Nostr notes by BOBSpace_BKK

Sure was. Thanks for coming and Safe Travels!

2026-02-28T12:35:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…nl6q
_________________________

Sure was. Thanks for coming and Safe Travels!

Nothing has turned up yet

2026-02-13T05:15:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…t337
_________________________

Nothing has turned up yet

February 2026 is Self Custody Month at BOB Space. This month’s ...

2026-02-05T02:55:44Z

February 2026 is Self Custody Month at BOB Space. This month’s discussions and workshops will be led by builders of self custody tools, namely Rama (Penlock.io) and Ben (SeedKeys.xyz). Details below, with signup and location in Meetup links. Do join if you’re in Bangkok on Feb 13th and/or 27th.

First session:

On Friday, Feb 13th, 2026, we deep dive into self-custody with Ben (SeedKeys.xyz) & Rama (Penlock.io). They'll introduce a new framework to compare self-custody strategies & products, and explore the various ways to backup a seed phrase securely. Open discussion and Q&A to follow.

https://www.meetup.com/bob-space-community-events/events/313212962/

Second session:

On Friday, Feb 27th, 2026, the second meetup of Self Custody Month features a hands-on workshop by Rama (Penlock.io) and Ben (SeedKeys.xyz). You'll learn how to generate a seed phrase by hand, stamp it on metal, and optionally turn it into a 2-of-3 backup using Penlock's cryptographic wheel—enabling offsite recovery & secure inheritance. Join us for what promises to be a fun and empowering session. Networking and open discussion to follow.

https://www.meetup.com/bob-space-community-events/events/313213615/

What's Snoop, Eminem and 50Cent doing in BKK? ...

2025-12-26T02:05:15Z

What's Snoop, Eminem and 50Cent doing in BKK?

Details on BOSS Challenge 2026 below. If you're in SE Asia or ...

2025-12-20T10:08:45Z

Details on BOSS Challenge 2026 below. If you're in SE Asia or thereabouts, do apply with BOB Space's affiliate link below ⬇️

https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/chaincodelabs/jobs/4067590009

PS. You can exclude your phone number and CV/resume for the application. The important thing is completing the challenge to get to the next step. Let's get it!!

quoting note18ah…2yne
The ₿OSS Challenge is back 🎉

Start your career in bitcoin open source software (₿OSS) and change your life forever.

https://bosschallenge.xyz

Serious about a career in bitcoin open source software?

Do you dream of professional freedom? Do you want your work to have a profound impact? Are you looking for some of the most challenging engineering problems?

Take the ₿OSS Challenge and start yourself on a new path

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

❓ HOW DOES IT WORK? ❓

The challenge kicks off the week of January 12

🗓️ 30 days to complete a series of code-based technical challenges

🛣️ 2 additional months for anyone willing to continue the adventure

If you are willing to do the work, we'll give you what you need to get to where you want to go.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 LEARNING IS BETTER WITH FRIENDS 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

That’s why we’re delighted to announce ₿OSS Challenge partnerships with:

- Btrust (nprofile…4mnp)
- bitshala (nprofile…2cgl)
- La Librería de Satoshi (nprofile…qg98)
- BOBSpace_BKK (nprofile…xl9q)
- codeorange (nprofile…c7ux)
- zzmjxy in China
- My Satoshis in Burundi

🌍 Live in one of these regions? Reach out to connect with others doing the ₿OSS Challenge!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Funding for bitcoin open source development is earned by demonstrating proof of work. There is no cheat code.

🧡 Come do the work and good things will happen. 🧡

The ₿OSS Challenge gives you structure while fostering the proactive, self-starter spirit that is required in open-source.

Join the challenge.
See how far you will go.
Change your life in 2026.

⏰ Applications close: December 31
🎯 Program begins: January 12
🌎 Open to everyone. Totally free.

Application: bosschallenge.xyz

#bitcoin

Thank you for HRF’s continued support for all these worthy FOSS ...

2025-11-15T01:20:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…yuaj
_________________________

Thank you for HRF’s continued support for all these worthy FOSS projects and initiatives 🙏💯

Solid piece 👍 #naddr1qq…lgc9

2025-10-20T01:47:58Z

Solid piece 👍

quoting naddr1qq…lgc9

The internet has a problem. Few people know that this problem exists, but hey, that\'s the nature of serious, non-obvious problems: they are invisible until they aren\'t. The problem with the internet is that information wants to be free. And if something wants to be free as in freedom, given enough time, it will also be free as in beer.

Let me explain.

Poisoning the Air

We consume untold amounts of data every day. Every second of every minute, bits and bytes are streaming through the series of tubes that we all know and love: the internet. We take it for granted, and most of us take the current monetization model—as well as all the ills that come along with it—for granted as well. We seldom stop and think about the strange world of bits and bytes. How wonderful it all is, but also how alien. How it already has transformed our lives, and how it will continue to transform our future. Where do the zeroes and ones come from? What makes it all work? And, most importantly: who is paying for it?

The bits and bytes that are zipping through our fiber-optic cables are as invisible as the air we breathe. That\'s not a terrible metaphor, now that I think of it. As long as we have no trouble breathing, we don\'t need to stop and inspect every single molecule we inhale. Similarly, as long as we don\'t have too much trouble creating and consuming digital content, we don\'t need to stop and inspect all the various parts that make our attention economy work.

Attention economy. What a fitting description. As we should all know by now, the stuff we consume isn\'t free; we are paying dearly for it: with our attention, among other things.

Paying Attention

In the high-velocity world of today, to maximize profits, you have to maximize attention. But it is a peculiar, shallow kind of attention. It is not the focused kind of attention that deep thought and meaningful conversations would require. I believe that this is, at least in part, why many things are so broken. Why our societal discourse is so fragmented, our politics so polarized, we so paralyzed, and our analysis often as shallow as our desires.

