Bitcoin Audible

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.

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"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

The article by Peter Steinberg 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.

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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/)

"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/)

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⁠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.

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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/)

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⁠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)

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⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible)

The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)