Terminology microdose:

Bitcoin (capital B) refers to the network through which the asset is created and moved around

bitcoin (lowercase b) refers to the asset which is the unit of currency of the #Bitcoin network

Scarce things:

#bitcoin

Block space

Time with a #Bitcoin consultant

Been a while. Time for some updates

Finney21 is a 21 person team of hardcore Wealth Consultants

Wealth = Health & #Bitcoin

Each team member has a unique specialty

Each team member is a guardian in our Fedimint

We gather every week on a 60 minute call to discuss a topic

We each contribute to and curate a world class resource library

We honour the legacy of Satoshi Nakamoto and Hal Finney by working together to accelerate the transition to scarce money

P01 - shopify opportunity: raw notes2_unsorted [11.7.23 - block 815,736]

Insights from conversation with Santosh

—

Intuitive merchant experience is essential. 1 click merchant wallet activation with 10,000 sats

Opportunity for Shopify: become the LSP that routes all merchant bitcoin payments

Brand image boost by helping merchants protect themselves from the monetary debasement

The first interaction is what matters. Goal is to get a second interaction

Success = continuing to have interactions with Shopify

Approach Shopify through fiat lens, not through Bitcoin lens

Emphasize benefit to Shopify shareholders

Consideration: how will the market perceive this decision? What could be the consequences on Shopify share price

Visa’s pitch: data, data, data

Bitcoin’s pitch: convenience, global acceptance, reduction of barriers

Customers no longer need a bank account to purchase from Shopify merchants (this is huge)

Someone from rural Africa without a bank account that has an internet connection can make a purchase from a shopify merchant in Argentina

Merchant in Argentina can protect themselves from inflation and trade with customer in Africa who doesn’t have a bank account

This is the power of Bitcoin - the digitally native money built for the global internet economy

Consider consequences on current payment methods

First interaction: think big, tone down the Bitcoin and turn up the benefits to shareholders and merchants

Next step: big brain consultant call. Collaborate on drafting an open letter

One page open letter to Shopify. Handwrite the letter? Print on nice paper? From Satoshi? Orange envelope with a ₿ stamped/painted on it

Stakeholders: Shareholders, company (brand image), customers (merchants)

Define stakeholders, explain how Bitcoin benefits each stakeholder

#Bitcoin integration with Strike: How was it perceived? What’s the internal company impression of Bitcoin?

There could already be a Shopify team already researching or implementing a bitcoin payments project

Understand Shopify’s pain points

Bitcoin unlocks payments without barriers (1.4 billion unbanked people)

Keep the letter simple, playful, to the point

Paint a picture of what Shopify could look like in 2033 with bitcoin payments enabled

Someone with an internet connection in rural Africa buys something from a merchant in Argentina

Merchant subscriptions could be paid in bitcoin

Project objective: Educate and train a Shopify Bitcoin team

Challenge: selling Shopify on a solution to a problem they may not even know they have

Step 1: bring awareness to the problem

P01 - shopify opportunity: raw notes_unsorted [11.6.23 - block 815,615]

Building on #Bitcoin

21st century ecommerce on top of a digitally native, global, decentralized, open monetary protocol called #Bitcoin

—

Write an open letter to Toby and Shopify board of directors

Also send letter to VPs of engineering

Encourage everyone to study the Bitcoin Whitepaper. It’s a miraculous innovation in computer science

The 21st century digital economy is built on a global, decentralized monetary protocol called Bitcoin

Shopify can supercharge their e-commerce platform by integrating lightning payments and merchant wallets

7 person team: wallet software engineer, lightning software engineer, Ux designer for merchant wallet and payments, lightning architect, educator, comms/fixer, leader to nurture key relationships

1 month of planning, 6 month execution to ship merchant wallet (60 days) and turnkey lightning implementation for merchants

Do everything open source and in alignment with Bitcoin

Educate Shopify staff. Empower them with Bitcoin. Pay them their first 21,000 sats to learn about Bitcoin

Educate Shopify merchants. Empower them with Bitcoin so they can protect themselves from currency debasement that is threatening their business

Merchant benefit: a new cohort of customers who want to spend Bitcoin, lower transaction fees (0.5% routing fees to shopify)

Bitcoin protects merchants from central banks who are debasing currencies and devastating their businesses

Building on Bitcoin is good for the world, good for Shopify’s merchants, and good for Shopify’s shareholders

Shopify has an opportunity to pioneer the 21st century digital economy built on a digitally native monetary protocol called Bitcoin

Big events to announce the integrations when they are ready. Pilot and beta test everything in house within shopify

To cover in open letter (unpacked for presentation):

