does anybody have an account at mempool.space?

I have a transaction that I need to boost the fee to get through.

I've applied for an account and am on the wait list.

happy to send the days through to you

hey Barry, we have started a Npstr meet up in London. the first event was in December. I have been doing a bit of travelling since then.

hoping to get another one organised soon. will keep you updated

In order to stop Bitcoin, they have to understand Bitcoin.

If they understand Bitcoin, then they are Bitcoin.

When Elizabeth Warren starts buying, that is going to be a good time to sell!

QE is not money printing

What we use as money in the modern world is in fact not money at all. It is debt.

When the government does QE it creates more debt notes and it is increasing the size of the total debt.

The debt sits as a liability on the balance sheet of the banks.

Those banks also hold our savings, investments and pensions. The debts that have been taken on to finance the government deficits are liabilities that are offset against our savings.

The more QE the government does, the less our savings are worth.

We are paying for excessive government spending with our savings.

We vote for the politicians who are most able to successfully pull off this operation without us realising that we are spending ourselves into bankruptcy.

Fiat money is leading us into communism

Thanks Mayra, I hope you enjoy the pod

Thanks Derek, it was great meeting you in Costa Rica!

Nostr enables publishing without censorship.

Until recently, establishing an online identity meant registering with a third-party system, essentially becoming part of their centralised database. For instance, on platforms like the one formerly known as Twitter, user profiles, connections, and content history are stored in the centralised database, with control and ownership resting solely with the platform. This centralised control allows the platform to dictate access, content visibility, and user interactions. If the policies of the platform are contravened, then users may find themselves restricted or completely banned. The time that the user has spent and the work that they have done to build connections and a reputation on the platform will be lost as none of it is transferable to any other internet platforms. The need to adhere to policies and post content that is favoured by the algorithm leads to content creators practicing a form of self censorship.

Nostr offers a decentralized native identity that is controlled by the user. There is no censorship or enforced policies, giving users complete control, including the freedom to select their own algorithms. Nostr gives everyone the freedom to leave one Nostr media platform and go to another, taking all information at zero cost to the user. This is very much a game changer in the social media space, but the opportunity is bigger than that, because social media is just one application of Nostr. Any application that currently exists on the internet can be built on this new open decentralised protocol.

Nostr is a groundbreaking development in decentralised communication technology and has the potential to become the next layer of the internet. It empowers users with self sovereign identity, ensuring that they own and control their own data. User profiles on Nostr are easily transferrable between Nostr applications and bitcoin lightning payments are native to the protocol, transforming ‘likes’ for posts into tangible rewards for quality work. It offers the potential for a new approach to content monetisation system on the internet, using a system of crowdfunding with micropayments. Creators will have the opportunity to set themselves free from the advertising and subscription models that have come to dominate the internet. The power to control what we see and do online has been concentrated into the hands of a few very large media platforms whose scale and networks effects make it hard to complete. Creators have had no choice but to publish on these platforms where they earn small fractions of one cent per stream. Nostr makes it possible for independent creators to earn revenue from discrete peer to peer payments for content with very low transaction costs.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1751335036283195491

The Bitcoin ETF is not Bitcoin, it is the promise of Bitcoin.

It is a promise that is explicitly never going to be delivered upon.

All financial assets are promises, mostly broken ones by design.

These cash settled financial assets are all effectively derivatives.

That is why we need Bitcoin!

It seems like ChatGPT has got a lot dummer these days.

It used to be brilliant a year ago, now it just seems to tell me to 'go google it' for everything I ask.

I have the $20 monthly subscription and it really seems like it just isnt work it anymore.

Is this due to the costs that were associated with each search that was being carried out? Was there business model just not viable?

Does anyone else know why artificial intelligence has become artificial dumbness?

Hey all. We are doing a trip to Bletchley Park to see how the computer was invented. I would highly recommend it for anyone that is interested in Bitcoin. https://www.meetup.com/nostr-london/events/297926092/

Saifadean has been promoting them for quite some time

That is a question that has been asked all my life.

Now we have group of people who have claimed that title.

A system that can't be controlled is the only type of system that won't be controlled.

If you have a honey pot of data and attention then there will always be somebody that will want to have power over it.

Please foward to the CCP if you have any contacts there 😉

The BRICS Currency Solution

The BRICS countries want move away from the dollar as an international reserve currency and tool for global trade. This is entirely understandable given the way that they US government are increasingly weaponising the Dollar and the Swift payment system in order to achieve political objectives. No one could condone the actions of Putin in invading Ukraine. Many lives have been lost and the situation is tragic for the people whose homes have been destroyed. However, the US government are potentially overreaching themselves with the sanctions that they have imposed on dollar assets held by Russians. It is a clear demonstration that dollar holdings can be deleted from a bank’s database whenever the US government forces them to do so. This realization has prompted countries and individuals with wealth held in dollars to reconsider the security of their financial assets.

In response, the BRICS countries are developing their own reserve currency. However, using existing national currencies like the Chinese Yuan or the Russian Rouble poses challenges. Each of these is a centralized ledger currency, similar to the dollar, and there are inherent risks of devaluation due to overprinting. It is likely that they won’t be able trust each other not to print more of a currency that they control. Also there is a risk of complete loss if there is a dispute with the centralised entity that controls the ledger.

Decentralized currencies like Bitcoin offer a potential solution. If the BRICS countries were to adopt Bitcoin for international trade, it would eliminate the need for mutual trust in financial transactions. They would be able to exchange good and services with each other for Bitcoin and be confident that there is no risk of their money being cancelled or inflated away.

Some suggest that gold could serve as a medium of exchange among the BRICS nations. However, the logistical challenges and costs associated with securing and transporting physical gold make it a less practical option for facilitating international trade. This would be a dampener on international trade and would reduce the benefits that each country accrues by specialising in the production of goods and services in which they excel.

The other alternative is to have some form of digital currency that is backed by gold in a vault, much like an upgraded version of the gold standard that operated during the 19th century. The issue here is that gold has to be stored in a physical vault somewhere and the custodians of the gold would have to be trusted to issue the right amount of digital currency units that are backed by the physical gold. Gold is expensive to audit as the only what that it can be truly verified is by melting it down and recasting it. A selected group of human beings will also have to be trusted to verify that they right amount of gold is being held in the right place at the right time. Throughout history banks have engaged in fractional reserve banking where they print more currency backed by reserve assets than they actually hold.

Bitcoin is auditable in a way that is accessible to every man, woman and child in the world that has the Bitcoin address and computer with an internet connection. A block explorer website can be used to see the exact amount of bitcoin held on chain and automatic systems can set up to alert if the assets are moved. Bitcoin is the most transparent and verifiable asset that has ever existed in history and it offers a potential revolution with the creation of a full reserve banking system that can operate independently of any state guarantee.

The cost of transferring Bitcoin across wide distances is very small and transactions can be settled in less than a few hours. It is a finite asset that will never be inflated away the cost of securing it is minimal compared with the cost of maintaining bank vaults. This combination of features makes Bitcoin a compelling option for BRICS countries seeking a reliable and independent medium for international trade.