Bitcoin Audible

"If you think of River or Gemini or Coinbase or whatever, think of all of those as silos and how people custody Bitcoin. If some sort of compromise were to come into the Bitcoin ecosystem at the private key generation level, that could create an incident that could set Bitcoin back by 10 or more years because it would be almost indistinguishable from a protocol compromise and that we would be talking about Bitcoin being hacked again and not individual custodians being hacked. So I think we need to decentralise how people do Bitcoin custody as much as possible and what better way by leveraging private freedom preserving open source software." ~ Seed In today’s chat, I sat down with Seed, the creator of the SeedSigner project, and his backstory is completely wild. He told the story of how he got pulled into Bitcoin through a forensic case tied to a local Silk Road user, why he panic sold in 2017, and how that path eventually led him back to the basics and into building one of the most respected DIY signers in the space. But the real tension in this episode is the part most people skip over: what actually keeps your coins safe when things get messy in the real world. We talk about the grim reality of wrench attacks, what actually happens when law enforcement flips a house upside down with a search warrant, and how a former forensics cop secures his own wealth. If you think a standard hardware wallet hidden in a sock drawer is enough, hearing his threat models might completely rewrite your long-term storage plans. And yes, we got into a few stories that made me think about my own setup a lot differently. Guest Links Seed on X (Link: https://x.com/sesi_the_man) SeedSigner on X (Link: https://x.com/SeedSigner) Today in Bitcoin History on X (Link: https://x.com/daily_btc_lore) SeedSigner's Website (Link: https://seedsigner.com/) Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) (Under construction) Check out the list of products and services I use and recommend on BitcoinAudible.com (Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/) 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) ⁠<... Chapters (00:00:00) - Guest introduction: SeedSigner creator(00:04:45) - Building PearDrive for peer-to-peer file sharing(00:11:38) - Nostr integration and monetizing digital goods(00:26:00) - Seed's background in law enforcement and digital forensics(00:33:20) - Finding Bitcoin during a digital forensics investigation(00:41:39) - Surviving bear markets(00:52:43) - The origins of the SeedSigner open-source project(01:07:05) - Privacy risks of buying commercial hardware wallets(01:11:53) - Hardware supply chain risks and centralized custody(01:23:58) - Practical multi-sig setups and debunking FUD(01:45:20) - Defending against wrench attacks versus self-rugging(01:55:43) - How police handle hardware wallets during search warrants(01:59:44) - Preserving early cypherpunk origins and Bitcoin history

"It's often discussed that arbitrarily lowering interest rates and the zero interest rate policy era leads to massive recklessness and unethical and irresponsible behavior. But there's something even more sinister that actually occurs. A lot of people notice how massive corporations are just buying up all of the hard assets and then renting it back to us. [...] Zero interest rate policy isn't merely something that leads to reckless investments. It essentially amounts to free rent for the rich for everything in the economy. If you can rent anything for free, what do you do? You lease everything and then rent it back to the public for a profit." ~ Guy Swann Why do massive corporations own everything, while the rest of us are stuck renting our lives back from them? Most people see the trend, but very few understand the actual mechanism driving it. In this episode, I break down how zero interest rate policy isn't just "reckless investment" – it's a fraud machine that hands the rich free rent on every productive asset in the economy. What happens when you can borrow anything for less than it's worth? You buy everything. References from the episode Read_944 - Proof of Work in the Real Economy: Wyatt's chapter from The Bitcoinization of Finance (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/4v4LrOxS12vM15dE3tHT) Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay (1841) (Link: https://ia800405.us.archive.org/28/items/memoirsofextraor01mack/memoirsofextraor01mack.pdf) Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) “Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.” ~ Charles MacKa...

"If your money isn't sound, it is not reflecting any proof of work. It is not reflecting anything about who should be able to consume, or how much there is available to consume. It's just being corrupted, it's being defrauded, so that certain people get bad price signals. And this will incentivize them and everyone else to literally make economic decisions that appear to be economically profitable, that are actually destroying the society." ~ Guy Swann Why is it that 5,000 years of human civilization built monuments and railroads and cathedrals – and we built WeWork and Quibi? In this episode, I read Wyatt's case for a return to proof of work in the real economy, then push it further: sound money isn't just nice to have. Without it, the market doesn't break – it never emerges in the first place. And when it loses that property, society rots until it dies. Check out the original article: The Bitcoinization of Finance by Wyatt O'Rourke (Link: https://braiins.com/books/bitcoinization-of-finance) References from the episode The Bitcoinization of Finance by Wyatt O'Rourke – the book this chapter is pulled from, available now (audiobook coming soon, narrated by yours truly) (Link: https://braiins.com/books/bitcoinization-of-finance) Broken Money by Lynn Alden – referenced in the chapter and one of the best macro reads out there (Link: https://www.lynalden.com/broken-money/) The Price of Tomorrow by Jeff Booth – also referenced, and a foundational read on deflation and innovation (Link: https://www.jeffbooth.ca/books) Human Action by Ludwig von Mises – the original Austrian breakdown of boom-bust cycles (Link: https://mises.org/mises-wire/ludwig-von-misess-human-action-marking-70-years-continuing-relevance) The previous Read episode on Nick Szabo's The Fabric of Desires – perfect companion piece to this one (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/ByGugoFYLU0uFDPI6Z2t) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code ...

"It is not markets that made money possible. It is collectibles, which we now call money, that make markets possible." ~ Nick Szabo What if everything we've been told about how money emerged is backwards? Nick Szabo's first article in nearly a decade tells the story of a stolen canoe, a tribal feud, and a string of shells – and uses it to challenge one of the most repeated ideas in economics. Did money come from barter, or did it come from something far older and far more human? Check out the original article: The Fabric of Desires by Nick Szabo (Link: https://jan3.com/blog/the-fabric-of-desires) References from the episode Nick Szabo's blog, Unenumerated – where so much of his foundational writing lives (Link: https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/) Aqua Wallet, the superapp by Jan3: Bitcoin, Lightning, and Liquid all in one, with USDT on Liquid too (Link: https://aqua.net/) The Nakamoto Institute: the best archive there is for Szabo's work and early Bitcoin thought (Link: https://nakamotoinstitute.org/) Carl Menger's On the Origins of Money – worth reading even where I think it falls short (Link: https://www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/menger/money.txt) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) “There's always a story. It's all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything's got a story in i...

In this roundtable, we sit down with Steve, Mechanic, and Jeff, and honestly, we struggle to stay on Bitcoin for half of it. Our catch-up quickly turns into a rant about LLMs acting like corporate yes-men, and the frustrations of running AI locally. But we do get back to the money. We talk about the St. Louis Fed literally copyrighting Bitcoin price data, France tracking self-hosted wallets, Steve’s update on UTXOracle, and why the quantum computing threat looks a lot more like a funding scam with terrible marketing. On the technical side, we get into the proposed cluster mempool changes in Bitcoin Core. Mechanic also shares his view on renting hashrate, and how much money giant pools waste by ignoring empty block speedups. Guest Links Steve Simple Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3s6a8yn8) Steve Simple on X (Link: https://x.com/stevesimple) Bitcoin Mechanic Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/2tm827ut) Bitcoin Mechanic on X (Link: https://x.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Jeff Swann Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3sjc3bcp) Jeff Swann on X (Link: https://x.com/agoristview) Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction to the Roundtable(00:05:16) - Building the UTXO Oracle Reference Price(00:15:09) - Ocean Mining Pool Hashrate and Core Drama(00:23:40) - Analyzing AI Model Costs and Economic Feasibility(00:37:05) - Iran Reportedly Taking Bitcoin Tolls for Shipping(00:42:08) - VPN Usage and Legal Realities in Autocracies(00:53:12) - Governement Advancing Self-Hosted Wallet Regulations(00:59:06) - Debunking Google Quantum Computing Encryption Threats(01:16:45) - Analyzing Cluster Mempool Feasibility in Bitcoin Core(01:28:01) - AI Agents Operating Wallets(01:33:14) - The Rise of Decentralized Rentable Hashrate(01:44:26) - Hosted Bitcoin Nodes and Stratum Uptime Solutions(01:57:17) - Non-Custodial Wallet Adoption on Nostr(02:02:37) - Lightning Network UX Challenges and Bolt 12(02:13:14) - Updates and Final Thoughts

