Latest Articles in Audio
Why Proof of Reserves is Important to Bitcoin
“The technology to provide auditability and transparency for bitcoin held in custody has been inherent to the protocol from its inception. However, the industry has been slow to incorporate”
Once BITten – down the Bitcoin Rabbit Hole with Daniel Prince
Diving into some of my own personal history with Bitcoin, what led me here, and the major changes I think we will see in the world over the next couple of decades. This was a really fun conversation and I think you guys will enjoy it. I was Once BITten, & here’s my story…
We’re All Default Keynesians Now
“Unless you began your Austrian economic education at birth in some unknown Austrian paradise, on this planet at this particular time in human history, I think we can safely say we’re all Keynesians by default.” – Brady Swenson
Paying Yourself for Privacy on Lightning?
“The Lightning Network is best known for its fast and cheap payments. But the Layer 2 protocol could also offer more privacy than on-chain payments […] the developer thinks that “self-payments” could be an important part of the privacy puzzle.” – Aaron Van Wirdum
Bitcoin is Not a Pyramid Scheme
“Not everyone understands what a pyramid scheme actually is, what the warning signs may be, or why such schemes always fail […] The distinctions should be glaringly obvious, but because bitcoin is complex and the very idea of money is not well understood, it can easily be confused.” – Parker Lewis
Of Course You Can Own Bitcoins
Can you really own Bitcoins? Or do you merely have possession of keys that grant a high probability of exclusive control?
The Rise of SIM Swapping
“For the better part of the last decade, the combination of these two practices has given rise to an increasing number of SIM swap attacks ending in the theft of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.” – David Hollerith
All 21M Bitcoin Already Exist
“We have nearly 11 years of empirical evidence that the network itself has been holding and transacting bitcoin, but instead of with private key signatures, it’s in exchange for hashed electricity.” – Phil Geiger
Strike! By Zap
An exciting development form the extraordinary team over at Zap and the Mallers Fam! The seed of the infrastructure inversion has landed, and its’ called Strike!
The Kindest Cut; Why The 2020 Bitcoin Halving…
“What’s noteworthy about this point is that, upon this particular halving, Bitcoin “inflating” at a roughly 1.8 percent rate annually will nominally — and by then, quite possibly in real terms — be “inflating” at a rate lower than both the Federal Reserve target of 2 percent per year and current, CPI-based estimates of real U.S. inflation of 1.9 percent annually.” – Peter C Earle
Bitcoin Obsoletes All Other Money
“Money is an intersubjective problem, and a choice to opt into one monetary medium is an explicit opt out of the other, which in turn causes one network to gain value (and utility) at the direct expense of another.” – Parker Lewis
The Halving is Not Priced in, Here’s Why
As a follow up to Nic Carter’s and PlanB’s articles on how the markets are pricing Bitcoin’s supply and known halvings, I go through the reasons I feel the market both is very unwilling and unconfident about the consequences of the halving. It is less “known information,” and more a blind gamble.
Efficient Markets & Bitcoin’s Stock to Flow
“A first reaction could be that it is a great investment opportunity. A better reaction (from an EMH and non arbitrage point of view) would be that it is too good to be true.” – PlanB
Introduction to the Efficient Market Hypothesis for Bitcoiners
“So is the halving “priced in” or will it be a catalyst for appreciation? […] I consider it patently absurd that a change in issuance would have been overlooked by the price-setting entities.” – Nic Carter
Bitcoin & the Primacy of the Digital World
“As our perception of the world evolves from the analog to the digital, bitcoin represents digital value without all the problems inherent to a digital world.”
The Rise of the Individual
“Not since the gunpowder revolution were ordinary men & women able to stand up to those who chose to oppress or rule them unjustly. Only this time, it can be done in a non-violent method, whereby one can peacefully opt out” – Aleks Svetski
The Cat is Out of the Bag
“Unlike Paypal, Venmo, or traditional payment processors, it cannot deplatform you for wrongthink, holding subversive political views, being a sex worker, or legally selling cannabis. Ours is the biggest possible tent. Don’t be distracted by the online discourse. Bitcoin is utterly indifferent to the political views of its users.” – Nic Carter
Proof-of-Work, The Fundamental Laws of Physics & Nature
“It is therefore a universal truth that all work has a measurable cost of energy transformation due to the very nature of the universe, and the laws of thermodynamics. It is with these laws that we underpin Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work.” – Rory Highside
The Information Theory of Money
“Prices are the coordinating force of a free market system. Each individual decision-maker can rely on the prices of goods and services to help with their decision making, as the prices themselves are a distillation of all known market information into a single metric.” – Dan Held
The Tyranny of Time Scarcity
“Gold, the ancient and prevailing monetary sovereignty layer (representing an unmanipulable money supply), and the internet, the ultimate engine of exchange (representing global interconnectivity or liquidity). By combining and building upon the economic properties of both, Bitcoin is a momentous monetary innovation that has achieved the divisibility, portability, durability, and recognizability of pure information infused with the absolute scarcity of time.”
Bitcoin’s Eternal Struggle
Diving into the many incredible works made available in The Bitcoin Times Ed 2! Today we read Gigi's great piece "Bitcoin's Eternal Struggle" on the intricate dance between that which is built in randomness & entropy, and that which is created with complete...
Bitcoin is Not Backed by Nothing
“To provide broader context, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the European Central bank have collectively created $10 trillion dollars-worth of new money since the financial crisis, the equivalent of approximately $500,000 per bitcoin. Despite dollars, euro, yen and bitcoin all being digital, bitcoin is the only medium that is tangibly scarce and the only one with inherent monetary properties.” – Parker Lewis
 A most profound aspect of Bitcoin is that we know, with certainty, what the monetary policy will be no matter how far we look into the future. If we choose to secure sound money for the world, then we have to establish the important markets, build the tools and...
Carcampit from the Friends Against Government Podcast joins me to close out 2019 with a discussion on the crazy changes we have seen this year, both in Bitcoin and in so many other areas. We discuss... • The Stock-to-Flow model • Binance & Censoring Coinjoins •...
Closing out an extraordinary year in 2019 has us looking forward at 2020 & Beyond. What will we bring to Bitcoin, and what could Bitcoin bring to us? Today we read an amazing thread by John Newbery on the exceptional list of tools and technologies making their...
“The precursors of money, along with language, enabled early modern humans to solve problems of cooperation that other animals cannot – including problems of reciprocal altruism, kin altruism, and the mitigation of aggression. These precursors shared with non-fiat currencies very specific characteristics – they were not merely symbolic or decorative objects.”Â
– Nick Szabo
The Passion of the Believers
“At the end of the day, everyone has to believe in something; might as well believe in something verifiable and unforgeable.”
– Hass McCook
Is there a single key factor in the difference between the assurances in PoS vs PoW? The knowledge and proof that there is a real world, inescapable cost to both producing the currency, & editing the chain history – unforgeable costliness. Â Learn about this, the private keys attacks that risk entire contesting histories in PoS systems, and to the nothing-at-stake problem. This and more in today’s read!
What is the true set of differences between Proof of Work, and Proof of Stake? What are the engineering mindsets behind them both, and which is built explicitly to survive in the worst-case scenarios? Find out this and more in today’s read of Hugo Nguyen’s excellent...
Chat with David Hollerith & the Bitcoin Magazine Podcast
Don't forget to check out the Bitcoin Magazine Podcast and follow Dave on Twitter! https://twitter.com/DsHollers https://twitter.com/BitcoinMagazine Additional resources from the chat: • Does Bitcoin Need Accountants? (audio) • A Most Peaceful Revolution (audio) •...