Cryptography is Not Enough - A long(ish) Speech on Paradoxes and Antinomies — Warning: This presentation contains example private keys. Do not import any sample keys or send bitcoins to any of the associated addresses; you will lose your money. This talk was originally given in Riga at
I Miss the Old Satoshi — I miss the old Satoshi, straight from the node Satoshi. Chop up the code Satoshi, set on his goals Satoshi. I hate the new Satoshi, the lawsuit Satoshi. The always rude Satoshi, go on a
The Words We Use In Bitcoin - Words, Language, Terminology, and Linguistic Attacks — It can’t be said often enough: Bitcoin is confusing. However, it’s not complicated like a Rube Goldberg machine is complicated. It’s just very foreign and thus very misunderstood—it is a completely new thing. “There’s nothing
Freedom and Privacy - Two Sides of the Same Coin — We take many things for granted: running water, electricity, washing machines, the internet, our mobile phones, and a myriad of other technologies. But it’s not only tangible things that we don’t think twice about. In
Inalienable Property Rights - The Law, Language, Money, and Morality of Bitcoin — If speech and the free exercise thereof is sacred, then Bitcoin is sacred, because all that Bitcoin requires of you is to think and to speak.
The Egg of the Phoenix — You’ve heard it before: "Bitcoin fixes this." It sounds like a joke at first. An off-hand comment uttered by a complete fool, by someone who is at least partly delusional. Surely, bitcoin doesn't fix this? Right?
The Freedom of Value - How Value-for-Value Fixes the Monetization of Information — The internet has a problem. Few people know that this problem exists, but hey, that's the nature of serious, non-obvious problems: they are invisible until they aren't. The problem with the internet is that information
Tyranny — Tyranny comes in many forms. Some tyrannies are more obvious than others. Or, what seems to be the case currently, sometimes tyranny is obvious to some, ignored by most. I have my suspicions why that
Magic Internet Money - The Magical Origins of Bitcoin — Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C. Clarke Technology is a marvelous thing. We are so quick to accept things as they stand, rarely taking the time to reflect on how magical
People — People are the most wonderful thing. Full of potential, full of joy, full of wonder. Whenever I see people, I see dancers, artists, musicians, builders, gardeners, plumbers, and poets. Unique human beings, with hearts and
Dreams — Dreams are a curious thing. They are vivid and real; until they aren’t. In the “real” world, once you fulfill a dream of yours, the dream becomes reality and thus vanishes. What is real in
Moving Towards a Bitcoin Standard - The Stairway to Omnipresence — What a historic day. The first country moved towards a Bitcoin Standard, albeit partially. A lot can be said about Bukele's decision to make bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador. Yes, it is a government
Implications of Outlawing Bitcoin — Bitcoin is complicated and scary. Just like fire, electricity, computers, and every other ground-breaking invention before it. It is complicated and scary because most people do not understand how it works and why it might
Bitcoin Is An Idea — Don’t worry about people stealing an idea. If it’s original, you will have to ram it down their throats. Howard H. Aiken There’s no flesh or blood within this cloak to kill. There’s only an
Seeing — Seeing is believing. We construct our reality based on our experiences. More often than not, what we do not experience is not part of our reality. What we can not see does not exist. Seeing
The Responsibility of Adopting Bitcoin — There is a saying among bitcoiners, and it becomes more truthful and apparent as time goes on: You don’t change Bitcoin. Bitcoin changes you. Why is that? At first, I wasn’t sure how to answer
Bitcoin Privacy: Best Practices — There is a sacred realm of privacy for every man and woman where he makes his choices and decisions — a realm of his own essential rights and liberties into which the law, generally speaking, must not intrude. Geoffrey
Humility — I have a drinking bottle that I got a couple of years ago. I believe my sister gave it to me. It simply says: “What if you’re right, and they are wrong?” Being right isn’t
Bitcoin Is Time — One luminary clock against the sky Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. Robert Frost, Acquainted with the Night (1928) Time is still the great mystery to us. It is no more than a concept;
Creation — There is creation, and there is death. I realize more and more that if I’m not creating, I’m dying. Slowly. On the inside. But, for whatever reason, it is still almost impossible for me to
What Is 21ism? — Morpheus: I imagine that right now, you're feeling a bit like Alice. Hmm? Tumbling down the rabbit hole? Neo: You could say that. Morpheus: I see it in your eyes. You have the look of
Crushing — Like crashing waves along the shore, life’s challenges - big and small - don’t come isolated, and once a big one hits, you can be sure that another one - equally big, or even bigger
On Bitcoin's UX — There is an ongoing discussion in the Bitcoin space revolving around the topic of user experience, or UX for short. Bitcoin still feels weird, clunky, and complicated at times. The main reason for this is
Why I Joined Swan Bitcoin — I have a picture on my wall that says the following: “You literally ought to be asking yourself all the time what is the most important thing in the world I could be working on right now,
True Names Not Required — In 1981, at a time where the internet was in its infancy (and I was just a gleam in my father’s eye), the legendary mathematician, computer scientist, and science-fiction author Vernor Vinge published his prophetic
Dare — Dare to be different. Dare to try something new. Dare to struggle, dare to fail, dare to start anew. Dare to go out into this world, dare to dream, dare to give it your all.