"They say the ruler is bent, then use the bent ruler to measure the table. They say the clock is broken, then solemnly read out the hour. They say the instrument is false, then ask it, with perfect seriousness, for one final certification. This is, in itself, a form of bondage. To measure gold in fiat terms is, in Jung’s sense, to deny the shadow: to denounce the paper system in public while continuing, in private, to let it decide what counts as value."  ~ Craig Tindale 1 BTC = 1 BTC. If fiat is broken, why do we still trust it to tell us what gold or Bitcoin is worth? Craig Tindale argues that even the rebels against fiat money remain captive to its grammar – measuring their escape in the very units they claim to reject. But is stepping outside the fiat frame really that simple, or does the nature of price itself trap us in ways even Bitcoiners haven't fully reckoned with? Check out the original article: Stepping Outside the Fiat Frame by Craig Tindale (Link: https://x.com/ctindale/status/2040918715961901280) References from the episode My recent two‑part series Read episodes: "Number Go Down" by Allen Farrington & Sacha Meyers and "Modern Money Only Works by Cheating" by Tyler Durden – both great companions to this episode. (Number Go Down: https://fountain.fm/episode/fLqds61ds9YbsnqGOkE8) (Modern Money Only Works by Cheating: https://fountain.fm/episode/UN8NHIQ3tR9tdc9ER89h) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1)

"When you really dig into the heart of how finance, how our monetary system and how our political system work, and how deeply married they are, you begin to see something that's pretty disturbing. That cheating and manipulation aren't simply something that arise in bad behaviors. They're fundamentally required by the system itself. They're baked in. They are the standard. It is the law. And if that is our reality, then the only way we can actually restore honesty and sensible standards is to create a money that refuses to bend to the law. So the question is, have we done that?" ~ Guy What if the cheating, the manipulation, and the bailouts aren't bugs in our financial system, but the very features that keep it alive? In this rant, I push back hard on the idea that "elastic money" saved us from the 2008 collapse, the 1929 catastrophe, or any other economic event we've "papered over", and argue it's the very thing guaranteeing a far worse one. Is hard money really the villain of the 20th century, or have we been telling ourselves a comforting lie? References from the episode The previous Read of "Number Go Down", the essay by Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/fLqds61ds9YbsnqGOkE8) And the previous Read of "Modern Money Only Works by Cheating" by Tyler Durden (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/UN8NHIQ3tR9tdc9ER89h) Custodia Bank's ongoing fight for a full-reserve banking charter (Link: https://bankingjournal.aba.com/2026/04/tenth-circuit-denies-rehearing-en-banc-in-custodia-banks-lawsuit-over-master-accounts/) Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"The idea that some authority can deduce the correct level of this balance is not merely wrong, it is not even wrong, it is methodologically incoherent. Asking for the 'correct' interest rate is like asking how much the color orange weighs."  ~ Allen Farrington & Sacha Meyers What if deflation isn't the economic boogeyman we've been told to fear, but the very *signal* that progress is happening? In Part 2 of Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers' brilliant essay, we dismantle the central myth of fiat economics – that printing money creates growth – and reveal why falling prices are the only honest measure that innovation has actually occurred. If the fiat prescription worked, where's the evidence? And why have central authorities never let us run the experiment? Check out the original article: Number Go Down by Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers (Link: https://x.com/allenf32/status/2045477517201477686) References from the episode Part 1 of "Number Go Down" – make sure you catch it before this one. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/fLqds61ds9YbsnqGOkE8) "Bitcoin is Venice" by Farrington & Meyers – second edition announced for 2027. (Medium: https://allenfarrington.medium.com/bitcoin-is-venice-8414dda42070) (Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Venice-Essays-Future-Capitalism/dp/B09TTTGT11) "On the Manipulation of Money and Credit" by Ludwig von Mises. (Link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2212135) And the companion Guy's Take coming soon on Bitcoin, Trust, and The Human Problem. 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1)

"The fiat economist universally chooses to set the printing press to brrrrrrrrrr. While the enlightened elite watch their stock portfolios moon and their debts disappear, the common man is told to be thankful that he was 'this close' to the horror of living in a world where his wages bought more every year, and his government respected his private property. Imagine how hard it would be for that government to raise debt in such a world. It would have to justify its spending. We cannot have that." ~ Allen Farrington & Sacha Meyers What if falling prices aren't the economy stifling nightmare that fiat economists claim, but instead is actually the only natural spending incentive of a real economy fundamentally? Dive into Part 1 of Number Go Down, Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers' latest essay, where we dismantle the deflation myth, explore how hard money fuels real growth, and question why Bitcoin's promise hinges on surviving extreme stress. Could this be the key to a more stable, productive world? Check out the original article: Number Go Down by Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers (Link: https://x.com/allenf32/status/2045477517201477686) References from the episode Give a listen to our two-part episode "Modern Money Only Works By Cheating" by Tyler Durden for the backstory on what the market's really pricing in Bitcoin. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/UN8NHIQ3tR9tdc9ER89h) Don't miss my audiobook version of "Bitcoin is Venice" by Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers – it's one of my all-time favorites and dives deep into these economic themes. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/s6Fu2VowAddRACCCIxQh) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) “The first rule is to keep an untroubled spiri...

“what matters now is not belief, but endurance.bitcoin does not promise comfort. it does not promise justice. it does not promise to save anyone. it offers one thing only: a set of rules that do not bend to price, politics, or persuasion. whether that is valuable depends entirely on who is holding it and why.the mathematics will almost certainly hold long enough. the question has always been whether we will.” ~ Hugh Hendry Today, we are back with part two of Tyler Durden's piece "Modern Money Only Works By Cheating". Most people think the ultimate danger to Bitcoin is quantum computers cracking the math. But this article highlights something far scarier: human coordination. I read through the rest of the essay, which asks a brutal question. If Bitcoin ever needs to change to survive a threat, can a network built on resisting authority act together without a leader? Or will we just splinter into stubborn factions? Because Bitcoin's rules don't bend, the pressure falls entirely on us. I share my thoughts on the read, explaining why the Block Size War was a preview of this exact test, and where I push back heavily on the author's defense of fiat money. Check out the original article: Modern Money Only Works By Cheating by Tyler Durden (Link: https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/modern-money-only-works-cheating-if-youre-long-bitcoin-or-not-long-bitcoin-read) References from the episode Part 1 of this Read -- go back and catch up if you haven't. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/UN8NHIQ3tR9tdc9ER89h) Hugh Henry's article Bitcoin in the Problem of Hardness on his Substack -- that's the main one we dove into. (Link: https://hughhendry.substack.com/p/bitcoin-and-the-problem-of-hardness) Hugh's other piece Bitcoin and the Human Problem is worth a read for the full picture. (Link: https://hughhendry.substack.com/p/5f0) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard)

"I think there will come a point where you get excessive, you swing too far on the individual side of the spectrum, and then it becomes advantageous to group together again, and you become more fulfilled, more happy, more culturally flourishing in collectives again." "I think there's a resurgence of the desire for people to build tribes, communities, even fucking network state, even microstates, and saying that we're going to do this, and we're going to really group together because getting 10,000, 100,000, million people, 10 million people of a similar mindset, similar ideology, similar vision for the world is way more powerful than individuals doing it." ~ Aleks Svetski In this Chat, Svetski and I talk about something I think a lot of people feel but don’t say out loud: the internet just doesn’t feel as real as it used to. We cover learned helplessness, micro-echo chambers, the collapse of trust, and why the future of social life may look a lot more like curated groups, in-person communities, and small circles of people you actually know. So this episode isn’t a standard industry update, but more of an honest, slightly cynical, and deeply hopeful look at why the best way to handle a world that feels increasingly fake is to double down on the things that are undeniably, physically real. Chapters (00:00:00) - Shifting tribalism and the need for community (00:04:15) - Unplugging from Twitter and public social media (00:14:37) - AI agents and the death of public internet (00:23:31) - Learned helplessness from social media hysteria (00:26:05) - Telescopic versus microscopic thinking models (00:44:20) - The necessity of life consequences and dueling (00:51:04) - Political power and the illusion of constitutions (01:01:43) - The role of borders and cultural trust (01:13:07) - Bitcoin as a standard framework for excellence (01:23:24) - Autonomous bazaars and the reality of collectivism (01:32:19) - Being completely offline as the new status symbol (01:34:24) - Information overload and the reality of mental obesity (01:37:40) - Physical scarcity and the booming experience economy (01:49:11) - Identity shifts and embracing fatherhood Guest Links Aleks on X (Link: https://twitter.com/) Satlantis Website (Link: ) Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) (Under construction) Check out the list of products and services I use and recommend on BitcoinAudible.com (Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: h... Chapters (00:00:00) - Shifting tribalism and the need for community(00:04:15) - Unplugging from Twitter and public social media(00:14:37) - AI agents and the death of public internet(00:23:31) - Learned helplessness from social media hysteria(00:26:05) - Telescopic versus microscopic thinking models(00:44:20) - The necessity of life consequences and dueling(00:51:04) - Political power and the illusion of constitutions(01:01:43) - The role of borders and cultural trust(01:13:07) - Bitcoin as a standard framework for excellence(01:23:24) - Autonomous bazaars and the reality of collectivism(01:32:19) - Being completely offline as the new status symbol(01:34:24) - Information overload and the reality of mental obesity(01:37:40) - Physical scarcity and the booming experience economy(01:49:11) - Identity shifts and embracing fatherhood

