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Coin Geek
5 days ago
- Politics
- Coin Geek
Political activist Steven Nekhaila on Bitcoin, liberty
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... On this week's episode of the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream, Libertarian Party Chair Steven Nekhaila joined Kurt Wuckert Jr. to talk about his journey into libertarianism, what the ideology is all about, and how Bitcoin can change the world and help preserve liberty. title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""> How Nekhaila became a libertarian Nekhaila says his journey into libertarianism started early when he read the Creature of Jekyll Island . He had always been curious about central banking, but through reading extensively, he learned how the Federal Reserve funds the entire government, including the war machine and welfare state. Eventually, he joined the Libertarian Party and has been on the Libertarian National Committee since 2015. He has also been interested in digital currencies since 2014 and was involved in Ultimate Coin and mining in the early days. Back then, everything was different—the industry was still firmly in its Wild West era. Even back then, Nekhaila was interested in the ideology of Bitcoin in addition to the utility. Most are focused on speculation, but that's secondary to him. What is libertarianism? Wuckert opens this section with a caricature of what those who hold mainstream political views think: aren't libertarians just Republicans who are gay and/or like to smoke weed? He asks what the purpose of the party is. The Libertarian Party has existed since 1972, Nekhaila says. It started as a way to push the ideology, which can be summarized as 'don't hit people and don't take their stuff.' Libertarians believe the government should exist to defend life, right, and property and that it should leave people alone. In no way, shape, or form should it promote any given ideology, and it shouldn't tax one individual to fund another. The ideology is growing, and the Party has won some power at the local level already. Did the Libertarian Party back Donald Trump for President? Not officially, Nekhaila says. However, for all his faults, Trump did promise to free Ross Ulbricht, and he came through. He has also given a lot of liberty to the digital currency industry. Bitcoin and ideology As BTC just hit a new all-time high and global uncertainty rises, Nekhaila states his position on its future: it will continue to rise, and people will become more interested in what it is and its ultimate utility. Wuckert explains his own Bitcoin journey; he first got involved in 2012 and has seen BTC evolve from a free market currency into a traditional finance (TradFi) asset. What was once a rebel currency designed to back frictionless commerce is now a Wall Street plaything backed by the likes of Larry Fink. He wants to know Nekhaila's take on this. The Libertarian Party Chair says he isn't sure there's a legit use-case for digital currencies long-term, but he hopes there is. In addition to Bitcoin, he has always been supportive of altcoins, and he hopes at least some of them continue to exist. He agrees the ideology around Bitcoin has changed a lot in the last 10 years, but he believes all of this is still in its adolescence. It has been and will continue to be disruptive. Roger Ver and political dissidents Roger Ver was an early Bitcoiner and venture capitalist who gave a lot back. He resisted the takeover of Bitcoin during the block size wars, and he believes Bitcoin must do something other than exist. Ver wrote Hijacking Bitcoin to explain how Bitcoin was subverted. The book blew up, and shortly thereafter, Ver was arrested. Wuckert wants to know what stance the Libertarian Party takes on Ver. Nekhaila states it clearly: the Party wants to see political dissidents like Ver go free. He believes Ver flew too close to the sun and promoted ideas that are a threat to U.S. Dollar hegemony. A free market currency is a threat, and anyone who gets in the way of USD global dominance tends to meet a sorry end. To learn more about how Libertarianism is growing, the rise of orthodoxy in society, and why liberty matters, check out the livestream episode here. Watch: History of Bitcoin with Kurt Wuckert Jr. title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Coin Geek
04-07-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
Bryan Daugherty on blockchain policy, Trump's latest move
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... On this episode of the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream, SmartLedger Solutions co-founder Bryan Daugherty joined Kurt Wuckert Jr. to discuss how things are going in Washington, what Trump administration changes mean for blockchain, and how the new rules could shape the industry going forward. title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""> Wuckert's latest article on CoinGeek: Bitcoin's Sons of Liberty Wuckert opens the show by reminding everyone it's almost Independence Day in America. Yes, it's the weekend when the United States celebrates its hard-won independence from Britain, and there will be lots of BBQs, beers, and parties. However, not many Americans know that the original revolutionary government only lasted