The attention economy has us neatly segregated into echo chambers of personal truths. Ironically, the only truth worth pursuing in the attention economy is how to keep the maximum amount of people maximally outraged for the maximum amount of time. All while keeping participants unaware that they are trapped in an algorithmic prison of their own choosing.

You Are The Product

The idiom \"if something is free, you are the product\" can\'t be repeated often enough. For one reason or another, we expect most things to be \"free\" online. Of course, there\'s no such thing as a free lunch. In the case of online services, your data is harvested and sold to the highest bidder, which is usually an advertisement- or government agency. Or both.

Not only do all big data companies spy on you, but they will also use a multitude of dark patterns and unethical practices to squeeze out every last drop of data from your interactions. Whether it is the Facebook Pixel, Google Analytics, or something else doesn\'t matter. You are being tracked, surveilled, and cataloged. What you see, for how long, at what times, how frequently, and what you\'ll see next is carefully orchestrated by a profit-maximizing algorithm. Profit for the platform, not for you.

Of course, the idea is usually that everyone profits: users, creators, advertisers, and the platforms alike. However, the evolutionary environment that is set up by said incentive structures will often select for shallow, attention-grabbing, and sensationalist snippets. As of this writing—block 716,025—the epitome of such an environment is TikTok, a video-based dopamine machine that will show you the motion picture equivalent of heroin mixed with crack cocaine. Hard drugs for the mind, custom-tailored to your particular likings. A truly cursed app. Unfortunately, most platforms of this nature are just different in degree, not in kind.

Allowed Opinion

\"It isn\'t so bad,\" we say to ourselves. \"Look at all the useful information!\" we exclaim as we scroll through our feeds, inadvertently feeding the machine that is feeding us dopamine hits in return.

But make no mistake: the companies in charge are not in the business of feeding us useful (or truthful) information. They are in the business of tricking us into feeding the machine.

How could it be otherwise? You are what you track, and you become what you optimize for. From the platform\'s perspective, this is clicks, not quality. At first, maximizing clicks and watch time might be an innocuous thing. After all, you have to make money to survive. It\'s just one ad. How bad can it get?

Unfortunately, the problems that come with it all are invisible at first. Just like cancer is invisible to the smoker who just smoked his first cigarette and liver cirrhosis is invisible to the drinker who just had his first drink, deplatforming, censorship, polarization, and manipulation of public opinion are invisible to the prosumer who just saw his first ad in a walled-garden ecosystem. We can probably agree that we are past the first inning when it comes to these issues. Censorship is the norm, deplatforming is cheered on, polarization is at an all-time high, and public opinion is manipulated manually and algorithmically like never before.

The consensus is that you are too stupid to know what is good for you and your public opinion is too outrageous to be voiced publicly. Even worse, it shouldn\'t be your opinion in the first place. \"Here is why you\'re wrong. Here is a source pointing to an allowed opinion. Here are some experts that agree with us. Our smart and helpful algorithms did all the thinking for you and they are never wrong. Neither are the experts.\"

This is the world we are already living in. You are not allowed to speak freely. You are not allowed to think freely. You are not allowed to express yourself freely. Your picture is offensive; thus, it has to be removed. Your meme is too close to the truth or too criminally funny; thus, we have to put you in Twitter jail for a week or two. You are saying something that we don\'t agree with; thus, we have to ban you for life—even if you are a sitting president, mind you. You have said the wrong word in a video or played a copyrighted song in the background; thus, we have to take away your income. You have posted a picture of yourself without a mask; thus, we\'ll have to ban you and report you to the authorities.¹

The fact that the sentence above is not purely in the realm of dystopian science fiction anymore should have everyone worried. Removed from cyberspace for wanting to breathe free. Strange times.

Evolutionary Pressure

How did it come to this? If I were forced to give a short answer, I would give the following: We moved from protocols to platforms, and platforms are only as good as their incentives.

The incentive structure of the platforms we inhabit is the evolutionary environment that dictates survival. Everything that wants to survive has to align with it.

Of course, this is true in all areas of business. Pick print magazines, for example. For very human evolutionary reasons, if your magazine doesn\'t sport a beautiful female face on the front cover, it won\'t be bought as much as those who do. Thus, it won\'t be able to replicate itself and, consequently, will die. Similarly, if your online news outlet does not generate enough ad revenue, it will fail to replicate and die. This is why every magazine has a beautiful female face on the cover. And this is why every ad-based online news outlet devolves into clickbait.

Similarly, this is why feed-based recommendation engines devolve into slot machines for your dopamine receptors. The longer you stay glued to your screen, the more ads you will see, the more revenue will be generated for the platform. This is also why most YouTube channels devolve into 7-15 minute snippets with thumbnails that portray the face of someone who just stepped on a piece of Legos. Short enough to convince you to watch it, long enough to make you forget what video you wanted to watch in the first place. Like rats pushing buttons in hyper-personalized Skinner boxes, we are conditioned into addiction cycles to maximize shareholder profits.

Maximizing Profits

Platforms are companies, and companies are incentivized to maximize shareholder profits. There is nothing wrong with profits, and there is nothing wrong with shareholders. However, I believe that the information revolution we find ourselves in has split the evolutionary landscape into two. Let\'s call these landscapes \"broad\" and \"narrow.\"

To maximize profits via broad advertisements, controversies and extreme opinions have to be minimized. Thus, just by catering to the lowest common denominator, politics and censorship immediately enter the picture. Conversely, if profits are made via narrow, targeted advertisements, controversies and extreme opinions have to be maximized. Thus, just by showing different pieces of information to different sub-groups, polarization and fragmentation are continually increased.