“This piece is my attempt to finally map the terrain I'd been circling for years: Bitcoin's hardness, its fragility, its human governance, and its uneasy relationship with a world that increasingly runs on elastic money and digital abundance. It's not a defence. It's not an indictment. It's an audit.” ~ Hugh Hendry We keep pretending modern money is a stable system, but Hugh Hendry explains the quiet part out loud: fiat only survives by cheating, bending the rules, and offloading pain onto the future. What if Bitcoin’s "flaw" - its rigid, unchanging code - is actually the only way to stop the cycle of constant bailouts? We’ve become so addicted to monetary elasticity that we’ve lost sight of what it means to have an asset that doesn't bend. And Hendry’s brutal audit of our financial landscape serves as a perfect reminder of why the current system is so inherently fragile. If you want to understand why we need an anchor that refuses to compromise, you need to listen in. Check out the original article: Modern Money Only Works By Cheating by Tyler Durden (Link: https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/modern-money-only-works-cheating-if-youre-long-bitcoin-or-not-long-bitcoin-read)  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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) “If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Moving, be like water. Still, be like a mirror. Respond like an echo.” ~ Bruce Lee

"We are trying to make it possible for people to use computers as simple of a statement as this: use computers, without intermediaries and custodians. The more they do, the more the lines will diverge. Until there's a chasm between the centralised model and the decentralised model with a clear line between them. And we will force either a reconciliation at the natural, technical level, let the best product in the market win, or we will force the hand of the authoritarians to say that our model is illegal. And then we have a different reconciliatory approach. Which is, okay, it's revolution time." ~ Matt Hill Big tech platforms have spent years trapping us behind their gates. And honestly, I am sick of it. The "cloud" is just someone else's computer, and companies are skimming our data at every single turn. CEO of Start9, Matt Hill, is my guest today, and is actually doing something about it. We sat down to talk about how bad the institutional theft of our privacy has gotten, and why building your own digital escape hatch is no longer just for hardcore nerds. Matt brought the fire in this one. He walks me through the absolute beast that is StartOS 0.4.0 -- the OS they spent the last three years rebuilding from absolute scratch. He also gave us the rundown on their upcoming StartWRT router, and breaks down how they finally made complex networking feel like putting together simple Ikea furniture. But the conversation goes way deeper than just hardware and updates. We get into the existential threat of AI, what happens when people get automated away, and why you desperately need to run your agents locally. Matt sees the current systems sinking like the Titanic, and we spend a lot of time trying to figure out exactly how to scramble for the higher decks. If you have been procrastinating on taking control of your own computing, this conversation will give you the push you need. Chapters (00:00:00) - The divergence of centralized and decentralized models(00:06:34) - Rebuilding StartOS and extending development timelines(00:10:05) - Introducing StartWRT and true open-source routing(00:32:18) - The danger of centralized cloud computing infrastructure(00:44:06) - AI advancement and the loss of human purpose(01:06:14) - Unchecked inflation theft negating time-saving technology(01:18:09) - Developing essential digital defense systems to resist tyranny(01:28:56) - A total code rebuild for ultimate network stack control(01:46:36) - Automating server management with the local StartBot AI(01:57:24) - Packaging custom open-source software on the fly(02:08:40) - Simplifying network isolation with StartWRT security profiles(02:24:35) - Chaining outbound VPNs for complete internet traffic privacy(02:37:48) - Exposing home services safely using virtual private routers Guest Links Matt on X (Link: https://twitter.com/_MattHill_) Start9's Website (Link: https://start9.com/) Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Li... Chapters (00:00:00) - The divergence of centralized and decentralized models(00:06:34) - Rebuilding StartOS and extending development timelines(00:10:05) - Introducing StartWRT and true open-source routing(00:32:18) - The danger of centralized cloud computing infrastructure(00:44:06) - AI advancement and the loss of human purpose(01:06:14) - Unchecked inflation theft negating time-saving technology(01:18:09) - Developing essential digital defense systems to resist tyranny(01:28:56) - A total code rebuild for ultimate network stack control(01:46:36) - Automating server management with the local StartBot AI(01:57:24) - Packaging custom open-source software on the fly(02:08:40) - Simplifying network isolation with StartWRT security profiles(02:24:35) - Chaining outbound VPNs for complete internet traffic privacy(02:37:48) - Exposing home services safely using virtual private routers

"Residents withdrew over 1.6 trillion rubles, or $19.7 billion in January, desperately turning to cash amid increased state controls." As governments push CBDCs to clamp down on dissent and capital flight, is Bitcoin our last line of defense for true sovereignty? Today with the Financial Freedom Report we dive into global news - from Hong Kong's surveillance crackdowns to offline AI-Bitcoin kits like BlackBox - plus my take on why Lightning could make digital cash frictionless. Will these innovations outpace authoritarian overreach, or is the cashless trap closing in? Check out the original article from the Financial Freedom Report: Financial Freedom Report #115 (Link: https://hrf.org/latest/hrfs-weekly-financial-freedom-report-115/) References from the episode Nostr VPN: A tool released by early Bitcoin developer Martti Malmi (Link: https://github.com/mmalmi/nostr-vpn) BlackBox: An Experimental Kit for Offline AI, Messaging, and Bitcoin. Still experimental, but super intriguing. (Link: https://blackbox.host/) Check out the MIT Bitcoin Expo 2026 details: this year's edition is titled "Freedom for All". (Link: https://mitbitcoinexpo.org/) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) (Under construction) Check out the list of products and services I use and recommend on BitcoinAudible.com (Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/)

This week, the whole crew is back for another Roundtable. I sat down with Mechanic, Steve, and Jeff to talk about the painful reality of Bitcoin mining today, the chaos of global politics, and some wild stories about corporate power plays. We started by looking at why mining is under so much pressure right now. The industry is getting a brutal and much-needed reality check. Fiat-fueled operations are feeling the squeeze, and it’s a reminder that if you aren't building on a foundation of hard money and efficiency, the market will eventually push you out. We also couldn't avoid the latest controversy surrounding Swan Bitcoin and the bizarre, high-stakes fallout involving Tether and Cantor Fitzgerald. Was this a calculated rug pull or just the ugly reality of trying to scale in a corporate world that’s already been bought and paid for? We break down what this really means for the future of Bitcoin. Guest Links Steve Simple Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3s6a8yn8) Steve Simple on X (Link: https://x.com/stevesimple) Bitcoin Mechanic Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/2tm827ut) Bitcoin Mechanic on X (Link: https://x.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Jeff Swann Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3sjc3bcp) Jeff Swann on X (Link: https://x.com/agoristview) Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

“The seed phrase has been a barrier to self-custody since day one. It’s what scares normies away from keeping their own bitcoin, and it’s a legitimate reason why people accept the counterparty risk of exchanges and custodial apps.” ~ Breez What if Bitcoin adoption is stuck not because of the tech but because we are obsessed with "perfect" security? I just read Juan Galt’s thoughts on Breeze SDK’s seedless wallets using Passkey Login, and it hit home. We have to lower the barriers for normies if we actually want them to use this. Is it finally possible to balance self-custody with real-world ease? This might be the bridge we need to move away from custodial risks toward actual everyday freedom. Check out the original article: Breez SDK Launches Passkey Login by Juan Galt (Link: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/breez-sdk-launches-passkey-login-for-seedless-bitcoin-wallets) References from the episode Check out the new Roundtable episode dropping this Thursday: it's packed with mining insights, price action updates, and corporate drama. If you're into the latest Bitcoin developments and cool upcoming projects, keep an eye out for the next two Chat episodes with Matt Hill and Svetski. If you're around, join me at Bit Block Boom in Dallas-Fort Worth from April 9th to 12th - I'll be sharing some fun stuff on what I'm currently building. (Link: https://bitblockboom.com/) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"Yes, AI is a big deal, but the conclusion that AI is going to kill the vertical and functional software business model simply makes no sense. The truth is that AI simply isn't going to kill software companies. After all this panic has passed, we'll see that AI is the best thing that ever happened to the software industry." ~ Alex Immerman and Santiago Rodriguez Ever wonder if AI is really going to wipe out software companies and leave us all jobless in a post-human economy? Listen in this episode where I read a A16Z article dismantling the doom and gloom, then rant on why AI amplifies human judgment, process power, and relative value - turning creative destruction into the ultimate boon for innovation. Could this be the take that flips your fears into excitement? Check out the original article: AI Will Eat Application Software by Alex Immerman and Santiago Rodriguez (Link: https://www.a16z.news/p/good-news-ai-will-eat-application) References from the episode Peter Steinberg's article on managing AI agents and process engineering, which sparked my thoughts on judgment and memory in AI. (Link: https://steipete.me/posts/just-talk-to-it) Dig into my feed for those recent episodes on AI coding and vibe coding; they're full of practical takes on agents and processes. Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

