Bitcoin Takeover Podcast
On the Bitcoin Takeover podcast you're going to hear the builders and innovators who make the Bitcoin project valuable. It's thanks to their work that the BTC price goes up, and it's their efforts that convince large investors that Bitcoin is the future of money. Here you will find the projects and ideas that will radically improve Bitcoin in the future, presented by the creators and innovators themselves. Time to learn!
S16 E54: Slava Zhygulin & Ros on Stroom Network, Bitcoin Staking
The Stroom Network presents an interesting proposition: staking your bitcoin on the Lightning network, and earning yield from the transaction fees that routing nodes are collecting. To better explain how this system works, Slava and Ros join the show!
S16 E53: Xenu on Bitcoin Culture & Moreno vs Zcash
Xenu is the anti-moonboy: someone who is deeply dedicated to promoting digital money as something that you use to purchase goods & services, and a black market connoisseur. In this episode, we talk about Bitcoin & tackle the Moreno vs Zcash debate. Time stamps: 00:01:46 - Welcome to Bitcoin Takeover podcast 00:01:52 - Vlad introduces himself and Xenu 00:02:06 - Debating Zcash vs Monero 00:02:44 - Xenu thanks Vlad 00:03:36 - AI and aesthetics discussion 00:03:41 - Vlad sold XMR for ZEC and Zano 00:04:31 - Zano as CryptoNote fork 00:05:18 - Bitcoin as speculative asset 00:06:55 - Satoshi white paper vs Michael Saylor 00:09:24 - Ordinals and blockchain data 00:10:11 - Filters...
S16 E52: Paul Sztorc on Bitcoin's Culture Wars
While the Bitcoin Core v30 vs Knots debate went on, Paul Sztorc was hard at work building the Drivechains software. However, this doesn't meant that he doesn't have any opinions about the recent events and their greater significance. Time stamps: 00:01:30 - Welcome to the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast and Paul's Second Appearance This Season 00:02:28 - Bitcoin Civil War: Core v30 vs Knots Debate 00:03:02 - Nick Szabo Joining the Debate and Ties to Samson Mow's Company 00:04:11 - Op Return Limit Silliness and Historical Bitcoin Uncensored Humor 00:05:21 - Shift in Bitcoin Community: From Subversive to Suit Coiner Route 00:06:02 - Resistance Money, Privacy, and...
S16 E51: Sean Bowe on Bitcoin, Zcash & Scaling Privacy with Tachyon
Sean Bowe is a cryptographer and engineer who is best known for revolutionizing Zcash. After cooperating to fix the inflation bug in the first version of the network, he built Halo to remove the trusted setup – basically obliterating the main reason why Bitcoin did not activate the Zerocash soft fork in 2013. More recently, Sean Bowe announced project Tachyon: an ambitious initiative to scale ZK SNARKs (the technology enabling shielded transactions) to billions of users. Time stamps: 00:01:19 - Sean Bowe's Work on Zcash and Hidden Inflation Bug Fix 00:01:36 - Introduction to Halo and Halo 2: Eliminating Trusted Setup 00:01:51 - Overview of Project Ta...
S16 E50: Ray Youssef on Why Paxful's Terminated
On October 1st 2025, Paxful announced the decision to "wind down operations" and blamed the "misconduct" of co-founder Ray Youssef for the company's trajectory. But Ray Youssef had already moved on since 2023, building NoOnes as a non-US entity which better serves the peer to peer needs of the Global South. In this episode, Ray explains what's going on and what he's planning to do next. Time stamps: 00:01:08 - Introducing Ray Youssef 00:01:15 - Discussion on Paxful Termination and NoOnes as a Better Alternative 00:01:29 - Ray Youssef Accused of Undermining Paxful 00:02:54 - Paxful Press Release on Winding Down Operations 00:03:31 - Ray Youssef's Response...
