I have been quite reactionary and naive in my understanding and analysis of the implications of government initiatives like UPI and other elements of the 'India Stack' (a set of software-based public goods developed by the Indian Government).
What made me reason that way is a lack of imagination, nuance and understanding of the possibilities that the open internet and the free market can enable provided that they remain open and free.
The demand and need for initiatives like the India Stack exist as a result of the numerous barriers that have been put in place for solutions to emerge through entrepreneurship, innovation and market demand.
Initiatives like UPI, Aadhar, ONDC and everything else I've mentioned in the quoted note at the end will lead the country down a path of centralised control, unnecessary restrictions and censorship.
But more than the arguments above, what resonates with me the most is the fact that they are subsidised with taxpayer's money and have no market-driven pressure to be profitable, competitive or efficient in the coming years as they scale and become more integrated into the lives of Indians.
To put it simply, the incentives are broken.
The solution is to remove the numerous restrictions imposed on the fintech and software services industry and let the market decide which way it wants to head towards.
But that is infeasible with the current state of affairs.
Bitcoin fixes this.
I second this. Shifting it to nostr would be great.
Perhaps, yeah.
Algorithmic feeds was what I was pitching. Different clients could implement them in different ways and compete with each other. I'd personally gravitate towards the one that values zaps as a metric.
'But capitalism creates monopolies.'
No, monopolies get created when an upcoming business that can disrupt an existing large corporation, is amputated and forced into dysfunction and ruin with rules, taxes, tariffs, laws and regulations.
This is not capitalism.
This is socialism.
Nostr fixes this.
Haha, probably.
But at some point, people will start wanting to stand out and experimenting with other sorts of content, which people will find use for and start zapping.
Nostr, in my view, is the real 'free market' for content and as has always been the case with free markets, it will have amazing ways of surprising us.
Class of 2021 here. How do I enjoy a bull market? I’ve conditioned myself to desire drawdowns and max pain as I can obtain more sats per dollar. As I experience my first true bull market after diligently stacking in the bear the past two years, I’m filled with anxiety as I can buy fewer sats per dollar.
Am I overthinking this? Why does a rising bitcoin price give me anxiety when everyone else is celebrating?
cc nostr:npub1rtlqca8r6auyaw5n5h3l5422dm4sry5dzfee4696fqe8s6qgudks7djtfs nostr:npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx
nostr:note1ssljzz2gz0jd5rpy5kyhtxl7get7lq83nlfam69f40a83shych8syhqqhc
Absolutely.
I came into the space in 2021 and have been slowly stacking since then. Majority of my time in Bitcoin has been in a bear market so I've conditioned myself the same way and I feel what you're feeling now.
I've recently been exploring the world of Austrian economics and Libertarianism and I've realised this is a much bigger movement and Bitcoin is one but very important part of a bigger picture of a future with a free and open internet along with Tor, Nostr and other protocols. So price is slowly mattering less to me now.
End of the day, price is the best signal in the market.
Everything else will be noise to those who don't know about Bitcoin.
Algorithmic feeds that give weightage to zaps in addition to reshares and likes to rank and curate content.
That would promote discoverability and incentivise people to post more on Nostr versus other platforms as it means not only more eyeballs, but also more sats.
One of the best grassroots movements for Bitcoin. They're so good.
The market will solve this, if it is allowed to be free of state intervention
Bitcoin e-Cash mints "micro banks" is a super power.
It's literally one-button "Free Banking" for everyone.
Start a Free Bank here https://www.enuts.cash
A future where Federated e-cash mints offer interest payments to get people to store Bitcoin in their mints.
And then loaning out Bitcoin to generate revenues for the federation owners.
And the subsequent rise of a capital market in Bitcoin where the cost of capital is determined by the free market and not a central authority.
Lightning connecting all the mints with each other.
Rehypothecation emerges, punished severely by the scarcity of Bitcoin.
nostr:note1g8j96xxaxu5f6ha5yzg4528khqa9jd8mvd26a9prd5svyev3h49s483x3n
சுதந்திரவாதம்
My mind's been engulfed by the question of what an ideal alternative to the existing pre-dominantly collective political movements would be in Tamilnadu.
It would be a combination of:
A conservative policy of minimal government intervention in economic affairs, considerable reduction of tax burden on consumers and producers, public institutions with healthier balance sheets, abolition of legal tender laws, non-imposition of a particular language in schools and public life, extra-curricular mass education via the internet, internet-based governance, gradual detachment from the RBI and the Indian banking system in Mumbai, reduced reliance on tax devolutions from the union government in Delhi, progressive reduction of trade tariffs, liberty as a societal and cultural value.