@`jack`on stage right now being incredible with his NOSTR hat plugging the only reason he is on the stage is because of Open Source: Live Link:

I am 3 months and 5 days younger than Saylor. One thing that bothers me with Bitcoiners is their loose language at times. I have super thick skin --- the past few days I blasted Bitcoin Magazine and Fred on TwiX -- but I have to tell a story. It still makes me feel bad. One time I used a word, a word I used often, and a new aquaintance's face dropped. I asked then apologized profusely. The word? "Retarded" I found out, his wife, whom I had known longer, had two kids, one was named Ben (it happens to be my name too) and how he had Down (no S) Syndrome. I then learned how hard it is for families like them with a child with Down. Brutal, they had mental health issues just raising a really difficult child. Before you accuse me of being Woke, go watch either "Down With Love" or "Love on the Spectrum" on Netflix. Can Bitcoiners have a little more compassion, for not just promoting NGU or using 'Retarded' or 'Regarded' thinking you are so smart and witty? Satoshi created Bitcoin for the underserved, the under priveliged, the unbanked or underbanked. Can you all just be a little cooler? Yeah, that is an old man term. Further, some of you could get a lot better tips on how to treat women from the Down/Spectrum people. Be cool. Be a cool Bitcoiner. Don't be a Douche Bag like Craig. Be self aware. Care.

FIAT job Vibes

MicroStrategy has always been a BI, Business Intelligence Company, but now it can say it is a BI, Bitcoin Intelligence Company (MacroStrategy) I can't wait to see what MacroStrategy is going to bring to the Bitcoin L2 table? Helping overcome some of the LN absolutely normal software development issues. I really wish many of you could back to the early Internet days at 300 Bps.

In response to @nat brunell and her latest podcast: Thanks Natalie for yet another incredible podcast. Hester Peirce (note spelling/pronunciation, it rhymes with 'Purse') should be thanked by America. Hester is the exact person we hope is in the job at the SEC. Her logical, rational mind and inner voice reminding her why she is there. To enforce the laws. Laws created by Congress. It is not the SEC's job to recommend products, including Bitcoin, or to influence the creation of new laws. The most profound moment of this podcast was when she explained how the approval of the BItcoin ETF should never have been so highly scrutinized. Sometimes doing nothing or taking too long has consequences. Natalie, as a journalist understands she should never be the news, Hester understands the SEC should never be news. It took ten years to approve, days before they were hacked, intense publicity. Totally avoidable. Hester's letter was the second biggest news that day after the spot BTC ETF approval. Her apparent frustration had nothing to with impatience but the inner friction of reality not aligning with her logical process. She had to put out that letter, to document her logic whether you agree or not or feel. Another highlight was when Hester explains how her colleagues are normally in agreement and she likes her job. However, it is her job, not her life work. She explained how her term is up next year. I look forward to seeing what she does next. Hester's is a calm voice we all need to listen to in our noisy, erratic world.

New Acoustic version of “Judgement Day”, by Five Finger Death Punch released yesterday. I think of Bicoin with it. What a week. Awesome song.

@Mark Camper thanks for my biggest zap ever, totally appreciate it.

Bitcoin: "This week marks the end for most to be Full or Whole Coiners?" My Favorite Comment on Bitcoin Scarcity last year was: "Adam Back" Adam was on stage last year and said something so obvious to most but it was profound to me: Here he posted about it on X with a graph:

X (formerly Twitter)

Adam Back (@adam3us) on X

because 10mil people trying to buy 1 BTC over a few years would push the price out of reach. And many current hodlers are not selling. Eg very few...

Thanks to the OGs like Adam out there, total respect. I just read more about the Blocksize Wars and the Big Blockers versus the guys like Adam. Thanks for not siding with them as they went off and crashed and are still burning with BTC XT, BSV, and BCH. Those fires to hopefully be extinguished for good too, soon.

