Bullish On Lightning Network With Thomas Jestopher

For this episode of Bitcoin Magazine’s “Meet The Taco Plebs,” I was joined by Thomas Jestopher (@Jestopher_BTC), a Lightning enthusiast and co-host of Bitcoin Kindergarten. We kick off this interview by Jestopher sharing his rabbit hole story, discussing his first attempt to buy bitcoin from Mt Gox in 2015. In order to buy bitcoin from there, you had to wire money to the exchange in Japan, and his bank actually blocked his transaction, forcing him to look for other avenues to acquire BTC.  Using faucets, Jestopher was able to stack some sats in trade for his time watching ads on websites. He did this for a while, but didn’t make his first actual purchase until the bull run in 2017. At the time, he worked in a bank call center where he saw just how corrupt and unfair banks are to their customers. This in addition to the price catching his attention, caused him to fall deep down the rabbit hole. Jestopher shares his thoughts on how Bitcoin inspires innovation for builders and entrepreneurs to flourish. Since the Bitcoin protocol does not change, and upgrades only happen so often, that people now have a solid base layer they know will always be there, and they know nothing will change up on them in a negative way. This gives builders comfort knowing that they’re building on a solid foundation. Jestopher was one of the many people who got inspired to build on Bitcoin, and saw massive potential in the Lightning Network. We discuss the entrepreneurial opportunities that pop up thanks to Lightning and how people can become more independent from taking tips on the 2ed layer solution. Then we get his thoughts on using the Lightning Network on top of Bitcoin as a medium of exchange.