The New Polity guys have some good points, but I think they miss the mark when it comes to investing.
Been a while since I listened to that episode; but if I remember correctly, their arguments were grotesquely misunderstanding dividend payments. The shipping industry as an example regularly pays out dividends based on the profitability of the company in a given quarter.
Regarding Bitcoin and speculation in general,
If the entire action consists of buying low with the hope that the price will be higher later, sure, that would be purely speculative for monetary gain.
Yet in many industries futures contracts and thus speculation provide an important function.
A cattle rancher could have a large fluctuation in the sale price of the finished cattle and this fluctuation could make it nearly impossible to plan future production numbers.
Herein lies the value of speculation and futures markets. An โinvestorโ can agree to lock in a price for the rancher, taking on the price volatility and risk, with the hope of being rewarded with a higher price in the future. The same can be said for the grocery store or meat market buying at a set price before the actual market price becomes known.
None of these individual steps are immoral, and each provides a valuable market driver which facilitates commerce at large.
For Bitcoin specifically, certain hodlers could similarly be said to be taking on the risk and price volatility in hope of future gains.
In that light, the New Polity guysโ argument that risk must be taken on to justify gains is still relevant and would thus make Bitcoin speculation itself moral.
I would push beyond that argument and harken to the earlier comments about the soundness of money and the value that brings to society.
By hodling in parallel with fostering a Bitcoin circular enonomy, one can easily see the advantages of promoting sound money and having the commerce needed to support Bitcoin as this sound money and currency.
US guidance says that Venmo is supposed to declare all transactions over $600 that are income.
But if it is reimbursement, there is nothing to report.
Venmo replies on me and my comments to say if I am buying something or if I am reimbursing my friend for drinks or the concert tickets they paid for.
Docking station seems remarkably helpful. So long as it is the same computer and same station.
Can apps be side loaded on iOS outside of EU?
Blossom for storage.
The largest was the corporate or big miner. Easily found and targetable by government and competitors. Large physicals building with major power draw. Specialty buildings with dedicated power, rack space, much of the infrastructure is special purpose. Very difficult to move. If trying to change jurisdictions, it takes months or years to build a new facility and the appropriate utility upgrades.
The smallest are the home or solo miners. Extremely agile. Very difficult to stop or even find. Could run off a generator in a garage. If there is regulatory crackdown or seizure, these miners can be tossed in the backseat and moved across the country with almost no effort. No special power hookups, these miners can be back online almost instantly. The cypherpunks will keep this class going regardless of the expense or other cost.
Mustangs were the middle, maybe a shipping container or two. At most a small building, but that would be pushing it.
Big enough to have a noticeable impact when considered as a group. Small enough to be individually relocated. Often able to mine on stranded energy. Small enough that they would be difficult for regulators to find. The backbone of anti-censorship. This class could possibly exist in larger numbers in hostile environments. Simple to transport the container to an old factory or somewhere with commercial or industrial power, hook it up, and successfully back online. This class can be abundant enough that if one is targeted, the others will continue without impact to the system at large.
It is said that the correct number of deep freezers is n+1.
nostr:note1dwcquppd9yhc9735ura40wtw782sc9snytj3yptfn7y3es65ewpq7gtce5
Depends on your threat model and costs.
If you are protecting enough sats that it buys a dozen eggs, you might not be a target.
But if you have enough sats to finance a medium sized nation, then a country might send their army against you.
Would be worth extra costs to gain anonymity.
Parts of the Ozarks are not unlike the Appalachian Trail. But yes, there are a lot more options in that area.
Have you heard the analogy of the three classifications of miners?
The mustang miner being the midsize.
Donโt recall who put forth the idea.
I think each segment needs to be thought of separately with its own centralization risks.
Personally, I believe we will have very large corporate miners making up a large portion of hash and they will comply with all regulations and sanctions. They will have access to cheap power, possibly their own nuclear generation, and massive data centers to house it all.
But there will also be small miners geographically distributed who are willing to mine the sanctioned transactions and thus they will get higher fees and thus are able to remain competitive.
Had the same issue. Never was able to get nostr:npub1xnf02f60r9v0e5kty33a404dm79zr7z2eepyrk5gsq3m7pwvsz2sazlpr5 on iOS to receive from Phoenix.
Did the same thing of switching back and forth every few seconds.
I suspect it is still an issue that the iOS was timing out the window and disconnecting the app.
It was visible in the lightning bolt at the top of the Phoenix screen that showed the connections. They kept disconnecting even after just a second or two.
Didnโt have a second phone and eventually gave up.
Understandable.
Always interested in getting more bitcoiners and nostriches to move to our area. Donโt need to know a lot more about the person. Freedom oriented, willing to try out things that arenโt part of the current norm, yeah, we can live in the same town.
https://primal.net/p/npub1j7ggarzcs6juvzfa567lkmdtxq3rgx4fww8uqpvm80d6lt3r5sqs82yt3v
Not sure how often he is on Nostr.
DM me for his contact info.
Interesting that it made a link.
nostr:npub1j7ggarzcs6juvzfa567lkmdtxq3rgx4fww8uqpvm80d6lt3r5sqs82yt3v
https://primal.net/p/npub1j7ggarzcs6juvzfa567lkmdtxq3rgx4fww8uqpvm80d6lt3r5sqs82yt3v
Not sure how often he is on Nostr.
DM me for his contact info.
Is that a conspiracy theory?
That they are the same person?
Has anyone met them both?
And if you are old enough that your kids have already done the struggle and succeed, look at grandkids. Another great path that I am eternally grateful for in my life.