Loading video...

Video Failed to Load

Go Home

BITCOIN RAILS #37: The Birth of BRC2.0: Bitcoin’s Programmable Asset Layer | with Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳 CEO Binari 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: Programmable BRC20 tokens, dubbed “BRC2.0,” launched a few short weeks ago after more than a year of building and anticipation. This effort was spearheaded...

isabelfoxenduke's profile picture

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

16,072 subscribers

20,884 views • 10 months ago •via X (Twitter)

Science & TechnologyEducationFinance
LIVE

Anya Rossi• Live Now

Private livecam show

0 Comments

No comments available

Comments from the original post will appear here

Related Videos

BITCOIN RAILS EPISODE #17: DOMO’S SIDE OF THE STORY & the HISTORY OF BRC20 A particularly special episode—domo sits down with me for his first video interview ever—to recount the unique history of the BRC20 protocol. The first Bitcoin-native token standard ever created, BRC20 came into existence almost overnight and quickly emerged as a multibillion dollar asset class in 2024. This episode covers the influences leading up to the birth of $ORDI, the roles of different players involved along the way, and how core maintainers are preparing for their next major update—affectionately dubbed “BRC 2.0” by Bitcoin educator Bob Bodily, PhD Additionally, Domo shares his memory of key moments in BRC20 history—including: —the development of BRC20's canonical indexer and details of Domo's working relationship with UniSat - wallet, explorer & extension for bitcoin. —Ordi's listing on OKX and Binance (+ what he believes triggered listing decisions by those exchanges) —the creation of the Layer 1 Foundation and the responsibilities of its member organizations in maintaining the core protocol —why Domo has never accepted funding (including advisory fees) from either of his lead maintainer companies UniSat - wallet, explorer & extension for bitcoin. or Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳 We also go into depth about what sparked the “BRC20 indexer wars” and how stakeholders are ensuring the integrity of its consensus going forward. This episode includes special mentions of major influences in the evolution of BRC20—including Robert Clarke Bitcoin Punks Sats Names Bobby Broz UniSat - wallet, explorer & extension for bitcoin. and others. This episode can be viewed on YouTube or Spotify using the linktree in Isabel’s bio—YouTube episode is also in the comments. As always, thanks to the show's sponsor Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳 for making this episode possible— in addition to being a core maintainer of BRC20, Best In Slot maintains the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing. TIMESTAMPS: 01:04 Domo, Ethereum, and how he found Bitcoin 05:04 Why Ordinals clicked for Domo 07:58 Ordinals going from underground to mainstream 11:13 Who helped Domo ideate around Ordinals? 16:21 How did Domo announce ORDI, the “first” BRC20? 20:02 Why did BRC20 blow up so fast? 22:25 How did UniSat get involved with BRC20? 25:12 Catalysts for the BRC20/ fungibles boom 26:35 When did BRC20 get good pricing data? 29:00 Domo’s stresses during the ORDI blowup 31:34 How involved was Domo with UniSat early on? 35:00 Exchanges instantly deciding to list ORDI 37:38 How did Best In Slot start indexing BRC20s? 41:48 Centralization of indexers 44:18 Coordinating indexers around Ordinals forks 47:25 Relaunching the Layer 1 Foundation 49:25 The relationship between Domo, UniSat, and Best In Slot 51:02 Upgrading BRC20: Swap and Programmability Module 54:55 How the programmability module came to be 57:00 “Standard Maxiness” is hurting the industry 59:00 Plugging BRC20 into everything else 01:00:50 Do programmable metaprotocols solve interoperability? 01:02:50 Metaprotocols and L2s: do they compete? 01:05:00 Does BRC20 have an advantage over the metaprotocols? 01:06:20 How should the community approach Bitcoin’s issues? 01:08:50 Competition rising in the BItcoin space 01:10:00 People are underestimating metaprotocols 01:11:55 Single step transfer for BRC20
1:14:29

BITCOIN RAILS EPISODE #17: DOMO’S SIDE OF THE STORY & the HISTORY OF BRC20 A particularly special episode—domo sits down with me for his first video interview ever—to recount the unique history of the BRC20 protocol. The first Bitcoin-native token standard ever created, BRC20 came into existence almost overnight and quickly emerged as a multibillion dollar asset class in 2024. This episode covers the influences leading up to the birth of $ORDI, the roles of different players involved along the way, and how core maintainers are preparing for their next major update—affectionately dubbed “BRC 2.0” by Bitcoin educator Bob Bodily, PhD Additionally, Domo shares his memory of key moments in BRC20 history—including: —the development of BRC20's canonical indexer and details of Domo's working relationship with UniSat - wallet, explorer & extension for bitcoin. —Ordi's listing on OKX and Binance (+ what he believes triggered listing decisions by those exchanges) —the creation of the Layer 1 Foundation and the responsibilities of its member organizations in maintaining the core protocol —why Domo has never accepted funding (including advisory fees) from either of his lead maintainer companies UniSat - wallet, explorer & extension for bitcoin. or Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳 We also go into depth about what sparked the “BRC20 indexer wars” and how stakeholders are ensuring the integrity of its consensus going forward. This episode includes special mentions of major influences in the evolution of BRC20—including Robert Clarke Bitcoin Punks Sats Names Bobby Broz UniSat - wallet, explorer & extension for bitcoin. and others. This episode can be viewed on YouTube or Spotify using the linktree in Isabel’s bio—YouTube episode is also in the comments. As always, thanks to the show's sponsor Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳 for making this episode possible— in addition to being a core maintainer of BRC20, Best In Slot maintains the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing. TIMESTAMPS: 01:04 Domo, Ethereum, and how he found Bitcoin 05:04 Why Ordinals clicked for Domo 07:58 Ordinals going from underground to mainstream 11:13 Who helped Domo ideate around Ordinals? 16:21 How did Domo announce ORDI, the “first” BRC20? 20:02 Why did BRC20 blow up so fast? 22:25 How did UniSat get involved with BRC20? 25:12 Catalysts for the BRC20/ fungibles boom 26:35 When did BRC20 get good pricing data? 29:00 Domo’s stresses during the ORDI blowup 31:34 How involved was Domo with UniSat early on? 35:00 Exchanges instantly deciding to list ORDI 37:38 How did Best In Slot start indexing BRC20s? 41:48 Centralization of indexers 44:18 Coordinating indexers around Ordinals forks 47:25 Relaunching the Layer 1 Foundation 49:25 The relationship between Domo, UniSat, and Best In Slot 51:02 Upgrading BRC20: Swap and Programmability Module 54:55 How the programmability module came to be 57:00 “Standard Maxiness” is hurting the industry 59:00 Plugging BRC20 into everything else 01:00:50 Do programmable metaprotocols solve interoperability? 01:02:50 Metaprotocols and L2s: do they compete? 01:05:00 Does BRC20 have an advantage over the metaprotocols? 01:06:20 How should the community approach Bitcoin’s issues? 01:08:50 Competition rising in the BItcoin space 01:10:00 People are underestimating metaprotocols 01:11:55 Single step transfer for BRC20

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

87,077 views • 1 year ago

BRC2.0 Swap by #CatSwap is now live on Bitcoin Signet! Time to experience the BRC2.0 dApps! Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳 BRC2.0 Swap on Signet: Bitcoin Signet Faucet: Signet BRC2.0 WBTC Faucet: #CatSwap is the first fully decentralized, trustless AMM swap on Bitcoin Layer1! User assets are completely secure and non-custodial, with no one controlling their assets. All projects and users can swap tokens and add liquidity on CatSwap to earn trading fees and farming incentives. BRC2.0 Swap by #CatSwap CatSwap | BRC2.0 Swap | BIP-420 is the liquidity Infrastructure for BRC2.0 & #BRC20, on Bitcoin L1. Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳 domo ✅ x*y=k ✅ EVM Smart Contract ✅ Decentralized ✅ Trustless ✅ Bitcoin Native ✅ No Indexer Needed ✅ Non-custodial ✅ Uniswap for #Bitcoin
3:23

BRC2.0 Swap by #CatSwap is now live on Bitcoin Signet! Time to experience the BRC2.0 dApps! Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳 BRC2.0 Swap on Signet: Bitcoin Signet Faucet: Signet BRC2.0 WBTC Faucet: #CatSwap is the first fully decentralized, trustless AMM swap on Bitcoin Layer1! User assets are completely secure and non-custodial, with no one controlling their assets. All projects and users can swap tokens and add liquidity on CatSwap to earn trading fees and farming incentives. BRC2.0 Swap by #CatSwap CatSwap | BRC2.0 Swap | BIP-420 is the liquidity Infrastructure for BRC2.0 & #BRC20, on Bitcoin L1. Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳 domo ✅ x*y=k ✅ EVM Smart Contract ✅ Decentralized ✅ Trustless ✅ Bitcoin Native ✅ No Indexer Needed ✅ Non-custodial ✅ Uniswap for #Bitcoin

