Bitcoin Takeover Podcast

Lately, Cake Wallet has become the Swiss Army knife for privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies — a description that should be an oxymoron. CEO Vik Sharma joins the show in order to explain how the project went from only supporting Monero to branching out into Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Decred, Nano, and now Zcash and the Lightning network. Did he betray the Monero community? Time stamps: 00:01:16 – Introducing Vik Sharma 00:02:13 – Challenges of Podcasting & Sponsorship 00:03:16 – Lightning Network Integration in Cake Wallet 00:03:49 – Lightning Network Beta & Release Plans 00:04:26 – Technical Approach to Lightning Integration 00:05:25 – Multi-Coin & Lightning Support 00:06:32 – New Cake Wallet UI Overhaul 00:08:01 – Switching Between Bitcoin and Lightning 00:09:29 – Community Reactions & Tribalism 00:10:53 – Decision-Making & Adding Coins 00:12:47 – In-House Development Philosophy 00:14:00 – Zcash Integration Process 00:15:13 – Wallet Features: Node Connections & Privacy 00:16:37 – User Experience & Privacy Features 00:19:04 – Swap Providers & Tor Support 00:21:08 – Cake Pay: Gift Cards & Crypto Payments 00:22:25 – Gift Card Use Cases & Community Reception 00:24:19 – Payment Statistics & 80% Monero Dominance 00:25:52 – Zcash Community Skepticism & Open Source Trust 00:26:43 – Tribalism, Criticism, and Community Culture 00:36:13 – History of Zcash Integration & Domain Sales 00:42:11 – Exchange Listings & Monero Market Decentralization 01:03:44 – Bitcoin Security Budget & Multi-Coin World 01:06:58 – Monero Community Culture & Early Bitcoin Parallels 01:18:13 – Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Altcoin Experimentation 01:25:25 – Cake Wallet’s Growth & Monero Ecosystem 01:30:43 – Concerns About Cake's Market Dominance in Monero 01:33:24 – Upcoming Features: Lightning, Binance Chain, Desktop Focus 01:36:57 – Traditional Finance Integration & Future Plans 01:39:37 – AI in Wallets & User Suggestions 01:41:56 – Closing Remarks & Community Engagement

Over the last 6 months, Paul Sztorc has compiled an impressive list of inconsistencies and significant losses from the Bitcoin maximalist camp. He referred to them as ”derangements” and we cover most of them in this brutally honest wakeup call. Read Paul's article: https://www.truthcoin.info/blog/derangements/ Time stamps: 00:01:16 Introduction & Article Overview 00:02:41 Defining Derangements 00:05:31 Truth vs. Loyalty in Bitcoin Culture 00:09:55 Leadership Void & Bitcoin Core Stagnation 00:14:25 Consensus, Soft Forks, and Governance 00:17:46 Block Size Wars & Scaling Debates 00:19:11 Bitcoin Cash, Competition, and Signaling Theory 00:27:27 Bitcoin SV, Craig Wright, and Cultural Derangements 00:31:52 Lightning Network as a Sacred Cow 00:41:14 Treasury Companies & Michael Saylor 00:51:37 Layer Two Labs & Scaling Solutions 00:54:16 Drivechain, Quantum Resistance, and L2 Competition 01:07:24 Soft Forks, BIP Process, and Development Paralysis 01:11:41 Ordinals, NFTs, and Filtering Debates 01:22:36 Attacks on Developers & Community Toxicity 01:25:24 CTV, Jeremy Rubin, and Soft Fork Misunderstandings 01:41:24 Ethereum, Altcoins, and Market Competition 01:51:16 Mining, Miners’ Apathy, and Industry Scaling 02:03:09 Libbitcoin vs. Bitcoin Core 02:17:46 Final Rotation & Store of Value vs. Medium of Exchange 02:35:08 Non-Mined L2s, Rollups, and Miner Incentives 02:52:05 Purity Tests & Cancel Culture in Bitcoin 03:08:35 SegWit Discount & Taproot Critique 03:26:23 Address Formats, BIP47, and UX Derangements 03:36:50 Silent Payments, BIP47 & Privacy Features 03:55:05 Bitcoin Maximalism, Post-Maximalism, and Ideology 03:57:47 Game Theory, Politics, and Drivechain Criticism 04:00:14 Conclusion & Final Thoughts

Robin Linus, Liam Eagen, Ying Tong Lai are the co-founders of {ideal}: an initiative which recently created Argo: a garble circuits scheme which enabled 2000x efficiency gains for BitVM. The group aims to use cryptography in order to advance privacy and scalability in Bitcoin. Time stamps: 00:01:17 Introducing Liam Eagen, Robin Linus & Ying Tang Lai 00:02:17 Origin of Ideal Group & Naming 00:05:03 Funding, Investors & Bootstrapping 00:06:43 Comparison to Other Teams & Technical Progress 00:09:52 Challenges in Auditing & Implementation 00:12:10 Rapid Progress in BitVM & Garbled Circuits 00:14:37 Defining BitVM & Use Cases 00:19:24 BitVM, Soft Forks, and Bitcoin Upgrades 00:23:03 Ideal Solution for Bitcoin Upgrades 00:25:17 Simplicity, Covenants, and Script Upgrades 00:27:06 Favorite Michael Saylor Analogies & Podcast Ads 00:32:47 Bitcoin Maximalism, ETFs, and Institutionalization 00:37:17 Privacy, Censorship Resistance, and Fungibility 00:40:06 Blockchain Analysis & Privacy Risks 00:41:30 Shielded Client-Side Validation & Privacy Protocols 00:45:57 Zcash, Private Pools, and Inflation Bugs 00:51:45 Soft Forks vs. Embedded Consensus for Privacy 01:01:34 Quantum Computing Threats & Post-Quantum Cryptography 01:17:37 Freezing Satoshi’s Coins & UTXO Expiry 01:23:32 Block Space Demand, Ordinals, and Collectibles 01:25:44 Rollups, Block Space, and Bitcoin Culture 01:33:23 Argo: The New Garbling Scheme 01:38:05 Monero, Privacy Coins, and Community Ethos 01:40:25 Future Vision for Bitcoin 01:42:38 STARKs, SNARKs, and Zero-Knowledge Proofs 01:50:08 Conferences, Community, and Outreach 01:58:11 Ideal Project Status, Mainnet, and Naming 02:00:05 Closing Remarks & How to Follow {ideal}

Andrey Sabelnikov and Valeriy Pisarkov are the core devs of Zano: a privacy network which enables users to create tokens with privacy. The project's mix of Cryptonote and Zarcanum protocols can also enable private transfers of bridged BTC. In this episode, we talk about how this system works and we inquire about the tradeoffs involved. Time stamps: 00:01:51 – Introduction & Setting the Record Straight 00:02:51 – Val & Andre’s Backgrounds, CryptoNote Origins 00:03:53 – Problems with Bytecoin & Monero’s Launch 00:05:28 – Zano’s Strategic Directions & AI Security Challenges 00:08:51 – Val’s Role in Zano & Technical Evolution 00:13:45 – Network-Level Privacy Incident 00:19:15 – Proof-of-Work vs. Proof-of-Stake Privacy 00:24:11 – Zano vs. Monero: Not a Fork 00:29:22 – Monero Community Criticism & Scam Allegations 00:40:44 – Boolberry Project & Coin Swap 00:43:36 – Premine & Staking Controversy 00:48:29 – Tribalism & Ideology in Privacy Coins 00:53:21 – Differences Between Boolberry and Zano 00:57:32 – Wallet Support vs. Exchange Listings 01:01:03 – Exchange Listing Challenges & Gateway Addresses 01:04:20 – Gateway Addresses & Hard Fork 6 01:11:52 – Upcoming Roadmap: Proof-of-Stake & Full Chain Membership Proofs 01:17:40 – Bridging Bitcoin & Confidential Assets 01:27:52 – Asset Whitelisting & Stablecoin Risks 01:41:01 – Confidential Layer Bridge & Multi-Party Computation 01:51:21 – Zano’s Scalability, Throughput, and Future Vision 01:59:08 – Full Chain Membership Proofs & Quantum Resistance 02:09:17 – Tech Stack Choices & Adaptability 02:27:07 – Why Be Bullish on Zano? 02:54:48 – DeFi Listings, Gateway Addresses, and Privacy Trade-offs 03:19:59 – Network-Level Privacy, Dandelion, and Mixnets 03:26:46 – VPNs, Network Privacy Tools, and Community Integration 03:44:03 – Personal Stories, Early Computing, and Closing Remarks

Tyler Spalding is a 2011 bitcoiner whose main focus is payments. As the co-founder and former CEO of Flexa, he has a very unique insight on the cryptocurrency industry. This episode was recorded on the road after visiting the Bear Sanctuary in Romania. 00:00:47 – Introduction & Tyler’s Visit to Romania Tyler discusses his trip to Romania, the bear sanctuary, and his passion for supporting bears globally. 00:04:11 – Background: NASA, Payments, and Early Tech Career Tyler shares his background in aerospace engineering, work at NASA, and transition into software and payments. 00:10:09 – Discovering Bitcoin & Early Involvement Tyler recounts learning about Bitcoin in 2011, reading the white paper, and early mining experiences. 00:12:26 – Bitcoin as Payments vs. Store of Value Tyler explains his initial focus on Bitcoin as a payment system and how his views evolved over time. 00:17:26 – Money, Debt, and the Nature of Currency Discussion on the historical relationship between money and debt, and how Bitcoin fits into this context. 00:20:44 – Bitcoin as Commodity, Not Money Tyler argues Bitcoin is more like digital gold than money, and discusses synthetic assets and stablecoins. 00:22:59 – The One Token Dilemma & Use Cases Exploration of Bitcoin’s dual role as payment and store of value, and the resulting community debates. 00:28:46 – Spending Bitcoin: Early Purchases & Experiences Tyler shares stories about spending Bitcoin, including buying Cubs World Series tickets and other goods. 00:35:38 – Freedom of Choice & Critique of Maximalism Tyler advocates for utility maximalism and criticizes toxic Bitcoin maximalism and intolerance toward altcoins. 00:39:25 – Bitcoin’s Usefulness & 21 Million Narrative Debate on what makes Bitcoin useful, the 21 million supply, and the impact of other crypto projects. 00:41:59 – Altcoins’ Positive Impact on Bitcoin Tyler explains how Ethereum and other projects have benefited Bitcoin’s growth and adoption. 00:45:38 – Digital Gold Narrative & Custodianship Discussion on the digital gold narrative, Bitcoin’s slow/expensive transactions, and the rise of custodians. 00:47:42 – Podcast Sponsors & Wallets Host and Tyler discuss various sponsors, wallets, and services in the crypto ecosystem. 00:55:26 – Use Case Magazine & Documenting Crypto Adoption Tyler introduces his magazine “Use Case,” which documents real-world crypto use cases and includes a hardware wallet. 01:00:48 – Blocksize Wars: Big Blocks vs. Store of Value Tyler reflects on the blocksize wars, his initial support for big blocks, and how his views have changed. 01:09:47 – Forked Coins & Handling BCH Tyler discusses his approach to Bitcoin Cash after the fork and the uncertainty at the time. 01:17:33 – Bitcoin Cash, Scaling, and Miner Dynamics Analysis of Bitcoin Cash’s technical progress, miner incentives, and its ongoing relevance. 01:23:10 – Multiple Currencies & Historical Parallels Comparison of today’s crypto landscape to historical periods with many local currencies. 01:27:47 – Bitcoin’s Uniqueness & Market Realities Debate on whether Bitcoin is truly unique and the challenges of paper Bitcoin and institutional adoption. 01:30:03 – Network Usage vs. Price Focus Tyler emphasizes the importance of real network usage and adoption over price speculation. 01:31:59 – Crypto Celebrities & Community Engagement Stories about working with celebrities and community members in crypto promotional campaigns. 01:46:08 – Five Legitimate Altcoins & Decentralization Tyler lists Ethereum, Zcash, Solana, and others as legitimate projects, and discusses what makes a project a scam. 02:11:55 – Monero, Zano, and Privacy Coins Discussion of Monero, Zano, and the technical and community differences among privacy coins. 02:20:58 – Current Projects: Flexa, AMP, and Anvil Tyler describes his ongoing work with Flexa, AMP, and the Anvil DeFi protocol for collateral management. 02:26:05 – Proof of Stake vs. Proof of Work Tyler explains his preference for proof of stake, its security model, and critiques of Bitcoin’s mining centralization. 02:36:08 – Bitcoin Fork Thought Experiment: Privacy & Quantum Resistance Speculation on forking Zcash with Bitcoin’s UTXO set for privacy and quantum resistance. 02:43:19 – Quantum Threats & Migration Challenges Discussion on quantum computing risks, migration strategies, and contentious issues around lost coins. 02:51:55 – Lightning Network, Fees, and Network Security Critique of Lightning Network’s usability, fee model, and long-term security challenges for Bitcoin. 03:03:00 – If Tyler Could Change One Thing: Privacy Tyler would add privacy to Bitcoin, arguing it’s essential for real-world payments. 03:05:05 – Bitcoin’s Future & Open Source Innovation Tyler’s outlook on Bitcoin’s next 15 years, open source growth, and the importance of real-world utility. 03:09:48 – How to Use Flexa Today Practical advice on using Flexa for payments, wallet integrations, and the importance of merchant acceptance. 03:16:36 – Conclusion & Code Word Wrap-up, thanks, and the code word “urs” (Romanian for bear) for listeners who made it to the end.

Lately, Bruce Fenton has been on fire with his characterization of Bitcoin sellouts who put on suits in order to appeal to institutional investors. Cordially, these people are referred to as ”suitcoiners” -- and in this episode we're roasting them. Time stamps: 00:01:16 Introducing Bruce Fenton, the Wall Street guy who's turned into a cypherpunk 00:02:04 Bruce Fenton's Journey from Wall Street to Cypherpunk 00:02:36 Tokenization, Ravencoin & Bitcoin Maximalism 00:03:26 Early Bitcoin Ethos of Self-Sovereignty 00:09:53 Hal Finney’s Vision for Bitcoin-Backed Banking 00:11:25 Bruce Fenton's Senate Campaign & Political Disillusionment 00:12:19 Limits of Political Change & The Swamp 00:16:25 Generational Shifts & Aging OGs 00:18:06 Campaign Funding with Bitcoin 00:21:14 Bruce Fenton's Filibuster Record 00:23:06 Video Games & Economics 00:28:42 Bitcoin as MMORPG 00:32:20 Maximalism & Community Schisms 00:40:09 5 Altcoins That Aren't Scams 00:45:51 Attack Vectors & Centralization 00:55:17 Legal Risks & Suppression 01:06:01 Libertarian Martyrs: A Tribute to Irwin Schiff, conviction, and cost of principles 01:09:05 Bitcoin Treasury Companies Critique 01:11:33 ETF Hype & Alienation 01:13:46 Store of Value vs Sound Money 01:28:21 Lightning Network Issues 01:31:31 Decline in Payments 01:32:20 Block Size Wars. Lost Innovation & Brain Drain 01:51:16 Satoshi’s Roundtable History 02:02:45 Satoshi's Roundtable Impact 02:03:50 Moving to Dubai 02:27:07 Libertarianism and UAE 02:38:49 Cypherpunk Revival 02:42:00 Early Bitcoin Resources 02:47:37 Tribalism & Open Source 03:00:11 Closing Thoughts

Moonsettler is a bitconer who adheres to the old school cypherpunk values and believes that the best way ahead is to enable OP_CTV (BIP119) or LNHANCE. However, the biggest problem is the generalized loss of focus. If last year there seemed to be consensus that Bitcoin needs covenants to improve scalability and bring new use cases, now the landscape is rather gloomy. Even Moonsettler changed his Twitter screen name to Doomsettler, as a reflection on this status quo. 00:01:16 Welcome Moonsettler (Doomsettler) 00:02:40 Delayed Interview and Original eCash Debate 00:03:14 Why eCash (Chaumian Cash) Never Took Off 00:04:00 Criticism of Custodial Scaling Solutions 00:05:14 Bitcoin as Decentralized Chaumian eCash 00:06:13 Fake Austrian Economics and Full Reserve Myths 00:08:32 Loss of "No Trusted Third Parties" Culture 00:09:52 Verifiable Supply vs Historical Fraud 00:13:40 Proof of Liabilities in eCash Mints 00:15:42 Cashu Fraud Proofs and Bug Bounty 00:18:20 Chaumian Blind Signatures Explained 00:24:48 Non-Custodial Credit eCash Ideas 00:30:39 Why Debit eCash Won't Scale Bitcoin 00:36:34 Bitcoin Like Linux – Oppose Custodial Layers 00:37:13 Unlimited Paper Bitcoin vs 21M Cap 00:41:25 Loss of Proof of Keys Culture 00:46:26 Doomsettler Mindset on Bitcoin's Future 01:09:30 Early Exchange Compliance Issues 01:11:37 Satoshi's Peer-to-Peer Vision 01:15:13 Satoshi's OPSEC and Disappearance 01:19:13 Craig Wright Not Satoshi 01:26:05 Libertaria and Frontier Culture 01:28:31 No More Frontiers for Freedom 01:39:21 App Delistings and PWA Debate 01:49:16 Twitter Worse Under Elon Musk 01:55:35 AI Ruining Internet Trust 01:56:33 Introduction to Covenants 01:57:04 Covenant = Unbreakable Promise 02:00:55 History of Covenant Discussions 02:01:29 Permanent Encumbrance FUD Debunked 02:03:38 Control Today via Multisig (No Covenants) 02:07:26 Covenants Don't Break Fungibility 02:08:35 Covenants Reduce Trust in L2 02:11:46 Post-Quantum Covenant Advantages 02:13:46 OP_CTV Explained 02:15:42 Non-Interactive L2 Settlements 02:20:23 Congestion Control with Covenants 02:29:08 Ordinals Drama & OP_CAT Risks 02:31:43 Jeremy Rubin Context 02:33:49 LNHANCE Package (CTV + More) 02:36:51 Why LNHANCE is Conservative 02:44:26 2022 CTV Activation Drama 02:47:27 Curiosity vs Annoyance Motivation 02:49:04 Andreas Antonopoulos FUD Clip 02:51:15 Need for Covenant FUD FAQ 02:53:47 Persistent CTV Critics 03:55:27 Covenant FUD Knowledge Base Need 03:56:26 Steven Roose Support 03:57:40 Covenant Table on Wiki 03:58:56 Isolated Op Code Comparisons Issues 04:00:34 OPCAT vs CTV Preferences 04:01:48 Table Inconsistencies 04:02:19 Ordinals Devs Pushing OPCAT 04:03:26 CTV Strengths and Risks 04:10:22 Ideal Packages (Great Script Restoration) 04:43:24 Pink Floyd "The Wall" Analogy 04:45:49 Citadel Critique 04:49:49 Need for New Frontiers 04:51:56 Disagreeable