Rabbit Hole Recap #175: Don't live in fear
12/2/2021 · 117 min · transcript via mlx
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Key topics
— Square rebrands to Block, consolidating Cash App, Square, Spiral (formerly Square Crypto), TBD, and other entities into one umbrella company with explicit Bitcoin focus.
— Jack Dorsey steps down as Twitter CEO; concerns raised about increased censorship and platform hostility to Bitcoin and free speech advocates.
— Ledger releases Bitcoin app v2.0 with PSBT support, Taproot, and multisig capabilities, addressing prior limitations in collaborative custody workflows.
— MicroStrategy purchases additional 7,002 Bitcoin (total now ~129,000 BTC) while maintaining custody with third-party custodian rather than holding keys directly.
— Silent Link launches US eSIM support via Bitcoin-only privacy phone numbers with no KYC, enabling anonymous cellular service on Calyx and de-Googled Android.
— Difficulty adjustment downward 1.5% due to Chinese rainy season ending, DNS attacks on pools, and natural miner migration; unknown pool category now dominates hash distribution.
Market & price signals
— Bitcoin trading at $56,390 (1,773 sats per fiat dollar). Market cap ~$1.07 trillion. Block height 712,267. Next difficulty adjustment estimated at –0.5% downward on December 12, 2021. Mempool at 8,982 transactions; Whirlpool liquidity at 4,349.69 BTC ($245.3M equivalent). Mining difficulty historically adjusts for hashrate variance; this epoch showed slower block times (10m 17s vs 10m target) triggering downward correction.
Actionable insights
— Evaluate self-custody or collaborative custody solutions (2-of-3 multisig with Unchained or Casa) rather than relying solely on exchange or corporate custody; large holders like MicroStrategy should normalize holding keys.
— Use Calyx (de-Googled Android) + Silent Link eSIM (~$60/yr prepaid, $12.50/GB data) + a dedicated phone rotated annually for significant privacy improvement over carrier SIM without abandoning modern conveniences.
— Consider migrating podcast consumption from Spotify to open-source podcasting apps (Antenna Pod, Fountain, Breeze) to reduce surveillance dependency and support podcasting 2.0 platforms that enable direct Lightning payments.
Episode sponsorships
Paid placements mentioned in this episode. BTC Pods is not sponsored by or affiliated with these advertisers. Links are included so you can find offers mentioned on the show.
— Cash App helps you stack sats and stonks with fractional shares as little as $1, instant withdrawal to personal wallets, and an auto-buy feature for hands-free DCA. Use promo code stackingsats (one word) when you download the app to receive $10, and $10 will be contributed to OWLS Lacrosse; terms apply. Bitcoin services by Block, Inc.—see https://cash.app/legal/podcast for Bitcoin disclosures.
— Unchained Capital eliminates single points of failure in custody through their Vault product, a two-of-three collaborative custody multisig wallet where you control two keys and Unchained holds one, ensuring you can always move your sats without intermediaries. Their white-glove concierge package takes you from zero to a thousand "cuck bucks" worth of sats secured in a multisig vault, includes hardware wallets, video calls, and derivation path backup; use code TFTC for $50 off at Unchained.com.
— Compass Mining allows individuals to purchase ASICs for home delivery with at-home support or hosted at partner facilities with competitive electricity rates; visit compassmining.io to buy miners, access hosting options, podcasts, and newsletters designed to educate plebs about mining.
— Braiins provides BrainsOS Plus Firmware to maximize ASIC profitability for compatible models; use braiins.com or insights.[braiins.com/profitability-calculator](https://insights.braiins.com/profitability-calculator) for profitability calculators, hash rate stats, difficulty charts, transaction fees, and mining economics. Daniel Frumps' consolidated dashboard solves the multi-tab problem by aggregating hash value, hash price, and other mining data in one location.
— Hodl Hodl's Lend is a new non-custodial Bitcoin-backed lending platform allowing peer-to-peer lending and borrowing between users globally, anonymously, and on your own terms with no KYC or AML for US users. You create a multi-sig escrow and retain one key throughout; your collateral always remains locked in escrow. You can also provide liquidity on stablecoins for yield. Create your offers and set your own terms at https://lend.hodlhodl.com.