MINERS HAVE BECOME LESS ACTIVE IN TECHNICAL BITCOIN DISCUSSIONS

These days, there tends to be a wall between the mining, development, and other sectors of the greater Bitcoin network, almost as if they operate in completely different industries.

This was a view shared by Blockspace Media’s Colin Harper and Charlie Spears in an episode of Bitcoin Season 2 that was recorded at the North American Blockchain Summit in Texas earlier this month.

According to the duo, 30% of the network hashrate was at the event, and no one had been discussing the recent release of Bitcoin Core v30, which included a policy change that is at the heart of the “spam” controversy.

“Bitcoin has become incredibly siloed, and it’s very hard to be a subject matter expert in all of these different siloes,” said Harper. “And miners are mostly worried about making money.”

Spears added that most BTC miners would probably not know what version of Bitcoin Core their mining pool runs.

“They’re not thinking about it,” said Harper.

To this point, many miners and mining pools who Protos reached out to for this article appeared uninterested in commenting on the controversies around “spam” and “illegal content” on Bitcoin.

Some respondents indicated they weren’t the right entity to comment on potential soft forks related to spam, while others stated that they simply did not want to get involved with the drama.

Earlier this month, LayerTwo Labs CEO Paul Sztorc also claimed that Foundry, which operates the largest BTC mining pool on the network, plans to never have any opinion about anything going forward due to a previous controversy related to Ordinals Inscriptions.

“I think miners have mostly cared about one thing: the Bitcoin price,” said Sztorc when reached by Protos for comment.

“Secondly, they have learned that if they get involved, people will be upset.”

This is an excerpt from a new article on how miners are thinking about the "spam" controversy and the recent associated soft fork proposal. Read the full article over at Protos: https://protos.com/bitcoin-mining-industry-mostly-uninterested-in-spam-controversy/

Is there a way to view Nostr posts that are popular among people you follow?

Started using this feed that shows popular posts made by people I follow, but I’d rather see a feed influenced by people I’ve chosen to follow (trust).

Is that possible on Nostr? Web of Trust-based social media algorithms seem like the best.

Some people love Bitcoin so much they are willing to attack it to save it 🥰

The situation with Ethereum seems objectively worse. They literally just built tech for the U.S. dollar and for crypto people to use to reinvent the existing financial system with them in power instead of traditional banks.

Monero is the most legitimate altcoin to ever exist, I agree there. I still think it gets replaced by better privacy on Bitcoin though.

I’ve seen many decentralized or alternative social media networks pop up over the past decade or more, but Nostr is the only one that has had this level of staying power.

I still mostly use X, but it’s impressive how many people are still clearly using this network after a year or two. Nostr has staying power.

Same, I think. Gawker Silk Road article was around the same time.

Sure, that too.

Yes, people use the blockchain inefficiently (spam) until the block weight limit forces them to adjust.

Seems like it would be better if fees were rising due to monetary adoption rather than spam. Prevalence of spam seems like an indication of lack of adoption more than anything else, unfortunately.

1 out of 7 seems high. 1 out of 7 doesn’t necessarily mean 10 out of 70, for example.

Well, one lawyer out of seven who also said it’s basically Ocean vs the rest of the bar.

“Admitted” is also weird phrasing here.

14% is probably high, as even that one individual admitted it is basically Ocean vs the rest of the bar.

Also, it isn’t a change to Bitcoin’s protocol rules. It is a node-level policy.

Who are you quoting?

I asked 7 lawyers for their thoughts on Knots/Ocean's claims regarding Bitcoin Core v30 creating potential legal issues for node operators.

6 out of 7 don't see it as a practical threat.

See the full article and all of the comments from Bitcoin lawyers at Protos: https://protos.com/exclusive-lawyers-call-bitcoin-core-v30-csam-concerns-overblown/

📈 What to Expect From Bitcoin & Crypto in H2 2025

Will one of the tech giants establish a bitcoin position?

Is ETH at a make-or-break moment?

Which new crypto ETFs will get approved?

👇Here's a summary of what I wrote for Investopedia:

1️⃣ Bitcoin Treasury Companies Go Mainstream?

• Businesses holding bitcoin as a reserve asset are booming — from the originator Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) to newcomers like Nakamoto.

• According to nostr:npub1dszyapecferpazhd75tgg7jcqgqn6ktexjs5cagfmgntfx3pf5eszwv7hq, there are now an estimated 135 public companies holding bitcoin.

• “The question of whether to acquire bitcoin is quickly going from if to when,” says nostr:npub1vqn39nsujc5eye9v7a6yf75l9n50y9ywr3dwx7m7jgkaea4mdrdsnsjngw of Castle.

• Cole expects a large household name to announce a bitcoin position before the end of the year.

2️⃣ Ethereum's Make-or-Break Moment?

• Some fear bitcoin’s dominance + ETFs + treasuries make altcoins obsolete, with bitcoin treasury companies potentially taking the role altcoins played in previous cycles.

• But there are some potential drivers of a trend reversal for ETH: stablecoins, institutional interest in tokenized RWAs, staking in ETFs, and regulatory clarity.

• “If the current developments play out as expected, there’s meaningful room for a catch-up,” says FalconX's David Lawant

3️⃣ More Crypto ETFs & IPOs

• Spot ETFs for BTC & ETH already exist and ETFs for more crypto assets are on the way, with features like staking & in-kind redemptions also in the works.

• Circle’s IPO succeeded, and others (Gemini, Kraken, Ripple, Consensys?) could follow soon

• Bloomberg’s James Seyffart: “We will see the vast majority, if not all, of the currently filed ETFs approved by year-end.”

Read the full story over at Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/what-to-expect-bitcoin-crypto-markets-second-half-2025-11762236

Make yourself a favor and listen to bitcoiners.

⚡ Wrote up coverage of nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu and Paul Sztorc's debate on Lightning for Protos.

In many ways they appeared to be talking past each other but they ended up finding more common ground around how Lightning will interact with various Bitcoin layers over the long term.

Alex is more excited about how Lightning is already helping scale Bitcoin today, while Paul sees potential issues arising over the long term.

🔑 QUOTES:

“The federated model is just about the worst thing to happen in Bitcoin’s history.” – Sztorc

“I thought Lightning was for end users. I changed my mind.” – Gladstein

Read my full, in-depth thoughts and coverage here: https://protos.com/sztorc-vs-gladstein-can-lightning-scale-bitcoin/

What’s the easiest/best way to post on here and X at the same time or just mirror X posts here?

It doesn’t rely on it. Merchants can use their own nodes if they want. This helps bitcoin based consumers have more places to spend either way.

How is more merchants accepting bitcoin not progress?

Coinbase and others cross a line when they conflate stablecoins and fartcoin with bitcoin.