These two extremes are two sides of the same coin. It might seem like it is Cable TV vs. the algorithmic news feed, but it actually is two different approaches pursuing the same goal: to keep as many people glued to the screen, so they watch more advertisements. The first is a sedative, the second a stimulant.

Granted, the above characterization might be an exaggeration, but the problem remains: if we aren\'t paying for something directly, we will be paying for it indirectly, one way or another. Always.

The point is the following: free speech platforms can not exist. Only free speech protocols can exist. If someone can control what is being said, someone will control what is being said. If you can monitor, filter, and censor content, you will monitor, filter, and censor content.

All platforms will run into this problem, no matter how pristine their intentions. Even if you position yourself as a free speech platform at first, you will be forced to step in and censor in the long run. After all, if you can be squashed by the state for content you host or transmit, you will be squashed by the state for content you host or transmit.

Self-Censorship

However, long before state censorship will rear its ugly head, the chilling effect of self-censorship will be felt. If others are deplatformed and demonetized for voicing certain opinions, most people will be very careful to voice said opinions. Consciously and subconsciously, we slowly silence ourselves.

When it comes to self-censorship, advertisements have a role to play too.

After all, you wouldn\'t bite the hand that feeds you, would you? In the worst case, advertisers and executives will tell you what can be said and what is off-limits. They will tell you what opinions are inside the Overton window and which ones are outside of it. And if they don\'t, you will make an educated guess and adjust what you say accordingly.

A Problem and a Paradox

Back to the original problem: why can\'t we sell information like a regular good? Why does the simplistic approach—putting content behind a paywall—produce such bad results? I believe there are two reasons, which I will call the \"MTX problem\" and the \"DRM paradox.\"

The MTX problem, with MTX being short for \"mental transaction,\" refers to the problem of irreducible mental transaction costs inherent to every transaction. Every time you hit a paywall, you have to make a conscious decision: \"Do I want to pay for that?\"

As Szabo convincingly argues, most of the time, especially if the cost is tiny, the answer will be no. This is not for any technical reason but for psychological reasons. It turns out that the hassle of figuring out whether this transaction is worth it or not—a process that is happening in your head—is simply too much. If you have to think about a micro-purchase, the chance that you will make said purchase diminishes drastically. This is why flat rates and subscriptions are king: you only have to think about them once.

For the smallest of micro-transactions, this is even true from a strictly economic standpoint. Using an hourly wage of $20 USD, thinking, \"Is this worth 21 sats?\" for two seconds will cost you a little over 1¢, which is more than the price of the microtransaction in question.² It is unfeasible, both psychologically and economically. This, in a nutshell, is the MTX problem.

But this isn\'t the only thing that is plaguing the monetization of digital content. As mentioned above, there is also the DRM paradox.

DRM, short for \"digital rights management,\" is a futile effort that tries to prevent information from being copied. It should go without saying that non-copyable information is an oxymoron, but, alas, in the age of NFTs and plenty of other nonsense, I\'m afraid this needs to be spelled out explicitly. So, let me spell it out for you: You can not create information that can\'t be copied. Period. Or, in the words of Bruce Schneier: \"trying to make digital files uncopyable is like trying to make water not wet.\"

The nature of information is such that if it can be read, it can also be copied—with perfect fidelity. No amount of trickery or artificial restrictions will change this fact. This is why digital artifacts such as movies and music will always be available for free. It is trivial for someone who has access to said artifacts to copy said artifact—at near-zero marginal cost, mind you—and make it accessible to others. Thus, given enough time and popularity, every movie, every song, and every document will be available to the general public for free. The nature of information does not allow for another outcome. Hence the saying: information wants to be free.

Although trying to create something that can\'t exist—information that can\'t be copied—is paradoxical in itself, this isn\'t what I mean by the DRM paradox. What I mean is something more hilarious. It is again psychological, not technical in nature. The paradox is this: content will only stay behind a paywall if it is shitty. If it\'s good, someone will set it free.

We all know this. If an article is actually worth reading, someone who is behind the paywall will screenshot it and post it to social media. If the movie is worth watching, it will be available on various websites that have pirate ships as their logos. If the song is worth listening to, it will be available on streaming sites for free. It is only the terrible articles, the most obscure movies, and the songs that make your ears bleed that stay locked behind paywalls. Hence, the paradox: content will only stay locked behind paywalls if it sucks. If it\'s good, it will be set free.

Personally, I believe that the MTX problem is a bigger deal than the DRM paradox. The traditional solution to the MTX problem is the subscription model, à la Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, and so on. The DRM paradox still remains, but it turns out that this is not an issue if you make the \"legitimate\" access to information convenient enough.

The opportunity cost of downloading, storing, maintaining, and curating a private collection of songs is simply too high for most people. The more convenient solution is to pay for the damn Spotify subscription.

That being said, we can already see one of the problems inherent in the subscription model. The following comic describes it well:

The proliferation of streaming platforms forces you to get a Netflix subscription, an Amazon Prime subscription, a Hulu subscription, a Disney Plus subscription, a YouTube Premium subscription, and so on. And that was just streaming video. The same subscription zoo exists for music, books, games, newsletters, blog posts, etc.

So, what is the solution?

Accept the Nature of Information

The solution begins with acceptance. Selling digital content in the traditional, transactional way doesn\'t work, or at least doesn\'t work very well. A transaction involving a digital photograph of an apple is very different than a transaction involving a physical apple.

George Bernard Shaw said it best: \"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.\"

Because digital information behaves like an idea, there is no reason to make it artificially scarce. This is not only true philosophically, but technically, too. Computers are copying machines. Always have been, always will be. The only way to move information from one machine to another is to copy it. This alone should make the futility of treating information as physical objects blatantly obvious.

When it comes to monetizing information on the open web, we have to align our ways of thinking with the nature of information. As outlined above, information is non-scarce, easily copied, easily modified, and wants to be free.

