Bitcoin Takeover Podcast

Adam Soltys is a Canadian bitcoiner, best known for his work on Raretoshi – a marketplace for Liquid network NFTs. Cole is a marketer who likes the Lightning network. Together, they built Coinos: a custodial & newbie-friendly Lightning wallet.

As of 2024, Roger Ver has been in Bitcoin for 7 years and in Bitcoin Cash for 7 years. This episode is a reflection on his journey and an attempt to bring back one of the greatest Bitcoin advocates and entrepreneurs.

Thanks to the efforts of CommerceBlock CEO Nicholas Gregory and CTO Tom Trevethan, Statechains are now a reality on the MercuryLayer. Originally designed by Ruben Somsen, Statechains serve the purpose of transferring ownership of bitcoins in a private, scalable, and affordable environment. However, the original Statechain design requires the ANYPREVOUT soft fork – something Bitcoin didn't get. But thanks to the efforts of Nicholas Gregory and Thomas Trevethan, MercuryLayer works around the limitations to make Statechains happen without the need for a soft fork.

Bryan Bishop is a computer programmer who currently moderates the Bitcoin-dev mailing list and considers a position as BIP editor. In this episode, he talks about his work in Bitcoin, his Webcash experiment, and why he is an advocate of biokaching.

As the CEO of Synonym, John Carvalho has experimented with many Bitcoin layers & protocols – including OmniBolt, Lightning & sidechains. In this episode, he explains what lessons he's learned and why he believes in more conservative ways to scale Bitcoin.

Eric Voskuil is the maintainer of Libbitcoin & the author of Cryptoeconomics. In this episode, he offers details about the Libbitcoin incident that took place in the summer of 2023 and also criticizes some aspects of the cult of Michael Saylor.

Fiatjaf is the creator of Nostr, a decentralized social media protocol which enables everyone around the world to communicate without censorship. Surprisingly, he doesn't agree with some existing Nostr software, no longer likes Lightning & promotes BIP300. Nostr Bitcoin and Lightning (00:00:47) Fiatjaf's creation Nostr, association with Bitcoin, and differing opinions on its development and use. Creation of Nostr (00:01:55) Decentralization and BlueSky (00:07:31) Comparison between Nostr and BlueSky, and the importance of decentralization. Peter Todd's Criticism (00:09:33) Fiatjaf's response to Peter Todd's criticism and the misunderstanding of Nostr's decentralization. Nostr's Popularity and Lightning Criticism (00:15:31) The influence of Jack Dorsey on Nostr's growth and the controversial opinion on Lightning's limitations. The Future of Bitcoin and Lightning (00:20:43) Fiatjaf's skepticism about Lightning as the future of Bitcoin, deferring to Antoine Riard as a reliable source for insights. Challenges of running nodes (00:23:21) The challenges and limitations of running Lightning nodes for normal users and the evolution of the uncle Jim model. Issues with small transactions (00:26:11) The impracticality of sending very small transactions in the Lightning network due to fees and protocol limitations. Difficulties of being a custodian (00:29:21) The challenges and limitations of being a custodian in the Lightning network. Complexities of Lightning protocol (00:34:18) Exploration of the complex features and potential bugs in the Lightning protocol, as well as the challenges of routing and receiving payments. Struggles of managing a routing node (00:36:40) Personal experiences and challenges faced while managing a routing node in the Lightning network. Drivechains for scaling Bitcoin (00:39:29) Discussion on the potential of Drivechains as a solution for scaling Bitcoin, including technical and consensus considerations. Criticism of Drivechains (00:42:12) Concerns regarding Drivechains, including the potential increase in human politics and voting processes. BIP301 and voting concerns (00:43:24) Discussion on the automatic voting process and concerns about adding politics and complexity to the Bitcoin network. Focusing on Future Bitcoiners (00:47:04) BitVM and Roll-Ups (00:53:14) Discussion about the BitVM project and roll-up systems, including skepticism and concerns about its overhyped nature. State of Soft Forks (00:59:22) Conversation about the absence of soft forks and the emergence of workarounds in the Bitcoin space. Liquid and Decentralization (01:02:48) The nature of Liquid as a blockchain and the concerns about its decentralization and reliance on geopolitics for security. The vilification of miners (01:04:31)The narrative shift in Bitcoin, from miners activating changes to users activating with full nodes. Miners' role in soft fork activation (01:05:46) Criticism of Drivechains (01:06:22) Two-way pegs and price (01:08:17) Concerns about the value of pegged BTC on sidechains and potential market fluctuations. Arguments against miner theft from sidechains (01:09:30) Debunking the idea of miners stealing from successful sidechains and its impact on Bitcoin's value. Mining centralization and Drivechains (01:11:52) Miner-extracted value (MEV) and its relevance (01:15:18) Exploration of miner-extracted value (MEV) and its applicability in the Bitcoin context. Accidental hard fork and network cooperation (01:17:13) LayerTwo Labs and Drivechain adoption (01:18:26) Can LayerTwo Labs activate Drivechains & push adoption? Challenges of running Bitcoin nodes (01:21:02) On the difficulty of running Bitcoin nodes and UTXO set management.

