Bitcoin Audible

“This piece is my attempt to finally map the terrain I'd been circling for years: Bitcoin's hardness, its fragility, its human governance, and its uneasy relationship with a world that increasingly runs on elastic money and digital abundance. It's not a defence. It's not an indictment. It's an audit.” ~ Hugh Hendry We keep pretending modern money is a stable system, but Hugh Hendry explains the quiet part out loud: fiat only survives by cheating, bending the rules, and offloading pain onto the future. What if Bitcoin’s "flaw" - its rigid, unchanging code - is actually the only way to stop the cycle of constant bailouts? We’ve become so addicted to monetary elasticity that we’ve lost sight of what it means to have an asset that doesn't bend. And Hendry’s brutal audit of our financial landscape serves as a perfect reminder of why the current system is so inherently fragile. If you want to understand why we need an anchor that refuses to compromise, you need to listen in. Check out the original article: Modern Money Only Works By Cheating by Tyler Durden (Link: https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/modern-money-only-works-cheating-if-youre-long-bitcoin-or-not-long-bitcoin-read)  Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) “If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Moving, be like water. Still, be like a mirror. Respond like an echo.” ~ Bruce Lee

"We are trying to make it possible for people to use computers as simple of a statement as this: use computers, without intermediaries and custodians. The more they do, the more the lines will diverge. Until there's a chasm between the centralised model and the decentralised model with a clear line between them. And we will force either a reconciliation at the natural, technical level, let the best product in the market win, or we will force the hand of the authoritarians to say that our model is illegal. And then we have a different reconciliatory approach. Which is, okay, it's revolution time." ~ Matt Hill Big tech platforms have spent years trapping us behind their gates. And honestly, I am sick of it. The "cloud" is just someone else's computer, and companies are skimming our data at every single turn. CEO of Start9, Matt Hill, is my guest today, and is actually doing something about it. We sat down to talk about how bad the institutional theft of our privacy has gotten, and why building your own digital escape hatch is no longer just for hardcore nerds. Matt brought the fire in this one. He walks me through the absolute beast that is StartOS 0.4.0 -- the OS they spent the last three years rebuilding from absolute scratch. He also gave us the rundown on their upcoming StartWRT router, and breaks down how they finally made complex networking feel like putting together simple Ikea furniture. But the conversation goes way deeper than just hardware and updates. We get into the existential threat of AI, what happens when people get automated away, and why you desperately need to run your agents locally. Matt sees the current systems sinking like the Titanic, and we spend a lot of time trying to figure out exactly how to scramble for the higher decks. If you have been procrastinating on taking control of your own computing, this conversation will give you the push you need. Chapters (00:00:00) - The divergence of centralized and decentralized models(00:06:34) - Rebuilding StartOS and extending development timelines(00:10:05) - Introducing StartWRT and true open-source routing(00:32:18) - The danger of centralized cloud computing infrastructure(00:44:06) - AI advancement and the loss of human purpose(01:06:14) - Unchecked inflation theft negating time-saving technology(01:18:09) - Developing essential digital defense systems to resist tyranny(01:28:56) - A total code rebuild for ultimate network stack control(01:46:36) - Automating server management with the local StartBot AI(01:57:24) - Packaging custom open-source software on the fly(02:08:40) - Simplifying network isolation with StartWRT security profiles(02:24:35) - Chaining outbound VPNs for complete internet traffic privacy(02:37:48) - Exposing home services safely using virtual private routers Guest Links Matt on X (Link: https://twitter.com/_MattHill_) Start9's Website (Link: https://start9.com/) Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Li... Chapters (00:00:00) - The divergence of centralized and decentralized models(00:06:34) - Rebuilding StartOS and extending development timelines(00:10:05) - Introducing StartWRT and true open-source routing(00:32:18) - The danger of centralized cloud computing infrastructure(00:44:06) - AI advancement and the loss of human purpose(01:06:14) - Unchecked inflation theft negating time-saving technology(01:18:09) - Developing essential digital defense systems to resist tyranny(01:28:56) - A total code rebuild for ultimate network stack control(01:46:36) - Automating server management with the local StartBot AI(01:57:24) - Packaging custom open-source software on the fly(02:08:40) - Simplifying network isolation with StartWRT security profiles(02:24:35) - Chaining outbound VPNs for complete internet traffic privacy(02:37:48) - Exposing home services safely using virtual private routers

