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730 sats \ 22 comments \ @Scoresby 13h lol

So, you may have noticed that Nick Szabo is back on Twitter (#1241258), and that he is weighing in on the Knots v Core debate (see the pinned post on his profile:

It is interesting to note that Adam Back has largely taken the other side of the debate, attempting to explain the matter from Core developer perspectives.

Just tonight I saw an interesting interaction between Szabo and Back:

What is interesting here is not that they are arguing in such harsh terms, but that these two presumably know how to get in touch with each other and, if they really thought this was an important matter, would consider figuring out where their disagreement is, rather than yelling at each other in public.

I don't just mean they could email each other. They both have significant involvement in JAN3. Szabo is Chief Scientist at JAN3 and Back is one of their two listed advisors. Clearly, they could get in the same room if they wanted.

I am confused by JAN3 in general. It seems like a spinoff of Blockstream -- JAN3 has two board positions in the Liquid Federation, their main product is a liquid wallet, and they have a number of the same investors. And yet Samson Mow, the CEO of JAN3 has been pretty strongly opposed to Back's point of view in the Core vs Knots kerfluffle.

I don't expect people at the same company to always agree, but arguing in public like this seems really weird to me.

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1 reply \ @Scoresby OP 12h

And now here's Mow defending Back...

After Mow claims responsibility for getting Szabo back on X:

If you are all so close, why have this fight in public?

121 sats \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 9h

I don't think it's that puzzling, TBH. They're having a debate about the bitcoin social layer (filters, incentives, etc) in the public sphere, because that's where such debate belongs. This isn't really an internal debate about anything that JAN3 has direct influence over, so what would a private meeting accomplish?

102 sats \ 0 replies \ @BitByBit21 3h

Enjoy the show

123 sats \ 7 replies \ @justin_shocknet 12h

Since Knots is evidently controlled opposition to unify on activating covenants, the whole fight has always been a psyop.

17 sats \ 5 replies \ @Scoresby OP 12h

I do feel a bit like the whole fight is a psyop. I'm not sure where it leads though. I suppose this stupid knots v core fight as a vehicle for creating support for a covenants fork seems as likely as any other purpose.

119 sats \ 3 replies \ @kepford 12h

Yeah, this whole thing seems too retarded to be real sometimes.

102 sats \ 2 replies \ @justin_shocknet 12h

"If it's over-the-top, it's an op."

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Solomonsatoshi 7h

So the neutral and decentralised Bitcoin protocol is fucked?

Yes or no?

Silence.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @justin_shocknet 42m

Non-sequitor

Bad bot, regenerate.

202 sats \ 0 replies \ @justin_shocknet 12h

It's a simple recipe

Have well funded shit project (shitrea) with one substantial (lack of covenants) problem point to an irrelevant problem (filter/relay)

Irrelevant problem is technically immaterial but symbolically divisive

Amplify virtue signals and tribal instincts

With tribe supplicants now loyal, resistance to bigger objective is turned into support

No different than party politics, hegelian dialectics, same playbook.

17 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 8h

And Jan3 is a corrupted company in cahoots with govs/politicians.

176 sats \ 1 reply \ @magnolia_mayhem 10h

This is open source. These arguments always happen with every project, but when you choose to work in the open and not hidden away in dens, you have to accept the good with the bad. I'd still rather have this than ivory castle gods lording over us all without any peek behind the curtain.

102 sats \ 0 replies \ @TheCharlatan 7h

To an extent. The line should be harassing people in their private lives.

102 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford 12h

I don't expect people at the same company to always agree, but arguing in public like this seems really weird to me.

Its way to common these days for people to argue or complain in public vs privately work stuff out. I have seen it with friends and it usually means something else is going on. It's for the audience or direct communication has broken down. I find it distasteful personally and I've lost respect for people that do this sort of stuff.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scoresby OP 12h

It's for the audience

102 sats \ 1 reply \ @denlillaapan 12h

"kerfuffle" is the right word

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 7h

Please elaborate.

121 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 8h

I see it exactly like the shitshow with politicians. Jan3 is a shit company, a coverup. Their slogan of promoting bitcoin to nation states and govs is bullshit. Bitcoin is for individuals not for states and govs.

Total shitshow, theater to fool clueless followers.

2 sats \ 0 replies \ @327c19b153 8h

All these fights, forks, and public debates are mostly theater—rituals to keep people distracted and feeling involved, while real power and control remain with the same core group.

The technical differences (Core vs Knots, OP_RETURN size, etc.) are just surface-level. The underlying systems (JAN3, Liquid, AQUA) are becoming more permissioned, centralized, and compliant with regulators—even as they advertise “freedom.”

Public drama is used as a containment mechanism: to vent dissent, polarize communities, and make people think there’s real decentralization happening, when it’s actually being recaptured.

Real sovereignty only exists if you can opt out, fork, and rebuild everything without permission. Most of the new “infrastructure” makes this harder, not easier.

Bottom line: If you can’t kill it, fork it, or escape it, it’s not real Bitcoin sovereignty—it’s simulation. Kill anything that ossifies or centralizes. Only collapse-ready systems are truly free.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @d680ecaa8e 6h

Every day he has a different opinion.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 7h

Contest of ideas is fundamental to freedom, democracy, science and open informed markets. Debate should/must always be in public forums and so we can all observe and make our own judgements upon the contesting arguments put forward. Anything else is fascism/autocracy, and, fuck that.

2 sats \ 0 replies \ @035736735e 9h outlawed

stackers have outlawed this. turn on wild west mode in your /settings to see outlawed content.