Happy Thanksgiving. 🦃
We like to start our days with gratitude, really sitting with the root of what we’re thankful for. The obvious blessings always come first, health, family, the people we love, and community. This year, we’re especially grateful for Bitcoin open-source builders, and for the profit, grants, donors, and sponsors that make the work possible.
There are a lot of misconceptions about “free” and open-source Bitcoin hardware, software, and 3D designs. Nothing in the universe is truly free; everything costs energy and effort. That “free” repo you clone or 3D file you print represents hours, months, sometimes years of someone’s life, late nights, missed weekends, and real financial risk. Behind many of those projects is someone else who worked hard enough to create a surplus, then chose to allocate part of that profit to fund open source.
Bitcoin sponsors, donors, and grant issuers don’t conjure capital out of thin air. It’s earned through hard work, PoW, and energy, then deliberately redirected into a shared “Bitcoin open knowledge bank” that builders, educators, and the next generation of Bitcoiners are already drawing from. Open source isn’t “giving things away”, it’s a conscious investment in humanity’s future.
Across history, people have understood that some portion of what we have should flow back into the greater good, tithes, offerings, charity, endowments. Different rituals, same core idea, a slice of our time, energy, and resources is set aside to grow the collective knowledge base and secure our shared future. We try to live that out, we donate our time and skills, and we pour a big share of our resources into open-source Bitcoin mining hardware, just like many in this space.
Profitability, hard work, and energy sit at the core of sustainable open source Bitcoin. Hardware doesn’t buy itself. Power bills don’t pay themselves. Without profitable individuals and companies choosing to reinvest their surplus back into open source, innovation would slow to a crawl. Profit and open source are not enemies, profit is often what keeps open source alive.
Satoshi’s own sacrifice is still largely unknown in detail, but we know it was immense, years of work, then walking away from recognition and unimaginable personal wealth so millions of strangers and families could have a chance at a better future.
So as we move through Thanksgiving and beyond, the next time you download a “free” tool or print a “free” design, pause for a moment. Honor the time, risk, and sacrifice that made it possible. You may never know what someone gave up so you could build on top of their work.
If it’s within your means, give back. Fund a builder. Sponsor a project. Support a grant. Contribute your skills.
That’s how we keep open-source #Bitcoin growing for the next generation.