Rabbit Hole Recap: Bitcoin Week of 2021.11.01
11/4/2021 · 99 min · transcript via mlx
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Key topics
— Lightning channel jamming attacks: Research from BitMEX highlights denial-of-service risks where attackers lock up channel capacity and forwarding slots; proposed solutions involve tokenized reputation systems and staking mechanisms but come with privacy and UX trade-offs.
— Major adoption signals: Commonwealth Bank (Australia's largest) adding Bitcoin buy/sell/hold services; mayors and athletes (Miami, NYC, Aaron Rodgers) accepting Bitcoin salary payments; Navajo Nation mining Bitcoin with solar power.
— Policy concerns: Proposed U.S. regulations (effective 2023–2024) would require individuals to collect KYC/AML data and file 1099 forms for peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions; also Biden administration vaccine mandates affecting workforce and supply chains.
— Mining capacity expansion: Compass Mining partnering with Red Jar Digital in Ontario, Canada for 140-megawatt hosting facility; Braiins OS+ firmware and Stratum V2 work advancing mining decentralization.
— African Bitcoin startup growth: Chipper Cash raises $150 million Series C extension; integrating with Twitter's tip jar and expanding cross-border payments across Africa.
— Metaverse and escapism risks: Discussion of VR pod dystopias (Ready Player One, Snow Crash parallels); concern that frictionless virtual worlds may drive mass social withdrawal and reduce real-world productivity.
Market & price signals
— Bitcoin price: $61,150 per BTC (1,635 sats per USD).
— Market cap: $1.15 trillion USD.
— 1 BTC = 34.2 oz of gold.
— Block height: 708,217; next difficulty adjustment estimated +4.3% on November 13, 2021 (9 days out).
— Mempool: ~8,300 transactions; 1 sat/byte fees still confirming; Whirlpool unspent capacity at 4,444.1 BTC (~$271.7M).
— Cash App Q3 2021: Generated $1.82 billion in Bitcoin revenue.
Actionable insights
— Build Bitcoin self-sovereignty now before regulations tighten: Acquire Bitcoin before 2024 KYC rules make peer-to-peer transactions difficult; consider self-hosting mining ASICs or using privacy tools like Whirlpool and Lightning.
— Embrace mining participation at scale: Individual ownership of hash rate strengthens network decentralization; Compass Mining's new capacity and Braiins OS+ firmware lower barriers to entry.
— Prepare for regulatory resistance: Peaceful non-compliance and civil disobedience may become necessary; support open-source privacy projects, mesh networks, and Bitcoin infrastructure independent of government oversight.
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.
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— Compass Mining democratizes Bitcoin's hashrate by providing easy bundles for buying and hosting miners, handling energy costs and miner acquisition so you can mine Bitcoin profitably; visit https://compassmining.io to get started.
— Braiins (B-R-A-I-I-N-S, with two I's) is a leader in the mining industry running Slush Pool (oldest mining pool since 2010) and creating free and open-source firmware (Braiins OS+) to give miners more control over ASICs and help them stack more sats. They are leading Stratum V2 to help decentralize the mining pool protocol and are hiring Rust developers, system admins, and hardware engineers. Visit https://braiins.com/ and https://insights.braiins.com/profitability-calculator for firmware downloads and mining analytics.