mike

Unregulated crypto anarchist.
Chief Shitpost Officer - NOSTR Inc.
Foreign Correspondent - bridging legacy social media
Email, NIP-05, LN address: mike@mikehardcastle.com

Run 3 imperfect Bitcoin + Lightning nodes.
BitAxe Miner - former S19 miner
Novice Author

Businessman - Electronics
Entrepreneur - Data centres
Investor - Technology

Foodie & Cook
Food Producer

My articles : https://habla.news/u/mhardcastle@nostrplebs.com
My public relay: https://nortis.nostr1.com/
My photos: https://mike.npub.pro/
My book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLJP6R3F/

Public Key

npub1aqakd28d95muqlg6h6nwrvqq5925n354prayckr424k49vzjds4s0c237n

NIP-05 Address

mike@mikehardcastle.com

NIP-57 Address

poorerclient65@walletofsatoshi.com

Profile Code

nprofile1qqswswmx4rkj6d7q05dtafhpkqq2z42fc62s37jvtp642m2jkpfxc2cpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3vamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwwpexjmtpdshxuet5m24fk2

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

relay.primal.net

e.nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1aqakd28d95muqlg6h6nwrvqq5925n354prayckr424k49vzjds4s0c237n

Show more details

Last Notes

2025-05-04 10:30:48

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Photo Voltaic 😂

2025-05-04 10:21:45

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GM 🫂

2025-05-03 17:15:20

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I like stupid personal attacks.
It’s intelligent personal attacks I object to 😂

2025-05-03 17:03:51

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One guy, a property guy was very interested. I gave him a copy of my book. He knew about Bretton Woods and coming off the gold standard.
He knew the problem, I gave him the solution.

2025-05-03 17:01:20

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It was filthy inside 😂

2025-05-03 13:02:27

Orange pilling with the normies 😂
https://i.nostr.build/LPh9kmr06HIwrkXw.jpg

2025-05-03 09:39:47

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The Gold standard was gold backing the dollar, nobody actually carried gold in their pockets to spend.
Perhaps we are destined for Tether over a bitcoin network world 😱

2025-05-02 16:00:08

Interesting view:
#nevent1q…82jz

2025-05-02 15:39:20

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Yes, I have 2 complete copies of the blockchain, one for core and one for knots.
Most people however are just moving the database from core to knots via the Umbrel command line.
I’d share the link, but I’m struggling to find it within my posts or notifications.
Apologies 😞

2025-05-02 15:14:11

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Bitcoin is a consensus network, if we have consensus to ban you, you are banned. 😂

2025-05-02 15:11:03

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I believe I posted that I hoped you were right.

2025-05-02 15:09:20

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Yes, this is a deep question.
We are not moving to Knots because we love it, we are moving to Knots because it isn't core.
Do I have the right to reject cat JPEGs?
Same questions as X or NOSTR and life.
We all look after ourselves first, Lopp is no different, better or worse.

2025-05-02 14:42:32

This took a couple of reads, but I understand it.
There is good reasoning here IMHO and very valid points.
I'm still thinking about it in terms of limited size OP_RETURN is bad, but the existing options are worse.
i need time to think, it's Friday, I'm going to a couple of parties at the weekend with normies. I'm going to argue with them to see how blank I can make their faces look 😂
#nevent1q…6sft

2025-05-02 14:29:07

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The successful miner for each block, in theory, can decide what they want to include or exclude in the block they mine.
In practise, however, most pools don't pass on this option to miners.
OCEAN is trying to change that and give power back to the miners. If you win the block, you get to choose the contents of the block, even if you are in a pool.
As a non mining node runner, we don't get to make any choices, we agree consensus and include the block, whatever it contains in our own chains.
Knots, however, does allow node runners some flexibility, it allows node runners to exclude runes for example.
The migration from core to knots by non mining node runners is more of a silent protest and public metrics showing this shift would be a very strong indicator to core developers that the community does not support them, so in this respect, it is a vote.

2025-05-02 14:06:14

Wallet of Satoshi is introducing "Self Custody"! 😳
https://nitter.net/walletofsatoshi/status/1918281757759291594#m

2025-05-02 13:21:31

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I bet his home is a mess 😂

2025-05-02 12:29:29

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No, my predecessors did that between 2015 - 2017.