I believe that the right monetization model has to respect these values and needs to have similar properties. It has to be open, transparent, extensible, and, last but not least, completely voluntary.

This model has a name: value-for-value.

Revivifying Busking

The idea is simple but sounds radical: you provide your content for free, for everyone, without access restrictions. If people enjoy it, if people get value out of it, you make it easy for people to give value back.

It might sound outrageous in this day and age, but this model has worked for thousands of years. It is the model of street performers, the model of buskers, the model of voluntary giving. However, in cyberspace, we don\'t run into the physical limitations of traditional busking. Digital content scales in ways that performances in meatspace never will.

The value-for-value model flips the traditional payment model on its head. Traditionally, enjoyment follows payment. In the value-for-value approach, payment follows enjoyment—voluntarily.

You are free to listen to the street musician and walk on, but—and this is something that the audience intuitively knows—if you want the music to continue, you should throw a couple of coins into the hat.
  🎩⚡ Give Value Back
One beautiful thing about this model is that it re-aligns incentives. You are not trying to maximize clicks, or view time, or any other of the countless metrics. You will want to provide value for your audience, and that\'s it. And if your audience got value out of it, a certain percentage will give back. All you have to do is ask.

A Valuable Alternative

We are at the very beginning of this monumental shift. My hope is that the value-for-value model will continue to emerge as a viable alternative—an alternative to advertisements, censorship, deplatforming, and demonetization.

The value-for-value model removes the \"they\" from the equation. They filter, they censor, they demonetize, they deplatform. It doesn\'t even matter who \"they\" are. If a \"they\" exists, they will find a way to fuck it up.

Value-for-value removes \"they,\" and puts you in charge. You are the ruler in the kingdom of one, solely responsible for your thoughts and your speech. If we want to have liberation (and salvation) in cyberspace, we need to put the individual in charge once more. As always, freedom and independence require responsibility.

In the best of all worlds, creators are incentivized to do nothing but create. Catering only to themselves and those who are interested in their creations. No intermediaries. Directly, person-to-person, value-for-value.

What Lies Ahead

Granted, as of today, it isn\'t exactly easy to self-host your infrastructure. It is intimidating to run your own node in order to receive payments in a self-sovereign manner. But, not only will it get easier, increasingly, it will be necessary.

In addition to making it all easier, we need to be cognisant of the MTX problem outlined above. Every step that manages to reduce the mental transaction costs in the value-for-value ecosystem is a step in the right direction.

The value capability of Podcasting 2.0 is such a step. It enables and automates payments by the minute, without any additional interaction required by the user. Once you are set up, your wallet will make payments automatically.

I believe that further iterations of this idea can be integrated into all media types, whether it be audio, video, images, the written word, and so on. I believe that we are close to the protocol version of Patreon: all the benefits of reducing the mental transaction costs to zero, without the friction and the censorship inherent in a platform-based solution. Whether it will come in the form of BOLT12 recurring payments or something else entirely is yet to be seen. I am confident, however, that it will come in time.

Conclusion {#Conclusion}

Not only is our fiat money broken, but the monetization model of the internet is broken too. The advertisement-based platforms of this day and age optimize for engagement via division and polarization, using dark patterns and addiction by design. It won\'t be easy to break out of the compulsion loops that are set up for us, but thanks to the self-sovereign tech stack that is currently emerging, there is a viable alternative: the value-for-value model.

The \"busking\" monetization model has worked for many centuries in the past, and thanks to Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, I am confident that it will work for centuries into the future. We are almost there. We just need to figure out how to position the hat correctly on the ground and where the best places in town are to perform, so to speak.

Value-for-value does away with the DRM paradox in its entirety and - with the right amount of automation and sensible defaults—will solve the MTX problem too. If we get this right, we might be able to free ourselves from the evolutionary survival-of-the-richest environment of platforms, allowing ourselves to step into the quasi-immortal realm of protocols.

There is much to be explored, many tools to be built, and plenty of pre-conceived notions to be shattered. There is a seismic shift happening right in front of our eyes, and I\'m looking forward to riding the waves with all of you. Onwards!

—

Further Resources {#Further-Resources}

Podcast Index and Podcasting 2.0

How to get started: value4value.io

Further Reading {#Further-Reading}

Micropayments and Mental Transaction Costs by Nick Szabo

The Mental Accounting Barrier to Micropayments by Nick Szabo

How Social Media Hacks Our Brains by the Center for Humane Technology

Compulsion Loop, Wikipedia

DRM - Defective by Design by the Free Software Foundation

Addiction by Design by Natasha Dow Schüll

—

Original cover image cc-by-sa Gonzalez85.

This article first appeared on dergigi.com.

The fact that I decided to include the sentence about masks (and, in some way, my opinion on the matter) in this paragraph will probably reduce the potential audience who will share this significantly. If I were to optimize for \"number of people who will read this,\" removing it would be the smart choice. The irony is not lost on me.

Moscow time 21:09 @ 716,411.

Gotcha. Just dm whenever you wanna drop by

2025-08-26T12:35:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…nk76
_________________________

Gotcha. Just dm whenever you wanna drop by

Will be around tomorrow (Wednesday) til about 3 pm if you wanna ...

2025-08-26T10:40:09Z

In reply to nevent1q…vsyl
_________________________

Will be around tomorrow (Wednesday) til about 3 pm if you wanna stop by. Already left for the day.

In addition, @npub1vgm…la2l also took 3rd place in the Bitcoin ...

2025-08-26T06:37:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…eal6
_________________________

In addition, veronika (npub1vgm…la2l) also took 3rd place in the Bitcoin Designathon by the Bitcoin Design Community, in addition to designing the BRRRR ecash website with UX Erik.

Here we go again!! Excited to announce Cohort 4 of the BOB ...

