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A guy who is interested in bitcoin, and promoting bitcoin to the mass

2025 - a year in which I was turned from a shitcoiner to a bitcoiner, I learnt how Bitcoin worked technically, I understood how broken the fiat system is, and most importantly, I realized how unique Bitcoin is.

This rabbit hole is too deep, but I want to dig deeper and deeper, as you will find a sense of escape, a glimpse in a better system, and a hope that nothing can offer.

What differentiates Bitcoin from gold? Both are good monies.

Obvious answer is BTC is more divisible and portable.

A more in-depth answer is BTC cannot be counterfeited, and in worst case, laymen wait on the spot for up to an hour (~6 blocks) to confirm receipt. For gold, if someone give me a gold coated iron, it will some tools to cut it, some experiment to test it. In short, laymen can’t wait on the spot, but to verify it somehow.

Most important answer is the difficulty adjustment in BTC, which controls its constant supply even with most advanced tools/computers. In theory, gold also has a fixed supply, just that it is not 100% known yet. It is arguably at least on par with BTC, both having fixed supply. Both are backed by proof of work( BTC by energy and ASIC manufacture, gold by mining machinery and labour). The key differentiator is the programmed difficulty adjustment. Assuming one day, technical advancement enables gold miners to extract gold reserves at a much faster pace, gold can in theory flood the market and crash its prices. There can be coordination among miners like OPEC, but this is centralised and man-made efforts, not comparable to the difficulty adjustment built-in in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is the best money, most decentralised with fixed and most importantly, a foreseeable, supply that everyone can check.

The idea of Nostr is the best among all social apps. I own my account and profile, and bring it anywhere I want. I can use it to unlock apps, not vice versa

nostr:nprofile1qqstnem9g6aqv3tw6vqaneftcj06frns56lj9q470gdww228vysz8hqpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntycksq8 great episode on the op_return war back in 2014. Good to know and hear the history and refresh my memory and thoughts. Though I disagree the conclusion and leans on Core right now, I appreciate Guy’s digging into the history and bring up an intellectual discussion

https://fountain.fm/episode/EmNtdDbOkzkFy0G2aZe8

Every time I re-read nostr:nprofile1qqsxu35yyt0mwjjh8pcz4zprhxegz69t4wr9t74vk6zne58wzh0waycpg3mhxw309aukcursw35nwercdd3hzatxv56xkvnhx3cxxvnkxvmhwanr0pehvefhdfhkc7nwd9chzcmy095hvutsw9kx2vmvd9jzummwd9hkutcpzamhxue69uhkzarvv9ejumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtcwszrsq “Bitcoin is Time”, I understand more about Bitcoin and admire its beauty more.

This time, after listening to the 7-hour plus podcast by nostr:nprofile1qqs9qp2dql3vmuetzq6hw77eeaeej2j2ughers22wch0m2jm7c05w4gpr4mhxue69uhkummnw3ez6ur4vgh8wetvd3hhyer9wghxuet5qyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnvv9hxgudhm38 on Kaspa interview relating to proof of work, the beauty of proof of work is simply astonishing.

PoW is superior to PoS because:

1. No matter how powerful anyone is, everything is reset after each round of game in PoW. Powerful players still have edge in each round, but it is not on an accumulated basis over time. In PoS, power accumulates over time, same as what tradfi is doing right. Capital begets more capital. What kind of new system do we get in PoS?

2. Time is the most precious thing we have as human. If you want something valuable, use your most precious asset (i.e. time) to exchange. Can’t be more fair to anyone, and this is what ensures bitcoin’s moneyness. Bitcoin is locked in time.

My favorite Bitcoin maxi conversation revolves around the “99% of altcoins are scams are scams” argument

Every time I ask what are the 1% (or 0.1%), people frown at me & give the most predictable NPC answer which usually doesn’t mention any coin names but calls me a shitcoiner.

Very few guys have the balls to admit that Monero, Litecoin, Grin & Kaspa are fair. Even fewer dare to admit that Ethereum and Zcash have merits and push research beyond commonly held beliefs about what is possible and what is not.