CatSwap | BRC2.0 Swap | BIP-420

29,250 views • 11 months ago

BITCOIN RAILS #32: Bitcoin Art History (+ why "Pepes aren't NFTs") | with Rare Scrilla 🔗YOUTUBE: 🌿SPOTIFY: There are few people on the planet more deeply entrenched in ‘Bitcoin Art’ than RARE SCRILLA - and few people more influential in its culture and adoption. A key figure in "Rare Pepe" culture, Scrilla pioneered the "Fake Rares" movement, igniting a significant surge in demand for Counterparty assets in late 2021 - nearly eight years after he began recording Bitcoin-inspired hip-hop, influenced by the Silk Road, in 2014. Scrilla has written and recorded multiple Bitcoin-inspired albums, including Sound Money, which became the first original album inscribed on Bitcoin - as well as the first original song on Bitcoin, a sub-1K inscription. From Counterparty, to Pepes, to Ordinals and beyond - Scrilla and I explore the unique history of Bitcoin art culture over the past decade - and the wildly underrated influence of Bitcoin on the development of “NFTs.” This episode pays tribute to: rocktoshi Theo Goodman Ghostface Killah - as well as shout outs to collaborators BG and lyndoco As always, you can view this episode on YouTube or Spotify using the link in my bio. This episode is powered by Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳), the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing — as well as Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋), a leading Bitcoin Rollup technology and contributor to the BitVM alliance. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Intro 02:40 – How Silk Road Sparked Scrilla’s Journey 09:27 – Trading, Losing, and Going All In 14:35 – Birth of the Rare Pepe Phenomenon 22:00 – Pepe Went Global (and political) 27:10 – Inside the Rare Pepe Directory 30:26 – Ethereum’s Rise and the Art Split 36:00 – Ethereum Won: Art Communities Scattered 41:34 – The Birth of Fake Rares 53:57 – How DJ Pepe Got Into Ordinals 01:00:10 – First Music on Bitcoin 01:10:20 – The Current Ordinals Situation 01:17:29 – The “Ahá” Moment 01:22:40 –The Dark Side of The Music Industry 01:26:10 – Censorship Resistance & The Road Ahead
1:32:27

BITCOIN RAILS #32: Bitcoin Art History (+ why "Pepes aren't NFTs") | with Rare Scrilla 🔗YOUTUBE: 🌿SPOTIFY: There are few people on the planet more deeply entrenched in ‘Bitcoin Art’ than RARE SCRILLA - and few people more influential in its culture and adoption. A key figure in "Rare Pepe" culture, Scrilla pioneered the "Fake Rares" movement, igniting a significant surge in demand for Counterparty assets in late 2021 - nearly eight years after he began recording Bitcoin-inspired hip-hop, influenced by the Silk Road, in 2014. Scrilla has written and recorded multiple Bitcoin-inspired albums, including Sound Money, which became the first original album inscribed on Bitcoin - as well as the first original song on Bitcoin, a sub-1K inscription. From Counterparty, to Pepes, to Ordinals and beyond - Scrilla and I explore the unique history of Bitcoin art culture over the past decade - and the wildly underrated influence of Bitcoin on the development of “NFTs.” This episode pays tribute to: rocktoshi Theo Goodman Ghostface Killah - as well as shout outs to collaborators BG and lyndoco As always, you can view this episode on YouTube or Spotify using the link in my bio. This episode is powered by Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳), the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing — as well as Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋), a leading Bitcoin Rollup technology and contributor to the BitVM alliance. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Intro 02:40 – How Silk Road Sparked Scrilla’s Journey 09:27 – Trading, Losing, and Going All In 14:35 – Birth of the Rare Pepe Phenomenon 22:00 – Pepe Went Global (and political) 27:10 – Inside the Rare Pepe Directory 30:26 – Ethereum’s Rise and the Art Split 36:00 – Ethereum Won: Art Communities Scattered 41:34 – The Birth of Fake Rares 53:57 – How DJ Pepe Got Into Ordinals 01:00:10 – First Music on Bitcoin 01:10:20 – The Current Ordinals Situation 01:17:29 – The “Ahá” Moment 01:22:40 –The Dark Side of The Music Industry 01:26:10 – Censorship Resistance & The Road Ahead

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

10,236 views • 1 year ago

BITCOIN RAILS #41 | Bitcoin Native Staking: When Trust Becomes the Bottleneck | with Babylon founder David Tse 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: “99% of Bitcoin is held idle, not because of lack of interest, but because of lack of trust.” Not long after Ordinals (and BRC20) revitalized the “Bitcoin DeFi” narrative, Babylon seemingly leapt onto the scene with what felt like overnight success – locking several billion dollars of TVL in its “trustless Bitcoin staking” protocol. With some of the most interesting advisors and contributors in the space (...seriously, what other projects can claim both domo and яobin linus as collaborators?), Babylon quickly became a “BTC-Fi” Goliath – converting both Bitcoin Season 2 types and formerly staunch ETH maxis alike. In this episode, I sit down with creator David Tse to get the protocol's birth story - and learn how POS staking became the first truly trustless Bitcoin DeFi application in the world. In this episode, we cover: - Why smaller POS chains need better security… and how Bitcoin liquidity may be the answer to securing experimental chains in smaller ecosystems - How David’s former experiences in the Cosmos ecosystem informed the core thesis of using Bitcoin to secure smaller chains - A quick breakdown of Babylon’s staking architecture - and what exactly makes it “trustless” - Babylon’s relationship with BitVM, and the team’s lesser-known contributions to both BitVM2 and BitVM3 (Fun Fact: David Tse is яobin linus's PhD advisor at Stanford 🧑‍🎓) - Why Bitcoiners didn’t want to stake their Bitcoin for yield until now... and how the "trustlessness" thesis is already panning out (with 1 whale dropping a whopping 10K Bitcoin in the protocol just a few months back!) Bitcoin Rails is powered by: - Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) — the leading API for Ordinals and BRC-20 data aggregation and indexing. - Spark (Lightspark) — a Statechains implementation advancing Bitcoin-powered payments. - Citrea (Citrea) — the leading Bitcoin rollup technology and BitVM alliance contributor. 📌 Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:38 Bitcoin++ Insights 01:52 David’s Background and Information Theory 05:34 Journey into Bitcoin and Blockchain 07:34 Scaling Bitcoin with Prism Protocol 10:38 Babylon and Cosmos Ecosystem 13:51 Bitcoin Staking and Security Mechanisms 24:49 The Importance of Reputation in Crypto 25:51 Partners and Announcements Break 27:25 Profile of Babylon Stakers 29:17 The Grand Vision for Babylon 32:40 Garbled Circuits and Secret Revelation 44:05 Trustless Bitcoin Vaults and Future Prospects
49:39

BITCOIN RAILS #41 | Bitcoin Native Staking: When Trust Becomes the Bottleneck | with Babylon founder David Tse 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: “99% of Bitcoin is held idle, not because of lack of interest, but because of lack of trust.” Not long after Ordinals (and BRC20) revitalized the “Bitcoin DeFi” narrative, Babylon seemingly leapt onto the scene with what felt like overnight success – locking several billion dollars of TVL in its “trustless Bitcoin staking” protocol. With some of the most interesting advisors and contributors in the space (...seriously, what other projects can claim both domo and яobin linus as collaborators?), Babylon quickly became a “BTC-Fi” Goliath – converting both Bitcoin Season 2 types and formerly staunch ETH maxis alike. In this episode, I sit down with creator David Tse to get the protocol's birth story - and learn how POS staking became the first truly trustless Bitcoin DeFi application in the world. In this episode, we cover: - Why smaller POS chains need better security… and how Bitcoin liquidity may be the answer to securing experimental chains in smaller ecosystems - How David’s former experiences in the Cosmos ecosystem informed the core thesis of using Bitcoin to secure smaller chains - A quick breakdown of Babylon’s staking architecture - and what exactly makes it “trustless” - Babylon’s relationship with BitVM, and the team’s lesser-known contributions to both BitVM2 and BitVM3 (Fun Fact: David Tse is яobin linus's PhD advisor at Stanford 🧑‍🎓) - Why Bitcoiners didn’t want to stake their Bitcoin for yield until now... and how the "trustlessness" thesis is already panning out (with 1 whale dropping a whopping 10K Bitcoin in the protocol just a few months back!) Bitcoin Rails is powered by: - Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) — the leading API for Ordinals and BRC-20 data aggregation and indexing. - Spark (Lightspark) — a Statechains implementation advancing Bitcoin-powered payments. - Citrea (Citrea) — the leading Bitcoin rollup technology and BitVM alliance contributor. 📌 Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:38 Bitcoin++ Insights 01:52 David’s Background and Information Theory 05:34 Journey into Bitcoin and Blockchain 07:34 Scaling Bitcoin with Prism Protocol 10:38 Babylon and Cosmos Ecosystem 13:51 Bitcoin Staking and Security Mechanisms 24:49 The Importance of Reputation in Crypto 25:51 Partners and Announcements Break 27:25 Profile of Babylon Stakers 29:17 The Grand Vision for Babylon 32:40 Garbled Circuits and Secret Revelation 44:05 Trustless Bitcoin Vaults and Future Prospects

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

15,937 views • 9 months ago

BITCOIN RAILS #34: Bitcoin’s Security & Quantum Risks—and the Future of Satoshi’s Coins | with Jameson Lopp Jameson Lopp “Most people don’t think about security until it’s too late,” says the Casa co-founder and CSO. One of the most prolific thought-leaders in Bitcoin security and privacy, there are few people who understand the nuances of Bitcoin security quite as deeply - not to mention the OPSEC practices required to protect against wrench attacks, for instance, which are rising globally as Bitcoin price increases. More recently, Lopp has turned his attention to mitigating Bitcoin’s quantum vulnerabilities, including market risks associated with quantum-vulnerable Satoshi’s Coins + longer-term strategies for quantum-hardening of Bitcoin addresses long term. In this special episode of Bitcoin Rails, we cover: - Lopp’s experiences designing self-custody products at both BitGo and Casa - The swatting attack he suffered in 2017, and the radical steps he’s taken to secure his home location since - The ‘quantum computing’ challenge for Bitcoin and its impacts on Satoshi’s Coins - How the network may respond to QCs in the face of ossification and why QC preparation may be the hardest governance test the network has ever faced This episode is powered by: - Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳), the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing - Spark (Lightspark), a statechains implementation leading the path towards institutional adoption of Bitcoin-powered payments - Citrea (Citrea), the leading Bitcoin Rollup technology and contributor to the BitVM alliance 📌 Timestamps 00:00 – Intro: Quantum Computing Meets Bitcoin 00:19 – Jameson Lopp on the Bitcoin Rails 00:53 – The Quantum Threat to Bitcoin Security 06:32 – Lopp’s Path into Bitcoin & Security 12:58 – The Swatting Attack During the Block Size Wars 25:28 – Could Quantum Crack Satoshi’s Coins? 43:55 – Announcements & Sponsors Messages 45:30 – Building Bitcoin’s Quantum Resistance 47:00 – QBTC and the Push for Quantum-Resistant Bitcoin 48:43 – Why Changing Bitcoin Is So Hard 51:19 – Email Protocols, Ossification, and Bitcoin’s Future 01:01:53 – A Roadmap for Quantum Resistance
1:27:58