Did Jeffrey Epstein secretly hijack Bitcoin during the block size war? Was is all a covert operation by Jeffrey Epstein and shadowy government actors to permanently handicap Bitcoin? The big blockers want you to think so. In this Take, I tear apart the narrative piece by piece - following the money, reading the emails, and exposing why this conspiracy exists in the first place, and what it says about the people still pushing it. References from the episode Joy Ito's article on the block size debate is still up and worth reading if you want his actual stated position (Link: https://joi.ito.com/weblog/2016/02/22/my-view-on-the-.html) The DOJ Epstein email dump is publicly available if you want to dig through it yourself - fair warning, it's a lot. (Link: https://jmail.world/) The full video version of this breakdown will be shared shortly on my YouTube. I combined all seven parts into one, so it's way easier to watch straight through. (Link: https://youtu.be/OHT7pG-gZfU) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"When it comes to building in the approach, you have to be taking the approach as utilising the fundamental principles that we see in Bitcoin itself. So having a standard rule set that you apply to yourself every day with discipline and developing standard operating procedures that force us to hold ourselves accountable to higher standards. It's a daily grind, like you have to be always doing preventative maintenance, inspections and things like that so that you can kind of foresee issues before they happen and keep this infrastructure going because it's not just for self, this is bigger than us and it requires a great sacrifice sometimes to achieve greatness." ~ HODLTarantula While down at Plan B El Salvador, I managed to pull together a last-minute mining panel with two of the absolute best in the space. Bitcoin Mechanic from Ocean and the off-grid mining legend HODLTarantula join me to get into the weeds of physical infrastructure on the ground. We discuss the critical distinction between simply hashing and actually mining, and why that gap poses a massive centralization risk to the network. From the importance of constructing your own block templates to the "wild horse" philosophy of scavenging energy sources, we cover what it really takes to be unstoppable. If you aren't building the block, are you really a miner? Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links HT on X (Link: https://twitter.com/HodlTarantula) HT's Website (Link: https://sovereignhybridcompute.com/) Mechanic on X (Link: https://twitter.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Ocean's Website (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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"If people are not ready for Bitcoin, just go use USDT as long as you can before dollar hyperinflation. It's like Noah's Ark: it's going to rain, we build the ark. We don't have to force people on board. Just wait there, and when you feel ready to swim, come aboard." ~ Giacomo Zucco Earlier this year at the Plan B conference in El Salvador, I managed to pull Giacomo Zucco aside to take a pulse on the current state of the Bitcoin world. In this Chat, we debate whether the classic four-year cycle is dead, or if we are simply stuck in the bargaining phase of grief where the world tries to fit old fiat models onto new money. We then discuss whether stablecoins constitute a necessary bridge - like methadone for a fiat junkie - or if they are just delaying the inevitable. Giacomo also breaks down his new Cypher Tank initiative and why he is funding the next generation of cypherpunk projects. At last, we pivot to the creeping dangers of the surveillance state and why KYC is fundamentally a regression to pre-civilization barter systems. Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links Giacomo on X (Link: https://twitter.com/giacomozucco) Giacomo's Website (Link: https://www.giacomozucco.com/) Plan B Network Website (Link: https://planb.network/) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

I'm joined by Steve, Mechanic, and Jeff for yet another Roundtable episode, and honestly, the digital world is getting weirder by the minute. Are we even talking to real people online anymore, or just AI voice clones trying to steal our seed phrases?  We dive into the wild new wave of AI scams, the undeniable reality of the dead internet theory, and how AI coding tools might be the real reason Jack Dorsey just slashed Block's workforce in half. Of course, we also get into the thick of the quiet civil war happening right now in Bitcoin over BIP 110. Is this soft fork a vital stand against spam and network bloat, or is it a rushed experiment that could cause more chaos than it cures? Plus, we celebrate the Lightning Network quietly hitting a billion dollars in monthly volume, laugh about bartenders unplugging point-of-sale systems to charge their vapes, and question if the entire legacy system is just completely broken. When the timeline gets this absurd, how do we navigate the fiat madness without losing our minds? Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links Steve Simple Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3s6a8yn8) Steve Simple on X (Link: https://x.com/stevesimple) Bitcoin Mechanic Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/2tm827ut) Bitcoin Mechanic on X (Link: https://x.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Jeff Swann Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3sjc3bcp) Jeff Swann on X (Link: https://x.com/agoristview) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"The cypherpunk principle that 'cypherpunks write code' takes on revolutionary meaning when writing code no longer requires programming knowledge. Eric Hughes meant that political freedom comes through building systems without requesting permission, and now that building happens through natural language instruction to AI agents. You achieve sovereignty over computing through direct technical capability. The code becomes yours in the most fundamental sense: modified by your specifications, compiled on your hardware, serving your purposes exclusively." ~ Max Hillebrand What if every piece of software you use could be shaped entirely to your will - no bloat, no telemetry, no features you never asked for? Max Hillebrand argues that AI hasn't just changed who can code, it's changed *what code even is*. Could the combination of open source and AI agents finally destroy the vendor lock-in model for good? Check out the original article: The Code Liberation: How AI Makes Software Infinitely Customizable by Max Hillebrand (Link: https://towardsliberty.com/articles/naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzpdlddzcx9hntfgfw28749pwpu8sw6rj39rx6jw43rdq4pd276vhuqqgrjvesxyurwctp8p3nzefevyuny53hzf6) References from the episode Chat_160 - A Quiet Global Resistance: The episode with Max that kicked this whole conversation off - worth listening to before or after this one. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/db0Y8qZkrhZpjhj2vT0D) Towards Liberty: Max's blog and writing collection on Nostr - I'm well behind on his stuff and plan to dig back in myself. (Link: https://towardsliberty.com/articles) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter)

The biggest mistake Bitcoin and sovereignty-focused developers keep making is trying to sell people on why they care instead of building something people actually want to use. They don't care about decentralization, sovereignty, or peer-to-peer - they care about things that work. Looking at the user experience tells us just how far we still need to go. Why does logging into a free service feel like a hostage negotiation? Why are captchas filling every corner of the web when bots are better at solving them than humans? Is KYC and a credit card to every single service we want to login to really the "better experience" that the future holds for us? And why in 2026, sharing and syncing files between your own devices and among friends still migraine inducing? It's time to work backward from the web we want to have, to find the tools that will get us there. References from the episode - Pear Drive GitHub repository (Link: https://github.com/peardrive) - Pears, open-source P2P development stack by Holepunch (Link: https://pears.com/) - Pubky, key-oriented web protocol for user-owned identity and data by Synonym (Link: https://pubky.app/) - Wormhole, end-to-end encrypted file sharing tool via links (Link: https://wormhole.app/) - RustDesk, open-source remote desktop software (Link: https://rustdesk.com/) - Nostr, key-based identity protocol for global social networking and messaging (Link: https://nostr.org/) - Breeze SDK with Statechains: Non-custodial Bitcoin scaling solution for onboarding Lightning payments without liquidity concerns (Link: https://breez.technology/sdk/) - Dead Internet Theory: concept referenced regarding bot-dominated online interactions (Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Internet_theory) - BitTorrent history: its peak traffic era (~2006–2007) and lessons on peer-to-peer adoption (Link: https://www.bittorrent.org/) - The Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen: a book on network effects and the atomic network concept (Link: https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Start-Problem-Andrew-Chen/dp/0062969749) - Steve Jobs' talk on starting from the user experience and working backward to the technology (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZll3dJ2AjY) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/)

"The people who figure that out first won't just ship faster - they'll build things that others can't even spec, because the spec emerges last from a process that only exists in the doing of it." ~ Jesse Posner When your AI knows your goals better than you remember them in the moment, something fundamental has shifted. This episode explores Jesse Posner's "The Secret to Vibe Coding" and the emerging art of human-AI partnership through the lens of real agentic workflows, the philosophy of naming what's happening while it's happening, and what it looks like when the spec emerges last from a process that only exists in the doing. Check out the original article: The secret to vibe coding by Jesse Posner (Link: https://x.com/jesseposner/status/2025680970784137238) References from the episode The Secret to Vibe Coding by Jesse Posner: for those without an X account, the article has been reposted on Nostr by average_bitcoiner. (Link: https://primal.net/average/the-secret-to-vibe-coding-and-the-only-skill-that-matters-in-the-age-of-ai) The Code Liberation by Max Hillebrand: the piece I mentioned as a possible follow-up Read episode - more philosophical take on the same ideas, keep an eye out for that one. (Link: https://primal.net/maxhillebrand/930187aa8c1e9a92) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/)

