Self-Custody, Nostr, & Building the Bitcoin Future | Alex McShane

"Our government is very, very corrupt. That's why we're here." In this episode, I chat with Alex McShane, a longtime Bitcoin builder, events producer, and deep thinker on everything from protocol development to the culture wars within Bitcoin. We dive into the reality of self-custody and the problems with deceptive hardware wallet marketing. We also explore the rise of open-source funding models and Nostr’s challenges with product-market fit. Alex opens up about his background running massive conferences, his early work with Bitcoin Magazine, and his thoughts on whether the Bitcoin space is heading toward real progress or just creating echo chambers of underutilized tools. PARTNERS & DISCOUNTS: BLOCKWARE: Mine Bitcoin, lower your tax bill, and stack sats hands-free with Blockware — get started today at https://mining.blockwaresolutions.com/titcoin and use code “titcoin” to get $100 off your first miner on the Blockware Marketplace. LEDN: Bitcoin-backed lending. Go to ledn.io/walker and unlock liquidity WITHOUT selling your bitcoin. BLOCKSTREAM JADE: Head to https://store.blockstream.com/ to automatically get 21% off every Blockstream Jade hardware wallet, no code needed, through the end of 2025. Use coupon code WALKER for an extra 10% off! Buy Bitcoin with River: http://partner.river.com/walker GET FOLD ($10 in bitcoin): https://use.foldapp.com/r/WALKER ALEX'S LINKS: NOSTR: https://primal.net/mcshane X: https://x.com/mcshane_capital JOIN THE SUBSTACK TO GET NEW EPISODES DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX: https://walkeramerica.substack.com/ If you enjoy THE Bitcoin Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following: FOLLOW ME (Walker) on @WalkerAmerica on X | @TitcoinPodcast on X | Nostr Personal (walker) | Nostr Podcast (Titcoin) | Instagram Subscribe to THE Bitcoin Podcast (and leave a review) on Fountain | YouTube | Spotify | Rumble | EVERYWHERE ELSE