S16 E49: Jay Berg on Bitcoin, SidePit & Maximalism
Jay Berg joined Bitcoin in 2010 and became the first person to tweet about BTCUSD when the price hit a new high of $12. In this episode, he talks about why most Bitcoiners are wrong in their recent filter debate and how SidePit aims to fix trading. Time stamps: 00:01:57 - Hot take: Maxis wrong, shitcoining new Bitcoining 00:03:00 - Bitcoin kernel: Litecoin, Ethereum, Zcash, Lightning, Liquid 00:03:23 - Bitcoin failed as P2P cash 00:04:09 - Filters vs. OP_RETURN debate 00:05:18 - Luke Dash Jr. fork prediction 00:05:45 - Original sin: No OP_CTV (BIP 119) 00:06:47 - 2017 civil war: Gavin Andresen, Mike Hearn 00:07:45 - Craig Wright conspiracy 00:08:42...
S16 E48: Christopher Smith on Quantus, Bitcoin & Quantum Resistance
Christopher Smith (aka Yuvi Lightman, aka Ganesha 1024) is the founder of the Quantus network: an mbitious quantum-zk blockchain which he proudly built with his team in just 6 months, with a budget of $500k. In this episode we talk about the threat of quantum computing, how quantum resistant cryptography works, and how Bitcoin can be saved from a potential disaster. Time stamps: 00:01:31 - Introducing Christopher Smith (Yuvi Lightman), known on Soundcloud Music as Ganesha1024 00:02:22 - Quantis: Zero-Knowledge Quantum-Resistant Blockchain 00:02:39 - Christopher's Background, Early Bitcoin Involvement 00:03:41 - Current Views on Bitcoin, All-Time High at $125K 00:04:19 - Discovering Bitcoin in 2012, Contributions to BitcoinJ 00:04:36...
S16 E47: Max Hillebrand on White Noise & Private Messaging on Nostr
Max Hillebrand makes his 8th appearance on the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast in order to talk about his latest project: White Noise, a private messaging application for Nostr. We also talk about Core v30 vs Knots, Bitcoin layer 2s & other bull market topics. Time stamps: 00:01:07 - Max Hillebrand's Background 00:02:47 - Post-Wasabi Wallet Era and Privacy Challenges 00:04:28 - Nostr Protocol Overview 00:05:58 - Early Nostr Experiences and Key Loss 00:08:51 - Nostr Client Progress and Edge Cases 00:09:58 - Nostr's Relation to Bitcoin 00:13:53 - Hardware Wallets for Nostr Keys 00:18:06 - Nostr Key Backups and Security 00:21:53 - Nostr Search and Web of Trust 00:24:21 - Ads: Bitcoin...
S16 E46: Val Venis on Bitcoin, Liberty & Wrestling
Back in 2013, former WWE Intercontinental Champion Val Venis bought 24 bitcoins for $80 each. Today, he is a big advocate for freedom, privacy, and the right to benefit from the product of your own labor without extortion. In this episode, we talk about libertarianism, his love for private internet money, and his WWE stories. Time stamps: 00:00:00 - Intro: Val Venis Entrance & Attitude Era Reflections 00:01:51 - Hello Biological Ladies: Modern PC Culture & Twitter Feuds 00:02:46 - Wrestling Eras: From Attitude to Ruthless Aggression & PG Shift 00:03:30 - Political Outspokenness: Why No Hall of Fame Yet? 00:04:35 - Importance of Politics: Social & Financial Impacts on Society 00:05:13...
S16 E45: Shai Wyborski on Bitcoin, Kaspa & Proof of Work Research
Shai Wyborski is one of the three co-authors of the GHOSTDAG paper, and a man who takes pride in his independent thinking and divergent approach to research. As a PhD in quantum cryptography, he's got lots of knowledge to share. But by virtue of his involvement in Bitcoin and Kaspa, he's got stories to tell too. What does the future of Proof of Work look like? Let's find out! Time stamps: 00:01:09 - Welcoming Shai Wyborski 00:01:28 - Dig into GhostDAG; most interesting PoW scaling tech. 00:04:44 - Shai's BTC opinions over time 00:05:21 - How Shai spent BTC on "creativity fuel" (undisclosed). 00:06:31...