2025-05-02 10:21:38

So the argument is evolving, Core is moving away from consensus with Knots and towards consensus with Libre Relay.
I get OP_RETURN limit is considered pointless, but it wouldn't be if all other attack vectors were shut down.
Does this really come down to native JPEGs on Bitcoin or no JPEGs on Bitcoin?
#nevent1q…mh6t

2025-05-02 10:18:45

Having just posted this, I decided to look at Libre Relay on Geyser and they state this:
------
For example, Bitcoin Core maintains the pointless OP_Return size limit, even though it's just one of many ways to publish data in Bitcoin transactions; Libre Relay doesn't.
------
https://geyser.fund/project/librerelay?hero=mike1
The controversy continues 🤔
#nevent1q…szlq

2025-05-02 09:26:40

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GM 🫂
Happy Friday to you too

2025-05-02 09:05:23

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I know, I have always treated money as value, not affordability. This has served me well at all wealth levels.
Despite the rhetoric, I have no intention of getting a Lambo and my wife won’t let me get a girlfriend 😂

2025-05-02 08:43:51

There is a debate happening in Oxford on this in 5 days time, I live in Oxford:
https://x.com/niftynei/status/1917720481869803683

2025-05-02 08:35:29

GM,
As a nobody with no say and having contributed nothing, I'm self certifying this is important please read:
@nprofile…ulq2 @nprofile…d27a @nprofile…vnqp
#nevent1q…mv9h

2025-05-02 05:51:32

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GM,
It's 639am UK time, and I didn't sleep much last night. I got up to write this, then I'm going back to bed, I still won't sleep much.
First of all, thank you Will, for all you do, both on Core and on NOSTR. I don't do much myself, but I have done my fair share to change the world in my life. I am mostly a passenger now, but I promise I have earned my position at the top table for oversight of the world as it changes.
Once again, I deeply respect and admire you and everything you do.
My understanding of your statement is you can do this anyway via another method, so what’s the problem allowing this to happen via OP_RETURN.
This is bad, please allow me to set out my stall.
I don’t want to store cat JPEGs or inscribed love letters on my nodes. Bitcoin is a financial transaction system, that is all. I appreciate it has always been possible to inscribe data on the blockchain from the genesis blocks “Banks on Brink of second collapse” to Len Sassaman’s ASCII art image.
But taproot, in an effort to optimise storage and move closer towards a Turing complete engine by creating and combining scripts within Merkle trees, gave an unintended consequence. Cat JPEGs stored natively on the blockchain.
This exists, we can’t stop it, many parties, including miners and NFT artists want this. I don’t. Let Ethereum have the monopoly on cat JPEGs, I’m not looking to compete with Ethereum. That is my 3 - 5 votes out of 20,000+ active nodes at any time.
So, we are here, we have cat JPEGs and we have love poems stored on the blockchain, so allowing love poems in the OP_RETURN doesn’t matter because we can do this anyway.
I disagree. For me we need to be making it harder to store cat JPEGs and love poems, not easier and continue to do this granularly until it is eliminated. That is the direction I want to head in.
So my question is, what can’t we do with the blockchain that we would be able to do with an unrestricted OP_RETURN. If you don’t know the answer, that’s fine, just because you’re a core developer doesn’t give you the ability to read somebody else’s mind.
The other argument I’ve seen from Lopp is that he has a lot of Bitcoin and not much shareholding in Citrea, the company pushing for this change. Why would he damage his Bitcoin for such a small company.
This argument also, doesn’t hold water. Nobody expected Taproot would allow anybody to store cat JPEGs, the unintended consequences of change is always there.
I am in no way a developer, but I did code back in the 1980’s to early 90’s. I built, ran and maintained a Hungarian mainframe called a VT6000 based on Bull Mitre architecture for our global public electronics company, “Densitron”, which my father founded and still exists today inside one of my other companies.
The machine ran MMT2 O/S and COBOL compiler. I was one of two people extending the functionality of a global accounting, stock control and ordering system called RelAcs (Real Time Accounting System). My colleague, a Hungarian called Charlie Lugosi was highly skilled, way beyond my limited abilities. We both broke the system in every conceivable way countless times trying to improve or maintain either the machines micro-code, the OS or the applications.The machine had 2 x 300MB CDC disks, 1MB RAM and a 2MB cache. It supported up to 16 dumb terminals.
By comparison, modern code like Bitcoin is unimaginably more complex, but the principles still apply. You never fully understand the consequences of a change until it is in production and being used in the real world.
Jameson Lopp would absolutely break Bitcoin if it benefitted him, somebody broke Bitcoin to allow cat JPEGs, probably unintentionally. Somebody let a virus out of a lab in China, probably unintentionally.
Unless there is a very good reason to reduce the restriction on OP_RETURN size, then we don’t do it, because nobody knows what the consequences of this is, and Bitcoin core developers have no special insights that non core devs don’t. And Bitcoin code, by nature is very conservative. Which is why Taproot caused more problems than it fixed.
As a core developer, if you are now involving yourself directly. If you don’t know “why” we want to remove the OP_RETURN limit, you should be finding out, not discussing “well it’s broken anyway, what harm can it do” with idiots like me.
I am a voter and a customer and a user of your Core software, I can vote with my node and give my "free" business to other Bitcoin suppliers like Knots. I and my colleagues are who you are working for, albeit selflessly and unpaid. I am the one you are your core colleagues are accountable to.
If you are fully open and honest with us, you have our respect, support and admiration, if you treat us like we don't matter, we all leave and you are left in an empty ivory tower.