2025-08-26T06:25:12Z

Here we go again!!

Excited to announce Cohort 4 of the BOB Buidlers Residency program. The theme for this Cohort is ‘Usability’, which ranges from UX/UI designers to projects that aim to make #Bitcoin more user friendly, especially for those in the Global South.

Before we get to the Residents, huge thanks go out to Tokyo Bitcoin Base (tokyobitcoinbase (npub10ae…q4nm)) for co-sponsoring Cohort 4. The initiative and efforts shown by Teruko (teruko (npub19x0…2ree)) there were truly remarkable. So glad we could make this first-of-its-kind #Bitcoin only collaboration happen.

Now for the Residents and Projects: there’re 2 Projects and 2 Resident Designers in this Cohort.

Each Project aims to make specific features of Bitcoin (like privacy and everyday payments) easier to use. They will be supported by experienced and proven Resident Designers.

Cohort 4’s Resident Projects:

1) User-friendly Silent Payments Wallet by @theanmolsharma_ on X (github.com/theanmolsharma)

2) Bounty for Openpleb QR-to-Lightning payments platform implementations (github.com/gandlafbtc/open-pleb). This project was ideated by Gandlaf (gandlaf21 (npub1cj6…86t6)), who was also a Cohort 1 Resident.

Cohort 4’s Resident Designers:

X) Veronika or V (veronika (npub1vgm…la2l)) an experienced designer with active contributions to bitshala (npub1m49…u22l), amongst others.

Y) Adeyemi Matthew (Iyanu (npub1h72…9z5s)) another experienced designer who contributed to #StratumV2 in 2024 and whose team took third place in the SKBD wallet hackathon in 2025.

Welcome to Cohort 4 everyone! Look forward to another great one.

Last Friday (Aug 8), Meetup 1 of Grassroots Lightning Month ...

2025-08-11T10:40:13Z

Last Friday (Aug 8), Meetup 1 of Grassroots Lightning Month kicked off to a roaring start. naphat09 (npub13vh…dzp0) from #WelB talked about his journey of orange-pilling small merchants in Thailand and onboarding them onto the Lightning network.

Here are some images from the meetup, including all the things you can buy with Lightning in Thailand. Products and services range from coffee, food, homemade ghee to barbershop, car wash, books, clothing and Muay Thai lessons/workouts.

If this was any indication, can’t wait for the Aug 22nd double-feature event!

quoting note13wr…q94c
August 2025 is Grassroots Lightning Month at BOB Space BKK. 3 events have been posted in Meetup per links below.

Aug 8 - Meetup 1 with My from WelB. He’ll talk about onboarding small merchants to Lightning, especially in eastern Bangkok.

Aug 22 - Meetup 2 with Mick, who’s been orange pilling any merchant with a pulse in Huay Pheung district, Kalasin province.

Also Aug 22 - the augural outdoors Lightning Free Market, where small merchants can come sell their food, beverages and other stuff on the front lawn of BOB Space. They will all accept Lightning payments.

https://www.meetup.com/bob-space-community-events/events/310308479/

https://www.meetup.com/bob-space-community-events/events/310308762/

https://www.meetup.com/bob-space-community-events/events/310308868/

August 2025 is Grassroots Lightning Month at BOB Space BKK. 3 ...

2025-08-01T13:46:24Z

August 2025 is Grassroots Lightning Month at BOB Space BKK. 3 events have been posted in Meetup per links below.

Aug 8 - Meetup 1 with My from WelB. He’ll talk about onboarding small merchants to Lightning, especially in eastern Bangkok.

Aug 22 - Meetup 2 with Mick, who’s been orange pilling any merchant with a pulse in Huay Pheung district, Kalasin province.

Also Aug 22 - the augural outdoors Lightning Free Market, where small merchants can come sell their food, beverages and other stuff on the front lawn of BOB Space. They will all accept Lightning payments.

https://www.meetup.com/bob-space-community-events/events/310308479/

https://www.meetup.com/bob-space-community-events/events/310308762/

https://www.meetup.com/bob-space-community-events/events/310308868/

To wrap up Mempool and Transactions Month, meetup 2 this Friday ...

2025-07-23T06:07:13Z

To wrap up Mempool and Transactions Month, meetup 2 this Friday is a continuation from last time, and provides a more technical deep dive into various transaction types. Join us!!

https://www.meetup.com/bob-space-community-events/events/308881501/

Our next edition of the BOB Buildlers Residency, Cohort 4, is ...

2025-07-21T15:38:55Z

Our next edition of the BOB Buildlers Residency, Cohort 4, is coming. The theme for this one is #Usability. Stay tuned …

Roger's stuff is always a good long-form read. Well written ...

2025-07-12T15:49:21Z

Roger's stuff is always a good long-form read. Well written yet again 👍

quoting naddr1qq…dg65

Recently, quite a few people have been asking me about Bitcoin and how to get started with it practically - in real life. I put this summary together to explain the most important things that you need to know and I try to answer the most common questions. Hopefully you can use this as a handy reference guide. Feel free to refer others to the page to learn as well and to reach out to discuss with me if anything is not clear or you still have questions. There are pointers at the end to other educational resources as well.

The picture above is interesting - it appeared on the cover of The Economist of 8 Janaury 1988 - also interesting reading is [their issue of 31 October 2015](https://www.economist.com/weeklyedition/2015-10-31?ref=rogerprice.me) and [this article](https://rogerprice.me/the-technology-behind-bitcoin-could-transform-how-the-economy-works/) explaining how the technology behind bitcoin could transform how the economy works. For more on The Economist's "_uncanny ability_" to predict what's coming read "A Closing Thought" in [Issue 8 of the newsletter](https://rogerprice.me/how-fed-up-are-you/).

