Bitcoin Takeover Podcast
On the Bitcoin Takeover podcast you're going to hear the builders and innovators who make the Bitcoin project valuable. It's thanks to their work that the BTC price goes up, and it's their efforts that convince large investors that Bitcoin is the future of money. Here you will find the projects and ideas that will radically improve Bitcoin in the future, presented by the creators and innovators themselves. Time to learn!
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S16 E65: Moonsettler on OP_CTV & Failing to Improve Bitcoin
Moonsettler is a bitconer who adheres to the old school cypherpunk values and believes that the best way ahead is to enable OP_CTV (BIP119) or LNHANCE. However, the biggest problem is the generalized loss of focus. If last year there seemed to be consensus that Bitcoin needs covenants to improve scalability and bring new use cases, now the landscape is rather gloomy. Even Moonsettler changed his Twitter screen name to Doomsettler, as a reflection on this status quo. 00:01:16 Welcome Moonsettler (Doomsettler) 00:02:40 Delayed Interview and Original eCash Debate 00:03:14 Why eCash (Chaumian Cash) Never Took Off 00:04:00 Criticism of Custodial Scaling Solutions 00:05:14...
S16 E64: Alex Chepurnoy on Ergo & Bitcoin Smart Contracts
Alex Chepurnoy is a cryptographer & researcher who famously wrote a Bitcoin client in Haskell in only 3600 lines of code. He is currently working on Ergo, a proof of work blockchain which improves upon Bitcoin's design in order to achieve smart contracts and DeFi. How does it work? Let's find out! Time stamps: 00:01:11 Introducing Alex Chepurnoy 00:01:51 Alex’s Bitcoin Discovery & Early Development 00:02:37 Namecoin, SmartContract.com, and Cardano Involvement 00:05:15 Satoshi Theories & Code Analysis 00:07:00 Rewriting Bitcoin & Distributed Systems Perspective 00:08:39 Consensus Protocols & Altcoin Proliferation 00:10:20 Bitcoin’s Early Appeal & Peer-to-Peer Motivation 00:14:08 Bitcoin’s Revolutionary Monetary Model 00:15:45 Staying in Crypto: Problems to Solve 00:17:19 Bitcoin as Digital Gold...
S16 E63: David Bailey on NAKAMOTO, BTC Media & The Bull Market
David Bailey is the chairman of Bitcoin Magazine, the organizer of the most successful series of Bitcoin conferences, and the mastermind behind the Nakamoto BTC treasury company. In this episode, we talk about his latest business dealings and the current state of the Bitcoin bull market. Time stamps: 00:01:47 Bitcoin Magazine’s Bitcoin-Only Pivot 00:02:17 Surviving 2018 and the COVID Pivot 00:04:09 Scaling Up: Conferences and Global Expansion 00:05:11 Bringing Politicians to Bitcoin 00:07:35 Trump’s Embrace of Bitcoin and Global Perception 00:09:48 Bitcoin Price Expectations and Political Impact 00:10:56 Presidential Pardons and the Lack of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve 00:14:10 Trump Meme Coins and Industry Signals 00:17:07 Privacy, Regulation, and...
S16 E62: Abdel's Updates on Starkware & ZK STARKs Adoption
Abdel is one of the most prolific developers in the Zero Knowledge space. Since our conversation in September, he was able to accomplish so much that he requested another interview to talk about it. So what happened with ZK STARKs that is so important? Time stamps: 00:01:04 Podcast Introduction & Sponsor Acknowledgments 00:02:15 Vlad's Rant on Bitcoin Media & Podcast Landscape 00:03:24 Bitcoin Takeover Podcast Mission & Seven-Year Anniversary 00:04:39 Transition to Abdel’s Updates & ZK-STARKS 00:05:44 Abdel’s Zcash & Bitcoin Proposals 00:07:00 Comparing Bitcoin and Zcash Community Reactions 00:08:36 Altcoins as Experimentation Grounds 00:11:23 Scaling, Rollups, and Drivechains 00:13:10 Abdel’s Proposal for Native STARK Verification 00:17:19 Zcash’s TDE and Layer 2 Possibil...
