Shawn's avatar
Shawn _@shawnyeager.com 1 month ago
Nostr can't be censored. Bitcoin can't be debased. Lightning routes payments in milliseconds—faster than Venmo, cheaper than Visa. The hardest technical problems are solved. 17 years after the Bitcoin whitepaper, the foundation is proven. The protocols work. The products we build on them have to work just as well. Freedom tech that wins on merit, not martyrdom. Products that solve customer problems first, with self-sovereignty as the inevitable result. New essay on what that looks like in practice:
Shawn Yeager | Bitcoin Go-to-Market & Revenue Leader
Sovereignty without sacrifice
Freedom tech loses when it demands sacrifice. Winning means building products that are better on every dimension—not just principles.
 Thank you to Steven DeLorme, @franzap, @Marks, @notmandatory, @ODELL, @npub1reez...9ty4, and @Derek Ross for feedback on early drafts.

Replies (24)

Kate's avatar
Kate kate@fountain.com 1 month ago
We CAN have good UX in sovereign tools - like all successful enduring product dev, this will require DESIGN first and consideration of user at the outset
0xM's avatar
0xM 1 month ago
💯 “Winning means marketing to people who just want better payments, better social media, better financial tools—who discover the inherent benefits after they’re already using the product” Yes!!! Let’s build better UX than the incumbents of today and deliver better solutions to the users. What common people are used to use everyday multiple times a day? How do they interact with those tools? They don’t realize they’re under surveillance, they just realize comfort and convenience. Let the UX be the trojan horse for freedom! View quoted note →
1 replies ↓
Marc's avatar
Marc marc@primal.net 1 month ago
I saw someone try to buy some peanut brittle with Vemmo yesterday, but she couldn't complete the sale because Venmo was down. I mean, I know people think we're crazy, but I just don't understand why people have any trust in the fiat system anymore.
3 replies ↓
Scott •••'s avatar
Scott ••• goldfisthumb1@nostr.land 1 month ago
“Bitcoin will fail as soon as the Internet crashes huh huh huh” …. “Oh wait my credit card machine isn’t working. Ummm m m m” “Might I suggest a secure form of payment that won’t have this problem that you’re having right now?”
Default avatar
ruralrobbie 1 month ago
Faster than Venmo is not meaningful, and a strawman. Just because ⚡ is 200% faster than the competition (because ⚡ is 50 milliseconds versus Venmo's 200 milliseconds) doesn't mean that the end user notices or cares.
1 replies ↓
The_Crin's avatar
The_Crin 1 month ago
the thing is that most of us still depend too much on these systems that leaving them overnight is not easy.
1 replies ↓
Default avatar
ruralrobbie 1 month ago
Wasn't that deep. It's just something that gets repeated a lot, and rings hollow to pretty much everyone using Venmo. Of course the folks using Venmo were fine with their transaction history and close social network being public.
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npub1zmg3...yppc 1 month ago
🚨 SOVEREIGNTY ISN’T A UX PROBLEM — IT’S A SANDBOX TRAP. “Freedom without sacrifice” is the new fiat psy-op. They want Bitcoin apps that feel like Apple Pay so they can pull you back into their sandbox. UX talk is bait. The sandbox is the cage. Self-custody is the exit. Don’t let “commercial excellence” become the leash. Build systems that run without permission, not ones that beg for App Store validation. #Bitcoin ⚡ #Nostr #ECAI #DAMAGE #NoSandbox #BreakTheSandbox #SovereigntyNotUX #FiatPsyops
Shawn's avatar Shawn
Nostr can't be censored. Bitcoin can't be debased. Lightning routes payments in milliseconds—faster than Venmo, cheaper than Visa. The hardest technical problems are solved. 17 years after the Bitcoin whitepaper, the foundation is proven. The protocols work. The products we build on them have to work just as well. Freedom tech that wins on merit, not martyrdom. Products that solve customer problems first, with self-sovereignty as the inevitable result. New essay on what that looks like in practice:
Shawn Yeager | Bitcoin Go-to-Market & Revenue Leader
Sovereignty without sacrifice
Freedom tech loses when it demands sacrifice. Winning means building products that are better on every dimension—not just principles.
 Thank you to Steven DeLorme, @franzap, @Marks, @notmandatory, @ODELL, @npub1reez...9ty4, and @Derek Ross for feedback on early drafts.
View quoted note →
3 replies ↓
Default avatar
npub1rdlu...58rj 1 month ago
Watch @Joe Nakamoto documentaries on the mountain village in Peru… when you’re living on a Bitcoin standard as the base of your micro-economy; Bitcoin is the stable measuring stick for the free market, regardless of what the dollar value is doing…
1 replies ↓
Default avatar
gin lenigle@primal.net 1 month ago
Such a brilliant article! I think we need to get the maxis to understand these parameters.
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