@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

E-cash are coupons or tokens for Bitcoin, or Bitcoin debt notes that the mint issues. The e-cash states, essentially, "IoU 2900 sats". They're redeemable for Bitcoin on Lightning (hard money), and therefore can be used as cash (softer money), so long as the mint has a good reputation. That means that they're less fungible than Lightning because the e-cash from one mint can be more or less valuable than the e-cash from another. If a mint is buggy, offline, or disappears, then the e-cash is unreedemable. It also means that e-cash is more anonymous than Lightning, and that the sender and receiver's wallets don't need to be online, to transact. Nutzaps now add the possibility of parking transactions one level farther out, on a relay. The same relays that cannot keep npub profiles and follow lists consistent will now do monetary transactions. What we then have is * a **transaction on a relay** that triggers * a **transaction on a mint** that triggers * a **transaction on Lightning** that triggers * a **transaction on Bitcoin**. Which means that every relay that stores the nuts is part of a wildcat banking system. Which is fine, but relay operators should consider whether they wish to carry the associated risks and liabilities. They should also be aware that they should implement the appropriate features in their relay, such as expiration tags (nuts rot after 2 weeks), and to make sure that only expired nuts are deleted. There will be plenty of specialized relays for this, so don't feel pressured to join in, and research the topic carefully, for yourself. https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/60.md

@ 0fa80bd3:ea7325de

#intro The Russian state made me a Bitcoiner. In 1991, it devalued my grandmother's hard-earned savings. She worked tirelessly in the kitchen of a dining car on the Moscow–Warsaw route. Everything she had saved for my sister and me to attend university vanished overnight. This story is similar to what many experienced, including Wences Casares. The pain and injustice of that time became my first lessons about the fragility of systems and the value of genuine, incorruptible assets, forever changing my perception of money and my trust in government promises. In 2014, I was living in Moscow, running a trading business, and frequently traveling to China. One day, I learned about the Cypriot banking crisis and the possibility of moving money through some strange thing called Bitcoin. At the time, I didn’t give it much thought. Returning to the idea six months later, as a business-oriented geek, I eagerly began studying the topic and soon dove into it seriously. I spent half a year reading articles on a local online journal, BitNovosti, actively participating in discussions, and eventually joined the editorial team as a translator. That’s how I learned about whitepapers, decentralization, mining, cryptographic keys, and colored coins. About Satoshi Nakamoto, Silk Road, Mt. Gox, and BitcoinTalk. Over time, I befriended the journal’s owner and, leveraging my management experience, later became an editor. I was drawn to the crypto-anarchist stance and commitment to decentralization principles. We wrote about the economic, historical, and social preconditions for Bitcoin’s emergence, and it was during this time that I fully embraced the idea. It got to the point where I sold my apartment and, during the market's downturn, bought 50 bitcoins, just after the peak price of $1,200 per coin. That marked the beginning of my first crypto winter. As an editor, I organized workflows, managed translators, developed a YouTube channel, and attended conferences in Russia and Ukraine. That’s how I learned about Wences Casares and even wrote a piece about him. I also met Mikhail Chobanyan (Ukrainian exchange Kuna), Alexander Ivanov (Waves project), Konstantin Lomashuk (Lido project), and, of course, Vitalik Buterin. It was a time of complete immersion, 24/7, and boundless hope. After moving to the United States, I expected the industry to grow rapidly, attended events, but the introduction of BitLicense froze the industry for eight years. By 2017, it became clear that the industry was shifting toward gambling and creating tokens for the sake of tokens. I dismissed this idea as unsustainable. Then came a new crypto spring with the hype around beautiful NFTs – CryptoPunks and apes. I made another attempt – we worked on a series called Digital Nomad Country Club, aimed at creating a global project. The proceeds from selling images were intended to fund the development of business tools for people worldwide. However, internal disagreements within the team prevented us from completing the project. With Trump’s arrival in 2025, hope was reignited. I decided that it was time to create a project that society desperately needed. As someone passionate about history, I understood that destroying what exists was not the solution, but leaving everything as it was also felt unacceptable. You can’t destroy the system, as the fiery crypto-anarchist voices claimed. With an analytical mindset (IQ 130) and a deep understanding of the freest societies, I realized what was missing—not only in Russia or the United States but globally—a Bitcoin-native system for tracking debts and financial interactions. This could return control of money to ordinary people and create horizontal connections parallel to state systems. My goal was to create, if not a Bitcoin killer app, then at least to lay its foundation. At the inauguration event in New York, I rediscovered the Nostr project. I realized it was not only technologically simple and already quite popular but also perfectly aligned with my vision. For the past month and a half, using insights and experience gained since 2014, I’ve been working full-time on this project.

@ e3ba5e1a:5e433365

My favorite line in any Marvel movie ever is in “Captain America.” After Captain America launches seemingly a hopeless assault on Red Skull’s base and is captured, we get [this line](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kqsomjpz7ok): “Arrogance may not be a uniquely American trait, but I must say, you do it better than anyone.” Yesterday, I came across a comment on the song [Devil Went Down to Georgia](https://youtu.be/ut8UqFlWdDc) that had a very similar feel to it:  America has seemingly always been arrogant, in a uniquely American way. Manifest Destiny, for instance. The rest of the world is aware of this arrogance, and mocks Americans for it. A central point in modern US politics is the deriding of racist, nationalist, supremacist Americans. That’s not what I see. I see American Arrogance as not only a beautiful statement about what it means to be American. I see it as an ode to the greatness of humanity in its purest form. For most countries, saying “our nation is the greatest” *is*, in fact, twinged with some level of racism. I still don’t have a problem with it. Every group of people *should* be allowed to feel pride in their accomplishments. The destruction of the human spirit since the end of World War 2, where greatness has become a sin and weakness a virtue, has crushed the ability of people worldwide to strive for excellence. But I digress. The fears of racism and nationalism at least have a grain of truth when applied to other nations on the planet. But not to America. That’s because the definition of America, and the prototype of an American, has nothing to do with race. The definition of Americanism is *freedom*. The founding of America is based purely on liberty. On the God-given rights of every person to live life the way they see fit. American Arrogance is not a statement of racial superiority. It’s barely a statement of national superiority (though it absolutely is). To me, when an American comments on the greatness of America, it’s a statement about freedom. Freedom will always unlock the greatness inherent in any group of people. Americans are *definitionally* better than everyone else, because Americans are freer than everyone else. (Or, at least, that’s how it should be.) In *Devil Went Down to Georgia*, Johnny is approached by the devil himself. He is challenged to a ridiculously lopsided bet: a golden fiddle versus his immortal soul. He acknowledges the sin in accepting such a proposal. And yet he says, “God, I know you told me not to do this. But I can’t stand the affront to my honor. I am the greatest. The devil has nothing on me. So God, I’m gonna sin, but I’m also gonna win.” *Libertas magnitudo est*

@ daa41bed:88f54153

There has been a good bit of discussion on Nostr over the past few days about the merits of zaps as a method of engaging with notes, so after writing a rather lengthy [article on the pros of a strategic Bitcoin reserve](https://geek.npub.pro/post/dxqkgnjplttkvetprg8ox/), I wanted to take some time to chime in on the much more fun topic of digital engagement. Let's begin by defining a couple of things: **Nostr** is a decentralized, censorship-resistance protocol whose current biggest use case is social media (think Twitter/X). Instead of relying on company servers, it relies on relays that anyone can spin up and own their own content. Its use cases are much bigger, though, and this article is hosted on my own relay, using my own Nostr relay as an example. **Zap** is a tip or donation denominated in sats (small units of Bitcoin) sent from one user to another. This is generally done directly over the Lightning Network but is increasingly using Cashu tokens. For the sake of this discussion, how you transmit/receive zaps will be irrelevant, so don't worry if you don't know what [Lightning](https://lightning.network/) or [Cashu](https://cashu.space/) are. If we look at how users engage with posts and follows/followers on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, etc., it becomes evident that traditional social media thrives on engagement farming. The more outrageous a post, the more likely it will get a reaction. We see a version of this on more visual social platforms like YouTube and TikTok that use carefully crafted thumbnail images to grab the user's attention to click the video. If you'd like to dive deep into the psychology and science behind social media engagement, let me know, and I'd be happy to follow up with another article. In this user engagement model, a user is given the option to comment or like the original post, or share it among their followers to increase its signal. They receive no value from engaging with the content aside from the dopamine hit of the original experience or having their comment liked back by whatever influencer they provide value to. Ad revenue flows to the content creator. Clout flows to the content creator. Sales revenue from merch and content placement flows to the content creator. We call this a linear economy -- the idea that resources get created, used up, then thrown away. Users create content and farm as much engagement as possible, then the content is forgotten within a few hours as they move on to the next piece of content to be farmed. What if there were a simple way to give value back to those who engage with your content? By implementing some value-for-value model -- a circular economy. Enter zaps.  Unlike traditional social media platforms, Nostr does not actively use algorithms to determine what content is popular, nor does it push content created for active user engagement to the top of a user's timeline. Yes, there are "trending" and "most zapped" timelines that users can choose to use as their default, but these use relatively straightforward engagement metrics to rank posts for these timelines. That is not to say that we may not see clients actively seeking to refine timeline algorithms for specific metrics. Still, the beauty of having an open protocol with media that is controlled solely by its users is that users who begin to see their timeline gamed towards specific algorithms can choose to move to another client, and for those who are more tech-savvy, they can opt to run their own relays or create their own clients with personalized algorithms and web of trust scoring systems. Zaps enable the means to create a new type of social media economy in which creators can earn for creating content and users can earn by actively engaging with it. Like and reposting content is relatively frictionless and costs nothing but a simple button tap. Zaps provide active engagement because they signal to your followers and those of the content creator that this post has genuine value, quite literally in the form of money—sats.  I have seen some comments on Nostr claiming that removing likes and reactions is for wealthy people who can afford to send zaps and that the majority of people in the US and around the world do not have the time or money to zap because they have better things to spend their money like feeding their families and paying their bills. While at face value, these may seem like valid arguments, they, unfortunately, represent the brainwashed, defeatist attitude that our current economic (and, by extension, social media) systems aim to instill in all of us to continue extracting value from our lives. Imagine now, if those people dedicating their own time (time = money) to mine pity points on social media would instead spend that time with genuine value creation by posting content that is meaningful to cultural discussions. Imagine if, instead of complaining that their posts get no zaps and going on a tirade about how much of a victim they are, they would empower themselves to take control of their content and give value back to the world; where would that leave us? How much value could be created on a nascent platform such as Nostr, and how quickly could it overtake other platforms? Other users argue about user experience and that additional friction (i.e., zaps) leads to lower engagement, as proven by decades of studies on user interaction. While the added friction may turn some users away, does that necessarily provide less value? I argue quite the opposite. You haven't made a few sats from zaps with your content? Can't afford to send some sats to a wallet for zapping? How about using the most excellent available resource and spending 10 seconds of your time to leave a comment? Likes and reactions are valueless transactions. Social media's real value derives from providing monetary compensation and actively engaging in a conversation with posts you find interesting or thought-provoking. Remember when humans thrived on conversation and discussion for entertainment instead of simply being an onlooker of someone else's life? If you've made it this far, my only request is this: try only zapping and commenting as a method of engagement for two weeks. Sure, you may end up liking a post here and there, but be more mindful of how you interact with the world and break yourself from blind instinct. You'll thank me later. 

@ e3ba5e1a:5e433365

I got into a [friendly discussion](https://x.com/snoyberg/status/1887007888117252142) on X regarding health insurance. The specific question was how to deal with health insurance companies (presumably unfairly) denying claims? My answer, as usual: get government out of it! The US healthcare system is essentially the worst of both worlds: * Unlike full single payer, individuals incur high costs * Unlike a true free market, regulation causes increases in costs and decreases competition among insurers I'm firmly on the side of moving towards the free market. (And I say that as someone living under a single payer system now.) Here's what I would do: * Get rid of tax incentives that make health insurance tied to your employer, giving individuals back proper freedom of choice. * Reduce regulations significantly. * In the short term, some people will still get rejected claims and other obnoxious behavior from insurance companies. We address that in two ways: 1. Due to reduced regulations, new insurance companies will be able to enter the market offering more reliable coverage and better rates, and people will flock to them because they have the freedom to make their own choices. 2. Sue the asses off of companies that reject claims unfairly. And ideally, as one of the few legitimate roles of government in all this, institute new laws that limit the ability of fine print to allow insurers to escape their responsibilities. (I'm hesitant that the latter will happen due to the incestuous relationship between Congress/regulators and insurers, but I can hope.) Will this magically fix everything overnight like politicians normally promise? No. But it will allow the market to return to a healthy state. And I don't think it will take long (order of magnitude: 5-10 years) for it to come together, but that's just speculation. And since there's a high correlation between those who believe government can fix problems by taking more control and demanding that only credentialed experts weigh in on a topic (both points I strongly disagree with BTW): I'm a trained actuary and worked in the insurance industry, and have directly seen how government regulation reduces competition, raises prices, and harms consumers. And my final point: I don't think any prior art would be a good comparison for deregulation in the US, it's such a different market than any other country in the world for so many reasons that lessons wouldn't really translate. Nonetheless, I asked Grok for some empirical data on this, and at best the results of deregulation could be called "mixed," but likely more accurately "uncertain, confused, and subject to whatever interpretation anyone wants to apply." https://x.com/i/grok/share/Zc8yOdrN8lS275hXJ92uwq98M

@ e3ba5e1a:5e433365

President Trump has started rolling out his tariffs, something I [blogged about in November](https://www.snoyman.com/blog/2024/11/steelmanning-tariffs/). People are talking about these tariffs a lot right now, with many people (correctly) commenting on how consumers will end up with higher prices as a result of these tariffs. While that part is true, I’ve seen a lot of people taking it to the next, incorrect step: that consumers will pay the entirety of the tax. I [put up a poll on X](https://x.com/snoyberg/status/1886035800019599808) to see what people thought, and while the right answer got a lot of votes, it wasn't the winner.  For purposes of this blog post, our ultimate question will be the following: * Suppose apples currently sell for $1 each in the entire United States. * There are domestic sellers and foreign sellers of apples, all receiving the same price. * There are no taxes or tariffs on the purchase of apples. * The question is: if the US federal government puts a $0.50 import tariff per apple, what will be the change in the following: * Number of apples bought in the US * Price paid by buyers for apples in the US * Post-tax price received by domestic apple producers * Post-tax price received by foreign apple producers Before we can answer that question, we need to ask an easier, first question: before instituting the tariff, why do apples cost $1? And finally, before we dive into the details, let me provide you with the answers to the ultimate question. I recommend you try to guess these answers before reading this, and if you get it wrong, try to understand why: 1. The number of apples bought will go down 2. The buyers will pay more for each apple they buy, but not the full amount of the tariff 3. Domestic apple sellers will receive a *higher* price per apple 4. Foreign apple sellers will receive a *lower* price per apple, but not lowered by the full amount of the tariff In other words, regardless of who sends the payment to the government, both taxed parties (domestic buyers and foreign sellers) will absorb some of the costs of the tariff, while domestic sellers will benefit from the protectionism provided by tariffs and be able to sell at a higher price per unit. ## Marginal benefit All of the numbers discussed below are part of a [helper Google Sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14ZbkWpw1B9Q1UDB9Yh47DmdKQfIafVVBKbDUsSIfGZw/edit?usp=sharing) I put together for this analysis. Also, apologies about the jagged lines in the charts below, I hadn’t realized before starting on this that there are [some difficulties with creating supply and demand charts in Google Sheets](https://superuser.com/questions/1359731/how-to-create-a-supply-demand-style-chart). Let’s say I absolutely love apples, they’re my favorite food. How much would I be willing to pay for a single apple? You might say “$1, that’s the price in the supermarket,” and in many ways you’d be right. If I walk into supermarket A, see apples on sale for $50, and know that I can buy them at supermarket B for $1, I’ll almost certainly leave A and go buy at B. But that’s not what I mean. What I mean is: how high would the price of apples have to go *everywhere* so that I’d no longer be willing to buy a single apple? This is a purely personal, subjective opinion. It’s impacted by how much money I have available, other expenses I need to cover, and how much I like apples. But let’s say the number is $5. How much would I be willing to pay for another apple? Maybe another $5. But how much am I willing to pay for the 1,000th apple? 10,000th? At some point, I’ll get sick of apples, or run out of space to keep the apples, or not be able to eat, cook, and otherwise preserve all those apples before they rot. The point being: I’ll be progressively willing to spend less and less money for each apple. This form of analysis is called *marginal benefit*: how much benefit (expressed as dollars I’m willing to spend) will I receive from each apple? This is a downward sloping function: for each additional apple I buy (quantity demanded), the price I’m willing to pay goes down. This is what gives my personal *demand curve*. And if we aggregate demand curves across all market participants (meaning: everyone interested in buying apples), we end up with something like this:  Assuming no changes in people’s behavior and other conditions in the market, this chart tells us how many apples will be purchased by our buyers at each price point between $0.50 and $5. And ceteris paribus (all else being equal), this will continue to be the demand curve for apples. ## Marginal cost Demand is half the story of economics. The other half is supply, or: how many apples will I sell at each price point? Supply curves are upward sloping: the higher the price, the more a person or company is willing and able to sell a product. Let’s understand why. Suppose I have an apple orchard. It’s a large property right next to my house. With about 2 minutes of effort, I can walk out of my house, find the nearest tree, pick 5 apples off the tree, and call it a day. 5 apples for 2 minutes of effort is pretty good, right? Yes, there was all the effort necessary to buy the land, and plant the trees, and water them… and a bunch more than I likely can’t even guess at. We’re going to ignore all of that for our analysis, because for short-term supply-and-demand movement, we can ignore these kinds of *sunk costs*. One other simplification: in reality, supply curves often start descending before ascending. This accounts for achieving efficiencies of scale after the first number of units purchased. But since both these topics are unneeded for understanding taxes, I won’t go any further. Anyway, back to my apple orchard. If someone offers me $0.50 per apple, I can do 2 minutes of effort and get $2.50 in revenue, which equates to a $75/hour wage for me. I’m more than happy to pick apples at that price\! However, let’s say someone comes to buy 10,000 apples from me instead. I no longer just walk out to my nearest tree. I’m going to need to get in my truck, drive around, spend the day in the sun, pay for gas, take a day off of my day job (let’s say it pays me $70/hour). The costs go up significantly. Let’s say it takes 5 days to harvest all those apples myself, it costs me $100 in fuel and other expenses, and I lose out on my $70/hour job for 5 days. We end up with: * Total expenditure: $100 \+ $70 \* 8 hours a day \* 5 days \== $2900 * Total revenue: $5000 (10,000 apples at $0.50 each) * Total profit: $2100 So I’m still willing to sell the apples at this price, but it’s not as attractive as before. And as the number of apples purchased goes up, my costs keep increasing. I’ll need to spend more money on fuel to travel more of my property. At some point I won’t be able to do the work myself anymore, so I’ll need to pay others to work on the farm, and they’ll be slower at picking apples than me (less familiar with the property, less direct motivation, etc.). The point being: at some point, the number of apples can go high enough that the $0.50 price point no longer makes me any money. This kind of analysis is called *marginal cost*. It refers to the additional amount of expenditure a seller has to spend in order to produce each additional unit of the good. Marginal costs go up as quantity sold goes up. And like demand curves, if you aggregate this data across all sellers, you get a supply curve like this:  ## Equilibrium price We now know, for every price point, how many apples buyers will purchase, and how many apples sellers will sell. Now we find the equilibrium: where the supply and demand curves meet. This point represents where the marginal benefit a buyer would receive from the next buyer would be less than the cost it would take the next seller to make it. Let’s see it in a chart:  You’ll notice that these two graphs cross at the $1 price point, where 63 apples are both demanded (bought by consumers) and supplied (sold by producers). This is our equilibrium price. We also have a visualization of the *surplus* created by these trades. Everything to the left of the equilibrium point and between the supply and demand curves represents surplus: an area where someone is receiving something of more value than they give. For example: * When I bought my first apple for $1, but I was willing to spend $5, I made $4 of consumer surplus. The consumer portion of the surplus is everything to the left of the equilibrium point, between the supply and demand curves, and above the equilibrium price point. * When a seller sells his first apple for $1, but it only cost $0.50 to produce it, the seller made $0.50 of producer surplus. The producer portion of the surplus is everything to the left of the equilibrium point, between the supply and demand curves, and below the equilibrium price point. Another way of thinking of surplus is “every time someone got a better price than they would have been willing to take.” OK, with this in place, we now have enough information to figure out how to price in the tariff, which we’ll treat as a negative externality. ## Modeling taxes Alright, the government has now instituted a $0.50 tariff on every apple sold within the US by a foreign producer. We can generally model taxes by either increasing the marginal cost of each unit sold (shifting the supply curve up), or by decreasing the marginal benefit of each unit bought (shifting the demand curve down). In this case, since only some of the producers will pay the tax, it makes more sense to modify the supply curve. First, let’s see what happens to the foreign seller-only supply curve when you add in the tariff:  With the tariff in place, for each quantity level, the price at which the seller will sell is $0.50 higher than before the tariff. That makes sense: if I was previously willing to sell my 82nd apple for $3, I would now need to charge $3.50 for that apple to cover the cost of the tariff. We see this as the tariff “pushing up” or “pushing left” the original supply curve. We can add this new supply curve to our existing (unchanged) supply curve for domestic-only sellers, and we end up with a result like this:  The total supply curve adds up the individual foreign and domestic supply curves. At each price point, we add up the total quantity each group would be willing to sell to determine the total quantity supplied for each price point. Once we have that cumulative supply curve defined, we can produce an updated supply-and-demand chart including the tariff:  As we can see, the equilibrium has shifted: * The equilibrium price paid by consumers has risen from $1 to $1.20. * The total number of apples purchased has dropped from 63 apples to 60 apples. * Consumers therefore received 3 less apples. They spent $72 for these 60 apples, whereas previously they spent $63 for 3 more apples, a definite decrease in consumer surplus. * Foreign producers sold 36 of those apples (see the raw data in the linked Google Sheet), for a gross revenue of $43.20. However, they also need to pay the tariff to the US government, which accounts for $18, meaning they only receive $25.20 post-tariff. Previously, they sold 42 apples at $1 each with no tariff to be paid, meaning they took home $42. * Domestic producers sold the remaining 24 apples at $1.20, giving them a revenue of $28.80. Since they don’t pay the tariff, they take home all of that money. By contrast, previously, they sold 21 apples at $1, for a take-home of $21. * The government receives $0.50 for each of the 60 apples sold, or in other words receives $30 in revenue it wouldn’t have received otherwise. We could be more specific about the surpluses, and calculate the actual areas for consumer surplus, producer surplus, inefficiency from the tariff, and government revenue from the tariff. But I won’t bother, as those calculations get slightly more involved. Instead, let’s just look at the aggregate outcomes: * Consumers were unquestionably hurt. Their price paid went up by $0.20 per apple, and received less apples. * Foreign producers were also hurt. Their price received went down from the original $1 to the new post-tariff price of $1.20, minus the $0.50 tariff. In other words: foreign producers only receive $0.70 per apple now. This hurt can be mitigated by shifting sales to other countries without a tariff, but the pain will exist regardless. * Domestic producers scored. They can sell less apples and make more revenue doing it. * And the government walked away with an extra $30. Hopefully you now see the answer to the original questions. Importantly, while the government imposed a $0.50 tariff, neither side fully absorbed that cost. Consumers paid a bit more, foreign producers received a bit less. The exact details of how that tariff was split across the groups is mediated by the relevant supply and demand curves of each group. If you want to learn more about this, the relevant search term is “price elasticity,” or how much a group’s quantity supplied or demanded will change based on changes in the price. ## Other taxes Most taxes are some kind of a tax on trade. Tariffs on apples is an obvious one. But the same applies to income tax (taxing the worker for the trade of labor for money) or payroll tax (same thing, just taxing the employer instead). Interestingly, you can use the same model for analyzing things like tax incentives. For example, if the government decided to subsidize domestic apple production by giving the domestic producers a $0.50 bonus for each apple they sell, we would end up with a similar kind of analysis, except instead of the foreign supply curve shifting up, we’d see the domestic supply curve shifting down. And generally speaking, this is what you’ll *always* see with government involvement in the economy. It will result in disrupting an existing equilibrium, letting the market readjust to a new equilibrium, and incentivization of some behavior, causing some people to benefit and others to lose out. We saw with the apple tariff, domestic producers and the government benefited while others lost. You can see the reverse though with tax incentives. If I give a tax incentive of providing a deduction (not paying income tax) for preschool, we would end up with: * Government needs to make up the difference in tax revenue, either by raising taxes on others or printing more money (leading to inflation). Either way, those paying the tax or those holding government debased currency will pay a price. * Those people who don’t use the preschool deduction will receive no benefit, so they simply pay a cost. * Those who do use the preschool deduction will end up paying less on tax+preschool than they would have otherwise. This analysis is fully amoral. It’s not saying whether providing subsidized preschool is a good thing or not, it simply tells you where the costs will be felt, and points out that such government interference in free economic choice does result in inefficiencies in the system. Once you have that knowledge, you’re more well educated on making a decision about whether the costs of government intervention are worth the benefits.

