"Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing."— Ron Swanson Focus. Easily spoken, hard to live by. There are many lessons that Bitcoin teaches, and one that is more clearly true the older I get, is that every single thing in a trade off. And not just solutions, or tools, or networks, but the very thing that you spend your time thinking about, at the expense of all other things. What dreams you spend your time building, at the expense of all other dreams. What new ideas you begin, at the...

"There is no justice in following unjust laws. It's time to come into the light and in the grand tradition of civil disobedience declare our opposition to this private theft of public culture. We need to take information wherever it is stored make our copies and share them with the world. We need to take stuff that's out of copyright and add it to the archive. We need to buy secret databases and put them on the web. We need to download scientific journals and upload them to file sharing...

"Once you understand the economic situation of the United States and how they're in a debt spiral, there's only one way out of it and it's to turn the money printer on so that they can inflate. Once you understand that that's their incentive, their incentive is not to spend money efficiently, it's to pump more dollars into the system, and any excuse they can use to do that, they're gonna take it... and a disaster is the perfect opportunity."~Jordan What happens when disaster strikes and the...

"How could any financial system avoid being captured by those who already hold the most power and wealth? Won’t it just lead to the same unequal system again, only in a new form?” you might ask. The answer is as simple as it is powerful."— Petter Englund Will a Bitcoin-based economy simply perpetuate the same inequalities as our current system with the same elite dominating, or does it offer a fundamentally different paradigm? Can a system based on sound money actually reduce the influence of...

In this previous episode of Final Settlement, I joined the show to tackle custodial threat vectors and the security challenges unique to Bitcoin. We discussed Bitcoin as apolitical money and its role as a digital bearer instrument, which brings with it the complex issue of secure custody. I shared insights from a recent personal security incident when my room was broken into at a Bitcoin conference in Lugano, underscoring the very real risks we face. We explored the evolution of Bitcoin...

"The server owns your data, owns your account, and owns the cryptographic keys used to secure it. That last bit is obscure, but important. Cryptographic keys are how we enforce security, privacy, ownership, and control in software. Not your keys, not your data."— Gordon Brander What is the key to achieving true freedom and autonomy in our digital lives? We have tried so many times and continue to learn lessons as the natural progression of networks reconsolidates around a central entity or...

How will governments respond to the growing threat of decentralized money, and what are the implications for individual freedom and sovereignty? And can bitcoiners navigate the complexities of scaling and decentralization, or will the allure of convenience and ease of use lead to compromises on core principles? Join the roundtable discussion as we delve into these questions and more, exploring the latest developments in the world of bitcoin and beyond. Thanks to the guests for joining: Steve...

Was a recent break-in at a luxurious hotel just a coincidence, or a targeted attack on a Bitcoiner? We should expect that bitcoiners will be targeted. If not by governments, then simply by thieves, scammers, and opportunists. This is something that my brother and I learned very acutely with our trip to Lugano and the Plan B conference, where a man broke into our hotel room presumably to get access to our devices or steal any valuables we may have been traveling with, and we caught him in the...

"The market of bitcoin holders will ultimately expand to be larger than the size of any single country, and direct exchange will be possible by and between more people than ever before. That itself might be the single largest driving force that will expand the scope of trade and direct exchange–more people holding and being willing to accept bitcoin will create more trade channels than could possibly exist in the fiat world."— Parker Lewis Is it paradoxical that bitcoin's value could increase...

In a episode of TFTC, I sat down with Marty Bent to break down the reality behind the hurricanes devastating America and the government's inept or even malicious response to these disasters. We explored the absurdity of resource allocation, the overwhelming destruction, and how people on the ground are often 1000x more effective than the bureaucratic systems in place. We also discussed the important work of Bitcoin Veterans, and how disaster and conflict can turn into rackets. Throughout the...

"A victory in revolution doesn’t come free or easy. For Bitcoin to really do what many of us hope it can, it’s really necessary at the end of the day to walk a painful path. And that means people have to choose to walk it. Many people in this space think that governments will simply roll over and let Bitcoin win, but that is just a feint to move in and capture it. We need to push to build around them, build in parallel, and force their hand. If they don’t actively fight it, then there is...

You've likely been fed the narrative that inflation stimulates spending, benefits the economy, and that government expenditures have a profound 'multiplier effect.' This is often accompanied by an oversimplified explanation of how a money printer somehow magically boosts economic activity. These claims are just a few of the many justifications tied to the inevitable consequences of counterfeiting by government. However, the truth is that inflation has a singular, fundamental effect that's...

In this episode originally on THE Bitcoin Podcast, I had an intense and unfiltered conversation with Walker, where we dove into some hard truths about the nature of government, the fiat system, and the illusion of ownership in modern society. We discussed how true prosperity stems from good money and community-driven trade, while government and fiat act as destructive forces. I likened both to cancer—something that can't just be treated but must be completely removed to allow society to...

