# Privacy AI Is Possible
Because of privacy concerns, I have been reluctant to use LLMs. I started experimenting in 2023 because I realized this is going to come either way - and I can make use of it, or be left behind.
## Power
I started with ChatGPT, as everyone does, but soon stopped using it for political and privacy reasons. Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI, is also a co-founder of the Worldcoin project. Worldcoin is a cryptocurrency that requires individuals to scan their iris to identify themselves. They have been rolling out their product aggressively on the African continent by paying anyone who signed up $25 in exchange for their biometric data. In Kenya, Worldcoin became the subject of a 2025 court case and was rightfully instructed to delete all data.
I don’t want to share my data with companies showing no regard for dignity and privacy, and taking advantage of unequal bargaining situations.
So no ChatGPT for me.
## Agency
Claude was the first tool I used on a regular basis. Since I understood that if you use the free plan on ChatGPT your conversations might end up in Google Search - and this might be the same with other models - I decided to subscribe to a paid plan on Claude.
I am using it with a nym (a fake name and email), but of course my payment data is still associated with my account. That’s why I was looking for more private options.
The point for me is simple: I want to use AI, but I want to choose the terms. I don’t want “convenience” to mean “total surveillance.”
## Tools
### PayPerQ offers Bitcoin payments
nostr:npub16g4umvwj2pduqc8kt2rv6heq2vhvtulyrsr2a20d4suldwnkl4hquekv4h allows you to pay with Lightning Bitcoin, which increases your privacy because your real name is not associated with your searches. It offers a variety of LLMs for chat, image, video, audio, and DeepResearch, which makes it easy to experiment. At the same time, it increases the number of my experiments, because I want to know what different models produce and what is best.
I think it is essential to find out which tools are the right ones for your needs. Honestly, I haven’t found mine yet.
I like Claude Sonnet 4.5 for editing texts. DeepResearch is incredible for doing what its name says, although the depth of results can be overwhelming. Z.AI: GLM 4.7 was great for strategic thinking, but then it failed my expectations in text editing.
PayPerQ hides your identity in the purchasing process, but your prompts and conversations still land at the companies behind the models. I am not against them learning what I ask or the corrections I make - AI makes a lot of mistakes and it has a lot to learn from us. I actually want LLMs to crawl my work, but I don’t want them to save every little thing I do and mix it up with my private questions.
### Maple AI: privacy from sign-up to LLMs
nostr:npub10hpcheepez0fl5uz6yj4taz659l0ag7gn6gnpjquxg84kn6yqeksxkdxkr is the best solution I found. It runs on open source code and open models. It says it never uses your data to train AI, doesn’t log your chats, does zero data retention, and you can pay with Bitcoin. It offers many models (including OpenAI GPT-OSS — yes, OpenAI, but in a private way).
Maple AI states that communications are encrypted locally on your device before being transmitted, that their servers can’t read your data, and that even during processing the pipeline is designed with privacy as the priority.
I want AI as a tool, not as a trap.
#Daily #AI
Another good one you can pay for with Bitcoin, but without the need for annual subsctiption.
Don't think the Lightning network is free from flaws or middlemen..
What is the easiest Lightning node to set up? Preferably mobile.
#Bitcoin is becoming the feared #cbdc thanks to custodial adoption like #Square.
If you are a business wanting to accept Bitcoin, please DM for self-costodial solutions. It is VERY easy to do, and there are many options.
Another year of #Porcfest, another round of vendor stats:
Percentage of revenue:
#Cash 68.99% (was 72.2%)
#Zelle 2.16% (was 2.69%)
#Goldbacks 3.2% (was 11.77%)
#Silver 3.82% (was 4.44%)
#Monero 7.95% (was 5.42%)
#Bitcoin 5.33% (was 0.47%)
#Zano 3.09% (was 0%)
#BitcoinCash 2.73% (was 0.62%)
#FUSD 1.79% (was 0%)
#Zcash 0.41% (was 0%)
#Dogecoin 0.22% (was 0%)
#Ethereum 0.17% (was 0%)
#Litecoin 0.13% (was 0.56%)
#BitcoinLightning wasn't available this year, as the non-custodial setup stopped working (was 1.82%)
The percentage of total crypto sales was:
~7% in 2022
~9% in 2023
~9% in 2024
~22% in 2025
So the numbers, only looking at crypto, are:
#XMR 36.4%
#BTC 24.4%
#ZANO 14.2%
#BCH 12.5%
#FUSD 8.2%
#ZEC 1.9%
#DOGE 1%
#ETH 0.8%
#LTC 0.6%
So Zano coming in hot (probably thanks to the three Zano Foundation guys mostly) and Monero is still leading the crypto pack.