Bastien and Baudoin are the creators and main promoters of Satochip: an affordable self-custody solution which makes use of the smart card technology to provide hardware wallet features. In this episode, they explain how Satochip works & why it's unique.

Alexei Zamyatin is an academic cryptographer who works on the Build on Bitcoin projects. His approach to scaling Bitcoin with second layers involves some unconventional methods, which he describes in this interview. Zero Knowledge Proofs and Rollups (00:01:21) Discussion of the development of layer two solutions, including zero knowledge proofs and rollups. Defining BitVM Rollups (00:01:58) Explanation of the debate surrounding the definition of zk rollups and the introduction of the new category of BitVM rollups. Citrea's Approach (00:04:41) Analysis of Citrea's zk optimized BitVM rollup and its approach to sidechains and rollups. Zero Knowledge Proofs and Rollups Explained (00:05:26) Explanation of the concepts of zero knowledge proofs and rollups in the context of layer two solutions. Comparison of Rollups and Sidechains (00:12:41) Comparison of sidechains and zk rollups, discussing their differences and promises. The Vision of Build on Bitcoin (00:18:48) Discussion of the problems to be solved in the development of layer two solutions and the vision of the Build on Bitcoin project. EVM: The easiest way to build decentralized applications (00:22:54) Alexei Zamyatin advocates for the ease of building decentralized applications using EVM, while pointing out to the challenges of building infrastructure from scratch. Liquidity and Stablecoins on Rollups (00:23:53) The challenges of bringing stablecoins onto rollups and the dependency on centralized parties for stablecoin provision. Bootstrapping BOB as an ETH Rollup (00:25:47) Alexei xplains the decision to bootstrap BOB as an ETH rollup, inheriting Ethereum security and bridging assets. Pragmatic approach to Bitcoin and Ethereum (00:30:06) Alexei Zamyatin discusses the pragmatic approach to Bitcoin and Ethereum, acknowledging the need to cater to user preferences and solve real-world problems. Building centralized layer on Bitcoin and counterparty models (00:37:03) The trade-offs of building centralized layers on Bitcoin and the limitations of counterparty and other models. Satochip and IVPN ads (00:42:15) Rapid fire presentation of Satochip and IVPN ads. Drivechains proposal and its drawbacks (00:43:20) The Drivechains proposal, its potential usefulness, and the technical details and drawbacks associated with it. Drivechains (00:44:19) Discussion on the activation of drivechains and the need to prove demand for their implementation. Mining and MEV (00:46:29) Exploration of miner extractable value (MEV) and its potential impact on Bitcoin's consensus and mining incentives. Covenants for Bitcoin (00:49:17) The need for covenants in Bitcoin to facilitate the development of sidechains, layer twos, and rollups. Activation Proposals (00:51:06) Debate over the activation of opcode proposals, such as OP_CTV and OP_CAT, and their implications for Bitcoin's development. Following Build on Bitcoin (00:52:47) How to keep up with the Build on Bitcoin project and relevant resources for learning about Bitcoin rollups.

ZK rollups are certainly promising, as they can bring scalability and privacy to Bitcoin. In this episode, Orkun Kilic talks about Citrea: the first protocol to enable ZK rollups on Bitcoin. He explains the advantages, the tradeoffs & why you should use.

Andrew Poelstra is a mathematician who heads the research department at Blockstream. Over the years, he experimented with many Bitcoin OP codes – some of which are also enabled on Liquid. In this episode, he explains why he likes and prefers OP_CAT.

Paul Sztorc returns with a twist: he's talking about sidechains, rollups, BitVM, Lightning, and ever other scaling solution... but can't say the words "Drivechain" or "BIP 300". If he breaks the rule, he must send a Lightning transaction and drink vodka.

Aaron van Wirdum is a veteran Bitcoin journalist who has been writing for Bitcoin Magazine since 2014. On January 3rd 2024, after nearly five years of working on this project, he launched The Genesis Book: a reflection on the history before Bitcoin.

Nicolas Dorier talks about the early days of BTCPay Server, activating SegWit before it was cool on NBitcoin, contributing to TumbleBit, writing a book about coding Bitcoin projects in C#, and working with colored coins.

Robin Linus revolutionized Bitcoin development in 2023 with BitVM: a virtual machine that can do off-chain computation for the purpose of enabling smart contracts. With it, Bitcoin can get trust minimized sidechains. But there are so many more uses cases!

Agustin Kassis & Mariano are Argentinian bitcoiners who work in a Fight Club-style house to build La Wallet: a Lightning wallet which is associated with a Nostr account and enables users to have both a payments card and a digital identity device.