"Residents withdrew over 1.6 trillion rubles, or $19.7 billion in January, desperately turning to cash amid increased state controls." As governments push CBDCs to clamp down on dissent and capital flight, is Bitcoin our last line of defense for true sovereignty? Today with the Financial Freedom Report we dive into global news - from Hong Kong's surveillance crackdowns to offline AI-Bitcoin kits like BlackBox - plus my take on why Lightning could make digital cash frictionless. Will these innovations outpace authoritarian overreach, or is the cashless trap closing in? Check out the original article from the Financial Freedom Report: Financial Freedom Report #115 (Link: https://hrf.org/latest/hrfs-weekly-financial-freedom-report-115/) References from the episode Nostr VPN: A tool released by early Bitcoin developer Martti Malmi (Link: https://github.com/mmalmi/nostr-vpn) BlackBox: An Experimental Kit for Offline AI, Messaging, and Bitcoin. Still experimental, but super intriguing. (Link: https://blackbox.host/) Check out the MIT Bitcoin Expo 2026 details: this year's edition is titled "Freedom for All". (Link: https://mitbitcoinexpo.org/) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome partners! Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) (Under construction) Check out the list of products and services I use and recommend on BitcoinAudible.com (Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/)

This week, the whole crew is back for another Roundtable. I sat down with Mechanic, Steve, and Jeff to talk about the painful reality of Bitcoin mining today, the chaos of global politics, and some wild stories about corporate power plays. We started by looking at why mining is under so much pressure right now. The industry is getting a brutal and much-needed reality check. Fiat-fueled operations are feeling the squeeze, and it’s a reminder that if you aren't building on a foundation of hard money and efficiency, the market will eventually push you out. We also couldn't avoid the latest controversy surrounding Swan Bitcoin and the bizarre, high-stakes fallout involving Tether and Cantor Fitzgerald. Was this a calculated rug pull or just the ugly reality of trying to scale in a corporate world that’s already been bought and paid for? We break down what this really means for the future of Bitcoin. Guest Links Steve Simple Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3s6a8yn8) Steve Simple on X (Link: https://x.com/stevesimple) Bitcoin Mechanic Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/2tm827ut) Bitcoin Mechanic on X (Link: https://x.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Jeff Swann Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3sjc3bcp) Jeff Swann on X (Link: https://x.com/agoristview) Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/) Get ⁠10% off the COLDCARD⁠ with code BITCOINAUDIBLE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(Link: https://bitcoinaudible.com/coldcard) Get 10% off the best Bitcoin board game in the world, HODLUP! Or any of the other great games from The Free Market Kids! Use code GUY10 at checkout for 10% off your cart! (Link: https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games-1) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

“The seed phrase has been a barrier to self-custody since day one. It’s what scares normies away from keeping their own bitcoin, and it’s a legitimate reason why people accept the counterparty risk of exchanges and custodial apps.” ~ Breez What if Bitcoin adoption is stuck not because of the tech but because we are obsessed with "perfect" security? I just read Juan Galt’s thoughts on Breeze SDK’s seedless wallets using Passkey Login, and it hit home. We have to lower the barriers for normies if we actually want them to use this. Is it finally possible to balance self-custody with real-world ease? This might be the bridge we need to move away from custodial risks toward actual everyday freedom. Check out the original article: Breez SDK Launches Passkey Login by Juan Galt (Link: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/breez-sdk-launches-passkey-login-for-seedless-bitcoin-wallets) References from the episode Check out the new Roundtable episode dropping this Thursday: it's packed with mining insights, price action updates, and corporate drama. If you're into the latest Bitcoin developments and cool upcoming projects, keep an eye out for the next two Chat episodes with Matt Hill and Svetski. If you're around, join me at Bit Block Boom in Dallas-Fort Worth from April 9th to 12th - I'll be sharing some fun stuff on what I'm currently building. (Link: https://bitblockboom.com/) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"Yes, AI is a big deal, but the conclusion that AI is going to kill the vertical and functional software business model simply makes no sense. The truth is that AI simply isn't going to kill software companies. After all this panic has passed, we'll see that AI is the best thing that ever happened to the software industry." ~ Alex Immerman and Santiago Rodriguez Ever wonder if AI is really going to wipe out software companies and leave us all jobless in a post-human economy? Listen in this episode where I read a A16Z article dismantling the doom and gloom, then rant on why AI amplifies human judgment, process power, and relative value - turning creative destruction into the ultimate boon for innovation. Could this be the take that flips your fears into excitement? Check out the original article: AI Will Eat Application Software by Alex Immerman and Santiago Rodriguez (Link: https://www.a16z.news/p/good-news-ai-will-eat-application) References from the episode Peter Steinberg's article on managing AI agents and process engineering, which sparked my thoughts on judgment and memory in AI. (Link: https://steipete.me/posts/just-talk-to-it) Dig into my feed for those recent episodes on AI coding and vibe coding; they're full of practical takes on agents and processes. Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

Did Jeffrey Epstein secretly hijack Bitcoin during the block size war? Was is all a covert operation by Jeffrey Epstein and shadowy government actors to permanently handicap Bitcoin? The big blockers want you to think so. In this Take, I tear apart the narrative piece by piece - following the money, reading the emails, and exposing why this conspiracy exists in the first place, and what it says about the people still pushing it. References from the episode Joy Ito's article on the block size debate is still up and worth reading if you want his actual stated position (Link: https://joi.ito.com/weblog/2016/02/22/my-view-on-the-.html) The DOJ Epstein email dump is publicly available if you want to dig through it yourself - fair warning, it's a lot. (Link: https://jmail.world/) The full video version of this breakdown will be shared shortly on my YouTube. I combined all seven parts into one, so it's way easier to watch straight through. (Link: https://youtu.be/OHT7pG-gZfU) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"When it comes to building in the approach, you have to be taking the approach as utilising the fundamental principles that we see in Bitcoin itself. So having a standard rule set that you apply to yourself every day with discipline and developing standard operating procedures that force us to hold ourselves accountable to higher standards. It's a daily grind, like you have to be always doing preventative maintenance, inspections and things like that so that you can kind of foresee issues before they happen and keep this infrastructure going because it's not just for self, this is bigger than us and it requires a great sacrifice sometimes to achieve greatness." ~ HODLTarantula While down at Plan B El Salvador, I managed to pull together a last-minute mining panel with two of the absolute best in the space. Bitcoin Mechanic from Ocean and the off-grid mining legend HODLTarantula join me to get into the weeds of physical infrastructure on the ground. We discuss the critical distinction between simply hashing and actually mining, and why that gap poses a massive centralization risk to the network. From the importance of constructing your own block templates to the "wild horse" philosophy of scavenging energy sources, we cover what it really takes to be unstoppable. If you aren't building the block, are you really a miner? Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links HT on X (Link: https://twitter.com/HodlTarantula) HT's Website (Link: https://sovereignhybridcompute.com/) Mechanic on X (Link: https://twitter.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Ocean's Website (Link: https://ocean.xyz/) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"If people are not ready for Bitcoin, just go use USDT as long as you can before dollar hyperinflation. It's like Noah's Ark: it's going to rain, we build the ark. We don't have to force people on board. Just wait there, and when you feel ready to swim, come aboard." ~ Giacomo Zucco Earlier this year at the Plan B conference in El Salvador, I managed to pull Giacomo Zucco aside to take a pulse on the current state of the Bitcoin world. In this Chat, we debate whether the classic four-year cycle is dead, or if we are simply stuck in the bargaining phase of grief where the world tries to fit old fiat models onto new money. We then discuss whether stablecoins constitute a necessary bridge - like methadone for a fiat junkie - or if they are just delaying the inevitable. Giacomo also breaks down his new Cypher Tank initiative and why he is funding the next generation of cypherpunk projects. At last, we pivot to the creeping dangers of the surveillance state and why KYC is fundamentally a regression to pre-civilization barter systems. Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links Giacomo on X (Link: https://twitter.com/giacomozucco) Giacomo's Website (Link: https://www.giacomozucco.com/) Plan B Network Website (Link: https://planb.network/) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