@ 9e69e420:d12360c2

 Federal employees must remove pronouns from email signatures by the end of the day. This directive comes from internal memos tied to two executive orders signed by Donald Trump. The orders target diversity and equity programs within the government.  CDC, Department of Transportation, and Department of Energy employees were affected. Staff were instructed to make changes in line with revised policy prohibiting certain language. One CDC employee shared frustration, stating, “In my decade-plus years at CDC, I've never been told what I can and can't put in my email signature.” The directive is part of a broader effort to eliminate DEI initiatives from federal discourse.

@ 97c70a44:ad98e322

There was a slight dust up recently over a website someone runs removing a listing for an app someone built based on entirely arbitrary criteria. I'm not to going to attempt to speak for either wounded party, but I would like to share my own personal definition for what constitutes a "nostr app" in an effort to help clarify what might be an otherwise confusing and opaque purity test. In this post, I will be committing the "no true Scotsman" fallacy, in which I start with the most liberal definition I can come up with, and gradually refine it until all that is left is the purest, gleamingest, most imaginary and unattainable nostr app imaginable. As I write this, I wonder if anything built yet will actually qualify. In any case, here we go. # It uses nostr The lowest bar for what a "nostr app" might be is an app ("application" - i.e. software, not necessarily a native app of any kind) that has some nostr-specific code in it, but which doesn't take any advantage of what makes nostr distinctive as a protocol. Examples might include a scraper of some kind which fulfills its charter by fetching data from relays (regardless of whether it validates or retains signatures). Another might be a regular web 2.0 app which provides an option to "log in with nostr" by requesting and storing the user's public key. In either case, the fact that nostr is involved is entirely neutral. A scraper can scrape html, pdfs, jsonl, whatever data source - nostr relays are just another target. Likewise, a user's key in this scenario is treated merely as an opaque identifier, with no appreciation for the super powers it brings along. In most cases, this kind of app only exists as a marketing ploy, or less cynically, because it wants to get in on the hype of being a "nostr app", without the developer quite understanding what that means, or having the budget to execute properly on the claim. # It leverages nostr Some of you might be wondering, "isn't 'leverage' a synonym for 'use'?" And you would be right, but for one connotative difference. It's possible to "use" something improperly, but by definition leverage gives you a mechanical advantage that you wouldn't otherwise have. This is the second category of "nostr app". This kind of app gets some benefit out of the nostr protocol and network, but in an entirely selfish fashion. The intention of this kind of app is not to augment the nostr network, but to augment its own UX by borrowing some nifty thing from the protocol without really contributing anything back. Some examples might include: - Using nostr signers to encrypt or sign data, and then store that data on a proprietary server. - Using nostr relays as a kind of low-code backend, but using proprietary event payloads. - Using nostr event kinds to represent data (why), but not leveraging the trustlessness that buys you. An application in this category might even communicate to its users via nostr DMs - but this doesn't make it a "nostr app" any more than a website that emails you hot deals on herbal supplements is an "email app". These apps are purely parasitic on the nostr ecosystem. In the long-term, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Email's ubiquity is self-reinforcing. But in the short term, this kind of "nostr app" can actually do damage to nostr's reputation by over-promising and under-delivering. # It complements nostr Next up, we have apps that get some benefit out of nostr as above, but give back by providing a unique value proposition to nostr users as nostr users. This is a bit of a fine distinction, but for me this category is for apps which focus on solving problems that nostr isn't good at solving, leaving the nostr integration in a secondary or supporting role. One example of this kind of app was Mutiny (RIP), which not only allowed users to sign in with nostr, but also pulled those users' social graphs so that users could send money to people they knew and trusted. Mutiny was doing a great job of leveraging nostr, as well as providing value to users with nostr identities - but it was still primarily a bitcoin wallet, not a "nostr app" in the purest sense. Other examples are things like Nostr Nests and Zap.stream, whose core value proposition is streaming video or audio content. Both make great use of nostr identities, data formats, and relays, but they're primarily streaming apps. A good litmus test for things like this is: if you got rid of nostr, would it be the same product (even if inferior in certain ways)? A similar category is infrastructure providers that benefit nostr by their existence (and may in fact be targeted explicitly at nostr users), but do things in a centralized, old-web way; for example: media hosts, DNS registrars, hosting providers, and CDNs. To be clear here, I'm not casting aspersions (I don't even know what those are, or where to buy them). All the apps mentioned above use nostr to great effect, and are a real benefit to nostr users. But they are not True Scotsmen. # It embodies nostr Ok, here we go. This is the crème de la crème, the top du top, the meilleur du meilleur, the bee's knees. The purest, holiest, most chaste category of nostr app out there. The apps which are, indeed, nostr indigitate. This category of nostr app (see, no quotes this time) can be defined by the converse of the previous category. If nostr was removed from this type of application, would it be impossible to create the same product? To tease this apart a bit, apps that leverage the technical aspects of nostr are dependent on nostr the *protocol*, while apps that benefit nostr exclusively via network effect are integrated into nostr the *network*. An app that does both things is working in symbiosis with nostr as a whole. An app that embraces both nostr's protocol and its network becomes an organic extension of every other nostr app out there, multiplying both its competitive moat and its contribution to the ecosystem: - In contrast to apps that only borrow from nostr on the technical level but continue to operate in their own silos, an application integrated into the nostr network comes pre-packaged with existing users, and is able to provide more value to those users because of other nostr products. On nostr, it's a good thing to advertise your competitors. - In contrast to apps that only market themselves to nostr users without building out a deep integration on the protocol level, a deeply integrated app becomes an asset to every other nostr app by becoming an organic extension of them through interoperability. This results in increased traffic to the app as other developers and users refer people to it instead of solving their problem on their own. This is the "micro-apps" utopia we've all been waiting for. Credible exit doesn't matter if there aren't alternative services. Interoperability is pointless if other applications don't offer something your app doesn't. Marketing to nostr users doesn't matter if you don't augment their agency _as nostr users_. If I had to choose a single NIP that represents the mindset behind this kind of app, it would be NIP 89 A.K.A. "Recommended Application Handlers", which states: > Nostr's discoverability and transparent event interaction is one of its most interesting/novel mechanics. This NIP provides a simple way for clients to discover applications that handle events of a specific kind to ensure smooth cross-client and cross-kind interactions. These handlers are the glue that holds nostr apps together. A single event, signed by the developer of an application (or by the application's own account) tells anyone who wants to know 1. what event kinds the app supports, 2. how to link to the app (if it's a client), and (if the pubkey also publishes a kind 10002), 3. which relays the app prefers. _As a sidenote, NIP 89 is currently focused more on clients, leaving DVMs, relays, signers, etc somewhat out in the cold. Updating 89 to include tailored listings for each kind of supporting app would be a huge improvement to the protocol. This, plus a good front end for navigating these listings (sorry nostrapp.link, close but no cigar) would obviate the evil centralized websites that curate apps based on arbitrary criteria._ Examples of this kind of app obviously include many kind 1 clients, as well as clients that attempt to bring the benefits of the nostr protocol and network to new use cases - whether long form content, video, image posts, music, emojis, recipes, project management, or any other "content type". To drill down into one example, let's think for a moment about forms. What's so great about a forms app that is built on nostr? Well, - There is a [spec](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1190) for forms and responses, which means that... - Multiple clients can implement the same data format, allowing for credible exit and user choice, even of... - Other products not focused on forms, which can still view, respond to, or embed forms, and which can send their users via NIP 89 to a client that does... - Cryptographically sign forms and responses, which means they are self-authenticating and can be sent to... - Multiple relays, which reduces the amount of trust necessary to be confident results haven't been deliberately "lost". Show me a forms product that does all of those things, and isn't built on nostr. You can't, because it doesn't exist. Meanwhile, there are plenty of image hosts with APIs, streaming services, and bitcoin wallets which have basically the same levels of censorship resistance, interoperability, and network effect as if they weren't built on nostr. # It supports nostr Notice I haven't said anything about whether relays, signers, blossom servers, software libraries, DVMs, and the accumulated addenda of the nostr ecosystem are nostr apps. Well, they are (usually). This is the category of nostr app that gets none of the credit for doing all of the work. There's no question that they qualify as beautiful nostrcorns, because their value propositions are entirely meaningless outside of the context of nostr. Who needs a signer if you don't have a cryptographic identity you need to protect? DVMs are literally impossible to use without relays. How are you going to find the blossom server that will serve a given hash if you don't know which servers the publishing user has selected to store their content? In addition to being entirely contextualized by nostr architecture, this type of nostr app is valuable because it does things "the nostr way". By that I mean that they don't simply try to replicate existing internet functionality into a nostr context; instead, they create entirely new ways of putting the basic building blocks of the internet back together. A great example of this is how Nostr Connect, Nostr Wallet Connect, and DVMs all use relays as brokers, which allows service providers to avoid having to accept incoming network connections. This opens up really interesting possibilities all on its own. So while I might hesitate to call many of these things "apps", they are certainly "nostr". # Appendix: it smells like a NINO So, let's say you've created an app, but when you show it to people they politely smile, nod, and call it a NINO (Nostr In Name Only). What's a hacker to do? Well, here's your handy-dandy guide on how to wash that NINO stench off and Become a Nostr. You app might be a NINO if: - There's no NIP for your data format (or you're abusing NIP 78, 32, etc by inventing a sub-protocol inside an existing event kind) - There's a NIP, but no one knows about it because it's in a text file on your hard drive (or buried in your project's repository) - Your NIP imposes an incompatible/centralized/legacy web paradigm onto nostr - Your NIP relies on trusted third (or first) parties - There's only one implementation of your NIP (yours) - Your core value proposition doesn't depend on relays, events, or nostr identities - One or more relay urls are hard-coded into the source code - Your app depends on a specific relay implementation to work (*ahem*, relay29) - You don't validate event signatures - You don't publish events to relays you don't control - You don't read events from relays you don't control - You use legacy web services to solve problems, rather than nostr-native solutions - You use nostr-native solutions, but you've hardcoded their pubkeys or URLs into your app - You don't use NIP 89 to discover clients and services - You haven't published a NIP 89 listing for your app - You don't leverage your users' web of trust for filtering out spam - You don't respect your users' mute lists - You try to "own" your users' data Now let me just re-iterate - it's ok to be a NINO. We need NINOs, because nostr can't (and shouldn't) tackle every problem. You just need to decide whether your app, as a NINO, is actually contributing to the nostr ecosystem, or whether you're just using buzzwords to whitewash a legacy web software product. If you're in the former camp, great! If you're in the latter, what are you waiting for? Only you can fix your NINO problem. And there are lots of ways to do this, depending on your own unique situation: - Drop nostr support if it's not doing anyone any good. If you want to build a normal company and make some money, that's perfectly fine. - Build out your nostr integration - start taking advantage of webs of trust, self-authenticating data, event handlers, etc. - Work around the problem. Think you need a special relay feature for your app to work? Guess again. Consider encryption, AUTH, DVMs, or better data formats. - Think your idea is a good one? Talk to other devs or open a PR to the [nips repo](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips). No one can adopt your NIP if they don't know about it. - Keep going. It can sometimes be hard to distinguish a research project from a NINO. New ideas have to be built out before they can be fully appreciated. - Listen to advice. Nostr developers are friendly and happy to help. If you're not sure why you're getting traction, ask! I sincerely hope this article is useful for all of you out there in NINO land. Maybe this made you feel better about not passing the totally optional nostr app purity test. Or maybe it gave you some actionable next steps towards making a great NINON (Nostr In Not Only Name) app. In either case, GM and PV.

@ 0fa80bd3:ea7325de

**"Degeneration"** or **"Вырождение"** ![[photo_2025-01-29 23.23.15.jpeg]] A once-functional object, now eroded by time and human intervention, stripped of its original purpose. Layers of presence accumulate—marks, alterations, traces of intent—until the very essence is obscured. Restoration is paradoxical: to reclaim, one must erase. Yet erasure is an impossibility, for to remove these imprints is to deny the existence of those who shaped them. The work stands as a meditation on entropy, memory, and the irreversible dialogue between creation and decay.

@ 0fa80bd3:ea7325de

Lyn Alden - биткойн евангелист или евангелистка, я пока не понял ``` npub1a2cww4kn9wqte4ry70vyfwqyqvpswksna27rtxd8vty6c74era8sdcw83a ``` Thomas Pacchia - PubKey owner - X - @tpacchia ``` npub1xy6exlg37pw84cpyj05c2pdgv86hr25cxn0g7aa8g8a6v97mhduqeuhgpl ``` calvadev - Shopstr ``` npub16dhgpql60vmd4mnydjut87vla23a38j689jssaqlqqlzrtqtd0kqex0nkq ``` Calle - Cashu founder ``` npub12rv5lskctqxxs2c8rf2zlzc7xx3qpvzs3w4etgemauy9thegr43sf485vg ``` Джек Дорси ``` npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m ``` 21 ideas ``` npub1lm3f47nzyf0rjp6fsl4qlnkmzed4uj4h2gnf2vhe3l3mrj85vqks6z3c7l ``` Много адресов. Хз кто надо сортировать ``` https://github.com/aitechguy/nostr-address-book ``` ФиатДжеф - создатель Ностр - https://github.com/fiatjaf ``` npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6 ``` EVAN KALOUDIS Zues wallet ``` npub19kv88vjm7tw6v9qksn2y6h4hdt6e79nh3zjcud36k9n3lmlwsleqwte2qd ``` Программер Коди https://github.com/CodyTseng/nostr-relay ``` npub1syjmjy0dp62dhccq3g97fr87tngvpvzey08llyt6ul58m2zqpzps9wf6wl ``` Anna Chekhovich - Managing Bitcoin at The Anti-Corruption Foundation https://x.com/AnyaChekhovich ``` npub1y2st7rp54277hyd2usw6shy3kxprnmpvhkezmldp7vhl7hp920aq9cfyr7 ```

@ 0fa80bd3:ea7325de

![[yedinaya-rossiya-bear.png]] 1️⃣ Be where the bear roams. Stay in its territory, where it hunts for food. No point setting a trap in your backyard if the bear’s chilling in the forest. 2️⃣ Set a well-hidden trap. Bury it, disguise it, and place the bait right in the center. Bears are omnivores—just like secret police KGB agents. And what’s the tastiest bait for them? Money. 3️⃣ Wait for the bear to take the bait. When it reaches in, the trap will snap shut around its paw. It’ll be alive, but stuck. No escape. Now, what you do with a trapped bear is another question... 😏

@ 0fa80bd3:ea7325de

The land that belongs to the indigenous peoples of Russia has been seized by a gang of killers who have unleashed a war of extermination. They wipe out anyone who refuses to conform to their rules. Those who disagree and stay behind are tortured and killed in prisons and labor camps. Those who flee lose their homeland, dissolve into foreign cultures, and fade away. And those who stand up to protect their people are attacked by the misled and deceived. The deceived die for the unchecked greed of a single dictator—thousands from both sides, people who just wanted to live, raise their kids, and build a future. Now, they are forced to make an impossible choice: abandon their homeland or die. Some perish on the battlefield, others lose themselves in exile, stripped of their identity, scattered in a world that isn’t theirs. There’s been endless debate about how to fix this, how to clear the field of the weeds that choke out every new sprout, every attempt at change. But the real problem? We can’t play by their rules. We can’t speak their language or use their weapons. We stand for humanity, and no matter how righteous our cause, we will not multiply suffering. Victory doesn’t come from matching the enemy—it comes from staying ahead, from using tools they haven’t mastered yet. That’s how wars are won. Our only resource is the **will of the people** to rewrite the order of things. Historian Timothy Snyder once said that a nation cannot exist without a city. A city is where the most active part of a nation thrives. But the cities are occupied. The streets are watched. Gatherings are impossible. They control the money. They control the mail. They control the media. And any dissent is crushed before it can take root. So I started asking myself: **How do we stop this fragmentation?** How do we create a space where people can **rebuild their connections** when they’re ready? How do we build a **self-sustaining network**, where everyone contributes and benefits proportionally, while keeping their freedom to leave intact? And more importantly—**how do we make it spread, even in occupied territory?** In 2009, something historic happened: **the internet got its own money.** Thanks to **Satoshi Nakamoto**, the world took a massive leap forward. Bitcoin and decentralized ledgers shattered the idea that money must be controlled by the state. Now, to move or store value, all you need is an address and a key. A tiny string of text, easy to carry, impossible to seize. That was the year money broke free. The state lost its grip. Its biggest weapon—physical currency—became irrelevant. Money became **purely digital.** The internet was already **a sanctuary for information**, a place where people could connect and organize. But with Bitcoin, it evolved. Now, **value itself** could flow freely, beyond the reach of authorities. Think about it: when seedlings are grown in controlled environments before being planted outside, they **get stronger, survive longer, and bear fruit faster.** That’s how we handle crops in harsh climates—nurture them until they’re ready for the wild. Now, picture the internet as that **controlled environment** for **ideas**. Bitcoin? It’s the **fertile soil** that lets them grow. A testing ground for new models of interaction, where concepts can take root before they move into the real world. If **nation-states are a battlefield, locked in a brutal war for territory, the internet is boundless.** It can absorb any number of ideas, any number of people, and it doesn’t **run out of space.** But for this ecosystem to thrive, people need safe ways to communicate, to share ideas, to build something real—**without surveillance, without censorship, without the constant fear of being erased.** This is where **Nostr** comes in. Nostr—"Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays"—is more than just a messaging protocol. **It’s a new kind of city.** One that **no dictator can seize**, no corporation can own, no government can shut down. It’s built on **decentralization, encryption, and individual control.** Messages don’t pass through central servers—they are relayed through independent nodes, and users choose which ones to trust. There’s no master switch to shut it all down. Every person owns their identity, their data, their connections. And no one—no state, no tech giant, no algorithm—can silence them. In a world where cities fall and governments fail, **Nostr is a city that cannot be occupied.** A place for ideas, for networks, for freedom. A city that grows stronger **the more people build within it**.

