From Declined Cards to Lightning Fast This week, I tried to buy a new internet domain. Normally I use SquareSpace (which took over Google Domains), and it always worked just fine. But this time? My payment didn’t go through. Strange, since I’ve been a customer for over two years. So I double-checked everything: • Card details? ✔ • Billing address? ✔ • Tried three different cards? ✔✔✔ Still nothing. All payments failed. The thing is, legacy payments aren’t just “you → merchant.” There are half a dozen middlemen who can block the transaction at any point: 1. Card issuer (e.g., WISE) 2. Network (e.g., Visa) 3. Payment processor (e.g., Square) 4. Merchant's bank (e.g., Chase) 5. Currency conversion provider 6. The merchant itself (e.g., SquareSpace) Some mismatch in your address, a suspicious flag, or a system hiccup—and you're locked out. After wasting far too much time and energy, I gave up and went to a different provider. One that accepted Bitcoin via Lightning Network. This time, I used a non-custodial Lightning wallet. ✅ No card issuer ✅ No Visa ✅ No bank Just me → the merchant. And it worked instantly. It felt like a small miracle. Or more precisely—a glimpse of the future. It left me with two big questions: 1. What do people without Bitcoin do in this situation? o Apply for another card and try again? o Switch providers until one works? o Or just give up on their idea altogether? 2. Is it just me—or are the wheels starting to fall off the fiat payments wagon? Picture unrelated. Or... is it?

👇 English below Kilka dni temu brałem udział w rozmowie z Richard Zalski z Radio WNET oraz z Radek Pogoda w ramach „Pomarańczowego Studia”, audycji poświęconej Bitcoinowi. Tym razem rozmawialiśmy o własności prywatnej: o zakusach rządów oraz o tym, jak się przed nimi ochronić. Zapraszam do odsłuchania! 🔶 ENG: A few days ago, I took part in a thought-provoking conversation with Richard Zalski from Radio WNET and Radek Pogoda as part of “Orange Studio” show, dedicated to Bitcoin. This time, we talked about private property - how the governments violate it and how to protect ourselves. The conversation is in Polish, but Google Translate works surprisingly well. More English content coming later this year — stay tuned!

SATS BOUNTY - 5 000 SATS Reposition the top speech bubble so that its tail clearly points to the man on the right, instead of the woman. Do not change the text or anything else. First come, first served, valid for 48 hours from now.

Bitcoin Maximalist rejects fiat money. Maxi rejects voluntary participation in a monetary system where there are masters and slaves. Does it mean that Bitcoin Maximalist fundamentally believes that all humans are equal? Can Maxi be a racist?

US gov is supposed to have 4580 tons of gold 🪙 reserves. This is around 2% of total physical gold in circulation. If it's gone (stolen or misappropriated), and this is made public, the US 🏛️ will have two choices: 1) once again confiscate foreign gold (6-7000 tons in US custody), 🪦 2) leapfrog & pivot quickly to Bitcoin. ⛓️ The latter will crash gold price, the former will pump it. Auditing gold is hard: very expensive and cumbersome. De facto you have to melt and recast all the gold bars. But it could be done.. once a decade for example.. Based on public information there was a full Fort Knox audit in 1953 and partial in 1974. I just filed so called "FOIA request" to the US Treasury to obtain documents from these audits. Based on Freedom of Information Act I should be able to get something, let's see. 👀

This is my Bitcoin Bingo for 2025. How many will we hit this year?? What else would be fun to have on a bingo card?

wrapped Bitcoin is to Bitcoin what UST (terra) was to USD: a shitcoin.

Trump is starting his presidency with selling unregistered securities and basically a money grab. This is a big FU towards SEC, basic rules and common sense. Not surprising, but still somewhat disappointing. Regulators will love the excuse for Chokepoint 3.0 when new government comes after Trump.

TWO UNPOPULAR OPINIONS on SBR and SAB121* *Related to banking accounting rules, de facto allowing commercial banks to custody Bitcoin. OPINION 1) Trump will repeal SAB121 before creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). Neither will happen this week, although he might hint at or set in motion the former. 1. Creating an SBR would use up his political capital, while repealing SAB121 would generate political capital. From a shallow, but most common perspective: SBR: CLEAR what it is; benefits are VAGUE. SAB121: VAGUE what it is; benefits are CLEAR (for interested parties). Announcing the SBR could double the Bitcoin price in the short term, making SBR execution less viable. Announcing it prematurely would be a bad business decision. Instead, they should buy BTC and announce once they believe they've acquired enough. OPINION 2) Repealing SAB121 is far more important than the creation of an SBR. SBR would strengthen the government, while repealing SAB121 would empower the individual. A strong, happy society is built on strong individuals.

