Stephan Livera Podcast

Are we entering a new Bitcoin bull cycle? Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, rejoins me on the show to talk about a variety of things:  SBF found guilty Bitcoin bull cycle Block size wars Blockstream Greenlight Blockstream BASIC note Blockstream Green Links: Site: Blockstream.com Blockstream BASIC Note X: @adam3us  Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mempool.space Stephan Livera links: Follow me on X @stephanlivera Subscribe to the podcast Relevant Episodes: SLP521 Support Bitcoin Lightning with Greenlight with Christian Decker  SLP484 Robin Linus ZeroSync: Speeding up Bitcoin IBD

Jason Les, CEO of Riot Platforms, shares his journey from poker to Bitcoin mining and discusses challenges faced by a publicly listed mining company, advantages over competitors, financing options, HODLing strategies, impact of Bitcoin ETF, outperforming Bitcoin, educating government, curtailing services, and halving predictions.

Christian Decker, Blockstream's representative for Greenlight and expert in Bitcoin's Lightning Network, discusses the improvements in lightning experience, Greenlight experiences, mobile nodes, comparison with other providers, shared infrastructure, and core Lightning features. They also explore the potential of lightning as a force multiplier for the Bitcoin ecosystem and discuss the features of Greenlight, including bolt wealth, splicing, liquidity ads, and PSWOP. The goal is to make Greenlight on par with core lightning, opening up various use cases and enhancing the user experience.

Robin Linus and Super Testnet discuss BitVM, a new paradigm for Turing-complete bitcoin contracts. They explore the trade-offs, potential uses, set up time, interactivity, and the possibility of enabling side chains or covenants. They also discuss off-chain state, taproot circuits, advantages and concerns of side chains, theoretical concerns and value of side chain coins, and the goal of scaling Bitcoin to a million transactions per second.

Matthew Black, co-founder and CTO of Atomic Finance, talks about self custodial Bitcoin finance with DLCs. They discuss how it works without being custodial, where the yield comes from, HODL-only strategy, DLC security over time, and the future of Bitcoin Finance.

Lyn Alden, macro analyst and author of Broken Money, joins Stephan to discuss ledger money, different theories of money, warfare funding under fiat, the GFC and its response, base money and broad money, the incentives of the fiat standard, and the type of debt that makes sense under a Bitcoin standard.

Will Cole, Co-founder of Zaprite, discusses merchant adoption, improved custody, accounting and integration, circular economy, and the lie of 2% inflation in Bitcoin adoption. They explore the importance of expanding Bitcoin adoption, self-sovereign options, and simplified payment solutions. They also highlight the challenges of integrating Bitcoin payments and the impact of inflation on adoption.

Bitcoin developer and advocate Jimmy Song discusses his newest book, 'Fiat Ruins Everything,' and why you should have zero debt to avoid enslavement. They explore the negative effects of debt, the consequences of taking out loans, and the cultural impacts of fiat currency. They also discuss practical risks, moral arguments, and real-world examples of the impact of monetary expansion. The podcast provides insights into the importance of adopting Bitcoin and focuses on financial independence and saving in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin enthusiast American HODL discusses HODLer psychology, bitcoin culture, and future expectations. Topics include adoption waves, living on Bitcoin, overconfidence, mainstream culture, Bitcoin fixes this, jurisdictions, and thoughts on the next cycle.

Jonathan Prescott and Adriana Prescott, homeschooling advocates, share insights on homeschooling. They discuss their own journey and escaping hivemind thinking. They criticize 'school vouchers' and emphasize building a child's agency. They question the need for curricula and highlight the importance of modeling behavior. The podcast explores socialization, the culture war, and the role of the state and family in society.