There is a big problem in Bitcoin mining today, and it needs a lot more attention.
@Bitcoin Mechanic recently wrote an extensive article in @bitcoinmagazine about the centralized state of block template creation by large pools who have the ability and incentive to censor transactions, conduct block withholding attacks, create block templates which include transactions paid for via side channels (removing those fees from the mempool thereby screwing the plebs who are providing the hashrate), screw plebs yet again by charging them higher fees while big players get royal treatment, all the while making it impossible to verify payouts in a transparent way under the FFPS model.
This really opened my eyes to some problems I really wasn't aware of. I've been a big supporter of the PPLNS model which was the reason I mined exclusively with @braiinspool. But today braiins just announced they are switching to the FFPS model. Now I'm now saying that braiins is a bad actor, but this does not support the decentralization of Bitcoin mining. On top of that, when I voiced my concern on their telegram channel, the began deleting my comments. This, from an OG Bitcoin company who have done so much great work over the years, is just really disappointing. We certainly don't need more censorship at a time when Bitcoin is coming under attack from the state, especially from a fucking Bitcoin company!
What can you do as a miner to help decentralize Bitcoin mining and protect this beautiful thing we have? Educate yourself on the issues with the FFPS model, and what alternatives exist out there. Here are some resources 👇
Bitcoin Magazine
Block CEO Jack Dorsey Leads $6.2 Million Investment Round In Decentralized Bitcoin Mining Pool
Jack Dorsey is backing a Luke Dashjr-led initiative to decentralize bitcoin mining globally with a transparent, non-custodial mining pool.
Fountain
Stephan Livera Podcast • Bitcoin Mining Decentralisation with Ocean - Bitcoin Mechanic (SLP528) • Listen on Fountain
Has Bitcoin’s Mining ecosystem become centralised? What can be done about it? Bitcoin Mechanic from Ocean joins me to talk:
Hashers vs Miners
...
Bitcoin Magazine
Are Mining Pools Becoming A Problem?
A thorough analysis of the entire mining ecosystem, from ASICs to mining pools, looking at the systemic risks and issues that exist throughout the ...
I'd really like to see more hashrate with #braiinspool
They are a #bitcoin only mining pool, and your SATs are paid directly from the block that is mined. This is important, and not all pools do this.
They have also been in the space for a very long time and were instrumental during the blocksize war.
They built braiinsOS and just recently released an open source control board with braiinsOS pre-installed.
If you're new to mining, or an OG, consider mining with #briianspool.
Canada was the first country in the world to offer a #bitcoin ETF. Now it looks like the flood gates are opening in the U.S.
My take is this:
Cold storage should be your primary method of saving bitcoin for the long term. Avoid exchanges at all costs.
However, for medium term, there are good tax benefits to holding some bitcoin as an ETF. In Canada those are a Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA), where all capital gains are tax free, and a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), which reduces your taxable income by the amount you put into it.
A special type of RRSP is a locked-in RRSP, which you cannot withdraw from until age 55. This type of RRSP is mandatory for people who were paying into a pension plan and then left their job. That pension payout is protected and must be put into a locked-in RRSP. The only way to expose those funds to #bitcoin is through an ETF.
**WARNING** This may expand the current bounds of your rabbit hole. Sit back and relax. Have a drink, smoke some devil's lettuce, enjoy some magic mushrooms. But most importantly, open your mind.
#Bitcoin has literally changed my life. Before the pandemic, I was miserable. I hated my job. My family and I had just moved back to Canada and I was excited for a new chapter. I had no idea of what was about to unfold. Then, covid-19. But that was just the start.
Prior to the pandemic, I thought governments in western democracies were perhaps at times engaged in some questionable activities, but were largely operating in the best interest of the people to whom they were responsible. Ha! I see things a little differently now, to say the least.
I didn't understand why I felt so out of place in "the system." I felt a responsibility to provide for my family but I also felt like life didn't make sense anymore. Some people would call it a mid-life crisis. Why was I so miserable?
I discovered #bitcoin in 2022, but my world view had already been cracked having gone through the pandemic. I was ready for a new world view. And boy, did I go down the rabbit hole. I absorbed an enormous amount of content over the next few months (thank you #bitcoin twitter).
Within a few months I had quit my job, took my life savings and put it ALL into bitcoin. I was mining at home, running several nodes, experimenting with LN, holding my own keys, and orange-pilling my family. But that rabbit hole...
Once I started sourcing information on my own terms, I realized there was a whole new reality out there that was being hidden from us, and I was consuming that information voraciously. That information has brought me to what I want to share with you.
#Bitcoin is absolutely revolutionary. I believe that deeply. But there is a larger context that a lot of bitcoiners are either missing, or don't want to talk about.
*WE ARE NOT THE ONLY INTELLIGENT BEINGS IN THIS UNIVERSE**
As a bitcoiner, I am a truth seeker. And what I've discovered on this journey is that the truth is much bigger than #bitcoin. My whole understanding of our existence has been flipped upside down. In some ways that is scary. But it is also unimaginably beautiful.
We are currently living through a time where the discolure of non-human intelligence existing in our universe, and even more incredibly, linked to our planet and human evolution, is about to be brought to the mainstream. I've come to the conclusion that our universe is vastly more complex than most of us can possibly imagine, and that we are on the verge of not only a #bitcoin revolution, but a human consciousness revolution. I can't help but think about the connection between these two ideas.
I cannot un-see what I've now seen. This is only the tip of the tip of the iceberg. If you feel compelled to explore more, here are some references. If you feel like this is too much, that's cool. I completely understand. If you feel like criticizing what I'm saying, then I say to you, as any good bitcoiner would say to a shitcoiner putting down bitcoin: have you done the work to understand this phenomenon? If not, I don't have time to explain it to you. Do the work, then come back and we can have a discussion.
Check out John Ramirez (ex-CIA), Richard Doty (ex-counter-intel), Louis Elizondo (former director of AATIP), Avi Loeb (Harvard and founder of the Galileo Project), Garry Nolan (Stanford), Richard Dolan, Skinwalker Ranch, Robert Bigelow, Steve Basset, the Sasquatch Chronicles podcast, that UFO podcast, GAIA TV. This is literally the tip of the iceberg.
Peace and love.
I challenged my son to solve a 4×4 Rubik's cube by the end of the weekend for 75,000 SATs if he's successful. An additional 150,000 SATs if he can successfully solve a 5×5 within the same timeframe. #bitcoin is a great motivator.