BITCOIN RAILS #34: Bitcoin’s Security & Quantum Risks—and the Future of Satoshi’s Coins | with Jameson Lopp Jameson Lopp “Most people don’t think about security until it’s too late,” says the Casa co-founder and CSO. One of the most prolific thought-leaders in Bitcoin security and privacy, there are few people who understand the nuances of Bitcoin security quite as deeply - not to mention the OPSEC practices required to protect against wrench attacks, for instance, which are rising globally as Bitcoin price increases. More recently, Lopp has turned his attention to mitigating Bitcoin’s quantum vulnerabilities, including market risks associated with quantum-vulnerable Satoshi’s Coins + longer-term strategies for quantum-hardening of Bitcoin addresses long term. In this special episode of Bitcoin Rails, we cover: - Lopp’s experiences designing self-custody products at both BitGo and Casa - The swatting attack he suffered in 2017, and the radical steps he’s taken to secure his home location since - The ‘quantum computing’ challenge for Bitcoin and its impacts on Satoshi’s Coins - How the network may respond to QCs in the face of ossification and why QC preparation may be the hardest governance test the network has ever faced This episode is powered by: - Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳), the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing - Spark (Lightspark), a statechains implementation leading the path towards institutional adoption of Bitcoin-powered payments - Citrea (Citrea), the leading Bitcoin Rollup technology and contributor to the BitVM alliance 📌 Timestamps 00:00 – Intro: Quantum Computing Meets Bitcoin 00:19 – Jameson Lopp on the Bitcoin Rails 00:53 – The Quantum Threat to Bitcoin Security 06:32 – Lopp’s Path into Bitcoin & Security 12:58 – The Swatting Attack During the Block Size Wars 25:28 – Could Quantum Crack Satoshi’s Coins? 43:55 – Announcements & Sponsors Messages 45:30 – Building Bitcoin’s Quantum Resistance 47:00 – QBTC and the Push for Quantum-Resistant Bitcoin 48:43 – Why Changing Bitcoin Is So Hard 51:19 – Email Protocols, Ossification, and Bitcoin’s Future 01:01:53 – A Roadmap for Quantum Resistance

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

14,538 views • 11 months ago

BITCOIN RAILS #36: The Birth Story of ‘OPCAT’ | with proposal co-author Ethan ✨ is on BlueSky✨ Heilman 🐱 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: As interest in Bitcoin Layer 2s skyrockets, the inclusion of OP_CAT — an opcode enabling concatenation of elements in the Bitcoin stack — has become a key technical upgrade to watch for its potential in the development of trustless bridges. OP_CAT co-author Ethan ✨ is on BlueSky✨ Heilman 🐱 and I sat down to discuss debate around this opcode — including why it’s controversial, the cultural environment shaping its future, and why some worry its broad expressivity could pose “unknown risks” to Bitcoin over time. More recently, Ethan co-authored BIP 360 with Hunter Beast 🕯️ — another controversial proposal aimed at addressing Bitcoin’s quantum vulnerabilities. Suffice it to say, there are few people with Ethan's experience in navigating Bitcoin politics and its shifting governance landscape as we move towards ossification over time. In this episode, we cover: - The origins of OP_CAT and why it was included and removed from early Bitcoin - What makes OP_CAT so powerful (and why that worries some developers) - Cultural shifts in Bitcoin governance as its developer community matures - The ‘great covenants debate’ + OPCAT vs. CTV - The path to BIP 360 and why Bitcoin should be ‘quantum ready’ This episode is powered by: - Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳), the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing - Spark (Lightspark), a statechains implementation leading the path towards institutional adoption of Bitcoin-powered payments - Citrea (Citrea), the leading Bitcoin Rollup technology and contributor to the BitVM alliance 📍 Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 00:45 – Bitcoin Privacy and the OP_CAT Proposal 03:18 – Technical Challenges of Adding New Opcodes 07:37 – Politics and Culture of Bitcoin Upgrades 28:46 – Quantum Computing Meets Bitcoin 37:48 – How Governments View Quantum Risk 39:06 – Breaking Down BIP 360 for Developers 42:03 – Post-Quantum Signature Schemes Explained 45:18 – Trade-offs in Quantum Security for Bitcoin 53:16 – Community Reactions to BIP 360 01:00:23 – The Future of Bitcoin in a Post Quantum World
1:08:25

BITCOIN RAILS #36: The Birth Story of ‘OPCAT’ | with proposal co-author Ethan ✨ is on BlueSky✨ Heilman 🐱 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: As interest in Bitcoin Layer 2s skyrockets, the inclusion of OP_CAT — an opcode enabling concatenation of elements in the Bitcoin stack — has become a key technical upgrade to watch for its potential in the development of trustless bridges. OP_CAT co-author Ethan ✨ is on BlueSky✨ Heilman 🐱 and I sat down to discuss debate around this opcode — including why it’s controversial, the cultural environment shaping its future, and why some worry its broad expressivity could pose “unknown risks” to Bitcoin over time. More recently, Ethan co-authored BIP 360 with Hunter Beast 🕯️ — another controversial proposal aimed at addressing Bitcoin’s quantum vulnerabilities. Suffice it to say, there are few people with Ethan's experience in navigating Bitcoin politics and its shifting governance landscape as we move towards ossification over time. In this episode, we cover: - The origins of OP_CAT and why it was included and removed from early Bitcoin - What makes OP_CAT so powerful (and why that worries some developers) - Cultural shifts in Bitcoin governance as its developer community matures - The ‘great covenants debate’ + OPCAT vs. CTV - The path to BIP 360 and why Bitcoin should be ‘quantum ready’ This episode is powered by: - Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳), the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing - Spark (Lightspark), a statechains implementation leading the path towards institutional adoption of Bitcoin-powered payments - Citrea (Citrea), the leading Bitcoin Rollup technology and contributor to the BitVM alliance 📍 Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 00:45 – Bitcoin Privacy and the OP_CAT Proposal 03:18 – Technical Challenges of Adding New Opcodes 07:37 – Politics and Culture of Bitcoin Upgrades 28:46 – Quantum Computing Meets Bitcoin 37:48 – How Governments View Quantum Risk 39:06 – Breaking Down BIP 360 for Developers 42:03 – Post-Quantum Signature Schemes Explained 45:18 – Trade-offs in Quantum Security for Bitcoin 53:16 – Community Reactions to BIP 360 01:00:23 – The Future of Bitcoin in a Post Quantum World

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

13,231 views • 10 months ago

BITCOIN RAILS EPISODE #28: ORANGE PILLING CRYPTO WITH WIZARDS & CATS | with Udi Wertheimer One of the most influential voices in “Bitcoin Season II,” Udi Wertheimer is one of the most controversial and, perhaps, most misunderstood figures in the Bitcoin community broadly. A self-identified “survivor” of Bitcoin maximalism, Udi’s critiques of Bitcoin-only tribalism – and the suppression of nuanced discussion that arises as a result – made him the perfect spokesperson for post-Ordinals Bitcoiners looking for someone to represent their “Bitcoin-first” rather than “Bitcoin-only” views. Inspired by Ordinals, Udi and partner Eric Wall founded Taproot Wizards – one of the most unique and enigmatic companies in Bitcoin – with a broad mandate to “onboard crypto users to Bitcoin… by any means necessary.” From launching two of the most popular Ordinals collections in the world – to campaigning for progressive Bitcoin opcodes (i.e. CAT) – Udi and the Wizards relentlessly orange pill the most maxi-neglected low-hanging fruit… non-Bitcoin crypto users. As always, you can view this episode on YouTube or Spotify via the linktree in my bio. This episode is powered by Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳), the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing—as well as Citrea (Citrea), a leading 'Bitcoin Rollup' technology and core contributor to the BitVM alliance. Timestamps: 00:20 Udi: The Bitcoin Maxi “Cult Survivor” 03:10 Maxis cheering on Gary Gensler 06:30 Ordinals: Tokens arriving on Bitcoin 08:55 How NFTs helped encourage Bitcoin self-custody 11:40 Making Bitcoin cool again for crypto people 13:55 Why did Udi start the Taproot Wizards company? 16:00 The Wizards’ pitch to investors 18:50 “Successful fundraising” is an oxymoron 20:40 Why did Ryan Dell join the Wizards? 24:00 Taproot Wizards is not strictly an “L2” company 27:00 What went into the Taproot Wizards NFT launch 29:30 The NFT auction and inspiring Solana user participation 32:50 The importance of launching during the bear market 34:30 Every active crypto trader has Phantom wallet 37:10 Cultural differences between Bitcoin, crypto and different wallet users 40:45 Why Udi was impressed by 43:30 Udi is NOT a Runes fan 45:40 Don't be too defeatist about Runes’ failure 47:40 Championing OP_CAT and the Bitcoin Core power vacuum 49:40 Why Bitcoin Core has “failed” 51:35 Bitcoin Core’s weakness around OP-Return drama 55:00 How will Bitcoin devs get things done? 57:40 Udi’s OP_CAT political lobbying effort 01:00:20 Why Udi thinks CTV is unlikely to pass 01:03:40 Robin Linus wanted OP_CAT: What happened? 01:05:30 Were Taproot Wizards a blessing or a curse for OP_CAT?
1:07:23

BITCOIN RAILS EPISODE #28: ORANGE PILLING CRYPTO WITH WIZARDS & CATS | with Udi Wertheimer One of the most influential voices in “Bitcoin Season II,” Udi Wertheimer is one of the most controversial and, perhaps, most misunderstood figures in the Bitcoin community broadly. A self-identified “survivor” of Bitcoin maximalism, Udi’s critiques of Bitcoin-only tribalism – and the suppression of nuanced discussion that arises as a result – made him the perfect spokesperson for post-Ordinals Bitcoiners looking for someone to represent their “Bitcoin-first” rather than “Bitcoin-only” views. Inspired by Ordinals, Udi and partner Eric Wall founded Taproot Wizards – one of the most unique and enigmatic companies in Bitcoin – with a broad mandate to “onboard crypto users to Bitcoin… by any means necessary.” From launching two of the most popular Ordinals collections in the world – to campaigning for progressive Bitcoin opcodes (i.e. CAT) – Udi and the Wizards relentlessly orange pill the most maxi-neglected low-hanging fruit… non-Bitcoin crypto users. As always, you can view this episode on YouTube or Spotify via the linktree in my bio. This episode is powered by Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳), the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing—as well as Citrea (Citrea), a leading 'Bitcoin Rollup' technology and core contributor to the BitVM alliance. Timestamps: 00:20 Udi: The Bitcoin Maxi “Cult Survivor” 03:10 Maxis cheering on Gary Gensler 06:30 Ordinals: Tokens arriving on Bitcoin 08:55 How NFTs helped encourage Bitcoin self-custody 11:40 Making Bitcoin cool again for crypto people 13:55 Why did Udi start the Taproot Wizards company? 16:00 The Wizards’ pitch to investors 18:50 “Successful fundraising” is an oxymoron 20:40 Why did Ryan Dell join the Wizards? 24:00 Taproot Wizards is not strictly an “L2” company 27:00 What went into the Taproot Wizards NFT launch 29:30 The NFT auction and inspiring Solana user participation 32:50 The importance of launching during the bear market 34:30 Every active crypto trader has Phantom wallet 37:10 Cultural differences between Bitcoin, crypto and different wallet users 40:45 Why Udi was impressed by 43:30 Udi is NOT a Runes fan 45:40 Don't be too defeatist about Runes’ failure 47:40 Championing OP_CAT and the Bitcoin Core power vacuum 49:40 Why Bitcoin Core has “failed” 51:35 Bitcoin Core’s weakness around OP-Return drama 55:00 How will Bitcoin devs get things done? 57:40 Udi’s OP_CAT political lobbying effort 01:00:20 Why Udi thinks CTV is unlikely to pass 01:03:40 Robin Linus wanted OP_CAT: What happened? 01:05:30 Were Taproot Wizards a blessing or a curse for OP_CAT?

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

16,524 views • 1 year ago

BITCOIN RAILS EPISODE #16: How Alkanes Are Changing the 'Programmable Bitcoin' Meta—and paving the path for true interoperability with Oyl Dynamics Airhead - Building Alkanes founders Tagga & RWP IV The founders of Oyl have been obsessively focused on making the Bitcoin trading experience as seamless and flexible as on other chains. This effort has led to a series of experiments, including the creation of Alkanes—one of the first programmable metaprotocol implementations on Bitcoin—and perhaps the only implementation pushing towards interoperability as a goal. In this episode, the Oyl boys and I sat down to discuss: - The real and perceived technical limitations of Bitcoin (and where Bitcoin surprisingly outperforms). - The "Programmable Metaprotocol" Boom and how Proto-Runes & Alkanes change the narrative - Why "composability" and interoperability are the real end game for Bitcoin metaprotocols - Oyl’s collab with Arthur Hayes on Airheads and why Ordinals may outperform tokens for fundraising This episode is powered by Best In Slot—the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing. This episode can be viewed on YouTube: or Spotify here: TIMESTAMPS: 00:30 What is Oyl Dynamics? 02:30 Alec’s entry into Ordinals 05:33 The need for Bitcoin wallets and indexing 06:50 Indexing with Bitcoin vs Ethereum nodes 09:10 Selling indexing tools to Bitcoin builders 10:10:Metashrew: Spinning up any Bitcoin metaprotocol 12:00 Ethereum vs Bitcoin wallets 12:55 Unisat and OKX dominating the indexer 13:55 The hardest asset should be easy to trade 15:05 How BRC20s and Domo influence Oyl’s design 16:00 Aggregating marketplace data for Runes, Ordinals, BRC20s 18:00 Building a trustless AMM for Bitcoin 18:40 From BRC20s, to Runes, to Programmable Runes 22:20 What does “composable” mean? 25:30 Alkanes: creating interoperability between all of the Protorunes 29:55 The Oyl strategy: ultimate builder support 33:10 Solving cross-metaprotocol interoperability 35:00 The spectrum of programmability on Bitcoin 36:00 Casey’s genius with Runes 37:20 Where did the name “Alkanes” come from? 39:00 Only BTC needed at Alkanes 40:20 Using Ethereum as Bitcoin’s testnet 42:00 Are there unique advantages of building on Bitcoin? 43:00 What is special about Wasm? 44:25 Will Wasm overwhelm EVM’s network effects? 46:10 Is there any downside to building with Wasm? 49:00 Wasm wasn’t ready when Ethereum launched 50:25 Oyl’s Ordinal Collection: Airheads and Arthur Hayes 54:38 Marketing tied to an asset you can trade 55:30 Fundraising and Oyl’s $DIESEL EXP system 01:00:20 How do people mine $DIESEL?
1:03:19

BITCOIN RAILS EPISODE #16: How Alkanes Are Changing the 'Programmable Bitcoin' Meta—and paving the path for true interoperability with Oyl Dynamics Airhead - Building Alkanes founders Tagga & RWP IV The founders of Oyl have been obsessively focused on making the Bitcoin trading experience as seamless and flexible as on other chains. This effort has led to a series of experiments, including the creation of Alkanes—one of the first programmable metaprotocol implementations on Bitcoin—and perhaps the only implementation pushing towards interoperability as a goal. In this episode, the Oyl boys and I sat down to discuss: - The real and perceived technical limitations of Bitcoin (and where Bitcoin surprisingly outperforms). - The "Programmable Metaprotocol" Boom and how Proto-Runes & Alkanes change the narrative - Why "composability" and interoperability are the real end game for Bitcoin metaprotocols - Oyl’s collab with Arthur Hayes on Airheads and why Ordinals may outperform tokens for fundraising This episode is powered by Best In Slot—the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing. This episode can be viewed on YouTube: or Spotify here: TIMESTAMPS: 00:30 What is Oyl Dynamics? 02:30 Alec’s entry into Ordinals 05:33 The need for Bitcoin wallets and indexing 06:50 Indexing with Bitcoin vs Ethereum nodes 09:10 Selling indexing tools to Bitcoin builders 10:10:Metashrew: Spinning up any Bitcoin metaprotocol 12:00 Ethereum vs Bitcoin wallets 12:55 Unisat and OKX dominating the indexer 13:55 The hardest asset should be easy to trade 15:05 How BRC20s and Domo influence Oyl’s design 16:00 Aggregating marketplace data for Runes, Ordinals, BRC20s 18:00 Building a trustless AMM for Bitcoin 18:40 From BRC20s, to Runes, to Programmable Runes 22:20 What does “composable” mean? 25:30 Alkanes: creating interoperability between all of the Protorunes 29:55 The Oyl strategy: ultimate builder support 33:10 Solving cross-metaprotocol interoperability 35:00 The spectrum of programmability on Bitcoin 36:00 Casey’s genius with Runes 37:20 Where did the name “Alkanes” come from? 39:00 Only BTC needed at Alkanes 40:20 Using Ethereum as Bitcoin’s testnet 42:00 Are there unique advantages of building on Bitcoin? 43:00 What is special about Wasm? 44:25 Will Wasm overwhelm EVM’s network effects? 46:10 Is there any downside to building with Wasm? 49:00 Wasm wasn’t ready when Ethereum launched 50:25 Oyl’s Ordinal Collection: Airheads and Arthur Hayes 54:38 Marketing tied to an asset you can trade 55:30 Fundraising and Oyl’s $DIESEL EXP system 01:00:20 How do people mine $DIESEL?

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

34,529 views • 1 year ago

BITCOIN RAILS #38: Two Forces That Could Break Bitcoin: AI vs Quantum I with Martin Shkreli 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: A couple months ago, I co-hosted an X space with LayerTwo Labs re: “Should Bitcoiners care about quantum computing?” You can imagine our surprise when (in?)famous tech investor Martin Shkreli arrived to share that he’s been researching this very question for years… and dropped that he’s been personally considering raising funds to hire a team of mathematicians to hack Satoshi’s Coins. In this episode, Martin and I explore the limits of Bitcoin’s security model and the two forces he believes could potentially challenge it: a computational path driven by advances in quantum hardware, and/or a mathematical path fueled by AI-assisted discovery. This interview additionally shares takes on: - Why hacking Bitcoin would be the "ultimate" mathematical achievement—and why hacking Satoshi’s coins should be considered a “bug bounty” for Bitcoin - Why quantum may be more problematic for Bitcoin than for the traditional tech world (e.g. why quantum doesn’t likely threaten NVIDIA) - The little known history of Bitcoin’s “overflow bug” (yup, Bitcoin *has* been hacked before… an exploit corrected by hard fork). - And of course, why mathematicians do their deepest work in prison 😉 As always, this episode of Bitcoin Rails can be viewed on YouTube or Spotify via the link available in my bio—and is brought to you with the help of my incredible partners: - Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) – the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing - Spark (Lightspark) – a statechains implementation leading the path towards institutional adoption of Bitcoin-powered payments - Citrea (Citrea) – the leading Bitcoin rollup technology and contributor to the BitVM alliance 📷 Timestamps 00:00 Intro 02:57 Quantum Supremacy and Google’s Breakthroughs 05:02 Bitcoin’s Cryptographic Vulnerabilities 08:24 Studying Math and Cryptography Behind Bars 20:04 Governance and the Culture of Bitcoin Development 26:29 The Future of Quantum and AI in Cryptography 37:42 Hardware Challenges and Fidelity in Quantum 47:57 Game Theory and the Quantum Race 01:04:08 Bitcoin Recovery and the Quantum Security Question 01:08:38 Mathematical Challenges in Breaking Cryptography 01:15:08 The Role of AI in Future Mathematical Breakthroughs
1:28:17