until 1789 when there was a coup d'etat, Wuckert says. He invites us to check out his latest article on CoinGeek: Bitcoin's Sons of Liberty. Wuckert's article describes how the original government was overthrown and draws parallels with how BTC has been co-opted by institutions. The original protocol (BSV), on the other hand, is true to censorship resistance and an open-source world that provides real utility for all. Daugherty on the latest shenanigans in Washington DC Wuckert begins the conversation with Daugherty by discussing the Big Beautiful Bill and how it will increase deficit spending. Daugherty agrees it's sad and says he feels for future generations who will have to pay it off. Despite disagreement with the Big Beautiful Bill, Daugherty says the Trump government has provided clarity for the blockchain and digital currency markets. Whereas the previous administration took a 'regulation by enforcement' approach, Trump has provided direction, and he believes this government is sincere when it says it wants America to be the world leader in blockchain and digital currencies. Who has the most influence on how things are playing out? Daugherty says the Treasury Department has a huge influence, and its Bank Secrecy Act still influences many aspects of how new rules will turn out. Trump's Executive Orders have also created some big changes, including a robust defense of open-source development, self-custody, and more. A change in mentality across the industry Talking about governments, Daugherty highlights how the attitude and mindset of many industry participants have changed over the last decade or so. While many originally championed decentralization and the inability of governments or institutions to interfere, they're now cheering on their involvement, largely in the hopes their preferred coins will increase in value. One thing Daugherty finds particularly disturbing is the massive boom in the private stablecoin market. Now, rather than a decentralized protocol for money and the freedom that would entail, there are endless layer-two private stablecoins, and we'll all pay the corporations that generate them fees for using them. The different types of blockchain With so many different blockchains now available, Wuckert laughs fondly at how he used to categorize them by their potential use cases. Some were money, some were for data integrity, others for contract enforcement, etc. He eventually came to the conclusion that the most scalable one that can do all of these things and more should win. Is there a movement toward defining a separate category for data integrity chains as opposed to speculative assets? Daugherty says he avoids talking about speculation when dealing with policymakers. He's had conversations with many different departments in defense, education, agriculture, and other areas, and they're all very interested in how scalable blockchains can be used for data integrity. Generally speaking, the government officials Daugherty talks to have a much better understanding of blockchain post-FTX. Some are looking to fast-track it into systems, while others in the European Union and elsewhere are taking a much more cautious approach. A high-level overview of what's happening in Washington Wuckert asks Daugherty for a broad-stroke picture of what's going on right now. For example, what's happening with the GENIUS Act and what does 'Mature Blockchain' mean in law? Daugherty picks up on the second concept first. He says the term 'Mature Blockchain' has been talked about at length, and it basically comes down to a six-pronged questionnaire they must fill in within 60 days of the CLARITY Act becoming law. Upon passage of the CLARITY Act, those tasked with interacting with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on behalf of various chains must report to it, demonstrating that no person or entity controls more than 20% of coins or governance tokens, a commitment to open source development, decentralized upgrades, functional usability without permission, programmatic value creation, and the existence of a complete roadmap. Entities will have to self-report, and there will be costs associated with compliance. There will also be other jurisdictions following similar models, and there'll be costs related to compliance there, too. A lot of people involved in the industry right now will be replaced by men in suits in the coming years, Daugherty predicts. To hear more about Teranode, blockchain utility, and how the Trump administration is shaping the future of blockchain in the USA, check out the livestream episode here. Watch: Breaking down solutions to blockchain regulation hurdles title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Coin Geek
23-06-2025
- Coin Geek
OverNode is a 'Sneakernet' for the digital world
