Paul Sztorc (Drivechain) on Bitcoin Security Budget and the Importance Merge Mining (EP.280)

Veteran Bitcoin commentator and inventor of Drivechains Paul Sztorc joins the show to talk Bitcoin's sustainability and the role of merged mined side chains. In this episode:  Why Paul is the 'Steely Dan' of Bitcoin Revisiting 'Measuring decentralization' Revisiting Paul's argument on Proof of Stake being veiled PoW Why you should roll your own statistics Concentration of power in miners and mining pools Is PoW worthless if it isn't challenged? How Bitcoin energy FUD is based on neo-malthusianism The Julian Simon / Paul Ehrlich wager Why none of our resources are finite How climate change diplomacy is neo-colonial Why and when innovation happens Why Paul is a critic of Bitcoin development culture Paul's critique of Stock to Flow Why Bitcoin culture is static Why Bitcoin needs more satire Bitcoin fees are 80-100x less than those of Ethereum Why BTC fees are not sustainably high Why Bitcoin fees and security budget need to grow over time Can you just wait for more confirmations if security spend declines Are fees destined to be effectively 0 through the creation of more blockspace? The history of Drivechains /BIP300 Does merge mining make it more expensive to run a node?  Do we know how to upgrade Bitcoin Core today? The relevance of sidechains and merge mining to Bitcoin today Was Satoshi into altcoins? Would more sidechain development have inhibited the growth of Ethereum? Does BIP300 solve the problem of the Bitcoin security budget? Why you can't reduce blockspace to increase security budget?  Update on Drivechains Content mentioned in this episode:  Truthcoin, Security Budget in the Long Run Truthcoin, Security Budget II, Low Fees, and Merged Mining Truthcoin, Measuring Decentralization Truthcoin, Nothing is Cheaper than Proof of Work  All about Drivechains/ Bip300/301 Sponsor notes: Fireblocks is an enterprise-grade platform delivering a secure infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets. Learn more at fireblocks.com