What Bitcoin Did

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Bitcoin, Nostr & Freedom Tech with Matt Odell

Peter McCormack

Interview | Description | Timestamps | Show Notes

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Bitcoin, Nostr & Freedom Tech with Matt Odell - WBD684 Peter McCormack

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Matt Odell is host of Citadel Dispatch, co-host of Rabbit Hole Recap, managing partner at Ten31 and co-founder of OpenSats and Bitcoin Park. In this interview, we discuss Bitcoin conferences and podcasts, the importance of decentralized tech, the implications of identity verification on social media, Nostr’s potential as a censorship-resistant social network, and the involvement of BlackRock in Bitcoin.

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Matt Odell is the Bitcoiners Bitcoiner: mission-driven, innovative, generous and yet unyielding in his expectations of the community. Given he’s a fellow podcaster and conference veteran, it was an invaluable opportunity to talk shop, but his wide-ranging expertise means we could again cover a plethora of current hot topics.

Matt discussed his views on the surge in global Bitcoin conferences and the changing landscape of Bitcoin podcasts. The boom in events, catering to various niches within the Bitcoin community, is a testament to the growth and diversity of this space. Podcasts too need to stand out from the crowd, whilst taking on mainstream content providers in terms of interviewing adroitness and production quality.

We discussed the pros and cons of having a blue checkmark on Twitter: whilst it can help users identify and connect with influential people, there are material concerns about the current identity verification system. The corollary to concerns about traditional social media companies is the potential to disintermediate these closed centralised systems with innovations like Nostr. Together with Bitcoin, Nostr could be a powerful tool for freedom movements.

Matt covered the critical importance of educating people on the risks and benefits of decentralization. Individuals with platforms and audiences should explain these risks to lessen the impact and pain that people may experience in a dark dystopian future where censorship and control are prevalent.

Finally, Matt provided his take on BlackRock's involvement in Bitcoin. Blackrock is the institution that Bitcoin was designed to resist. However, their involvement is a paradigm shift for Bitcoin’s narrative. Nevertheless, there are risks tied to the proposed Blackrock Bitcoin ETF. It's essential to learn how to hold self-custody of your Bitcoin instead of buying a paper claim. And further, it’s important Blackrock understand they can’t control Bitcoin.

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00:01:30: Introductions
00:04:31: Conferences, podcasting, and travel
00:18:25: The Twitter blue check mark
00:32:08: Surveillance capitalism and Elon's strategy
00:47:49: Influencer capture by social media, and content censorship
00:56:47: Centralised entities controlling the platforms
00:59:26: Freedom tech, and Nostr
01:11:37: UX on freedom tech needs simplifying
01:15:08: Apathy vs incentives, and Nostr onboarding new bitcoiners
01:29:19: Funding Nostr open-source projects
01:42:40: Blackrock ETF
01:48:33: Final comments

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