The South African government is proposing regulations that would essentially ban Bitcoin in South Africa 🇿🇦 The regulations resemble U.S. Executive Order 6102, which made it a criminal offense for U.S. citizens to own or trade most forms of gold. And because the language in the regulations is vague, they could potentially give the South African government sweeping authority to do everything from pushing for forced confiscation of bitcoin to only allowing bitcoin transactions through regulated entities that require KYC/AML. The good news is that South African Bitcoiners, including Hermann Vivier ( @vryfokkenou ) of @BitcoinEkasi and groups like the Property Rights Defense Group are pushing back. I recently sat down with Hermann to discuss: ⚡️ The details of the regulations and why the South African government has proposed them ⚡️ What exactly South Africans are doing to push back ⚡️ Why what's happening in South Africa right now is a canary in the coal mine moment ⚡️ Why Hermann is optimistic that Bitcoiners will win This is an important listen for anyone who supports bitcoin and property rights as well as the idea of being able to transact P2P without having to disclose your identity. #bitcoin #southafrica #p2p #p2prights

Francisco Calderón (@negrunch ) is one of the realest cats in Bitcoin. The Venezuelan🇻🇪 developer, who has 20+ years of experience in the open-source space, could work on anything but focuses his time and effort on @Mostro , which enables those living countries in crisis (e.g., #Cuba) to access #Bitcoin. In this, his first interview in English, we discuss: ⚡️ How his experience watching the economic situation in his home country deteriorate informs the work he does ⚡️ How Mostro is built to be used in the harshest and most technologically-unfriendly environments ⚡️ Why Mostro utilized #Nostr ⚡️ What's currently happening in Venezuela ⚡️ Why the open-source future is bright It was a tremendous honor to speak with Calderón. This conversation was a strong reminder of not only how powerful freedom tech can be but the fact that it takes sincere, committed people like Calderón to bring this tech to life. Finally, thank you to the @Cuba ₿itcoin and @BitcoinResearch teams for highlighting how the communities with whom you work use Mostro in my recent interviews with you. You inspired me to reach out to Calderón to have this conversation. Enjoy!

"I assume the mafia uses Excel Spreadsheets and Microsoft is not liable." Rep. Thomas Massie at @PUBKEY on why open-source developers should not be held liable for people misusing the software they create

Many of us came to #Bitcoin because of this new system's potential to (re)distribute power. Ideas from political philosophies such as #Libertarianism and #Anarchy permeated much of the early discourse in the Bitcoin space. But in recent years, a sense of #authoritarianism and #elitism has crept in, making this space feel less unique and more like many traditional spaces. I recently sat down with Hannah Rosenberg of Lightning Labs to discuss this shift, whether or not human beings are unavoidably hierarchical, and if the circle of those who believe in earlier Bitcoin vision can be expanded. Enjoy!

Just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who helped point people in the direction of this new account today and also extend one more massive thank you to @miljan and @The Daniel 🖖. I found out my old nsec had been compromised early yesterday evening, and it was quite a punch to the gut. I felt vulnerable, as I had no idea how the private key was discovered/compromised (I still don’t). Thoughts like “I’m done with Nostr” went through my mind for a moment. It’d been a stressful few weeks starting a new gig and the last thing I felt like dealing with was getting this new npub established. But @The Daniel 🖖 reached out right when he saw that the account had been compromised (someone shared that it had been here on Nostr) and offered to help in any way he could. He was online with me last night until after 10 PM ET building tools for me to help transfer my info from my old account to a new one. He was also the one who put me in touch with @miljan, who, by this morning when I woke up, had already messaged me saying he’d transfer my Primal Legend status to my new npub. One hour after I respond to him, the status had been transferred. He also helped me with the messaging to make sure people knew my old nsec had been compromised and that the new account/npub was legit. Then, as all the zaps and support came in this morning, I was reminded of why I came to Nostr in the first place: the community. We’re all here trying to build this thing out together, and when I stumbled, you all helped me back up. In the process, my feeling of vulnerability inverted. I feel more supported by this community than ever, and I’m deeply grateful for that. As a thank you to @miljan, I’m going to purchase a Primal Premium subscription for my other account - @new renaissance capital. As for @The Daniel 🖖, I often see him around NYC, so I’ll have to get him a drink or pay him back in some other way. And there was also one last thing I wanted to share about him… It felt quite serendipitous that I published a piece this morning on another community he supports, the @Harlem Bitcoin 🗽🧡 community. I’m sharing the piece below just to show you all how good of a guy he is both here amongst the Nostriches and IRL.

Community Spotlight: Harlem Bitcoin - March 18, 2026

Meet Harlem Bitcoin—a grassroots NYC community making Bitcoin accessible to unbanked locals through education, meetups, and now onboarding member...

He’s a true believer in freedom tech and community. We’re extremely lucky to have both him and @miljan in this space with us, and I’d once again just like to say how grateful I am for how they both helped me out in the last 24 hours. Much love, @The Daniel 🖖, @miljan, and Nostr fam. Onward 🫡

Last November, Jamaica was hit by a category five hurricane that leveled parts of the west side of the island. And not only was physical infrastructure affected, but the banking system stopped functioning in many parts of the island, as well, making it difficult to move the money coming in for aid. Jamaica's @flash app, created by @dread didn't stop working, though, and Dread and his team used the app to distribute the over $15,000 worth of bitcoin that was donated by the Bitcoin community to help the many people deeply affected by the hurricane to get food and resources in their hour of need. I recently sat down with Dread to discuss the relief effort he and his team have been a part of (it's still ongoing), how Bitcoin and other freedom tech not only helped in the wake of this storm but are now being implemented to help prepare for future storms like it, and why it was essential that Dread designed Flash in a way that Jamaicans would trust. While Dread's abilities as a developer are both tremendous and outstanding, they are only rivaled by the size of his heart, which is a large part what makes the work he does with Flash and beyond so special. Please enjoy this interview and give it some space to move and inspire you. https://fountain.fm/episode/SxxUnDjz0mxSuLqmYBh0