S16 E44: Abdel on ZK STARKs & Bitcoin Maximalism
Abdel is a Starkware engineer who, over the last 7 years, went from building EIP 1559 on Ethereum to becoming a Bitcoin maximalist who wants ZK STARKs to happen. In this episode, we talk about his journey & some of Bitcoin's cultural issues. Time stamps: 00:00:59 - Sponsors: Sideshift, Citrea, Bitcoin.com News, LayerTwo Labs, NoOnes.com 00:01:38 - Abdel's unique journey: From Ethereum core dev at ConsenSys to Bitcoin maximalism 00:02:17 - Early Bitcoin curiosity (2011-2012) vs Ethereum's "world computer" appeal 00:03:51 - Fintech background: Working for banks before fighting them 00:04:31 - Always a Bitcoin + Ethereum maxi: Building unstoppable systems 00:06:07 - North Star vs "Nostr": Unstoppable...
S16 E43: Vikrant Sharma on Cake Wallet, Bitcoin & Privacy
Vikrant Sharma, better known as Vik, is the CEO and founder of Cake Wallet: the first Bitcoin wallet to support both Silent Payments and PayJoins. In this episode, we talk about the wallet's Monero roots & what is next in terms of features. Time stamps: 00:01:05 - Introducing Vik 00:01:24 - Cake Wallet Features for Bitcoin and Monero 00:03:08 - Background Sync Improvements 00:03:49 - Monero.com Wallet Discussion 00:04:41 - Monero Community Insights 00:05:01 - Privacy in Monero Transactions 00:06:33 - Funding and Revenue Model 00:08:29 - Vik's Background in Steel and Tech 00:10:34 - Discovering Bitcoin and Privacy Apps 00:13:22 - Launching Cakewallet for Monero 00:14:23 - Why Start with...
S16 E42: Michael Tidwell on Bitcoin Drama & Tabconf
Michael Tidwell is the organizer of Tabconf, the longest running Bitcoin technical conference which takes place every year in Atlanta. In this episode, we talk about Bitcoin drama & use a fun roulette game to figure out who's guilty of it. Time stamps: 00:01:09 - Welcome and episode gimmick intro 00:01:30 - Sponsors shoutout 00:01:36 - Bitcoin drama discussion starts 00:03:38 - Bitcoin Core vs Knots debate 00:04:28 - Wheel spin: Blame the plebs 00:06:52 - Egg pick: Solution is "use tabs" 00:07:56 - Adam Back's "use tabs" context from 2017 00:09:09 - Paul Sztorc's role and personality 00:10:52 - Defining "pleb" in Bitcoin culture 00:13:42 - Hodlonaut story and Lightning Torch 00:16:32...
S16 E41: Yonatan Sompolinsky on Bitcoin, Kaspa & Proof of Work
Yonatan Sompolinsky is an academic in the field of computer science, best known for his work on the GHOST protocol (Greedy Heaviest Observed Subtree, which was cited in the Ethereum whitepaper) and the way he applied his research to create Kaspa. In this episode, we talk about scaling Proof of Work and why Kaspa might be a worthy contender to process global payments. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Time stamps: 00:01:22 - Debunking rumors: Why some think Yonatan is Satoshi Nakamoto 00:02:52 - Candidates for Satoshi: Charles Hoskinson, Charlie Lee, Zooko, and Alex Chepurnoy 00:03:41 - Alex Chepurnoy as a Satoshi-like figure 00:04:07 - Kaspa overview: DAG structure, no orphaned blocks, generalization of Bitcoin 00:04:55 - Similarities betwe...
S16 E40: Cory Klippsten on Bitcoin Culture & Maximalism
Cory Klippsten is the CEO of Swan Bitcoin and has a long history in both traditional finance and the Bitcoin space. In this two-part episode, he talks about why Bitcoin is winning and how the culture around it has changed.
