Crypto News

Preston Pysh: How To Actually Get Free Speech

Published

1 year ago

December 8, 2023

Like most things, it’s hard to talk about the solution if we don’t properly define the problem first. So, let’s start there. Last week, Elon Musk and Andrew Ross Sorkin conducted an hour-long interview full of awkward and strange moments. For people not familiar with the battle for free speech taking place. Please take a moment to watch this curated clip to see what I’m talking about.

https://primal.net/e/note1zllssevk93a894tjx9v2e0kfj3m4f28vnr26qjvr3sg5rllnxkaq57h4nw

What in the world is this all about? Well, as you’ll see, it’s about control, legacy string-pullers trying to maintain order, and ultimately it’s about a desire to control your free speech.

The Problem

The current social media landscape is not just a battleground for public opinion but also a complex web of influence and control, where the intricate ties between government agencies, large financial institutions, and advertising interests converge to shape and manipulate public discourse.

The term “deep state” often refers to the idea of a body of people, typically influential members of government agencies who get involved in the manipulation or desire for control of government policy and shaping the public opinion. Why? So, they can retain power and control of the system. In the context of social media, this concept extends to the involvement of such agencies in indirectly shaping the narrative and controlling speech. Once Elon Musk took Twitter private, he was able to see all the correspondence and control that was being exercised between government agencies and the captured twitter executives strategically used within the organization. Click here to view the twitter files in all the gory details.

So, the next natural question is how did these people make their way into an organization like Twitter? Enter the modern day “decentralized” equity ownership of a large cap company. Where the ownership of the company’s initial founders is miniscule, and the actual control of the company falls into the hands of a couple large ETF fund owners – also known as the Too Big to Fail Banks (TBTFB). If the TBTFBs control the board, then the TBTFBs can dictate where, how, and who performs what strategic censorship task, within the communication platform. These relationships create a scenario where the concept of a “safe environment,” ostensibly meant to protect users from harmful content, is weaponized to suppress certain topics or points of view. Advertisers, under the guise of maintaining brand safety, exert pressure on social media platforms to moderate content in ways that align with these broader, often opaque, agendas. What promoters of such control are championing is a destructive weapon that serves their interests today, but that will unmistakably be turned against them once their political interests are no-longer in control or aligned. Talk about a fool’s objective.

“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” -Thomas Jefferson

The Solution: A Decentralized Speech Protocol – Nostr

Nostr, an acronym for “Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays,” is a decentralized social network protocol that offers a novel approach to online communication, standing in contrast to traditional, centralized social media platforms. Its decentralized nature aims to tackle issues like censorship and control by removing the centralized authority that often dictates content moderation policies on other platforms. If you’re interested in how this is technically achieved, feel free to read this article so you can learn more.

Quickly after this new protocol was released, Jack Dorsey took an interest in the project. Dorsey, quick to put his support behind the project, donated 14 Bitcoin (245K USD at the time) to the protocol developer, Fiatjaf. In fact, his donation came after publishing a blog post talking about the need for a native internet protocol for social media. It sure makes you wonder. What was Dorsey seeing on his final days at Twitter that compelled this billionaire to pour his time and energy into this somewhat obscure, and tiny protocol project?

Shortly after numerous client interfaces with the Nostr protocol started to sprout up, Dorsey had another interesting post. He said, “Zaps represent the only fundamentally new innovation in social media. Everything else is a distraction.”

https://primal.net/e/note1y0s6ky8tr7ldq79qa6kg92cz3hg5x5ctj9et26nx43juegkavyrqlz6d78

Now this is where things get really interesting. Going back to the points initially outlined. Traditional media companies – our true communications networks – are held captive to advertising revenue, which is held captive to TBTF banks, which are held captive to government agencies. But what if that model could be disrupted? Disrupted in a way where content creators, and all the people making billions of posts, directly get compensated from other users?

Similar to all technological revolutions, how do you dematerialize the large server racks, the Twitter headquarters, and take down the TBTF banking attack vector all in one? That’s right. A native payment function (called Zaps). Where, if I like someone’s post, I can casually send them 100 bitcoin satoshis (1.6 cents) by just pushing a single button that’s integrated into the person’s post.

Link to video be embedded into the article (hosted by BTCmag): https://drive.google.com/file/d/19uMMzJ1IuixjLE7i1Is0ki5meswwGfXT/view?usp=sharing

Consider the implications: a user, impressed by a post, article, or comment, can express their appreciation not just through a ‘like’ or ‘share’, but with tangible financial support. This single action, a tap on the screen, could transfer a few satoshis directly into the digital wallet of the content creator. The process doesn’t require the exchange of sensitive banking information; instead, it utilizes the power of the decentralized Bitcoin network, ensuring transactions are peer-to-peer, without the need for intermediaries.

The innovation does not stop with content monetization. Just this week, a company called Primal, introduced a iOS Nostr client that provides an interface to this free speech protocol and it also had a native Bitcoin lightning wallet all in one. This transforms the social media interface into a decentralized payment system. It transcends the boundaries of traditional financial systems, where transactions typically require third-party verification, are subject to fees, and often involve lengthy processing times. What Primal, and any other client provider could accomplish with a native bitcoin wallet, is the transfer of funds instantaneously and globally, making it a potent tool for freedom of expression and commerce. Without anyone’s permission.

