiners Facing Local Corruption

Chinese Bitcoin users are turning to SeedSigner, an open-source and fully customizable Bitcoin hardware wallet, as a more private way to protect their savings from law enforcement corruption. While many assume the primary threat to Bitcoin in China comes from top-down management and enforcement from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), new reports suggest greater concern over the police, who regularly monitor mail, detect hardware wallet purchases, and fabricate charges to extort Chinese users’ Bitcoin. SeedSigner solves this by allowing users to assemble a secure signing device from generic, inexpensive parts, avoiding the risk of shipping a branded wallet that might flag them as a target. When privacy violations begin at the local level, SeedSigner can help citizens safeguard their financial freedom by making secure self-custody discreet, accessible, and affordable.

Following .space | Create and Share Follow Packs on Nostr

Following.space is a new tool for nostr that solves one of the protocol’s biggest pain points: finding people worth following in the absence of an algorithm. Created by developer and HRF grantee Calle, the tool lets anyone build and share curated “follow packs” — pre-made lists of nostr users that can be easily distributed across the web. The lists are customizable and can be made based on shared interests, communities, organizations, regions, and more. This makes onboarding new users easier and allows users to curate their feeds to suit their interests. The result is a simple but powerful tool that helps nostr scale more organically by encouraging natural discovery. Enabling free expression and connections without reliance on centralized platforms strengthens human rights and financial freedom in repressive environments. Try it here.

256 Foundation | Releases Ember One Source Code

The 256 Foundation, an open-source Bitcoin mining initiative, released the source code of its new Ember One Bitcoin mining hashboard to the public. A Bitcoin hashboard is a device with multiple chips for performing Bitcoin mining computations. The open-source Ember One only consumes 100 Watts of total power and is modular by design, allowing user customization and the ability to mine discreetly even under autocratic regimes. This is important because it gives individuals a way to access and earn Bitcoin without drawing the attention of officials. For dissidents, mining at home means gaining more control over how they earn, spend, and store their money, all without relying on centralized systems at the whims of dictators.

Btrust and Africa Free Routing | Announce Partnership to Advance African Bitcoin Development

Btrust, a nonprofit advancing Bitcoin development in Africa, awarded a grant to Africa Free Routing, a program within African Bitcoiners, to support five Bitcoin Lightning-focused developer boot camps across the continent in 2025. These bootcamps aim to onboard non-Bitcoin developers into the Bitcoin ecosystem, offering hands-on training, mentorship, and opportunities to contribute to open-source projects. This work strengthens the foundations of freedom tech in Africa, providing tools that allow people to resist financial repression under tyranny. Learn more about the partnership here.

Presidio Bitcoin | Hosting First Hackathon

Presidio Bitcoin, the Bay Area’s first dedicated freedom tech co-working and events space, just announced its first-ever hackathon, which will take place from May 16-17, 2025. This 24-hour hackathon in San Francisco brings together developers and technologists to build and collaborate at the frontier of Bitcoin, AI, and open-source technology. In addition to the hackathon, Presidio is launching a new program offering free three-month access to its workspace for Bitcoin open-source contributors. This is a valuable opportunity to connect with fellow developers, startup founders, and freedom tech advocates in the area. HRF is proud to sponsor this hackathon and is looking forward to how the outcomes might help create better freedom tools for dissidents worldwide. Learn more about the event here.

RECOMMENDED CONTENT

Bitcoin Nation State Adoption Paradox - Interview with Alex Gladstein

In a recent episode of the Bitcoin Fundamentals podcast, hosted by Preston Pysh, Alex Gladstein, HRF’s chief strategy officer, discusses the complexities of Bitcoin’s new era of adoption. He highlights the paradox where Bitcoin, a tool for individual financial freedom, is being adopted by governments, which some believe to be potentially compromising to its core principles. He emphasizes that while governments may adopt it for strategic or economic reasons, in doing so, they expose their populations to a technology that will ultimately weaken state control over money and advance individual liberty and human rights. Watch the full interview here.