A simple heuristic to check if they are a Bitcoiner, is to ask them: "Is Ethereum a shitcoin?" YES - they are likely a Bitcoiner, NO - they are a shitcoiner.

On average presidents were signing 5 executive orders in the first three days in the office and some of you people say Trump will sign 1200 EO on day 1. It's ludicrous. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve is not happening via EO in January 2025.

MONETARY PRISONER'S DILEMMA: BITCOIN AND NATION-STATES A monetary prisoner’s dilemma explores four distinct scenarios: 1) Every nation-state buys Bitcoin. First come, first served. Demand from nation-states pushes the price higher, accelerating transition to the Bitcoin Standard. Early adopters accumulate more at lower prices, while laggards are left to accumulate less at higher prices. International trade increasingly settles in neutral reserve assets like Bitcoin or gold. Countries will either accumulate significant amounts of Bitcoin cheaply or need to generate it through a trade surplus. 2 and 3) Some nation-states buy Bitcoin, while others do not. Countries that purchased Bitcoin use it for trade settlement with one another, while non-adopting countries continue moving away from USD settlement towards gold. Countries using Bitcoin for trade settlement become more competitive and prosperous due to: 1. The devaluation of gold caused by new supplies of both physical and paper gold entering the market. 2. The high costs associated with transporting and verifying physical gold (e.g., melting and recasting). 4) No nation-state buys Bitcoin. (purely theoretical: Bhutan is already mining Bitcoin, and El Salvador is both buying and mining it.) Individuals, businesses, and funds continue accumulating new supply, driving adoption forward without government involvement. As an increasing amount of wealth secured in Bitcoin (which cannot be debased), money printing becomes ever more difficult and eventually impossible. Without money printing, twin deficits (trade and budget deficits) can no longer be financed, leading to a significant reduction in government size worldwide. This shrinkage of government is a welcome change for a large portion of citizens. Genuine question: Which scenario do you prefer, and why?

MONETARY PRISONER'S DILEMMA: BITCOIN AND NATION-STATES A monetary prisoner’s dilemma explores four distinct scenarios: 1) Every nation-state buys Bitcoin. First come, first served. Demand from nation-states pushes the price higher, accelerating transition to the Bitcoin Standard. Early adopters accumulate more at lower prices, while laggards are left to accumulate less at higher prices. International trade increasingly settles in neutral reserve assets like Bitcoin or gold. Countries will either accumulate significant amounts of Bitcoin cheaply or need to generate it through a trade surplus. 2 and 3) Some nation-states buy Bitcoin, while others do not. Countries that purchased Bitcoin use it for trade settlement with one another, while non-adopting countries continue moving away from USD settlement towards gold. Countries using Bitcoin for trade settlement become more competitive and prosperous due to: 1. The devaluation of gold caused by new supplies of both physical and paper gold entering the market. 2. The high costs associated with transporting and verifying physical gold (e.g., melting and recasting). 4) No nation-state buys Bitcoin. (purely theoretical: Bhutan is already mining Bitcoin, and El Salvador is both buying and mining it.) Individuals, businesses, and funds continue accumulating new supply, driving adoption forward without government involvement. As an increasing amount of wealth secured in Bitcoin (which cannot be debased), money printing becomes ever more difficult and eventually impossible. Without money printing, twin deficits (trade and budget deficits) can no longer be financed, leading to a significant reduction in government size worldwide. This shrinkage of government is a welcome change for a large portion of citizens. Genuine question: Which scenario do you prefer, and why?

Bitcoin Hanoi #2 is coming soon! When: Wed., 8th of Jan 2025, 7:00pm. Where: DM for location Who: all Bitcoiners / Bitcoin curious / friends PS. shitcoiners & scammers⛔️ PPS.Everyone gets 🧧 from our dear friends @Bitcoin Saigon

In 2024 I was mostly interacting with these payment networks: 1. Revolut – account blocked for already 7 days pending “account verification” “for my own safety”. No explanation, extra KYC request or ETA when this will be resolved. 2 600 EUR blocked or lost. 2. PayPal – employees tried to scam me for 4 000 EUR, after discussing this with my lawyer, I told them to f*ck off. They closed my account. 3. Dutch bank – open a file and put me on some shit list, but still works well (only in the Netherlands tho). How do people put up with this? And not lose their minds? Fortunately, there is also Bitcoin & Lightning Network:

So I wanted to buy Primal Premium and realized that I literally cannot do it. 1) My bank account is blocked and unclear when/if will be unblocked, 2) PayPal basically rugged me, I dont have access to it (nor I want to), 3) Bitcoin not accepted. Why, once again, garbage fiat payment rails are prioritized to Bitcoin? Aren't we here just because centralized stuff is seizing up? @preston

What is the Bitcoiner's "go to" VPN?

Hello world!