"That's the main reason I like doing this Bitcoin stuff so much, because it's connected to the real world. It's proof of work. Like, I can't sit on my computer and come up with a more logical code base or a different way to attack and get more Bitcoin. I've got to actually go out there and create something, some physical thing. And if I don't do that, it doesn't work, right? So it is proof of work at the very most fundamental level. And I love it." ~ Cade Peterson Bitcoin is often dismissed as magic internet money, but what happens when you harness that digital energy to physically heat your world? In this episode, I sit down with Cade Peterson to explore the inner workings of mining bitcoin for heat. We discuss his journey from Air Force mechanic to turning a local bank and a concrete plant into Bitcoin-heated fortresses. Cade explains the fascinating economics of heating systems that pay you back and why the tax man might actually be on your side here. We also dig into the philosophy of "boots and hammers" and why getting your hands dirty is the ultimate form of sovereignty. Is it time to stop over-thinking the thermodynamics and just build something? Let's find out. Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links Cade on X (Link: https://x.com/SoftwarmLLC) Cade's Website (Link: https://miningheater.com/) Cade's article The Significance of Micro-Infrastructure with Bitcoin Mining (Link: https://x.com/SoftwarmLLC/status/1863337651228823955) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, 'The world order as it has stood for decades no longer exists', and that we are in a period of 'great power politics.'" "He made clear that freedom 'is no longer a given' in this new era. French President Emmanuel Macron echoed Merz’s assessment and said that Europe’s old security structures tied to the previous world order don't exist and that Europe must prepare for war." "U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that we are in a 'new geopolitics era' because the 'old world' is gone." ~ Ray Dalio The world order is officially dead - Germany, France, and the US all said so at the Munich Security Conference. Ray Dalio's chapter on the big cycle of external order and disorder lays out exactly how empires collapse and wars begin. But did Dalio miss the most important piece? What if the debt cycle he describes isn't just a pattern - what if it's a symptom of a fundamentally broken monetary system? And what happens when you drop Bitcoin into the middle of a world gearing up for conflict? Check out the original article: The World Order Has Broken Down (Link: https://x.com/raydalio/status/2022788750388998543) References from the episode Ray Dalio's book Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail - I read all of Chapter 6 in this episode and it's absolutely worth reading the whole thing (Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Changing_World_Order) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/)

The Roundtable is back, and we are kicking off 2026 with some stories that I definitely didn't have on my bingo card. After catching up on Jeff's frostbite scare and Steve getting the cops called on him for sleeping in a gym lobby, we dive headfirst into the Epstein files. The released documents have implicated some major names in the space, raising the uncomfortable question: did a compromised elite try to co-opt Bitcoin early on? We debate the "Andy" Back theories, the influence of the MIT Media Lab, and whether any of this actually threatens the protocol today. We also discuss the sudden departure of a core developer and get into a heated debate over BIP-110 and the true power of listening nodes. Can a small but stubborn group of node runners actually block a soft fork, or are we heading toward a chaotic chain split this August? Equal parts absurd and sobering, this episode hits hard. Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links Steve Simple Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3s6a8yn8) Steve Simple on X (Link: https://x.com/stevesimple) Bitcoin Mechanic Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/2tm827ut) Bitcoin Mechanic on X (Link: https://x.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Jeff Swann Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3sjc3bcp) Jeff Swann on X (Link: https://x.com/agoristview) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"Bitcoin is a lifeline. It is a money that cannot be shut down. Native money for the internet. But what happens when the internet gets shut off?" Iran's currency collapses 98%, the government kills thousands and cuts every wire connecting its people to the outside world. Uganda shuts down the internet the day before an election. And somehow, hundreds of thousands of people find a way to communicate anyway. What does it actually look like when Bitcoin's promise meets the brutal reality of authoritarian control — and what happens when the very infrastructure it depends on disappears? Check out the original article from the Financial Freedom Report: Financial Freedom Report #104 (Link: https://hrf.org/program/financial-freedom/financial-freedom-reports/) References from the episode Andreas Antonopoulos received the Finney Freedom Prize for the 2016–2020 era. Absolutely deserved. Look up the prize and the trophies Cryptografiti made — they're gorgeous. Bitchat is the peer-to-peer Bluetooth messaging app that hundreds of thousands of Ugandans downloaded when their internet got shut down. Worth knowing about. FEDI went fully open source on January 3rd — Bitcoin payments and encrypted messaging built on the Fedimint protocol. Zeus wallet added support for South Africa's retail QR code standard via Money Badger — making Bitcoin spendable at everyday merchants from a self-custodial Lightning wallet. Torreable is a new tool for publishing censorship-resistant websites as Tor onion services directly from your own computer. Open Sats announced their 15th round of Bitcoin grants, including Braidpool and Dana Wallet. Thor Halverson wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal arguing against just swapping one authoritarian for another in Venezuela. Anna Chekovic did an interview with Unchained about how Bitcoin sustained Navalny's anti-corruption foundation after Russia kicked them out of the banking system. 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: http...

"You can’t open your own private mint moving that kind of liquidity and hope to stay under the regulatory radar." ~ Roy Sheinfeld Stablecoins are booming, but are they building toward something bigger - or just recreating the old system with a crypto coat of paint? Roy Sheinfeld breaks down why centralization guarantees regulation, and I go deep on why the real shift isn't technological - it's monetary. If stablecoins can't escape the state, and Bitcoin can, who wins the utility race in the long run? Check out the original article: Stablecoins: Evolution, not a Revolution (Link: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/featured/stablecoins-evolution-not-a-revolution) References from the episode My recent conversation with Roy on Chat_157 - It's Time to Walk the Walk where we discussed the evolution of Lightning, Breeze, Spark and PearDrive (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/EpG58Rgz9cWjjLckHhD6) BTC Sessions' "Why Are We Bullish" panel show with Matt Odell, Brandon Quittem and myself. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/EHSfEfSKtnHd3HWYhud8) The film Black Rain by Ridley Scott, cited by Roy in his article as a reference for how seriously states take control over their currency. (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woY1UH9Ki28) Historical sociologist Charles Tilly's book Bringing the State Back In and its Chapter 5: War Making and State Making as Organized Crime, calling states "protection rackets" and "organized crime". (Link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/bringing-the-state-back-in/war-making-and-state-making-as-organized-crime/7A7B3B6577A060D76224F54A4DD0DA4C) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.

"It's a dangerous business to help people out of slavery. But so what? We have to do this. This is a moral obligation, an ethical obligation, as a technical possibility, and a lot of fun. So the risks of it are real and substantial and have been forever, especially in the last 30, 40 years or so. Countless builders have gotten into serious trouble or even been kidnapped or killed. And that's a hard fact of reality that we have to deal with. But I'm way more scared of the alternative of not working on this code and seeing us lose the grip on freedom that we have, rather than increasing it and making it flourish. So for me, it's really a no-brainer. They're so angry about this technology precisely because it works real damn good, and that's what we have to double down." ~ Max Hillebrand I sat down with Max Hillebrand for a conversation that ended up being far more optimistic than I expected. In this Chat, we dive deep into the mechanics of digital privacy, breaking down exactly how CoinJoin achieves trustless coordination and why the "code liberation" movement is just getting started. What happens when everyone becomes a programmer through AI agents and vibe coding? We then explore this explosion of productivity and how it feeds into new protocols like Marmot and the White Noise application. Finally, we discuss the philosophy of the "Second Realm" and why the tools to exit the system are already here, ready for us to build a quiet, global resistance against surveillance. It is time to stop hurting yourself with broken systems and start building the new ones. Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links Max on Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/2ujwmsf5) Max's Website (Link: https://towardsliberty.com/) Max's article The Code Liberation (Link: https://tinyurl.com/yc2ybnk7) Anarplex.net (Link: https://anarplex.sirion.io/) Marmot protocol's Repository (Link: https://github.com/marmot-protocol) The Second Realm by Smuggler XYZ (Link: https://tinyurl.com/46z4cd93) Sedition, Subversion, and Sabotage by Ben Stone (Link: https://tinyurl.com/yee65zuy) True Names: And the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier by Vernor Vinge (Link: https://tinyurl.com/5atu4xcx) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann)