S16 E39: Karl Kreder (Dr. K) on Scaling Proof of Work, Bitcoin & Quai
Karl Kreder, better known as Dr. K, is best known in the space for researching the use of merged-mined subnets to scale Proof of Work in 2018 – a concept which led to the launch of the Quai Network, which introduced the Proof of Entropy Minima (PoEM) consensus for high transaction throughput within a decentralized environment. Today, we talk about his views on Bitcoin, why Proof of Work is still relevant in a world that's converging towards the more convenient Proof of Stake, and how the Quai Network works. Time stamps: 00:00 Intro & Welcome 00:03:00 Discussion Length Challenge 00:04:00 Dr. K's Bitcoin Background 00:06:00 Wallet Security & La...
S16 E38: Bitcoin Payments in 2025 with Sergej Kotliar & Matt Ahlborg
Sergej Kotliar is the CEO of Bitrefill, while Matt Ahlborg recently created PPQ.AI to enable millions of users to experience LLMs without expensive subscriptions. But how are bitcoin payments doing? In this episode, they present their latest stats. Time stamps: 00:00:48 – Introducing Sergej Kotliar and Matt Aalborg 00:02:20 – Bitrefill’s Lightning Network Experience & Payment Trends 00:04:13 – Shift from Bitcoin Maximalism to Multi-Chain Usage 00:05:47 – Tron, Ethereum, and Payment Method Comparisons 00:10:04 – Defining Post-Maximalism 00:11:08 – Changing Morality and Ideology in Bitcoin 00:13:12 – Proof of Reserves & Bitcoin Company Transparency 00:14:15 – Bitrefill’s Payment Method Rankings 00:18:00 – Payment Method Percentages & Dashboard Usage 00:20:21 – Decline in On-Chain Bitcoin Payments 00:24:46 – Popular Wallets for Bitrefill Purchases 00:27:53 – Bitre...
S16 E37: Andrew Poelstra on Simplicity, Bitcoin Smart Contracts & Upgrades
Simplicity, a scripting language so simple that it can fit on a t-shirt, has finally launched on Liquid after a decade of development. Andrew Poelstra, who works as director of research at Blockstream, explains how it works & why it's good for Bitcoin. Time stamps: (00:00:50) Introducing Andrew Poelstra (00:01:45) Simplicity: Now Live on Liquid (00:02:12) Elements and Liquid’s Technical Evolution (00:03:09) Is Simplicity a Response to Solidity? (00:05:40) Simplicity’s Programming Model & Rust Inspiration (00:08:04) Demo Applications and Simplicity Playground (00:10:03) Why Not Stick with Bitcoin Script? (00:11:48) Bitcoin Script’s Limitations and Quirks (00:19:14) Simplicity’s Capabilities: Computation & Covenants (00:22:26) Formal Verification and Multi-Language Implementations (00:25:21) Machine-Checkable Proofs and Contract...
S16 E36: Maud Bannwart & Cheng Wang on Alephium, Proof of Less Work & Bitcoin
Alephium is one of the most interesting Proof of Work projects, which aims to build secure smart contracts & fast DeFi on a mineable base layer which minimizes electricity consumption. Maud Bannwart & Cheng Wang explain how all of this works. Time stamps: 00:00:53 – Introducing Cheng & Maud 00:02:06 – Alephium's Origins & Motivation Cheng explains the technical challenge of blockchain scalability and the project's evolution from sharding to DeFi. 00:04:36 – Choosing UTXO vs. Account Model Why Alephium uses the UTXO model for assets and account model for application state, combining both for scalability. 00:09:50 – Privacy and UTXO Model Advantages of UTXO for privacy and scalability, and how it enables...
S16 E35: Hunter Beast on Bitcoin's Quantum Resistance & BIP 360
Hunter Beast is the author of BIP 360: a proposal that seeks to provide quantum resistance to Bitcoin, to prevent powerful computer builders from brute forcing arbitrary addresses to steal the funds. But is the quantum threat real? Does the number of qubits really make a difference when the quantum computer is general purpose? Shouldn't other industries outside of Bitcoin, especially governments and banks, be worried about the fragility of elliptic curve cryptography? In this episode, we'll try to answer some of these questions and also refer to Hunter Beast's previous experience with building RGB for Bitcoin tokens. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Time stamps: 01:08 - Introducing Hunter Beast 01:27 - BIP 360 and Quantum R...