1. Why does Bitcoin (not crypto) matter?

2. How can Shopify benefit from integrating Bitcoin?

3. How can Shopify merchants benefit from Bitcoin?

4. What business opportunities are available to shopify?

5. What does the execution look like for integrating Bitcoin?

6. Read the whitepaper

Revenue generator: Shopify becomes the LSP for 1.75 million merchants

Merchant Ux: Bitcoin dashboard, merchant wallet, non custodial mobile companion wallet

Customer Ux: Bitcoin payment checkout (lightning)

Bitcoin is a superior payment network for the global digital economy. The protocol is open, global, decentralized, and digitally native

21st century digital money for 21st century digital merchants

Merchant benefits: lower transaction fees, instant settlement, no chargebacks, new customer base of people who want to spend bitcoin

Activate your shopify merchant wallet. We send you your first 21 satoshis when you do that. Education video, 1 click activation

Companion mobile wallet for merchants to track their store wallet balance and take self custody of satoshis

nostr:note1j0ukqesgu54kq5drncltxsh4quzn60hprtwg376nf857qfg0t2eqtxsw46

Halving & difficulty adjustment

P01 presentation notes [11.1.23 - block 814,886]

#Bitcoin is not a hedge by Parker Lewis [34min]

—

Bitcoin isn’t a hedge to inflation, it’s the solution to inflation

Bitcoin only. Not crypto

There will only ever be 21 million bitcoin

Bitcoin is a form of money that cannot be printed

Economic systems converge on a single form of money. We only need a single form of money

People cannot flee to the safety of something they do not understand

Less than 1% of people currently understand and have material exposure to bitcoin

Adoption occurs as knowledge distributes

Why is Bitcoin valuable? 21 million fixed supply, censorship resistant, trustless

What problem does Bitcoin solve? Money printing (which creates inflation)

World events demonstrate the reason Bitcoin exists. Canadian freedom convoy, 2023 bank failures

Knowledge distributes as a function of time

People move from trading bitcoin to get more dollars to accumulating bitcoin because it is replacing the dollar

“If you understand bitcoin, there’s no way you only own 1%” - Michael Saylor

Every fundamental of Bitcoin is currently very strong

Nearly 70% of bitcoin has not moved in over a year

The Halving is the most important market event in Bitcoin

Bitcoin becomes more scarce every year especially during halving years

92.9% of all bitcoin that will ever be created has already been issued as of today

Injection of new dollars induces the expansion of credit

Without printing more money, the debt system collapses

“bitcoin is the only large tradeable asset in the world that has a known fixed maximum supply” - Paul Tudor Jones (May 2020)

Only a better form of money can fix a broken money

The fiat system becomes more fragile when exposed to stress. Bitcoin gains strength when exposed to stress

Bitcoin functions best in a world without bailouts

Bitcoin is the greatest asymmetry to ever exist

Most asymmetrical events are low probability. Adoption of Bitcoin is an asymmetrical event that is highly probable

If they printed $5 trillion last time, they will need to print much more the next time (which seems to be getting very close)

There is no top to global adoption of bitcoin as money

Bitcoin’s scarcity is not valuable without education and security

2023 Whitepaper Event

Hosted by nostr:npub1y6fgn44qqnt3szsqvu4xklfm4m7sg2lw2kf4qel8qmwd2q875l0sky3u6x with nostr:npub1f7ptem2ztp9x4n7w62n90ddv40z0jrt4490d8lug3uasfwyjsccqkknerm nostr:npub1pwz3959npp8rvrtdyc3g022dz594klp0q5rxtqsw63grhe58anhsh3tdyp and Dan Ostermayer sharing their wisdom and insights on the #Bitcoin Whitepaper and Self Custody

Listen to the podcast:

https://fountain.fm/episode/TVPSIKBIPtQdodtd5B4u

Or watch on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/eT-qP2_QGFw?si=hou9E5Bf635Ng21x

P01 study notes [10.30.23 - block 814,552]

Topic: Bitcoin collateralized loans [subtopic: bitcoin as pristine collateral]

—

Anything can act as collateral but several objective properties can be used to evaluate the quality of collateral

Poor collateral: currency deposits, machinery, inventory

Good collateral: real estate, stocks, treasuries

Pristine collateral: bitcoin

Properties that determine quality of collateral:

Market liquidity: How quickly and easily an asset can be sold

Settlement: The ease and speed of achieving final transfer of ownership

Security: Ability to secure an asset

bitcoin is pristine collateral because it trades 24/7 365 days a year on a global market (highly liquid), can be settled globally within 60 minutes in any amount for a relatively low fee, and can easily be secured with digital encryption instead of being physically secured

Compared to bitcoin, real estate an inferior form of collateral because it is relatively illiquid, has rigorous and costly settlement (verification of title, transfer of ownership), and is limited to a local market because the asset cannot be moved globally

Implications: With treasuries and currencies collapsing, the quality of any collateral denominated in currency is eroding

bitcoin is quickly becoming the apex form of collateral globally and eventually become the preferred form of collateral for banks to hold on their balance sheets

#bitcoin is the reserve asset of the internet economy and the most pristine form of collateral humanity has ever seen!!

