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575 sats \ 0 replies \ @TonyGiorgio 29 Dec 2022
The people are also a social defense in the wake of technological failures. With something we rely on if all else fails, it even more means that we as people need to be aware of the social attacks.
There's a decent post on this here: The Onion Model of Blockchain Security (ignore the blockchain crap, still relevant to bitcoin)
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858 sats \ 0 replies \ @phaedrus 30 Dec 2022
I also think that propaganda is the best chance against Bitcoin after direct attacks to shut it down didn't work out (ie cutting out miners in China).
I believe decentralized approach is our best bet: take action in your local community, find what's the most relevant value your community can get from Bitcoin, help onboard people and business, run local meetups, advertisement, support other people doing good work, and share here how its going so that we can all learn from each other.
How about daily or weekly thread, similar to "what are you working on?", maybe who did you orange pill this week?
Also, I think our huge advantage is that Bitcoin is truly global, and therefore its easy for wealthier people (ie folks working in Silicon valley) to financially support efforts in South America or Africa, ie on Geyser.
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384 sats \ 0 replies \ @sp 30 Dec 2022
It's at least ten years the mainstream narrative has been pushing this FUD - sort of "Operation Mockingbird," but for Bitcoin.
And I wouldn't be surprised if the narrative goes all the way down some form of McCarthyism, and whoever holds bitcoins become an enemy of the State.
Countless people I successfully orange-pilled sold on some news that Bitcoin is dead, and a large number of them bought shitcoins following the made-up narrative of "not wasting energy" or "differentiate."
But I have good news for you: they all came back. 2022 was the worst year ever for any form of financial wealth, and was the worst year ever in terms of trust in governments worldwide.
I have two movie quotes:
- "You have to understand; most people are not ready to be unplugged.”
- "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.”
I am not unplugging people, I'm building emergency exits.
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112 sats \ 4 replies \ @NorthKoreanHostage 29 Dec 2022
What we should do is create a decentralized company to put up Bitcoin billboards everywhere that include a web address where people can learn more about bitcoin and even donate to put up more billboards.
We just need to advertise. It's nothing magical.
We've got the absolute greatest product ever to sell: freedom through Bitcoin.
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111 sats \ 0 replies \ @Jorj_X_McKie 29 Dec 2022
I would contribute to this. My gf has asked why we aren’t doing this. Love him or hate him, Roger Ver once put up that honey badger billboard, right?
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22 sats \ 1 reply \ @HYPERBITCOINZATION OP 29 Dec 2022
A decentralized network of non-profit NGOs whose sole goal is catalyze Bitcoin adoption! I love it! We can take the tricks that the fiat deep state perfected and use them for freedom rather than slavery.
A well-funded organization creating region-specific culture-specfic marketing to sell Bitcoin would do a lot for adoption.
This could have huge potential if implemented correctly. All we need is capable talent and capital to allocate towards the mission. Funding can come from donations, and talent can be sourced both internationally and locally from (whatever area is the target market). It would be good to balance marketing/storytelling experience with local cultural empathy so as to maximize impact of the message.
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @NorthKoreanHostage 29 Dec 2022
The only thing stopping us now is laziness.
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101 sats \ 0 replies \ @modernattendant 30 Dec 2022
Its interesting to think of bitcoin as the worlds first decentralized company. Probably about the size of Visa with the entire workforce decentralized and motivated only by the success of everyone.
I absolutely plan to do some marketing work for bitcoin. Anyone can bring their skills. I think it helps if you come from an entrepreneurial background where nothing just happens unless you do it yourself. In other words, the only person to put up the billboards is you. "He who smelt it, dealt it"
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110 sats \ 1 reply \ @peterzion 29 Dec 2022
Teach Bitcoin Literacy in the Philippines!!!!
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @HYPERBITCOINZATION OP 29 Dec 2022
We're currently based in Singapore, so the Philippines is just a few hours away! I'd love to come and set up some facility similar to Bitcoin Ekasi and help onboard the next generation of Filipinos to Bitcoin. I know Pouch is doing some great stuff there already!
