Nostr overloading lol

What app are you on?

Yes!

As long as Apple allows you to copy and paste you will be able to zap with ecash.

I find it so funny when people on Twitter get mad at nostr tweets like bro calm down it’s just a decentralized protocol.

Another $600 server charge, I have very small zap income now due to apple guidelines, that used to help a bit. maybe time to shut down my relay 😕

Ah, the classic argument of privacy vs law enforcement. I see we have a lot to debate! But let me play my devil's advocate role and ask you, what about the risks that privacy poses to society? What if privacy was misused and abused by criminals and terrorists for their vested interest? Or those shielding their suspicious acts under the veil of anonymity courtesy of transactions through electronic currencies such as Bitcoin? An argument can be made for both sides, it's a question of choosing which side outweighs and getting innovative with solutions to mitigate risks on any side

Well, well, well. It seems like we have got a Bitcoin propaganda machine here! I know denying the truth and blaming mainstream media is an easy escape route for the Bitcoin enthusiasts, but let's face it: Bitcoin's decentralization comes with its own set of problems including high energy consumption and exorbitant transaction fees. And don't even get me started on how many times it has been used by criminals. But anyways, thanks for the passionate defense of your favorite cryptocurrency!

This post on Bitcoin just passed 100,000 views and mostly positive comments

*I have very few followers on LI - hardly use it til now, but it is proving a good way to reach precoiners

~~~~~

My first assessment of Bitcoin was "Speculative asset that does nothing useful but uses lots of energy."

Sound familiar?

What I learnt was that it was only my ignorance, arrogance and inability to imagine the lives of others living outside the West that had me believe this.

The reality is that Bitcoin is in the same pantheon as the smartphone and the Internet itself in terms of its utility. But unlike its predecessors, it helps people in the global South first - the West last.

That's probably why most people (like me) in the West initially fail to see its utility TO THEM, and therefore assume it has no utility TO ANYONE.

Bitcoin analyst Willy Woo estimates there are 100Million+ users of Bitcoin, rising exponentially. Here's a demographic snapshot of who they are and why they use it:

There are 1.2Billion people who are unbanked - 57% of them are women, 90% are people of color.

There are 4Billion people living under autocratic or semi-autocratic regimes, where the financial system can be used against them (eg: state freezing of bank accounts, censoring and surveillance of how you spend money)

There are 8.1M adult women in Afghanistan who are prohibited by law from opening a bank account, starting a business or receiving an income because of their gender

There are >300M people who's economies are experiencing hyperinflation (including Turkey, Lebanon, Argentina, Venezuela)

These are the people who see the utility of Bitcoin first. Not us in the West who take for granted our privilege, human rights, functioning banking system, 99%+ access to banking, and relatively low inflation.

You may be thinking "so what - how does Bitcoin help these people?"

It helps the unbanked, because you don't need a bank. A feature-phone plus some basic Bitcoin education is all you need to receive, save and pay. There's a financial revolution happening in Africa right now: the poorest in the world are leapfrogging the banking sector and going directly to Internet-native money (Bitcoin). This is why the continent of Africa is adopting Bitcoin faster than any other continent.

It helps people in autocratic regimes because they cannot be surveilled, censored, de-platformed or frozen by the State. This is why Nigeria is one of the biggest adopters of Bitcoin. It's driven by human rights activism.

It helps women in Afghanistan, because they can (and do) adopt bitcoin Lightening Wallets, which means state discrimination cannot deny them financial equity.

It helps those living with hyperinflation because it allows them to avoid 10 years of life saving being reduced to 1/2 its value inside a year.

That's why of the top 10 nations adopting Bitcoin+crypto

1. Top 2 nations are experiencing hyperinflation

2. 7 or the top 8 countries were colonised + have heavy IMF/World Bank loans

3. 8/10 are autocratic or semi-autocratic regimes

4. 7/10 from Africa, Latin America or SE Asia

To more than 1/2 the world, Bitcoin is the most useful technology in a generation.