Bitcoin & Friends was a pretty popular original cartoon back in 2019 and 2020. On January 3rd 2024, thanks to some major breakthroughs in animation software, the series is getting a reboot which takes the story to a whole new level. Stay tuned!

Tuur Demeester is a prominent Bitcoin investor who strongly believes in the power of Bitcoin-only companies. In this episode, he explains how and why he invests in Bitcoin projects, suggests when market tops are reached & comments on the Supra Cycle.

Kevin Loaec is the CEO of Wizardsardine – the Bitcoin company that builds Liana wallet, a powerful piece of software which optimizes for inheritance. In this episode, Kevin explains why miniscript matters & how he rates the most popular hardware wallets.

Ryan Condron has been a Bitcoin miner for longer than a decade. He started out with a GPU rack, upgraded his rig to FPGAs, and then was one of the first people to run ASICs. Today, he aims to decentralize hashrate with Lumerin – a hashrate marketplace. Ryan Condron has been mining Bitcoin for longer than a decade. In the beginning, he started out with a rack of video cards. Soon, he had to upgrade his hardware to include FPGAs. In less than a year, ASICs became a reality and every serious miner had to keep up. In this episode, Ryan Condron talks about his personal experience with Bitcoin mining and also presents the research he's done on the subject of decentralizing hash rate. Since hardware distribution and ownership is difficult to change, he decided to create Lumerin: a marketplace for hash rate, where people can take control of ASIC miners by renting them. This way, they don't only collect the mining rewards (as was the case with many cloud mining services). They also make decisions on behalf of the mining hardware to suit their financial interests and/or ideological beliefs. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Early Days of Bitcoin Mining (00:00:48) The conversation starts with the guest, Ryan Condron, discussing his early experience with Bitcoin mining in 2012 and the shift to mining altcoins. Rise of ASICs and Pooled Mining (00:03:23) The discussion shifts to the emergence of ASICs and the transition from solo mining to pooled mining, highlighting the centralization risks associated with mining hardware. Decentralization Challenges (00:05:34) The conversation delves into the challenges of maintaining decentralization in mining, the historical vision of mining, and the shift towards proof of stake in new projects. Evolution of Mining Hardware (00:06:44) The evolution from CPU to GPU to FPGA mining is discussed, along with the implications for decentralization and the development of new algorithms to resist ASICs. Efforts to Restore Satoshi's Vision (00:24:06) Ryan Condron introduces his paper on the decentralization of control and explores the challenges and solutions to restoring Satoshi's vision of decentralization in Bitcoin mining. Decentralizing Mining Devices (00:26:41) Discussion on decentralizing mining devices by allowing them to be sold on a decentralized marketplace, enabling global control and democratization. Decoupling Control and Ownership (00:27:52) Exploration of how separating control from ownership of mining devices can lead to more democratization in selecting mining pools and amassing hash power. Decentralized Marketplace for Hash Power (00:33:24) Explanation of how smart contracts enable the decentralized buying and selling of hash power on a global marketplace, revolutionizing the concept of a global commodities market. Lumerin Node Setup and Usage (00:34:53) Details on setting up and using the Lumen node for purchasing and streaming hash power, including considerations for device usage and availability. Expanding the Marketplace and Future Possibilities (00:40:11) Exploration of the potential for the Lumerin marketplace to trade various data streams beyond hash power, and the future possibility of launching the same marketplace on Bitcoin. Information and Personal Contact (00:41:02) Guidance on where to find more information about Lumen and how to follow the speaker personally.

Sergio Demian Lerner has made a plethora of contributions to Bitcoin: from finding early security bugs, and all the way to designing & launching the first sidechain RSK. In this interview, he talks about his work & research – with a focus on the future.

John Light, Super Testnet and Alexei Zamyatin are part of the new generation of Bitcoin developers. They like zero knowledge proofs, they're opinionated when defending covenants & they are not afraid to look for breakthroughs beyond the Bitcoin research.

Edan Yago talks about Sovryn: a financial application which allows users to take loans against their bitcoin. It's built on Rootstock (RSK, Bitcoin's first sidechain) and it conceptually goes against most mainstream narratives about what Bitcoin can do.

Alexis Roussel is a man of many talents, with plenty of accomplishments in his resume. But most notably, he is a bitcoiner who's working to build the Nym mixnet system and he's fighting for the rights of the individual in Switzerland.

Hernán Marino is an Argentinian bitcoiner who recently started contributing to Bitcoin Core. In this episode, he talks about his views on Bitcoin maximalism, what it's like to be a bitcoiner in a hyperinflationary country, and his hopes for the future.

Sergi Delgado is an engineer at Chaincode Labs, whose specialization and previous academic research is in peer to peer (P2P) networks. In this episode, he talks about his views on existing proposals to improve Bitcoin. In this podcast episode, Chaincode Labs engineer Sergi Delgado talks about Bitcoin development challenges, the Lightning network, and the importance of testing and security. Sergi talks about his lightning simulation software, SimLN, and its role in improving the lightning network's reliability. He addresses a recent LN vulnerability, the role of watchtowers, and the balance between decentralization, privacy, and user experience. The conversation also covers Bitcoin core development, skepticism towards altcoins and layer two solutions, and the complexities of protocol changes. Sergi emphasizes careful analysis when adding new features to Bitcoin and shares his positive experience working with the talented team at Chaincode Labs.