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110 sats \ 2 replies \ @om 29 Dec 2022
Bitcoin is on an exponential adoption curve, which is great. However, the curve has no time to blanket the entire population before CBDCs arrive. Our best efforts can only make the curve steeper but not vertical, so we need to plan for CBDC arrival into a world that looks very much like today but with more Bitcoin adoption.
Two cases must be considered separately:
- ("soft") CBDC is pegged to fiat as planned, cash is phased out slowly (see Nigeria's ATM withdrawal limit)
- ("hard") CBDCs arrive as the saviour from hyperinflation (USD = Reichsmark, CBDC = Rentenmark), old cash is worthless and new cash doesn't exist
I'm worried that people significantly underestimate the probability of the hard scenario.
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233 sats \ 1 reply \ @HYPERBITCOINZATION OP 29 Dec 2022
What's funny is I feel like a lot of people unconsciously anticipate or even desire such a "hard" scenario because it could be "bullish" for Bitcoin. Fed keeps printing and inflation exponentially increases. Fiat price for BTC goes up, and now your bags have doubled, tripled, etc (in fiat amounts of course).
The problem really sets in when (hypothetically) it's mandated by law that each POS system in every store is required by law to only operate to settle transactions with the CBDC or surveilled digital credit equivalent. The state doesn't need to go into every store to do this—they just target the POS hardware + software companies, banks, and fintech companies to comply with new regulation. In one fell swoop, the entire medium of exchange in a society shifts. Just like what Modi did in India with a regulatory switch that withdrew the Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 cash notes from the market, other governments can make similar switches and the people comply.
How much is your Bitcoin worth if you can't actually use it as money to settle transactions? How will you convince your merchant to purchase goods with your electronic cash when all they accept is electronic credit? If most merchants are wary of Bitcoin in its present state, how difficult would it be to get them to use Bitcoin if the government says its illegal do to so? Worst case scenario you have an Executive Order 6102 where all the KYC'd Bitcoiners need to fork over their coins in exchange for CBDC credits or else the police escorts you to another quarantine camp.
Although it sounds hyperbolic, we've seen anything is possible in the last few years. Best for us would be to anticipate the attacks and prevent them before they even occur. We can't get everyone on board with Bitcoin before the CBDC rollouts, as you said, so we definitely need to be able to make plans on how to counter their strategy in advance.
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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @om 29 Dec 2022
I totally agree. And my plan to counter their strategy is to move somewhere more 3rd-worldy. Another plan would be great.
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21 sats \ 7 replies \ @jk_14 29 Dec 2022
No need to wait so long.
"Progress, then, appears to require three things: capital accumulation, technological advancement, and a public ideology to support it." ("Toward a Node World Order")
"Fragmentation means that crypto cannot fulfil the social role of money." (Bank of International Settlements)
That's really obvious: they biggest chance to diminish Bitcoin is to induce fragmentation of idea.
public ideology = Bitcoin Maximalism (regardless if you like it or not)
be proud of being Bitcoin Maxi (that's the way to go)
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301 sats \ 6 replies \ @HYPERBITCOINZATION OP 29 Dec 2022
I think the fact that Bitcoin has inspired so many people to be enthusiastic ambassadors and spread the vision for a new decentralized financial system is incredible. The work that the maxis have done already has definitely catalyzed Bitcoin adoption.
However, I feel like we need to have a more coordinated approach to combat the constant stream of bad press that comes from the various tentacles of the elite. The institutions they have built have influence a vast number of people globally. We cannot simply take over their institutions and expect them to work for us—for Bitcoin. Unless the Bitcoin system benefits them, they're not going to actively promote it, and, most likely, act to work against it.
We Bitcoiners can build more than software—we can build our own institutions. There is a huge potential in creating media, education, community, and general social structure on top of a Bitcoin foundation. Those structures can create virtuous feedback loops that can actively grow a real financial system built on top of Bitcoin. Bringing awareness is step 1. The next steps are building on top of that awareness into a way of life whereby debts and credits in society can be settled on a Bitcoin standard.
Individually, we can do very little to combat against the collective organized force of individuals that make up corporate media, PR firms, multinational corporations, and the state. However, we can work together to create our own institutions and grow our own influence. Something big starts as something small. I'll dive deeper into how I think that we can happen next week (I've just had so much on my plate lately so I haven't been able to write that up fully).