What is Bitcoin - and why is it more interesting than cash?

Bitcoin is a "Bearer Asset"; it has value in the same way that a bearer bond or gold coin has value - it is yours if you have possession of it and you can do what you want with it. It is digital hard money.

More interesting than gold coins is that any bitcoin you own can be easily divided into smaller amounts and exchanged as part of any transaction for value. Each bitcoin can be divided into 100 million parts called "_satoshis_" or "_sats_". Currently (May 2022) there are about 2,500 sats in one US Dollar so one US Cent is about 250 sats. One UK penny is about 300 sats.

[**_Update of Aug 2024_**: There are now 1,700 sats in one USD, so one US Cent is about 170 sats. One UK penny is about 220 sats. Bitcoin has appreciated by 35-45% over the national currencies in this period. You could also say your national currencies have devalued by 35-45% over this period.]

>> Update of July 2025 - There are now 850 sats in one USD - this represents a further 50% decrease in the value of your national currency in less than ONE YEAR.

You can easily transfer bitcoin that you own to anyone using an app on your phone or computer. Transactions like this can be done for a few US cents or even less and without anyone else being involved. Bitcoin is like cash (but better) - it's yours if you hold it yourself and you can do what you like with it.

Bitcoin that you hold cannot be devalued by governments printing more currency like they do with your pounds, dollars and euros today. As such Bitcoin really is a better and harder form of money and over time it will increase in value over the weaker forms of money.

Where does bitcoin come from?

New bitcoins are created by the bitcoin network every 10 minutes or so and given to the Bitcoin Miner who succeeds in adding the next block of transactions to the blockchain that is the public record of all transactions since inception. Currently about 6.25 BTC are issued for each new block; each 4 years the amount issued drops by half. This "halving" will next happen in early 2024 when it drops to 3.125 BTC per block. You should be able to spot a decreasing inflation rate!

Unlike with your fiat currency - nobody can change the issuance rate or make additional bitcoins - so this is genuinely "hard money".

How do you get bitcoin?

To get bitcoin, you need to exchange something of value with someone who has bitcoin and wants to trade with you. The value that you exchage can be any goods or services (your time and effort) or money like Dollars, Euros or Pounds. You trade using an online exchange like Binance, Coinbase or Kraken or with any individual or company who wants to trade "peer to peer" with you. You simply agree the conversion rate and do the trade. See below for the practical steps. An account can be set up in about a week - for all of these you will need to do KYC and share your personal identification documents (the risks of, and irrational arguments for this are topic for another newsletter).

How do you get cash from your bitcoin?

It is the opposite of getting bitcoin! You can trade peer to peer with other people or you can go via an exchange. Peer to peer, you agree the exchange rate - you transfer bitcoin to them and they give you cash at the agreed exchange rate. If you use an exchange you convert your bitcoin to traditional money and instruct them to transfer the euros, dollars or pounds back to your bank account (they will charge you for this). Note that Binance does also have an iteresting service to facilitate peer-to-peer trading.

If you use Phoenix Wallet as suggested below you can easily transact using traditional currency amounts (pounds, euros and dollars) and behind the scenes the wallet transparently coverts into bitcoin transactions - it could not be more simple! It's like magic - and it just works.

Practical points and guidance

The easiest way for most people to get their first bitcoin is to sign up to an online service like [_Binance_](https://www.binance.com/en?ref=rogerprice.me), [_Coinbase_](https://www.coinbase.com/?ref=rogerprice.me) or [Kraken](https://www.kraken.com/?ref=rogerprice.me) and to create an account with them into which you will transfer some traditional fiat money to convert into bitcoin. Kraken is nice with low fees and it allows withdrawal by lightning!

I do recommend watching Guy's [explainer on Binance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzJ6xkJpeUk&ref=rogerprice.me) and he has a [separate one on Coinbase](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z80iMY9GkyE&ref=rogerprice.me)

Kraken has many [Educational Resources here](https://www.kraken.com/learn?ref=rogerprice.me)

Trading peer to peer

Another way is to find someone who wants to sell you bitcoin in exchange for money or other goods and services. You agree the exchange rate and you make the exchange directly with them. This is just like finding someone who wants to exchange their euros for your pounds or vice versa - or finding who someone agrees to cut the lawn or clean the windows for a fee. Over time this will become increasingly common.

you can keep your bitcoin with a custodian like Binance, Coinbase or Kraken - even some banks start to offer this service(!). Keep in mind that custodial services have counterparty risk - the company that holds the asset in your name might restrict your access to it at some future time for any one of many reasons.

alternatively you can keep it yourself in a bitcoin wallet. This is called Self Custody and is strongly encouraged as best practice. You take full responsibility for the safekeeping of your bitcoin. This is like keeping cash in the wallet in your pocket or keeping your gold coins at home in a safe.

You choose what works best for you - the Phoenix Wallet that I describe below is a sort of hybrid solution - it is a Self Custody service but it also has a number of benefits that you get from a custodial service. I use it and can recommend it.

Sending and receiving bitcoin

You can send bitcoin "_on chain_" or "_via Lightning_"

On-chain is a bit like sending a SWIFT message. Use this if you are sending a large amount (many hundreds or thousands of pounds/dollars worth).

Via Lightning is more like using cash or having a "tab open" at the bar or a shop. Use this for smaller amounts from a few pence or cents to a few hundred pounds, euros or dollars. Generally you will prefer to use Lightning for smaller amounts - you will find it faster and cheaper - even more convenient than using Credit and Debit Cards or online payment services like Paypal, Venmo and Wise.

Phoenix Wallet

[_Phoenix Wallet_](https://phoenix.acinq.co/?ref=rogerprice.me) (from the French company, ACINQ) is one of the easier ways for you to get started with bitcoin and learn how it works. This is good for amounts from a few pence/cents up to a few hundred pounds, euros or dollars. [_Phoenix Wallet_](https://phoenix.acinq.co/?ref=rogerprice.me) allows you to send and receive on-chain and via lightning - it does it all!

