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38 sats \ 0 replies \ @leo 20h freebie \ on: SN resolves to go noncustodial on Jan. 3rd - FAQ & AMA
Super cool, this motivated me to finally connect my Stacker News account to my own node via LNC. Seems to work smoothly! I think it will change my zapping behavior a bit, as now every zap is a real lightning payment. Fewer, but bigger zaps.
- Get an old laptop or desktop computer, with a new SSD
- Install Ubuntu on it
- Run Bitcoind and Litd (which includes LND). This is a handy guide: https://www.nodeacademy.org/
- Start with one or two channels, set your routing fees high and regularly use the node
- Connect to it from Zeus on your phone via LNC
yeah, that's what this is about. proposals for a "strategic bitcoin reserve" come out of a desire to burn down the dollar. It's not a strategy meant to serve the US government, citizens, country or the dollar
That seems like a silly plan to me:
- Print US dollars (or would you prefer heavy taxation?)
- Buy Bitcoin
- Devalue the US dollar, wait a bit for Bitcoin to go up
- Repay the dollars with Bitcoin -> The US dollar is now worth significantly more, there's been years of heavy inflation (or taxation), and the US government will still have to borrow more than it earns. With or without Bitcoin, the above plan is akin to declaring bankruptcy, but with one extra Bitcoin step.
People lend the US government dollars because they believe they will get it back through taxes, not because the US government has assets. Will these entities still lend out dollars if they see these dollars being used in a speculative attack against the dollar, devaluing the claims of US treasuries?
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But you're conflating monetary and fiscal reserves. Fiscal reserves is money used to pay for government spending, and typical governments have none or little fiscal reserves. The US has none. Monetary reserves are used to stabilize exchange rates, as the article explains. Is the goal to stabilize the USD/BTC exchange rate? Then the US should buy when the price dips, and sell when it increases rapidly.
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Bitcoin doesn't make sense as a reserve currency, because you can just use Bitcoin directly, as a currency. No need for a central bank to hold it in reserves and issue fiat on top of it.
Dear Bitcoiners,
Trump won't pump your bags, the state isn't going to make you rich. Bitcoin is the same as it has always been and we are going to have to work and get our hands dirty if we want to make it happen.
Yours, Leo
It's not quite sure yet what this means, but the mayor tabled the motion at a council meeting yesterday. It will be discussed December 11.
As of today, Vancouver is North America's number 1 city (by far) in regards to Bitcoin merchant adoption.
So what are you going to spend instead? If there is no better money than Bitcoin, why do you have something else? I spend Bitcoin because it's the only money I have, and the only money I will accept
Thank you for reading! I also find it weirdly satisfying to report on the mundane and boring, and gathering this information for myself is a big part of why I'm doing "plebwalks." So hard to find otherwise!
One more anecdote: I went to a mexican place late at night and jokingly asked about Bitcoin payments. The server said "yes of course" but later clarified that this was a joke and that I could use my Bitcoin debit card to pay instead. They said they don't take Bitcoin because it's not real money, then immediately corrected themselves pointing to the card machine saying "but neither is this." I paid with cash.
We've come so far, and yet have so much further to go...
Payment signage at Pietersma Snacks
Bitkasse PoS at Bar Braai
LNBits Tpos at Hummingbird Cafe
Cacao Bar at Six and Sons
Signage at Melly's Cookie Bar
Lightning beer tap at the conference. I need to get myself something like this for our community!
I'm not a history expert but the late 1800s and early 1900s must have been a really chaotic time politically in the states. They literally had a civil war, and extreme political views like communism, theocracy and fascism were apparently much more prevalent in the public sphere 100 years ago