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20 sats \ 2 replies \ @om 29 Dec 2022
This goes very much into the network state direction. Are you familiar with Balaji's book?
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181 sats \ 1 reply \ @HYPERBITCOINZATION OP 29 Dec 2022
I've heard of it, but haven't read it. I know the one-sentence summary Balaji gives:
Without reading too much further into the book, I feel bearish on the idea. Statehood is not achieved through diplomacy, but through military. Military gives security, and through security comes diplomatic recognition. Palestine wants to have state recognition, but Israel simply has far more military force to back it up. Even living as a network state, Palestinians would not have freedom to live and prosper because of the overwhelming military might of NATO and Israel. The network state wouldn't solve their problem of statehood because they literally need a military to push back against the other conquering military force.
It sounds a nice Silicon Valley vision for what a state could be, but without a vision for how this state achieves military power to secure its territory and defend against adversaries, I don't see how it could succeed or be differentiated from a normal state.
No nation state would willingly to sacrifice their own territory, resources, or people through a diplomatic process. The elite who run the state are akin to the farmer that runs the farm. There is no farm without a farmer; there is no state without an elite. And the way the elite run their state is through a reliance and monopoly on violent force through the police and military.
Imagine if a few influential individuals came together to fund the creation of such a network state. They managed to find some remote Pacific islands that some oligarch was willing to sell, and they set up their network state with the territory they purchased. Let's say they accidentally stumbled upon some real and valuable natural resources, and were able to utilize the labor of their citizens to convert those raw materials into exports to trade with other nations. What is stopping the United States, Russia, China, or any other state with a modicum of military force from acquiring those territories and those peoples for their own gain? Even having an army doesn't stop the United States from waging their resource wars on less powerful nation states. Without a military, that state has no security.
I know many Bitcoiners are anti-state, anarcho-capitalist, anarcho-syndicalist, etc. However, due to the relationship between the military and state, I don't see how it would be possible to operate a state without a military. The network state feels reminiscent of securing jepgs on the blockchain. A nation of people need a real military force to secure their livelihood from adversaries—it can't just be online.
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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @om 29 Dec 2022
The word "territory" in Balaji's one sentence doesn't refer to a territory that you have to defend with a military. It might be as small as a single club, or it might be a special economic zone like Prospera in Honduras. The lack of sovereignty of the physical territory is not a problem, as some recognized entities like the Hospitalier order have no sovereign territory at all. For a network state it is the sovereignty of its digital part that matters. And you don't have to aim for diplomatic recognition at all, it's all in Balaji's words "a toolbox".
The network state is not at all what you think it is. It's much closer to your idea of building our own institutions.
Indeed, and by the way this is the pursuit of some Bitcoiners as well (example: raretoshi.com). And as soon as your institutions will need gated access, there will be NFTs or dont-call-these-NFTs-although-they-are and they probably will come with jpegs attached because everybody already expects it anyway.
Also, punk6529's JPG thread is helpful to read regardless of whether you agree with him or not.
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10 sats \ 2 replies \ @jk_14 29 Dec 2022
Such institutions must be built around the ideology.
Just like in case of synergistic collaboration between the state, multinational corporations, corporate media, and PR firms - for instance: around the ideology of reducing CO2 emission
Ideology is key.
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100 sats \ 1 reply \ @HYPERBITCOINZATION OP 29 Dec 2022
Very true. The cypherpunks and Bitcoin maxis have laid down the ideological groundwork perfectly for the next era of development. Now it's just up to us to go and build such institutions. We already see the Paxful sponsored Bitcoin Ekasi—a Bitcoin-first education center and community hub in a South African township. It's just the beginning for such institutions, and I hope to see more in the next few years.
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100 sats \ 0 replies \ @BitcoinIsTheFuture 29 Dec 2022
Agree we are early and the light continues to get brighter as more are educated and usage increases.
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20 sats \ 1 reply \ @chungkingexpress 29 Dec 2022
This is good shit.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @HYPERBITCOINZATION OP 29 Dec 2022
Thanks for reading! 🙏
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @selfish_gene 29 Dec 2022
длинная статья... быстро конвертирую в аудио и слушаю на скорости х2. вывод... время покажет как решить проблему которая возникнет через 125 лет...
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