2025-05-01 21:36:15

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I was describing a principle here, but as you know, we are choosing Knots as an alternative.

2025-05-01 21:32:52

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Welcome 🫂

2025-05-01 21:17:20

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I only have snippets right now, but, as usual, there are always two sides to an argument.
Up until this, we were being told we could even hear the argument.

2025-05-01 21:12:52

I’m starting to hear the core side:
#note13cl…znux

2025-05-01 21:09:43

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Who you talkin to? 🙄

2025-05-01 21:08:15

They know less than us and we know nothing 😂
#note1fgr…zswr

2025-05-01 19:55:31

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The naughty ones? 😂 😂 😂

2025-05-01 19:40:09

This 💯
https://i.nostr.build/dCTGUXcyrxEAkSz5.jpg

2025-05-01 18:30:46

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#yestr 🫡

2025-05-01 18:28:57

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You’re all taking the mv shortcut aren’t you? 😂😂😂
I’ve been downloading knots since the weekend 😂

2025-05-01 18:25:59

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To quote a famous politician.
Democracy is the worst of all the political ideals, except for all the rest.

2025-05-01 18:22:53

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😂

2025-05-01 18:22:25

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I can’t handle the confusion, I never use Amethyst for notifications 😂

2025-05-01 17:36:08

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I receive notifications, I just don't understand them.
According to Amethyst, all the people that react to me are called "mike".
https://i.nostr.build/Y1DHI5mOt2S1QHUH.png

2025-05-01 17:14:33

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It’s like replacing the first character in a filename with a “?” 😂😂😂

2025-05-01 17:09:27

F*****ng NOSTR apps 😂😂😂
#note1pql…g6eu

2025-05-01 17:00:23

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What is your view on the OP_RETURN debate?

2025-05-01 15:27:12

The concept that only developers can make decisions is crazy.
If you've ever been in charge of an IT department within a company, you realise how much more power you had than you should be allowed.
Bitcoin core developers have to implement decisions, and they need to understand the nuance of these decisions and be able to feed back when they see decisions have unintended consequences.
But developers don't get to make the decisions.

2025-05-01 14:12:09

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GM
Great blossom 🌸

2025-05-01 14:07:06

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Also look at the Bitcoin price 😂

2025-05-01 13:49:24

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You're not allowed to work from home, you have to be in the office inspiring your staff via Zoom 😂
Meanwhile, your staff:
https://i.nostr.build/7tLfH8ak0OLTfxEy.jpg

2025-05-01 13:41:08

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Abuse of privileges, employees have a right to work from home 😂

2025-05-01 13:39:51

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Like the scene from Oldboy 😂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldboy_(2003_film)