I'm joined by Steve, Mechanic, and Jeff for yet another Roundtable episode, and honestly, the digital world is getting weirder by the minute. Are we even talking to real people online anymore, or just AI voice clones trying to steal our seed phrases? We dive into the wild new wave of AI scams, the undeniable reality of the dead internet theory, and how AI coding tools might be the real reason Jack Dorsey just slashed Block's workforce in half. Of course, we also get into the thick of the quiet civil war happening right now in Bitcoin over BIP 110. Is this soft fork a vital stand against spam and network bloat, or is it a rushed experiment that could cause more chaos than it cures? Plus, we celebrate the Lightning Network quietly hitting a billion dollars in monthly volume, laugh about bartenders unplugging point-of-sale systems to charge their vapes, and question if the entire legacy system is just completely broken. When the timeline gets this absurd, how do we navigate the fiat madness without losing our minds? Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links Steve Simple Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3s6a8yn8) Steve Simple on X (Link: https://x.com/stevesimple) Bitcoin Mechanic Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/2tm827ut) Bitcoin Mechanic on X (Link: https://x.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Jeff Swann Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3sjc3bcp) Jeff Swann on X (Link: https://x.com/agoristview) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"The cypherpunk principle that 'cypherpunks write code' takes on revolutionary meaning when writing code no longer requires programming knowledge. Eric Hughes meant that political freedom comes through building systems without requesting permission, and now that building happens through natural language instruction to AI agents. You achieve sovereignty over computing through direct technical capability. The code becomes yours in the most fundamental sense: modified by your specifications, compiled on your hardware, serving your purposes exclusively." ~ Max Hillebrand What if every piece of software you use could be shaped entirely to your will - no bloat, no telemetry, no features you never asked for? Max Hillebrand argues that AI hasn't just changed who can code, it's changed *what code even is*. Could the combination of open source and AI agents finally destroy the vendor lock-in model for good? Check out the original article: The Code Liberation: How AI Makes Software Infinitely Customizable by Max Hillebrand (Link: https://towardsliberty.com/articles/naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzpdlddzcx9hntfgfw28749pwpu8sw6rj39rx6jw43rdq4pd276vhuqqgrjvesxyurwctp8p3nzefevyuny53hzf6) References from the episode Chat_160 - A Quiet Global Resistance: The episode with Max that kicked this whole conversation off - worth listening to before or after this one. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/db0Y8qZkrhZpjhj2vT0D) Towards Liberty: Max's blog and writing collection on Nostr - I'm well behind on his stuff and plan to dig back in myself. (Link: https://towardsliberty.com/articles) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter)