BITCOIN RAILS #38: Two Forces That Could Break Bitcoin: AI vs Quantum I with Martin Shkreli 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: A couple months ago, I co-hosted an X space with LayerTwo Labs re: “Should Bitcoiners care about quantum computing?” You can imagine our surprise when (in?)famous tech investor Martin Shkreli arrived to share that he’s been researching this very question for years… and dropped that he’s been personally considering raising funds to hire a team of mathematicians to hack Satoshi’s Coins. In this episode, Martin and I explore the limits of Bitcoin’s security model and the two forces he believes could potentially challenge it: a computational path driven by advances in quantum hardware, and/or a mathematical path fueled by AI-assisted discovery. This interview additionally shares takes on: - Why hacking Bitcoin would be the "ultimate" mathematical achievement—and why hacking Satoshi’s coins should be considered a “bug bounty” for Bitcoin - Why quantum may be more problematic for Bitcoin than for the traditional tech world (e.g. why quantum doesn’t likely threaten NVIDIA) - The little known history of Bitcoin’s “overflow bug” (yup, Bitcoin *has* been hacked before… an exploit corrected by hard fork). - And of course, why mathematicians do their deepest work in prison 😉 As always, this episode of Bitcoin Rails can be viewed on YouTube or Spotify via the link available in my bio—and is brought to you with the help of my incredible partners: - Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) – the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing - Spark (Lightspark) – a statechains implementation leading the path towards institutional adoption of Bitcoin-powered payments - Citrea (Citrea) – the leading Bitcoin rollup technology and contributor to the BitVM alliance 📷 Timestamps 00:00 Intro 02:57 Quantum Supremacy and Google’s Breakthroughs 05:02 Bitcoin’s Cryptographic Vulnerabilities 08:24 Studying Math and Cryptography Behind Bars 20:04 Governance and the Culture of Bitcoin Development 26:29 The Future of Quantum and AI in Cryptography 37:42 Hardware Challenges and Fidelity in Quantum 47:57 Game Theory and the Quantum Race 01:04:08 Bitcoin Recovery and the Quantum Security Question 01:08:38 Mathematical Challenges in Breaking Cryptography 01:15:08 The Role of AI in Future Mathematical Breakthroughs

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

62,881 views • 10 months ago

BITCOIN RAILS #55: WHAT HAPPENED TO BITCOIN TREASURY COMPANIES? | with David Bailey🇵🇷 $2.0mm/btc is the floor & Brandon 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: This most recent bull market was inarguably defined by one dominant narrative: the rise of Bitcoin treasury companies and their dramatic retracement as crypto "DATs" flooded markets. David Bailey🇵🇷 $2.0mm/btc is the floor — former CEO of Bitcoin Inc. (Bitcoin Magazine bitcoin conference) — raised $760M for treasury company Nakamoto, which catapulted to a peak valuation of 33X MNAV before sliding down below MNAV after a seeming burst in treasury mania last year. David joins me and the newly appointed CEO of Bitcoin Inc. Brandon, to share the history of one of the most influential companies in Bitcoin history (Bitcoin Inc.), how their treasury play changed everything, and what we can expect from Bitcoin treasury companies moving through 2026 and beyond. In this episode, the three of us discuss: - The history of Bitcoin Inc., and the rise of Bitcoin Magazine and Bitcoin Conference empire. - The role of UTXO Management (VC and trading fund) in the team's strategy over time - How the fund’s entry into Metaplanet Inc. and their subsequent seeding of nearly a dozen Bitcoin Treasury companies since - The rise of Nakamoto and its subsequent 99% slide in price from ATHs - How David sees the Treasury thesis playing out from here… and projected winners and losers when/if these companies rebound. This episode of Bitcoin Rails is powered by: - Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) — the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing. - Spark (Lightspark) — a statechains implementation advancing Bitcoin-powered payments. - Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋) — a leading Bitcoin rollup technology and BitVM alliance contributor. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro 01:45 Hit Pieces and Psyop Jokes 05:53 David Bailey Origin Story 12:24 Buying Bitcoin Magazine 15:18 Early Spam “Wars” 19:55 BM Experimentation Phase 26:33 Defining What “Bitcoin Only” Means 32:39 What Being a Bitcoin Maxi Means 34:47 Bitcoin L2 Over Altchains 37:00 Why Securities Matter 41:23 Going Bitcoin Only 46:47 Bitcoin Conference Explosion 54:10 UTXO Bets And Treasury Wave 01:12:10 Seeding Treasury Startups 01:15:44 Taking Nakamoto Public 01:32:51 Treasury Thesis Future Products
1:49:49

BITCOIN RAILS #55: WHAT HAPPENED TO BITCOIN TREASURY COMPANIES? | with David Bailey🇵🇷 $2.0mm/btc is the floor & Brandon 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: This most recent bull market was inarguably defined by one dominant narrative: the rise of Bitcoin treasury companies and their dramatic retracement as crypto "DATs" flooded markets. David Bailey🇵🇷 $2.0mm/btc is the floor — former CEO of Bitcoin Inc. (Bitcoin Magazine bitcoin conference) — raised $760M for treasury company Nakamoto, which catapulted to a peak valuation of 33X MNAV before sliding down below MNAV after a seeming burst in treasury mania last year. David joins me and the newly appointed CEO of Bitcoin Inc. Brandon, to share the history of one of the most influential companies in Bitcoin history (Bitcoin Inc.), how their treasury play changed everything, and what we can expect from Bitcoin treasury companies moving through 2026 and beyond. In this episode, the three of us discuss: - The history of Bitcoin Inc., and the rise of Bitcoin Magazine and Bitcoin Conference empire. - The role of UTXO Management (VC and trading fund) in the team's strategy over time - How the fund’s entry into Metaplanet Inc. and their subsequent seeding of nearly a dozen Bitcoin Treasury companies since - The rise of Nakamoto and its subsequent 99% slide in price from ATHs - How David sees the Treasury thesis playing out from here… and projected winners and losers when/if these companies rebound. This episode of Bitcoin Rails is powered by: - Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) — the leading API for Ordinals and BRC20 data aggregation and indexing. - Spark (Lightspark) — a statechains implementation advancing Bitcoin-powered payments. - Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋) — a leading Bitcoin rollup technology and BitVM alliance contributor. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro 01:45 Hit Pieces and Psyop Jokes 05:53 David Bailey Origin Story 12:24 Buying Bitcoin Magazine 15:18 Early Spam “Wars” 19:55 BM Experimentation Phase 26:33 Defining What “Bitcoin Only” Means 32:39 What Being a Bitcoin Maxi Means 34:47 Bitcoin L2 Over Altchains 37:00 Why Securities Matter 41:23 Going Bitcoin Only 46:47 Bitcoin Conference Explosion 54:10 UTXO Bets And Treasury Wave 01:12:10 Seeding Treasury Startups 01:15:44 Taking Nakamoto Public 01:32:51 Treasury Thesis Future Products

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

35,495 views • 4 months ago

BITCOIN RAILS #43: A HISTORY OF “SPAM” on BITCOIN | with Peter Todd 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: “You cannot prevent arbitrary data from being published in Bitcoin transactions. Even at the consensus level…It’s mathematically impossible.” Legendary Bitcoin contributor since 2009 and self-described "weirdo with a fine arts degree," Peter Todd joins me to unpack the endless wars over Bitcoin's "true purpose," his pioneering work putting "spam" on the blockchain, and why he believes attempts to filter transactions are just “silly.” In this episode, we get deep into the history of using Bitcoin for data storage - which goes back, at least, to the development of Namecoin in 2011. Relatedly, we cover the history and long-fought governance battles around OP_RETURN, relay policy, and our community's evolving definitions of "arbitrary data. Suffice it to say, the Filter Wars of 2024/25 are not new... they are simply one battle in a decade+ war we unpack in detail in this context-rich episode of Bitcoin Rails. In more detail, this episode covers: - The development of Open Time Stamps + Bitcoin's use in validating election data and beyond. - OPRETURN battles of the early days... and how its use has evolved over the past decade. - Why Bitcoin Core "should not try to censor transactions" and the "performance art project" (Libre Relay) that shows why. - Bitcoin as a "replicated database" and why blockchains may legitimately be useful outside of sound money. - Why preventing arbitrary data on Bitcoin is "mathematically impossible" ...and trying to stop it is only distracting us from "more important" efforts, like the Great Consensus Cleanup Antoine Poinsot. This episode of Bitcoin Rails is powered by: - Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) — the leading API for Ordinals and BRC-20 data aggregation and indexing. - Spark (Lightspark) — a statechains implementation advancing Bitcoin-powered payments. - Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋) — the leading Bitcoin rollup technology and BitVM alliance contributor. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:19 Bitcoin Early Days 03:44 OpenTimestamps Project 12:22 Governance and Bitcoin Protocol Debates 26:36 The Blockchain Use Case Argument 35:46 Transaction Version Numbers and Standardization 38:30 Preventing Exploits and DDoS Attacks 40:10 Relay Policies and Economic Decisions 42:00 The Taproot Annex and OP_RETURN 45:07 Libre Relay 01:01:18 Future of Bitcoin and Soft Fork Proposals
1:13:14

