Dad: Son, how to get my coins off exchange?

Son: Hi Dad,

Your way to success:

https://t-m-b-s.com/get-off-exchange

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, I do not know what is going on with people these days........

Son: Dad, what's going on?!

Dad: "trust the science" is the most anti science statement ever made.

Questioning science is how we did science!

Son: Gotcha. However, the following "trust related" Bitcoin mantras work perfectly for me.

"In numbers we trust."

"In math we trust."

"Don't trust, verify."

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, criminals use Bitcoin for various purposes like laundering dirty money, scamming victims, monetizing ransomware, or buying illicit goods.

Son: Hi Dad,

Yes, of course they do.

Bitcoin is the best and hardest money ever.

However, the percentage of bitcoins used for crime is small compared to US dollars.

Dad: Hmm... Your counterargument makes these "facts" seem like an attack on Bitcoin.

Son: Bitcoin is black market money. Few.

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, what are "HD Bitcoin Wallets"?

Son: Dad, by definition, wallets are private key and public key management systems. In the beginning, every key pair used had to be backed up individually. That's why many have reused addresses, which is bad for privacy, as you know.

BIP-32 made Bitcoin better and introduced "HD wallets", which stands for "Hierarchical Deterministic", and not for "High Definition". With this BIP, it's possible to generate multiple addresses (public/private key pairs) derived from a single source of random data (=entropy).

Dad: Why was this introduced in the first place?

Son: It makes backing up the random bits of data much easier and safer, especially if combined with BIP-39, which introduced the mnemonic seed words, which is just entropy in a human-readable form.

#Bitcoin

Son: Dad, today our youngest told me that he is considering a career in organized crime.

Dad: Son, what did you say?

Son: "Government or private sector?"

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, what happens if I lose access to my Bitcoin?

Can anybody help me to recover the coins?

Son: Hi Dad,

No one can help. If you lose your 12/24 recovery seed words and/or your passphrase, your funds are inaccessible and considered lost forever.

That would be bad for you and for your bitcoin, but would make everybody else's a bit more valuable.

Dad: Why does it make other coins more valuable?

Son: Bitcoin is already super scarce and would become even more scarce. 4M coins are already lost forever. Satoshi once said: "Think of it as a donation to everyone."

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, why taproot?

Son: Hi Dad,

Taproot hides non-default multisignature script paths in the collaborative case, it improves Bitcoin Lightning Network privacy and block space efficiency, makes Bitcoin fungible.

Dad: Oh, and what do a taproot addresses look like?

Son: bc1p...

#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

Son: "Thanks God for Bitcoin"

Dad: Son?

Son: That's the title of a book about - Bitcoin, written by Derek Waltchack, Gabe Higgins and Jimmy Song.

Pretty sure you would like it.

Dad: thumbs-up.gif

#Bitcoin

Dad: Son, what is the first thing you need to do if you want to get into Bitcoin?

Son: To "start" would be a good idea, Dad. ;-)

But before you start using Bitcoin get informed. There are a few things that you have to know to use it securely and avoid common pitfalls.

You have to secure your wallet yourself.

Payments are irreversible.

Unconfirmed transactions aren't secure. Depending on the value, you are waiting for one or more "confirmations". Oh, and the exchange rate is volatile.

Dad: So, there is no customer service that can help?

#Bitcoin

Son: 56bbd862e7e4bfe4da5a10d0e80e1da13dd3a2ed15eee8b9a0a322b8a4ca3e3d

Dad: Son, what is this again?

Son: Dad, this is just a random, 256-bit hexadecimal number. A bitcoin private key.

A private key is used to spend bitcoin and as the source of its public key. The public key is required to receive bitcoin.

Dad: Are public keys the same thing as addresses?

Son: No. Bitcoin addresses are derived from a public key using a one-way function. Or in other words:

A bitcoin address is a hashed version of a public key. It’s shorter than the original public key.

#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, why did Satoshi Nakamoto choose a decentralized system, and why did he always choose to remain anonymous?

Son: Hi Dad,

"Governments are good at cutting off the heads of a centrally controlled networks like Napster, but pure P2P networks like Gnutella and Tor seem to be holding their own." ––Satoshi Nakamoto

Dad: Oh! Okay, that makes perfect sense.

Son: "Satoshi's genius was the removal of all heads, including his own." ––dergigi

Dad: I really like those quotes.

#Bitcoin

Son: Dad, I taught my kids that:

"The more you learn,

the more you earn,

the more you stack,

the more luck you will have."

Dad: Son, "The amount of good luck coming your way depends on your willingness to act."

That is a quote from "Barbara Sher" which basically says the same thing.

Son: .., but without Bitcoin – a huge difference.

#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

Son: Dad, did you get your coins off exchange?

Dad?! This is a friendly reminder to get your coins off exchange. It shouldn't be ignored!

Dad: Son, thank you for your message.

I am thinking of taking my bitcoin off the exchanges when the stack will start to look big enough.

Son: Download a phone wallet like Muun or BlueWallet. Learn to back it up and learn how to restore it using your recovery seed words.

Start learning self-custody with small amounts today. It's a process, and you need to practice it.

Dad: All right, I will take a look at it.

#Bitcoin

Son: Dad, did you get your coins off exchange?

#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, how many coins copied Bitcoin?

Son: Hi Dad,

Way too much!! Most of those coins are exact copies of Bitcoin's source code.

Bcash, for example, is a fork of Bitcoin with a few things taken out.

Litecoin is also a fork of Bitcoin with the block time and mining algorithm changed.

Dad: What are the most interesting coins to invest?

Son: None of them are interesting in any way. I'm interested exclusively in bitcoin, everything else is a shitcoin. Do not fall for it, Dad.

#Bitcoin

Son: Dad, get your OPSEC in order.

Dad: Son, Operations Security is for military.

Son: OPSEC is military jargon, but the concept is not limited to the Army, Navy, Space Force, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard.

Any bitcoiner can use the principles of OPSEC to protect its interests.

#Bitcoin