@ 9e69e420:d12360c2

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued new guidance halting spending on most foreign aid grants for 90 days, including military assistance to Ukraine. This immediate order shocked State Department officials and mandates “stop-work orders” on nearly all existing foreign assistance awards. While it allows exceptions for military financing to Egypt and Israel, as well as emergency food assistance, it restricts aid to key allies like Ukraine, Jordan, and Taiwan. The guidance raises potential liability risks for the government due to unfulfilled contracts. A report will be prepared within 85 days to recommend which programs to continue or discontinue.

@ 9e69e420:d12360c2

President Trump plans to withdraw 20,000 U.S. troops from Europe and expects European allies to contribute financially to the remaining military presence. Reported by ANSA, Trump aims to deliver this message to European leaders since taking office. A European diplomat noted, “the costs cannot be borne solely by American taxpayers.” The Pentagon hasn't commented yet. Trump has previously sought lower troop levels in Europe and had ordered cuts during his first term. The U.S. currently maintains around 65,000 troops in Europe, with total forces reaching 100,000 since the Ukraine invasion. Trump's new approach may shift military focus to the Pacific amid growing concerns about China. [Sauce](https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/2025-01-24/trump-europe-troop-cuts-16590074.html)

@ 6be5cc06:5259daf0

A seguir, veja como instalar e configurar o **Privoxy** no **Pop!_OS**. --- ### **1. Instalar o Tor e o Privoxy** Abra o terminal e execute: ```bash sudo apt update sudo apt install tor privoxy ``` **Explicação:** - **Tor:** Roteia o tráfego pela rede Tor. - **Privoxy:** Proxy avançado que intermedia a conexão entre aplicativos e o Tor. --- ### **2. Configurar o Privoxy** Abra o arquivo de configuração do Privoxy: ```bash sudo nano /etc/privoxy/config ``` Navegue até a última linha (atalho: **`Ctrl`** + **`/`** depois **`Ctrl`** + **`V`** para navegar diretamente até a última linha) e insira: ```bash forward-socks5 / 127.0.0.1:9050 . ``` Isso faz com que o **Privoxy** envie todo o tráfego para o **Tor** através da porta **9050**. Salve (**`CTRL`** + **`O`** e **`Enter`**) e feche (**`CTRL`** + **`X`**) o arquivo. --- ### **3. Iniciar o Tor e o Privoxy** Agora, inicie e habilite os serviços: ```bash sudo systemctl start tor sudo systemctl start privoxy sudo systemctl enable tor sudo systemctl enable privoxy ``` **Explicação:** - **start:** Inicia os serviços. - **enable:** Faz com que iniciem automaticamente ao ligar o PC. --- ### **4. Configurar o Navegador Firefox** Para usar a rede **Tor** com o Firefox: 1. Abra o Firefox. 2. Acesse **Configurações** → **Configurar conexão**. 3. Selecione **Configuração manual de proxy**. 4. Configure assim: - **Proxy HTTP:** `127.0.0.1` - **Porta:** `8118` (porta padrão do **Privoxy**) - **Domínio SOCKS (v5):** `127.0.0.1` - **Porta:** `9050` 5. Marque a opção **"Usar este proxy também em HTTPS"**. 6. Clique em **OK**. --- ### **5. Verificar a Conexão com o Tor** Abra o navegador e acesse: ```text https://check.torproject.org/ ``` Se aparecer a mensagem **"Congratulations. This browser is configured to use Tor."**, a configuração está correta. --- ### **Dicas Extras** - **Privoxy** pode ser ajustado para bloquear anúncios e rastreadores. - Outros aplicativos também podem ser configurados para usar o **Privoxy**.

@ 9e69e420:d12360c2

Oregano oil is a potent natural compound that offers numerous scientifically-supported health benefits. ## Active Compounds The oil's therapeutic properties stem from its key bioactive components: - Carvacrol and thymol (primary active compounds) - Polyphenols and other antioxidant ## Antimicrobial Properties **Bacterial Protection** The oil demonstrates powerful antibacterial effects, even against antibiotic-resistant strains like MRSA and other harmful bacteria. Studies show it effectively inactivates various pathogenic bacteria without developing resistance. **Antifungal Effects** It effectively combats fungal infections, particularly Candida-related conditions like oral thrush, athlete's foot, and nail infections. ## Digestive Health Benefits Oregano oil supports digestive wellness by: - Promoting gastric juice secretion and enzyme production - Helping treat Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) - Managing digestive discomfort, bloating, and IBS symptoms ## Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Effects The oil provides significant protective benefits through: - Powerful antioxidant activity that fights free radicals - Reduction of inflammatory markers in the body - Protection against oxidative stress-related conditions ## Respiratory Support It aids respiratory health by: - Loosening mucus and phlegm - Suppressing coughs and throat irritation - Supporting overall respiratory tract function ## Additional Benefits **Skin Health** - Improves conditions like psoriasis, acne, and eczema - Supports wound healing through antibacterial action - Provides anti-aging benefits through antioxidant properties **Cardiovascular Health** Studies show oregano oil may help: - Reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol levels - Support overall heart health **Pain Management** The oil demonstrates effectiveness in: - Reducing inflammation-related pain - Managing muscle discomfort - Providing topical pain relief ## Safety Note While oregano oil is generally safe, it's highly concentrated and should be properly diluted before use Consult a healthcare provider before starting supplementation, especially if taking other medications.

@ b17fccdf:b7211155

The past 26 August, Tor [introduced officially](https://blog.torproject.org/introducing-proof-of-work-defense-for-onion-services/) a proof-of-work (PoW) defense for onion services designed to prioritize verified network traffic as a deterrent against denial of service (DoS) attacks. ~ > This feature at the moment, is [deactivate by default](https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/core/tor/-/blob/main/doc/man/tor.1.txt#L3117), so you need to follow these steps to activate this on a MiniBolt node: * Make sure you have the latest version of Tor installed, at the time of writing this post, which is v0.4.8.6. Check your current version by typing ``` tor --version ``` **Example** of expected output: ``` Tor version 0.4.8.6. This build of Tor is covered by the GNU General Public License (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html) Tor is running on Linux with Libevent 2.1.12-stable, OpenSSL 3.0.9, Zlib 1.2.13, Liblzma 5.4.1, Libzstd N/A and Glibc 2.36 as libc. Tor compiled with GCC version 12.2.0 ``` ~ > If you have v0.4.8.X, you are **OK**, if not, type `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade` and confirm to update. * Basic PoW support can be checked by running this command: ``` tor --list-modules ``` Expected output: ``` relay: yes dirauth: yes dircache: yes pow: **yes** ``` ~ > If you have `pow: yes`, you are **OK** * Now go to the torrc file of your MiniBolt and add the parameter to enable PoW for each hidden service added ``` sudo nano /etc/tor/torrc ``` Example: ``` # Hidden Service BTC RPC Explorer HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service_btcrpcexplorer/ HiddenServiceVersion 3 HiddenServicePoWDefensesEnabled 1 HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:3002 ``` ~ > Bitcoin Core and LND use the Tor control port to automatically create the hidden service, requiring no action from the user. We have submitted a feature request in the official GitHub repositories to explore the need for the integration of Tor's PoW defense into the automatic creation process of the hidden service. You can follow them at the following links: * Bitcoin Core: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/issues/8002 * LND: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues/28499 --- More info: * https://blog.torproject.org/introducing-proof-of-work-defense-for-onion-services/ * https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/onion-services/onion-support/-/wikis/Documentation/PoW-FAQ --- Enjoy it MiniBolter! 💙