BITCOIN RAILS #43: A HISTORY OF “SPAM” on BITCOIN | with Peter Todd 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: “You cannot prevent arbitrary data from being published in Bitcoin transactions. Even at the consensus level…It’s mathematically impossible.” Legendary Bitcoin contributor since 2009 and self-described "weirdo with a fine arts degree," Peter Todd joins me to unpack the endless wars over Bitcoin's "true purpose," his pioneering work putting "spam" on the blockchain, and why he believes attempts to filter transactions are just “silly.” In this episode, we get deep into the history of using Bitcoin for data storage - which goes back, at least, to the development of Namecoin in 2011. Relatedly, we cover the history and long-fought governance battles around OP_RETURN, relay policy, and our community's evolving definitions of "arbitrary data. Suffice it to say, the Filter Wars of 2024/25 are not new... they are simply one battle in a decade+ war we unpack in detail in this context-rich episode of Bitcoin Rails. In more detail, this episode covers: - The development of Open Time Stamps + Bitcoin's use in validating election data and beyond. - OPRETURN battles of the early days... and how its use has evolved over the past decade. - Why Bitcoin Core "should not try to censor transactions" and the "performance art project" (Libre Relay) that shows why. - Bitcoin as a "replicated database" and why blockchains may legitimately be useful outside of sound money. - Why preventing arbitrary data on Bitcoin is "mathematically impossible" ...and trying to stop it is only distracting us from "more important" efforts, like the Great Consensus Cleanup Antoine Poinsot. This episode of Bitcoin Rails is powered by: - Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) — the leading API for Ordinals and BRC-20 data aggregation and indexing. - Spark (Lightspark) — a statechains implementation advancing Bitcoin-powered payments. - Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋) — the leading Bitcoin rollup technology and BitVM alliance contributor. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:19 Bitcoin Early Days 03:44 OpenTimestamps Project 12:22 Governance and Bitcoin Protocol Debates 26:36 The Blockchain Use Case Argument 35:46 Transaction Version Numbers and Standardization 38:30 Preventing Exploits and DDoS Attacks 40:10 Relay Policies and Economic Decisions 42:00 The Taproot Annex and OP_RETURN 45:07 Libre Relay 01:01:18 Future of Bitcoin and Soft Fork Proposals

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

10,768 views • 8 months ago

BITCOIN RAILS #49: The "Cultural Fork" of Bitcoin | with t.j. miller 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: I was introduced to Silicon Valley's t.j. miller a little over a year ago while he was brainstorming how we could potentially inscribe a 4-megger comedy video through MARA Slipstream (shout out to OrdinalsBot ⚡ for the idea). A Bitcoiner since 2018, TJ saw the potential of Ordinals to orange-pill a whole new kind of Bitcoiner — the kind that may realistically be intimidated by (or straight up uninterested in) ivory-tower technical or economic topics. "I talk about cultural adoption and how do we bring Bitcoin into the cultural forefront." Letting me into "his world" for this interview, TJ and I recorded this chat straight from The Stand before his Bitcoin-focused set during Chainlink New York blockchain week [full set forthcoming in the comments]. Shout out to Kelley Weaver Melrose PR Validation Cloud and Bitwire ~ Your news, amplified. for organizing the event. It was a banger 🔥 In this episode, TJ and I jam about: - How TJ was orange-pilled by the Winklevoss twins Cameron Winklevoss Tyler Winklevoss (+ the Michigan twins of course!) - Why TJ's wife, Kate, is a hardcore Bitcoin maxi... despite TJ loving Ethereum and Department of Government Efficiency on the side - How comedy could orange pill the world - And as usual we end with... Brock Pierce. IYKYK. For good measure, we also clear the air on Peter Todd [probably not] being Satoshi. Unsurprisingly, we had an absolute blast and lots of laughs filming this episode. A nice little left turn from my usual technical schtick + some fun personal stories shared from both of our sides. Bitcoin Rails is powered by: — Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) - the leading API for Ordinals and BRC-20 data aggregation and indexing. — Spark (Lightspark) - a statechains implementation advancing Bitcoin-powered payments. — Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋) - a leading Bitcoin rollup technology and BitVM alliance contributor. TIMESTAMPS 📌 00:00 Intro 04:46 Trading and Crypto Misconceptions 08:47 Bitcoin and Early Adopters 17:13 Ethereum and Blockchain Exploration 38:55 NFTs and Artistic Ventures 40:46 The First NFT Comedy Special 41:31 The FTX Collapse and Its Impact 47:28 Ordinals and Bitcoin Utility 51:41 The Ordinals Cultural Fork 53:20 Cultural Adoption of Bitcoin 01:09:06 Bitcoin Comedy and Community
1:19:24

BITCOIN RAILS #49: The "Cultural Fork" of Bitcoin | with t.j. miller 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: I was introduced to Silicon Valley's t.j. miller a little over a year ago while he was brainstorming how we could potentially inscribe a 4-megger comedy video through MARA Slipstream (shout out to OrdinalsBot ⚡ for the idea). A Bitcoiner since 2018, TJ saw the potential of Ordinals to orange-pill a whole new kind of Bitcoiner — the kind that may realistically be intimidated by (or straight up uninterested in) ivory-tower technical or economic topics. "I talk about cultural adoption and how do we bring Bitcoin into the cultural forefront." Letting me into "his world" for this interview, TJ and I recorded this chat straight from The Stand before his Bitcoin-focused set during Chainlink New York blockchain week [full set forthcoming in the comments]. Shout out to Kelley Weaver Melrose PR Validation Cloud and Bitwire ~ Your news, amplified. for organizing the event. It was a banger 🔥 In this episode, TJ and I jam about: - How TJ was orange-pilled by the Winklevoss twins Cameron Winklevoss Tyler Winklevoss (+ the Michigan twins of course!) - Why TJ's wife, Kate, is a hardcore Bitcoin maxi... despite TJ loving Ethereum and Department of Government Efficiency on the side - How comedy could orange pill the world - And as usual we end with... Brock Pierce. IYKYK. For good measure, we also clear the air on Peter Todd [probably not] being Satoshi. Unsurprisingly, we had an absolute blast and lots of laughs filming this episode. A nice little left turn from my usual technical schtick + some fun personal stories shared from both of our sides. Bitcoin Rails is powered by: — Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) - the leading API for Ordinals and BRC-20 data aggregation and indexing. — Spark (Lightspark) - a statechains implementation advancing Bitcoin-powered payments. — Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋) - a leading Bitcoin rollup technology and BitVM alliance contributor. TIMESTAMPS 📌 00:00 Intro 04:46 Trading and Crypto Misconceptions 08:47 Bitcoin and Early Adopters 17:13 Ethereum and Blockchain Exploration 38:55 NFTs and Artistic Ventures 40:46 The First NFT Comedy Special 41:31 The FTX Collapse and Its Impact 47:28 Ordinals and Bitcoin Utility 51:41 The Ordinals Cultural Fork 53:20 Cultural Adoption of Bitcoin 01:09:06 Bitcoin Comedy and Community

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

15,227 views • 6 months ago

BITCOIN RAILS #50: HISTORY OF SEGWIT & TAPROOT | with Pieter Wuille 🔗 YOUTUBE: A primary maintainer of Bitcoin Core from 2011-2022, Pieter Wuille is arguably the most influential developer in Bitcoin’s history since Satoshi himself. After receiving keys to the Bitcoin codebase from Gavin Andresen, who was tasked with maintaining the codebase by Satoshi Nakamoto, Pieter went on to implement some of Bitcoin’s most dramatic and influential upgrades, including but not limited to: - Implementation of Bitcoin’s Taproot and Segwit upgrades - Implementation of libsecp256k + Bitcoin’s unique encoding structure for the cryptography securing all Bitcoin public/private keys - The first import/export feature for Bitcoin private keys into Bitcoin (now Bitcoin Core) - Development of hierarchical deterministic (HD) wallets, enabling backups via a single seedphrase and paving the way for seedphrases themselves - DER signatures, Miniscript, and so much more A truly special episode of Bitcoin Rails, this is a rare long-form interview with one of the most important historical figures in the arc of Bitcoin’s development. Pieter and I walk through how Bitcoin consensus works in practice, the history of Bitcoin's most critical early developments, and the key role of his good friend, Greg Maxwell, nearly every step of the way. This episode of Bitcoin Rails is powered by: — Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) - the leading API for Ordinals and BRC-20 data aggregation and indexing. — Spark (Lightspark) - a statechains implementation advancing Bitcoin-powered payments. — Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋) - a leading Bitcoin rollup technology and BitVM alliance contributor. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 00:42 Early Days in Bitcoin 01:25 First Contributions to Bitcoin Core 04:38 Challenges and Innovations in Bitcoin Development 06:54 The Hal Finney Challenge 12:16 Bitcoin Core Contributors Back Then 14:18 The Creation of HD Wallets and Seed Phrases 17:47 Greg Maxwell Role and Relationship 21:00 Implementing Libsecp256k1 28:39 Why Did Satoshi Choose ECDSA 33:34 Addressing OpenSSL Issues 40:41 Why Pieter Wrote BIP 66 47:54 BIP 103 Proposal and Initial Reactions 49:57 SegWit Development and Implementation 01:05:39 Taproot's History, Details, and Benefits 01:11:09 Why Taproot Has No Hashed Addresses 01:16:55 Pieter's Thoughts on BitVM and other non-softfork dependent scaling solutions cc Robin Linus 🥖 01:18:27 Non-Soft Fork Scaling Solutions 01:23:03 Future Consensus Changes and Challenges 01:25:28 Bitcoin's Miner Centralization and Security Concerns (e.g. MEV) cc Matt Corallo 🟠 01:34:48 Miniscript: Simplifying Bitcoin Script? cc Rob Hamilton
1:40:30

BITCOIN RAILS #50: HISTORY OF SEGWIT & TAPROOT | with Pieter Wuille 🔗 YOUTUBE: A primary maintainer of Bitcoin Core from 2011-2022, Pieter Wuille is arguably the most influential developer in Bitcoin’s history since Satoshi himself. After receiving keys to the Bitcoin codebase from Gavin Andresen, who was tasked with maintaining the codebase by Satoshi Nakamoto, Pieter went on to implement some of Bitcoin’s most dramatic and influential upgrades, including but not limited to: - Implementation of Bitcoin’s Taproot and Segwit upgrades - Implementation of libsecp256k + Bitcoin’s unique encoding structure for the cryptography securing all Bitcoin public/private keys - The first import/export feature for Bitcoin private keys into Bitcoin (now Bitcoin Core) - Development of hierarchical deterministic (HD) wallets, enabling backups via a single seedphrase and paving the way for seedphrases themselves - DER signatures, Miniscript, and so much more A truly special episode of Bitcoin Rails, this is a rare long-form interview with one of the most important historical figures in the arc of Bitcoin’s development. Pieter and I walk through how Bitcoin consensus works in practice, the history of Bitcoin's most critical early developments, and the key role of his good friend, Greg Maxwell, nearly every step of the way. This episode of Bitcoin Rails is powered by: — Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) - the leading API for Ordinals and BRC-20 data aggregation and indexing. — Spark (Lightspark) - a statechains implementation advancing Bitcoin-powered payments. — Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋) - a leading Bitcoin rollup technology and BitVM alliance contributor. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 00:42 Early Days in Bitcoin 01:25 First Contributions to Bitcoin Core 04:38 Challenges and Innovations in Bitcoin Development 06:54 The Hal Finney Challenge 12:16 Bitcoin Core Contributors Back Then 14:18 The Creation of HD Wallets and Seed Phrases 17:47 Greg Maxwell Role and Relationship 21:00 Implementing Libsecp256k1 28:39 Why Did Satoshi Choose ECDSA 33:34 Addressing OpenSSL Issues 40:41 Why Pieter Wrote BIP 66 47:54 BIP 103 Proposal and Initial Reactions 49:57 SegWit Development and Implementation 01:05:39 Taproot's History, Details, and Benefits 01:11:09 Why Taproot Has No Hashed Addresses 01:16:55 Pieter's Thoughts on BitVM and other non-softfork dependent scaling solutions cc Robin Linus 🥖 01:18:27 Non-Soft Fork Scaling Solutions 01:23:03 Future Consensus Changes and Challenges 01:25:28 Bitcoin's Miner Centralization and Security Concerns (e.g. MEV) cc Matt Corallo 🟠 01:34:48 Miniscript: Simplifying Bitcoin Script? cc Rob Hamilton

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

43,894 views • 6 months ago

BITCOIN RAILS #39: The Bull Case for Statechains & Why Big Tech Wants Self-Custody Too | with Lightspark CTO & Spark creator Kevin Hurley 🔗YOUTUBE: 🌿SPOTIFY: It was about four years ago that Facebook’s famous effort at creating its own cryptocurrency and crypto-native payments system (Libra, then Diem) was effectively halted by an unending stream of regulatory scrutiny and compliance blocks. Some leaders of the project went on to create crypto-projects of their own (e.g. SUI and Aptos), however, “Head of Facebook Financial” David Marcus, along with Diem wallet technical lead Kevin Hurley made the key bet that Bitcoin’s decentralized rails were the only in the crypto space likely to be undisrupted by regulatory roadblocks long-term. They went on to create Lightspark - initially designed to make Lightning “usable” by enterprise payments companies - but ultimately came to the conclusion that Lightning alone was not going to scale to 8 billion people globally. After heavy research on scaling solutions for Bitcoin, they eventually developed a “statechains” layer-2 solution of their own Spark – which, since going live, has garnered attention from Ordinals degens to enterprise payments companies alike. In this episode, Kevin Hurley and I get into: — How the Libra/Diem regulatory blocks went down and why these concerns will likely only be addressed by a truly decentralized system like Bitcoin (+ self-custody on the wallets side) — Why Lightspark started building on the Lightning Network (raising more than 2X field leader Lightning Labs⚡️🌐 ), but developed serious concerns about its ability to scale — What a multi-system Bitcoin scaling future might look like: with Lightning as the liquidity provider feeding self-custody friendly systems like Spark, Ark, e-cash systems, and more. —What a multi-system Bitcoin scaling future might look like: with Lightning as the liquidity provider feeding self-custody friendly systems like Spark, Ark, e-cash systems, and more. Bitcoin Rails is powered by: — Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) – the leading API for Ordinals and BRC-20 data aggregation and indexing — Spark (Lightspark) – a Statechains implementation leading the path toward institutional adoption of Bitcoin-powered payments — Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋) – the leading Bitcoin rollup technology and contributor to the BitVM alliance 📌 Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:26 How Lightspark came to life 03:41 Lessons from Libra and Diem 08:35 Universal Money Addresses and global payments 13:45 How traditional finance is approaching blockchain adoption 33:08 The core challenge of Lightning 37:53 Exploring alternatives: ARC and Statechains 40:18 How Statechains work and their benefits 56:43 The future of Lightning and Spark’s role
1:00:45

BITCOIN RAILS #39: The Bull Case for Statechains & Why Big Tech Wants Self-Custody Too | with Lightspark CTO & Spark creator Kevin Hurley 🔗YOUTUBE: 🌿SPOTIFY: It was about four years ago that Facebook’s famous effort at creating its own cryptocurrency and crypto-native payments system (Libra, then Diem) was effectively halted by an unending stream of regulatory scrutiny and compliance blocks. Some leaders of the project went on to create crypto-projects of their own (e.g. SUI and Aptos), however, “Head of Facebook Financial” David Marcus, along with Diem wallet technical lead Kevin Hurley made the key bet that Bitcoin’s decentralized rails were the only in the crypto space likely to be undisrupted by regulatory roadblocks long-term. They went on to create Lightspark - initially designed to make Lightning “usable” by enterprise payments companies - but ultimately came to the conclusion that Lightning alone was not going to scale to 8 billion people globally. After heavy research on scaling solutions for Bitcoin, they eventually developed a “statechains” layer-2 solution of their own Spark – which, since going live, has garnered attention from Ordinals degens to enterprise payments companies alike. In this episode, Kevin Hurley and I get into: — How the Libra/Diem regulatory blocks went down and why these concerns will likely only be addressed by a truly decentralized system like Bitcoin (+ self-custody on the wallets side) — Why Lightspark started building on the Lightning Network (raising more than 2X field leader Lightning Labs⚡️🌐 ), but developed serious concerns about its ability to scale — What a multi-system Bitcoin scaling future might look like: with Lightning as the liquidity provider feeding self-custody friendly systems like Spark, Ark, e-cash systems, and more. —What a multi-system Bitcoin scaling future might look like: with Lightning as the liquidity provider feeding self-custody friendly systems like Spark, Ark, e-cash systems, and more. Bitcoin Rails is powered by: — Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) – the leading API for Ordinals and BRC-20 data aggregation and indexing — Spark (Lightspark) – a Statechains implementation leading the path toward institutional adoption of Bitcoin-powered payments — Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋) – the leading Bitcoin rollup technology and contributor to the BitVM alliance 📌 Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:26 How Lightspark came to life 03:41 Lessons from Libra and Diem 08:35 Universal Money Addresses and global payments 13:45 How traditional finance is approaching blockchain adoption 33:08 The core challenge of Lightning 37:53 Exploring alternatives: ARC and Statechains 40:18 How Statechains work and their benefits 56:43 The future of Lightning and Spark’s role

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

25,909 views • 9 months ago

BITCOIN CORE IS COMPROMISED! Meanwhile the Ordinals empire expands 🔥 [FULL EPISODE] On this episode of Hell Money, we’re locking in on final updates before we take over Las Vegas, Nevada. We’re auctioning the first piece from FUN!, the debut collection by Casey and Parker Day, and showing why Bitcoin-native auction tech beats the grift of legacy art houses. We explore: - Why Sotheby’s and Christie’s can’t compete with Bitcoin builders - Launching the first Ordinals + Bitcoin-native auction platform - The debut piece from FUN! by Casey + Parker - How to use Ordinals Satscards for in-person trading of inscriptions, runes, and more - The OP_RETURN drama: Bitcoin podcasters vs. Bitcoin Core devs TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro and Inscribing Vegas 9:12 auction of FUN! 27:50 Ordinals Satscards 32:00 Ordinals Satscard tutorial 42:15 OP_RETURN drama 57:00 Outro
1:00:11

BITCOIN CORE IS COMPROMISED! Meanwhile the Ordinals empire expands 🔥 [FULL EPISODE] On this episode of Hell Money, we’re locking in on final updates before we take over Las Vegas, Nevada. We’re auctioning the first piece from FUN!, the debut collection by Casey and Parker Day, and showing why Bitcoin-native auction tech beats the grift of legacy art houses. We explore: - Why Sotheby’s and Christie’s can’t compete with Bitcoin builders - Launching the first Ordinals + Bitcoin-native auction platform - The debut piece from FUN! by Casey + Parker - How to use Ordinals Satscards for in-person trading of inscriptions, runes, and more - The OP_RETURN drama: Bitcoin podcasters vs. Bitcoin Core devs TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro and Inscribing Vegas 9:12 auction of FUN! 27:50 Ordinals Satscards 32:00 Ordinals Satscard tutorial 42:15 OP_RETURN drama 57:00 Outro

