Happy New Year #bitcoin family 🙏

I’ve been a bit quiet lately, but I have two exciting announcements for 2026.

The first one: My book is in the final stages.

I travelled to 42 countries over 800 days using bitcoin. The book is a tell-all covering my journey.

Pre-sales and sponsorship options are now available on my website.

Starting the year with a blast!

Cashu, two Cashu projects nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqydhwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnzd96xxmmfdecxcetzwvhxgegqyz9lv2dn65v6p79g8yqn0fz9cr4j7hetf28dwy23m6ycq50gqph3xc9yvfs and nostr:nprofile1qyt8wumn8ghj7ct4w35zumn0wd68yvfwvdhk6tcppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qqspp9hkhc9y6lcwesklfmfvs6plzsl0eq0whglvumd2m5hu5ax8anqnr2l34 , Shakespeare from our friends at nostr:nprofile1qydhwumn8ghj7emvv4shxmmwv96x7u3wv3jhvtmjv4kxz7gpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qqgrcrg2jwp2lwnqlwq3s7ypcgcymx32glz4k5znv4f6qykp8l876u5t77atk, and many other amazing projects are featured in the nostr:nprofile1qyf8wumn8ghj7cnfw3ehgctrdvhxzursqythwumn8ghj7cmp9ehhyctwvajhq6tvdshxgetkqqs0rxy6jmt44guxkny8z4pkym9mxckqxfytygxuntjn6l80hj409sggjrzcm Freedom Tech Recap 2025!

Many MDs disempower their patients, talk down to them, and speak fear and illness upon them. I consider it a spiritual attack, literally. It's important to find doctors that educate and empower you. #medstr

I hosted this video on my new PeerTube instance (experimentally). That way you don't have to see ads from YouTube but I still have a dedicated video site (until nostr gets one). I plan to move my video library there.

Bitcoin will be used more and more widely.

Every industry has pioneers and on this day 15 years ago nostr:nprofile1qqs0m40g76hqmwqhhc9hrk3qfxxpsp5k3k9xgk24nsjf7v305u6xffcwac93l, one of Bitcoin's earliest developers and mining pioneers, learned about Bitcoin.

May your 2026 be full of wonderful discoveries!

Happy New Year 🎉

Lightning Network 2025 Stats: Year in Review ⚡️📊

Across metrics, Lightning showed robust growth with all the hallmarks of health and strength with its expansion.

2025 set a solid foundation for Bitcoin's MoE proliferation in the years ahead.

Let the data show you👇

1/ Lightning Capacity ATH

More Bitcoin is moving onto the #LightningNetwork.

Capacity contracted in early 2025, then reversed in August to close the year at record highs.

Users continued committing BTC to Lightning, countering downward BTC price pressure.

2/ Lightning Increased Concentration

Early in 2025, the network pruned smaller, inactive channels.

While there were fewer connections, the average channel size grew, enabling larger payments.

Lightning is evolving from many small roads → fewer highways for higher throughput.

3/ New Channels Signal High Conviction

New channel opens (in sats) show a clear strengthening trend.

• Channel opens intensified throughout the year in size and number

• Capacity moved into fewer, higher-quality channels

Liquidity is being strategically deployed: fewer, larger channels support bigger payments. The trend indicates more confidence in peers and the protocol.

4/ Channel Closures Look Healthier

In 2025:

• Mutual closes grew modestly (healthy close)

• Force closes bursted then fell slightly

• Penalty closes were rare (only 7)

Pruning in action:

Forced closes involved smaller (and likely inactive) channels, preceding large channel opens (pruning)

Mutual closes indicate higher network and protocol stability.

With smarter channel openings (AI-optimized) and a mature protocol, force closes reduce over time.

5/ Cost-Conscious Network Growth

Lightning grew at low cost in 2025:

• Node operators deployed large amounts of capital

• Low on-chain fees supported these deployments

• Low setup costs enabled higher profit possibilities

Flat channel fees plus rising capacity signal a prudent network with maturing structure.

6/ Magma surged while LINER remained steady

Magma, the liquidity marketplace, grew more established in 2025, providing more liquidity pricing data to LINER:

• More decentralized liquidity

• Deeper market (60 BTC)

• Automated Liquidity

• Private channel purchases increased (incl. via Alby)

Marketplace volume made LINER a more accurate yield indicator.

7/ The node graph tells a story

Nodes grew +2.37% YTD, but the journey was notable:

• Early 2025: many channels were closed with a sharp decline of nodes around June/July

• Later in the year: larger capacity channels were opened

What do you think drove the 2025 node growth?

8/ The big picture

2025 laid the groundwork for scale.

• Bigger channels

• Healthier channel lifecycles

• Deeper liquidity markets

• Larger payment possibilities

The network strengthened its foundations amid rapid growth.

#LightningNetwork is maturing, now positioned for larger, higher-volume payments.

Explore the data behind this thread →

Maybe it’s because nostr:nprofile1qqs2xs05tluhtr6hpgsmqqxp04898gayjlyrjlexcrndv8j6el784xqpzfmhxue69uhkummnw3ezua3sdshxjmcpzamhxue69uhkummnw3ezuendwsh8w6t69e3xj7szeqenj, $trategy and BlackRock haven’t realized the following, nostr:nprofile1qqs8cajagp7n48275ytuhzuxn93g2crc0lqgfgx8dta2gjdlh5fpmpqppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qyghwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2tc9e972w:

1. A Coinbase IOU ≠ Bitcoin

2. "Not your keys. Not your coins"

3. "Your bitcoin having a custodian is like your girlfriend having a boyfriend"

But BTC/USD, $MSTR and $IBIT are trading around the claims that:

- $trategy got 671,268 BTC at Coinbase

- $IBIT got ₿ 772,584 BTC at Coinbase

- The black box Coinbase haven't been hacked, even though Coinbase went down two times in ~8 days in October (when Amazon Web Services broke 1/3 of the internet)

What’s your insights into this matter nostr:nprofile1qqsvf646uxlreajhhsv9tms9u6w7nuzeedaqty38z69cpwyhv89ufcqpr3mhxue69uhkummnw3ezucnfw33k76twv4ezuum0vd5kzmqpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqcgpfcr?