For almost a decade, Bitcoiners from all across the world have celebrated January 3 as Bitcoin’s bonafide birthday. It was on that date in 2009 that Satoshi Nakamoto mined Bitcoin’s genesis block and it was this first successful hash computation that defined the political purpose of Bitcoin with the embedded message: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on Brink of Second Bailout for Banks.”

Simply put, Bitcoin is an instrument that is specifically designed to resist the inflationary urges of monetary politics, and its qualities empower individuals to become sovereign. However, the business sector that developed and blossomed around Bitcoin has not always remained true to the cypherpunk origins that created it; Often times, exchanges and lending services impose withdrawal limits, freeze accounts and find other ways to arbitrarily restrict users’ access to their funds.

In this episode, Bitcoin Magazine's Vlad Costea interviews long-time Bitcoiner Trace Mayer. They discuss how some cryptocurrency businesses tend to restrict the concept of sovereignty that the technology was meant to protect, and Mayer's response to the phenomenon, the Proof of Keys event, held every year on January 3.

Proof of Keys [Jan/3➞₿]

Twitter:

Trace Mayer (@TraceMayer)
Vlad Costea (@TheVladCostea)
Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine)

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Trace Mayer on Monetary Sovereignty and Proof of Keys