Gavin Green

Monthly Round-Up 4: We trade war stories about AI coding that dazzles then stalls, and show how self-hosted LLMs and agents can reclaim privacy and time. The talk shifts to real-world Bitcoin: QR payments across South Africa, M-Pesa bridges in Kenya, community custody with FediMint, and a world-first open secure element from Trezor. • AI tools that impress early then hit walls • Self-hosted LLMs on Start9 for privacy and resilience • Defaults and data: using AI to summarise terms • Local hosting versus cloud trade-offs • FediMint community custody experiments and limits • Money Badger scaling Bitcoin at 700k+ South African merchants • Safety gains with Tando bridging Bitcoin to M-Pesa • How Bitcoin scales via existing rails and “change in sats” • Breez Time To Build challenge and OpenSats grants • Trezor Safe 7 with open secure element • China’s e-CNY, BRICS, and why neutral money matters If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, what are you doing? You can get 10% off your ticket if you use the code OKIN https://fountain.fm/episode/MYjYhsG52r4dKWGLnWp5

I've started using nostr:nprofile1qqsxarugy7apvkszrcfmwsjwky5gyk8lgpgfgh6h2tcuu3mltgk0zdqpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerfw36x7tnsw43z729dkkc on my home server. It's really incredible that this quality and functionality is free and fully open source software. Anyone looking to move away from big tech in the cloud, and to a more secure solution that just works, should just start here.

The news cycle says crisis; history says pattern. We sit down with political philosopher and lecturer Gerhard Wolmarans to test whether our moment is truly exceptional or simply another liminal passage where the old order fades and the new hasn’t yet taken shape. From Rome to Mali, the Glorious to the French Revolution, Gerhard traces how change arrives—sometimes as a flood, sometimes as a slow thaw—and why the health of politics often decides whether societies reform or fracture. https://fountain.fm/episode/kz6N4SmdiGWzNCUsOEDC

Immigration happens for two reasons; the push of conflict or the pull of opportunity. Opportunity seems divided between highly skilled, sought after people, and low skilled labour people. AI could replace the first, and robotics replace the second. This should be interesting.

Want to see Bitcoin move from theory to till? I sit down with nostr:nprofile1qqsfs9at5dt0rl767f8u8jv26c9r4nemyw7uulpke33hkgp0706h8xcn8merl —the team quietly onboarding UK pubs, cafés, galleries, and independents—to unpack a playbook that starts with footfall, not hype. Their pitch is disarmingly simple: free setup, native Bitcoin stack, and a customer base that seeks you out. https://fountain.fm/episode/EmD2mU2pwhSQXSSrW04v

What does freedom look like when it’s not a slogan but a daily practice? For Dirk Roeder, it starts with owning his time—and he stress‑tests that idea by circling the globe with his wife, mapping an eight‑month route through 21 wonders across four categories. The stories are vivid and honest: planning around seasons, securing the rare Machu Picchu slot, and discovering that people are kinder than headlines suggest. El Salvador’s transformation becomes a standout moment, not as a hot take but as a lived encounter with safer streets and proud citizens. https://fountain.fm/episode/B81fyWJlfE9BrJXWKr1n

Business owners that accept bitcoin payments, are having a great time stacking extra sats, every time the bitcoin price drop.

Episode 3 of the Monthly RoundUp: The mood swings of the market don’t define the mission—and this roundtable proves it. We swap war stories from live demos and travel to Lugano with an update on a coastal Bitcoin hub in South Africa, then dive straight into the most charged question of the moment: what really happens when crypto dollars move on Bitcoin rails via Lightning and RGB? There’s clear utility for cross-border payments and the global south, but also a live risk of compliance creep, node capture, and cultural drift away from self-sovereign money. We unpack the geopolitics, from Washington’s embrace of Tether as an inflation export and Treasury buyer to the EU’s CBDC-first strategy, and ask what builders should assume about state incentives and surveillance. nostr:nprofile1qqsfh737txkeycdzup9cqz9qvg0lsq3gtgl2nuvp2hsjepcw5g06msgpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqpr9mhxue69uhkummnw3ezumrfvejk7mnzw33ju7re0g2tufvx nostr:nprofile1qqsptpha27kgrdnpw7cqs7ascrayvheshxy4jjwgjd5rdmz7dngnzvspgdmhxw309ashvaf4wcmxjdmnxauh5dmddp3xzat9wdmhga34deaxjen8wf58z6tfvvm8vutkdp3hydm4vdkkgumxxfaxs6rnd9jzummwd9hkuqgkwaen5te0w4kkyun9dshxcmmrv9kr5dpcxsuqthnaxy nostr:nprofile1qqswezm2cud7qxm4g7fn542f3x7xsusjkwu7d4u6x0p7elyazlz0x5g72qagn https://fountain.fm/episode/OTJx8iCQ8rdo8AEhLg9P

Everybody can. But most won't. We are our own gate keepers.

When people ask why Nostr is important.

