"We have the fork wars, we have a culture that understands the importance of nodes and widespread enforcement of a protocol and its rules. Unlike shitcoins, which couldn't care less about it... So this node orientation in Bitcoin is is critical to it not being a shitcoin. So spam has come in and they start trashing the blockchain and exploding the UTXO set and making every block almost four megabytes, which was supposed to be a theoretical maximum we were never actually supposed to see because no one thought we would just fill it up with witness data... This is a ridiculous guys. It's an attack. They've stated it as an attack when they came out and just went "I want to bloat the UTXO set because it's the worst thing you can do in Bitcoin"." ~ Bitcoin Mechanic In this episode, I talk with Bitcoin Mechanic about the current state of Bitcoin, focusing on the regulatory environment, the vital role of self-custody, and the challenges facing privacy and autonomy in the digital age. We delve into the complexities of maintaining operational security in the face of increasing regulatory oversight, and consider in what ways we can balance the needs of miners with those of everyday users and node runners to maintain a healthy network ecosystem. Guest Links Bitcoin Mechanic on X (Link: https://twitter.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Bitcoin Mechanic on Youtube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@bitcoinmechanic) Ocean Mining (Link: https://ocean.xyz/) Host Links Guy on Nostr (Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) Guy on X (Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann/) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) Check out our awesome sponsors! Get 10% off the COLDCARD with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) Swan: The best way to buy, learn, and earn #Bitcoin (Link: https://swanbitcoin.com) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bitcoinaudible/message