Happy New Year, freaks. Have been sitting on this for a decade. Going to enjoy it with my wife tonight.
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2026.
It may not always seem like it but we’re going to win.
The bitcoin quantum FUD is just another iteration of “can the devs do something?!”
A bunch of LARPing by people not close to protocol development who have overlooked that “the devs” have been talking about and researching solutions to this “problem” for years.
It looks like China is again looking to "ban" bitcoin mining.
A lot has changed since they banned mining in 2021.
In 2021, network hashrate was ~160 EH/s. Today, there is ~7.5x more hashrate.
In 2021, China had 40-60% of hashrate. Today, they have ~14%.
In 2021, the United States had relatively abundant excess electricity. Today, supply is tight due to increased demand from AI hyperscalers.
This Chinese mining ban will bring with it less network disruption and new back end benefactors in the form of countries with excess energy that isn't being bid up by AI data centers.
It's crazy how much can change in a little over four years.
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Since @BtcPins spilled the beans on the RHR live chat, I’ll ask Nostr for feedback. Been working on a site for people to find the best bitcoin products. Still a work in progress and will be cleaning it up and adding to it in the coming days.
Let me know what you think:
This was one of the more interesting conversations I've had on the show this year.
Johann Kurtz is the author of Leaving a Legacy. A book about how wealth comes with the responsibility of duty over one's dominion, how wealth should be passed down and why the trend of boomers spending all of their money or giving it to charity is a travesty.
The Trump administration seems to be leaning into industrial policy in the same way that the politicians of James J Hill's time were in an attempt to build out the American rail system.
Central planning never works, and I find it hard to believe it will work in this context.
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A lot of victim mentality from bitcoiners during this chopsolidation phase.
Stop complaining. Attack.
Get your bitcoin off the exchange. Teach others how to self custody. Convince your local Square merchant to turn bitcoin payments on. Move your life to a bitcoin standard.
If you are using bitcoin privately, the government will assume you are doing something nefarious and label you an enemy to be dealt with.
This is wrong and it needs to stop.
#freesamourai
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Earlier today I re-watched this mini-doc on James J Hill and how he succeeded during the railroad boom despite refusing government subsidies that were plentiful at the time.
He focused on efficient capital allocation and investing in civilization.
Part of his success was derived from how simply he set the goals for his company.
"We must operate:
- the fastest locomotives,
- to pull the longest trains,
- with maximum tonnage,
- over the straightest tracks,
- using the least change in elevation,
- with minimal maintenance costs."
Every capital allocation decision he made focused on achieving these goals.
It's hard not to think about the AI boom and all of the government investment going into the sector these days after watching this. How many opportunists are circling their wagons to feed from the government trough at the moment? How efficiently is that easy money going to be allocated?
Who in AI and the booming energy infrastructure industry budding around it is taking the hard but lucrative path that James J Hill took during the railroad boom?
Started Thanksgiving Day by reading a few chapters of Johann Kurtz’ new book as the kids watched the parade.
I can’t help but think of the lack of strong families in the tech billionaire class. It seems like a bunch of individualists with no drive to have family legacies.
It’s that time of year where I meet my brother in the city to honor our father by continuing the tradition of getting close shaves the day before Thanksgiving.
Cherish every moment with your loved ones.
Honor your mother and father.
By raising margin requirements for MSTR shares being used as collateral, failing to deliver MSTR shares in a timely manner, and de-banking @jackmallers, it is clear that JP Morgan is threatened by bitcoin and the industry growing around it.
Good. They should be scared.
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The Age of AI Cyberattacks is upon us.
We are operating within a window of time where we have visibility into how these attacks are waged.
Once open-source models and tools catch up, it will be a black box.
Secure your systems now. Complacency kills.
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The Age of AI Cyberattacks is upon us. The need for individuals and companies to harden their security set ups is greater than it ever has been.
Once open source models, encrypted AI compute and MCP frameworks are mature enough it will be impossible to intervene like Claude did here or even audit the attack in fine detail.
Now is not the time to be complacent. Especially if your company secures people’s bitcoin.
Don’t trust the trusted third parties, move your bitcoin to cold storage.