Michael Dunworth - Bitcoin is Time Traveling Energy

— Michael Dunworth's journey building Wire Payments, a fintech infrastructure company that scaled to $25 billion in payment volume before winding down during market turmoil, and his philosophy of extracting lessons from failure.

— Bitcoin as a constant and immutable ledger: the first unified global record-keeping system that combines a unified language (English), unified communication (internet), and unified ledger (Bitcoin).

— Prime numbers as nature's proof of work and the foundational building blocks of cryptography; numbers carry "gravity" in the sense that cryptographic keys have profound effects on human behavior and decision-making.

— Michael's time-locked Bitcoin experiment: locking 0.5 BTC until block 7,139,999 (~year 2136) to create a deterministic reward schedule that incentivizes future miners and solves the "mining incentive cliff" after block rewards reach zero.

— Proof of work versus proof of stake: Michael's conviction that deterministic security is paramount, and that proof of stake creates wealth inequality similar to historical banking dynasties (the Rothschilds).

— The importance of optimism, security, and delayed gratification in Bitcoin adoption; Bitcoin teaches discipline and removes the need for constant financial worry by offering a predictable, non-inflationary asset.

— Treat Bitcoin as a wealth-preservation tool first, not an investment vehicle chasing returns; buying and holding predictable supply (rather than speculating) removes the need to think about money every day and frees cognitive bandwidth for other pursuits.

— Self-custody is essential to treating Bitcoin like a plant you nurture; leaving coins on exchanges or with custodians exposes you to counterparty risk and defeats the philosophical purpose of Bitcoin as a permission-less ledger.

— Focus on accumulating sats over time and understanding Bitcoin's deterministic nature; the confidence that comes from knowing no one can mint new coins or change the supply creates the peace of mind needed to avoid the inflation-driven hamster wheel.