Dad: Son, what exactly is "difficulty adjustment"?

Son: Hi Dad,

The "difficulty adjustment" is why Bitcoin will never die.

The more people are mining, the harder it gets to find a new block and vice versa. This ensures that, on average, a new block is found every 10 minutes.

Dad: Son, literally no one outside of Bitcoin knows or understands what the "difficulty adjustment" is.

Son: Weightlifters maybe do.

#Bitcoin

Son: "My name is ██████ and it's been zero days since I bought some bitcoin."

Dad: Son, are you okay?

Son: Yeah, I just can't get enough.

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, how do you use your Coldcard?

Connected via USB or air gapped?

Son: Hi Dad,

I'm running my Coldcard wallet air gapped only.

Dad: Son, are you connecting anything Bitcoin related to your computer?

Son: Yes,

the Bitcoin network, using port 8333.

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, do you remember the "Y2K problem"?

Son: Hi Dad,

Yeah, I remember that "Millennium-Bug" FUD.

It's even mentioned in the "The Sovereign Individual" as "Y2K TIME BOMB". You will find it in the "The Transition of the Year 2000" chapter.

Dad, why are you asking?

Dad: I have been reading about the "2038 problem" and wonder if Bitcoin will be affected as well.

Son: No worries, Dad. Bitcoin uses an unsigned integer for the timestamp, so the year 2038 problem is delayed for another 68 years.

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, is there a difference between Bitcoin and bitcoin (upper-/lowercase 'b')? I have seen both spellings in publications.

Son: Hi Dad,

When expressed using a small 'b', the word bitcoin usually refers to the unit of currency.

Dad: And the uppercase 'B' ?

Son: Bitcoin with a capital 'B' is typically associated with Bitcoin, the protocol and payment network or to refer to the ecosystem as a whole.

Dad: So, "Saving in bitcoin is investing in Bitcoin."

Son: "Stacking sats makes Bitcoin better."

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, what do you think. What will your kid answer to the question, "What is something your dad told you?" ?

Son: Hi Dad,

Maybe "I love you" or "You make me proud".

What do you think?

Dad: What about "Inflation is a hidden tax that unelected Central Bankers impose on your wealth, enslaving you as they fill their pockets by their close proximity to the money spigot"?

Son: Hmmm. I will reflect on that...

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, I am reading the "Bitcoin white paper" right now and try getting my head around this:

"The network timestamps transactions by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based proof-of-work, forming a record that cannot be changed without redoing the proof-of-work."

Son: Hi Dad,

A "hash" is like a "digital fingerprint" of any collection of data. Each new fingerprint builds on a previous one and adds a chain link segment.

Dad: Bitcoin seems to be a very sophisticated system.

Son: Dad, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, tell me something interesting about "Bitcoin Transactions".

Son: Hi Dad,

Ok. A "Bitcoin Transactions" can consist of many inputs and many outputs. The inputs are outputs of previous transactions which you want to spend, and each output has values assigned to an address.

In general, a transaction is expected to have 2 outputs, the "destination address" and the "change address".

Dad: So, the remainder of the funds are moving on chain as well?

Son: Yes, you always have to move the whole unspent transaction output, also known as "UTXO" or coin.

#Bitcoin

Son: Dad,

Bitcoin does not over-promise nor under-deliver.

Bitcoin simply does its thing.

Everyone knows the rules, and you must follow them if you want to use Bitcoin.

Dad: Son, and you can count on these rules!

This is a wonderful and powerful thing.

Son: Bitcoin is "Rules without Rulers".

#Bitcoin

Son: Dad, lots of people contribute to make Bitcoin a success.

Dad: Son, I am doing my part.

Son: This is out of question.

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, how does the longest chain propagation take place in Bitcoin?

Son: Wow, Dad, that's an unexpected question...

However, A blockchain-fork and chain reorganization can also happen without malicious intent if two miners happen to find a block at the same moment.

At that point, the network's nodes are split in opinion what the best chain is, since each node considers the block it first saw to be the correct one.

Once another block extends one of the two chain-tips, the network converges on the best chain as the nodes hear about the new block.

Dad: Brilliant

#Bitcoin

Son: Dad, few people know that our local government's currency is not backed by gold.

Dad: Many do not even want to know.

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, what excites you so much about Bitcoin?

Son: Hi Dad,

We were born too late to explore the oceans, too early to explore the stars, but just the right time to fix the money!!

Dad: Great time to be alive!

Son: Dad, tell them to buy the ticket and to take the ride … to buy bitcoin. It's not too late, but the time frame in which one can buy bitcoin is slowly closing.

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, what does SHA256 hashing do?

Son: Hi Dad,

Let's assume a want to hash this message. The hash would be 64 characters long, always, no matter how long the message is.

The hash is always the same if I hash the same message, and there is no way to get back to the original message based on the hash.

Dad: So, hashing is a one-way transformation of information and the information is not the information itself. The information for me and others is that the given information is "true".

Son: Yes, Dad, you can understand it that way.

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, buying things one cannot afford is the height of unreasonableness.

Son: Yes, Dad.

Fiat did this.

#Bitcoin

Son: Dad, you can spend a fraction of a bitcoin.

Dad: Son, no, thank you. That is out of question.

Son: The question is: What is your unit of account.

#Bitcoin

Son: Dad, retirement is the worst thing you can do for your health.

Dad: Son, this also applies to wealth.

#Bitcoin

Son: Dad, there is no such thing as overproduction in Bitcoin. Bitcoin always paces itself.

Everything works as designed and everything is in perfect order every 10 minutes on average.

Dad: Son, it seems to me that Bitcoin runs as accurately and precisely as a Swiss watch.

Son: Bitcoin is indeed a great timekeeper.

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, dollar gains from stocks, bonds and ETFs have distracted me from how powerful Bitcoin is.

Then I was distracted about the increasing dollar value of my sats.

It took me a while...

Son: Hi Dad,

This happens to most people.

As long as you don't fall into the shitcoin trap, you're already one step ahead of many.

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, there are valuable life lessons to be learned from Monopoly. Do you know them?

Son: Hi! Which one do you mean, Dad?

Dad: Just the most important:

Don't sit on too much cash.

Choose your investments and stick with it.

The Bank never “goes broke”. If the Bank runs out of money, the Banker issues as much as is needed.

Finally, avoid jail at all cost.

Son: Most of this can be reached by buying Bitcoin.

#Bitcoin