Bitcoin Audible

"Most Cypherpunk veterans on the Cryptography mailing list had by then seen one too many electronic cash experiments come and go, without any real successes to account for..."
"But Hal Finney, ever the optimist, wasn’t ready to give up." - Aaron Van Wirdum
Another in the amazing "Genesis Files" series from Bitcoin Magazine, Aaron walks us through the history and the legacy of Hal Finney. From the introduction to the cypherpunks list, to the implementation of RPOW, all the way to Hal "running Bitcoin." Another excellent installment. If you want to learn more about the history of the cypherpunks and the forefathers of the Bitcoin system, the Genesis files is not to be missed.
Link to the original, with the other installments linked below:
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/the-genesis-files-how-hal-finneys-quest-for-digital-cash-led-to-rpow-and-more
Genesis Files: Chaum's eCash
https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/CryptoQuikRead_058---The-Genesis-Files-How-David-Chaum-Spawned-a-Cypherpunk-Dream-e2ndsp
Genesis Files: Wei Dai's B-Money
https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/CryptoQuikRead_107---If-Bitcoin-Had-a-First-Draft--Wei-Dais-B-Money-Was-It-Aaron-Van-Wirdum-e2ndra Genesis Files: Adam Back's Hashcash
https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/CryptoQuikRead_095---The-Genesis-Files-Hashcash-or-How-Adam-Back-Designed-Bitcoins-Motor-Block-e2ndrl Genesis Files: Szabo's BitGold
https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/CryptoQuikRead_111---Genesis-Files---With-Bit-Gold--Nick-Szabo-Was-Inches-From-BTC--Aaron-Van-Wirdum-e2ndr5 Hal's Bitcoin & Me:
https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/Hals-Day---Bitcoin--Me-reboot-eiq0glA huge thanks to Bitcoin Magazine and the Let's Talk Bitcoin Network!

In a world drowning in patent trolls, insane intellectual property restrictions, and a reality where someone who neither can build a product, nor came up with the idea, could make millions by suing those who wish to use it... how can we protect an open source ethos in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency space? How do we defend an alternative financial system from the intellectual prisons of the legacy system it is replacing?
Another major initiative is bringing us one step closer to that future thanks to Square, the owner of Cash App. Behind major donations to developers, even those who are anonymous, a new move to protect individual developers, projects, and even major companies from the turbulent environment of patent aggressors has been launched. We dig into COPA and the need for continuing the open source ethos of Bitcoin in today's Guy's Take episode!
What are the morality & ethics of Intellectual Property? Check out my recent conversation with the one and only Stephan Kinsella:
https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/Chat-46---Stephan-Kinsella-on-Intellectual-Property-in-the-age-of-Bitcoin-ej9fto
An old, but great article from Bitcoin Magazine about previous troubles in the patent arena & Blockstream's previous work in defending the market:
https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/CryptoQuikRead_020---There-is-a-Bitcoin-Patent-War-Going-On-e2ndu8
And of course learn about or join the "Crypto Open Patent Alliance" if you are building a project or want to know more at the link below:
open-patent.org

"This explanation rests on illustrating a few interesting properties of how Proof-of-Work is used in the blockchain that are not immediately obvious and sometimes are rather counter-intuitive, for example how participants collectively solve a problem without ever communicating ." - grisha
While we incessantly focus on the side-effects of the proof-of-work system in Bitcoin, the security it attributes to the Bitcoin history, the incentive structure it enables, etc, we can often forget the reason Satoshi himself stated for its use: to enable a distributed timestamp server. i.e. a decentralized clock.
An epic piece from @humblehack posted back in January 2018 on his blog at grisha.org. Check out the original and many other works at the link below:
https://grisha.org/blog/2018/01/23/explaining-proof-of-work/
Other great reads to dig further into the concepts:
The Drunkard's Walk: https://amzn.to/2Mzzr2K
Fooled By Randomness: https://www.amazon.com/Fooled-Randomness-Hidden-Markets-Incerto/dp/0812975219/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=fooled+by+randomness&qid=1599781258&s=books&sr=1-1
Bitcoin Astronomy: https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/CryptoQuikRead_303---Bitcoin-Astronomy-Part-1---Dhruv-Bansal-e6eqo5
Thanks to Marty & Chris from TFTC for bringing this to my attention again:
Episode 188: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-the-crypt/episodes/188-Chris-Bendiksen-ein7nj

"The project was initially understood as yet another doomed attempt to construct a digital currency by the disillusioned cypherpunk community. And without anyone’s permission, Bitcoin slowly emerged and diligently grew to become adopted by a small group of computer researchers, cryptographers and engineers curious to decipher the technology." - Thibaud Marechal
Another great article at Bitcoin Magazine on the history of the internet, and how Bitcoin finally fulfills the ultimate vision of a monetary protocol native to the world wide web. After decades of failed attempts, we finally have an independent, decentralized, native language for communicating, verifying, and exchanging value in cyberspace. A new world is born.
The original article and a bunch of other great piece can be found at Bitcoin Magazine below:
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/a-monetary-layer-for-the-internet

Links to other episodes and works mentioned in today's show:
Guy's Take - The Internet is Too Complex to Work
https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/GuysTake_008---The-Lightning-of-my-TCP--or-How-the-Internet-is-Too-Complex-to-Work-e32omd
The Bitcoin Survivor's Book List:
https://thecryptoconomy.com/bitcoin-survivors-book-list/
Stack sats automatically in your DCA Bitcoin savings plan at SwanBitcoin.com/Guy and get $10 for FREE to start off!
Much love to the Let's Talk Bitcoin Network for sharing this show out with their audience, and the other excellent shows they produce for the Bitcoin space!

"I am talking about the inability to confront shortcomings with layers of the system. The inability to confront substantial threats or attack surfaces that are not being worked on in terms of creating solutions and defenses." - Shinobi
Being bullish is tons of fun, and getting cosmic about the impact & world shattering implications of Bitcoin is even more so... but sometimes we need to take a sober step back, and remember that this is just code at the end of the day. It is a network, with trade offs, limitations, and many problems to overcome. A great piece from Shinobi (@brian_trollz) taking a hard look at Lightning, mining, and Bitcoin's censorship resistance as it stands today, and reminding us to stay focused on the problems, not get lost in our dreams of the future.
Check out the original and drop some applause at the link below:
https://medium.com/block-digest-mempool/things-bitcoiners-dont-want-to-hear-33823c2e984
A huge thank you to my Patrons, and of course Hexa Wallet for supporting the podcast! This is only possible with your support, and it is massively appreciated. Don't forget to download and check out Hexa if you haven't yet. A Bitcoin-only, non-custodial, seedless, mobile wallet with tons of cool features. Find them at Hexawallet.io or on Twitter at @HexaWallet