S16 E34: Prof. Richard Werner on Bitcoin, CBDCs & The Big Beautiful Bill
Prof. Richard Werner, one of the world's most famous economists, is best known for writing "Princes of the Yen" and penning the term "quantitative easing" in the 1990s while working at the Bank of Japan. Today, he is a big advocate for small local banks and a believer in the power of Bitcoin. In this episode, he talks about recent events in economics, ranging from the Big Beautiful Bill in the US and all the way to CBDCs and Bitcoin's viability to bring more economic freedom to the world. –––––––––––––––––––––– Time stamps: 00:00 - Introducing Professor Richard Werner, author of Princes of the Yen and originator of quantitative easin...
S16 E33: Liz Steininger on Least Authority & Auditing Open Source Software
Liz Steininger is the CEO of Least Authority: a company which specializes in auditing open source software since 2014. Originally founded by Zooko Wilcox, Least Authority has conducted more than 100 security audits in the space. Some of the best known contractors who requested an expert review include the Ethereum Foundation, the Electric Coin Company, Metamask, the KeyStone hardware wallet, and Avalanche. Least Authority also builds products that make use of Zero Knowledge Proofs: PrivateStorage (a cloud storage system that's designed to make the host unaware of the files being stored), ZKAPs (Zero Knowledge Access Passes, an authorization system that separates the...
S16 E32: Bitcoin vs Monero vs Zcash Privacy with Diego Salazar & Luke Szramowski of Cypher Stack
Diego Salazar & Luke Szramowski are working to build Cypher Space: a privacy & sovereignty company. In this episode, they compare + rate the privacy of Bitcoin, Monero, Zcash, Firo, Mimble Wimble (Litecoin, Grin), Zano & Beam. Time stamps: (00:00:59) Introducing Diego Salazar & Luke Szramowski (00:02:04) Tribalism and Privacy Protocols in Crypto (00:03:55) Why Privacy Matters & Personal Motivations (00:04:58) Diego’s Background and Cypher Stack (00:06:58) Luke’s Background and Mathematical Perspective (00:08:40) CoinJoin and the Limits of Bitcoin Privacy (00:09:10) Threat Models and Privacy Tool Selection (00:12:22) CoinJoin’s Effectiveness and Metadata Attacks (00:14:18) Comparing CoinJoin to Tor/VPN Usage (00:17:26) Overconfidence and Under-Researched Privacy Claims (00:19:52) Levels of Privacy and User Education (00:24:31) Defining Advers...
S16 E31: Andrew Camilleri ”Kukks” on Ark, BTCPay Server & Open Source Bitcoin Software
Andrew Camilleri, better known as Kukks, is one of the most prolific contributors to BTCPay Server & an advocate for using bitcoin as money. Recently, he started building Bitcoin Layer 2 applications for Ark Labs & believes in conservative improvements. Time stamps: (00:00:49) Introduction & Andrew’s Background (00:01:46) Getting Into Bitcoin & Altcoin Integrations (00:03:02) Focusing on Bitcoin & Monero Plugin (00:04:04) BTCPay Plugins & Community (00:04:22) Bitcoin’s Imperfections & Altcoin Use Cases (00:04:55) Pessimism & Stagnation in Bitcoin Development (00:05:16) Introduction to Ark & Its Evolution (00:06:10) Ark’s Technical Evolution (00:07:31) Ark’s Impact on Developer Morale (00:07:36) What is Ark? (00:09:08) Ark’s Virtual Ledger & Dust Problem (00:09:59) Off-Chain Payments & User Experience (00:11:07) Lightning Network vs. Ark (00:13:21) Custodial Lightning...
S16 E30: Peter Rizun on Scaling Bitcoin with Hardware
Peter Rizun is the chief scientist at Bitcoin Unlimited: a software client that aims to scale Bitcoin with big blocks, while also empowering regular users to run nodes. In this episode, we talk about what went wrong during the block size wars & his research in scaling hardware. Time stamps: 00:01:15 — Introducing Peter Rizun 00:03:32 — Early Block Size Debates and Satoshi’s Vision 00:07:45 — Block Size Limit History and Miner Soft Limits 00:10:10 — Dan Kaminsky’s 2011 Scaling Predictions 00:12:01 — Scaling Philosophy: Zero, One, Infinity and Earth-Scale 00:15:09 — Block Size Wars, Chain Splits, and Altcoin Proliferation 00:16:43 — Stablecoins, Lightning, and Bitcoin’s Use Case 00:19:03 — Zcash, Ethereum, and Bitcoin’s Missed Opportunities 00...
