It’s with a heavy heart that I share that neither I nor Lykke will be attending this year’s conference in Prague. I’ve been a proud supporter of @BTC Prague since its inception, honored to be among the first speakers, deliver the opening address in the inaugural year, and champion the event enthusiastically ever since. It’s been a joy to witness the conference grow into such a vibrant gathering. Last year, my daughter truly shined—adding value to the privacy panel, conducting insightful interviews, volunteering at side events like Rockamoto, and even running her own cookies-for-sats business. Her energy and passion made me very proud. While I had the privilege of delivering last year’s closing speech, I’ll admit it didn’t go as planned—I stumbled through it and didn’t quite hit the mark 😊 We understand that events evolve, and this year, the organizers have chosen a different direction, as we haven’t been invited to participate. After inquiring about attendance, we were kindly offered a small discount on passes, but we’ve decided to respectfully step back and let others shine. While we're sad to miss it, we genuinely wish @Matyas Kuchar, @npub1f40e...jn7l, and the entire team a fantastic event filled with inspiration and connection. The Prague community always delivers something special, and we’re confident this year will be no exception. Thank you for the memories, and we hope to reconnect with this incredible community in the future. Wishing everyone a wonderful time in Prague! 🧡 Warm regards, Erik and Lykke

I don't understand how the 80-byte limit on OP_RETURN is more arbitrary than any of Bitcoin's other standards. Why halving every 210k blocks? Why supply capped at ~21M? Why diff. adjustment every 2 weeks? Why average 10 minute block time? Why 4MB effective block size? Etc. Taken separately, they can all be construed as arbitrary, but together they make up an extraordinarily resilient and elegant network with only one truly non-arbitrary standard: Follow the standards of the network to have your transaction included in the next available block, or be rejected. So my opinion: I like our standards. They work. I'd be loath to fuck with them more than we already have. Which is already a bit more than I would have liked, TBH. Ps' I'm not a dev and this is my first venture into these debates.

Bitcoiners et al, I need help, urgently! I'm on the highway outside Barcelona with my family (wife, three daughters, dog). We were planning to get a hotel last minute, but it turns out it's all booked out (1100€ for a hostel 😬). We can sleep on/in anything and will be gone by early morning, but we need a roof over our head. If you have/know anything that can help us out, we can offer some sats and our eternal gratitude. Even if you don't, please share this post to reach more eyes (you can undo it in a few hours) 🙏 It's a Hail Mary, but you've never let me down before, so I'm giving it a shot. DMs are open, please reach out 🧡

I just had the pleasure of testing a brand new JADEPLUS hardware wallet (courtesy of @npub1jg55...6n8n) and I'm deeply impressed. The setup was such a breeze that my 11 year old daughter was able to complete it in less than 15 minutes, unassisted. Including 2FA multisig. We then set up watch-only credentials so my wife and I can track the kids' accounts with ease through the Green wallet app. Yet I was really struck by the versatility. Power-users will find this device as satisfying as your grandma will. Without any clutter. The solid buttons, big beautiful screen, and stable connection are also big improvements from my experience with the original JADE. If I can find a drawback it's that one of the buttons, while solid, was less responsive than the others, causing minor navigation errors. Bravo to the @npub1jg55...6n8n team. 9/10 would recommend. https://store.blockstream.com/?code=eurodale

"Won't this just give Putin a huge window to delay talks until he has well and truly won the war?" I think we should assume that Trump and Putin already made a deal on Ukraine: Russia gets the east, the US gets the rest. This explains why Europe has no seat at the table. This explains why Russian troops have barely moved in February, coming to a near halt in the past two weeks. This explains why Trump wants the minerals deal before the peace, guaranteeing US dominance over rump-Ukraine. And this explains the spectacle at the White House and this act of apparent sabotage: Trump promised to get Zelensky to the table, or force his replacement.

Even if you stack 1$ of bitcoin every minute for the rest of your life you'll probably never own one.

National media and politicians need to come to terms with the reality of a global public sphere. Bans and inquisitions will be no more successful than they were against the printing press. So can we please skip that stage this time? 🙏

That warm feeling in your cheeks is your face getting ready to melt.

Do you have a moral obligation to avoid fiat once you know too much?

The distance from here to $100m is the same as from $100 to here. Stay humble and stack sats! 🤝

Oceanic Cables are the Aqueducts of our Age. While remarkable, they depend too much on stability and security for maintenance, and are too vulnerable to disruption by nature or enemies. That's why Elon has been in such a hurry with Starlink.

Super annoying question, but how resilient is #Bitcoin REALLY against quantum computing? 🤔 I have to admit I've dismissed this problem because much smarter people than me rolled their eyes. But Grok doesn't share that overbearing confidence 😬

🚨 Boaver, the "climate milk" that KILLS MALE FERTILITY 💀 to make the weather better, is already added with NO LABEL REQUIRED, by Arla Foods and others, across ~ALL OF EUROPE 🇪🇺 Australia 🇦🇺 Brasil 🇧🇷 Canada 🇨🇦 Chile 🇨🇱 Mexico 🇲🇽 Pakistan 🇵🇰 Switzerland 🇨🇭 the UK 🇬🇧 and Japan 🇯🇵

Have kids, they said. It'll save Western civilization, they said.

Europeans don't appreciate just how precarious, and historically speaking, hopeless, our situation is: It's the 350s AD and the rising Eastern Empire (America) is losing all interest in defending or aiding the restoration of the failing Western Empire (Europe). Barbarians have long since moved into our cities and the Huns are coming from the East, just when we are least capable of making a cultural or military stand. Europe's political unity is an empty shell and public finances are at a breaking point, silently but rapidly degrading our infrastructure and disintegrating all institutions. While persistent make-believe once again disguises the inevitable, Europe is at the cusp of the next Dark Ages.

Do you think Grok is right?

For the $MSTR people, help me out with some stupid questions: As I understand it, the $MSTR strategy ends when fiat is worth the same as sea shells and no one will sell their Bitcoin to @npub15dql...lm5m for them anymore. What I'm not clear about is how to convert $MSTR to Bitcoin at that point? Or even leading up to that point? Why would anyone part with their Bitcoin after the strategy is played out? And if those holding $MSTR then can't offload their stock for Bitcoin, yet $MSTR holds vast amounts of Bitcoin it will never sell, will that make $MSTR a currency? Is $MSTR the Amsterdam Wisselbank of Bitcoin? Could it inflate the supply by issuing stock? Is this how Bitcoin becomes the reserve for a new fiat called $MSTR? Perhaps these are moronic questions, but I'd love some serious answers 🙏

It's called a triumvirate, it's normal at the end of a Republic, and it never works out for anyone but the future Emperor. Now, can anyone tell me which one is Octavian AKA Augustus? 🧐

WAIT, isn't that Caesar chilling in the Circus Maximus with his adopted heir Octavian - soon to be the first Emperor after winning the Civil War triggered by Caesar's assassination?

Yesterday was my birthday. Again.