Your Paper Bitcoin Is Basically Worthless | George Bodine | BIS #210

— Bitcoin self-custody and node running as foundational practices for Bitcoin sovereignty; running Knots or Bitcoin Core and signaling for BIP-110 as personal commitments to decentralization

— Core development controversy surrounding v30.0 (deleted legacy wallets, lost user Bitcoin) and v31.0 (exposed user IPs); lack of accountability and backward compatibility concerns

— Bitcoin treasury companies and counterparty risk: Naka collapse, MSTR/Stretch products, and upcoming BSTR; guest argues financialization of Bitcoin creates systemic risks for retail holders

— Integrity and ego as central to both artistic practice and life philosophy; discussion of dropping ego through hardship, loss of identity markers (fighter pilot status), and finding authentic self

— Creativity versus productivity: framed as opposites; creativity requires play and lack of force, while productivity is mechanistic output; conflating proof-of-work with value creation mirrors flawed Labor Theory of Value

— Prague Bitcoin conference as transformative gathering for real Bitcoiners; emphasis on calling out dishonesty and distinguishing sincere builders from shitcoin promoters

— If holding Bitcoin through institutional vehicles (pension funds, treasury companies, ETFs), you retain counterparty risk; the only Bitcoin that is truly yours is Bitcoin in cold self-custody on a node you control. Run a node (Knots preferred), hold a hardware wallet, and verify your own rules.

— Separate creative pursuits from compensation and external validation; do not confuse effort (proof-of-work) with value creation. The market rewards genuine value, but attempting to monetize creativity corrupts it. Find your creative outlet outside income optimization.

— Attend real Bitcoin conferences where ideas are stress-tested and bullshit is called out; in-person community accountability differs fundamentally from online posturing. Prague and similar events filter for sincere participants.