S16 E29: Zooko on Ecash, Bitcoin & Zcash
Zooko has been thinking about building decentralized Chaumian ecash since the mid 1990s. When Bitcoin came out, he was the first cypherpunk to write a blog post about it. And today, he's honoring Satoshi's last wish of researching ZK proofs with Zcash. Time stamps: Introducing Zooko (00:00:55) Early Cypherpunk and Digital Cash Days (00:03:18) Cypherpunk vs. Cryptography Mailing List (00:03:52) Discovering Digital Cash and Chaum’s Blind Signing (00:04:44) The Internet, BBS, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall (00:09:10) Growing Up with Technology in Eastern Europe (00:12:04) First Computers and Early Programming (00:13:02) Loading Games and Computer Limitations (00:14:05) Impact of Tariffs and Internet Access (00:16:47) Economies of Sc...
S16 E28: Proof of Work Alliance with Charles Chong, Summer Meng & Spencer Yang
In a predominantly Proof of Stake world, The Proof of Work Alliance emerges as a champion of research & education among Proof of Work miners. Fractal Bitcoin's Charles Chong & Spencer Yang, plus Bitmars' ASIC Queen Summer Meng tell us how it all works. Time stamps: Introducing Charles, Summer & Spencer (00:00:50) Overview of the PoW Alliance (00:01:43) Challenges in Launching PoW Projects (00:02:32) Formation of the PoW Alliance (00:04:19) Importance of Collaboration (00:05:21) Significance of the PoW Alliance (00:06:48) Members of the PoW Alliance (00:08:26) Addressing Environmental Concerns (00:09:24) Renewable Energy in Bitcoin Mining (00:10:29) Electricity Usage Comparisons (00:12:37) AI and Bitcoin Mining Competition (00:15:21) Centralization vs. Decentralization in Alliances (00:20:55) Discussion on Risk...
S16 E27: David Seroy on Alpen Labs & ZK Rollups on Bitcoin
David Seroy works at Alpen Labs: the company which aims to bring an extended suite of financial applications to Bitcoin via ZK (Zero Knowledge) rollups. In this episode, we talk about the ideological divide in Bitcoin between builders & moonbois. Time stamps: Introduction to the Episode (00:00:56) Background on Alpine Labs (00:02:08) The Concept of ZK Rollups (00:05:00) Comparing Alpen Labs with Drivechains (00:08:04) Concerns About Data Usage (00:10:18) Nuances of Data Posting (00:12:41) Opposition to Rollup Data (00:13:47) Filtering Transaction Data (00:14:43) Consensus on Bitcoin Usage (00:17:31) The Complexity of Changing Bitcoin (00:19:39) Historical Context of Data Insertion (00:22:29) Creating Layers on Bitcoin (00:22:43) Scaling Bitcoin Beyond Marketing Drama (00:23:28) Trust Assumptions in...
S16 E26: Mark Edge on Freeing Ian Freeman & Free Talk Radio
Mark Edge is a libertarian radio veteran best known for co-hosting Free Talk Radio: a show that's responsible for helping lots of OGs discover Bitcoin. In this episode, he explains why his co-host Ian Freeman is unfairly imprisoned and needs our help.