But I’m always amazed to discover how out of touch these guys are when it comes to markets. Some will openly say that USDT is great… but mention you should only use it on Liquid & Taproot Assets where the liquidity is abysmal. When you mention that Tron, Solana & Ethereum have 1000x more volume, they will make some predictable excuse about Tether not needing decentralization.

If you point out that WBTC on Ethereum has 100k BTC locked in it while Lightning is stuck at 5k for half a decade, you’re a shitcoin apologist with high time preference.

But the same guys who call themselves maximalists will express strong (and extremely predictable) views against Drivechains, ZK rollups, ZK STARKs & Shielded CSV. You know, the stuff that actually scales Bitcoin and brings more users from other networks in order to pay the miners for security.

This whole culture is beta decel fuckery, not much different from Amish people preaching to city dwellers that electricity is evil. Burn it all to the ground and learn to ignore the grifters & feds who try to stall progress for their own benefit.

Try new software, learn new stuff. It doesn’t cost you anything to install a wallet, join a Telegram chat where community members will gladly send you some coins to play with, and think about whether or not you’d like to see it on Bitcoin.

It costs you nothing to think for yourself instead of reciting from the lazy NPC textbook. It costs you nothing to understand the spirit of open source software, where people run experiments to test new ideas in the wild.

2017 was 8 years ago. So much has improved since then. You’re probably smart enough to distinguish between something that pushes new tech and a memecoin/ICO token.

Escape the matrix and dare to explore and ask questions. Outside the Bitcoin drama, there are people who actively build the future of money and finance. It’s all open source. To survive, Bitcoin will have to embrace some of it. It’s better to learn now than to fall behind.

Remember the wonder of discovering new stuff about how Bitcoin works? You’ll find much more of that in Ethereum, Zcash, Monero, Kaspa, Quai, and other state of the art blockchains that truly push the limits of the parameters some people built cults around.

You call yourself free, but you’re afraid to try Ethereum which is an implementation of Bitcoin’s colored coins/Counterparty? You like Blockstream, but you haven’t tried their tech on Monero and Litecoin? You think you understand how privscy works, but you never tested the Zerocash protocol on top of Satoshi’s tech (Zcash)?

It’s time to start learning! The future of Bitcoin depends on it.

Thanks for being open-minded. Only after exploring about the design, technical stuff and utility of other coins can we truly appreciate the beauty of Bitcoin and how irreplaceable and unique Bitcoin is

I was attracted to bitcoin because of its cypherpunk ideals, censorship resistance, , decentralised, immutability , non-custodial, permissionless, peer-to-peer without any intermediary. However, with more tradfi and mass adoption, it seems that these ideals are secondary to its moneyness or as a means of store of value. It is indisputable that higher price, acceptance of tradfi institutions and normal people in the street is a vindication of Bitcoin and what most (if not all) people in Nostr has believed and fought for.

Unfortunately, Bitcoin has not forced tradfi/ normies to adopt any of the ideals. Exactly the opposite, tradfi is more successful in injecting their values into Bitcoin, with the rise of ETF and DAT (custody with intermediaries), and adoption of the KYC (permissioned and can be censored).

It seems we get the result right, but the path wrong. On a more optimistic tone, we are still early. Numbers going up, breaking into mainstream are only the 1st steps. Once people know about the utility and moneyness of the Bitcoin, they will naturally go deeper and understand the ideals. Similar to mining, incentives are necessary to solve the cold-start problem. Higher price is incentive for people to go deeper into the rabbit hole.

Let me review this in 5 years time and see what happens by then. In Bitcoin (and its values) we trust!

nostr:nprofile1qqs9qp2dql3vmuetzq6hw77eeaeej2j2ughers22wch0m2jm7c05w4gpzpmhxue69uhkummnw3ezumrpdejqz9rhwden5te0wfjkccte9ejxzmt4wvhxjmcxflh5j The Bitcoin Takeovers Podcast is best for long form contents and deep dive