Most importantly, this integration challenges the status quo of monetization on social platforms, where content creators often receive only a fraction of the revenue generated from their content (if any at all). Instead, the value is directly channeled to the creators, recognizing and rewarding them for the worth of their work. The dystopian Ai incentive to keep people scrolling withers away – especially since client providers are aggressively trying to outcompete each other for the best user experience. If you don’t like your client provider, no sweat, take your private key somewhere else and all your previous posts and content generation comes right with you.

As we consider the broader implications of such technology, it is clear that such an approach could herald a new age of digital interaction. It encapsulates the principles of decentralization, not only in communication but also in commerce. The promise of Nostr, coupled with the financial liberation offered by integrated Bitcoin lightning transactions, sets a precedent for future platforms seeking to empower users and creators alike.

“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.”

– Salman Rushdie

If you enjoyed the article, give me a follow on Nostr!

This is a guest post by Preston Pysh. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

Speaking freely is just as important as being able to use your money freely. Centralized platforms do not truly allow you to speak freely, we need alternatives.

Crypto News

You Should Not Wear This Bitcoin Shirt — Here’s Why

Published

13 hours ago

January 14, 2025

admin

Follow Nikolaus On &Xopf; Here For Daily Posts

Everyone has their own unique sense of style, but if you are wearing Bitcoin merch like the shirt in the X post below out in public — you should probably stop doing so.

This Bitcoin shirt is cringe as fuck.

Have fun getting 7 dollar wrench attacked. pic.twitter.com/zRlT2CFrIg

— Breadman (@BTCBreadMan) January 11, 2025

I agree with this post in that this shirt is cringe as fuck and will only bring unwanted attention.

Most people don’t understand Bitcoin and the lingo adjacent to it. If you’re wearing this out in public, the majority of people are not even going to understand it and will move on with their day, completely forgetting about it. So if you’re wearing the shirt, you’re not really flexing as hard as you think.

But some who will see you wearing it will know what it means, and this may lead to bad consequences.

Wearing a shirt that broadcasts to everyone that you own a full bitcoin (or basically $100,000, at the time of writing, in the form of a bearer asset) will likely just put a target on your back.

Don’t believe me?

This past November, the CEO of the Canadian company WonderFi was kidnapped and held for ransom. And more recently, a Pakistani crypto trader was kidnapped and forced to pay $340,000 to the kidnappers from his Binance account.

I’m not trying to scare anyone, but these things can happen, and you should at least avoid putting yourself in such a situation.

These criminals may or may not know how Bitcoin works, and it’s probably worse if they don’t. Because they might think you have it all on one exchange, or that you have your private keys located in one place that is easy to obtain, therefore thinking you are probably an easy target. And if you tell them you physically cannot give up your coins, and they don’t believe you, things could get ugly quick.

I’m not saying to never talk to anyone about Bitcoin ever or to be 100% secretive about it — I mean, I’m a public figure in this space and have thought through how to best limit the chances of something bad like this happening to me. The security of your bitcoin is important, but also is your personal security. Luckily for me, I am an American and have my second amendment rights. Protecting my Bitcoin from a potential $5 wrench attack is a lot easier with a firearm.

Upgraded my bitcoin security today by buying a Glock 19

— Nikolaus (@nikcantmine) December 26, 2020

If you are a proud owner of one full bitcoin, it’s fine to celebrate it, as that is a feat that most people on the planet will never be able to achieve.

My advice to you, though, is to celebrate it in a way that is more private, like with no one more than your family and very close friends that you trust. You can post online on X or Reddit anonymously about it if you really want to have a deeper conversation about it or to get the dopamine from all the other anons congratulating you on the accomplishment.

Don’t tell people how much bitcoin you own, and definitely don’t wear shirts that disclose it. Just stay humble and stack more bitcoin.

This article is a Take. Opinions expressed are entirely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

You Should Not Wear This Bitcoin Shirt — Here's Why You are putting a target on your back by wearing merch like this.

Crypto News

Bitcoin DeFi Is Finding Product-market Fit With Runes

Published

14 hours ago

January 14, 2025

admin

Over the past year, the Bitcoin Renaissance has brought significant attention to BTCfi, or “Bitcoin DeFi” applications. Despite the hype, very few of these applications have delivered on their promises or managed to retain a meaningful number of “actual” users.

To put things into perspective, the leading lending platform for Bitcoin assets, Liquidium, allows users to borrow against their Runes, Ordinals, and BRC-20 assets. Where does the yield come from, you ask? Just like any other loan, borrowers pay an interest rate to lenders in exchange for their Bitcoin. Additionally, to ensure the security of the loans, they are always overcollateralized by the Bitcoin assets themselves.

How big is Bitcoin DeFi right now? It depends on your perspective.

In about 12 months, Liquidium has executed over 75,000 loans, representing more than $360 million in total loan volume, and paid over $6.3 million in native BTC interest to lenders.

