Great work and thank you for your contributions to SN and to Bitcoin

When I was five years old my mom asked me to do all of our laundry this time and I told her it wasn’t fair. “Oh you want fairness?” Since that day and until I left the house I was responsible for 100% of my laundry. I don’t remember being bothered much by it at the time but as I age I have really grown to appreciate my moms, and now my relationship with the word fairness. She instilled independence in me to a degree that I have recently come to realize is rare. She is still the greatest example of no one owes you anything and your life is the sum of your own decisions that I know.

Man Anita is a beacon of hope at all times. She brings poignant tears to my eyes whenever I hear her stories like this and I dream of traveling and championing bitcoin like she does. From her article:

There is a lot of demand for bitcoin in Zimbabwe that cannot be fulfilled. Due to international sanctions and pressure from the Reserve Bank and government, institutions and banks are banned from touching Bitcoin. As a result, there are no registered exchanges to buy bitcoin from. From a privacy perspective this is good - people obtaining bitcoin without KYC (identification), but the downside is that you need to know people personally who you can trust and who are willing to exchange US dollar to bitcoin and those are rare and ask for commissions of up to 20%.

Obviously going there and spending as many says in goods and services in the places accepting, using, and saving sats will be of huge help. But I’ve had silent apprehension about going to places like this and selling bitcoin for USD to the locals… it felt a bit dirty sounding. But as she points out, getting your hands on bitcoin is difficult, and if there really is genuine demand there, perhaps there is some real virtue to be found in providing that service. Zero mark-ups, KYC free if you pre-mix for them, or just use exclusively LN…

Putting bitcoin into these corners of the world is important for Bitcoin and thus important for all of us.

I miss-clicked and zapped this post

Put your money where your mouth is!!!

No kings protest seems silly to me unless he attempts to go against the constitution and run for a third or additional term. Otherwise he’s just a dick president with an expiration date.

It would be a wifi-required subscription service no doubt.

OK, @Solomonsatoshi I'll bite. In the late 1800's, China refused to remove themselves from the silver standard while other major nations switched to a gold standard. This turned out to be a big blunder as purchasing power of other nations rose against the silver-backed Yuan. I think there is a big potential for a repeat offence here. Bitcoin is spreading into the cracks of many countries around the world and with a long-time horizon I could see the exact same thing happening again. China refuses to abandon their large reserves of a less sound money while surrounding nations switch to a bitcoin standard. I think you are underestimating bitcoins network effects when you say " bitcoin will be a refuge and safe haven but largely only within the declining west and peripheral nations"

If in the future you're painting here bitcoin continues to be known as safe haven against fiat based monetary systems, then that means bitcoin still persists. Bitcoin is and will continue to bleed into the subconscious of humanity from the ground up. I also think you're underestimating the inevitable demand for bitcoin that likely the west and its large corporations will bring. Humans are greedy self-righteous creatures, and this works in bitcoins favor. We will be alive to see the day when merchants compete ferociously to increase their fraction of the total bitcoin supply. Governments and nation states will do the same. The people will do the same. Gold has thousands of years of network effects as a trusted safe haven to fiat debauchery even during times when gold coinage itself was being diluted, people knew to save in gold. Bitcoin is a mere infant, yet it has accomplished a great deal. I can see a future where China digs its heels into a gold backed Yuan and refuses to adapt the rest of the world yet again.

That’s really cool sounding but why have Cashu in place of lightning? Either way it would be a big deal to see signal do that but just integrate the LN imo

There is a forced dichotomy when dealing with online or electronic payments from the merchant's perspective. If you don't accept payments via the LN, then you must use an intermediary to handle your transactions--visa. If you do use visa, you as the merchant are subject to an uncapped 3% fee for every transaction. For a mass producer with tiny margins, another forced dichotomy presents itself. You either eat those fees yourself and your business fails or you pass those fees onto your customer. The merchant who is using explicitly the LN does not have this fee burden, as in our world fees are the burden of the sender, gains significant economic advantage over his peers. Not only can said merchant use the LN to collect the soundest money ever discovered in exchange for his time, energy, and expertise, but he can now afford to lower his prices where his visa-using competitors cannot--increasing their customer base at the expense of their competition.

Oof, well said, ninja. And thank you for the link that's really cool.

Yeah man. I am curious what the outcome would be if a bitcoiner there had cold storage but zero signing device on him. If there’s nothing to seize what would be the response?

Cut with reprieve

Woah thank you for the mention and wonderful news letter you have here

The shift from Krater is alarming and has lost his viewership from me. He’s gone from peaceful and educational to red eyes holding a pitch fork.

I'm reading the paperback lord of the rings series for the first time right now. I'm still on the hobbit.

Very excited. Bought my first print because it's my first but not last publish in SNZ!!

Admittedly not nearly enough but

Foraging classes in my geo location 99%btc/1% gold stash Mountaineering (basic) classes Hunt/prep/smoke knowledge (I don’t have this and I have a hard time killing things :/ ) Canning and jarring self taught Always staying physically capable Martial arts I don’t like guns but I’ve done a little to gain proficiency but I don’t own one. Actively working in Spanish in case I need to head south.

I don’t have much of a plan other than head to the Sierras and eat squirrels and plants

Isn’t it always worth a try though? Because isn’t the alternative just immediately going to the control part? Willingly so?

I used to be strong anti government and it’s what drove me to Bitcoin originally. However, being in the space, seeing some serious talent and serious intelligence, really focusing on the things outside of bitcoin that bitcoin almost forces you to focus on has been incredibly humbling. Bitcoin will flay you open and force the truth out if you aren’t being true to yourself to begin with and I really appreciate that part of its community.

I’ve since come to the conclusion that I don’t know anything really and the reality is the some (most) people do want to be governed. There should be government available for those who want it. In bitcoin and in life it’s the individuals that matter. The small pieces that make up the whole. So who am I to champion removing or deciding what people want in their lives? If bitcoin didn’t exist, I still believe little to no government would be ideal. The risk of ruin and the ability for control is just too great. But now that capital flight controls are slowly eroding (ty Satoshi) I feel it’s best to live and let live. I’ll focus on me and prepare myself for truly chaotic outcomes and I will support your decision to subject yourself to a government of any type. What really bothered me before was the forceful removal of optionality from individuals but…. Bitcoin fixes this.