@ 6be5cc06:5259daf0

## Bitcoin: Um sistema de dinheiro eletrônico direto entre pessoas. Satoshi Nakamoto satoshin@gmx.com www.bitcoin.org --- ### Resumo O Bitcoin é uma forma de dinheiro digital que permite pagamentos diretos entre pessoas, sem a necessidade de um banco ou instituição financeira. Ele resolve um problema chamado **gasto duplo**, que ocorre quando alguém tenta gastar o mesmo dinheiro duas vezes. Para evitar isso, o Bitcoin usa uma rede descentralizada onde todos trabalham juntos para verificar e registrar as transações. As transações são registradas em um livro público chamado **blockchain**, protegido por uma técnica chamada **Prova de Trabalho**. Essa técnica cria uma cadeia de registros que não pode ser alterada sem refazer todo o trabalho já feito. Essa cadeia é mantida pelos computadores que participam da rede, e a mais longa é considerada a verdadeira. Enquanto a maior parte do poder computacional da rede for controlada por participantes honestos, o sistema continuará funcionando de forma segura. A rede é flexível, permitindo que qualquer pessoa entre ou saia a qualquer momento, sempre confiando na cadeia mais longa como prova do que aconteceu. --- ### 1. Introdução Hoje, quase todos os pagamentos feitos pela internet dependem de bancos ou empresas como processadores de pagamento (cartões de crédito, por exemplo) para funcionar. Embora esse sistema seja útil, ele tem problemas importantes porque é baseado em **confiança**. Primeiro, essas empresas podem reverter pagamentos, o que é útil em caso de erros, mas cria custos e incertezas. Isso faz com que pequenas transações, como pagar centavos por um serviço, se tornem inviáveis. Além disso, os comerciantes são obrigados a desconfiar dos clientes, pedindo informações extras e aceitando fraudes como algo inevitável. Esses problemas não existem no dinheiro físico, como o papel-moeda, onde o pagamento é final e direto entre as partes. No entanto, não temos como enviar dinheiro físico pela internet sem depender de um intermediário confiável. O que precisamos é de um **sistema de pagamento eletrônico baseado em provas matemáticas**, não em confiança. Esse sistema permitiria que qualquer pessoa enviasse dinheiro diretamente para outra, sem depender de bancos ou processadores de pagamento. Além disso, as transações seriam irreversíveis, protegendo vendedores contra fraudes, mas mantendo a possibilidade de soluções para disputas legítimas. Neste documento, apresentamos o **Bitcoin**, que resolve o problema do gasto duplo usando uma rede descentralizada. Essa rede cria um registro público e protegido por cálculos matemáticos, que garante a ordem das transações. Enquanto a maior parte da rede for controlada por pessoas honestas, o sistema será seguro contra ataques. --- ### 2. Transações Para entender como funciona o Bitcoin, é importante saber como as transações são realizadas. Imagine que você quer transferir uma "moeda digital" para outra pessoa. No sistema do Bitcoin, essa "moeda" é representada por uma sequência de registros que mostram quem é o atual dono. Para transferi-la, você adiciona um novo registro comprovando que agora ela pertence ao próximo dono. Esse registro é protegido por um tipo especial de assinatura digital. #### O que é uma assinatura digital? Uma assinatura digital é como uma senha secreta, mas muito mais segura. No Bitcoin, cada usuário tem duas chaves: uma "chave privada", que é secreta e serve para criar a assinatura, e uma "chave pública", que pode ser compartilhada com todos e é usada para verificar se a assinatura é válida. Quando você transfere uma moeda, usa sua chave privada para assinar a transação, provando que você é o dono. A próxima pessoa pode usar sua chave pública para confirmar isso. #### Como funciona na prática? Cada "moeda" no Bitcoin é, na verdade, uma cadeia de assinaturas digitais. Vamos imaginar o seguinte cenário: 1. A moeda está com o Dono 0 (você). Para transferi-la ao Dono 1, você assina digitalmente a transação com sua chave privada. Essa assinatura inclui o código da transação anterior (chamado de "hash") e a chave pública do Dono 1. 2. Quando o Dono 1 quiser transferir a moeda ao Dono 2, ele assinará a transação seguinte com sua própria chave privada, incluindo também o hash da transação anterior e a chave pública do Dono 2. 3. Esse processo continua, formando uma "cadeia" de transações. Qualquer pessoa pode verificar essa cadeia para confirmar quem é o atual dono da moeda. #### Resolvendo o problema do gasto duplo Um grande desafio com moedas digitais é o "gasto duplo", que é quando uma mesma moeda é usada em mais de uma transação. Para evitar isso, muitos sistemas antigos dependiam de uma entidade central confiável, como uma casa da moeda, que verificava todas as transações. No entanto, isso criava um ponto único de falha e centralizava o controle do dinheiro. O Bitcoin resolve esse problema de forma inovadora: ele usa uma rede descentralizada onde todos os participantes (os "nós") têm acesso a um registro completo de todas as transações. Cada nó verifica se as transações são válidas e se a moeda não foi gasta duas vezes. Quando a maioria dos nós concorda com a validade de uma transação, ela é registrada permanentemente na blockchain. #### Por que isso é importante? Essa solução elimina a necessidade de confiar em uma única entidade para gerenciar o dinheiro, permitindo que qualquer pessoa no mundo use o Bitcoin sem precisar de permissão de terceiros. Além disso, ela garante que o sistema seja seguro e resistente a fraudes. --- ### 3. Servidor Timestamp Para assegurar que as transações sejam realizadas de forma segura e transparente, o sistema Bitcoin utiliza algo chamado de "servidor de registro de tempo" (timestamp). Esse servidor funciona como um registro público que organiza as transações em uma ordem específica. Ele faz isso agrupando várias transações em blocos e criando um código único chamado "hash". Esse hash é como uma impressão digital que representa todo o conteúdo do bloco. O hash de cada bloco é amplamente divulgado, como se fosse publicado em um jornal ou em um fórum público. Esse processo garante que cada bloco de transações tenha um registro de quando foi criado e que ele existia naquele momento. Além disso, cada novo bloco criado contém o hash do bloco anterior, formando uma cadeia contínua de blocos conectados — conhecida como blockchain. Com isso, se alguém tentar alterar qualquer informação em um bloco anterior, o hash desse bloco mudará e não corresponderá ao hash armazenado no bloco seguinte. Essa característica torna a cadeia muito segura, pois qualquer tentativa de fraude seria imediatamente detectada. O sistema de timestamps é essencial para provar a ordem cronológica das transações e garantir que cada uma delas seja única e autêntica. Dessa forma, ele reforça a segurança e a confiança na rede Bitcoin. --- ### 4. Prova-de-Trabalho Para implementar o registro de tempo distribuído no sistema Bitcoin, utilizamos um mecanismo chamado prova-de-trabalho. Esse sistema é semelhante ao Hashcash, desenvolvido por Adam Back, e baseia-se na criação de um código único, o "hash", por meio de um processo computacionalmente exigente. A prova-de-trabalho envolve encontrar um valor especial que, quando processado junto com as informações do bloco, gere um hash que comece com uma quantidade específica de zeros. Esse valor especial é chamado de "nonce". Encontrar o nonce correto exige um esforço significativo do computador, porque envolve tentativas repetidas até que a condição seja satisfeita. Esse processo é importante porque torna extremamente difícil alterar qualquer informação registrada em um bloco. Se alguém tentar mudar algo em um bloco, seria necessário refazer o trabalho de computação não apenas para aquele bloco, mas também para todos os blocos que vêm depois dele. Isso garante a segurança e a imutabilidade da blockchain. A prova-de-trabalho também resolve o problema de decidir qual cadeia de blocos é a válida quando há múltiplas cadeias competindo. A decisão é feita pela cadeia mais longa, pois ela representa o maior esforço computacional já realizado. Isso impede que qualquer indivíduo ou grupo controle a rede, desde que a maioria do poder de processamento seja mantida por participantes honestos. Para garantir que o sistema permaneça eficiente e equilibrado, a dificuldade da prova-de-trabalho é ajustada automaticamente ao longo do tempo. Se novos blocos estiverem sendo gerados rapidamente, a dificuldade aumenta; se estiverem sendo gerados muito lentamente, a dificuldade diminui. Esse ajuste assegura que novos blocos sejam criados aproximadamente a cada 10 minutos, mantendo o sistema estável e funcional. --- ### 5. Rede A rede Bitcoin é o coração do sistema e funciona de maneira distribuída, conectando vários participantes (ou nós) para garantir o registro e a validação das transações. Os passos para operar essa rede são: 1. **Transmissão de Transações**: Quando alguém realiza uma nova transação, ela é enviada para todos os nós da rede. Isso é feito para garantir que todos estejam cientes da operação e possam validá-la. 2. **Coleta de Transações em Blocos**: Cada nó agrupa as novas transações recebidas em um "bloco". Este bloco será preparado para ser adicionado à cadeia de blocos (a blockchain). 3. **Prova-de-Trabalho**: Os nós competem para resolver a prova-de-trabalho do bloco, utilizando poder computacional para encontrar um hash válido. Esse processo é como resolver um quebra-cabeça matemático difícil. 4. **Envio do Bloco Resolvido**: Quando um nó encontra a solução para o bloco (a prova-de-trabalho), ele compartilha esse bloco com todos os outros nós na rede. 5. **Validação do Bloco**: Cada nó verifica o bloco recebido para garantir que todas as transações nele contidas sejam válidas e que nenhuma moeda tenha sido gasta duas vezes. Apenas blocos válidos são aceitos. 6. **Construção do Próximo Bloco**: Os nós que aceitaram o bloco começam a trabalhar na criação do próximo bloco, utilizando o hash do bloco aceito como base (hash anterior). Isso mantém a continuidade da cadeia. #### Resolução de Conflitos e Escolha da Cadeia Mais Longa Os nós sempre priorizam a cadeia mais longa, pois ela representa o maior esforço computacional já realizado, garantindo maior segurança. Se dois blocos diferentes forem compartilhados simultaneamente, os nós trabalharão no primeiro bloco recebido, mas guardarão o outro como uma alternativa. Caso o segundo bloco eventualmente forme uma cadeia mais longa (ou seja, tenha mais blocos subsequentes), os nós mudarão para essa nova cadeia. #### Tolerância a Falhas A rede é robusta e pode lidar com mensagens que não chegam a todos os nós. Uma transação não precisa alcançar todos os nós de imediato; basta que chegue a um número suficiente deles para ser incluída em um bloco. Da mesma forma, se um nó não receber um bloco em tempo hábil, ele pode solicitá-lo ao perceber que está faltando quando o próximo bloco é recebido. Esse mecanismo descentralizado permite que a rede Bitcoin funcione de maneira segura, confiável e resiliente, sem depender de uma autoridade central. --- ### 6. Incentivo O incentivo é um dos pilares fundamentais que sustenta o funcionamento da rede Bitcoin, garantindo que os participantes (nós) continuem operando de forma honesta e contribuindo com recursos computacionais. Ele é estruturado em duas partes principais: a recompensa por mineração e as taxas de transação. #### Recompensa por Mineração Por convenção, o primeiro registro em cada bloco é uma transação especial que cria novas moedas e as atribui ao criador do bloco. Essa recompensa incentiva os mineradores a dedicarem poder computacional para apoiar a rede. Como não há uma autoridade central para emitir moedas, essa é a maneira pela qual novas moedas entram em circulação. Esse processo pode ser comparado ao trabalho de garimpeiros, que utilizam recursos para colocar mais ouro em circulação. No caso do Bitcoin, o "recurso" consiste no tempo de CPU e na energia elétrica consumida para resolver a prova-de-trabalho. #### Taxas de Transação Além da recompensa por mineração, os mineradores também podem ser incentivados pelas taxas de transação. Se uma transação utiliza menos valor de saída do que o valor de entrada, a diferença é tratada como uma taxa, que é adicionada à recompensa do bloco contendo essa transação. Com o passar do tempo e à medida que o número de moedas em circulação atinge o limite predeterminado, essas taxas de transação se tornam a principal fonte de incentivo, substituindo gradualmente a emissão de novas moedas. Isso permite que o sistema opere sem inflação, uma vez que o número total de moedas permanece fixo. #### Incentivo à Honestidade O design do incentivo também busca garantir que os participantes da rede mantenham um comportamento honesto. Para um atacante que consiga reunir mais poder computacional do que o restante da rede, ele enfrentaria duas escolhas: 1. Usar esse poder para fraudar o sistema, como reverter transações e roubar pagamentos. 2. Seguir as regras do sistema, criando novos blocos e recebendo recompensas legítimas. A lógica econômica favorece a segunda opção, pois um comportamento desonesto prejudicaria a confiança no sistema, diminuindo o valor de todas as moedas, incluindo aquelas que o próprio atacante possui. Jogar dentro das regras não apenas maximiza o retorno financeiro, mas também preserva a validade e a integridade do sistema. Esse mecanismo garante que os incentivos econômicos estejam alinhados com o objetivo de manter a rede segura, descentralizada e funcional ao longo do tempo. --- ### 7. Recuperação do Espaço em Disco Depois que uma moeda passa a estar protegida por muitos blocos na cadeia, as informações sobre as transações antigas que a geraram podem ser descartadas para economizar espaço em disco. Para que isso seja possível sem comprometer a segurança, as transações são organizadas em uma estrutura chamada "árvore de Merkle". Essa árvore funciona como um resumo das transações: em vez de armazenar todas elas, guarda apenas um "hash raiz", que é como uma assinatura compacta que representa todo o grupo de transações. Os blocos antigos podem, então, ser simplificados, removendo as partes desnecessárias dessa árvore. Apenas a raiz do hash precisa ser mantida no cabeçalho do bloco, garantindo que a integridade dos dados seja preservada, mesmo que detalhes específicos sejam descartados. Para exemplificar: imagine que você tenha vários recibos de compra. Em vez de guardar todos os recibos, você cria um documento e lista apenas o valor total de cada um. Mesmo que os recibos originais sejam descartados, ainda é possível verificar a soma com base nos valores armazenados. Além disso, o espaço ocupado pelos blocos em si é muito pequeno. Cada bloco sem transações ocupa apenas cerca de 80 bytes. Isso significa que, mesmo com blocos sendo gerados a cada 10 minutos, o crescimento anual em espaço necessário é insignificante: apenas 4,2 MB por ano. Com a capacidade de armazenamento dos computadores crescendo a cada ano, esse espaço continuará sendo trivial, garantindo que a rede possa operar de forma eficiente sem problemas de armazenamento, mesmo a longo prazo. --- ### 8. Verificação de Pagamento Simplificada É possível confirmar pagamentos sem a necessidade de operar um nó completo da rede. Para isso, o usuário precisa apenas de uma cópia dos cabeçalhos dos blocos da cadeia mais longa (ou seja, a cadeia com maior esforço de trabalho acumulado). Ele pode verificar a validade de uma transação ao consultar os nós da rede até obter a confirmação de que tem a cadeia mais longa. Para isso, utiliza-se o ramo Merkle, que conecta a transação ao bloco em que ela foi registrada. Entretanto, o método simplificado possui limitações: ele não pode confirmar uma transação isoladamente, mas sim assegurar que ela ocupa um lugar específico na cadeia mais longa. Dessa forma, se um nó da rede aprova a transação, os blocos subsequentes reforçam essa aceitação. A verificação simplificada é confiável enquanto a maioria dos nós da rede for honesta. Contudo, ela se torna vulnerável caso a rede seja dominada por um invasor. Nesse cenário, um atacante poderia fabricar transações fraudulentas que enganariam o usuário temporariamente até que o invasor obtivesse controle completo da rede. Uma estratégia para mitigar esse risco é configurar alertas nos softwares de nós completos. Esses alertas identificam blocos inválidos, sugerindo ao usuário baixar o bloco completo para confirmar qualquer inconsistência. Para maior segurança, empresas que realizam pagamentos frequentes podem preferir operar seus próprios nós, reduzindo riscos e permitindo uma verificação mais direta e confiável. --- ### 9. Combinando e Dividindo Valor No sistema Bitcoin, cada unidade de valor é tratada como uma "moeda" individual, mas gerenciar cada centavo como uma transação separada seria impraticável. Para resolver isso, o Bitcoin permite que valores sejam combinados ou divididos em transações, facilitando pagamentos de qualquer valor. #### Entradas e Saídas Cada transação no Bitcoin é composta por: - **Entradas**: Representam os valores recebidos em transações anteriores. - **Saídas**: Correspondem aos valores enviados, divididos entre os destinatários e, eventualmente, o troco para o remetente. Normalmente, uma transação contém: - Uma única entrada com valor suficiente para cobrir o pagamento. - Ou várias entradas combinadas para atingir o valor necessário. O valor total das saídas nunca excede o das entradas, e a diferença (se houver) pode ser retornada ao remetente como **troco**. #### Exemplo Prático Imagine que você tem duas entradas: 1. 0,03 BTC 2. 0,07 BTC Se deseja enviar 0,08 BTC para alguém, a transação terá: - **Entrada**: As duas entradas combinadas (0,03 + 0,07 BTC = 0,10 BTC). - **Saídas**: Uma para o destinatário (0,08 BTC) e outra como troco para você (0,02 BTC). Essa flexibilidade permite que o sistema funcione sem precisar manipular cada unidade mínima individualmente. #### Difusão e Simplificação A difusão de transações, onde uma depende de várias anteriores e assim por diante, não representa um problema. Não é necessário armazenar ou verificar o histórico completo de uma transação para utilizá-la, já que o registro na blockchain garante sua integridade. --- ### 10. Privacidade O modelo bancário tradicional oferece um certo nível de privacidade, limitando o acesso às informações financeiras apenas às partes envolvidas e a um terceiro confiável (como bancos ou instituições financeiras). No entanto, o Bitcoin opera de forma diferente, pois todas as transações são publicamente registradas na blockchain. Apesar disso, a privacidade pode ser mantida utilizando **chaves públicas anônimas**, que desvinculam diretamente as transações das identidades das partes envolvidas. #### Fluxo de Informação - No **modelo tradicional**, as transações passam por um terceiro confiável que conhece tanto o remetente quanto o destinatário. - No **Bitcoin**, as transações são anunciadas publicamente, mas sem revelar diretamente as identidades das partes. Isso é comparável a dados divulgados por bolsas de valores, onde informações como o tempo e o tamanho das negociações (a "fita") são públicas, mas as identidades das partes não. #### Protegendo a Privacidade Para aumentar a privacidade no Bitcoin, são adotadas as seguintes práticas: 1. **Chaves Públicas Anônimas**: Cada transação utiliza um par de chaves diferentes, dificultando a associação com um proprietário único. 2. **Prevenção de Ligação**: Ao usar chaves novas para cada transação, reduz-se a possibilidade de links evidentes entre múltiplas transações realizadas pelo mesmo usuário. #### Riscos de Ligação Embora a privacidade seja fortalecida, alguns riscos permanecem: - Transações **multi-entrada** podem revelar que todas as entradas pertencem ao mesmo proprietário, caso sejam necessárias para somar o valor total. - O proprietário da chave pode ser identificado indiretamente por transações anteriores que estejam conectadas. --- ### 11. Cálculos Imagine que temos um sistema onde as pessoas (ou computadores) competem para adicionar informações novas (blocos) a um grande registro público (a cadeia de blocos ou blockchain). Este registro é como um livro contábil compartilhado, onde todos podem verificar o que está escrito. Agora, vamos pensar em um cenário: um atacante quer enganar o sistema. Ele quer mudar informações já registradas para beneficiar a si mesmo, por exemplo, desfazendo um pagamento que já fez. Para isso, ele precisa criar uma versão alternativa do livro contábil (a cadeia de blocos dele) e convencer todos os outros participantes de que essa versão é a verdadeira. Mas isso é extremamente difícil. #### Como o Ataque Funciona Quando um novo bloco é adicionado à cadeia, ele depende de cálculos complexos que levam tempo e esforço. Esses cálculos são como um grande quebra-cabeça que precisa ser resolvido. - Os “bons jogadores” (nós honestos) estão sempre trabalhando juntos para resolver esses quebra-cabeças e adicionar novos blocos à cadeia verdadeira. - O atacante, por outro lado, precisa resolver quebra-cabeças sozinho, tentando “alcançar” a cadeia honesta para que sua versão alternativa pareça válida. Se a cadeia honesta já está vários blocos à frente, o atacante começa em desvantagem, e o sistema está projetado para que a dificuldade de alcançá-los aumente rapidamente. #### A Corrida Entre Cadeias Você pode imaginar isso como uma corrida. A cada bloco novo que os jogadores honestos adicionam à cadeia verdadeira, eles se distanciam mais do atacante. Para vencer, o atacante teria que resolver os quebra-cabeças mais rápido que todos os outros jogadores honestos juntos. Suponha que: - A rede honesta tem **80% do poder computacional** (ou seja, resolve 8 de cada 10 quebra-cabeças). - O atacante tem **20% do poder computacional** (ou seja, resolve 2 de cada 10 quebra-cabeças). Cada vez que a rede honesta adiciona um bloco, o atacante tem que "correr atrás" e resolver mais quebra-cabeças para alcançar. #### Por Que o Ataque Fica Cada Vez Mais Improvável? Vamos usar uma fórmula simples para mostrar como as chances de sucesso do atacante diminuem conforme ele precisa "alcançar" mais blocos: P = (q/p)^z - **q** é o poder computacional do atacante (20%, ou 0,2). - **p** é o poder computacional da rede honesta (80%, ou 0,8). - **z** é a diferença de blocos entre a cadeia honesta e a cadeia do atacante. Se o atacante está 5 blocos atrás (z = 5): P = (0,2 / 0,8)^5 = (0,25)^5 = 0,00098, (ou, 0,098%) Isso significa que o atacante tem menos de 0,1% de chance de sucesso — ou seja, é muito improvável. Se ele estiver 10 blocos atrás (z = 10): P = (0,2 / 0,8)^10 = (0,25)^10 = 0,000000095, (ou, 0,0000095%). Neste caso, as chances de sucesso são praticamente **nulas**. #### Um Exemplo Simples Se você jogar uma moeda, a chance de cair “cara” é de 50%. Mas se precisar de 10 caras seguidas, sua chance já é bem menor. Se precisar de 20 caras seguidas, é quase impossível. No caso do Bitcoin, o atacante precisa de muito mais do que 20 caras seguidas. Ele precisa resolver quebra-cabeças extremamente difíceis e alcançar os jogadores honestos que estão sempre à frente. Isso faz com que o ataque seja inviável na prática. #### Por Que Tudo Isso é Seguro? - **A probabilidade de sucesso do atacante diminui exponencialmente.** Isso significa que, quanto mais tempo passa, menor é a chance de ele conseguir enganar o sistema. - **A cadeia verdadeira (honesta) está protegida pela força da rede.** Cada novo bloco que os jogadores honestos adicionam à cadeia torna mais difícil para o atacante alcançar. #### E Se o Atacante Tentar Continuar? O atacante poderia continuar tentando indefinidamente, mas ele estaria gastando muito tempo e energia sem conseguir nada. Enquanto isso, os jogadores honestos estão sempre adicionando novos blocos, tornando o trabalho do atacante ainda mais inútil. Assim, o sistema garante que a cadeia verdadeira seja extremamente segura e que ataques sejam, na prática, impossíveis de ter sucesso. --- ### 12. Conclusão Propusemos um sistema de transações eletrônicas que elimina a necessidade de confiança, baseando-se em assinaturas digitais e em uma rede peer-to-peer que utiliza prova de trabalho. Isso resolve o problema do gasto duplo, criando um histórico público de transações imutável, desde que a maioria do poder computacional permaneça sob controle dos participantes honestos. A rede funciona de forma simples e descentralizada, com nós independentes que não precisam de identificação ou coordenação direta. Eles entram e saem livremente, aceitando a cadeia de prova de trabalho como registro do que ocorreu durante sua ausência. As decisões são tomadas por meio do poder de CPU, validando blocos legítimos, estendendo a cadeia e rejeitando os inválidos. Com este mecanismo de consenso, todas as regras e incentivos necessários para o funcionamento seguro e eficiente do sistema são garantidos. --- Faça o download do whitepaper original em português: https://bitcoin.org/files/bitcoin-paper/bitcoin_pt_br.pdf

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

The recent shutdown of TikTok in the United States due to a potential government ban serves as a stark reminder how fragile centralized platforms truly are under the surface. While these platforms offer convenience, a more polished user experience, and connectivity, they are ultimately beholden to governments, corporations, and other authorities. This makes them vulnerable to censorship, regulation, and outright bans. In contrast, Nostr represents a shift in how we approach online communication and content sharing. Built on the principles of decentralization and user choice, Nostr cannot be banned, because it is not a platform—it is a protocol. **PROTOCOLS, NOT PLATFORMS.** At the heart of Nostr's philosophy is **user choice**, a feature that fundamentally sets it apart from legacy platforms. In centralized systems, the user experience is dictated by a single person or governing entity. If the platform decides to filter, censor, or ban specific users or content, individuals are left with little action to rectify the situation. They must either accept the changes or abandon the platform entirely, often at the cost of losing their social connections, their data, and their identity. What's happening with TikTok could never happen on Nostr. With Nostr, the dynamics are completely different. Because it is a protocol, not a platform, no single entity controls the ecosystem. Instead, the protocol enables a network of applications and relays that users can freely choose from. If a particular application or relay implements policies that a user disagrees with, such as censorship, filtering, or even government enforced banning, they are not trapped or abandoned. They have the freedom to move to another application or relay with minimal effort. **THIS IS POWERFUL.** Take, for example, the case of a relay that decides to censor specific content. On a legacy platform, this would result in frustration and a loss of access for users. On Nostr, however, users can simply connect to a different relay that does not impose such restrictions. Similarly, if an application introduces features or policies that users dislike, they can migrate to a different application that better suits their preferences, all while retaining their identity and social connections. The same principles apply to government bans and censorship. A government can ban a specific application or even multiple applications, just as it can block one relay or several relays. China has implemented both tactics, yet Chinese users continue to exist and actively participate on Nostr, demonstrating Nostr's ability to resistant censorship. How? Simply, it turns into a game of whack-a-mole. When one relay is censored, another quickly takes its place. When one application is banned, another emerges. Users can also bypass these obstacles by running their own relays and applications directly from their homes or personal devices, eliminating reliance on larger entities or organizations and ensuring continuous access. **AGAIN, THIS IS POWERUFL.** Nostr's open and decentralized design makes it resistant to the kinds of government intervention that led to TikTok's outages this weekend and potential future ban in the next 90 days. There is no central server to target, no company to regulate, and no single point of failure. (Insert your CEO jokes here). As long as there are individuals running relays and applications, users continue creating notes and sending zaps. Platforms like TikTok can be silenced with the stroke of a pen, leaving millions of users disconnected and abandoned. Social communication should not be silenced so incredibly easily. No one should have that much power over social interactions. Will we on-board a massive wave of TikTokers in the coming hours or days? I don't know. TikTokers may not be ready for Nostr yet, and honestly, Nostr may not be ready for them either. The ecosystem still lacks the completely polished applications, tools, and services they’re accustomed to. This is where we say "we're still early". They may not be early adopters like the current Nostr user base. Until we bridge that gap, they’ll likely move to the next centralized platform, only to face another government ban or round of censorship in the future. But eventually, there will come a tipping point, a moment when they’ve had enough. When that time comes, I hope we’re prepared. If we’re not, we risk missing a tremendous opportunity to onboard people who genuinely need Nostr’s freedom. Until then, to all of the Nostr developers out there, keep up the great work and keep building. Your hard work and determination is needed. ###