For BTCfi to be considered “real,” I would argue that these numbers need to grow exponentially and become comparable to those on other chains such as Ethereum or Solana. (Although, I firmly believe that over time, comparisons will become irrelevant as all economic activity will ultimately settle on Bitcoin.)

That said, these achievements are impressive for a protocol that’s barely a year old, operating on a chain where even the slightest mention of DeFi often meets with extreme skepticism. For additional context, Liquidium is already outpacing altcoin competitors such as NFTfi, Arcade, and Sharky in volume.

Bitcoin is evolving in real time, without requiring changes to its base protocol — I’m here for it.

After a rocky start, Runes are now responsible for the majority of loans taken out on Liquidium, outpacing both Ordinals and BRC-20s. Runes is a significantly more efficient protocol that offers a lighter load on the Bitcoin blockchain and delivers a slightly improved user experience. The enhanced user experience provided by Runes not only simplifies the process for existing users, but also attracts a substantial number of new users that would be willing to interest on-chain in a more complex way. In contrast, BRC-20 struggled to acquire new users due to its complexity and less intuitive design. Having additional financial infrastructure like P2P loans is therefore marking a step forward in the usability and adoption of Runes, and potentially other Bitcoin backed assets down the line.

The volume of loans on Liquidium has consistently increased over the past year, with Runes now comprising the majority of activity on the platform.

Ok so Runes are now the dominant asset backing Bitcoin native loans, why should I care? Is this good for Bitcoin?

I would argue that, regardless of your personal opinion about Runes or the on-chain degen games happening right now, the fact that real people trust the Bitcoin blockchain to take out decentralized loans denominated in Bitcoin should make freedom lovers stand up and cheer.

We’re winning.

Bitcoiners have always asserted that no other blockchain can match Bitcoin’s security guarantees. Now, others are beginning to see this too, bringing new forms of economic activity on-chain. This is undeniably bullish.

Moreover, all transactions are natively secured on the Bitcoin blockchain—no wrapping, no bridging, just Bitcoin. We should encourage and support people who are building in this way.

This article is a Take. Opinions expressed are entirely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

Bitcoin DeFi Is Finding Product-market Fit With Runes BTCfi is on track to compete with other ecosystems.

Crypto News

We’re Repeating The 2017 Bitcoin Bull Cycle

Published

15 hours ago

January 14, 2025

admin

The 2017 Bitcoin bull market was a wild ride, with prices soaring from under $200 to nearly $20,000. As we look at the current market, many are wondering if we might see a similar surge again. In this article, we’ll explore the data and trends that suggest we could be on the brink of another massive bull cycle.

Key Takeaways

The current Bitcoin cycle shows strong correlations with the 2017 cycle.
Historical data indicates potential for significant price increases.
Investor behavior patterns are mirroring those from previous cycles.

Understanding Bitcoin Bull Cycles

Bitcoin has had several bull cycles, each with its own unique characteristics. The most notable was in 2017, where the price skyrocketed. Now, as we analyze the current market, we see some interesting parallels.

The recent price action has been choppy, with Bitcoin hitting a new all-time high above $108,000 before retracing to below $90,000. However, it has since rebounded, and this fluctuation is not uncommon in bull markets.

Comparing Current Cycle to Previous Cycles

When we compare the current cycle to previous ones, particularly the 2017 cycle, we notice some striking similarities. The following points highlight these correlations:

Cycle Length: The 2017 cycle peaked at 168 days from its low, while the 2021 cycle peaked at 160 days. Currently, we are 779 days into this cycle, suggesting we have a significant amount of time left.
Price Action Correlation: The correlation between the current cycle and the 2017 cycle is at an impressive 0.92. This means that the price movements are closely aligned, indicating that we might be following a similar trajectory.
Investor Behavior: The MVRV (Market Value to Realized Value) ratio shows a strong correlation of 0.83 with the 2017 cycle, suggesting that investor behavior is also mirroring past trends.

The Role of Halving Events

Bitcoin halving events have historically been significant markers in the price cycle. The last halving occurred in 2024, and as we look at the current cycle, we see that it closely follows the pattern established in 2017. The halving events in both cycles occurred within a similar timeframe, which could indicate that we are on a similar path.

Future Predictions

Looking ahead, if the current cycle continues to follow the 2017 pattern, we could see a significant price increase throughout 2025. While some predictions suggest prices could reach as high as $1.5 million, it’s essential to approach such forecasts with caution. A more realistic peak might align with historical trends, potentially occurring in late 2025.

Conclusion

In summary, the current Bitcoin bull market shows strong correlations with the 2017 cycle, both in terms of price action and investor behavior. While we may not see the same explosive growth as in 2017, the data suggests that we could be in for an exciting ride in the coming months. As always, it’s crucial to stay informed and make decisions based on thorough analysis.

If you’re interested in more in-depth analysis and real-time data, consider checking out Bitcoin Magazine Pro for valuable insights into the Bitcoin market.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.

We're Repeating The 2017 Bitcoin Bull Cycle Explore the potential for Bitcoin to repeat the 2017 bull cycle. We analyze price action, investor behavior, and future predictions for Bitcoin’s market trajectory.