#nostr representation on the main program at Bitcoin Amsterdam.

Thursday, 1pm, Bull Arena BEYOND RESISTANCE MONEY

Arrived in Amsterdam!

“We were hesitant about there being too much overlap between bitcoin and nostr. The problem is: bitcoin is dead good, and nostr is dead good, and they go together like bread and butter and it’s delicious.” — @Ben Arc on @Peter McCormack

I spent last week at the Global Bitcoin Summit with human rights activists and pro-democracy protestors from over 60 countries -- Serbia, Zimbabwe, India, Nicaragua, Togo, Venezuela, Gaza, Ukraine, Russia, Rwanda, Kenya, Jamaica, Suriname, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Brazil, Peru, Italy, Lebanon, Syria, Guatemala, North Korea, Tanzania, Uganda, Thailand, China, Iraq... A repeated theme was that the first method used by dictators to quell protests is financial; they cut off bank accounts and financial services, aiming to starve the protestors of resources and force them to give up. They then shared how protestors are using bitcoin to circumvent these attempts at financial repression. With bitcoin, they collect money from people around the world and quickly distribute it where it's needed most -- and all out of the watchful eyes of the respective dictatorial regimes. They shared strategies with each other, and gave those of us who live in democracies a stark look at what it's like to fight on the ground. It’s reaffirmed by commitment to bitcoin as a global monetary network that brings freedom to those who need it most. Bitcoin is

Resistance Money

Resistance Money

Bitcoin is resistance money, empowering its users to resist authoritarians, inflation, surveillance, censorship, and financial exclusion.

😍 View quoted note →

Bitcoin is peer-to-peer, eliminating the need for transactional middlemen like Visa, who facilitate transactions for a price. That seems like something the Department of Justice should be in favor of, given their recent lawsuit filing against Visa.

I’ve started writing a monthly article for Forbes! This month’s: Bitcoin’s volatility is good, actually. https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/09/25/bitcoins-volatility-is-its-strategic-edge/

I think we know how this is gonna go. 🥱

ll be at @PUBKEY with @Arsh Molu from @npub1zhqc...h0dw tonight at 6! If you’re in NYC, show up. We will have signed copies of Resistance Money to trade for donations to HRF.

ANNOUNCEMENT: The University of Wyoming has established the UW Bitcoin Research Institute. uwyo.edu/bitcoin The BRI aims to produce high-quality peer-reviewed publications about bitcoin from all academic disciplines. First act: hiring @Andrew M. Bailey! Much academic bitcoin research is quite poor, because it's done by people who don't understand bitcoin. Mora et al predicted "bitcoin alone could push emissions 2 degrees". They failed to account for the difficulty adjustment *and* didn't know there was a block size cap! Others like Taleb’s infamous "Bitcoin Black Paper" are unaware of Layer 2s like Lightning, and others are unaware of the supply cap -- perhaps bitcoin's most distinctive feature. Others make faulty assumptions about bitcoin user demographics. These mistakes make their way into journalism, and policy. Bitcoin is multi-faceted in theory, and even more so in practice. Journalists can't be experts, so they rely on academics. Too many of those academics have let them down. The good news is that there is good academic research on bitcoin. Work by Will Luther, @Josh Hendrickson , @Margot Paez / jyn urso , @Craig Warmke , Matthew Ferranti, @npub1ws69...xzeg and others understands and explains bitcoin very well. But for academics interested in bitcoin, the incentives often don't line up. Few advisors will let their advisees focus on bitcoin, so bitcoin projects must be side projects. And without advisor or community support, these projects are rarely taken on. The Bitcoin Research Institute fixes the incentives. We provide a community who can support scholars and give critical feedback on their projects, and we provide funds for travel and lodging. We're removing barriers for scholars who want to work on bitcoin. More academic work on bitcoin should be done by people who understand bitcoin. The BRI aims to produce that work, which will filter up to journalists and policymakers. The University of Wyoming is the perfect place for this, with Sen Lummis, @Caitlin Long , State Sen Rothfuss, Law School Dean Julie Hill, Steve Lupien, bitcoin miners using all kinds of energy like @Arceris , a School of Energy Resources, School of Environment and Natural Resources... The UW Bitcoin Research Institute is a 501c(3) nonprofit. Because of @Caitlin Long , the University -- and by extension the BRI -- can accept bitcoin directly. And UW allocates 4% of our investments to bitcoin, so if you donate bitcoin to the BRI, we will NOT sell it. If you're a scholar and you want to be involved, my DMs are open! If you're a journalist and you want to learn more, my DMs are open! If you want to support our work, you can do so here: https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/49172/donations/new

I’m stoked for this! If you’re in or near NYC, come join us! View quoted note →

I’m speaking at the Bitcoin Policy Summit in DC about what sets Bitcoin apart from all other cryptocurrencies. I’ll be joined by a few dozen other bitcoiners talking about mining, authoritarianism, CBDCs, national security, and the like. To request an invitation or support the summit, visit http://btcpolicysummit.org

#Bitcoin provides a novel combination of old and new answers to questions about financial censorship, privacy, and inclusion. It also comes with brand-new tradeoffs in terms of security and energy use. That’s what we discuss in resistance.money/book