Rabbit Hole Recap: Week of 2020.10.12
10/16/2020 · 80 min · transcript via mlx
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Key topics
— LND vulnerability (versions 0.10 and before) requires immediate upgrade to 0.11.1; affects ~75% of Lightning Network nodes.
— BIP 340/341/342 (Taproot with Schnorr signatures) merged into Bitcoin Core; activation mechanism still undecided, with proposals from Bip8 and Matt Corallo under discussion.
— DOJ spearheading global push to ban end-to-end encryption, threatening fundamental privacy; open-source software difficult to suppress but commercial products like Signal and iMessage face backdoor pressure.
— OKEx exchange suspended withdrawals citing founder custody by Chinese authorities; $35 million Bitcoin moved to Binance, raising concerns about operational integrity.
— Stone Ridge announced $115 million Bitcoin investment via NYDIG spin-off; Fidelity recommends 5% portfolio allocation to Bitcoin.
— Multiple software updates released: myNode 0.2.17, Nodl 0.1.1f, RTL 0.9.1-beta, Eclair 0.4.2, JoinMarket 0.7.1, Trezor Suite public beta, Electrum 4.0.4.
Market & price signals
— Bitcoin price at $11,324; approximately 8,831 sats per dollar. Hash rate at all-time highs (~150 EH/s) with difficulty adjustment upward 2.9% expected tomorrow (163 blocks away). Bitcoin represents 1.7% of gold's total market cap. Block height 653,022; 88.19% of all Bitcoin issued. Liquid sidechain holds 2,600.79 BTC; Whirlpool at 1,646.5 BTC. Price action described as solid upward movement with strong support above $11,000.
Actionable insights
— Upgrade LND immediately if running any version before 0.11.1; check myNode, Nodl, RTL, and Eclair versions for compatibility updates before the vulnerability disclosure in four days.
— Practice self-custody now rather than waiting for government restrictions; begin with small amounts, use hardware wallets (Coldcard now Unchained-compatible), and review Spectre Desktop with Bitcoin Core for full-node connectivity and coin control.
— Monitor regulatory moves globally—Spain forcing disclosure, India tightening KYC/AML—and support open-source projects (BTC Pay Server, Lightning implementations) that enable censorship-resistant financial access, as seen with Nigerian protest fundraising.
Episode sponsorships
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