2025-05-01 13:21:54

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😂

2025-05-01 13:16:33

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Boosted 🫂

2025-05-01 13:12:54

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Clydesdale is a bank round these parts. Wash your dirty mouth out 😂
https://i.nostr.build/Hgyd7MszFUwN8mox.jpg

2025-05-01 13:07:52

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@npub18m7…q955 to the rescue
https://i.nostr.build/1fZCZltVa4wn76My.jpg

2025-05-01 13:06:01

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I'll never know for sure! 😂
https://i.nostr.build/K12q6K8zAMwv0DmH.jpg

2025-05-01 12:50:15

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GM 🫂

2025-05-01 12:48:37

ONCE AGAIN:
https://i.nostr.build/mG0tcpw7L5uirvZy.jpg
#nevent1q…frzg

2025-05-01 12:35:53

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Doctor Nostr went to Gloucester,
In a shower of rain;
He stepped in a puddle,
Right up to his middle,
And never went there again

2025-05-01 12:33:11

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I’m downloading a pruned version on knots on one of my test nodes.
Good idea to swap it out for the core DB if I switch.
Thanks for the tip 🫡

2025-05-01 12:30:35

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Should hold a referendum about that 😂

2025-05-01 12:28:17

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Yes, if you know you want to run Knots exclusively.
This is the way 🫡

2025-05-01 11:13:13

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I’m doing it wrong 😂

2025-05-01 11:12:18

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On a serious note,
Tax is irrelevant if the government can just print money.
But under a Bitcoin Standard, we would want somebody to do the admin and finances for each of our countries. This we can loosely call a government, which we would need to pay them some Bitcoin to do and we could’ve used the word tax if it hadn’t been previously abused.

2025-05-01 10:58:01

Poking the bear on X again, I must stop doing this 😂
https://i.nostr.build/QXc3NNrgqtIuYKZI.jpg

2025-05-01 09:57:35

Shouldn't we change the word "Stable coin" to Debasement coin"?

2025-05-01 08:59:34

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I wasn't looking for a lesson, I was looking to move beyond this, but thanks for re-iterating for others.

2025-05-01 08:57:25

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Yes, that’s right
#nevent1q…ts0r

2025-05-01 07:59:51

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I'm not racing you, I'm taking it easy.
Let me know how you get on tho.

2025-05-01 07:47:00

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Yes

2025-05-01 07:42:50

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Cats.
The original use case for the Internet 💜

2025-05-01 07:38:31

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The further it gets, the slower it goes.
That’s taproot for you 😂

2025-05-01 07:37:17

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Yes,
Ben is doing that on X right now:
https://x.com/BTCsessions/status/1917752545910612124

2025-04-30 21:35:49

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👀
I didn’t know their was a sex scene in Star Wars 😂😂😂

2025-04-30 21:19:28

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This:
nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzp6pmv65w6tfhcp73404xuxcqpg24f8rf2z86f3v824td22c9ymptqqsy50uvcmypfhx97prvnvdjly0um4kd93frr7ccs83tv5fah9nxx5ccxjpvj

2025-04-30 21:11:43

Second test, I actually got refunded the 700 Sats top zapper prize 😂
#nevent1q…rnhh

2025-04-30 18:49:52

The bar service around here is terrible 😂
https://i.nostr.build/hmjKtaVXZDgNVMZq.jpg

2025-04-30 16:18:16

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I’ve never had the clap and any such rumours will be denied fully by my legal team 😂

2025-04-30 15:43:21

Hey @nprofile…kl8d
You want to consolidate you Node runner list with mine?
https://following.space/d/82dxdswn6evw

2025-04-30 15:08:03

One day, there will be a party where everyone in the room is a Bitcoiner and there will be a normie in the corner trying to tell us about gold 😂
#nevent1q…2vke

2025-04-30 14:40:42

As a regular cruiser, this interested me:
Look at the comparison between the "Titanic" and the largest cruise ship in the world today, the "Wonder Of The Seas".
https://i.nostr.build/iRYhjNkHUbqQ7QZX.jpg

2025-04-30 14:14:45

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Yeh, cos of DM failures, I now know I’m not one of your favourite nostriches 😞😂

2025-04-30 13:59:50

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Reply Girl’s replies will be worth money some day😂