Wasabi Wallet now offers a "Buy Anything" button that lets you buy physical items with greater privacy?! How does that even work? ZK Snacks CEO Max Hillebrand & ShopInBit CEO Lando Rothbardian join the show to explain everything about this integration.

Bitcoin has recently fixed the presidential elections in Guatemala. How so? Rafael Cordon of Simple Proof is here to explain all about the power of OpenTimeStamps and how they can leverage the Bitcoin blockchain to prove that something really happened. (00:01:12) Rafael Cordon discusses the use of Bitcoin in the Guatemalan elections to prevent fraud and uphold the integrity of digital information. (00:03:39) Rafael explains the OpenTimeStamps protocol created by Peter Todd, which enables anyone to timestamp documents on the Bitcoin blockchain and store a hash using a Merkle tree. (00:08:47) Rafael describes how Simple Proof integrates with the preliminary result transmission system in the Guatemalan elections to timestamp the vote tally sheets on the Bitcoin blockchain, providing a way to verify the authenticity of the documents. (00:12:37) The discussion revolves around how Bitcoin can be used to prove the authenticity of voting information and debunk claims of tampering. (00:14:00) The conversation focuses on the benefits of using timestamping in elections, including cost savings, transparency, and the ability to reorganize elections if needed. (00:15:19) Rafael Cordon and Vlad discuss the potential applications of timestamping beyond elections, such as intellectual property, the justice system, and digital evidence. (00:23:33) Rafael Cordon explains how governments initially resisted adopting Bitcoin and cloud technologies, but later realized the benefits of using them for unalterable information and data storage. (00:24:55) Rafael Cordon suggests that using Bitcoin as a means to safeguard digital information can lead to a broader adoption of Bitcoin as a form of money. (00:26:31) We debate the use of NFTs and open timestamps to prove the authenticity and provenance of digital assets, such as artwork, and the potential for tracking the number of creations by famous artists. (00:35:36) Vlad and Rafael discuss the response from the Bitcoin community after an article was published detailing Bitcoin's role in the elections in Guatemala. (00:37:19) Vlad and Rafael Cordon talk about Carlinho's vision of using Bitcoin to bring together Central American countries under a unified currency. (00:42:39) Rafael describes the Bitcoin community in Guatemala, which includes startups addressing remittance use cases and the Bitcoin Lake experiment in Lake Atitlán. The speakers also express their preference for grassroots adoption over government imposition. (00:47:11) Discussion on the importance of legal interpretation and regulatory clarity for large corporations in adopting new technologies like Bitcoin. (00:48:11) Exploration of how startups have more room to maneuver and take risks due to the absence of specific laws regulating new technologies. (00:49:37) The significance of regulatory clarity in encouraging large corporations to adopt new technologies, with the example of El Salvador's legal recognition of Bitcoin. The Utopian Vision of Online Voting (00:59:10) Vlad Costea describes his initial enthusiasm for online voting and the belief that it would transform a broken representative democracy into a utopian direct democracy. Underutilized Technology and Consultancy Services (01:00:29) The Power of Open Timestamps (01:01:23)

Lea Petrasova is the president of the Vexl Foundation, one of the project's co-founders, and certainly one of the most ardent supporters of exchanging bitcoin in a peer to peer fashion. In this episode, she explains why you should consider using Vexl. Vexl: Introduction and Purpose (00:01:51) Lea Petrasova introduces Vexl as a mobile app that allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin peer-to-peer without going through a centralized exchange or even benevolent third party. Vexl: Comparison to Tinder (00:02:48) Lea explains that Vexl can be compared to Tinder, but users can only connect with people within their social circle, making it safer than meeting someone randomly. Vexl: Drawbacks of Other Peer-to-Peer Exchanges (00:04:04) Lea discusses the three major drawbacks of other peer-to-peer exchanges: global order book, reputation model, and usability. Real-world reputation in the app (00:12:17) Lea explains how Vexl brings users' real-world reputation into the app, allowing them to see common contacts and social circles when buying or selling Bitcoin. Using phone numbers as identifiers (00:15:27) Lea discusses why Vexl uses phone numbers as identifiers, highlighting their widespread usage and the ability to match users with contacts and contacts of contacts. Vexl's monetization model (00:16:54) Lea Petrasova explains that Vexl is a free, open-source project and a gift from Satoshi Labs to the community, with no plans for monetization or collecting fees from Bitcoin peer-to-peer trades. No fees, no data collection, and open-source(00:24:15) Lea Petrasova explains the absence of fees and data collection in Vexl, as well as its open-source nature. Expansion of Vexl to other markets and the gradual scaling process (00:25:45) Lea discusses the expansion of Vexl to other markets, such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK, and Italy, and the gradual scaling process observed in these territories. Usability improvements and new features planned for Vexl (00:26:59) Lea Petrasova highlights the focus on improving usability and adding new features to Vexl, such as a trade calculator and better map functionality. Vexl and Chill (00:36:47) Lea discusses how buying bitcoin through Vexl eliminates the complexities and concerns associated with centralized exchanges. The Origin of Vexl (00:38:15) Lea explains that the term "vexl" dates back to communist Europe and refers to proxy merchants who exchanged foreign currencies. The Importance of Peer-to-Peer and No KYC (00:43:40) Lea emphasizes the need for peer-to-peer transactions without KYC requirements to maintain the financial sovereignty and intended purpose of Bitcoin.