Societies Preserve Freedom 04:54:56 Special Economic Zones for Renewal 04:57:50 Altcoins as Competition/Experiments 04:59:20 Privacy Coins Driving Response 06:00:34 Monero Privacy & Community 06:04:42 FCMP++ Upgrade 06:05:37 Monero Quantum Roadmap 06:07:16 Quantum Risks to Monero 06:09:47 Zcash Preference & Compatibility 06:11:34 ZK Privacy Advantages 06:13:16 Drivechains & Peg Risks 06:17:45 Spacechains 06:20:31 Quantum Threats to ECDSA 06:26:49 PQ Soft/Hard Fork Debate 06:34:57 Covenants for PQ Vaults 06:38:14 Ark Protocol 06:42:33 Lightning Custodial Risks 06:50:19 BitVM & Optimistic Rollups 06:55:44 Bitcoin Dev Culture Disappointment 07:49:05 Austrian vs Cypherpunk Values 07:53:20 Austrians Dislike Data 07:54:39 Full Reserve Myth 07:55:56 Core Dev Covenant Silence 07:57:32 Core Ignoring Covenants 07:58:22 Floppy's Drunk Posting 08:00:38 Calle's Cashu Story 08:02:02 Privacy Respect & Avoiding Doxing 08:02:29 Floppy's Drunk Tweets 08:03:48 Tolerance for Abusive Behavior 08:04:15 Understanding Non-Engagement with Floppy 08:04:32 Floppy as Builder (Joinstr Plugin) 08:04:57 Luke Dashjr Funding Complaints 08:05:23 Luke's Likability & Hack 08:06:36 Ocean Mining Business Model 08:08:36 Reducing Antpool Hash Dominance 08:08:56 Miner Template Building Debate 08:09:02 Mining Centralization Concerns 09:38:04 9+ Hour Marathon Reflection 09:38:45 Girlfriend & Cat Interruptions 09:39:12 How to Follow Moonsettler 09:39:45 Moonsettler's Twitter Content Focus 09:40:38 Shoutout to SimulXXX (CTV Advocate) 09:41:29 Moonsettler as Crypto Hobbyist 09:42:37 Major Contributions Discussion 09:43:38 Non-Interactive Hardware Wallet Proofs 09:44:36 Sharing Personal Bitcoin Vision 09:45:14 Coldcard Experimental Implementation 10:03:18 Seed Backup Durability & Preference for Burnable Paper Backups 10:04:22 Manual Entropy & Seed Splitting 10:05:01 Early Self-Custody Cheat Sheets 10:05:25 Hardware Wallet Entropy Risks 10:06:30 Dice-Rolled Seeds vs Hardware 10:07:27 2-of-3 Backup Scheme 10:07:59 Crypto Steel Promo 10:08:24 10-Hour Mark, No Bathroom Break 10:08:49 Thanks & Merry Christmas 10:09:41 Next Episode Tease

Alex Chepurnoy is a cryptographer & researcher who famously wrote a Bitcoin client in Haskell in only 3600 lines of code. He is currently working on Ergo, a proof of work blockchain which improves upon Bitcoin's design in order to achieve smart contracts and DeFi. How does it work? Let's find out! Time stamps: 00:01:11 Introducing Alex Chepurnoy 00:01:51 Alex’s Bitcoin Discovery & Early Development 00:02:37 Namecoin, SmartContract.com, and Cardano Involvement 00:05:15 Satoshi Theories & Code Analysis 00:07:00 Rewriting Bitcoin & Distributed Systems Perspective 00:08:39 Consensus Protocols & Altcoin Proliferation 00:10:20 Bitcoin’s Early Appeal & Peer-to-Peer Motivation 00:14:08 Bitcoin’s Revolutionary Monetary Model 00:15:45 Staying in Crypto: Problems to Solve 00:17:19 Bitcoin as Digital Gold & Smart Contracts 00:21:29 Ethereum vs. Bitcoin: Contractual Capabilities 00:23:02 Ergo’s Approach: Contracts & Protocol Upgrades 00:26:56 Namecoin’s History & Technical Innovations 00:31:10 Merged Mining & Sidechain Politics 00:34:35 Early Bitcoin Contributions & BTC Scala Client 00:38:49 Conference Presentations & ZeroJoin 00:41:49 Demurrage, Storage Rent, and Bitcoin Upgrades 00:45:01 NFTs, Inscriptions, and Bitcoin Community Divisions 00:50:10 