2025-04-30 13:30:24

ALSO AT LAST 😁
#nevent1q…zalm

2025-04-30 10:44:34

Hey @nprofile…478g
Can I be in your writers follow pack?
I'm a published Bitcoin author here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLJP6R3F/
and have written many articles on NOSTR here:
https://primal.net/p/nprofile1qqswswmx4rkj6d7q05dtafhpkqq2z42fc62s37jvtp642m2jkpfxc2c25h8ce#reads
https://following.space/d/5gj7p3ctxvje

2025-04-30 09:41:46

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Fancy a race? 😂
https://i.nostr.build/5OLzsfVWKYxjKiEe.jpg

2025-04-29 21:32:50

If you're a #BitAxe miner or know of one, let me know, I'll add it to the follow pack here:
https://following.space/d/m3k5rz4s32dh

2025-04-29 21:28:00

I just followed all the artists on NOSTR with one click here:
https://following.space/d/0hthebeautifulcha0s

2025-04-29 21:05:51

Second buzzbot test
NOSTR follow packs:
https://following.space/
@nprofile…fmt5 1000

2025-04-29 20:58:36

Experimenting with Buzzbot:
If you're a node runner, switch to Bitcoin Knots:
@nprofile…fmt5 1000
https://i.nostr.build/VOpyuPE9h7S2MFZN.jpg

2025-04-29 16:39:53

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I'm installing it on a test rig, it'll take another day or two to sync. If you want to wait, I can let you know how it goes.

2025-04-29 14:21:17

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I also want to create my own @nprofile…fd7j DATUM mining template for my BitAxe, which requires Knots to be running.
If it works, I'll probably get a second BitAxe and run one as a lottery miner, the other as a pool miner.

2025-04-29 14:16:18

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I'm switching one of my test nodes, if this works, I'll switch two of my three production nodes.
Never tried Knots before.

2025-04-29 14:11:01

Another day or so and then this:
https://i.nostr.build/A70B0PLdSgVkAwfh.jpg
#nevent1q…jqc7

2025-04-29 12:35:33

My wife's pension with Aviva which she cashed in on February was due to be paid out by yesterday at the latest.
It hasn't been paid.
On phoning my wife was told, "The market is highly volatile, your payout is 5% less than you were expecting do you still want to cash in?"
YES, you F****krs
The fiat system is really broken now.
Meanwhile this was going into Bitcoin which has pumped since April 14th, the expected payout date.

2025-04-29 12:26:04

Currently switches to Bitcoin Knots because of @nprofile…ulq2
https://i.nostr.build/crOfQeMhkIKClbV7.jpg

2025-04-28 17:35:20

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In the UK, estate agents (Realtors) realised the Internet was coming and so they built and ran the property portals we now use.
Despite their reputation, they were smart.

2025-04-28 17:28:20

Technology disrupts most, but not all.
Most phone companies are now ISPs
Kodak didn't become a digital photography company
Xapo is already a pure Bitcoin bank, Coinbase is becoming one.
Others like Revolut include Bitcoin services.
Will banks survive and thrive with Bitcoin (a lot of people are still addicted to custodial services) or will they die?
https://i.nostr.build/a0i5dyikrKCSnNwW.jpg

2025-04-28 13:15:14

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Fusion, AI, Quantum computing, LoRa, Cloning, Gene editing, Teleportation, Space Exploration, Attosecond physics.

2025-04-28 11:15:05

Is this a metaphor for Bitcoin? 😂
https://i.nostr.build/8Bm2VqIXHUlRBM0o.jpg

2025-04-27 19:39:32

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You two playing nicely together?
Carry on then 😂

2025-04-27 17:56:07

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GM 🫂
It’s now GE here and the day has been pretty good.
Have a good day yourself.

2025-04-27 16:30:45

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Interesting, the it can't be done because somebody wrote an article explaining why.
This works perfectly until somebody doesn't bother to read the article and just does it anyway 😂
Seriously, you know this, right?

2025-04-27 16:10:39

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I was going to fix poverty, I tried several experiments, but everybody I helped out just stayed where they were and didn't do anything for themselves.
I'm massively condensing a concerted 5 year project to a TL;DR, but essentially I've come to the conclusion to help motivated people that are struggling to make the next rung in the ladder.