Bitcoin Post I had to write a TLDR on Bitcoin's Scalability. I am trying to get to writing on the latest CTV but have to keep going back to the 100,000 foot level of the issue. Please let me know where I am wrong on this and I will correct. For Now: https://bitcoinapolis.blogspot.com/2024/01/bitcoin-bitcoin-scaling-biggest.html Bitcoin: "Bitcoin Scaling - The biggest Issue/Non-issue since Day 1?" By BR Bitcoinapolis January 7, 2024 Premise: Bitcoin, by Satoshi's design with POW, Base Layer Timechain, L1, was never designed to handle billions of people/merchants with zillions of payment transactions on the Base Layer. However, Bitcoin can and will scale to the billions on Layer 2/Layer 3. Explained by Satoshi on Day 1. ======= Bitcoin was designed and has evolved into two paths. People of the world will choose to one, both, or none. 1) SOV (Digital Money/Digital Gold/Digital Property) - For SAVING Bitcoin (Currently No Friction) 2) Currency - Used by merchants instead of Visa, circular economy - For SPENDING Bitcoin. (Currently Friction) Expanded: (edited for length) Me: Yes, there are issues with the current state of Bitcoin scaling as there have been since day one. Yes, the Lightning Network 1.0 has its issues but are we naive to think Jack Mallers, Jack Dorsey, and Michael Saylor are not looking into this already? Saylor has said publicly he has a bunch of Bitcoin projects going on inside Microstrategy. Do you think that is only for their internal use of internal customers? Can you imagine an announcement of a new version of the LN backed by Microstrategy/Saylor/their Current Bitcoin Cache? Maybe this is worth re-posting? (edited see link)

Heading: "Bitcoin Covenants" Subhead: " I stumbled into yet another Rabbit Hole with Bitcoin." Covenants, specifically Bitcoin Improvement Proposal:BIP-119. Not new to many of you. Is it worth the effort to compile a large list of resources with the experts weighing in on the pros and cons and keeping it current and things/views/developments change? To me it is a complicated facet that needs to be thoroughly understood yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I want to do a 100,000 foot level before getting into the weeds. (Yeah, pulling out some of my worst Corporate Jargon there, sorry in advance.) My high level analysis so far is that the pros outweigh the cons. Including this part (attached png) from Dallas Rushing @Dallas Rushing Thank you. Special thanks to @npub1775t...9jcw for my getting this far.

Bitcoin: "Digital Gold versus Analogue Gold"

Bitcoin Commodity Saylor Data

100+ pages showing why Digital Gold Bitcoin is way better than analogue Gold. Adapt.

Bitcoin as money/property is almost friction free. Bitcoin as currency is almost all friction.

Bitcoin: "As Digital Money or Digital Property is Friction Free"

Bitcoin Commodity Saylor Data

"Human: I identify with Bitcoin" By Bitcoinaplis I identify with Bitcoin on so many levels. Listen, I am a middle aged, white American, male, been married over 30 years, I am milquetoast but have never fit in with groups or group think. I was never in a clique in High School, I hung out with all people, and had an amazing experience. In college I was a dorm rat before moving off campus with some pals found on that floor. I never understood fraternities/sororities as generations of my family talk non-stop about 'so and so is one of us, she pledged <whatever sorority>' this is example is with Kansas State University or Kansas University. I went to a small southern college in Southern Minnesota, much to the dismay of my Kansas family. (I got a great education by the way, super grateful for you, Dr. Lane Hopkins - Computer Science.) I am not knocking people, if you have to identify with certain groups. Such as you have to identify: with a certain High School, or college, or neighborhood, or country, or government, or state, or city, or instrument, or net worth, or corporation, or profession, or workouts, or clubs, or sexuality, or certain music, religion, God, health (skinny/fat), or what is watched on tv, or pets, or golf or any other sport, travel, or what you eat but what about how you think? I think like Bitcoin and I identify with Bitcoin. Right there, you are probably trying to put me into one of your pre-conceived groups: Confused? Nerd? Idiot? Conspiracist? Anarchist? Anti-establishment? Psycho? May I explain what group it is? I belong to a group, a species we call human. Human beings, every one of us, despite whatever group you belong to are thinkers. Just like each of us is unique based on our DNA so are we based on how our brains work and think. We learn as we live. We unlearn as we live. We change. We adapt. We do or we do nothing. We choose but we do change our minds. We question. We pivot and lead or continue and follow. This is what makes us human. Satoshi created Bitcoin for all of us. Regardless of how we identify. Total respect for Satoshi Nakamoto, regardless of any human being understanding or owning Bitcoin. There is no way my pre-Bitcoin self would have been writing about an open source world wide digital money, with an immutable timechain ledger on an open sourced platform like NOSTR without Satoshi. I identify with Bitcoin, and its potential ability to change the world as we know it. In our world, there is room for something positive like Bitcoin even though most have already made up their minds, it is negative. Exactly like those who sounded the alarm on the early Internet. History Repeats, because, above all, we are all human. Satoshi has given me hope, thanks to the creation of Bitcoin, to be hopeful for humanity. Worldwide.

Minneapolis is magic