"These findings are notable because they demonstrate that even though the strength of the correlation may vary based on the time frame, Bitcoin’s price direction generally aligns with the direction of global liquidity. Furthermore, its price direction more closely mirrors global liquidity than any other traditional asset analyzed." — Sam Callahan If Bitcoin was set to become the purest price signal in the global economy, how might that manifest before it became a more widespread medium of...

Today we dive back into the Pear universe and catch up on the many recent changes, updates to apps we've discussed, and explore new ways we are using them. This episode is primarily built for video so if you haven't subscribed to the YouTube or Rumble channels, don't forget to check them out! Links to check out Keet News (Link: https://tinyurl.com/mr2jykku) holesail.io (Link: https://holesail.io/) pears.com (Link: https://pears.com/) keet.io (Link: keet.io) Pinokio (Link:...

It's here! We are back for the second Roundtable!! What do Coinbase and the Blackrock debacle, paper Bitcoin, the difference between privacy and anonymity, Bitcoin drama, the capitulation of Telegram, the problems of centralized mining pools, and the efforts to re-decentralize it have in common? That's right, Guy's Roundtable! Links mentioned for further exploring from the show: Pavel Durov criminal charges (Link: https://tinyurl.com/232razkc) Signal messenger blocked in Russia...

"Everybody's acting as nothing happened. And in Germany, it was so brutal. We had two lockdowns. Each was 6 and 8 months. Like there was a curfew. This is why I found nostr so fascinating. This is why this affects me so personally and why I'm so passionate about it. It's like, oh my God, there is hope."~Tanja Bächle There is more about Bitcoin and Nostr than merely the tech. More people will be brought in by the energy, the constant building and problem solving, and the feeling of hope that...

"Stablecoins are acting in a way where they're bottoms up becoming a country. Countries are trying to reason with it, and the one thing the US is starting to understand is that whatever this thing is, it buys a ton of treasuries.I think what is gonna end up happening is the Western block, for a lack of a better word, they’re putting their eggs in the stablecoin basket."- Roger Huang Today we bring on Roger Huang, author of "Would Mao Hold Bitcoin," in a fascinating conversation that spans the...

"Sadly, there has been very little in the way of a clear definition of MEV in the context of Bitcoin. And the standard definition of the term is so broad as to be entirely useless in discussions of protocol risk."— BlueMatt  As Bitcoin becomes increasingly expressive, does it risk sacrificing its core value of censorship resistance? Can the concept of Miner Extractable Value (MEV) be redefined to distinguish between its broad, unavoidable forms and the more insidious "MEVil" that threatens...

"I’m not asking you to fight the Beast of Big Politics, Big Tech and Big Media. Honestly I don’t know how you would. This is the end of an age, the _fin de siecle_, the period of time where the Beast is strongest because it is everywhere and invisible all at once. Big Politics, Big Tech and Big Media _are_ the water in which we swim. We are totally immersed in the co​mmon knowledge​ that the enemy is the Other Party, and until that com​mon knowledge is weakened substantially, any direct...

"Sometimes your gut feelings lead you astray—particularly in mathematics, in which one constantly comes across results that seem impossible... There are also many scenarios that appear contradictory at first glance (or second or third). These paradoxes can be explained, however. They are not errors but rather reminders that we should not rely too heavily on our intuition in mathematics."-Manon Bischoff What if our intuition can trick us when it comes to understanding complex and interactive...

"If we leave Bitcoin as it is, it’s a new money for the 1%. The 1% can absolutely hold their own coins in a way that they really couldn’t with gold in the same in the same way. So there’s. But the question is, are we are we building Bitcoin to be a new money for the 1% or the point 1% or are we building Bitcoin to be a new money for the world that fundamentally decentralizes people’s ability to control their own finance. And certainly I’d much rather be building the latter thing fundamentally...

"Using the COLDCARD Mk4 is pretty straightforward. Yet, what goes on under the hood is far from obvious. Technical documentation, the hardware specifications and code used are available, yet not easily understandable by all. To best understand what’s going on under the hood, we will go through the process of setting up a COLDCARD and using it."— Tristan Borges Solari Today we are going to take a bit of a dive into the inner workings of hardware wallets, and the security and thinking around...

Sometimes life will make you feel stuck, it will wear you down and gaslight you into believing you have made no progress. Small, persistent progress is hard to see, and its only when you take a big step back that it becomes clear. Today I explore the parallels between life's ups and downs and Bitcoin's market volatility and where we are today. I'll share why Bitcoin's limited supply and steady upward push make it a powerful reminder of the importance of seemingly tiny, but unceasing...