@ cff1720e:15c7e2b2

**Einleitung**\ \ Schwierige Dinge einfach zu erklären ist der Anspruch von ELI5 (explain me like I'm 5). Das ist in unserer hoch technisierten Welt dringend erforderlich, denn nur mit dem Verständnis der Technologien können wir sie richtig einsetzen und weiter entwickeln.\ Ich starte meine Serie mit Nostr, einem relativ neuen Internet-Protokoll. Was zum Teufel ist ein Internet-Protokoll? Formal beschrieben sind es internationale Standards, die dafür sorgen, dass das Internet seit über 30 Jahren ziemlich gut funktioniert. Es ist die Sprache, in der sich die Rechner miteinander unterhalten und die auch Sie täglich nutzen, vermutlich ohne es bewusst wahrzunehmen. http(s) transportiert ihre Anfrage an einen Server (z.B. Amazon), und html sorgt dafür, dass aus den gelieferten Daten eine schöne Seite auf ihrem Bildschirm entsteht. Eine Mail wird mit smtp an den Mailserver gesendet und mit imap von ihm abgerufen, und da alle den Standard verwenden, funktioniert das mit jeder App auf jedem Betriebssystem und mit jedem Mail-Provider. Und mit einer Mail-Adresse wie <roland@pareto.space> können sie sogar jederzeit umziehen, egal wohin. **Cool, das ist state of the art!** Aber warum funktioniert das z.B. bei Chat nicht, gibt es da kein Protokoll? Doch, es heißt IRC (Internet Relay Chat → merken sie sich den Namen), aber es wird so gut wie nicht verwendet. Die Gründe dafür sind nicht technischer Natur, vielmehr wurden mit Apps wie Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, TikTok u.a. bewusst Inkompatibilitäten und Nutzerabhängigkeiten geschaffen um Profite zu maximieren.  **Warum Nostr?** Da das Standard-Protokoll nicht genutzt wird, hat jede App ihr eigenes, und wir brauchen eine handvoll Apps um uns mit allen Bekannten auszutauschen. Eine Mobilfunknummer ist Voraussetzung für jedes Konto, damit können die App-Hersteller die Nutzer umfassend tracken und mit dem Verkauf der Informationen bis zu 30 USD je Konto und Monat verdienen. Der Nutzer ist nicht mehr Kunde, er ist das Produkt! Der Werbe-SPAM ist noch das kleinste Problem bei diesem Geschäftsmodell. Server mit Millionen von Nutzerdaten sind ein “honey pot”, dementsprechend oft werden sie gehackt und die Zugangsdaten verkauft. 2024 wurde auch der Twitter-Account vom damaligen Präsidenten Joe Biden gehackt, niemand wusste mehr wer die Nachrichten verfasst hat (vorher auch nicht), d.h. die Authentizität der Inhalte ist bei keinem dieser Anbieter gewährleistet. Im selben Jahr wurde der Telegram-Gründer in Frankreich in Beugehaft genommen, weil er sich geweigert hatte Hintertüren in seine Software einzubauen. Nun kann zum Schutz **"unserer Demokratie”** praktisch jeder mitlesen, was sie mit wem an Informationen austauschen, z.B. darüber welches Shampoo bestimmte Politiker verwenden.   Und wer tatsächlich glaubt er könne Meinungsfreiheit auf sozialen Medien praktizieren, findet sich schnell in der Situation von Donald Trump wieder (seinerzeit amtierender Präsident), dem sein Twitter-Konto 2021 abgeschaltet wurde (Cancel-Culture). Die Nutzerdaten, also ihr Profil, ihre Kontakte, Dokumente, Bilder, Videos und Audiofiles - gehören ihnen ohnehin nicht mehr sondern sind Eigentum des Plattform-Betreibers; lesen sie sich mal die AGB's durch. Aber nein, keine gute Idee, das sind hunderte Seiten und sie werden permanent geändert. Alle nutzen also Apps, deren Technik sie nicht verstehen, deren Regeln sie nicht kennen, wo sie keine Rechte haben und die ihnen die Resultate ihres Handelns stehlen. Was würde wohl der Fünfjährige sagen, wenn ihm seine ältere Schwester anbieten würde, alle seine Spielzeuge zu “verwalten” und dann auszuhändigen wenn er brav ist? “Du spinnst wohl”, und damit beweist der Knirps mehr Vernunft als die Mehrzahl der Erwachsenen. \ \ **Resümee:** keine Standards, keine Daten, keine Rechte = keine Zukunft!  \ **Wie funktioniert Nostr?** Die Entwickler von Nostr haben erkannt dass sich das Server-Client-Konzept in ein Master-Slave-Konzept verwandelt hatte. Der Master ist ein Synonym für Zentralisierung und wird zum **“single point of failure”**, der zwangsläufig Systeme dysfunktional macht. In einem verteilten Peer2Peer-System gibt es keine Master mehr sondern nur gleichberechtigte Knoten (Relays), auf denen die Informationen gespeichert werden. Indem man Informationen auf mehreren Relays redundant speichert, ist das System in jeglicher Hinsicht resilienter. Nicht nur die Natur verwendet dieses Prinzip seit Jahrmillionen erfolgreich, auch das Internet wurde so konzipiert (das ARPAnet wurde vom US-Militär für den Einsatz in Kriegsfällen unter massiven Störungen entwickelt). Alle Nostr-Daten liegen auf Relays und der Nutzer kann wählen zwischen öffentlichen (zumeist kostenlosen) und privaten Relays, z.B. für geschlossene Gruppen oder zum Zwecke von Daten-Archivierung. Da Dokumente auf mehreren Relays gespeichert sind, werden statt URL's (Locator) eindeutige Dokumentnamen (URI's = Identifier) verwendet, broken Links sind damit Vergangenheit und Löschungen / Verluste ebenfalls.\ \ Jedes Dokument (Event genannt) wird vom Besitzer signiert, es ist damit authentisch und fälschungssicher und kann nur vom Ersteller gelöscht werden. Dafür wird ein Schlüsselpaar verwendet bestehend aus privatem (nsec) und öffentlichem Schlüssel (npub) wie aus der Mailverschlüsselung (PGP) bekannt. Das repräsentiert eine Nostr-Identität, die um Bild, Namen, Bio und eine lesbare Nostr-Adresse ergänzt werden kann (z.B. <roland@pareto.space> ), mehr braucht es nicht um alle Ressourcen des Nostr-Ökosystems zu nutzen. Und das besteht inzwischen aus über hundert Apps mit unterschiedlichen Fokussierungen, z.B. für persönliche verschlüsselte Nachrichten (DM → OxChat), Kurznachrichten (Damus, Primal), Blogbeiträge (Pareto), Meetups (Joinstr), Gruppen (Groups), Bilder (Olas), Videos (Amethyst), Audio-Chat (Nostr Nests), Audio-Streams (Tunestr), Video-Streams (Zap.Stream), Marktplätze (Shopstr) u.v.a.m. Die Anmeldung erfolgt mit einem Klick (single sign on) und den Apps stehen ALLE Nutzerdaten zur Verfügung (Profil, Daten, Kontakte, Social Graph → Follower, Bookmarks, Comments, etc.), im Gegensatz zu den fragmentierten Datensilos der Gegenwart.\ \ **Resümee:** ein offener Standard, alle Daten, alle Rechte = große Zukunft!  \ **Warum ist Nostr die Zukunft des Internet?** “Baue Dein Haus nicht auf einem fremden Grundstück” gilt auch im Internet - für alle App-Entwickler, Künstler, Journalisten und Nutzer, denn auch ihre Daten sind werthaltig. Nostr garantiert das Eigentum an den Daten, und überwindet ihre Fragmentierung. Weder die Nutzung noch die kreativen Freiheiten werden durch maßlose Lizenz- und Nutzungsbedingungen eingeschränkt. Aus passiven Nutzern werden durch Interaktion aktive Teilnehmer, Co-Creatoren in einer Sharing-Ökonomie **(Value4Value)**. OpenSource schafft endlich wieder Vertrauen in die Software und ihre Anbieter. Offene Standards ermöglichen den Entwicklern mehr Kooperation und schnellere Entwicklung, für die Anwender garantieren sie Wahlfreiheit. Womit wir letztmalig zu unserem Fünfjährigen zurückkehren. Kinder lieben Lego über alles, am meisten die Maxi-Box “Classic”, weil sie damit ihre Phantasie im Kombinieren voll ausleben können. Erwachsene schenken ihnen dann die viel zu teuren Themenpakete, mit denen man nur eine Lösung nach Anleitung bauen kann. “Was stimmt nur mit meinen Eltern nicht, wann sind die denn falsch abgebogen?" fragt sich der Nachwuchs zu Recht. Das Image lässt sich aber wieder aufpolieren, wenn sie ihren Kindern Nostr zeigen, denn die Vorteile verstehen sogar Fünfjährige.  \ **Das neue Internet ist dezentral. Das neue Internet ist selbstbestimmt. Nostr ist das neue Internet.** <https://nostr.net/> \ <https://start.njump.me/> **Hier das Interview zum Thema mit Radio Berliner Morgenröte** <https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-yxc36-17bb4be>

@ 9e69e420:d12360c2

A new report from the National Sports Shooting Foundation (NSSF) shows that civilian firearm possession exceeded 490 million in 2022. The total from 1990 to 2022 is estimated at 491.3 million firearms. In 2022, over ten million firearms were domestically produced, leading to a total of 16,045,911 firearms available in the U.S. market. Of these, 9,873,136 were handguns, 4,195,192 were rifles, and 1,977,583 were shotguns. Handgun availability aligns with the concealed carry and self-defense market, as all states allow concealed carry, with 29 having constitutional carry laws.

@ 6389be64:ef439d32

## Black Locust can grow up to 170 ft tall ## Grows 3-4 ft. per year ## Native to North America ## Cold hardy in zones 3 to 8  ## Firewood - BLT wood, on a pound for pound basis is roughly half that of Anthracite Coal - Since its growth is fast, firewood can be plentiful ## Timber  - Rot resistant due to a naturally produced robinin in the wood - 100 year life span in full soil contact! (better than cedar performance) - Fence posts - Outdoor furniture - Outdoor decking - Sustainable due to its fast growth and spread - Can be coppiced (cut to the ground) - Can be pollarded (cut above ground) - Its dense wood makes durable tool handles, boxes (tool), and furniture - The wood is tougher than hickory, which is tougher than hard maple, which is tougher than oak. -  A very low rate of expansion and contraction - Hardwood flooring - The highest tensile beam strength of any American tree - The wood is beautiful ## Legume - Nitrogen fixer - Fixes the same amount of nitrogen per acre as is needed for 200-bushel/acre corn - Black walnuts inter-planted with locust as “nurse” trees were shown to rapidly increase their growth [[Clark, Paul M., and Robert D. Williams. (1978) Black walnut growth increased when interplanted with nitrogen-fixing shrubs and trees. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science, vol. 88, pp. 88-91.]] ## Bees  - The edible flower clusters are also a top food source for honey bees ## Shade Provider  - Its light, airy overstory provides dappled shade - Planted on the west side of a garden it provides relief during the hottest part of the day - (nitrogen provider) - Planted on the west side of a house, its quick growth soon shades that side from the sun ## Wind-break  - Fast growth plus it's feathery foliage reduces wind for animals, crops, and shelters ## Fodder - Over 20% crude protein - 4.1 kcal/g of energy - Baertsche, S.R, M.T. Yokoyama, and J.W. Hanover (1986) Short rotation, hardwood tree biomass as potential ruminant feed-chemical composition, nylon bag ruminal degradation and ensilement of selected species. J. Animal Sci. 63 2028-2043

@ 06639a38:655f8f71

A while back I shared this note via Nostr: [https://njump.me/a0da4693dc761c649e46606ba4cc11cd05afbed2d7c763775d7ba29a473cbed3](https://njump.me/a0da4693dc761c649e46606ba4cc11cd05afbed2d7c763775d7ba29a473cbed3) > I feel I need to ventilate some things I'm struggling with. As a indiepreneur I don't have many professionals around me with who I can share my daily struggles which I'm handling now. I'm aware it's a sort of a luxury position where the current fricton is coming from. It's because I've said too much yes to some responsabilties. I'm managing 4 client (Drupal) projects at this moment and all of them are asking for decent amount of my attention. Integrating new features, updating existing features, questions how things work, bugfixes etc. Normally their demand of them is steady. But as always, at the end of the year things are stacking up. It's no surprise that you can't manage their demands so it's the expection of my output to them I have to manage. It's the output I create for the value I deliver. Especially one project is getting all of my attention because I'm building a complete new commerce rental system with Drupal for campers. There is a deadline involved there, I've one month left to build it and have it tested.   > For me it's very challenging to manage those expectations and basicly saying no to things in a friendly way. But offcourse, this also takes time... > > With this said, there is another project which is not actively demanding anything from me (it's not a kind of a customer client): Nostr-PHP. My work pace on this project is lacking, but it's the damn thing I love the most to work on 💜 > > So what is this? What do I feel? > It feels like cognitive dissonation. If I follow my intrinsic motivation I can work on Nostr-PHP and other Nostr stuff for whole days. If I follow my ratio, it's all the client work what has to be done (and is mostly also paying the bills). > > Anyway, now I ventilated this it's time to go back building stuff ⚒️ ⚒️ ⚒️ > One thing I know of myself is that when the pressure is really high, I'm able to finish stuff rapidly for a short period of time.  Since then I made quite some hours on one specific project building out a commerce rental platform with Drupal. Progress is made and I'm already quite proud on the achievements there. Also the client is happy with the results so far. As things evolve and are being tested, new insights popup which result in adjustments in the features made and the wishlist of new features grow. To me that's natural if you're building a custom solution. But this doesn't change the challenge I mentioned earlier, managing expections and decide to what I will spent my attention to.  With that said, the development for Nostr-PHP library pretty much halted since december. So I decided to ask OpenSats to pause my grant for 3 months, so I can finish up the client-work without guilty feelings. My plan is to pick up the development again around March.  At last, let me sum up the the things I've done in week 48 and 49 in 2024: **Nostr-PHP** * Release 1.5.1 [https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/releases/tag/1.5.1](https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/releases/tag/1.5.1) * Thanks for this compliment Prolic (developer of Flutr) [https://njump.me/nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzqwuvj7hf9phszffuf7ydgtgkapvv0jf9zw4l9uuz2xhlwy63f08xqy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qg4waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxummnw3ezucn89uqzp94nzvmh7nlh3qte8g4g2kz075pqy6gz837y0emeqc9m8l4dlpl672l3gr](https://njump.me/nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzqwuvj7hf9phszffuf7ydgtgkapvv0jf9zw4l9uuz2xhlwy63f08xqy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qg4waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxummnw3ezucn89uqzp94nzvmh7nlh3qte8g4g2kz075pqy6gz837y0emeqc9m8l4dlpl672l3gr) * Collaboration efforts on encoding / decoding TLV entries in NIP-19: [https://njump.me/nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzqpnrnguxe8qszsshvgkvhn6qjzxy7xsvx03rlrtddr62haj4lrm3qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qghwaehxw309aex2mrp0yhxummnw3ezucnpdejz7qpqxh039ng4nr2w5q6np5gzhpfjjgxd4gtkraxeuv9ew5sve7pytawq8l5dzr](https://njump.me/nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzqpnrnguxe8qszsshvgkvhn6qjzxy7xsvx03rlrtddr62haj4lrm3qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qghwaehxw309aex2mrp0yhxummnw3ezucnpdejz7qpqxh039ng4nr2w5q6np5gzhpfjjgxd4gtkraxeuv9ew5sve7pytawq8l5dzr) * Working on a fix for a lib\_gmp issue with the latest PHP releases: * [https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/71](https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/71) * [https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/issues/75](https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/issues/75) * [https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/76](https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/76) * Merged [https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/76](https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/76) and created a `1.5.2` release with this change * [https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/releases/tag/1.5.2](https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/releases/tag/1.5.2) **Other stuff** * Wrote and published my second 90-days progress report for OpenSats. [https://nostrver.se/blog/nostr-php-helper-library-90-day-opensats-report-2](https://nostrver.se/blog/nostr-php-helper-library-90-day-opensats-report-2)

@ 1bda7e1f:bb97c4d9

### Tldr - Nostr is an open and interoperable protocol - You can integrate it with workflow automation tools to augment your experience - n8n is a great low/no-code workflow automation tool which you can host yourself - Nostrobots allows you to integrate Nostr into n8n - In this blog I create some workflow automations for Nostr - A simple form to delegate posting notes - Push notifications for mentions on multiple accounts - Push notifications for your favourite accounts when they post a note - All workflows are provided as open source with MIT license for you to use ### Inter-op All The Things Nostr is a new open social protocol for the internet. This open nature exciting because of the opportunities for interoperability with other technologies. In [Using NFC Cards with Nostr]() I explored the `nostr:` URI to launch Nostr clients from a card tap. The interoperability of Nostr doesn't stop there. The internet has many super-powers, and Nostr is open to all of them. Simply, there's no one to stop it. There is no one in charge, there are no permissioned APIs, and there are no risks of being de-platformed. If you can imagine technologies that would work well with Nostr, then any and all of them can ride on or alongside Nostr rails. My mental model for why this is special is Google Wave ~2010. Google Wave was to be the next big platform. Lars was running it and had a big track record from Maps. I was excited for it. Then, Google pulled the plug. And, immediately all the time and capital invested in understanding and building on the platform was wasted. This cannot happen to Nostr, as there is no one to pull the plug, and maybe even no plug to pull. So long as users demand Nostr, Nostr will exist, and that is a pretty strong guarantee. It makes it worthwhile to invest in bringing Nostr into our other applications. All we need are simple ways to plug things together. ### Nostr and Workflow Automation Workflow automation is about helping people to streamline their work. As a user, the most common way I achieve this is by connecting disparate systems together. By setting up one system to trigger another or to move data between systems, I can solve for many different problems and become way more effective. #### n8n for workflow automation Many workflow automation tools exist. My favourite is [n8n](https://n8n.io/). n8n is a low/no-code workflow automation platform which allows you to build all kinds of workflows. You can use it for free, you can self-host it, it has a user-friendly UI and useful API. Vs Zapier it can be far more elaborate. Vs Make.com I find it to be more intuitive in how it abstracts away the right parts of the code, but still allows you to code when you need to. Most importantly you can plug anything into n8n: You have built-in nodes for specific applications. HTTP nodes for any other API-based service. And community nodes built by individual community members for any other purpose you can imagine. #### Eating my own dogfood It's very clear to me that there is a big design space here just demanding to be explored. If you could integrate Nostr with anything, what would you do? In my view the best way for anyone to start anything is by solving their own problem first (aka "scratching your own itch" and "eating your own dogfood"). As I get deeper into Nostr I find myself controlling multiple Npubs – to date I have a personal Npub, a brand Npub for a community I am helping, an AI assistant Npub, and various testing Npubs. I need ways to delegate access to those Npubs without handing over the keys, ways to know if they're mentioned, and ways to know if they're posting. I can build workflows with n8n to solve these issues for myself to start with, and keep expanding from there as new needs come up. ### Running n8n with Nostrobots I am mostly non-technical with a very helpful AI. To set up n8n to work with Nostr and operate these workflows should be possible for anyone with basic technology skills. - I have a cheap VPS which currently runs my [HAVEN Nostr Relay](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/8ca68889/) and [Albyhub Lightning Node](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/setting-up-payments-on-nostr-7o6ls7/) in Docker containers, - My objective was to set up n8n to run alongside these in a separate Docker container on the same server, install the required nodes, and then build and host my workflows. #### Installing n8n Self-hosting n8n could not be easier. I followed n8n's [Docker-Compose installation docs](https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/installation/server-setups/docker-compose/)– - Install Docker and Docker-Compose if you haven't already, - Create your ``docker-compose.yml`` and `.env` files from the docs, - Create your data folder `sudo docker volume create n8n_data`, - Start your container with `sudo docker compose up -d`, - Your n8n instance should be online at port `5678`. n8n is free to self-host but does require a license. Enter your credentials into n8n to get your free license key. You should now have access to the Workflow dashboard and can create and host any kind of workflows from there. #### Installing Nostrobots To integrate n8n nicely with Nostr, I used the [Nostrobots](https://github.com/ocknamo/n8n-nodes-nostrobots?tab=readme-ov-file) community node by [Ocknamo](nostr:npub1y6aja0kkc4fdvuxgqjcdv4fx0v7xv2epuqnddey2eyaxquznp9vq0tp75l). In n8n parlance a "node" enables certain functionality as a step in a workflow e.g. a "set" node sets a variable, a "send email" node sends an email. n8n comes with all kinds of "official" nodes installed by default, and Nostr is not amongst them. However, n8n also comes with a framework for community members to create their own "community" nodes, which is where Nostrobots comes in. You can only use a community node in a self-hosted n8n instance (which is what you have if you are running in Docker on your own server, but this limitation does prevent you from using n8n's own hosted alternative). To install a community node, [see n8n community node docs](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/community-nodes/installation/gui-install/). From your workflow dashboard– - Click the "..." in the bottom left corner beside your username, and click "settings", - Cilck "community nodes" left sidebar, - Click "Install", - Enter the "npm Package Name" which is `n8n-nodes-nostrobots`, - Accept the risks and click "Install", - Nostrobots is now added to your n8n instance. #### Using Nostrobots Nostrobots gives you nodes to help you build Nostr-integrated workflows– - **Nostr Write** – for posting Notes to the Nostr network, - **Nostr Read** – for reading Notes from the Nostr network, and - **Nostr Utils** – for performing certain conversions you may need (e.g. from bech32 to hex). Nostrobots has [good documentation](https://github.com/ocknamo/n8n-nodes-nostrobots?tab=readme-ov-file) on each node which focuses on simple use cases. Each node has a "convenience mode" by default. For example, the "Read" Node by default will fetch Kind 1 notes by a simple filter, in Nostrobots parlance a "Strategy". For example, with Strategy set to "Mention" the node will accept a pubkey and fetch all Kind 1 notes that Mention the pubkey within a time period. This is very good for quick use. What wasn't clear to me initially (until Ocknamo helped me out) is that advanced use cases are also possible. Each node also has an advanced mode. For example, the "Read" Node can have "Strategy" set to "RawFilter(advanced)". Now the node will accept json (anything you like that complies with [NIP-01](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/01.md)). You can use this to query Notes (Kind 1) as above, and also Profiles (Kind 0), Follow Lists (Kind 3), Reactions (Kind 7), Zaps (Kind 9734/9735), and anything else you can think of. #### Creating and adding workflows With n8n and Nostrobots installed, you can now create or add any kind of Nostr Workflow Automation. - Click "Add workflow" to go to the workflow builder screen, - If you would like to build your own workflow, you can start with adding any node. Click "+" and see what is available. Type "Nostr" to explore the Nostrobots nodes you have added, - If you would like to add workflows that someone else has built, click "..." in the top right. Then click "import from URL" and paste in the URL of any workflow you would like to use (including the ones I share later in this article). ### Nostr Workflow Automations It's time to build some things! #### A simple form to post a note to Nostr I started very simply. I needed to delegate the ability to post to Npubs that I own in order that a (future) team can test things for me. I don't want to worry about managing or training those people on how to use keys, and I want to revoke access easily. I needed a basic form with credentials that posted a Note. For this I can use a very simple workflow– - **A n8n Form node** – Creates a form for users to enter the note they wish to post. Allows for the form to be protected by a username and password. This node is the workflow "trigger" so that the workflow runs each time the form is submitted. - **A Set node** – Allows me to set some variables, in this case I set the relays that I intend to use. I typically add a Set node immediately following the trigger node, and put all the variables I need in this. It helps to make the workflows easier to update and maintain. - **A Nostr Write node** (from Nostrobots) – Writes a Kind-1 note to the Nostr network. It accepts Nostr credentials, the output of the Form node, and the relays from the Set node, and posts the Note to those relays. Once the workflow is built, you can test it with the testing form URL, and set it to "Active" to use the production form URL. That's it. You can now give posting access to anyone for any Npub. To revoke access, simply change the credentials or set to workflow to "Inactive". It may also be the world's simplest Nostr client. You can find the [Nostr Form to Post a Note workflow here](https://github.com/r0d8lsh0p/nostr-n8n/blob/main/Nostr_Form_to_Post_a_Note.json). #### Push notifications on mentions and new notes One of the things Nostr is not very good at is push notifications. Furthermore I have some unique itches to scratch. I want– - **To make sure I never miss a note addressed to any of my Npubs** – For this I want a push notification any time any Nostr user mentions any of my Npubs, - **To make sure I always see all notes from key accounts** – For this I need a push notification any time any of my Npubs post any Notes to the network, - **To get these notifications on all of my devices** – Not just my phone where my Nostr regular client lives, but also on each of my laptops to suit wherever I am working that day. I needed to build a Nostr push notifications solution. To build this workflow I had to string a few ideas together– - **Triggering the node on a schedule** – Nostrobots does not include a trigger node. As every workflow starts with a trigger we needed a different method. I elected to run the workflow on a schedule of every 10-minutes. Frequent enough to see Notes while they are hot, but infrequent enough to not burden public relays or get rate-limited, - **Storing a list of Npubs in a Nostr list** – I needed a way to store the list of Npubs that trigger my notifications. I initially used an array defined in the workflow, this worked fine. Then I decided to try Nostr lists ([NIP-51, kind 30000](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/51.md)). By defining my list of Npubs as a list published to Nostr I can control my list from within a Nostr client (e.g. [Listr.lol](https://listr.lol/npub1r0d8u8mnj6769500nypnm28a9hpk9qg8jr0ehe30tygr3wuhcnvs4rfsft) or [Nostrudel.ninja](https://nostrudel.ninja/#/lists)). Not only does this "just work", but because it's based on Nostr lists automagically Amethyst client allows me to browse that list as a Feed, and everyone I add gets notified in their Mentions, - **Using specific relays** – I needed to query the right relays, including my own HAVEN relay inbox for notes addressed to me, and wss://purplepag.es for Nostr profile metadata, - **Querying Nostr events** (with Nostrobots) – I needed to make use of many different Nostr queries and use quite a wide range of what Nostrobots can do– - I read the EventID of my Kind 30000 list, to return the desired pubkeys, - For notifications on mentions, I read all Kind 1 notes that mention that pubkey, - For notifications on new notes, I read all Kind 1 notes published by that pubkey, - Where there are notes, I read the Kind 0 profile metadata event of that pubkey to get the displayName of the relevant Npub, - I transform the EventID into a Nevent to help clients find it. - **Using the Nostr URI** – As I did with my NFC card article, I created a link with the `nostr:` URI prefix so that my phone's native client opens the link by default, - **Push notifications solution** – I needed a push notifications solution. I found many with n8n integrations and chose to go with [Pushover](https://pushover.net/) which supports all my devices, has a free trial, and is unfairly cheap with a $5-per-device perpetual license. Once the workflow was built, lists published, and Pushover installed on my phone, I was fully set up with push notifications on Nostr. I have used these workflows for several weeks now and made various tweaks as I went. They are feeling robust and I'd welcome you to give them a go. You can find the [Nostr Push Notification If Mentioned here](https://github.com/r0d8lsh0p/nostr-n8n/blob/main/Nostr_Push_Notify_If_Mentioned.json) and [If Posts a Note here](https://github.com/r0d8lsh0p/nostr-n8n/blob/main/Nostr_Push_Notify_If_Post_a_Note.json). In speaking with other Nostr users while I was building this, there are all kind of other needs for push notifications too – like on replies to a certain bookmarked note, or when a followed Npub starts streaming on zap.stream. These are all possible. #### Use my workflows I have open sourced all my workflows at my [Github](https://github.com/r0d8lsh0p/nostr-n8n) with MIT license and tried to write complete docs, so that you can import them into your n8n and configure them for your own use. To import any of my workflows– - Click on the workflow of your choice, e.g. "[Nostr_Push_Notify_If_Mentioned.json](https://github.com/r0d8lsh0p/nostr-n8n/blob/main/Nostr_Push_Notify_If_Mentioned.json "Nostr_Push_Notify_If_Mentioned.json")", - Click on the "raw" button to view the raw JSON, ex any Github page layout, - Copy that URL, - Enter that URL in the "import from URL" dialog [mentioned above](#creating-and-adding-workflows). To configure them– - Prerequisites, credentials, and variables are all stated, - In general any variables required are entered into a Set Node that follows the trigger node, - Pushover has some extra setup but is very straightforward and documented in the workflow. ### What next? Over my first four blogs I explored creating a good Nostr setup with [Vanity Npub](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/mining-your-vanity-pubkey-4iupbf/), [Lightning Payments](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/setting-up-payments-on-nostr-7o6ls7/), [Nostr Addresses at Your Domain](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/ee8a46bc/), and [Personal Nostr Relay](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/8ca68889/). Then in my latest two blogs I explored different types of interoperability [with NFC cards](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/edde8387/) and now n8n Workflow Automation. Thinking ahead n8n can power any kind of interoperability between Nostr and any other legacy technology solution. On my mind as I write this: - Further enhancements to posting and delegating solutions and forms (enhanced UI or different note kinds), - Automated or scheduled posting (such as auto-liking everything [Lyn Alden](nostr:npub1a2cww4kn9wqte4ry70vyfwqyqvpswksna27rtxd8vty6c74era8sdcw83a) posts), - Further enhancements to push notifications, on new and different types of events (such as notifying me when I get a new follower, on replies to certain posts, or when a user starts streaming), - All kinds of bridges, such as bridging notes to and from Telegram, Slack, or Campfire. Or bridging RSS or other event feeds to Nostr, - All kinds of other automation (such as [BlackCoffee](nostr:npub1dqepr0g4t3ahvnjtnxazvws4rkqjpxl854n29wcew8wph0fmw90qlsmmgt) [controlling a coffee machine](https://primal.net/e/note16fzhh5yfc3u4kufx0mck63tsfperdrlpp96am2lmq066cnuqutds8retc3)), - All kinds of AI Assistants and Agents, In fact I have already released an open source workflow for an [AI Assistant](https://primal.net/p/npub1ahjpx53ewavp23g5zj9jgyfrpr8djmgjzg5mpe4xd0z69dqvq0kq2lf353), and will share more about that in my next blog. Please be sure to let me know if you think there's another Nostr topic you'd like to see me tackle. GM Nostr.