Hard Forks, Immutability, and Ethereum Classic 00:55:17 Markets, Transaction Fees, and Bitcoin’s Security Budget 00:57:59 Lightning Network Limitations & Off-Chain Cash 01:01:58 Challenging Bitcoin’s Scaling & Off-Chain Solutions 01:06:38 Ergo’s Protocol Design & Civil War Lessons 01:08:25 Ergo’s Innovations for Bitcoin 01:15:38 Quantum Resistance & Hard Fork Challenges 01:19:51 Consensus Cleanup & Upgrade Difficulties 01:23:10 Community Proposals & Development Gridlock 01:25:07 Alex’s Tech Stack & Personal Devices 01:31:07 Satoshi’s Identity & Coding Style 01:38:34 NXT, Bitcoin 2.0, and Ethereum’s Success 01:45:35 Proof of Work vs. Proof of Stake 01:50:44 Philosophy of Proof of Work & Fair Distribution 01:53:09 VCs, Token Dumps, and Proof of Work Revival 01:54:16 Proof of Stake Attacks & Network Resilience 01:59:20 Ergo’s Network Parameters & Smart Contracts 02:21:17 Privacy Features: Mixers & Stealth Addresses 02:28:40 Monetary Policy, Emission, and Pre-mine 02:34:09 Monero vs. Zcash: Community & Funding 02:48:03 Bridging Blockchains & Rosen Bridge 02:51:04 Peer-to-Peer Finance & Smart Contract Design 02:53:57 Future Vision: Interconnected PoW Blockchains 02:56:41 Double Merged Mining Sidechains 03:17:45 Community Resources & Getting Involved 03:20:11 Conclusion & Final Thoughts

David Bailey is the chairman of Bitcoin Magazine, the organizer of the most successful series of Bitcoin conferences, and the mastermind behind the Nakamoto BTC treasury company. In this episode, we talk about his latest business dealings and the current state of the Bitcoin bull market. Time stamps: 00:01:47 Bitcoin Magazine’s Bitcoin-Only Pivot 00:02:17 Surviving 2018 and the COVID Pivot 00:04:09 Scaling Up: Conferences and Global Expansion 00:05:11 Bringing Politicians to Bitcoin 00:07:35 Trump’s Embrace of Bitcoin and Global Perception 00:09:48 Bitcoin Price Expectations and Political Impact 00:10:56 Presidential Pardons and the Lack of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve 00:14:10 Trump Meme Coins and Industry Signals 00:17:07 Privacy, Regulation, and Privacy Acceleration Thanks to Zcash 00:20:53 Nakamoto Stock Price and Public Company Challenges 00:23:00 Bitcoin Treasury Companies: Purpose and Model 00:24:40 Evolution of Bitcoin Financialization (Banks, ETFs, Strategic Reserves, Reserve Companies) 00:35:42 David Bailey Addresses Accusations of Mismanagement 00:44:00 Bitcoin Price, Narratives, and Community Factions 00:45:05 Bullish Narratives and Breaking the Four-Year Cycle 00:46:21 Core vs. Knots: Development and Forks 00:49:35 Bitcoin Improvement Proposals and Development Stagnation 00:50:28 Jeremy Rubin in the Epstein Files, Bitcoin's Public Perception 00:54:01 Trump, Epstein, and Political Distractions 00:55:00 Bitcoin.com’s Shift and Roger Ver Reflections 01:01:48 BCH Fork, Losses, and Historical Lessons 01:02:41 Conspiracy Theories: Censorship and Satoshi’s Coins Post-Quantum 01:05:00 Quantum Risk and Bitcoin’s Long-Term Security 01:10:24 Altcoins: Legitimacy and Usefulness 01:18:11 Ethereum, Solana, and Bitcoin’s Competitive Edge 01:22:27 Bitcoin’s Youth and Historical Significance 01:22:58 Operation Choke Point 3.0 and Wall Street Resistance 01:30:20 Would David Bailey Become Crypto Czar? 01:34:04 Why Invest in Nakamoto? 01:37:28 Comparing Treasury Companies 01:40:28 If You Could Change One Thing in Bitcoin: Drivechains 01:42:03 Security Budget, Scaling, and Miner Incentives 01:46:50 Bitcoin Price Predictions and the Four-Year Cycle 01:55:02 Social Media, Narratives, and Bitcoin Culture 01:58:24 Bitcoin as Money and Regulatory Setbacks 02:03:13 Closing Thoughts and Pardons