Bitcoin Mining Centralization by b10c

In this report, Bitcoin developer and past HRF grantee b10c documents the growing trend of centralization in Bitcoin mining pools. It shows that over 95% of blocks are now mined by just six Bitcoin mining pools, with Foundry and AntPool controlling roughly 60–70% of the hashrate (the computing power dedicated to the Bitcoin network). This marks a rise in mining pool centralization in recent years. While this hasn’t harmed Bitcoin’s censorship resistance yet, it reduces the number of block template producers. This concentration of template producers poses a potential risk to Bitcoin’s neutrality, which is essential for ensuring access to uncensorable money and protecting human rights in autocratic regimes. HRF has happily supported both Hashpool and Public Pool with recent grants to support smaller, independent pools that help preserve Bitcoin's decentralization. Read the full report here.

If this article was forwarded to you and you enjoyed reading it, please consider subscribing to the Financial Freedom Report here.

Support the newsletter by donating bitcoin to HRF’s Financial Freedom program via BTCPay.\ Want to contribute to the newsletter? Submit tips, stories, news, and ideas by emailing us at ffreport @ hrf.org

The Bitcoin Development Fund (BDF) is accepting grant proposals on an ongoing basis. The Bitcoin Development Fund is looking to support Bitcoin developers, community builders, and educators. Submit proposals here.

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@ b04082ac:29b5c55b

Money has always been more than a medium of exchange. It reflects what societies value, how they organize trust, and what they choose to remember. This article explores the idea that money functions as a form of collective memory, and how Bitcoin may be restoring this role in a new way.

The Asante Example

In the Asante Empire, which flourished in West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries, gold dust served as the primary medium of exchange. To measure it, traders used ornate spoons made of brass. These spoons were often carved with birds, animals, or abstract symbols. They were not currency themselves, but tools used to handle gold dust accurately.

Importantly, these spoons also carried meaning. Symbols and proverbs embedded in the spoons conveyed lessons about honesty, community, and continuity. For example, the Sankofa bird, shown turning its head backward to retrieve an egg from its back, represented the proverb, “It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.” This was a reminder to learn from the past.

The spoons reflect an understanding that money and its instruments are not just practical tools. They are cultural artifacts that store shared values. In the Asante context, even measurement was ritualized and tied to ethics and memory.

Money as a Cultural Medium

This connection between money and cultural meaning is not unique to the Asante Empire. Modern fiat currencies also carry symbols, phrases, and designs that reflect national identity and political values.

The U.S. dollar includes Latin phrases and national symbols meant to convey stability and purpose. The British pound features royal iconography, reinforcing the idea of continuity and sovereignty. When the euro was introduced, it deliberately avoided specific national references. Itsdesign used bridges and windowsto suggest openness and cooperation across the continent.

These design choices show that societies still embed meaning into their money. Even in a digital or fiat context, money is used to transmit a story about who we are, where authority lies, and what we value.

The Fragility of Fiat Memory

While fiat money carries cultural symbols, the narratives behind those symbols can be fragile.

In 2021, the central bank of the Philippines removed democratic leaders from its banknotes,triggering public criticism. In the United States, attempts to replace Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20 billfaced repeated delays. These examples show how political control over money includes control over what stories are told and remembered.

Unlike objects passed down through generations, fiat memory can be edited or erased. In this sense, it is vulnerable. The meaning encoded in fiat systems can shift depending on who holds power.

Bitcoin as a New Form of Memory

Bitcoin is described as digital money. But it also introduces a different model of how societies can record value and preserve meaning.

The Bitcoin network launched in 2009 with a small message embedded in its first block: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” This was a reference to a newspaper headline that day and a clear sign of protest against financial bailouts, centralized monetary policy, and forever wars.

This moment marked the beginning of a system where memory is stored differently. Instead of relying on governments or institutions, Bitcoin stores its history on a public ledger maintained by a decentralized network of participants. Its memory is not symbolic or political; it is structural. Every transaction, every block, is preserved through time-stamped computation and consensus.