The Bitcoin Journey — A couple of weeks ago I had the immense pleasure of giving the opening talk at the Value of Bitcoin conference. I would like to revisit some ideas of this talk and maybe dig deeper
Habits — We are creatures of habit. Our bodies are shaped by what we do routinely, over and over again. Many of the things we do daily are in the realm of the unconscious: we don’t think
Dear Family, Dear Friends - A letter to all of you who still have no bitcoin. — I am writing this letter because I am convinced of two things: (1) our current money is fundamentally broken (2) using superior money will benefit you in particular — and society in general — in
Dear Bitcoiners - An optimistic letter to friends and foes around the globe. — The madness of this world became obvious in an instant. Everything is changing way faster than most of us ever imagined — but I’m not worried. To the contrary, I’m weirdly optimistic — because of
Dear Legacy People — The world you know and love is no more, even if it isn’t obvious to every one of you just yet. We will look back at this moment in time, the months we are currently
Bitcoin's Habitats - How Bitcoin is surviving and thriving between worlds — As I have argued previously, Bitcoin is a living organism. But where does this organism live, exactly? As with many questions in the world of Bitcoin, exact answers are hard to come by. Living things
Bitcoin's Eternal Struggle - How Bitcoin Thrives on the Edge between Order and Chaos — Bitcoin works. No matter what other opinions you hold about this strange phenomenon, it undoubtedly works, marches on, or, as I (and others) have previously argued, is alive. Even if most of the world would
Bitcoin Boots on the Ground: Venezuela — José is a bitcoiner. Like many others, he discovered bitcoin a couple of years ago and is fascinated by the technology. Unlike many others, however, José lives in a country where the traditional financial system
Sanity — Sanity. Faith. Has the world gone mad? Or is it me? I must confess that I lost faith in the sanity of the world. H.G. Wells Sanity. What defines sanity? Some people say sanity is
How to Kill Bitcoin — What follows is an elaborate, in-depth, and practical step-by-step guide on how to kill the beast which is Bitcoin. Bitcoin is remarkably resilient. As Rep. Patrick McHenry famously said: governments can not stop this innovation.
Joy — Occasionally in life, there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart. Martin Luther
The Rise of the Sovereign Individual - How power is re-aligning itself in an internet-native world — Not too long ago, the internet was a fringe phenomenon. Very few people saw the benefits of a global communications network. Even fewer people had the vision and the foresight to see what it might
Proof of Life - Why Bitcoin is a Living Organism — The definition of life has been a challenge for scientists and philosophers alike. While many definitions have been put forward, what precisely differentiates the living from the non-living remains elusive. Are viruses alive? DNA molecules?