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

Here are my predictions for Nostr in 2025: **Decentralization:** The outbox and inbox communication models, sometimes referred to as the Gossip model, will become the standard across the ecosystem. By the end of 2025, all major clients will support these models, providing seamless communication and enhanced decentralization. Clients that do not adopt outbox/inbox by then will be regarded as outdated or legacy systems. **Privacy Standards:** Major clients such as Damus and Primal will move away from NIP-04 DMs, adopting more secure protocol possibilities like NIP-17 or NIP-104. These upgrades will ensure enhanced encryption and metadata protection. Additionally, NIP-104 MLS tools will drive the development of new clients and features, providing users with unprecedented control over the privacy of their communications. **Interoperability:** Nostr's ecosystem will become even more interconnected. Platforms like the Olas image-sharing service will expand into prominent clients such as Primal, Damus, Coracle, and Snort, alongside existing integrations with Amethyst, Nostur, and Nostrudel. Similarly, audio and video tools like Nostr Nests and Zap.stream will gain seamless integration into major clients, enabling easy participation in live events across the ecosystem. **Adoption and Migration:** Inspired by early pioneers like Fountain and Orange Pill App, more platforms will adopt Nostr for authentication, login, and social systems. In 2025, a significant migration from a high-profile application platform with hundreds of thousands of users will transpire, doubling Nostr’s daily activity and establishing it as a cornerstone of decentralized technologies.

@ e97aaffa:2ebd765d

Último dia do ano, momento para tirar o pó da bola de cristal, para fazer reflexões, previsões e desejos para o próximo ano e seguintes. Ano após ano, o Bitcoin evoluiu, foi ultrapassando etapas, tornou-se cada vez mais _mainstream_. Está cada vez mais difícil fazer previsões sobre o Bitcoin, já faltam poucas barreiras a serem ultrapassadas e as que faltam são altamente complexas ou tem um impacto profundo no sistema financeiro ou na sociedade. Estas alterações profundas tem que ser realizadas lentamente, porque uma alteração rápida poderia resultar em consequências terríveis, poderia provocar um retrocesso. # Código do Bitcoin No final de 2025, possivelmente vamos ter um _fork_, as discussões sobre os _covenants_ já estão avançadas, vão acelerar ainda mais. Já existe um consenso relativamente alto, a favor dos _covenants_, só falta decidir que modelo será escolhido. Penso que até ao final do ano será tudo decidido. Depois dos _covenants,_ o próximo foco será para a criptografia post-quantum, que será o maior desafio que o Bitcoin enfrenta. Criar uma criptografia segura e que não coloque a descentralização em causa. Espero muito de Ark, possivelmente a inovação do ano, gostaria de ver o Nostr a furar a bolha bitcoinheira e que o Cashu tivesse mais reconhecimento pelos _bitcoiners_. Espero que surjam avanços significativos no BitVM2 e BitVMX. Não sei o que esperar das layer 2 de Bitcoin, foram a maior desilusão de 2024. Surgiram com muita força, mas pouca coisa saiu do papel, foi uma mão cheia de nada. Uma parte dos projetos caiu na tentação da _shitcoinagem_, na criação de tokens, que tem um único objetivo, enriquecer os devs e os VCs. Se querem ser levados a sério, têm que ser sérios. > “À mulher de César não basta ser honesta, deve parecer honesta” Se querem ter o apoio dos _bitcoiners_, sigam o _ethos_ do Bitcoin. Neste ponto a atitude do pessoal da Ark é exemplar, em vez de andar a chorar no Twitter para mudar o código do Bitcoin, eles colocaram as mãos na massa e criaram o protocolo. É claro que agora está meio “coxo”, funciona com uma _multisig_ ou com os _covenants_ na Liquid. Mas eles estão a criar um produto, vão demonstrar ao mercado que o produto é bom e útil. Com a adoção, a comunidade vai perceber que o Ark necessita dos _covenants_ para melhorar a interoperabilidade e a soberania. É este o pensamento certo, que deveria ser seguido pelos restantes e futuros projetos. É seguir aquele pensamento do J.F. Kennedy: > “Não perguntem o que é que o vosso país pode fazer por vocês, perguntem o que é que vocês podem fazer pelo vosso país” Ou seja, não fiquem à espera que o bitcoin mude, criem primeiro as inovações/tecnologia, ganhem adoção e depois demonstrem que a alteração do código camada base pode melhorar ainda mais o vosso projeto. A necessidade é que vai levar a atualização do código. # Reservas Estratégicas de Bitcoin ## Bancos centrais Com a eleição de Trump, emergiu a ideia de uma Reserva Estratégia de Bitcoin, tornou este conceito _mainstream_. Foi um _pivot_, a partir desse momento, foram enumerados os políticos de todo o mundo a falar sobre o assunto. A Senadora Cynthia Lummis foi mais além e propôs um programa para adicionar 200 mil bitcoins à reserva ao ano, até 1 milhão de Bitcoin. Só que isto está a criar uma enorme expectativa na comunidade, só que pode resultar numa enorme desilusão. Porque no primeiro ano, o Trump em vez de comprar os 200 mil, pode apenas adicionar na reserva, os 198 mil que o Estado já tem em sua posse. Se isto acontecer, possivelmente vai resultar numa forte queda a curto prazo. Na minha opinião os bancos centrais deveriam seguir o exemplo de El Salvador, fazer um DCA diário. Mais que comprar bitcoin, para mim, o mais importante é a criação da Reserva, é colocar o Bitcoin ao mesmo nível do ouro, o impacto para o resto do mundo será tremendo, a teoria dos jogos na sua plenitude. Muitos outros bancos centrais vão ter que comprar, para não ficarem atrás, além disso, vai transmitir uma mensagem à generalidade da população, que o Bitcoin é “afinal é algo seguro, com valor”. Mas não foi Trump que iniciou esta teoria dos jogos, mas sim foi a primeira vítima dela. É o próprio Trump que o admite, que os EUA necessitam da reserva para não ficar atrás da China. Além disso, desde que os EUA utilizaram o dólar como uma arma, com sanção contra a Rússia, surgiram boatos de que a Rússia estaria a utilizar o Bitcoin para transações internacionais. Que foram confirmados recentemente, pelo próprio governo russo. Também há poucos dias, ainda antes deste reconhecimento público, Putin elogiou o Bitcoin, ao reconhecer que “Ninguém pode proibir o bitcoin”, defendendo como uma alternativa ao dólar. A narrativa está a mudar. Já existem alguns países com Bitcoin, mas apenas dois o fizeram conscientemente (El Salvador e Butão), os restantes têm devido a apreensões. Hoje são poucos, mas 2025 será o início de uma corrida pelos bancos centrais. Esta corrida era algo previsível, o que eu não esperava é que acontecesse tão rápido.  ## Empresas A criação de reservas estratégicas não vai ficar apenas pelos bancos centrais, também vai acelerar fortemente nas empresas em 2025.  Mas as empresas não vão seguir a estratégia do Saylor, vão comprar bitcoin sem alavancagem, utilizando apenas os tesouros das empresas, como uma proteção contra a inflação. Eu não sou grande admirador do Saylor, prefiro muito mais, uma estratégia conservadora, sem qualquer alavancagem. Penso que as empresas vão seguir a sugestão da BlackRock, que aconselha um alocações de 1% a 3%. Penso que 2025, ainda não será o ano da entrada das 6 magníficas (excepto Tesla), será sobretudo empresas de pequena e média dimensão. As magníficas ainda tem uma cota muito elevada de _shareholders_ com alguma idade, bastante conservadores, que têm dificuldade em compreender o Bitcoin, foi o que aconteceu recentemente com a Microsoft. Também ainda não será em 2025, talvez 2026, a inclusão nativamente de wallet Bitcoin nos sistema da Apple Pay e da Google Pay. Seria um passo gigante para a adoção a nível mundial. # ETFs Os ETFs para mim são uma incógnita, tenho demasiadas dúvidas, como será 2025. Este ano os _inflows_ foram superiores a 500 mil bitcoins, o IBIT foi o lançamento de ETF mais bem sucedido da história. O sucesso dos ETFs, deve-se a 2 situações que nunca mais se vão repetir. O mercado esteve 10 anos à espera pela aprovação dos ETFs, a procura estava reprimida, isso foi bem notório nos primeiros meses, os _inflows_ foram brutais. Também se beneficiou por ser um mercado novo, não existia _orderbook_ de vendas, não existia um mercado interno, praticamente era só _inflows_. Agora o mercado já estabilizou, a maioria das transações já são entre clientes dos próprios ETFs. Agora só uma pequena percentagem do volume das transações diárias vai resultar em _inflows_ ou _outflows_. Estes dois fenómenos nunca mais se vão repetir, eu não acredito que o número de _inflows_ em BTC supere os número de 2024, em dólares vai superar, mas em btc não acredito que vá superar. Mas em 2025 vão surgir uma infindável quantidade de novos produtos, derivativos, novos ETFs de cestos com outras criptos ou cestos com ativos tradicionais. O bitcoin será adicionado em produtos financeiros já existentes no mercado, as pessoas vão passar a deter bitcoin, sem o saberem. Com o fim da operação ChokePoint 2.0, vai surgir uma nova onda de adoção e de produtos financeiros. Possivelmente vamos ver bancos tradicionais a disponibilizar produtos ou serviços de custódia aos seus clientes. Eu adoraria ver o crescimento da adoção do bitcoin como moeda, só que a regulamentação não vai ajudar nesse processo. # Preço Eu acredito que o topo deste ciclo será alcançado no primeiro semestre, posteriormente haverá uma correção. Mas desta vez, eu acredito que a correção será muito menor que as anteriores, inferior a 50%, esta é a minha expectativa. Espero estar certo. # Stablecoins de dólar Agora saindo um pouco do universo do Bitcoin, acho importante destacar as _stablecoins_. No último ciclo, eu tenho dividido o tempo, entre continuar a estudar o Bitcoin e estudar o sistema financeiro, as suas dinâmicas e o comportamento humano. Isto tem sido o meu foco de reflexão, imaginar a transformação que o mundo vai sofrer devido ao padrão Bitcoin. É uma ilusão acreditar que a transição de um padrão FIAT para um padrão Bitcoin vai ser rápida, vai existir um processo transitório que pode demorar décadas. Com a re-entrada de Trump na Casa Branca, prometendo uma política altamente protecionista, vai provocar uma forte valorização do dólar, consequentemente as restantes moedas do mundo vão derreter. Provocando uma inflação generalizada, gerando uma corrida às _stablecoins_ de dólar nos países com moedas mais fracas. Trump vai ter uma política altamente expansionista, vai exportar dólares para todo o mundo, para financiar a sua própria dívida. A desigualdade entre os pobres e ricos irá crescer fortemente, aumentando a possibilidade de conflitos e revoltas. > “Casa onde não há pão, todos ralham e ninguém tem razão” Será mais lenha, para alimentar a fogueira, vai gravar os conflitos geopolíticos já existentes, ficando as sociedade ainda mais polarizadas. Eu acredito que 2025, vai haver um forte crescimento na adoção das _stablecoins_ de dólares, esse forte crescimento vai agravar o problema sistémico que são as _stablecoins_. Vai ser o início do fim das _stablecoins_, pelo menos, como nós conhecemos hoje em dia. ## Problema sistémico O sistema FIAT não nasceu de um dia para outro, foi algo que foi construído organicamente, ou seja, foi evoluindo ao longo dos anos, sempre que havia um problema/crise, eram criadas novas regras ou novas instituições para minimizar os problemas. Nestes quase 100 anos, desde os acordos de Bretton Woods, a evolução foram tantas, tornaram o sistema financeiro altamente complexo, burocrático e nada eficiente. Na prática é um castelo de cartas construído sobre outro castelo de cartas e que por sua vez, foi construído sobre outro castelo de cartas. As _stablecoins_ são um problema sistémico, devido às suas reservas em dólares e o sistema financeiro não está preparado para manter isso seguro. Com o crescimento das reservas ao longo dos anos, foi se agravando o problema. No início a Tether colocava as reservas em bancos comerciais, mas com o crescimento dos dólares sob gestão, criou um problema nos bancos comerciais, devido à reserva fracionária. Essas enormes reservas da Tether estavam a colocar em risco a própria estabilidade dos bancos. A Tether acabou por mudar de estratégia, optou por outros ativos, preferencialmente por títulos do tesouro/obrigações dos EUA. Só que a Tether continua a crescer e não dá sinais de abrandamento, pelo contrário. Até o próprio mundo cripto, menosprezava a gravidade do problema da Tether/_stablecoins_ para o resto do sistema financeiro, porque o _marketcap_ do cripto ainda é muito pequeno. É verdade que ainda é pequeno, mas a Tether não o é, está no top 20 dos maiores detentores de títulos do tesouros dos EUA e está ao nível dos maiores bancos centrais do mundo. Devido ao seu tamanho, está a preocupar os responsáveis/autoridades/reguladores dos EUA, pode colocar em causa a estabilidade do sistema financeiro global, que está assente nessas obrigações. Os títulos do tesouro dos EUA são o colateral mais utilizado no mundo, tanto por bancos centrais, como por empresas, é a charneira da estabilidade do sistema financeiro. Os títulos do tesouro são um assunto muito sensível. Na recente crise no Japão, do _carry trade_, o Banco Central do Japão tentou minimizar a desvalorização do iene através da venda de títulos dos EUA. Esta operação, obrigou a uma viagem de emergência, da Secretaria do Tesouro dos EUA, Janet Yellen ao Japão, onde disponibilizou liquidez para parar a venda de títulos por parte do Banco Central do Japão. Essa forte venda estava desestabilizando o mercado. Os principais detentores de títulos do tesouros são institucionais, bancos centrais, bancos comerciais, fundo de investimento e gestoras, tudo administrado por gestores altamente qualificados, racionais e que conhecem a complexidade do mercado de obrigações. O mundo cripto é seu oposto, é _naife_ com muita irracionalidade e uma forte pitada de loucura, na sua maioria nem faz a mínima ideia como funciona o sistema financeiro. Essa irracionalidade pode levar a uma “corrida bancária”, como aconteceu com o UST da Luna, que em poucas horas colapsou o projeto. Em termos de escala, a Luna ainda era muito pequena, por isso, o problema ficou circunscrito ao mundo cripto e a empresas ligadas diretamente ao cripto. Só que a Tether é muito diferente, caso exista algum FUD, que obrigue a Tether a desfazer-se de vários biliões ou dezenas de biliões de dólares em títulos num curto espaço de tempo, poderia provocar consequências terríveis em todo o sistema financeiro. A Tether é grande demais, é já um problema sistémico, que vai agravar-se com o crescimento em 2025. Não tenham dúvidas, se existir algum problema, o Tesouro dos EUA vai impedir a venda dos títulos que a Tether tem em sua posse, para salvar o sistema financeiro. O problema é, o que vai fazer a Tether, se ficar sem acesso às venda das reservas, como fará o _redeem_ dos dólares? Como o crescimento do Tether é inevitável, o Tesouro e o FED estão com um grande problema em mãos, o que fazer com o Tether? Mas o problema é que o atual sistema financeiro é como um curto cobertor: Quanto tapas a cabeça, destapas os pés; Ou quando tapas os pés, destapas a cabeça. Ou seja, para resolver o problema da guarda reservas da Tether, vai criar novos problemas, em outros locais do sistema financeiro e assim sucessivamente. ### Conta mestre Uma possível solução seria dar uma conta mestre à Tether, dando o acesso direto a uma conta no FED, semelhante à que todos os bancos comerciais têm. Com isto, a Tether deixaria de necessitar os títulos do tesouro, depositando o dinheiro diretamente no banco central. Só que isto iria criar dois novos problemas, com o Custodia Bank e com o restante sistema bancário. O Custodia Bank luta há vários anos contra o FED, nos tribunais pelo direito a ter licença bancária para um banco com _full-reserves_. O FED recusou sempre esse direito, com a justificativa que esse banco, colocaria em risco toda a estabilidade do sistema bancário existente, ou seja, todos os outros bancos poderiam colapsar. Perante a existência em simultâneo de bancos com reserva fracionária e com _full-reserves_, as pessoas e empresas iriam optar pelo mais seguro. Isso iria provocar uma corrida bancária, levando ao colapso de todos os bancos com reserva fracionária, porque no Custodia Bank, os fundos dos clientes estão 100% garantidos, para qualquer valor. Deixaria de ser necessário limites de fundos de Garantia de Depósitos. Eu concordo com o FED nesse ponto, que os bancos com _full-reserves_ são uma ameaça a existência dos restantes bancos. O que eu discordo do FED, é a origem do problema, o problema não está nos bancos _full-reserves_, mas sim nos que têm reserva fracionária. O FED ao conceder uma conta mestre ao Tether, abre um precedente, o Custodia Bank irá o aproveitar, reclamando pela igualdade de direitos nos tribunais e desta vez, possivelmente ganhará a sua licença. Ainda há um segundo problema, com os restantes bancos comerciais. A Tether passaria a ter direitos similares aos bancos comerciais, mas os deveres seriam muito diferentes. Isto levaria os bancos comerciais aos tribunais para exigir igualdade de tratamento, é uma concorrência desleal. Isto é o bom dos tribunais dos EUA, são independentes e funcionam, mesmo contra o estado. Os bancos comerciais têm custos exorbitantes devido às políticas de _compliance_, como o KYC e AML. Como o governo não vai querer aliviar as regras, logo seria a Tether, a ser obrigada a fazer o _compliance_ dos seus clientes. A obrigação do KYC para ter _stablecoins_ iriam provocar um terramoto no mundo cripto. Assim, é pouco provável que seja a solução para a Tether. ### FED Só resta uma hipótese, ser o próprio FED a controlar e a gerir diretamente as _stablecoins_ de dólar, nacionalizado ou absorvendo as existentes. Seria uma espécie de CBDC. Isto iria provocar um novo problema, um problema diplomático, porque as _stablecoins_ estão a colocar em causa a soberania monetária dos outros países. Atualmente as _stablecoins_ estão um pouco protegidas porque vivem num limbo jurídico, mas a partir do momento que estas são controladas pelo governo americano, tudo muda. Os países vão exigir às autoridades americanas medidas que limitem o uso nos seus respectivos países. Não existe uma solução boa, o sistema FIAT é um castelo de cartas, qualquer carta que se mova, vai provocar um desmoronamento noutro local. As autoridades não poderão adiar mais o problema, terão que o resolver de vez, senão, qualquer dia será tarde demais. Se houver algum problema, vão colocar a responsabilidade no cripto e no Bitcoin. Mas a verdade, a culpa é inteiramente dos políticos, da sua incompetência em resolver os problemas a tempo. Será algo para acompanhar futuramente, mas só para 2026, talvez… É curioso, há uns anos pensava-se que o Bitcoin seria a maior ameaça ao sistema ao FIAT, mas afinal, a maior ameaça aos sistema FIAT é o próprio FIAT(_stablecoins_). A ironia do destino. Isto é como uma corrida, o Bitcoin é aquele atleta que corre ao seu ritmo, umas vezes mais rápido, outras vezes mais lento, mas nunca pára. O FIAT é o atleta que dá tudo desde da partida, corre sempre em velocidade máxima. Só que a vida e o sistema financeiro não é uma prova de 100 metros, mas sim uma maratona. # Europa 2025 será um ano desafiante para todos europeus, sobretudo devido à entrada em vigor da regulamentação (MiCA). Vão começar a sentir na pele a regulamentação, vão agravar-se os problemas com os _compliance_, problemas para comprovar a origem de fundos e outras burocracias. Vai ser lindo. O _Travel Route_ passa a ser obrigatório, os europeus serão obrigados a fazer o KYC nas transações. A _Travel Route_ é uma suposta lei para criar mais transparência, mas prática, é uma lei de controle, de monitorização e para limitar as liberdades individuais dos cidadãos. O MiCA também está a colocar problemas nas _stablecoins_ de Euro, a Tether para já preferiu ficar de fora da europa. O mais ridículo é que as novas regras obrigam os emissores a colocar 30% das reservas em bancos comerciais. Os burocratas europeus não compreendem que isto coloca em risco a estabilidade e a solvência dos próprios bancos, ficam propensos a corridas bancárias. O MiCA vai obrigar a todas as exchanges a estar registadas em solo europeu, ficando vulnerável ao temperamento dos burocratas. Ainda não vai ser em 2025, mas a UE vai impor políticas de controle de capitais, é inevitável, as exchanges serão obrigadas a usar em exclusividade _stablecoins_ de euro, as restantes _stablecoins_ serão deslistadas. Todas estas novas regras do MiCA, são extremamente restritas, não é para garantir mais segurança aos cidadãos europeus, mas sim para garantir mais controle sobre a população. A UE está cada vez mais perto da autocracia, do que da democracia. A minha única esperança no horizonte, é que o sucesso das políticas cripto nos EUA, vai obrigar a UE a recuar e a aligeirar as regras, a teoria dos jogos é implacável. Mas esse recuo, nunca acontecerá em 2025, vai ser um longo período conturbado. # Recessão Os mercados estão todos em máximos históricos, isto não é sustentável por muito tempo, suspeito que no final de 2025 vai acontecer alguma correção nos mercados. A queda só não será maior, porque os bancos centrais vão imprimir dinheiro, muito dinheiro, como se não houvesse amanhã. Vão voltar a resolver os problemas com a injeção de liquidez na economia, é empurrar os problemas com a barriga, em de os resolver. Outra vez o efeito Cantillon. Será um ano muito desafiante a nível político, onde o papel dos políticos será fundamental. A crise política na França e na Alemanha, coloca a UE órfã, sem um comandante ao leme do navio. 2025 estará condicionado pelas eleições na Alemanha, sobretudo no resultado do AfD, que podem colocar em causa a propriedade UE e o euro. Possivelmente, só o fim da guerra poderia minimizar a crise, algo que é muito pouco provável acontecer. Em Portugal, a economia parece que está mais ou menos equilibrada, mas começam a aparecer alguns sinais preocupantes. Os jogos de sorte e azar estão em máximos históricos, batendo o recorde de 2014, época da grande crise, não é um bom sinal, possivelmente já existe algum desespero no ar. A Alemanha é o motor da Europa, quanto espirra, Portugal constipa-se. Além do problema da Alemanha, a Espanha também está à beira de uma crise, são os países que mais influenciam a economia portuguesa. Se existir uma recessão mundial, terá um forte impacto no turismo, que é hoje em dia o principal motor de Portugal. # Brasil Brasil é algo para acompanhar em 2025, sobretudo a nível macro e a nível político. Existe uma possibilidade de uma profunda crise no Brasil, sobretudo na sua moeda. O banco central já anda a queimar as reservas para minimizar a desvalorização do Real.  Sem mudanças profundas nas políticas fiscais, as reservas vão se esgotar. As políticas de controle de capitais são um cenário plausível, será interesse de acompanhar, como o governo irá proceder perante a existência do Bitcoin e _stablecoins_. No Brasil existe um forte adoção, será um bom _case study_, certamente irá repetir-se em outros países num futuro próximo. Os próximos tempos não serão fáceis para os brasileiros, especialmente para os que não têm Bitcoin. # Blockchain Em 2025, possivelmente vamos ver os primeiros passos da BlackRock para criar a primeira bolsa de valores, exclusivamente em _blockchain_. Eu acredito que a BlackRock vai criar uma própria _blockchain_, toda controlada por si, onde estarão os RWAs, para fazer concorrência às tradicionais bolsas de valores. Será algo interessante de acompanhar. ----------- Estas são as minhas previsões, eu escrevi isto muito em cima do joelho, certamente esqueci-me de algumas coisas, se for importante acrescentarei nos comentários. A maioria das previsões só acontecerá após 2025, mas fica aqui a minha opinião. Isto é apenas a minha opinião, **Don’t Trust, Verify**!