The biggest mistake Bitcoin and sovereignty-focused developers keep making is trying to sell people on why they care instead of building something people actually want to use. They don't care about decentralization, sovereignty, or peer-to-peer - they care about things that work. Looking at the user experience tells us just how far we still need to go. Why does logging into a free service feel like a hostage negotiation? Why are captchas filling every corner of the web when bots are better at solving them than humans? Is KYC and a credit card to every single service we want to login to really the "better experience" that the future holds for us? And why in 2026, sharing and syncing files between your own devices and among friends still migraine inducing? It's time to work backward from the web we want to have, to find the tools that will get us there. References from the episode - Pear Drive GitHub repository (Link: https://github.com/peardrive) - Pears, open-source P2P development stack by Holepunch (Link: https://pears.com/) - Pubky, key-oriented web protocol for user-owned identity and data by Synonym (Link: https://pubky.app/) - Wormhole, end-to-end encrypted file sharing tool via links (Link: https://wormhole.app/) - RustDesk, open-source remote desktop software (Link: https://rustdesk.com/) - Nostr, key-based identity protocol for global social networking and messaging (Link: https://nostr.org/) - Breeze SDK with Statechains: Non-custodial Bitcoin scaling solution for onboarding Lightning payments without liquidity concerns (Link: https://breez.technology/sdk/) - Dead Internet Theory: concept referenced regarding bot-dominated online interactions (Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Internet_theory) - BitTorrent history: its peak traffic era (~2006–2007) and lessons on peer-to-peer adoption (Link: https://www.bittorrent.org/) - The Cold Start Problem by Andrew Chen: a book on network effects and the atomic network concept (Link: https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Start-Problem-Andrew-Chen/dp/0062969749) - Steve Jobs' talk on starting from the user experience and working backward to the technology (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZll3dJ2AjY) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/)

"The people who figure that out first won't just ship faster - they'll build things that others can't even spec, because the spec emerges last from a process that only exists in the doing of it." ~ Jesse Posner When your AI knows your goals better than you remember them in the moment, something fundamental has shifted. This episode explores Jesse Posner's "The Secret to Vibe Coding" and the emerging art of human-AI partnership through the lens of real agentic workflows, the philosophy of naming what's happening while it's happening, and what it looks like when the spec emerges last from a process that only exists in the doing. Check out the original article: The secret to vibe coding by Jesse Posner (Link: https://x.com/jesseposner/status/2025680970784137238) References from the episode The Secret to Vibe Coding by Jesse Posner: for those without an X account, the article has been reposted on Nostr by average_bitcoiner. (Link: https://primal.net/average/the-secret-to-vibe-coding-and-the-only-skill-that-matters-in-the-age-of-ai) The Code Liberation by Max Hillebrand: the piece I mentioned as a possible follow-up Read episode - more philosophical take on the same ideas, keep an eye out for that one. (Link: https://primal.net/maxhillebrand/930187aa8c1e9a92) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/)

"That's the main reason I like doing this Bitcoin stuff so much, because it's connected to the real world. It's proof of work. Like, I can't sit on my computer and come up with a more logical code base or a different way to attack and get more Bitcoin. I've got to actually go out there and create something, some physical thing. And if I don't do that, it doesn't work, right? So it is proof of work at the very most fundamental level. And I love it." ~ Cade Peterson Bitcoin is often dismissed as magic internet money, but what happens when you harness that digital energy to physically heat your world? In this episode, I sit down with Cade Peterson to explore the inner workings of mining bitcoin for heat. We discuss his journey from Air Force mechanic to turning a local bank and a concrete plant into Bitcoin-heated fortresses. Cade explains the fascinating economics of heating systems that pay you back and why the tax man might actually be on your side here. We also dig into the philosophy of "boots and hammers" and why getting your hands dirty is the ultimate form of sovereignty. Is it time to stop over-thinking the thermodynamics and just build something? Let's find out. Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links Cade on X (Link: https://x.com/SoftwarmLLC) Cade's Website (Link: https://miningheater.com/) Cade's article The Significance of Micro-Infrastructure with Bitcoin Mining (Link: https://x.com/SoftwarmLLC/status/1863337651228823955) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, 'The world order as it has stood for decades no longer exists', and that we are in a period of 'great power politics.'" "He made clear that freedom 'is no longer a given' in this new era. French President Emmanuel Macron echoed Merz’s assessment and said that Europe’s old security structures tied to the previous world order don't exist and that Europe must prepare for war." "U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that we are in a 'new geopolitics era' because the 'old world' is gone." ~ Ray Dalio The world order is officially dead - Germany, France, and the US all said so at the Munich Security Conference. Ray Dalio's chapter on the big cycle of external order and disorder lays out exactly how empires collapse and wars begin. But did Dalio miss the most important piece? What if the debt cycle he describes isn't just a pattern - what if it's a symptom of a fundamentally broken monetary system? And what happens when you drop Bitcoin into the middle of a world gearing up for conflict? Check out the original article: The World Order Has Broken Down (Link: https://x.com/raydalio/status/2022788750388998543) References from the episode Ray Dalio's book Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail - I read all of Chapter 6 in this episode and it's absolutely worth reading the whole thing (Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Changing_World_Order) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/)