No single authority can change it. The rules are clear and publicly auditable. In this way, Bitcoin offers a version of money where memory is both neutral and resilient.

Cultural Expression and Community Values

Even though Bitcoin lacks the traditional symbols found on banknotes, it has developed its own culture. Phrases like “Don’t trust, verify” or “Stay humble, stack sats” are shared widely in the Bitcoin community. These ideas reflect a focus on self-responsibility, verification, and long-term thinking.

These proverbs can be compared to the carved messages on the Asante spoons. While the contexts are very different, the underlying idea is similar: a community using language and symbols to reinforce its shared values.

Bitcoin also has a well established and growing art scene. Bitcoin conferences often feature dedicated sections for art inspired by the protocol and its culture. Statues of Satoshi Nakamoto have been installed in cities like Budapest, Lugano, and Fornelli. These physical works reflect the desire to link Bitcoin’s abstract values to something tangible.

Looking Back to Look Forward

The Asante example helps us see that money has long been tied to memory and meaning. Their spoons were practical tools but also cultural anchors. Bitcoin, while new and digital, may be playing a similar role.

Instead of relying on political symbols or national myths, Bitcoin uses code, transparency, and global consensus to create trust. In doing so, it offers a way to preserve economic memory that does not depend on power or politics.

It’s still early to know what kind of legacy Bitcoin will leave. But if it succeeds, it may not just change how money works. It may also change how civilizations remember.

@ 7e538978:a5987ab6

E-commerce store owners can now integrate Bitcoin payments into their WooCommerce shops using the LNbits WooCommerce plugin. This plugin supports payments using the Bitcoin Lightning Network and on-chain Bitcoin, providing merchants with flexible options to accept Bitcoin.

Integration with Bitcoin Payments

The LNbits WooCommerce plugin enables online merchants to accept Bitcoin payments easily. It uses LNbits to handle Bitcoin Lightning and traditional on-chain transactions, offering customers efficient payment methods.

Recent updates include support for Gutenberg block checkout integration, ensuring compatibility with the latest WooCommerce versions and improving the checkout experience for merchants and customers alike.

How the LNbits Plugin Works

The plugin integrates with LNbits through the Satspay Server extension. Lightning Network transactions are handled by LNbits. Merchants can manage on-chain payments via LNbits' Watch-only wallet extension.

Setup Steps for Merchants

The setup process for the LNbits WooCommerce plugin involves a few simple steps:

1. Run an LNbits instance – either self-host or use the LNbits SaaS service at saas.lnbits.com.
2. Install the Satspay Server extension within your LNbits instance.
3. Add the LNbits plugin to your WordPress site.
4. Configure the plugin via WooCommerce admin panel under WooCommerce > Settings > Payments.

Start Accepting Bitcoin Payments

By accepting Bitcoin payments, merchants offer customers a secure and efficient alternative payment method. Integrating the LNbits WooCommerce plugin is straightforward and aligns with the increasing adoption of cryptocurrency in online retail.

For further details, visit the official plugin page:

WordPress Plugin Directory – LNbits Bitcoin Onchain and Lightning Payment Gateway

@ cefb08d1:f419beff

https://stacker.news/items/985298

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Shanghai: Bus Stops Here

A new crowd-sourced transit platform allows riders to propose, vote on, and activate new bus lines in as little as three days.

From early-morning school drop-offs to seniors booking rides to the hospital, from suburban commuters seeking a faster link to the metro to families visiting ancestral graves, Shanghai is rolling out a new kind of public bus — one that’s designed by commuters, and launched only when enough riders request it.

Branded “DZ” for dingzhi, or “customized,” the system invites residents to submit proposed routes through a city-run platform. Others with similar travel needs can opt in or vote, and if demand meets the threshold — typically 15 to 20 passengers per trip — the route goes live.

More than 220 DZ routes have already launched across all 16 city districts. Through an online platform opened May 8, users enter start and end points, preferred times, and trip frequency. If approved, routes can begin running in as little as three days.

Continue reading at https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1017072

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/979637