@ a1c19849:daacbb52

# Introduction nostr:npub1nj5v9hfxegyuqz4z9vfpgu9lxpgald066wspxadywmhslasuw2gsnyrxzg shared a great thread on X about what the Dutch Noderunners did to push Bitcoin adoption. Since it took him quite some time and he didn’t want to redo it on #nostr I’m happy to share his thread here as well, since it has a lot of cool stuff in it. Here we go: ----------- # Noderunners 2024 Recap by nostr:npub1nj5v9hfxegyuqz4z9vfpgu9lxpgald066wspxadywmhslasuw2gsnyrxzg  > Here it is, the 2024 Noderunners recap! As we are preparing for our annual party on the third day of Christmas I’d like to reflect to all the great stuff we’ve build together to push bitcoin adoption from bottom up. I’m proud we’ve made it this far and we’re just starting! 🔥 We like to come together as often as possible to chat about bitcoin and drink a beer so we started even more meetups. We now do meetups in Roermond, Leiden, Eindhoven, Utrecht, Breda, Friesland, Zaandam. And an occasional party in Arnhem or Den Bosch. Feel free to join us anytime.     > On our meetups and in the wild we meet the most awesome bitcoiners. To show them our respect we honor them by knighting them as an Honorary Noderunner. This year nostr:npub1nw5vdz8sj89y3h3tp7dunx8rhsm2qzfpf8ujq9m8mfvjsjth0uwqs9n2gn nostr:npub13ql75nq8rldygpkjke47y893akh5tglqtqzs6cspancaxktthsusvfqcg7 nostr:npub1cn4t4cd78nm900qc2hhqte5aa8c9njm6qkfzw95tszufwcwtcnsq7g3vle and nostr:npub1uaj9phu5lpxpczm3vaayt46m0yv0pduxzy7z6quwd2uggxue7fmqx9665u joined our ranks! 🧡    > As you can imagine, we were pleasantly surprised when we saw an honorary Noderunner wearing his pin in the courtroom in the case against fAkEtOsHi! Nice to meet again in Amsterdam nostr:npub1qg8j6gdwpxlntlxlkew7eu283wzx7hmj32esch42hntdpqdgrslqv024kw !    > The Bitcoin conference in Amsterdam was full of Noderunners. On and off stage. On stage we had nostr:npub1jqs0u7zhh53e94gyhm4eu458wm6sw7z0kk66jjhhkhh346tcq2ysfgr247 nostr:npub1h0fd5xu8rfhwdkkjr78ssdhm7rdjyf97hhjqr9acwv77ux0uvf8q23kvcg nostr:npub17tyke9lkgxd98ruyeul6wt3pj3s9uxzgp9hxu5tsenjmweue6sqq4y3mgl Tom Lamoen and others.     > In the panel there was nostr:npub1art8cs66ffvnqns5zs5qa9fwlctmusj5lj38j94lv0ulw0j54wjqhpm0w5 who [asked a cheeky question… 🤓](https://yakihonne.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/a1c1984994512025327f52c7b6d3a1434a37fbb7a318380cab4832f8daacbb52/files/1735554589353-YAKIHONNES3.mp4) He wrote the awesome “The Genesis Book” in which he describes the people and technology that led to the birth of bitcoin. Hope to see you 3kd Aaron! > Proof of work is the thing Noderunners value the most. We do the work on and offline. In Amsterdam we had several projects to display! Of course [the BitcoinTaps](https://yakihonne.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/a1c1984994512025327f52c7b6d3a1434a37fbb7a318380cab4832f8daacbb52/files/1735554793664-YAKIHONNES3.mp4), the bitcoin bitaxe B at the entrance, The nostr:npub1kd3nlw09ufkgmts2kaf0x8m4mq57exn6l8rz50v5ngyr2h3j5cfswdsdth arcade and the video of @npub1f59dz0ru0l8zpsl4cryj5ch2rahwxeex3mr7lpl2ltzxsfwsdwastu6nqk!  > Personally I was very exited nostr:npub1qg5a5l3t7pakmm4r4up2e764xecsw62fk3rntevm24fwyczhndtsdrvc4x Edward and Stef of Connect The World Podcast allowed us to bring the Arcade to the afterparty at Braai where we played some tournaments with nostr:npub1jt97tpsul3fp8hvf7zn0vzzysmu9umcrel4hpgflg4vnsytyxwuqt8la9y nostr:npub1j8y6tcdfw3q3f3h794s6un0gyc5742s0k5h5s2yqj0r70cpklqeqjavrvg and many others!    > Hopefully we can create a Noderunners lounge or such next year at @npub13e6qu4kdjsyysrfl5an558rawvqg0rx2xuat9ca706spcdqjzhuqq6md43! Connections were made!    > This year there was also the first edition of nostr:npub1uv2tr83c5y7k82af6zdzlqs8m0klcmndd8u5vmlg2eyrskld6uzsv4rmr8 organized by nostr:npub14mge80nm5r0zj0gncxvpunlr28jyku95547q0m82ec475x3yy92skvjgm5 and Bitcoin Stad. It was an awesome event with great speakers but the best thing was the Noderunners Lounge in the basement where [Hester Bais tapped a beer.. 🍺](https://yakihonne.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/a1c1984994512025327f52c7b6d3a1434a37fbb7a318380cab4832f8daacbb52/files/1735555060373-YAKIHONNES3.mp4)    > There was some trouble in paradise when the GitHub page of nostr:npub1k5f85zx0xdskyayqpfpc0zq6n7vwqjuuxugkayk72fgynp34cs3qfcvqg2 got canceled due to false copyright claims.. He makes the most beautiful, full open source BTClock! He’s a good frend and very productive Noderunner! 🧡    > nostr:npub1k5f85zx0xdskyayqpfpc0zq6n7vwqjuuxugkayk72fgynp34cs3qfcvqg2 also did a lot behind the scenes for the Noderunners SOLO Mining Pool! http://pool.noderunners.network   > As we are also very enthusiastic about NOSTR nostr:npub1p6xyr6u5vet33r4x724vxmp9uwfllax5zjdgxeujyrtxt90lp74qvah0rm has set up our own nostr relay: wss://relay.noderunners.network  > Noderunner nostr:npub1yn84ur49llj7pp9a7uv477f7vrpj0rj7df5pnfncvkusaxgy6jqsj9xgfl set up a mixer where he organizes a weekly coinjoin every sunday for more anonymous bitcoin transactions. https://coinjoin.nl  > Our Belgian Noderunner Kim de Vos made the infamous “Big Mac index” where he expresses the price of bitcoin in Big Macs.. He also runs the AVBpodcast (my personal favorite).  > We have several members who have their own podcasts. Also a lot of Noderunners appeared in podcasts as a guest. nostr:npub1agyf7kae8nkxqrd7rvvxt6nh9vwpcqzen2mc9dl3u38a04awpjcq09n23f educates bitcoin beginners.  Tom Lamoen talks about libertarianism. > nostr:npub1gfxgylgst4lcemkjth6xdvcvq7le8rtlrym7wayml63qrjggngaqkqescl interviews bitcoiners from all over the world.  > And nostr:npub1kj2ngxmm0zccswfqplff87rpgvmq9utvk0g726wc0h8pv4kwm8ss6zgm4n laughs at 🤡🌍  > After months, even years of hard work nostr:npub1w98ems6ryhpv7zvmhwp5sv65p0pwrnvzw4lucn0ch776qan9ntdstscwpx launched [the best bitcoin board game ever!](https://yakihonne.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/a1c1984994512025327f52c7b6d3a1434a37fbb7a318380cab4832f8daacbb52/files/1735555757989-YAKIHONNES3.mp4)   > nostr:npub1w98ems6ryhpv7zvmhwp5sv65p0pwrnvzw4lucn0ch776qan9ntdstscwpx is also involved with the Dutch bitcoin magazine BitcoinFocus which features a lot of Noderunner builds and articles.   > Of course I should mention our frens at nostr:npub1ua6fxn9ktc4jncanf79jzvklgjftcdrt5etverwzzg0lgpmg3hsq2gh6v6 where you can pay a few sats to play your favorite songs! http://radio.noderunners.org  > LightningPlaces is working hard making entrepreneurs accepting bitcoin and putting them on their website! 🔥💪🏼    > nostr:npub1lhufm09wzp42y67t3s8axlewwna8rmetak68w38yal7xjrwktpsscpt08x is also hooking up webshops and physical shops (and bars) to accept bitcoin! Connect them if you’re looking for a custom solution! https://lightningcheckout.eu/nl/   > Maybe we should create an open source HW Wallet too but for now we have the man, the myth, the legend nostr:npub17tyke9lkgxd98ruyeul6wt3pj3s9uxzgp9hxu5tsenjmweue6sqq4y3mgl in our midst.. A real honor as we all share the same values and ethics in life but especially in bitcoin! We’ve been building seedsigners from scratch by the dozen!   Most of us are very entrepreneurial. Several bitcoin shops are run by Noderunners. nostr:npub1qvwdl9rp7a5ghrxv57wnml5ehg2whjh708vys6kaxpkgu0z3aclsuy2h4p - https://bitcoinbrabant.com nostr:npub1k00lff0ahjv4d2kwuwxy040d2282yjmzj6eeu5ghav054s4yrfzsplyc86 - https://bitsaga.be nostr:npub1837pplcuwcjn35zwmpuy62ekcfdtvklajn6pueus3am09s27vu6smuj6v9 - https://miningwholesale.eu > A special shoutout to our junior Noderunner Esramsterdam who is organizing a bitcoin event focused on women. Because bitcoin is not only for men. More info: https://vanbanknaarbitcoin.nl  > Also a special shoutout to @npub17k8u7c6kfjgtd380890zx0m4adu8vl53m9fvtc7lal4j9gp74xqqkguha4! The only way to get free sats. Drank not enough beer with nostr:npub1pzurm7nx3q08894wl6uautryq95sku5jhzgwjjrskwdafcwxekuq4n7vtu this year.. but we really need to set up a collaborative project!  > Ok I’m done. Forgot a lot but this sums it up quite well. Greetings and love to everyone involved with the Noderunners I forgot to mention. I love you all and hope to build a lot more together! 🧡🔥 nostr:npub103uy2vsk5hrnldwdu0nztmsg7g6207cfqu744rnrnalauns6facsgj5ddp nostr:npub1l9evr9vx4u2xefesmfu6gyypfdu7k8zwdw7rrnh5ckdds8fqx59sy3ferg nostr:npub1cwzduskqu6yuxjs2a75uptj3vzfa84gv5q3xlkcpzs6usjfey24qvk70dv nostr:npub1etuf22z5jwp765m8dqcw7rx5egjzjnwm9xwm4m367e9hxkd9vvaq04duqw nostr:npub1mw6tm8kery0dwmz670vvg74z0xzttwt3y7yppya5rulufpkkaj7qmg2922 nostr:npub12qw34mucxxk200835d8qt5mshfukd39vvz4s94f0e6xthg0xpjmq3wvjlw nostr:npub1d5axlx84ajq7q5yn4u86m9xgnmssgq5c6ktjfmu6qtw7jah24hzs57tmvz nostr:npub1vnlkmja076ft0h2ppme4pvcyfh8zmwl4l7hpfm4du0jagwck04lq8rkr0w Jan Burgers nostr:npub1r35gr0g93gxpkcq77v9sx97d5aqg4edr0qwhdj2xr4xxt6slp7nswgahlx Short Non-Bitcoin nostr:npub12786tz9vyzuhe5jdjc9esd64vqh3pvqe34u9a3dyegudv5chkx9sexz86w Joep Laser Sheep - Elden Lord 3x nostr:npub12xtq7ufn6kjppvl24dnvezsny872u8xacfsy640fzd69446kgczsp8v5nm nostr:npub1m0yz3tvsa8cwheqhkqj96zr9kget8j8yda0vfmrah5c0dafj6xcq4l4az6 @Erik Dutch nostr:npub1kvfz8rglvpsqevznlt86ukcz0s9uap3pypjwd3tnmkn2pgjmjujqlncy2c nostr:npub1l5pxvjzhw77h86tu0sml2gxg8jpwxch7fsj6d05n7vuqpq75v34syk4q0n Noderunners Shop nostr:npub1ylnqfg0neysvsesen9je80wmsv9r5204x30mgd5ev6dr3q95xpxq3nmcxd nostr:npub1ap78x7mvw0vu9s7yltflmkqphx8rt8hsk9gdg0k42vwnmnpvpe2qptxewe nostr:npub1n2ph08n4pqz4d3jk6n2p35p2f4ldhc5g5tu7dhftfpueajf4rpxqfjhzmc @Bitcmonkey @Roynode nostr:npub18n56f28efvmsjcl80lv2ngtmkl3y6q2rg0m2zqas3kw4jwkrsvdqxnmver nostr:npub135q6dvnjah9023xszmjs2wvd4gqhn2trku52wt2lv8cl4hc8ltjsk0w4sq nostr:npub1837u93v8am8q2rauvkqfk9sf6xfq07p9m4m82jueqh5u4qzkg25qesqrr4 nostr:npub1pkmp7vtgfwg7g0pt4xdd4r2npz2p8yweeq0yx7xm590h4nuszynqq2e2r3 nostr:npub19r33crtgdt4spqxl5a3nhqx2ucdputtqcnnxkplnp4mv2dqldqqs39j5eq nostr:npub19z9g9ymx3aalx3h0jr2cskehvhgppznv2lpqsrpgggpeueesq4lsknsp8r nostr:npub1jlvtd4zmq7ukjcytqxu2gy5myp2uataupjk4a3l467fj7pxpk3xq5p3w0j @HeroVanKampen nostr:npub16htmakd0gvsmwjnravfvfn5mh2x7wjd0vxq20z2c0979e7xh0a8q6ssnew nostr:npub1xw6jekvethghmrlv0chkx5p78h3wk2ep5x588ga854d68cugr40qxuwt5e nostr:npub1zakkum8w7uancehpev0drxuly3e74fg5v7q4n0zpxcdn72wakpjs9cgpve > and all others I can’t find here or I forgot.. 🧡🔥💪🏼 LFG, see you soon! >Bonus: This has never aired but @DanielMol was doubtful of our impact to more bitcoin adoption.. I know we are a bit toxic but we have our hearts on the right place and help anyone who is serious about it.. Happy days Daniel! 🧡 