The Roundtable is back, and we are kicking off 2026 with some stories that I definitely didn't have on my bingo card. After catching up on Jeff's frostbite scare and Steve getting the cops called on him for sleeping in a gym lobby, we dive headfirst into the Epstein files. The released documents have implicated some major names in the space, raising the uncomfortable question: did a compromised elite try to co-opt Bitcoin early on? We debate the "Andy" Back theories, the influence of the MIT Media Lab, and whether any of this actually threatens the protocol today. We also discuss the sudden departure of a core developer and get into a heated debate over BIP-110 and the true power of listening nodes. Can a small but stubborn group of node runners actually block a soft fork, or are we heading toward a chaotic chain split this August? Equal parts absurd and sobering, this episode hits hard. Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links Steve Simple Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3s6a8yn8) Steve Simple on X (Link: https://x.com/stevesimple) Bitcoin Mechanic Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/2tm827ut) Bitcoin Mechanic on X (Link: https://x.com/GrassFedBitcoin) Jeff Swann Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3sjc3bcp) Jeff Swann on X (Link: https://x.com/agoristview) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

"Bitcoin is a lifeline. It is a money that cannot be shut down. Native money for the internet. But what happens when the internet gets shut off?" Iran's currency collapses 98%, the government kills thousands and cuts every wire connecting its people to the outside world. Uganda shuts down the internet the day before an election. And somehow, hundreds of thousands of people find a way to communicate anyway. What does it actually look like when Bitcoin's promise meets the brutal reality of authoritarian control — and what happens when the very infrastructure it depends on disappears? Check out the original article from the Financial Freedom Report: Financial Freedom Report #104 (Link: https://hrf.org/program/financial-freedom/financial-freedom-reports/) References from the episode Andreas Antonopoulos received the Finney Freedom Prize for the 2016–2020 era. Absolutely deserved. Look up the prize and the trophies Cryptografiti made — they're gorgeous. Bitchat is the peer-to-peer Bluetooth messaging app that hundreds of thousands of Ugandans downloaded when their internet got shut down. Worth knowing about. FEDI went fully open source on January 3rd — Bitcoin payments and encrypted messaging built on the Fedimint protocol. Zeus wallet added support for South Africa's retail QR code standard via Money Badger — making Bitcoin spendable at everyday merchants from a self-custodial Lightning wallet. Torreable is a new tool for publishing censorship-resistant websites as Tor onion services directly from your own computer. Open Sats announced their 15th round of Bitcoin grants, including Braidpool and Dana Wallet. Thor Halverson wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal arguing against just swapping one authoritarian for another in Venezuela. Anna Chekovic did an interview with Unchained about how Bitcoin sustained Navalny's anti-corruption foundation after Russia kicked them out of the banking system. Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: http...

"You can’t open your own private mint moving that kind of liquidity and hope to stay under the regulatory radar." ~ Roy Sheinfeld Stablecoins are booming, but are they building toward something bigger - or just recreating the old system with a crypto coat of paint? Roy Sheinfeld breaks down why centralization guarantees regulation, and I go deep on why the real shift isn't technological - it's monetary. If stablecoins can't escape the state, and Bitcoin can, who wins the utility race in the long run? Check out the original article: Stablecoins: Evolution, not a Revolution (Link: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/featured/stablecoins-evolution-not-a-revolution) References from the episode My recent conversation with Roy on Chat_157 - It's Time to Walk the Walk where we discussed the evolution of Lightning, Breeze, Spark and PearDrive (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/EpG58Rgz9cWjjLckHhD6) BTC Sessions' "Why Are We Bullish" panel show with Matt Odell, Brandon Quittem and myself. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/EHSfEfSKtnHd3HWYhud8) The film Black Rain by Ridley Scott, cited by Roy in his article as a reference for how seriously states take control over their currency. (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woY1UH9Ki28) Historical sociologist Charles Tilly's book Bringing the State Back In and its Chapter 5: War Making and State Making as Organized Crime, calling states "protection rackets" and "organized crime". (Link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/bringing-the-state-back-in/war-making-and-state-making-as-organized-crime/7A7B3B6577A060D76224F54A4DD0DA4C) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839) Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.