S16 E25: Chandra Duggirala & George Burke on Portal & Making Exchanges Obsolete
Chandra Duggirala & George Burke are co-founders of Portal: an ambitious project which aims to replace centralized exchanges with atomic swaps across chains. By using technologies like BitScaler, Portal OS & RAFA AI, Portal is a serious contender. ------------- Time stamps: Introducing Chandra & George (00:01:02) Portal's Mission (00:02:26) Trust Minimization Explained (00:03:32) Evolution of Portal's Technology (00:04:55) Bit Scaler (00:06:08) Removing Trust in Exchanges (00:08:28) AI Integration in Financial Markets (00:09:44) Clarification on Lightning Network (00:11:39) Bit Scaler vs. Lightning Network (00:12:04) Channel Factories Explained (00:15:27) Automated Market Makers Overview (00:18:04) Centralized vs. Decentralized Exchanges (00:20:57) Challenges of Atomic Swaps (00:24:15) Critique of Cross-Chain Solutions (00:25:17) Understanding Cap Structure (00:26:22) Self-Custody in Bitcoin (00:26:57) Toxic Approach to Bitcoin...
S16 E24: Vitalik Buterin on the Future of Bitcoin & Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin is the creator of Ethereum, but he's also a true Bitcoin maximalist. In this episode, Vitalik tells his story as a bitcoiner, explains why he built Ethereum, and makes use of his knowledge to predict the future of the two networks. Time stamps: Introducing Vitalik (00:01:00) Vitalik's Early Involvement with Bitcoin (00:02:22) Writing for Bitcoin Weekly (00:03:01) Bitcoin's Early Fees and Transaction Model (00:06:45) Evolving Understanding of Bitcoin (00:09:15) Bitcoin Cash and the Scaling Debate (00:10:25) Dark Wallet Project (00:14:06) Coinjoin and Privacy Innovations (00:16:41) Colored Coins and Bitcoin 2.0 (00:21:05) Transition to Ethereum Development (00:21:58) Current Layer Two Innovations (00:24:11) Scaling and Privacy Innovations (00:25:55) Ethereum's Early Criticism (00:27:05) EVM's Role...
S16 E23: James O'Beirne on Bitcoin Development (CTV, CFSF & Big Blocks)
James O'Beirne is a Bitcoin developer who's not afraid to support unpopular improvement proposals: recently, he spoke about increasing the block size on the stage of OP_NEXT. He also works on CTV & CSFS, and tends to favor technical data over clout. Time stamps: 00:00:52 - Introducing James O'Beirne 00:02:00 - James O'Beirne's Current Bitcoin Core Contributions (CTV/CSFS) 00:02:55 - Shared Motivations and Concerns About Bitcoin Scaling & Financialization 00:05:24 - Discussing New Opcodes (CTV, CSFS, CAT) and MEV Risk 00:06:45 - OP_CAT: Existing Implementations, Unknown Unknowns, and Layer 2 Scaling Needs 00:08:26 - Ordinals Controversy, Permissionless Transactions, and Miner Security Budget 00:11:11 - Security Budget Concerns...
S16 E22: J-Dog on Counterparty & Bitcoin Tokens
J-Dog is the former maintainer of Bitcoin's Counterparty protocol – a role which he fulfilled for about 8 years. Under his stewardship, XCP witnessed the creation of legendary collections such as Spells of Genesis, Rare Pepes, and Fake Rares – even my Bitcoin Heads and Leftist Tears were created when he was the lead developer and he provided some useful advice. Today, J-Dog builds the FreeWallet.io Counterparty wallet and the TokenScan.io blockchain explorer (formerly Xchain.io). He maintains opinions which diverge from those of current maintainer Adam Krellenstein (who joined the show in S16 E14) and even claims that the Counterparty prot...
S16 E21: Filip Baturan on Tanari, Citrea & DeFi on Bitcoin
Filip Baturan is the CEO of Tanari – a decentralized finance application suite that's built on top of Citrea. With it, bitcoiners can enjoy the features and user experience from banking applications such as Revolut... but within a self-custodial and sovereign environment, where the user sets the rules. The discussion centers around Tanari's vision to make Bitcoin more useful and replace the current financial system, contrasting it with projects that merely embed Bitcoin into existing structures. Baturan explains that Tanari aims to deliver on Bitcoin's promise of self-custody and financial system replacement, drawing inspiration from the ideal financial system rather than sp...