"PearDrive is like, how could you make stuff seamless across devices and how can you leverage that device that has a lot of storage to get the most out of the device that has a little storage? How do you make it so that when I boot something up, it just syncs to my Linux? And if I delete anything from my phone or my MacBook, I still see the thumbnail and I still connect to my Linux to bring it up and I can even play it directly off of my Linux machine. And if I want it locally to edit with or to share with somebody, I just hit download. How could you actually make it visually aware of where the data is and make it feel like the data just exists everywhere it wants? That's what we're trying to do." What if we could rebuild the digital world without the servers, the clouds, or the middlemen that control our data today? I joined the crew at Ungovernable Misfits - Q&A, Max, and Seth - on Freedom Tech Friday 25 to explore the revolutionary potential of the Holepunch and Pear ecosystem. We break down the magic behind connecting peer-to-peer through firewalls and why the birthday problem changes everything for network resilience. We also dive into the philosophy behind Keet, the current state of Pear Drive, and why file sharing is the foundational layer of a truly decentralized web. It is time to discover how we can finally reclaim control over our digital lives without sacrificing the user experience. Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links UGMF on X (Link: https://twitter.com/ungovernablemf) UGMF on YT (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@ungovernablemisfits) UGMF's Website (Link: https://www.ungovernablemisfits.com/) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"Imagine the Stanford marshmallow experiment in reverse. Instead of getting a second marshmallow for waiting, the children are told that every fifteen minutes they wait, the marshmallow in front of them will shrink one tiny bite at a time, until nothing remains. Naturally, they eat their marshmallow immediately, not out of impatience or hunger, but common sense. That's exactly how our money works today." ~ Connor Dolan What if the real cost of our broken money isn't just inflation – but the slow erosion of your ability to even imagine a future worth building toward? This episode explores the surprising connection between Bitcoin, Stoicism, and the question we're all really asking: how should I be spending my time? From the marshmallow experiment in reverse to debt as invisible strings, we dig into why sound money might be the ultimate productivity hack – and why fiat is designed to keep you dependent, distracted, and disconnected from the life you actually want. Check out the original article: Bitcoin, Stoicism, and Our Relationship With Time (Link: https://x.com/conhodlan/status/2011485978037203351) References from the episode The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous – the book that opened Connor's eyes (and mine) to what money actually is (Link: https://saifedean.com/tbs) The Daily Stoic podcast by Ryan Holiday – short, digestible episodes on Stoic philosophy (Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily-stoic/id1430315931) Meditations by Marcus Aurelius – the classic starting point if you want to dive into Stoicism (Link: https://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html) Alex Gladstein's piece Structural Adjustment – a deep look at how the IMF and World Bank use debt as a tool of control (Link: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/imf-world-bank-repress-poor-countries) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit...

"Of course, central banking, fiat money is bad, but nevertheless, maybe AI and robotics and this productivity is going to be really beneficial to the global economy, not just the U.S. economy. We're going to start to see the liquidity, the whole U.S. PMI go up, and that's going to cause Bitcoin NGU. That's kind of how I'm seeing this next year or two. I think we're going to see a lot of AI, productivity and extra liquidity coming in. So I am very bullish on this coming year." ~ Stephan Livera The Bitcoin landscape has changed dramatically over the last few years, leading many to ask: is the cypherpunk ethos fading away? I sit down with the legendary podcaster Stephan Livera to explore the tension between ideological purity and the pragmatic reality of global adoption. We dive deep into the "Power Law" of Bitcoin's growth, why our timeframes might be all wrong, and the controversial role of stablecoins as a stepping stone. From the mechanics of Spark and Ark to the arbitrage strategies of treasury companies, we cover how the ecosystem is evolving to meet the world where it is. Are we losing our way, or simply maturing into the financial system of the future? Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links Stephan on X (Link: https://twitter.com/stephanlivera) Stephan's Podcast (Link: https://www.youtube.com/c/StephanLivera) Stephan's Website (Link: https://stephanlivera.com/) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"The end of mankind wouldn't even be biological in such an instance. It would be neurological." ~ Copernican What if AI's biggest flaw - training on its own recycled data - isn't just a tech glitch, but a universal law unraveling societies, economies, and even mouse utopias? Dive into this mind-bending theory that ties neural networks to human decadence, explores why socialism collapses like a bad map, and questions if superintelligence is doomed to diminishing returns - could this be the hidden force behind our cultural breakdown? Check out the original article: Urban Bugmen and AI Model Collapse: A Unified Theory (Link: https://alwaysthehorizon.substack.com/p/urban-bugmen-and-ai-model-collapse) References from the episode Previous AI Unchained episodes, especially The Scam of OpenAI (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/rD2MQlPCU8TDclQcHJmb) and Google "We Have No Moat..." (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/7eFcXC9SsIRee9ZEHE3N) The piece we covered on superintelligence theories - Situational Awareness (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/pJxqSUeb99092QKn9A9H) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/)

"To describe what’s coming as “impossibly borked” is charitable. This is going to be an unholy mess of indiscernible media, messaging, photography, and fakery. ... “reality fade” into fractal digital fog will stress even the highest trust networks." ~ El Gato Malo What happens when anything and everything can be faked at essentially zero cost? When the line between parody and reality completely dissolves? In this episode, I explore El Gato Malo's brilliant piece on the coming "reality fracture" - but here's the twist: what if this digital apocalypse is actually the best thing that could happen to humanity? What if the only escape from the infinite noise is a return to something we've lost - real trust, local connection, and the ancient art of asking why instead of obsessing over what? Check out the original article by El Gato Malo on Substack: Poe's Law Comes Into Full Flower (Link: https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/poes-law-comes-into-full-flower) References from the episode In Praise of The Debt Ceiling Fight: A previous piece by El Gato Malo about the COVID-era debt (Link: https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/in-praise-of-the-debt-ceiling-fight) Brian Roemmele and his "thousand questions" concept for saving family wisdom. (Link: https://savewisdom.org/) Aleks Svetski for his work on connecting people through real-world events with Satlantis. (Link: https://www.satlantis.io/) Nunchuk and Miniscript for programmable Bitcoin features like time-decaying transactions. (Link: https://nunchuk.io/) The NPM hack episode I referenced - that's a great one to revisit if you missed it. (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IepZPo3CqVM) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Li...

"If you are not paying for it, you are the product. And if it is a political system, the product that they are buying is control over you." What if a "free" digital currency from the government sounds like a sweet deal - but hides total surveillance and control? Dive into the UAE's CBDC rollout, parallels to sneaky inflation tactics, and real stories of financial repression from Iran, all while exploring how Bitcoin and open-source tools let us fight back. Will we fall for the trap, or build our own freedom? References from the episode Read HRF’s latest Financial Freedom Report #104 (Link: https://hrf.org/latest/hrfs-weekly-financial-freedom-report-104/) Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today for more on financial liberties repression. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter/) Dive into Alex Gladstein's book Check Your Financial Privilege, or its (my) audiobook version if you prefer listening. (Link: https://archive.hrf.org/hrfs-alex-gladstein-publishes-new-book/) Listen to my Chat with Roy Sheinfeld about Breez, Spark and state chains, a game-changer for Bitcoin tools. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/EpG58Rgz9cWjjLckHhD6) Catch the year-end special with Matt Hill, Francis Pouilot, and BTC Sessions for more on vibe coding and building in Bitcoin. (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4vBET46jRs) Check out the original report Weekly Financial Freedom Report #104 by HRF. (Link: https://hrf.org/latest/hrfs-weekly-financial-freedom-report-104/) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: C...

"Bitcoin needs to be exciting because it provides a utility that no other technology provides. The value transfer technology needs to be embedded in every application in the world. Period. That's super exciting." ~ Roy Sheinfeld It has been nearly three years since Roy was on the show, and the landscape of Bitcoin scaling has completely transformed. We dive deep into the evolution of Lightning - not just as a network of nodes, but as a "common language" that ties together entirely new sub-networks. I honestly had my mind blown when Roy explained that Spark is actually based on state chains, and how this architecture finally solves the massive headache of receiving payments offline without the usual custodial trade-offs. We also get into the reality of vibe coding with AI and the necessity of stablecoins as a transition layer to hyperbitcoinization. Is the era of orange pilling effectively over? Are we finally entering the phase where we stop talking about utility and start manifesting it through seamless apps? This conversation is packed with technical revelations that made me rethink exactly how we win. Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: Chroma is dedicated to advancing human performance and well-being through cutting-edge light therapy devices and performance eyewear. Their mission is to enhance physical and mental health, unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, and physical performance. Get 10% off your order with the code BITCOINAUDIBLE. (Link: https://getchroma.co/?ref=BitcoinAudible) Guest Links Roy on X (Link: https://twitter.com/roy_breez) Roy on Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/m8x9whee) Roy on Medium (Link: https://medium.com/@kingonly) Breez Website (Link: https://breez.technology/) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc9...