Firefish enables people to borrow fiat money against their bitcoins in a trust-minimized way, using a multisig setup with oracles. Martin and Igor, the two FireFish co-founders, talk about how and why you should be using their service. **Firefish: A New Use Case for Bitcoin as Collateral (00:01:54)** Discussion on how Firefish is using Bitcoin as collateral for loans and expanding the use cases for Bitcoin. **Firefish: Non-Custodial Platform and Peer-to-Peer Marketplace (00:04:29)** Explanation of how Firefish is a non-custodial platform and operates as a peer-to-peer marketplace for Bitcoin-backed loans. **Firefish's technical details (00:09:26)** Explanation of the technical aspects of Firefish, including the use of multi-sig and the different roles in the contract, such as borrower, lender, liquidator, payment oracle, and price oracle. **The Zombie Apocalypse Transaction (00:11:55)** Discussion about a transaction with a time lock that allows users to recover their bitcoin in the event of a zombie apocalypse. **How Oracles Work (00:12:30)** Explanation of how oracles function in the Bitcoin network and their role in verifying Firefish transactions. **Firefish's Target Audience and Use Cases (00:16:01)** Discussion about the target audience for the Firefish platform, including bitcoiners, institutions holding bitcoin, and traditional finance entities interested in funding bitcoin-backed loans. **Dispute Resolution Rules (00:23:41)** Discussion on the dispute resolution rules in Firefish platform for resolving conflicts between borrowers and lenders in fiat transactions. **Changing Perspective of Traditional Finance (00:28:30)** Exploration of how Firefish platform allows non-bitcoin native entities to become lenders and how it changes their perception of bitcoin. **Open Source Code (00:32:28)** Importance of open source code in Firefish platform for security and user trust, with plans to make the code open source in the future. **KYC and Anonymity (00:34:00)** Discussion about the need for KYC (Know Your Customer) in the banking system and the challenges of maintaining anonymity when dealing with fiat currency. **Implementing Stablecoins (00:38:10)** Consideration of implementing stablecoins as an option, discussing the trade-off between convenience and privacy/risk for users.

Lisa Neight (creator of the Base58 Bitcoin academy) and Calle (creator of Cashu) joined the Bitcoin Takeover podcast during the Hackers Congress in Prague. They speak about free open source software, popular Bitcoin scaling solutions, cars & more!

The 11th edition of Labitconf takes place in Buenos Aires this year, just a week before the final round of the presidential elections in Argentina. Rodolfo Andragnes tells us all about the event & his hopes for a libertarian president like Javier Milei.

Philipp Hoenisch is the founder of 101010: a project which aims to create synthetic bitcoin-backed stablecoins on top of the Lightning network. These stablecoins aim to minimize trust, as there's no central issuer or institution in the middle.

Phil Zimmermann is the creator of PGP & the cryptographer who made it safe to publish cryptography projects on the internet. In this episode, Mr. Zimmermann talks about Bitcoin, his opinion on various cryptography projects & his friendship with Hal Finney. This episode is sponsored by Wasabi wallet, Cryptosteel, Satodime, and ShopInBit. Time stamps: The cypherpunk movement in the 1990s [00:02:47] Discussion about Phil Zimmermann's involvement with the cypherpunk scene and his ideological alignment with their policies. The motivation behind making PGP open source [00:07:30] Exploration of Phil Zimmermann's reasons for making PGP open source, including the desire for extensive peer review and the benefits of strong encryption software. The impact of PGP on the development of cryptography protocols [00:10:47] Phil Zimmermann discusses how the publication of PGP, including its source code, taught many people how to do public key cryptography in software and contributed to the emergence of various protocols. Hal Finney and Tom Hanks [00:13:11] Discussion about the potential casting of Tom Hanks to play Hal Finney in a movie. Hal Finney's Role in PGP Development [00:13:36] Exploration of Hal Finney's contribution to the development of PGP and the trust model implementation. Proof of Work and Penny Black Project [00:14:20] Explanation of proof of work and its use in solving the double spending problem and reducing email spam through the Penny Black project. 17:48 – Did Phil Zimmermann ever think about inventing Bitcoin? 19:13 – Silent Phone. 20:40 – Encryption is fast. 22:45 – When did Phil Zimmermann hear about Bitcoin for the first time? 24:07 – Is Phil Zimmermann proud of enabling Bitcoin? 24:44 – Phil Zimmermann's disappointment about Bitcoin. Improving Bitcoin and Carbon Footprint [00:26:39] Discussion on ideas for improving Bitcoin, particularly in relation to reducing its carbon footprint. David Chaum's Ideas and Patents [00:29:47] Conversation about David Chaum's ideas and patents, and their impact on the acceptance and development of electronic cash, including Bitcoin. End-to-End Encryption and National Security [00:32:49] Exploration of the importance of end-to-end encryption for preserving democracy and national security, particularly in the context of networks controlled by potentially adversarial entities like China.