"It's a dangerous business to help people out of slavery. But so what? We have to do this. This is a moral obligation, an ethical obligation, as a technical possibility, and a lot of fun. So the risks of it are real and substantial and have been forever, especially in the last 30, 40 years or so. Countless builders have gotten into serious trouble or even been kidnapped or killed. And that's a hard fact of reality that we have to deal with. But I'm way more scared of the alternative of not working on this code and seeing us lose the grip on freedom that we have, rather than increasing it and making it flourish. So for me, it's really a no-brainer. They're so angry about this technology precisely because it works real damn good, and that's what we have to double down." ~ Max Hillebrand I sat down with Max Hillebrand for a conversation that ended up being far more optimistic than I expected. In this Chat, we dive deep into the mechanics of digital privacy, breaking down exactly how CoinJoin achieves trustless coordination and why the "code liberation" movement is just getting started. What happens when everyone becomes a programmer through AI agents and vibe coding? We then explore this explosion of productivity and how it feeds into new protocols like Marmot and the White Noise application. Finally, we discuss the philosophy of the "Second Realm" and why the tools to exit the system are already here, ready for us to build a quiet, global resistance against surveillance. It is time to stop hurting yourself with broken systems and start building the new ones. Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links Max on Nostr (Link: https://tinyurl.com/2ujwmsf5) Max's Website (Link: https://towardsliberty.com/) Max's article The Code Liberation (Link: https://tinyurl.com/yc2ybnk7) Anarplex.net (Link: https://anarplex.sirion.io/) Marmot protocol's Repository (Link: https://github.com/marmot-protocol) The Second Realm by Smuggler XYZ (Link: https://tinyurl.com/46z4cd93) Sedition, Subversion, and Sabotage by Ben Stone (Link: https://tinyurl.com/yee65zuy) True Names: And the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier by Vernor Vinge (Link: https://tinyurl.com/5atu4xcx) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann)

"PearDrive is like, how could you make stuff seamless across devices and how can you leverage that device that has a lot of storage to get the most out of the device that has a little storage? How do you make it so that when I boot something up, it just syncs to my Linux? And if I delete anything from my phone or my MacBook, I still see the thumbnail and I still connect to my Linux to bring it up and I can even play it directly off of my Linux machine. And if I want it locally to edit with or to share with somebody, I just hit download. How could you actually make it visually aware of where the data is and make it feel like the data just exists everywhere it wants? That's what we're trying to do." What if we could rebuild the digital world without the servers, the clouds, or the middlemen that control our data today? I joined the crew at Ungovernable Misfits - Q&A, Max, and Seth - on Freedom Tech Friday 25 to explore the revolutionary potential of the Holepunch and Pear ecosystem. We break down the magic behind connecting peer-to-peer through firewalls and why the birthday problem changes everything for network resilience. We also dive into the philosophy behind Keet, the current state of Pear Drive, and why file sharing is the foundational layer of a truly decentralized web. It is time to discover how we can finally reclaim control over our digital lives without sacrificing the user experience. Check out our awesome sponsors! HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter) OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/) Guest Links UGMF on X (Link: https://twitter.com/ungovernablemf) UGMF on YT (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@ungovernablemisfits) UGMF's Website (Link: https://www.ungovernablemisfits.com/) Host Links ⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney) ⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann) Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann) Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann) Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann) ⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible) The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)