1. Download the [Phoenix Wallet App](https://phoenix.acinq.co/?ref=rogerprice.me) on your phone - iPhone and Android

2. Open the app and Create your wallet on your phone

3. Do follow their [instructions, FAQ and explainer](https://phoenix.acinq.co/faq?ref=rogerprice.me) - set aside 10-15 minutes and do this carefully

4. Ensure you have written down and keep safe the 12 word seed phrase. This allows you to restore your wallet if you change or loose your phone. The 12-words are like the key and certificate to a safe deposit box. Anyone that you share this with will have full access to the bitcoin in your wallet. Best practice is to write it down on a couple of sheets of paper and to store these safely in a couple of locations that only you know and will be able to remember and have access to in future if you need.

Never take a photograph of the 12-words or upload them to online services; there is always a risk that online services can be hacked in future and your keys are not safe online.

5. On iPhone, you can choose to let Apple store your 12 word phrase in iCloud. This can make it easier if you loose or change your phone. Drawback is that you must trust Apple to keep the 12 words safe. Governments have been known to interfere with such Apple services. Your choice.

For larger quantities of bitcoin other best practices and tools apply - this can be subject of another newsletter - let me me if you are interested to know more.

Lastly - put some bitcoin "in your wallet". Simply select Receive and "_show a bitcoin address_" - use this address to send bitcoin from your exchange or give it to whoever you are transacting with and they will give you bitcoin in return for what ever value you agreed - pounds, dollars or other services. You need to make this first transaction on-chain and ACINQ will charge a 1% fee or 3000 sats for it.

That's it - you are all set and ready to make your first transaction.

---

_[Future Roger here in August 2024]_:

Tools that are currently available and recommended include:

[Kraken.com](https://www.kraken.com/?ref=rogerprice.me) - the exchange as mentioned above and their iOS and Android apps

[Phoenix Wallet](https://phoenix.acinq.co/?ref=rogerprice.me) - great to get started with Lightning

[Breez Mobile](https://breez.technology/mobile/?ref=rogerprice.me) - also great to get started with Lightning

[Aqua Wallet](https://aquawallet.io/?ref=rogerprice.me) - another great starter tool - this is built on Liquid Bitcoin - it is intended for large scale deployment and includes USDT stablecoins that can be interesting. A complementary tool for this is Blockstream's Green Wallet.

[Fedi](https://www.fedi.xyz/?ref=rogerprice.me) - very early days for this one but you could already try it out with a few 10's of pounds, euros or dollars and it has good integration with Lightning

[Cashu](https://cashu.space/?ref=rogerprice.me) - also early days but this really is the leading edge in Chaumian eCash. Again I would encourage you to experiment with a few 10's of pounds, euros or dollars - and it has good integration with Lightning

[Sparrow Wallet](https://sparrowwallet.com/?ref=rogerprice.me) - for larger amounts of Bitcoin you want to consider something like this and likely together with a hardware signer like [Trezor](https://trezor.io/?ref=rogerprice.me) or [ColdCard](https://coldcard.com/?ref=rogerprice.me) to keep your key safe.

>

> _Feel free to reach out with any questions or suggestions_.

What can I use bitcoin for?

You can use bitcoin for anything that you would pay cash for today. You just need to find someone who is interested to trade with you. This will become increasingly easy going forward. Some suggestions to start with

peer to peer payments - eg splitting the bill at a restaurant or pub, paying rent or paying someone for groceries or other services that they provide for you.

goods and services - increasingly people who take cash for payments will be comfortable (even prefer) to be paid in bitcoin.

anything that you would buy with cash or credit card today. Going forward you will find that people and even companies will offer a discount if you pay with bitcoin to encourage this as a preferred means of exchange. Hard money wins out:

[Gresham's Law VS Thiers' Law Simplified: Lessons Of History You Can't Afford To Ignore](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_7KW5dLsiI&ref=rogerprice.me)

Educational Resources

Bitcoin is "_hard digital money_". Recommended reading is Lyn Alden's article in which she tells the history of money, and examines this rather unusual period in time where we seem to be going through a gradual global transformation of what we define as money, comparable to the turning points of 1971-present (Petrodollar System), 1944-1971 (Bretton Woods System), the 1700s-1944 (Gold Standard System), and various commodity-money transition periods (pre-1700s). This type of occasion happens relatively rarely in history for any given society but has massive implications when it happens, so it’s worth being aware of.

> If we condense those stages to the basics, the world has gone through three phases: commodity money, gold standard (the final form of commodity money), and fiat currency.

>

A fourth phase, digital money, is on the horizon. This includes private digital assets (e.g. bitcoin and stablecoins) and public digital currencies (e.g. central bank digital currencies) that can change how we do banking, and what economic tools policymakers have in terms of fiscal and monetary policy. These assets can be thought of as digital versions of gold, commodities, or fiat currency, but they also have their own unique aspects.

Read Lyn's full article: [Lyn alden - What is Money](https://www.lynalden.com/what-is-money/?ref=rogerprice.me) - or [see her discussing this with Peter McCormack](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzj3qeKoghg&t=153s&ref=rogerprice.me)

That's it!

No one can be told what The Matrix is.

You have to see it for yourself.

Do share this newsletter with any of your friends and family who might be interested.

Any questions or anything else? Feel free to comment below!

You can also email me at: LetterFrom@rogerprice.me

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Next Friday (Jun 27th), our bi-weekly meetup features a ...