S16 E20: Felix Billbert on Wave Space & Spending Bitcoin
Felix Billbert is the Chief Maximalist at Wave Space: a European company which specializes in making bitcoin easy to spend. They offer a Visa debit card, a swapping service for BTC/EUR pair, Lightning network support... all of which is wrapped inside a non-custodial environment. The conversation explores the challenges of building a Bitcoin business in Europe, particularly navigating regulations like MiCA. Felix explains how Wave Space partners with a licensed entity to handle KYC/AML compliance, including the complexities of verifying the source of funds for Lightning Network transactions. The discussion touches on the competitive landscape, comparing Wave Space...
S16 E19: Daniel Krawisz on Bitcoin & Narcissism
In 2014, Daniel Krawisz was one of the most prolific Bitcoin writers: he published some excellent articles with the Nakamoto Institute, and most of them are still relevant. Today, he prefers BSV and believes that Craig Wright is Satoshi. What changed? Time stamps: Time stamps: 00:00:50 - Introducing Daniel Krawisz 00:02:40 - Bitcoin Takeover 00:05:30 - Scaling Bitcoin 00:09:30 - Soft Forks vs. Hard Forks 00:14:10 - Running a Bitcoin Node and Privacy 00:18:10 - Verifying Transactions 00:20:00 - Miner Centralization 00:24:40 - Bitcoin Core Ideology 00:29:00 - Fungibility 00:30:30 - Ross Ulbricht 00:38:55 - Bitcoin's Competitive Advantage 00:44:00 - Bitcoin and Legality 00:48:50 - Sound Money and Friendship 00:50:40 - Satoshi Nakamoto's Identity 00:57:20...
S16 E18: Rockstar Dev & Max Hillebrand on Privacy
Privacy has had a couple of rough years: companies & protocols shut down, developers got arrested, governments issued new regulations... regardless, Rockstar Dev & Max Hillebrand join the show to discuss privacy & open source tools for sovereignty.
S16 E17: Ben Arc on LNBits v1 & The State of Lightning Network
Ben Arc is the creator of LNBits: a modular Lightning network wallet which, after 5 years of development, has just launched version 1. To celebrate this remarkable milestone, ”the CEO of Nostr” joins the show to talk about everything interesting in Bitcoin. Time stamps: 00:00:53 - Introducing Ben Arc 00:01:08 - Ben Arc and LNBits V1 00:02:23 - LNBits beta version and V1 release 00:02:36 - Amir Taaki's Post-Syria Experience 00:03:08 - Rojava and Anarcho-Syndicalism 00:04:08 - LNBits development timeline 00:05:16 - Early stages of LNBits and Lightning 00:05:33 - Disillusionment in Bitcoin Space 00:07:20 - Stepan Snigirev and Specter DIY 00:08:11 - Modularity and extensions in LNBits 00:08:38 - Nostr and Bitcoin's Futu...
S16 E16: Andreas Brekken on SideShift & Bitcoin Moderation
Andreas Brekken is best known for creating SideShift.ai and acting as the CEO of Shitcoin.com. In this episode, he talks about his views on Bitcoin development, the emergence of DeFi, and the reasons why he considers cryptocurrencies superior to fiat. Time stamps: Introducing Andreas Brekken (00:00:51) The Sam Bankman-Fried Interview on Shitcoin.com (00:01:50) Clustering Analysis and Customer Funds (00:02:44) Bybit's Technical Issues (00:05:18) Historical Context of Exchanges (00:09:26) Shapeshift's KYC Moment (00:11:13) Why Aren’t Zcash and Monero on SideShift? (00:14:59) Bitcoin Cash Hard Forks (00:20:45) Lightning Network Integration (00:22:23) Vulnerabilities in the Lightning Protocol (00:26:17) Critique of Lightning Network's Design (00:28:29) Submarine Swaps (00:29:28) LNBits v1 Launch (00:29:44) Lightning Wa...
S16 E15: Marko Tarman on NiceHash & Proof of Work Mining
Marko Tarman has been mining Bitcoin since 2012 – and today, he works as Lead Mining Manager at NiceHash. In this episode, we talk about the current trends in Proof of Work mining and the commodification of hash rate.