P01 proof of study

Notes session 10.27.23 [814084]

Topic: Bitcoin collateralized loans [subtopic: rehypothecation]

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Hypothecation is a process where a lender receives an asset offered as collateral security

Rehypothecation is the process where a lender reuses collateral provided by their clients (the borrower) to earn income or secure further borrowing

When a lender rehypothecates borrower collateral, it significantly increase exposure to counterparty risk

While lenders who rehypothecate often offer lower interest rates on collateralized loans, the tradeoffs is borrower collateral being put at increased risk

Before sending bitcoin to a lender, a borrower should first make an assessment of the credit risk of the lender

With rehypothecation, the credit risk of borrowers to which the lender is lending the rehypothecated collateral to must also be assessed

We recommend clients only initiate bitcoin collateralized loans with lenders who do not rehypothecate collateral in order to eliminate the added risk created by rehypothecation

How your collateral is stored should also be considered. Multiparty collaborative custody and the ability to monitor funds on chain by holding 1 of n keys is the gold standard

This enables borrowers to cryptographically verify that their bitcoin collateral remains in a dedicated address and has not been rehypothecated

Rates on bitcoin collateralized loans must be adjusted for risk. Lenders who employ transparent custody practices and do not rehypothecate will charge a higher interest rate

With bitcoin poised to become the future reserve currency of the world, we feel it makes little sense to accept higher risk of loss for a slightly lower interest rate on loans

Unchained capital currently offers what we consider to be the gold standard product when it comes to bitcoin backed loans

Unchained does not rehypothecate client collateral and use a transparent multiparty multisig custody strategy whereby lenders hold 1 of 3 keys and verify their bitcoin on chain

--

21min

#Bitcoin Consulting Network

Call #1: October 2023

https://fountain.fm/episode/4Mv1ZOQVqX1ZZs9j4XnP

Just wrapped up an awesome call with 17 badass #Bitcoin consultants from around the world

Thanks to everyone who participated

Audio of the call will be posted within 24 hours to the Bitcoin Stoa podcast 🧡

Next call: November 21,2023

Topics:

- The art of asking good questions

- The business of Bitcoin consulting

GM nostr ☀️

Freedom tech is winning

Freedom money is winning

#Bitcoin is reshaping the world

Love to you all 🧡

We are a team of 21 hardcore professional #Bitcoin consultants

We share our study notes

We gather monthly to share knowledge and learn together

We each bring a unique speciality to the team

We collaborate to serve our clients

We can handle jobs of any scale

We live in alignment with Bitcoin

We honour the legend of Hal Finney

P01 - proof of study

Notes session 10.16.23 [812460]

Research topic: #Bitcoin collateralized loans

—

Bitcoin is the reserve asset of the internet economy

The internet economy is an aggregate economy of the entire world and is larger than any single nation economy

Bitcoin is pristine digital collateral for lending

Pristine meaning: Not spoiled, corrupted or polluted

Collateral: something pledged as security for repayment of a loan, to be forfeited in the event of a default

Collateral is something provided to a lender as a guarantee of repayment. It is used to secure a loan

Collateral reduces risk for lenders because if a borrower defaults on the loan, the lender can seize and liquidate the collateral

People who own Bitcoin will have access to the best interest rates

Bitcoin is the apex collateral in a digital world (largely because to it’s unmatched liquidity)

Bitcoin is replacing treasuries as the apex reserve collateral

Why is a Bitcoin collateralized loan a useful product? It is a tool to help individuals or companies avoid ever selling their Bitcoin

By borrowing against your Bitcoin instead of selling it, you:

- Eliminate capital gains taxes (Bitcoin is considered property, therefore a taxable event is created everytime you sell or exchange it)

- Continue to benefit from the price appreciation of bitcoin

- Can write off the interest expense of the loan

Areas to research:

- Dynamically refinanced loans (monthly)

- Counterparty risk of different bitcoin backed loan products

- Rehypothecation considerations

Loan-to-value ratio (LTV): The maximum amount of a secured loan based on the market value of the asset pledged as collateral

A low LTV (conservative) provides protection from liquidation in case the underlying asset has a significant drawdown in price

Bitcoin backed loan products to review: LEDN, SALT lending, Unchained capital, Coinbase

Factors to consider: custody risk, rehypothecation, insurance, origination fees, interest rate, Loan to value (LTV), collateral to principal (CTP), prepayment penalties, tax implications, loan maturity options

-

21 min

Why do we do this work?