Michael Bumann (aka Bumi) is a Lightning network developer best known for working on Joule and creating Alby. Today, Alby is one of the most popular wallets for sending and receiving Nostr zaps. In this episode, he explains more about his work & vision.

In this episode, Paul Sztorc reacts to 3 of the most significant reactions to Drivechains: Shinobi's article from Bitcoin Magazine, the Baltic Honeybadger 2023 panel which mostly covered Drivechains, and his Tabconf 2023 debate with Peter Todd.

For the past 4 years, Sam Lee has been the main organizer of the Bitcoin meetup in Hong Kong. In this episode, Sam tells us what it's like to be a bitcoiner in Hong Kong and how the experience differs from the one in Mainland China.

At Baltic Honeybadger 2023, BTCPay server announced a new mobile app which will run LDK/Spiral software in the background to make the merchant experience as simple as can get. In this drunkast with Pavlenex, Kukks & Anna, they explain how it all works.

In the middle of a more aggressive campaign to promote a soft fork that enables two-way pegged sidechains via BIP 300/301, Layer Two Labs CEO Paul Sztorc has been accused of attacking Bitcoin and being the new Mike Hearn. But are Drivechains that bad?

Jameson Lopp, popular cypherpunk and and advocate for anarcho-capitalism, makes his Bitcoin Takeover podcast debut to talk about his work at Casa, self-custody, his views on Bitcoin maximalism, and why it's important to test your backup devices.

Fadi Barbàra is a researcher from the University of Turin who works on Bitcoin privacy. His new project, DMix, promises to offer better privacy than CoinJoins by integrating a pre-mix transaction that makes use of Taproot multisigs. Fadi's background and introduction (00:02:11) Discussion about Fadi Barbara's work on DMix and Bitcoin privacy, his research in Turin at a state-funded university, and his journey into Bitcoin. Explanation of DMix and how it works (00:10:13) Overview of DMix as a two-transaction protocol, the use of CoinJoin in the second transaction, and the three-phase process of the mix. The transaction threshold signature (00:14:40) Explanation of how transaction threshold signatures work and the difference between a multisig and an aggregated signature. The goal of DMix (00:18:53) Comparison between DMix and other coinjoin protocols, with a focus on the goal of removing the need for a coordinator or centralization. Scalability and the limit of mixes (00:26:49) Discussion on the technical limit of mixes based on transaction size, the trade-off between decentralization and popularity, and the potential for larger transaction sizes. Dmix as a privacy facilitator (00:29:44) Discussion on how the mix in DMix improves privacy by creating unlinkability and the trade-off between privacy and protocol rules. Incentivizing participation in the mixing system (00:33:39) Exploration of the research phase regarding financial incentives for users to keep their coins in the mixing system and the importance of liquidity. Toxic change and its elimination in DMix (00:38:23) Explanation of how DMix handles toxic change by creating a greatest common divisor of the coins being exchanged, ensuring no toxic output in the final mix transaction. Address Reuse and Blockchain Privacy (00:43:18) Fadi Barbara discusses the importance of address reuse in blockchain privacy and the ongoing study of address reuse on the blockchain. Trust in DMix and Anonymity Set (00:45:42) Fadi addresses the issue of trust in DMix and the potential risk of participants belonging to chain analysis. He also discusses the use of multi-party computation to enhance privacy. DMix in Closed and Open Settings (00:50:57) The speaker discusses the suitability of DMix in closed settings, such as exchanges, and the ongoing efforts to make it suitable for open settings where anyone can participate. The proposed soft forks and Drivechains (00:57:04) Discussion about the potential solutions to Bitcoin's privacy problems through proposed soft forks and Drivechains. Controversy between Wasabi and Samourai wallet (00:58:20) Exploration of the differences and opinions on Wasabi and Samourai, their strengths, weaknesses, and potential for improvement. Statechains and coin swap idea (01:03:26) Evaluation of the concept of statechains and coin swap as a method of transferring ownership of coins without on-chain transactions, including the benefits and challenges associated with the approach. Using DMX in conjunction with existing solutions like CoinJoin or CoinSwap (01:11:35) Vlad asks Fadi if DMix can be used alongside other privacy solutions or if it is meant to replace them. Confidential transactions and the need for soft or hard forks (01:12:26) Fadi Barbara discusses how confidential transactions, which require changes at the protocol level, are necessary for achieving better privacy. He also mentions that the Elements project is currently testing these features. How listeners can help and contribute to the development of DMix (01:20:08) Vlad asks Fadi Barbara how listeners can support the development of DMix, including spreading the word, donating, and providing criticism and feedback.

