Consolidation in the space?
Bitcoin merger and acquisition action is on
News hits:
Riot Platforms has made a bid to takeover smaller mining peer Bitfarms. Following the rejection, RIOT has begun a hostile takeover attempt by acquiring 12% of BITF.
Robinhood, the infamous stock-trading app, is diving deeper into the cryptocurrency market with its recent acquisition of OG crypto exchange Bitstamp as part of its efforts towards expanding outside the US.
It's getting really competitive out there in the markets!
Bitcoin developers and other people who value their privacy should be cautious of safe-guarding their identity online as the recent publication by Business Insider doxxed Bitcoin FOSS developer, Fiatjaf, sparking discussions in the Bitcoin community around privacy.
The past week saw 2 major markets across the world open their doors to Bitcoin spot ETFs - Australia and Thailand. There is also a significant and consistent inflow over the last 19 days into US Bitcoin spot ETFs.
Source: HODL15Capital
A major milestone, spearheaded by Satoshi Action Fund & Mark Wright to protect Bitcoiner’s rights in Louisiana: A bill protecting ‘fundamental Bitcoin Rights' is sent to the Governor’s Desk in Louisiana after passing the House and Senate.
Ark Labs, the company dedicated to building bitcoin layer-two solutions based on the new Ark protocol launches. Read more about it here.
Source: Ark Labs
The third largest offshore exchange Bybit suddenly opened up registration and authentication for users in China according to Wu Blockchain. Bybit has long strictly prohibited the registration and use of all Chinese users. Could this mean a possible expansion of Bybit to China?
Fabian Jahr announced a draft BIP for testnet4, a new version of testnet designed to eliminate some problems with the existing testnet3.
Jeremy Rubin shared his paper about theoretically using functional encryption to add a full range of covenant behavior to Bitcoin with no required consensus changes. This would require users of the covenants to trust a third party as I understand there is a trusted setup.
Tl;dr Podcast summaries:
Bitcoin Seoul 2024 Interviews SLP581
Calvin Kim on utreexo
Calvin explains Utreexod & Bitcoin briefly here.
He touches upon the development of compact UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) sets, which can streamline the Bitcoin network by making it more efficient. This allows the entire UTXO set to be included when downloading binaries, enhancing the speed and efficiency of starting nodes.
Gloria Zhao on Bitcoin Core and mempool
Gloria Zhao discusses the importance of effective fee management for Bitcoin transactions.
She’s currently working on TRUC (Topologically Restricted Until Confirmation) aka BIP431 - its a way to opt in to policies which gives users robust fee-bumping, a better transaction experience (zero-fee, pre-signed transaction, CPFP transaction, package RBF and more).
She also touches on mempool cluster: “With mempool cluster, the algorithms intend to be much more efficient and accurate; so when you’re calculating replacements we can very accurately assess if this is a better transaction (incentive-compatibility wise) for the miner.” These changes aim to improve transaction processing and network efficiency over time.
Gloria emphasised ongoing privacy enhancements within the peer-to-peer (P2P) layer of Bitcoin. For instance, v2 p2p transport which is now on by default in v27 of Bitcoin Core.
Laolu on Taproot Assets and covenants
Laolu discusses the role of edge nodes in helping to execute transactions across different networks. These nodes enable seamless asset swaps and ensure that users receive Bitcoin regardless of the currency they are sending, simplifying the process of transacting across different platforms.
There is also a need to make the onboarding process for new users less expensive - this is being advanced by working on taproot assets, which allows users to engage in complex financial activities without relying on centralized institutions on Bitcoin.
Laolu encourages the need for more discussion on covenants. The new possibilities on Bitcoin are reinvigorating excitement among developers, but also the #1 rule is to “not to f*ck up the money”, slow is always better than fast when it comes to development on Bitcoin.
Saifedean on Central Banking and tax cattle
Saifedean critiques the conception of central banking as a government failure per se, seeing them more like privately owned banks that steal from individuals with low quality money. In this view, it’s your fault for not adopting Bitcoin! Now I don’t fully agree with this view as there was government coercion required to get us to this place of fiat money, but nevertheless, the choice to use Bitcoin is yours.
Obi Nwosu on Fedi
Obi focuses on empowering the world's most disempowered populations rather than solely catering to the wealthy. By addressing the needs of these communities, Bitcoin and decentralised technologies can provide meaningful financial solutions and drive social change.
There are benefits of federated models for security and dispute resolution. These models involve multiple experts rather than a single entity, which enhances trust and reduces the risk of corruption or bias, providing a more reliable and fair system for users. This approach ensures that financial services are more resilient, democratic, and better suited to the needs of local communities.
With federations, users can expect very low transaction fees. This cost efficiency is crucial for making Bitcoin transactions accessible and affordable, particularly in low-income regions.
Jimmy Song on Bitcoin in Korea
He highlights that there is a significant market and growth potential for Bitcoin in Asia and the world can choose to ignore Asia at its own peril. When Bitcoin and its developments catch on in Asia, it is set to dwarf anything that is happening in western Europe or the US.
NVK on Bitcoin Ossification and Changes SLP582
NVK discusses Bitcoin ossification and argues for a framework of "extreme conservatism" in making changes to Bitcoin.
He suggests that Bitcoin is ginormous and everything affects everything and is critical of packaging of numerous changes in complex systems. There is a need for careful, consensus-driven bug fixes reflecting on the past Bitcoin soft forks and consensus changes (Segwit, Taproot etc.).
Importance of economic incentives in Bitcoin development is key, as Bitcoin's evolution is driven by practical needs and market demands, rather than purely ideological or moral considerations. He addresses the ongoing debate about Bitcoin's role as a medium of exchange (MOE) versus a store of value (SOV), suggesting that the SoV use is the main one. Other uses are subservient to making sure Bitcoin works as SoV in his view.
Bitcoin isn’t perfect according to NVK, however it is a 1000x improvement on the systems we already have. Currently, all the currencies of the world are pegged to USD, everything is dollarised. USD is the best shitcoin and we finally have an alternative to that (Bitcoin) which is great! Being ultra conservative with Bitcoin and focusing on its purpose of being sound money is the most reasonable path; as there is no ‘correct’ path.
Also, there is also a need to be careful to not put Bitcoin on a pedestal and think that we’re ‘guarding’ it somehow - that’s exactly how your opponent takes you out. It's complacency and pure ego talking. “It's not my chain, It's not your chain, It's not our chain”, economic actors tend to seek economic incentives. Every single aspect of building on Bitcoin focuses on it being the best SOV and the participant not being debased.
Lastly, NVK’s advice to all the developers/critics - “start making PRs, you don’t need anybody’s permission. The pre-talk causes more drama than the actual merge or non-merge of the PR.”
Now I’ll be flying out to BTC Prague tomorrow so keep an eye out for some interviews from that!
Upcoming conferences:
BTC Prague June 13-15th 2024 in Prague, Czech Republic - code LIVERA
Nomad Capitalist Sept 25-28, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia (tickets sold out but wait list possible)
Pacific Bitcoin October 18-19 2024, Los Angeles, California - code LIVERA gets you 21% off