Because we believe every human has a right to save the fruits of their labour in incorruptible money backed by energy, governed by the laws of the universe and immune to the foolishness and greed of man

Team mission: accelerate the transition to scarce money

#Bitcoin

P01 - proof of study

notes session 10.13.23 [812036]

Report: #Bitcoin First Revisited by Fidelity Digital

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The primary value driver of bitcoin tokens is scarcity and a reliable supply cap of 21 million units

Based on this scarcity, bitcoin is uniquely positioned to be the primary monetary good and another digital asset is not likely to supersede bitcoin in this role

While Bitcoin is not the most scalable, it is currently the most secure and decentralized network at the base layer

A centralized blockchain is simply a database and these have existed for decades

The decentralized blockchain employed by Bitcoin is the radical innovation and offers the important qualities of immutability, seizure resistance, censorship resistance and trustless design

Bitcoin is a global open-source protocol for value transmission

In contrast to TCP/IP, ownership of the base layer is possible via purchasing bitcoin tokens

Each bitcoin token is divisible into 100 million smaller fractions called Satoshis

Every application built on Bitcoin increases the value of the network and therefore also increases the value of ownership tokens for the network which are called bitcoins (lowercase b for the asset, capital B for the network)

Lightning is a layer two application built on top of the Bitcoin base layer

Lightning is a decentralized network that allows off-chain transactions between persons with the ability to make final settlement on the base layer

Lightning increases Bitcoin’s scalability while maintaining Bitcoin’s security with the option to settle any time on the base layer

It is beneficial for investors seeking to better understand digital assets to separate Bitcoin and all other digital assets into separate categories

bitcoin is the scarcest monetary asset in human history and deserves to be considered separately from all other experimental tokens in the digital asset space that are separate from Bitcoin

While nation state attacks and protocol bugs remain risks to Bitcoin, those risks continue to diminish each day as the network grows stronger with more users, miners and infrastructure being built

—

21min

pgs 15-19

Finney fact:

In January 2009, Hal Finney was the Bitcoin network's first transaction recipient

"The computer can be used as a tool to liberate and protect people, rather than to control them"

- Hal Finney [November 1992]

P01 - proof of study

notes session 10.12.23 [811869]

Report: #Bitcoin First Revisited by Fidelity Digital

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Lindy Effect: the longer a non-perishable thing survives, the more likely it is to survive in future

Antifragility: when something becomes stronger with each attack or stressor it faces

Bitcoin is antifragile and every second, minute, day, month it survives increases the likelihood it will continue to survive

Most people underestimate the volume and intensity of negative events Bitcoin has already endured

Due to network effects, it is likely that one digital monetary good will dominate the global market

It is unlikely that another digital asset will supersede Bitcoin as a monetary good

Blockchain trilemma: a decentralized database can only deliver on two of three guarantees at one time: decentralization, security, or scalability

Security: likelihood of the network being attacked or compromised

As the Bitcoin network grows with more nodes and miners distributed across the world, it becomes harder and more expensive to attack Bitcoin

Bitcoin is by far the most secure digital asset when measured by hash rate securing the network

Decentralization: how much control any one person, entity or group has on a system or network

The opposite of a decentralized network is a conpletely centralized network where a signle intermediary controls all aspects of the network

Decentralization = lower network throughput (lower scalability) but higher security

Bitcoin is the most decentralized digital asset and continues to show increasing decentralization over time

Scalability: how well a network can handle growth of number of users and volume of transactions

Bitcoin optimizes for decentralization and security and as a result has a slower transaction throughput capability

Bitcoin scales in layers built on top of the base layer, not on the base layer itself

Bitcoin is currently the most secure and decentralized monetary network

The transaction throughput of Bitcoin is limited by the time between each block (approx 10min) and the block size (just over 1mb) which limits the number of txs that can fit into each block

Blocksize war: a battle to increase block size which would decrease decentralization over time (because running a node would be more expensive over time with bigger blocks creating more data to store)

This war resulted in a hard fork which created a code change that was not backward compatible

All hard forks from Bitcoin to date have either failed completely or struggled to gain any kind of market dominance

This signals that the market values a highly secure and decentralized store of value more than another payment network

Bitcoin's revolutionary invention was solving the problem of digital scarcity and creating a digital store of value, not making an incremental improvement to a payment system

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21min

pgs 8-14