After several years of FOMO, I finally attended HRF's #OsloFreedomForum. I took a friend who's political but not Bitcoiner, so I had the experience of seeing it through someone else's eyes, as well as my own. Obviously there's a lot to unpack: talking face-to-face with activists who are working in real danger is confronting in itself, and hearing their experiences fresh and recent is an emotional and impactful experience.
I was surprised, however, at the large number of Bitcoiners at the conference: it's not a Bitcoin conference, but the HRF (particularly gladstein (npub1trr…hdpu)) has been courting bitcoiners for technical assistance (and, presumably, donations) for several years now and it has resulted in a fascinating intersection. Those present are builders, not (just?) talkers. My non-bitcoiner friend noted the remarkable humility of those present: an insightful comment.
Of all the discussions I had, the one which haunts me most is a conversation with Peter McCormack (ex- WBD, now rejuvinating his home town and trying to raise awareness of UK's pressing misgovernance issues). To paraphrase: "Where are the Bitcoiners improving the world? Wasn't that what this was about?". In a context of three days' exposure to people who are dedicating their lives to something much bigger than software, this question really affected me.
I was expecting to leave the conference with a list of software priorities, and I did. But I still feel it's inadaquate, and so I'm now pondering the question: "what else should I be doing?".
Rusty Russell
npub179…elz4s
2025-06-07 03:56:12
Author Public Key
npub179e9tp4yqtqx4myp35283fz64gxuzmr6n3yxnktux5pnd5t03eps0elz4sSeen on
wss://nostr.oxtr.devwss://nostr.rblb.it:7777wss://nostr.bitcoiner.socialwss://nostr.bitcoiner.socialwss://relay.damus.ioPublished at
2025-06-07 03:56:12Event JSON
{
"id": "81489c4d6b25e997bba78bb8816440fbf7b5d38525437351ea620996288534c5",
"pubkey": "f1725586a402c06aec818d1478a45aaa0dc16c7a9c4869d97c350336d16f8e43",
"created_at": 1749268572,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"p",
"58c741aa630c2da35a56a77c1d05381908bd10504fdd2d8b43f725efa6d23196"
],
[
"t",
"OsloFreedomForum"
],
[
"t",
"oslofreedomforum"
]
],
"content": "After several years of FOMO, I finally attended HRF's #OsloFreedomForum. I took a friend who's political but not Bitcoiner, so I had the experience of seeing it through someone else's eyes, as well as my own. Obviously there's a lot to unpack: talking face-to-face with activists who are working in real danger is confronting in itself, and hearing their experiences fresh and recent is an emotional and impactful experience.\n\nI was surprised, however, at the large number of Bitcoiners at the conference: it's not a Bitcoin conference, but the HRF (particularly nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu) has been courting bitcoiners for technical assistance (and, presumably, donations) for several years now and it has resulted in a fascinating intersection. Those present are builders, not (just?) talkers. My non-bitcoiner friend noted the remarkable humility of those present: an insightful comment.\n\nOf all the discussions I had, the one which haunts me most is a conversation with Peter McCormack (ex- WBD, now rejuvinating his home town and trying to raise awareness of UK's pressing misgovernance issues). To paraphrase: \"Where are the Bitcoiners improving the world? Wasn't that what this was about?\". In a context of three days' exposure to people who are dedicating their lives to something much bigger than software, this question really affected me.\n\nI was expecting to leave the conference with a list of software priorities, and I did. But I still feel it's inadaquate, and so I'm now pondering the question: \"what else should I be doing?\".",
"sig": "7cf727384fb1122e1e0d809e5473add8a03b3647496f1b64b16e53bf70f07ea4f4630c97c70809761372eaa247c8c70631b84124ba3bc6ef91a71731274ce157"
}