"My problem with the core side has been what we talked about with the people that are technical and don't have the empathy or understand what it was like before you were [technical]. The core people are so dismissive and the hubris is so high that they dismiss these people that are not technical but understand Bitcoin as money right. "I always say, like my Twitter phrase, Bitcoin is not open source software. Obviously that doesn't mean it's not open source, it's just so much more than that. It's not just a piece of software, it is money." ~ Praveen Perera Managing private keys remains one of the steepest learning curves for new Bitcoiners. How do we get people off exchanges and into self-custody without the terrifying risk of user error? I sit down with Praveen Perera, the builder behind Cove Wallet, to talk about his unique approach to simplified backups using Passkeys and encrypted cloud storage. We discuss the philosophy of building focused, single-purpose tools versus the 'super app' trend, and dig into the technical trade-offs of his architecture. We also wander into the implications of 'vibe coding' with AI, the contentious debates around network spam, and why maintaining a diverse ecosystem of wallet implementations might be crucial for Bitcoin's resilience. Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: Chroma is dedicated to advancing human performance and well-being through cutting-edge light therapy devices and performance eyewear. Their mission is to enhance physical and mental health, unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, and physical performance. Get 10% off your order with the code BITCOINAUDIBLE. (Link: https://getchroma.co/?ref=BitcoinAudible) Guest Links Praveen on X (Link: https://x.com/PraveenPerera) Cove Wallet on X (Link: https://x.com/covewallet) Cove Wallet Website (Link: https://covebitcoinwallet.com/) Cove Wallet on Github (Link: https://github.com/bit...

"Today's the day." ~ Mel Fisher Why does a reinsurance company's annual letter get me this fired up? Ross Stevens weaves together treasure hunting, Bayesian statistics, and the raw reality of Bitcoin as a human rights tool - culminating in a voice message from Nobel Prize winner Maria Karina Machado that moved him to tears. In my rant, I unpack why optimism isn't woo-woo, it's basic logic - and why waiting for certainty before believing in your own success is a guaranteed path to failure. Check out the original article: Stone Ridge 2025 Investor Letter (Link: https://www.nydig.com/research/stone-ridge-2025-investor-letter) References from the episode The Adaptability Quotient by Alec Litowitz - The forthcoming field guide for success mentioned in the letter. Wired for Story and Story Genius by Lisa Cron - My favorite books on what storytelling actually is. (Hint: it's not the plot!) (Link: http://wiredforstory.com/books) Fascinate: How to Make your Brand Impossible to Resist by Sally Hogshead - Fantastic on branding and narrative. (Link: https://a.co/d/5H1FJUy) Save the Cat by Blake Snyder - Useful for story pacing, but to be paired with Kill the Dog for balance.(Link: https://a.co/d/a1rp6Lc) Longitude by Dava Sobel (Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_(book)) The Human Rights Foundation (Link: https://hrf.org/) HRF Weekly Financial Freedom Reports (Link: https://hrf.org/newsletters/) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity witho...

In this episode, I’m joined by Simple Steve, Bitcoin Mechanic, and Jeff Swann for a year-end roundtable that starts with the Samourai Wallet case, spirals into quantum fears, and keeps coming back to the same question - how do you build freedom tech without painting a target on your back? We dig into CoinJoin, coordinators, and why privacy tools can suddenly become "hostile activity" when the state decides it wants a villain. What happens when spam wars collide with soft fork politics, mempool policy, and proposals like BIP-110 and “the CAT”? If governments are openly pushing CBDCs while quietly leaning on miners, what does censorship resistance actually mean when only a handful of entities build most blocks? Along the way we hit the UK’s escalating crackdowns (including the direction things are heading for jury trials), the weird incentives and contradictions in the “confiscation” arguments, and why the sly roundabout way might be the only way that wins long-term. It’s a little chaotic, a little salty, and exactly the kind of conversation I want on the last roundtable of 2025. Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: Chroma is dedicated to advancing human performance and well-being through cutting-edge light therapy devices and performance eyewear. Their mission is to enhance physical and mental health, unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, and physical performance. Get 10% off your order with the code BITCOINAUDIBLE. (Link: https://getchroma.co/?ref=BitcoinAudible) Guest Links Steve Simple Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3s6a8yn8) Steve Simple on X (Link: https://x.com/stevesimple) Bitcoin Mechanic Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/2tm827ut) Bitcoin Mechanic on X (Link: https://x.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Jeff Swann Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3sjc3bc...

What if prosecuting innovative Bitcoin developers like Rodriguez and Burroughs signals the death of American entrepreneurship? In this episode, I read Beautyon's "American Bitcoin Suicide" and dive into how activist judges and unchecked fraud are killing innovation - could building decentralized tools like Bitcoin and Nostr be our only way to fight back and save the country's future? After ranting on all this, I wanted to point you to a few things I referenced - they've helped shape my thoughts, and I think you'll get a lot out of them too: The audiobook I did for "Bitcoin, the Ultimate Collateral" by the Brains team, a solid guide to Bitcoin fundamentals. Check out HaveIBeenPwned for real-world examples of the identity fraud problems Samourai aimed to fix. That end quote is from Julian Assange's book "Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet" - worth a read if you're into privacy battles. Check out the original article American Bitcoin Suicide by Beautyon. (Link: https://medium.com/@beautyon_/american-bitcoin-suicide-e6d9444dc207) Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: Chroma is dedicated to advancing human performance and well-being through cutting-edge light therapy devices and performance eyewear. Their mission is to enhance physical and mental health, unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, and physical performance. Get 10% off your order with the code BITCOINAUDIBLE. (Link: https://getchroma.co/?ref=BitcoinAudible) 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)

“You don’t want money that is not a good store of value. We’re in a very specific point in human history where that exists, but that’s not the default, right? We have to remember that. These more or less last hundred years - this is just a very small spot in human history where we all happened to be born - where money is not a good store of value, right? Because governments have coerced it upon us. But it wasn’t like that before. It’s not the normal state of things. The normal state of things is that money is a good store of value, right? Gold was a good store of value. In other societies, it was a good store of value in various materials, right? We don’t need to get into the history of money. But the important thing to remember is that we are the exception. We are the anomaly where something went kind of wrong and has to be fixed.”~ Ben Kaufman I sit down with Ben Kaufman to catch up and take stock of where Bitcoin actually is right now. We dig into the four-year cycle, whether it still matters, and what ETFs, politics, and financialization have changed about the culture. Ben shares insights from his work on Miniscript and Bitcoin Keeper, including why better recovery, inheritance, and UX matter more than ever. We talk Lightning as the default payment rail, custodial tradeoffs for small amounts, and what sovereignty really means in practice. The conversation drifts into AI, productivity, and why this shift feels bigger than anything we expected a few years ago. We also touch on privacy, regulation, and why that side of Bitcoin feels stalled despite better tools. This is a thoughtful conversation on building, patience, and why understanding Bitcoin matters more than chasing green candles. Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: Chroma is dedicated to advancing human performance and well-being through cutting-edge light therapy devices and performance eyewear. Their mission is to enhance physical and mental health, unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, and physical performance. Get 10% off your order with the code BITCOINAUDIBLE. (Link: https://getchroma.co/?ref=BitcoinAudible) Guest Links <...

Merry Christmas! Working with the amazing crew at Braiins, we are happy to share the full audiobook of Bitcoin: The Ultimate Collateral free for all. You can find the ebook as well as the video version on youtube at the links below! Thank you guys for a wild and awesome year. So much more to come. Don't forget to subscribe and enjoy this incredible book on one of the least appreciated and most insane values that Bitcoin can provide to a more free and soeverign world.Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0FkAVwKvQI ebook: https://braiins.com/books Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: Chroma is dedicated to advancing human performance and well-being through cutting-edge light therapy devices and performance eyewear. Their mission is to enhance physical and mental health, unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, and physical performance. Get 10% off your order with the code BITCOINAUDIBLE. (Link: https://getchroma.co/?ref=BitcoinAudible) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: h... Chapters (00:02:52) - Opening Titles(00:03:36) - Foreword(00:11:15) - The Best Asset Ever Created(00:30:13) - Why Rich People Never Sell Their Assets(00:41:50) - A Collateral and Lending Deepdive(00:54:03) - Bitcoin is the Ultimate Collateral(01:09:34) - Welcome to Firefish(01:25:39) - Borrowing Against Your Bitcoin on Firefish(01:31:31) - Investing Your Cash on Firefish(01:36:56) - Peer-To-Peer Loans(01:40:37) - How Companies Can Collateralize Bitcoin For Growth(01:57:28) - Braiins Leveraging and Collateralizing Bitcoin(02:06:42) - Collateral for Bitcoin Miners(02:16:47) - Collateral for Bitcoin Companies(02:25:19) - The Future of Bitcoin as Collateral(02:31:48) - What Does it All Meme(02:43:44) - Closing Titles