2025-06-21T07:47:41Z

Next Friday (Jun 27th), our bi-weekly meetup features a discussion of FOSS Bitcoin Grants, followed by an Application Writing Demo.
Might be of interest to those looking to take that next step.

https://www.meetup.com/bob-space-community-events/events/308580249/

Started getting back here on Nostr because the posts can be as ...

2025-06-14T10:18:47Z

Started getting back here on Nostr because the posts can be as long as you want and you don't need to get blue checks...plus it's gotten much better.

So ditto

quoting
nevent1q…w9g3
I'm not here on Nostr because I run away from Twitter. I'm here because I'm in search for an internet as it once used to be.

I'm a hacker who fucking hates that social media is in the hands of private companies. I remember using IRC and meeting likeminded anons online. I remember what the internet utopia felt like. People who didn't care what your name or status is, people who aren't interested in sharing their boring holiday pics with random strangers online. I'm not interested in what politicians and influencers have to say. I don't care about the latest mainstream trend that's going viral.

I want random weird interesting smart people around me who share their ideas in a free and open space that isn't controlled by anyone.

That's all I'm looking for. There aren't many such spaces on the internet.

Quick reflection on a couple of conferences attended in the past ...

2025-06-14T06:27:05Z

Quick reflection on a couple of conferences attended in the past 2 months.

- Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) 2025 by HRF: Another signal-packdd event featuring freedom fighters and non-compliers from around the globe. Bitcoin as a financial freedom tool continues to feature more prominently. Privacy tech and tools (think Nostr, Cashu ecash, etc.) continue to mature and draw in more FOSS developers. And this year also marked the 5th Anniversary of BDF (Bitcoin Development Fund) - huge shoutout to the team at #HRF led by gladstein (npub1trr…hdpu). Another tech development of note is the launch HRF’s AI for Human Rights spearheaded by justinmoon (npub1zxu…cx2y). 2025 somehow seems to be an inflection point for AI in terms of promises vs. reality. Kinda been sleeping on this tbh, so will wake up and pay more attention.

- Bitcoin Seoul 2025: for an event in its 2nd year, super professional production. So props to the organizers. Program wise, spent all of the first day (Industry Day) at Builders Stage. Save for maybe 1 talk (perhaps ours), every speaker was solid. 2nd day (Public Day) featured some great panels focused on Bitcoin adoption and financialization. And the dinners were legendary thanks to Calvin and Specter.

Finally, an image from each event ⬇️

It’s common knowledge that every air conditioned minimart in ...

2025-06-14T06:00:03Z

It’s common knowledge that every air conditioned minimart in and around Bangkok comes with natural non-AI security systems. Some of them go above and beyond ❤️😂

The penlock.io wheel created by an open source contributor who ...

2025-06-13T17:52:49Z

The penlock.io wheel created by an open source contributor who visited us. It’s an offline tool to generate a seed phrase - and then split that into 3 parts; only 2 of which are required to recover the seed. Like an analog multi-sig for your seed phrase.

Pretty neat stuff!

We had fun at the #BitcoinPizzaDay meetup last night at our new ...

2025-05-23T06:53:29Z

We had fun at the #BitcoinPizzaDay meetup last night at our new location. Thanks to YakiHonne (npub1yzv…rf8q) for sponsoring one of the pizzas (it went quick!)

And special shoutout to clearmined (npub1dj8…drq9) for doing a vibe coding demo. It was kickass and we were definitely vibing. And ofc thanks to all the regular and new members who came by to celebrate the 15th anniversary of this historic day for Bitcoin.

And yet Bitcoin lives ...

2025-04-15T05:32:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…jpz0
_________________________

And yet Bitcoin lives ...

Agreed. Good post laying out several assumptions vs. real world ...

2025-04-15T02:18:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…jfg3
_________________________

Agreed. Good post laying out several assumptions vs. real world realities. Amongst other things, it gives us a few things to think about re usability viz. security, and how much/little the ethos should matter for mass adoption. Also, does this mean that the "build it, and they will come" belief is a pipedream, especially at the extremes?

Love these 4 in particular ...

2025-04-15T02:04:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…vyla
_________________________

Love these 4 in particular

Thrilled to announce 2 more meetups to wrap up April 2025: - Apr ...

2025-04-13T07:18:00Z

Thrilled to announce 2 more meetups to wrap up April 2025:

- Apr 17th: Special Freedom Edition w/ Win from Human Rights Foundation (HRF).

- Apr 25th: Nostr Month session 2 w/ nickydev (npub18k6…202m) of wherostr (npub16el…c6d7), Thailand’s home-grown Nostr client.

Details in Meetup links:

https://www.meetup.com/bob-space-community-events/events/307258483/

https://www.meetup.com/bob-space-community-events/events/307258415/

A good well written long form piece on ecash and Bitcoin ...

2024-12-06T03:31:56Z

A good well written long form piece on ecash and Bitcoin utilization

quoting note18m0…yavx
Sharing my thoughts on ecash, after working on #cashu for almost 2 years

Kagi (nprofile…qv5y) Seth For Privacy (nprofile…hm8r) calle (nprofile…xnfk)

naddr1qq…lz6g

Thank you so much for the opportunity. Our Cohort 3 Residents are ...

2024-09-28T01:05:45Z

Thank you so much for the opportunity. Our Cohort 3 Residents are absolutely thrilled to receive their grants and to continue their work on decentralizing Bitcoin mining.

quoting
note172a…mhxf
Bitcoin Jungle, Bitcoin Indonesia, Deciphering Bitcoin, BOBSpaces Residency, Statsie's Pocket Guides, and Africa Free Routing. Announcing our latest wave of education-focused grants: https://opensats.org/blog/second-wave-of-education-grants

Yo! This is the new Nostr account for BOB Spaces (Bangkok and ...

2024-09-27T05:51:21Z

Yo! This is the new Nostr account for BOB Spaces (Bangkok and Chiangmai)