Episode 3 of the Monthly RoundUp: The mood swings of the market don’t define the mission—and this roundtable proves it. We swap war stories from live demos and travel to Lugano with an update on a coastal Bitcoin hub in South Africa, then dive straight into the most charged question of the moment: what really happens when crypto dollars move on Bitcoin rails via Lightning and RGB? There’s clear utility for cross-border payments and the global south, but also a live risk of compliance creep, node capture, and cultural drift away from self-sovereign money. We unpack the geopolitics, from Washington’s embrace of Tether as an inflation export and Treasury buyer to the EU’s CBDC-first strategy, and ask what builders should assume about state incentives and surveillance. nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqyvhwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnvd9nx2mmwvf6xxtnc09aqqgymlgl9ntvjvx3wqjuqpzsxy8lcqg59504f7xq4tcfvsu82y8adcydhagxs nostr:nprofile1q9phwue69uhkzan4x4mrv6fhwvmhj73hd45xyct4v4ehwarkx4h856txvaexsutfd93nvan3we5xxu3hw43k6ernvce856rgwd5kgtn0de5k7mspzemhxw309a6k6cnjv4kzumr0vdskcw358q6rsqpqzkr064avsxmxzaasppamps86ge0npwvft9yu3ymgxmk9umx3xyeqcv84jj nostr:nprofile1qqswezm2cud7qxm4g7fn542f3x7xsusjkwu7d4u6x0p7elyazlz0x5g72qagn https://fountain.fm/episode/4U6CkTLMjLNgiO0ZKk27

If money is freedom, what happens when 600 000 stores switch on bitcoin? nostr:nprofile1qyw8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68yttjv4kxz7fwwak8vuewwdcxzcm9qythwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnxd46zuamf0ghxy6t6qqsz85k206vm3vqdmlvcy9l4kyfqchlnf4hnctasxufa3ph0ck9decgv95m3a I had a great chat with Carl from Moneybadger to find out what is the story behind the story. https://fountain.fm/episode/4U6CkTLMjLNgiO0ZKk27

If there was any doubt the system is rigged?! US Stocks Hit Record Highs Amid Shutdown: Wall Street’s indexes closed at record highs on Wednesday, buoyed by strong sector performance and optimism that the US government shutdown will be brief. Investors shrugged off the first day of the shutdown and weaker-than-expected private payrolls data, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.3%, the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.5%, and the Dow adding 43 points. (TradingEconomics)

Want to pay for coffee with #bitcoin? Bootlegger Sea Point has you covered, using the nostr:nprofile1qqsz85k206vm3vqdmlvcy9l4kyfqchlnf4hnctasxufa3ph0ck9decgpr3mhxue69uhkummnw3ez6un9d3shjtnhd3m8xtnnwpskxegpzamhxue69uhkummnw3ezuendwsh8w6t69e3xj7sm4tx66 app

Rode the official training rode for 947 in Pretoria today, with my dad aged 80. It's probably his last 947 event. Good morning out 👍

Great South African beer mixed with a great South African sport

Have you ever wondered what Bitcoin actually is, beyond the headlines and jargon? This conversation with Walker America, host of one of the fastest-growing Bitcoin podcasts worldwide, breaks everything down into refreshingly simple terms that anyone can understand. Walker's own journey mirrors what many experience—dismissing Bitcoin in 2014, dabbling in cryptocurrencies at the 2017 peak, then finally grasping Bitcoin's significance during the 2020 pandemic. His candid admission that "I knew absolutely nothing about money or economics" before exploring Bitcoin resonates with anyone who's felt intimidated by financial systems designed to seem complex. nostr:nprofile1qyt8wue69uhh2mtzwfjkctnvda3kzmp6xsurgwqpz4mhxue69uhk2er9dchxummnw3ezumrpdejqqgxy3c5lqj6g9nqpeg0ea7xgdmurrrq9nc8fx5er2930pq8jdc2vzyu7yza6 https://fountain.fm/episode/tDRURyGfnHqme1CSZoWw

Protesters, waving Palestinian flags, have disrupted multiple stages at @lavuelta, including today's final stage in Madrid. I'm not anti-protesting, but your rights to protest do not supersede the rights of others. This is the biggest race of the year for many teams. Its a chance to prove their worth to their sponsors and secure funding for the next season. This pays salaries of the many people employed by each team. Furthermore, there are performance bonuses that riders can earn. Riders themselves are also looking to impress teams to secure their futures, and that of their families. I'm fairly sure that if I walked into any one of those protesters offices on Monday morning, and kicked their desks over and threw their laptops put of the windows, they may feel differently about protesting. For people to feel entitled to stop riders and teams from earning their living, to make a statement about unrelated events is shocking. Those people need to be arrested and punished / fined.

The South African corporate world revolves around the King Report, Reports I, II, III and IV, created by the Judge Mervyn King during the King Commission and first released in 1994. It's all about corporate governance, sustainability, inclusiveness, stakeholders, etc. It's been lauded around the world as a foundational document for corporates to build on. It's probably as relevant as a harbour port manager in Durban writing a foundational document on how to run an efficient and profitable sheep farm in the Karoo.

Currency failures are sweeping the globe at an alarming rate. In August alone, we witnessed the North Korean Kwon collapse, Iran's real lose 99% of its value, and multiple countries hacking zeros off their denominations in desperate attempts to mask hyperinflation. These aren't isolated incidents—they're symptoms of a fundamental breakdown in the fiat system. nostr:nprofile1q9z8wue69uhkzan4x4mrv6fhwvmhj73hd45xyct4v4ehwarkx4h856txvaexsutfd93nvan3we5xxu3hw43k6ernvce856rgwd5kgtn0de5k7m30qyt8wue69uhh2mtzwfjkctnvda3kzmp6xsurgwqqyq2cdl2h4jqmvcthkqy8hvxqlfr97v9e39v5njyndqmwchnv6ycnyclxunw nostr:nprofile1qqswezm2cud7qxm4g7fn542f3x7xsusjkwu7d4u6x0p7elyazlz0x5g72qagn nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqyd8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnvd9nx2mmwvf6xxtnc09ar5qpqn0arukddjfs69cztsqy2qcsllqpzsk3748ccz40p9jrsagsl4hqs6kvlwk https://fountain.fm/episode/HcjqYmPVm73EBIzIVkdc