Martin Habovštiak is a cypherpunk from Slovakia, best known for contributing with code to many open source Bitcoin projects (Electrum Rust, BTCPay, Bitcoin Core, LND, Phoenix Wallet). He also co-founded Paralelna Polis in Bratislava & coded Firefish.

Mike in Space is the creator of STAMPs: a protocol which inserts permanent data into Bitcoin blocks. STAMPs are mostly used to immortalize art on Bitcoin, but this use case is so heavily criticized by some community members that they call it an attack.

Ben Arc is one of the most prolific builders in Bitcoin. He created LNBits – a simple Lightning wallet project which seeks to be the Wordpress of Bitcoin thanks to its modularity and openness to plugins. Ben is also one of the founding fathers of Nostr. The birth of Nostr [00:01:31] Ben Arc discusses the origins of Nostr and how Fiatjaf came up with the name. He also mentions why the project has potential. Exploring music sharing on Nostr [00:03:12] Ben Arc expresses interest in building a music sharing platform on Nostr and discusses the modularity of NIPs. Expanding the use of Nostr [00:07:19] Ben Arc talks about the potential applications of Nostr beyond Twitter, including decentralized social networks and platforms like LocalBitcoins. The power of realness [00:10:14] Discussion on how people who speak authentically and outrageously, like Donald Trump, gain extra power on social media platforms. The future of bitcoin privacy [00:11:02] Promotion of Wasabi Wallet as the most advanced and widely used bitcoin privacy wallet. The development of Nostr [00:11:58] Exploration of the origins of Nostr as an extension for LN Bits and its potential for trustless commerce. [00:19:49] Ben Arc explains how the switch project can be used in different machines and devices, such as slap machines, vending machines, lights, coffee machines, and beer taps. [00:21:18] "Exploring incentivization in video streaming". Vlad mentions recent TikTok videos where users get paid in tokens for reacting to emojis, and Ben Arc talks about their own experience with incentivizing donations through physical devices on the Bitcoin Group show. [00:21:46] "Potential applications of technology in the sex industry" Ben expresses interest in developing camming solutions with Bitcoin for the sex industry, highlighting the field's potential for using Bitcoin and the need for more outreach and development in that area. The wallet account system [00:29:32] Discussion about the need for a wallet account system with its own API keys and the convenience of having all functionalities in one place. The process of building and discovering new ideas [00:30:33] Exploration of the importance of hands-on building and experimentation in generating new ideas and solving problems. Monetizing through premium extensions [00:33:32] Explanation of the potential monetization strategy for LNBits through premium extensions and the example of WordPress.com's approach. The cover and distribution of the BTCTKVR magazine [00:39:07] Vlad discusses the various covers and the distribution process of the BTCTKVR magazine, ensuring it feels special for events. Subscription service for Bitcoin Takeover [00:40:46] Ben Arc suggests the idea of a subscription service for Bitcoin Takeover, where subscribers receive the newest copy of the magazine periodically. Grassroots adoption and institutional involvement [00:42:41] Vlad talks about the potential impact of grassroots adoption on the market and the role of institutions in buying and selling Bitcoin. The development of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) [00:48:42] Discussion on how countries are developing their own CBDCs and the potential competition between them. The value of open-mindedness and ideological debates [00:49:46] The importance of keeping an open mind, engaging in self-contradiction, and the value of Bitcoin's ideology. The control and privacy aspects of CBDCs [00:50:09] Exploration of the concerns regarding the control and privacy features of CBDCs compared to the current banking system.