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... We're looking forward to the first release of OverNode. Developed by long-time blockchain developer Stephan February, it's a Swiss Army knife of social, news, and commerce functions where everything is peer-to-peer. February sat down with 1Sat Ordinals' David Case for a Q&A and explanation of how to make all these networking functions work in a distributed way without any centralized servers. It's not simple! OverNode's first mobile app features a wallet, marketplace, news feed, contacts list, private messaging, microblogging and audio spaces, and a timestamp archive. Yes, other apps already do all these things, but they all have centralized servers coordinating all this activity behind the scenes. Basing it on a true P2P, distributed network between individual devices is not an easy task. February recently discussed OverNode and its features with Kurt Wuckert, Jr. on the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream. This Q&A with Case dives deeper into the technical details of how it works. What's a Sneakernet, and what are the challenges? 'Sneakernet' means transferring information (digital or otherwise) by physically transporting it from one location or device to another. Though it's an information-age term that usually refers to copying data onto portable media and carrying it around, the concept is also similar to physical mail services. Sending, delivering, and receiving the information are three separate processes that may occur at different times, and there is no central function monitoring everything. Building a Sneakernet (or 'store-and-forward' service) for digital devices isn't an easy problem to solve, February says. Even in the physical world, there are issues: a message can get lost or delayed before it reaches its destination; it could be delivered to the wrong place; or the receiver may not notice it. There's no 100% guarantee a sent message will get through. He says this challenge of building a digital, delay-tolerant network inspired him to build OverNode. 'What can I do today, not only to make Sneakernet viable, but also to solve a problem I've seen persistently happen with distributed systems in general (not just P2P), which is the problem of altruistic nodes operating on the network.' But what's actually happening, i.e., how exactly do you make a store-and-forward service work? Case asks. Direct messaging is one thing, but if you have a news/chat group similar to Signal or Telegram, how do you ensure all group members can see a post intended for them? Essentially, nodes on the network have specialized functions while remaining P2P nodes and not acting as centralized servers. One of these is simply called 'store-and-forward,' there are also bootstrap services with distributed hash tables (DHT), which are a way to discover other peers, note their addresses, and help establish connections between them. Once a user starts their mobile app, their device announces its presence to the bootstrap service, and its live status is 'gossiped' to others on the network. This announcement doesn't go to the entire network, but a subset of it—maybe other devices nearby, using a nearest-neighbor algorithmic technique like Chord. February says he's been using Kademlia DHTs—the idea is to have a key-value store, the state of which is distributed and replicated automatically among several different peers. The information stored on the DHT could be your device's IP and perhaps a long-term stable moniker, e.g., your personal handle, that would identify someone joining the network and be used to announce its status. The bootstrap service can determine the 'closeness' of other nodes, which doesn't refer to physical distance but the mathematical equivalent using consistent hashing. Everyone's hash table will, therefore, be different, and the system can find the most efficient other nodes that may have the information an individual node is looking for. February describes it as a form of Six Degrees of Separation, but in practice, it happens very quickly, with everyone's table updated with the relevant information. BitTorrent uses similar techniques for large file-sharing. By the way, OverNode's interface also looks nice! If you're interested in hearing all the technical details, the Case/February video has a lot of other interesting points. Case also talks about the similar challenges involved in BSV's Overlay Networks, keeping track of massive amounts of data on a distributed network and being able to trust the information you're receiving. The two also dive into the economic model behind OverNode and similar networks, as well as how SPV payments can be layered into the services. The purpose of the social network-style app February is building now is mainly to prove OverNode's concept of the distributed 'data plane.' If it works, it'll have far wider-reaching use cases and consequences. Watch: New token protocol and Ordinals with Stephan February title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Coin Geek
20-06-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
Top BSV wallets? Kurt Wuckert Jr. answers in AMA
Homepage > Videos > Top BSV wallets? Kurt Wuckert Jr. answers in AMA In this CoinGeek Weekly Livestream episode, Wuckert covered the best BSV wallets, upcoming BSV conferences, and a general BSV roundup for 2025 so far. Click here to read the full article.
Coin Geek
17-06-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
Navigating entrepreneurship and VC with Brad Feld
Homepage > Videos > Navigating entrepreneurship and VC with Brad Feld Serial entrepreneur Brad Feld joins the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream to discuss the secret to a thriving business and what is lacking in the blockchain space. Click here to read the full article.