Overall Fiat usage declined ever so slightly (-5%), while precious metal usage declined dramatically (-57%, probably because this year there was no Goldback tent and/or people around).
Though Crypto usage increased a lot (+140%).
Maybe I need to ask more vendors if they collect their stats to get a more general Porcfest overview.
Oh and most vendors accepted Monero. Majority of the few that didn't were onboarded by me. Like the Satoshi film makers, which you can now fund/support using XMR (https://linktr.ee/satoshi.movie)
A great multicrypto POS is found at bitrequest.io
Seedplate (and others like it) is one of the easiest, safest and most durable long term backup devices available!
Don't underestimate the value of opt-in privacy.
Join #VegasCryptoGroup for Web3 Wednesdays
Self-custodial, no-kyc Bitcoin, #Monero , Litecoin, & #BitcoinCash ( #MUSD ?) are part of the great escape. 
The banks aren't the problem here, it's the businesses that don't accept it that you should fear.
🏷️ Hey it’s #Spending #Sunday! What Have You Bought with #Bitcoin this Week?
Let's support #Bitcoin #merchants! I'd love to hear some of your latest #Lightning purchases and interesting #products you bought. Feel #free to include links to the #shops and #merchants you bought from.
Here are some of the items #nostriches recently spent and #zap on #StackerNews Bonus #sats ⚡ #zaps if you found a killer #deal!
Who else is excited about a recent purchase?
Share it at https://stacker.news/items/1388992/r/AG0RA
#GM #Nostr #Buy #Sell #BitcoinAccepted #btc #plebchain #grownostr #asknostr #siamstr #freedom #news #shopstr
#lightning isn't #bitcoin !
Trump didn't deceive anyone. He stood on the stage at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville and told eveyone his plan to use stablecoins to keep USD dominance.
#XMRBazaar is very good. But, XMR is a long, long, long way from being accepted at your favorite restaurant.
Square is in the lead for any sort of crypto merchant adoption, and they are #BTC only. Worse, they are #Lightning only. Even worse is the complicity with KYC & custody.
Square is very convenient and offers many options for merchants to accept Bitcoin and Fiat, with their selling point being no tx fees (introductory). With all of these Cadillac features, there is still limited adoption by merchants.
The biggest obstacles with crypto acceptance are: volatility, complexity & convertability. Most business owners have their hands full just running the business, and accepting crypto will not increase their profits nearly enough to dedicate the time to making it work.
It's easier, for those with an interest, to accept fiat, then convert to crypto.
Are you trying to make Fetch happen?
https://bitcoin.design/guide/designing-products/units-and-symbols/
With eloquent storytellers like Michael Saylor, Nat Brunell, Peter MacCormack, Bitcoin Isa, Matthew Kratter, and so many more, all propagating narratives of religious proportions, it is important to remember Andres Antonopolis who, in this video, introduces the viewer to Bitcoin not as a panacea for the world's problems, but instead frames it as simply a new tool for accounting, Bitcoin at it's simplest.
#saylor #brunell #bitcoin
Are Bitcoin's major players barking up the wrong tree?
The two Jacks (Mallers & Dorsey) are so hell bent on profiting from Bitcoin that the tools they've brought to the table are very weak on self-custody, and allow for transactions that bypass actual Bitcoin altogether. Their actions insist that BTC is nothing more than a "payment rail", essentially putting it in the same category as XRP and many stablecoins. They are taking a form of money designed to function without a third party and making it's use entirely dependent on third parties.
Mayor of Vancouver, Canada purchases a drink using #Bitcoin Lightning
https://blossom.primal.net/fd5f5c34c8620520238f4dc62d2ff38f4a447bf85a66726134b7714d424e081a.mp4
Where can I get the vending machine?
#CashApp is not Bitcoin
When did satoshis become subdivided? 
Unpopular as it may be, I'll take Blackrock on this. They are making intentional moves. Crypto bros are hoping for the best and buying into a narrative that Blackrock believes in and utilizes well.