Full RBF is one of the most controversial topics in Bitcoin. On one side, RBF creator Peter Todd lobbies for the feature to become a standard. On the other side, Bitrefill CEO Sergej Kotliar thinks RBF is bad for business. This is the RBF debate. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Peter Todd is the creator of RBF and the biggest advocate for making every transaction enable the feature by default. He wrote this article to explain his point of view: https://petertodd.org/2023/why-you-should-run-mempoolfullrbf Sergej Korliar is the CEO of Bitrefill and an advocate for 0-confirmation transactions, as long as the receiver is willing to take the risk. He considers that full RBF effectively destroys the 0-confirmation use case, potentially slows down Bitcoin adoption and makes users migrate towards altcoins for commerce. This episode is a debate between the two perspectives. It also marks the first time in a while when the two of them sat down to talk and this fact is reflected on how tense the interaction became towards the end. Both participants agreed to record a second part of this debate, after gathering more information to either back up their claims or debunk their adversary's statements with data. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––– The Full RBF Debate [00:01:59] Peter Todd and Sergej Kotliar present their opposing views on RBF. Understanding Full RBF [00:03:00] Sergej explains the concept of full RBF and its impact on transaction replaceability and user experience. Reliability and Usefulness of RBF [00:06:26] Peter Todd counters Sergej's arguments, discussing the reliability and usefulness of full RBF in real-world scenarios. Full RBF and multiparty transactions [00:11:27] Discussion on the trade-offs of full RBF for multiparty transactions and the impact on transactions like Wasabi's CoinJoins. Benefits and inconveniences of on-chain payments [00:14:15] Debate on the trade-offs of using zero conf and the advantages and disadvantages of on-chain payments. The use of RBF for power users [00:19:35] Discussion on the usefulness of RBF for power users, programmatic transactions, and multi-party scenarios. [00:21:16] Discussion on the frequency of using RBF (Replace-By-Fee) in transactions and assumptions about exchange users. [00:23:06] The unpredictability of the bitcoin mempool and blocks, in relation to the need to bump fees. [00:26:37] Debate on the usage of zero-conf (zero confirmation) transactions and examples of merchants accepting them. [00:30:00] Discussion on the percentage of blockchain space used by low fees and the impact on usage. [00:30:59] Importance of rough consensus and the difficulty of making changes in the Bitcoin network. [00:38:48] Discussion about the reliability of zero-conf transactions and the real-world data supporting its usage. [00:39:13] Debate on the risk involved in accepting zero-conf transactions and the potential vulnerabilities. [00:45:14] Plans for a potential continuation of the discussion on the topic of zero-conf transactions in a future episode.

Matej Zak is the new CEO of Trezor. In his first English podcast appearance as CEO, he talks about Trezor's upcoming hardware wallets, the status of Tropic Square chips, controversies concerning the Wasabi CoinJoin integration & his views on adoption. [00:01:50] Discussion about the new CEO of Trezor and the continuity of the company with the previous management. Trezor's growth and market trends [00:02:44] Discussion about the increase in sales, growth of the company, and the market trend towards self-custody with hardware wallets. Trezor's upcoming product announcement [00:07:17] Discussion about an upcoming product announcement from Trezor that will be a breakthrough for the company and the market, expected to be released in 2023. The new hardware wallet [00:11:08] Discussion about the upcoming hardware wallet, its design, accessibility, and software features. Price and features of the new wallet [00:12:59] Comparison of the new wallet's price and features with the Trezor One and Trezor Model T. Physical buttons vs touch screen [00:15:21] Debate on the advantages of physical buttons for user experience and the announcement of a future model with a touch display. The choice of Wasabi for CoinJoin [00:21:03] Discussion on why Trezor chose Wasabi as a partner for CoinJoin, highlighting the importance of usability and user liquidity. The privacy concerns with Trezor's backend servers [00:22:10] Explanation of how Trezor's use of backend servers can affect privacy and the misconception surrounding it. The rejection of certain transactions by Wasabi [00:24:25] Explanation of Wasabi's rejection of certain transactions for CoinJoin and the misunderstanding surrounding it as collaboration with the government. The recent launch and community support [00:31:35] Discussion about the recent launch and community support for open source solutions. Durability testing of Trezor devices [00:32:13] Conversation about durability testing for Trezor devices, including a durability test involving Slush, a Trezor One and his BMW's wheel. Future plans for Trezor and self-custody [00:38:21] Discussion about the company's plans for the next ten years, including the goal of educating users on self-custody and reaching millions of users globally. More shitcoins [00:42:08] Discussion about Trezor's support for altcoins and how people always seem to end up in Bitcoin. Outsourcing coin integration and Bitcoin-only version [00:42:55] Conversation about how Trezor outsources the development of integrating new coins and the availability of a Bitcoin-only version. Efforts in implementing new coins and outsourcing [00:44:21] Discussion about the effort spent on implementing new coins, outsourcing development, and upcoming announcements of new networks.

MercuryWallet mastermind Nicholas Gregory & former Paxful CEO Ray Youssef have joined forces to create Civ Kit: a peer to peer marketplace framework which is built on top of Nostr & enables anyone to do commerce with great scalability & advanced relaying.

While trying to improve on some of the Lightning Network's shortcomings, Burak Keceli created Ark: a Bitcoin second layer which offers privacy, speed & a user experience which resembles that of the main chain. In this episode, he explains how Ark works.

Hero of Bitcoin aims to create and launch a Bitcoin-themed video game for the Gameboy. In this episode, the game's creator talks about the development process and all the hidden Easter eggs which relate to Bitcoin culture. Support the game on Geyser!

MetaMick is the CEO and co-founder of Geyser: a fundraising platform which empowers creators in the Bitcoin space to crowdfund their projects via Lightning Network. In this episode, Mick tells us everything about how Geyser works.