DarkHorse Podcast Who Hijacked Bitcoin? Steve Patterson and Aaron Day on DarkHorse
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Mar 9, 2026 
Aaron Day, Brownstone Institute fellow researching CBDCs, stablecoins, and financial surveillance. Steve Patterson, independent Bitcoin historian and co-author of Hijacking Bitcoin. They trace Bitcoin’s shift from peer-to-peer cash to surveilled, custodial systems. They explore developer capture, Epstein-related links, CBDC projects, stablecoin power, censorship risks, and practical exit strategies.
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Cashing Out Felt Risky And Slow
- Bret Weinstein recounts selling his Bitcoin after learning of Epstein-related revelations and found cashing out from a custody wallet slow, costly, and nerve-wracking.
- He had to send test transactions, wait half a day, and endure fear of irreversible user error.
Block Size Cap Turned Currency Into Bottleneck
- Artificial block size limits throttled Bitcoin to about seven transactions per second, producing backlogs and huge fees during demand spikes.
- Steve Patterson describes multi-day confirmation backlogs that left users unable to move funds while price swung wildly.
Small Block Faction Shifted Bitcoin's Trajectory
- A core developer faction promoted small blocks and resisted raising throughput, shifting Bitcoin toward a store-of-value model.
- This technical-political split culminated in the 2017 fork creating Bitcoin Cash as a large-block alternative.