Hell Money

30,979 views • 1 year ago

BITCOIN RAILS #46: BITCOIN MINING IN THE AGE OF AI | with MARA CEO Fred Thiel 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: In response to the AI-driven shock in global demand for computing power, large players in the Bitcoin mining industry have been forced to make significant strategic shifts to remain competitive. MARA — the largest Bitcoin miner in the world by hashrate — is emerging as one of the more well-positioned beneficiaries of these changing tides, having transitioned from an “asset-light” strategy (via hosted mining at third-party facilities) to an “asset-heavy” approach (owning its own land, power, and infrastructure) just ahead of the AI compute wave in 2024/25. I sat down with MARA CEO Fred Thiel to discuss how these shifting industry dynamics are playing out in practice — as well as his perspective on how key mining-related security and infrastructure issues may evolve in the coming months and years. In this episode, we cover: — How MARA scaled from near-zero hash rate in 2020 to the largest Bitcoin miner globally by the end of 2023 — Key differences between operating Bitcoin mining facilities versus AI data centers, and where the two models meaningfully intersect — Why ownership of power generation — rather than reliance on PPAs — may represent a durable competitive edge for miners and AI data center operators over time — Why Bitcoin may be entering its “IPO phase,” and why recent price corrections could reflect increasing market maturity rather than structural weakness We also explore more technical and often under-discussed topics, such as heat reuse, open-source mining technologies, and the implications of US policy goals around Bitcoin mining. This episode offers a grounded, operator-level view of where Bitcoin mining is headed, informed by one of the most influential leaders in the public mining sector. This episode of Bitcoin Rails is powered by: — Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) — the leading API for Ordinals and BRC-20 data aggregation and indexing. — Spark (Lightspark) — a statechains implementation advancing Bitcoin-powered payments. — Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋) — a leading Bitcoin rollup technology and BitVM alliance contributor. TIMESTAMPS 📌 00:00 Intro 01:09 From Marathon Patent Group to MARA 06:35 Why Owning Infrastructure is Key 07:46 First Public Companies Mining Bitcoin 09:54 Data Centers For AI vs Bitcoin Mining Facilities 14:07 How AI Data Centers Will Look Going Forward 15:37 How MARA is Diversifying From Bitcoin Mining 19:03 Private Cloud and Data Security 22:20 The Exaion Partnership 26:03 Future of Bitcoin and AI 40:22 Innovative Approaches to AI and Bitcoin Mining 42:06 Challenges and Opportunities in Power Generation 45:38 Strategic International Partnerships 50:43 The Future of Real World Assets 53:53 Bitcoin Mining in China 57:24 Why MARA Runs Their Own Software 01:00:19 Where is Bitcoin Mining Headed 01:04:17 Benefits of Running a Mining Pool 01:07:17 Heat Reuse in Mining 01:12:23 The Role of Data Centers in Power Generation
1:18:39

BITCOIN RAILS #46: BITCOIN MINING IN THE AGE OF AI | with MARA CEO Fred Thiel 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: In response to the AI-driven shock in global demand for computing power, large players in the Bitcoin mining industry have been forced to make significant strategic shifts to remain competitive. MARA — the largest Bitcoin miner in the world by hashrate — is emerging as one of the more well-positioned beneficiaries of these changing tides, having transitioned from an “asset-light” strategy (via hosted mining at third-party facilities) to an “asset-heavy” approach (owning its own land, power, and infrastructure) just ahead of the AI compute wave in 2024/25. I sat down with MARA CEO Fred Thiel to discuss how these shifting industry dynamics are playing out in practice — as well as his perspective on how key mining-related security and infrastructure issues may evolve in the coming months and years. In this episode, we cover: — How MARA scaled from near-zero hash rate in 2020 to the largest Bitcoin miner globally by the end of 2023 — Key differences between operating Bitcoin mining facilities versus AI data centers, and where the two models meaningfully intersect — Why ownership of power generation — rather than reliance on PPAs — may represent a durable competitive edge for miners and AI data center operators over time — Why Bitcoin may be entering its “IPO phase,” and why recent price corrections could reflect increasing market maturity rather than structural weakness We also explore more technical and often under-discussed topics, such as heat reuse, open-source mining technologies, and the implications of US policy goals around Bitcoin mining. This episode offers a grounded, operator-level view of where Bitcoin mining is headed, informed by one of the most influential leaders in the public mining sector. This episode of Bitcoin Rails is powered by: — Best In Slot (Best in Slot | BRC2.0 🧑‍🍳) — the leading API for Ordinals and BRC-20 data aggregation and indexing. — Spark (Lightspark) — a statechains implementation advancing Bitcoin-powered payments. — Citrea (Citrea | Mainnet Live 🍊🍋) — a leading Bitcoin rollup technology and BitVM alliance contributor. TIMESTAMPS 📌 00:00 Intro 01:09 From Marathon Patent Group to MARA 06:35 Why Owning Infrastructure is Key 07:46 First Public Companies Mining Bitcoin 09:54 Data Centers For AI vs Bitcoin Mining Facilities 14:07 How AI Data Centers Will Look Going Forward 15:37 How MARA is Diversifying From Bitcoin Mining 19:03 Private Cloud and Data Security 22:20 The Exaion Partnership 26:03 Future of Bitcoin and AI 40:22 Innovative Approaches to AI and Bitcoin Mining 42:06 Challenges and Opportunities in Power Generation 45:38 Strategic International Partnerships 50:43 The Future of Real World Assets 53:53 Bitcoin Mining in China 57:24 Why MARA Runs Their Own Software 01:00:19 Where is Bitcoin Mining Headed 01:04:17 Benefits of Running a Mining Pool 01:07:17 Heat Reuse in Mining 01:12:23 The Role of Data Centers in Power Generation

Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️

31,411 views • 7 months ago

COUNTERPARTY & RARE PEPES: The Forgotten History of Bitcoin NFTs (with Dan Anderson) [FULL EPISODE] In this episode of the Hell Money Podcast, we sit down with Dan Anderson (Dan Anderson), a self-described "internet nobody" with deep roots in crypto-native culture. Dan shares his journey from the early days of Bitcoin, Counterparty, and Rare Pepes, and the history of NFT experiments on Bitcoin. We explore: - The origins of Counterparty and its impact on Bitcoin and crypto culture - The history of NFT and token experiments on Bitcoin - Ethereum's ICO and smart contracts on Bitcoin - Rare Pepe Science - Counterparty 2.0 TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro & Dan's early inscriptions 6:25 Dan's journey to Bitcoin (and why he never went full Ethereum) 12:58 Counterparty (XCP), Rare Pepes, and the emergence of crypto-native culture 16:25 Counterparty's fair launch via Bitcoin burn 20:00 Namecoin & Mastercoin launches, OP_RETURN 24:30 Stamps vs. Ordinal Inscriptions 27:30 Mastercoin, Tether, & Colored Coins 33:00 Ordinals as an improvement on colored coins 36:30 Counterparty founding & design 38:30 Ethereum's ICO and influence from Counterparty 41:00 Smart contracts on Bitcoin vs Ethereum 43:00 What do people want to do with Bitcoin and digital assets? 51:00 Tether, Omni, hard forks, & the risk of economic nodes controlling protocols 57:15 Early Counterparty token experiments 59:30 The success of Ordinals 1:02:00 The value of simplicity in development 1:03:00 Spells of Genesis, Rare Pepe origins 1:05:00 Rare Pepe Scientists, certifications for rare vs. fake pepes 1:08:50 "NFT" was a term invented by lawyers 1:11:00 Pepe as a symbol for the collective unconscious 1:13:00 Migration from Counterparty to Ethereum, the success of NFTs 1:18:00 The timing of Ordinals' success 1:23:40 The future of Counterparty & Counterparty 2.0 1:32:00 Community-driven curation in meme culture 1:35:10 Bitcoin Uncensored foreshadowing the breakup of Hell Money Podcast 1:39:00 Casey's egregious digital footprint 1:40:00 The Dan Files & closing remarks
1:42:15

COUNTERPARTY & RARE PEPES: The Forgotten History of Bitcoin NFTs (with Dan Anderson) [FULL EPISODE] In this episode of the Hell Money Podcast, we sit down with Dan Anderson (Dan Anderson), a self-described "internet nobody" with deep roots in crypto-native culture. Dan shares his journey from the early days of Bitcoin, Counterparty, and Rare Pepes, and the history of NFT experiments on Bitcoin. We explore: - The origins of Counterparty and its impact on Bitcoin and crypto culture - The history of NFT and token experiments on Bitcoin - Ethereum's ICO and smart contracts on Bitcoin - Rare Pepe Science - Counterparty 2.0 TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro & Dan's early inscriptions 6:25 Dan's journey to Bitcoin (and why he never went full Ethereum) 12:58 Counterparty (XCP), Rare Pepes, and the emergence of crypto-native culture 16:25 Counterparty's fair launch via Bitcoin burn 20:00 Namecoin & Mastercoin launches, OP_RETURN 24:30 Stamps vs. Ordinal Inscriptions 27:30 Mastercoin, Tether, & Colored Coins 33:00 Ordinals as an improvement on colored coins 36:30 Counterparty founding & design 38:30 Ethereum's ICO and influence from Counterparty 41:00 Smart contracts on Bitcoin vs Ethereum 43:00 What do people want to do with Bitcoin and digital assets? 51:00 Tether, Omni, hard forks, & the risk of economic nodes controlling protocols 57:15 Early Counterparty token experiments 59:30 The success of Ordinals 1:02:00 The value of simplicity in development 1:03:00 Spells of Genesis, Rare Pepe origins 1:05:00 Rare Pepe Scientists, certifications for rare vs. fake pepes 1:08:50 "NFT" was a term invented by lawyers 1:11:00 Pepe as a symbol for the collective unconscious 1:13:00 Migration from Counterparty to Ethereum, the success of NFTs 1:18:00 The timing of Ordinals' success 1:23:40 The future of Counterparty & Counterparty 2.0 1:32:00 Community-driven curation in meme culture 1:35:10 Bitcoin Uncensored foreshadowing the breakup of Hell Money Podcast 1:39:00 Casey's egregious digital footprint 1:40:00 The Dan Files & closing remarks

Hell Money

52,888 views • 1 year ago