Abdel is one of the most prolific developers in the Zero Knowledge space. Since our conversation in September, he was able to accomplish so much that he requested another interview to talk about it. So what happened with ZK STARKs that is so important? Time stamps: 00:01:04 Podcast Introduction & Sponsor Acknowledgments 00:02:15 Vlad's Rant on Bitcoin Media & Podcast Landscape 00:03:24 Bitcoin Takeover Podcast Mission & Seven-Year Anniversary 00:04:39 Transition to Abdel’s Updates & ZK-STARKS 00:05:44 Abdel’s Zcash & Bitcoin Proposals 00:07:00 Comparing Bitcoin and Zcash Community Reactions 00:08:36 Altcoins as Experimentation Grounds 00:11:23 Scaling, Rollups, and Drivechains 00:13:10 Abdel’s Proposal for Native STARK Verification 00:17:19 Zcash’s TDE and Layer 2 Possibilities 00:19:22 ZK-Rollups, Privacy, and Regulatory Pressures 00:21:02 Government Surveillance & KYC Concerns 00:24:26 Cultural Stigma Around Bitcoin Privacy 00:25:34 Zcash’s SEC Presentation & Institutional Acceptance 00:28:58 Debate on Privacy, Transparency, and Backdoors 00:30:00 Bitcoin’s Social Layer & Governance 00:32:47 Critique of Bitcoin Perfectionism & Altcoin Dismissal 00:35:49 Bitcoin’s Mission: P2P Cash vs. Store of Value 00:36:49 Learning from Ethereum & Second-Layer Innovations 00:37:24 Sponsor Plugs & BTCfi Introduction 00:40:14 BTCfi: Bitcoin Staking & Yield Mechanisms 00:46:15 Bridging BTC to StarkNet & Atomic Swaps 00:48:36 BTCfi: KYC, Permissionless DeFi, and Institutional Offerings 00:50:59 DeFi Risks & Bitcoin Staking Security 00:51:40 ZK-STARK Verifiers on Bitcoin Cash 00:53:10 Bitcoin Cash, Zcash, and Social Layer Value 00:58:54 Bitcoin Cash’s Technical Innovations & Community Dynamics 01:00:04 Quantum Resistance: Investor Fears & Satoshi’s Coins 01:02:29 Quantum Threat Timeline & Migration Planning 01:10:25 Quantum-Resistant Signatures & Scalability Trade-offs 01:11:20 Hard Fork vs. Soft Fork for Quantum Resistance 01:13:08 Consensus, Confiscation Proposals, and Social Risks 01:17:56 Stagnation in Bitcoin Development & Altcoin Innovation 01:23:12 Ethereum’s Role in Crypto Ecosystem 01:25:24 Zcash’s Dual Incentives & Institutional Recognition 01:28:08 Zcash’s Future: Innovation vs. Ossification 01:30:39 Sponsor Plugs: Noones & SideShift 01:33:42 Quantum Resistance Migration: Hard Fork Efficiency 01:37:11 Bitcoin’s Future: Security, Consensus, and Upgrades 01:43:09 Bull Markets, Technological Breakthroughs, and Lightning 01:45:18 Lightning’s Shift to B2B & Retail Challenges 01:47:02 Bitcoin Treasury Companies & Business Models 01:49:18 Seinfeld Analogy & Bitcoin’s Societal Impact 01:52:11 Magic Wand: Abdel’s One Change for Bitcoin 01:54:03 Legitimate Altcoins & Project Criteria 01:57:16 Monero, Kaspa, Litecoin, and Altcoin Usefulness 02:02:06 ZK-STARKs: Complementary or Standard? 02:06:21 ZK-STARKs for Fast Bitcoin Syncing 02:10:27 Call for Wallet Integration & User Experience 02:14:08 Bull Bitcoin Wallet & Open Source Security 02:22:02 Freedom Tech, Nostr, and ZK for Sovereignty 02:26:02 ZK-STARKs: Career Opportunities & Verification 02:28:41 Outro & Listener Easter Egg