@ 16d11430:61640947

At the intersection of philosophy, theology, physics, biology, and finance lies a terrifying truth: the fiat monetary system, in its current form, is not just an economic framework but a silent, relentless force actively working against humanity's survival. It isn't simply a failed financial model—it is a systemic engine of destruction, both externally and within the very core of our biological existence. The Philosophical Void of Fiat Philosophy has long questioned the nature of value and the meaning of human existence. From Socrates to Kant, thinkers have pondered the pursuit of truth, beauty, and virtue. But in the modern age, the fiat system has hijacked this discourse. The notion of "value" in a fiat world is no longer rooted in human potential or natural resources—it is abstracted, manipulated, and controlled by central authorities with the sole purpose of perpetuating their own power. The currency is not a reflection of society’s labor or resources; it is a representation of faith in an authority that, more often than not, breaks that faith with reckless monetary policies and hidden inflation. The fiat system has created a kind of ontological nihilism, where the idea of true value, rooted in work, creativity, and family, is replaced with speculative gambling and short-term gains. This betrayal of human purpose at the systemic level feeds into a philosophical despair: the relentless devaluation of effort, the erosion of trust, and the abandonment of shared human values. In this nihilistic economy, purpose and meaning become increasingly difficult to find, leaving millions to question the very foundation of their existence. Theological Implications: Fiat and the Collapse of the Sacred Religious traditions have long linked moral integrity with the stewardship of resources and the preservation of life. Fiat currency, however, corrupts these foundational beliefs. In the theological narrative of creation, humans are given dominion over the Earth, tasked with nurturing and protecting it for future generations. But the fiat system promotes the exact opposite: it commodifies everything—land, labor, and life—treating them as mere transactions on a ledger. This disrespect for creation is an affront to the divine. In many theologies, creation is meant to be sustained, a delicate balance that mirrors the harmony of the divine order. Fiat systems—by continuously printing money and driving inflation—treat nature and humanity as expendable resources to be exploited for short-term gains, leading to environmental degradation and societal collapse. The creation narrative, in which humans are called to be stewards, is inverted. The fiat system, through its unholy alliance with unrestrained growth and unsustainable debt, is destroying the very creation it should protect. Furthermore, the fiat system drives idolatry of power and wealth. The central banks and corporations that control the money supply have become modern-day gods, their decrees shaping the lives of billions, while the masses are enslaved by debt and inflation. This form of worship isn't overt, but it is profound. It leads to a world where people place their faith not in God or their families, but in the abstract promises of institutions that serve their own interests. Physics and the Infinite Growth Paradox Physics teaches us that the universe is finite—resources, energy, and space are all limited. Yet, the fiat system operates under the delusion of infinite growth. Central banks print money without concern for natural limits, encouraging an economy that assumes unending expansion. This is not only an economic fallacy; it is a physical impossibility. In thermodynamics, the Second Law states that entropy (disorder) increases over time in any closed system. The fiat system operates as if the Earth were an infinite resource pool, perpetually able to expand without consequence. The real world, however, does not bend to these abstract concepts of infinite growth. Resources are finite, ecosystems are fragile, and human capacity is limited. Fiat currency, by promoting unsustainable consumption and growth, accelerates the depletion of resources and the degradation of natural systems that support life itself. Even the financial “growth” driven by fiat policies leads to unsustainable bubbles—inflated stock markets, real estate, and speculative assets that burst and leave ruin in their wake. These crashes aren’t just economic—they have profound biological consequences. The cycles of boom and bust undermine communities, erode social stability, and increase anxiety and depression, all of which affect human health at a biological level. Biology: The Fiat System and the Destruction of Human Health Biologically, the fiat system is a cancerous growth on human society. The constant chase for growth and the devaluation of work leads to chronic stress, which is one of the leading causes of disease in modern society. The strain of living in a system that values speculation over well-being results in a biological feedback loop: rising anxiety, poor mental health, physical diseases like cardiovascular disorders, and a shortening of lifespans. Moreover, the focus on profit and short-term returns creates a biological disconnect between humans and the planet. The fiat system fuels industries that destroy ecosystems, increase pollution, and deplete resources at unsustainable rates. These actions are not just environmentally harmful; they directly harm human biology. The degradation of the environment—whether through toxic chemicals, pollution, or resource extraction—has profound biological effects on human health, causing respiratory diseases, cancers, and neurological disorders. The biological cost of the fiat system is not a distant theory; it is being paid every day by millions in the form of increased health risks, diseases linked to stress, and the growing burden of mental health disorders. The constant uncertainty of an inflation-driven economy exacerbates these conditions, creating a society of individuals whose bodies and minds are under constant strain. We are witnessing a systemic biological unraveling, one in which the very act of living is increasingly fraught with pain, instability, and the looming threat of collapse. Finance as the Final Illusion At the core of the fiat system is a fundamental illusion—that financial growth can occur without any real connection to tangible value. The abstraction of currency, the manipulation of interest rates, and the constant creation of new money hide the underlying truth: the system is built on nothing but faith. When that faith falters, the entire system collapses. This illusion has become so deeply embedded that it now defines the human experience. Work no longer connects to production or creation—it is reduced to a transaction on a spreadsheet, a means to acquire more fiat currency in a world where value is ephemeral and increasingly disconnected from human reality. As we pursue ever-expanding wealth, the fundamental truths of biology—interdependence, sustainability, and balance—are ignored. The fiat system’s abstract financial models serve to disconnect us from the basic realities of life: that we are part of an interconnected world where every action has a reaction, where resources are finite, and where human health, both mental and physical, depends on the stability of our environment and our social systems. The Ultimate Extermination In the end, the fiat system is not just an economic issue; it is a biological, philosophical, theological, and existential threat to the very survival of humanity. It is a force that devalues human effort, encourages environmental destruction, fosters inequality, and creates pain at the core of the human biological condition. It is an economic framework that leads not to prosperity, but to extermination—not just of species, but of the very essence of human well-being. To continue on this path is to accept the slow death of our species, one based not on natural forces, but on our own choice to worship the abstract over the real, the speculative over the tangible. The fiat system isn't just a threat; it is the ultimate self-inflicted wound, a cultural and financial cancer that, if left unchecked, will destroy humanity’s chance for survival and peace.

@ a367f9eb:0633efea

I’ll admit that I was wrong about Bitcoin. Perhaps in 2013. Definitely 2017. Probably in 2018-2019. And maybe even today. Being wrong about Bitcoin is part of finally understanding it. It will test you, make you question everything, and in the words of BTC educator and privacy advocate [Matt Odell](https://twitter.com/ODELL), “Bitcoin will humble you”. I’ve had my own stumbles on the way. In a very public fashion in 2017, after years of using Bitcoin, trying to start a company with it, using it as my primary exchange vehicle between currencies, and generally being annoying about it at parties, I let out the bear. In an article published in my own literary magazine *Devolution Review* in September 2017, I had a breaking point. The article was titled “[Going Bearish on Bitcoin: Cryptocurrencies are the tulip mania of the 21st century](https://www.devolutionreview.com/bearish-on-bitcoin/)”. It was later republished in *Huffington Post* and across dozens of financial and crypto blogs at the time with another, more appropriate title: “[Bitcoin Has Become About The Payday, Not Its Potential](https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/bitcoin-has-become-about-the-payday-not-its-potential_ca_5cd5025de4b07bc72973ec2d)”. As I laid out, my newfound bearishness had little to do with the technology itself or the promise of Bitcoin, and more to do with the cynical industry forming around it: > In the beginning, Bitcoin was something of a revolution to me. The digital currency represented everything from my rebellious youth. > > It was a decentralized, denationalized, and digital currency operating outside the traditional banking and governmental system. It used tools of cryptography and connected buyers and sellers across national borders at minimal transaction costs. > > … > > The 21st-century version (of Tulip mania) has welcomed a plethora of slick consultants, hazy schemes dressed up as investor possibilities, and too much wishy-washy language for anything to really make sense to anyone who wants to use a digital currency to make purchases. While I called out Bitcoin by name at the time, on reflection, I was really talking about the ICO craze, the wishy-washy consultants, and the altcoin ponzis. What I was articulating — without knowing it — was the frame of NgU, or “numbers go up”. Rather than advocating for Bitcoin because of its uncensorability, proof-of-work, or immutability, the common mentality among newbies and the dollar-obsessed was that Bitcoin mattered because its price was a rocket ship. And because Bitcoin was gaining in price, affinity tokens and projects that were imperfect forks of Bitcoin took off as well. The price alone — rather than its qualities — were the reasons why you’d hear Uber drivers, finance bros, or your gym buddy mention Bitcoin. As someone who came to Bitcoin for philosophical reasons, that just sat wrong with me. Maybe I had too many projects thrown in my face, or maybe I was too frustrated with the UX of Bitcoin apps and sites at the time. No matter what, I’ve since learned something. **I was at least somewhat wrong.** My own journey began in early 2011. One of my favorite radio programs, Free Talk Live, began interviewing guests and having discussions on the potential of Bitcoin. They tied it directly to a libertarian vision of the world: free markets, free people, and free banking. That was me, and I was in. Bitcoin was at about $5 back then (NgU). I followed every article I could, talked about it with guests [on my college radio show](https://libertyinexile.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/osamobama_on_the_tubes/), and became a devoted redditor on r/Bitcoin. At that time, at least to my knowledge, there was no possible way to buy Bitcoin where I was living. Very weak. **I was probably wrong. And very wrong for not trying to acquire by mining or otherwise.** The next year, after moving to Florida, Bitcoin was a heavy topic with a friend of mine who shared the same vision (and still does, according to the Celsius bankruptcy documents). We talked about it with passionate leftists at **Occupy Tampa** in 2012, all the while trying to explain the ills of Keynesian central banking, and figuring out how to use Coinbase. I began writing more about Bitcoin in 2013, writing a guide on “[How to Avoid Bank Fees Using Bitcoin](http://thestatelessman.com/2013/06/03/using-bitcoin/),” discussing its [potential legalization in Germany](https://yael.ca/2013/10/01/lagefi-alternative-monetaire-et-legislation-de/), and interviewing Jeremy Hansen, [one of the first political candidates in the U.S. to accept Bitcoin donations](https://yael.ca/2013/12/09/bitcoin-politician-wants-to-upgrade-democracy-in/). Even up until that point, I thought Bitcoin was an interesting protocol for sending and receiving money quickly, and converting it into fiat. The global connectedness of it, plus this cypherpunk mentality divorced from government control was both useful and attractive. I thought it was the perfect go-between. **But I was wrong.** When I gave my [first public speech](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtVypq2f0G4) on Bitcoin in Vienna, Austria in December 2013, I had grown obsessed with Bitcoin’s adoption on dark net markets like Silk Road. My theory, at the time, was the number and price were irrelevant. The tech was interesting, and a novel attempt. It was unlike anything before. But what was happening on the dark net markets, which I viewed as the true free market powered by Bitcoin, was even more interesting. I thought these markets would grow exponentially and anonymous commerce via BTC would become the norm. While the price was irrelevant, it was all about buying and selling goods without permission or license. **Now I understand I was wrong.** Just because Bitcoin was this revolutionary technology that embraced pseudonymity did not mean that all commerce would decentralize as well. It did not mean that anonymous markets were intended to be the most powerful layer in the Bitcoin stack. What I did not even anticipate is something articulated very well by noted Bitcoin OG [Pierre Rochard](https://twitter.com/BitcoinPierre): [Bitcoin as a *savings technology*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BavRqEoaxjI)*.* The ability to maintain long-term savings, practice self-discipline while stacking stats, and embrace a low-time preference was just not something on the mind of the Bitcoiners I knew at the time. Perhaps I was reading into the hype while outwardly opposing it. Or perhaps I wasn’t humble enough to understand the true value proposition that many of us have learned years later. In the years that followed, I bought and sold more times than I can count, and I did everything to integrate it into passion projects. I tried to set up a company using Bitcoin while at my university in Prague. My business model depended on university students being technologically advanced enough to have a mobile wallet, own their keys, and be able to make transactions on a consistent basis. Even though I was surrounded by philosophically aligned people, those who would advance that to actually put Bitcoin into practice were sparse. This is what led me to proclaim that “[Technological Literacy is Doomed](https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/technological-literacy-is-doomed_b_12669440)” in 2016. **And I was wrong again.** Indeed, since that time, the UX of Bitcoin-only applications, wallets, and supporting tech has vastly improved and onboarded millions more people than anyone thought possible. The entrepreneurship, coding excellence, and vision offered by Bitcoiners of all stripes have renewed a sense in me that this project is something built for us all — friends and enemies alike. While many of us were likely distracted by flashy and pumpy altcoins over the years (me too, champs), most of us have returned to the Bitcoin stable. Fast forward to today, there are entire ecosystems of creators, activists, and developers who are wholly reliant on the magic of Bitcoin’s protocol for their life and livelihood. The options are endless. The FUD is still present, but real proof of work stands powerfully against those forces. In addition, there are now [dozens of ways to use Bitcoin privately](https://fixthemoney.substack.com/p/not-your-keys-not-your-coins-claiming) — still without custodians or intermediaries — that make it one of the most important assets for global humanity, especially in dictatorships. This is all toward a positive arc of innovation, freedom, and pure independence. Did I see that coming? Absolutely not. Of course, there are probably other shots you’ve missed on Bitcoin. Price predictions (ouch), the short-term inflation hedge, or the amount of institutional investment. While all of these may be erroneous predictions in the short term, we have to realize that Bitcoin is a long arc. It will outlive all of us on the planet, and it will continue in its present form for the next generation. **Being wrong about the evolution of Bitcoin is no fault, and is indeed part of the learning curve to finally understanding it all.** When your family or friends ask you about Bitcoin after your endless sessions explaining market dynamics, nodes, how mining works, and the genius of cryptographic signatures, try to accept that there is still so much we have to learn about this decentralized digital cash. There are still some things you’ve gotten wrong about Bitcoin, and plenty more you’ll underestimate or get wrong in the future. That’s what makes it a beautiful journey. It’s a long road, but one that remains worth it.

@ 6389be64:ef439d32

Resilience is the ability to withstand shocks, adapt, and bounce back. It’s an essential quality in nature and in life. But what if we could take resilience a step further? What if, instead of merely surviving, a system could improve when faced with stress? This concept, known as anti-fragility, is not just theoretical—it’s practical. Combining two highly resilient natural tools, comfrey and biochar, reveals how we can create systems that thrive under pressure and grow stronger with each challenge. ### **Comfrey: Nature’s Champion of Resilience** Comfrey is a plant that refuses to fail. Once its deep roots take hold, it thrives in poor soils, withstands drought, and regenerates even after being cut down repeatedly. It’s a hardy survivor, but comfrey doesn’t just endure—it contributes. Known as a dynamic accumulator, it mines nutrients from deep within the earth and brings them to the surface, making them available for other plants. Beyond its ecological role, comfrey has centuries of medicinal use, earning the nickname "knitbone." Its leaves can heal wounds and restore health, a perfect metaphor for resilience. But as impressive as comfrey is, its true potential is unlocked when paired with another resilient force: biochar. ### **Biochar: The Silent Powerhouse of Soil Regeneration** Biochar, a carbon-rich material made by burning organic matter in low-oxygen conditions, is a game-changer for soil health. Its unique porous structure retains water, holds nutrients, and provides a haven for beneficial microbes. Soil enriched with biochar becomes drought-resistant, nutrient-rich, and biologically active—qualities that scream resilience. Historically, ancient civilizations in the Amazon used biochar to transform barren soils into fertile agricultural hubs. Known as *terra preta*, these soils remain productive centuries later, highlighting biochar’s remarkable staying power. Yet, like comfrey, biochar’s potential is magnified when it’s part of a larger system. ### **The Synergy: Comfrey and Biochar Together** Resilience turns into anti-fragility when systems go beyond mere survival and start improving under stress. Combining comfrey and biochar achieves exactly that. 1. **Nutrient Cycling and Retention**\ Comfrey’s leaves, rich in nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, make an excellent mulch when cut and dropped onto the soil. However, these nutrients can wash away in heavy rains. Enter biochar. Its porous structure locks in the nutrients from comfrey, preventing runoff and keeping them available for plants. Together, they create a system that not only recycles nutrients but amplifies their effectiveness. 2. **Water Management**\ Biochar holds onto water making soil not just drought-resistant but actively water-efficient, improving over time with each rain and dry spell. 3. **Microbial Ecosystems**\ Comfrey enriches soil with organic matter, feeding microbial life. Biochar provides a home for these microbes, protecting them and creating a stable environment for them to multiply. Together, they build a thriving soil ecosystem that becomes more fertile and resilient with each passing season. Resilient systems can withstand shocks, but anti-fragile systems actively use those shocks to grow stronger. Comfrey and biochar together form an anti-fragile system. Each addition of biochar enhances water and nutrient retention, while comfrey regenerates biomass and enriches the soil. Over time, the system becomes more productive, less dependent on external inputs, and better equipped to handle challenges. This synergy demonstrates the power of designing systems that don’t just survive—they thrive. ### **Lessons Beyond the Soil** The partnership of comfrey and biochar offers a valuable lesson for our own lives. Resilience is an admirable trait, but anti-fragility takes us further. By combining complementary strengths and leveraging stress as an opportunity, we can create systems—whether in soil, business, or society—that improve under pressure. Nature shows us that resilience isn’t the end goal. When we pair resilient tools like comfrey and biochar, we unlock a system that evolves, regenerates, and becomes anti-fragile. By designing with anti-fragility in mind, we don’t just bounce back, we bounce forward. By designing with anti-fragility in mind, we don’t just bounce back, we bounce forward.