The World is Waking Up to Bitcoin — Not too long ago, Bitcoin was a niche interest. Cryptographers, cypherpunks, and some libertarian-minded folks were the only ones interested in the idea of magic internet money. Fast-forward to today, and the U.S. President, the
Brevity — It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn. Robert Southey
Ships — One part of the journey seems to be over. However, as is the case in all of life, there is no clear separation between parts. So I won’t try to create one. One journey comes
Words — Words have to be one of the greatest inventions of mankind. Granted, it’s a stretch to say that the spoken word was invented. The written word, however, undoubtedly was. What an astonishing thing a book
Ladies — What a strange thing is man! And what a stranger is woman! What a whirlwind is her head, and what a whirlpool full of depth and danger is all the rest about her. Lord Byron
Bitcoin's Gravity - How idea-value feedback loops are pulling people in — Bitcoin is different things to different people. Whatever it might be to you, it is undoubtedly an opinionated and polarizing phenomenon. There are certain ideas embedded in the essence of Bitcoin, and you might be
Calling — Callings are a very strange thing, and I sometimes find myself in a pickle trying to explain phenomena like these rationally. There are certain things you have to do, but you can’t really explain it.
Happiness — Thomas Jefferson wrote about the sacred and undeniable truth that all men are created equal and independent. And that from this equal creation inherent and inalienable rights are derived, among which are the preservation of
Strangers — We have met many people in the last few months. Some remained strangers, some became friends. Most we won’t see again. Of course, in these foreign lands, it is we who are the strangers. “And
Technological Teachings of Bitcoin - What I've Learned From Bitcoin: Part III — What is Bitcoin? The many answers to this question are as interesting as they are varied. Bitcoin is both a social and a monetary phenomenon, but it is also a technological one. The intersection of
Dance — “I stand at the seashore, alone, and start to think. There are the rushing waves … mountains of molecules, each stupidly minding its own business … trillions apart … yet forming white surf in unison.
Paths — We have been told that all paths lead to truth — you have your path as a Hindu and someone else has his path as a Christian and another as a Muslim, and they all
Waves — Most things seem to arrive in waves. Good things and bad things, motions and emotions, living things and inanimate objects, challenges and opportunities. The line between surfing a wave and being crushed by it is
Outlook — There are apartments in the soul which have a glorious outlook; from whose windows you can see across the river of death, and into the shining city beyond; but how often are these neglected for
Ducks — “Where are we heading?” “Upstream.” “Why? We will just drift down again, ending up right where we started.” “Exactly.”
Birds — There are people who love birds so much they free them. There are others who love them so much they cage them. Gene Wolfe
Stairs — Wherever we go, we encounter stairs. Steep ones and flat ones, both to wonderful places and to nowhere. They are everywhere, no matter where you are, no matter what you do. Up implies down. Difference
Remembrance — Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among
Economic Teachings of Bitcoin - What I've Learned From Bitcoin: Part II — Money doesn’t grow on trees. To believe that it does is foolish, and our parents make sure that we know about that by repeating this saying like a mantra. We are encouraged to use money
Idling — So much to do, yet so little time. What am I gonna do, with the time that is mine. So much to say, both silent and loud. Everyone wants to idle. But no idling allowed.
Street Art — Sometimes I wonder why the “rational“ world, the world of science and technology, is often so far removed from the arts. It seems to me that everyone, no matter the discipline, is after the same
Philosophical Teachings of Bitcoin - What I've Learned From Bitcoin: Part I — Some questions have easy answers. “What have you learned from Bitcoin?” isn’t one of them. After trying to answer this question in a short tweet, and failing miserably, I realized that the amount of things
Contrasts — Darkness and light. Fire and ice. Water frozen like diamonds and boiling in pools due to volcanic heat below. Long, black nights lit up by dancing auroras. Iceland truly is a land of contrasts. There
Days of Gray — Despite hours of darkness, in a land far away, vivid colors begone, enjoying some days of gray. It’s okay to be average. You don’t have to be exceptional at everything you do. You don’t have
Wanderers — It is strange how leaving an all too familiar place immediately shifts one’s perspective of the past, the present, and the future. Maybe that’s why so many people fall in love with traveling: it seems
The Magic Dust of Cryptography - How digital information is changing our society — Imagine you have a hammer — a magical hammer — which can smash anything into pieces with one stroke. Not only that, this hammer can completely pulverize everything it touches into a fine gray dust. Further imagine that there