"We have entered a space where we literally own nothing." ~ Guy What happens when 25 years of digital identity vanishes overnight because of a $500 gift card? This jaw-dropping story exposes how deeply we've surrendered control of our digital lives to platforms that can lock us out without recourse. But is there a way to reclaim sovereignty over our identities, payments, and content before we lose everything? Check out the original article 20 Years of Digital Life, Gone in an Instant by Dr Paris Buttfield-Addison. (Link: https://hey.paris/posts/appleid/) Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: Chroma is dedicated to advancing human performance and well-being through cutting-edge light therapy devices and performance eyewear. Their mission is to enhance physical and mental health, unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, and physical performance. Get 10% off your order with the code BITCOINAUDIBLE. (Link: https://getchroma.co/?ref=BitcoinAudible) 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) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"The images are hacks in the first place, and it's not like Bitcoin had like a 'please put your NFT here' sign, so hackers found weird ways to do it. And if you stop them from using that weird way, they'll just do it some other weird way. And so the CAT kind of understands that and says, fine, we can't stop you from making these things and we're not going to try to stop you from making these things. Instead, we're going to disrupt your markets, disrupt the trust in your markets and remove all financial incentive to do this in the first place." ~ The Shitcoin Insider In this Chat episode with the Shitcoin Insider, we dive straight into the wild world of AI tooling, vibe coding, Bitcoin protocol design, and the new CAT proposal that has everyone fired up. We explore whether spam is actually a threat, what this new proposal would do to ordinal markets, and why the social layer of Bitcoin governance matters more than people admit. I ask what truly counts as an exploit, and whether sats can stay fungible when the market tries to make them something else. We talk about censorship, mailing list politics, and why shutting down discussion only breeds distrust. Along the way we wander into AI powered creativity, distributed databases, and the strange overlap between developers and spammers. This one is part technical deep dive, part culture critique, and part nostalgia for the Shitcoin Insider days. If you want to hear a conversation that asks uncomfortable questions and laughs at the absurdity of it all, this episode is for you. Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: Chroma is dedicated to advancing human performance and well-being through cutting-edge light therapy devices and performance eyewear. Their mission is to enhance physical and mental health, unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, and physical performance. Get 10% off your order with the code BITCOINAUDIBLE. (Link: https://getchroma.co/?ref=BitcoinAudible) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann)

"The broad point is that only the strong survive was correct. We are entering the endgame of crypto having any reason to exist. My thesis as to why it exists at all is a combination of a novel vector for gambling and an affinity scam. Bitcoin is extremely difficult to even begin to understand, and even though what it fundamentally 'fixes' is money printing, its novelty ironically lends itself to confusing the uninitiated and impatient with meaningless appeals to 'blockchain technology' that manifest as attempts to print money." ~ Allen Farrington In this episode I read Allen Farrington’s follow‑up to “Only the Strong Survive” and then ask a blunt question: if Bitcoin can now do everything crypto promised, does the rest of the casino have any reason to exist? Is ARKADE, Lightning, and e‑cash the real endgame for programmability and global banking on Bitcoin? Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: Chroma is dedicated to advancing human performance and well-being through cutting-edge light therapy devices and performance eyewear. Their mission is to enhance physical and mental health, unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, and physical performance. Get 10% off your order with the code BITCOINAUDIBLE. (Link: https://getchroma.co/?ref=BitcoinAudible) 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) The Gu...

"We cannot master any one particular modality in the way that a company can master that on their own when it's the only thing they do. Basically what we can do at PPQ, is we can bring all of these models in one place and we can make the experience 90 to 95 % as good as the solo subscription. And I think in some cases that works perfectly well for people, and if that is true, then PPQ is going to go a long way." ~ Matt Ahlborg In this Chat, I speak with Matt from PPQ.ai about the broken world of AI subscriptions, the power of micropayments, and why Lightning-enabled pay-per-use may be the future of AI tooling. What is subscription hell really costing us, in money, attention, and creative freedom? Can tiny sats and better UX replace the wall of monthly fees and unlock new ways for creators to earn? Along the way, we explore the pain of credit‑card‑based subscription methods, the explosion of AI models, and how PPQ.ai brings them all into one place with simple Lightning payments. It’s a packed conversation covering Bitcoin, Lightning, AI, UX friction, and the future of creator monetization. Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: Chroma is dedicated to advancing human performance and well-being through cutting-edge light therapy devices and performance eyewear. Their mission is to enhance physical and mental health, unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, and physical performance. Get 10% off your order with the code BITCOINAUDIBLE. (Link: https://getchroma.co/?ref=BitcoinAudible) Guest Links Matt on X (Link: https://twitter.com/mattahlborg) PPQ.ai on X (Link: https://twitter.com/PPQdotAI) PPQ.ai Website (Link: https://ppq.ai/) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instag...

“If you think they'll have restraint, I think you're making a grave error.” Can your wallet, your node, or even your hardware become “unlicensed financial activity” overnight? I walk through HRF’s latest Financial Freedom report on new laws in places like the UAE and Belarus, then riff on how these tactics bleed into Western “financial stability” narratives, KYC social media, and digital ID. Along the way we explore the tools—from DIY hardware to Lightning and e‑cash—that might be the thin line between being banked, blocked, or truly sovereign. References from the episode HRF’s Financial Freedom Report #100 (Link: https://hrf.org/latest/hrfs-weekly-financial-freedom-report-100/) Alex Gladstein’s essay “Why Bitcoin Is Freedom Money” (Link: https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/why-bitcoin-is-freedom-money/) HRF’s Bitcoin for Nonprofits webinar (Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf0sjqwSFQo8HGMsWIIDRyhx34TsoonOSTfYoWSy-aaBbLeSw/viewform) BTC Sessions’ 15‑minute Sparrow Wallet crash course (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EVDtos8ZgI) Bitcoin++ in Taipei (Link: https://btcplusplus.dev/conf/taipei) Nut November: Cashu Ecash Hackathon (Link: https://nutnovember.org/) Cashu Ecash Protocol (Link: https://cashu.space/) My upcoming read following-up on Allen Farrington’s "Only the Strong Survive" (Link: https://www.uncerto.com/only-the-strong-survive) My future chat with Matt Ahlborg from PPQ.ai (Link: http://ppq.ai/) Check out the original report Weekly Financial Freedom Report #99 by HRF. (Link: https://hrf.org/latest/hrfs-weekly-financial-freedom-report-99/) Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.

"What role do intermediaries—such as merchants, distributors, and traders—play in the market? Far from being mere profiteers, these intermediaries play an essential role in the division of labor. Without them, society as a whole could not function."~ Ulrich Fromy I dig into Bastiat’s forgotten defense of “middlemen” and ask: are banks, platforms, and merchants really the villains, or is the problem that we let them own the networks they run on? Using Bitcoin, Lightning, and Nostr as examples, I explore whether we can keep the convenience of intermediaries while stripping them of control—and what it would actually take to build that world. Check out the original article The Unseen Role of Intermediaries by Ulrich Fromy. (Link: https://mises.org/mises-wire/frederic-bastiat-unseen-role-intermediaries) Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: Chroma is dedicated to advancing human performance and well-being through cutting-edge light therapy devices and performance eyewear. Their mission is to enhance physical and mental health, unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, and physical performance. Get 10% off your order with the code BITCOINAUDIBLE. (Link: https://getchroma.co/?ref=BitcoinAudible) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on...

What if the future of Bitcoin is decided in the mempool? I sit down with Simple Steve, Bitcoin Mechanic and Jeff Swann for a chaotic, curious roundtable.We riff on conspiracies and culture rot, pick apart BIP444 and Taproot edge cases, and ask; can soft forks, replay risks and mining centralization be managed without breaking the network?We dig into real-world friction: Square payments at the point of sale, Lava’s DLC-to-custodial pivot, and the fine print on Bitcoin-backed loans.Steve brings UTXOracle updates, Mechanic talks mempool and miner incentives, and Jeff helps keep the conversation irreverent and grounded.If you like technical debate served with conspiracy tangents and practical takeaways, this one’s for you. Check out our awesome sponsors! Ledn: Need fiat but don’t want to sell your Bitcoin? Ledn offers secure, Bitcoin-backed loans with no credit checks, flexible repayment, and fast turnaround—often within 24 hours. With $10B+ in loans across 100+ countries and transparent Proof of Reserves, Ledn is a trusted option for unlocking liquidity without giving up your Bitcoin. (Link: https://learn.ledn.io/audible) HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Pubky: Pubky is building the next web, a decentralized system designed to put control back in your hands. Escape censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and walled gardens by owning your identity and data. Explore the Pubky web and become the algorithm today. Don't forget to find me on my Pubky ID here: pk:5d7thwzkxx5mz6gk1f19wfyykr6nrwzaxri3io7ahejg1z74qngo. (Link: https://pubky.org) Chroma: Chroma is dedicated to advancing human performance and well-being through cutting-edge light therapy devices and performance eyewear. Their mission is to enhance physical and mental health, unlocking peak human health, cognitive function, and physical performance. Get 10% off your order with the code BITCOINAUDIBLE. (Link: https://getchroma.co/?ref=BitcoinAudible) Guest Links Steve Simple Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3s6a8yn8) Steve Simple on X (Link: https://x.com/stevesimple) Bitcoin Mechanic Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/2tm827ut) Bitcoin Mechanic on X (Link: https://x.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Jeff Swann Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3sjc3bcp) Jeff Swann on X (Link: https://x.com/agoristview) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https...