S16 E61: Alan Szepieniec on Privacy, Scaling & Quantum Resistance
Alan Szepieniec is a cryptographer & systems architect who specializes in Zero Knowledge proofs. He created Neptune Cash, a L1 network which combines ZK STARKs with Proof of Work in order to have a money system that's private, scalable & quantum resistant. Time stamps: 00:00:00 Intro & Sponsors 00:02:30 Welcome Alan Szepieniec 00:03:02 Alan's Background in Cryptography & Libertarianism 00:05:15 Path to Bitcoin & Privacy Disillusionment 00:07:30 Privacy as Essential for Fungible Money 00:09:44 Network-Level Privacy & Censorship Resistance 00:12:15 Debate on Privacy Improvements in Bitcoin 00:14:01 Scalability Trade-offs with Recursive ZK Proofs 00:17:26 Lightning Network Privacy Limitations 00:22:39 Lightning's Potential for High-Frequency Trading 00:26:41 Custodial Risks & ZK-Proven Custodians 00:31:21 Sponsor: Unstoppable Wallet 00:33:17 Sponsor: Sideshift.ai 00:34:20 ZK-STARKs Explained...
S16 E60: Jonathan Bier on Bitcoin Civil Wars & BitMEX Research
Jonathan Bier is the author of the influential best-seller "The Blocksize War: The battle over who controls Bitcoin’s protocol rules", as well as one of the most prolific and respected researchers in Bitcoin. He is also an active investor who sits on various company boards and advises projects in the space. In this episode, we talk about parallels between the Bitcoin scaling debate and the filter wars, but also highlight some debunked Satoshi Nakamoto claims. Time stamps: 00:01:11 - Introducing Jonathan Bier and Blocksize War Book 00:02:44 - Meeting BitMEX Founders and Starting Research 00:05:31 - Arthur Hayes' Blog Writing and Vision 00:07:32...
S16 E59: Curtis Green on Bitcoin, Silk Road & Forgiveness
Curtis Green, better knows by OG bitcoiners as "Chronicpain" or "Flush", is a former forum moderator and website administrator of the Silk Road internet marketplace. He is a man who has mined bitcoin early enough to get scammed by Butterfly Labs, and was allegedly also the target of a bounty on assassination markets. He's seen all eras of Bitcoin, and today he seeks to get pardoned by the Trump administration. He will accept donations from community members in order to get the legal help he needs. Read Curtis Green's book, "Silk Road Takedown": https://www.amazon.com/dp/1729436889 Donate to...
S16 E58: Leona Hioki on INTMAX, ZK Rollups & Privacy
Leona Hioki is the CEO, co-founder & architect of INTMAX: a ZK rollup layer 2 that focuses on private payments, scalability, and low fees. In this episode, we talk about scaling & privacy tech for Bitcoin & what we can learn from Ethereum. Time stamps: 00:01:17 -Introducing Leona 00:02:47 - Leona Hioki's Background 00:03:38 - Discussion on Past Podcasts and Zcash Pump Dance 00:05:00 - Privacy Trends in Crypto 00:05:26 - INTMAX Overview: Privacy, Scalability, Trade-offs 00:05:44 - Client-Side Validation and ZKP in INTMAX 00:08:22 - Comparison to Zcash and RGB 00:08:46 - INTMAX on Ethereum and Potential Bitcoin Integration 00:11:02 - INTMAX vs. StarkWare 00:14:15 - Stateless vs. Stateful Systems 00:15:05 - Evolution from...
S16 E57: Trezor Safe 7 Setup with Matej Zak & Tomáš Sušánka
Recently, Trezor unveiled the Safe 7: the first hardware wallet in the world to include the Tropic Square verifiable secure element chip, a true game-changer for Bitcoin security. In this episode, Matej Zak & Tomáš Sušánka explain how it works. Buy your Trezor Safe 7 (referral link): https://affil.trezor.io/SHuM Time stamps: 00:01:13 - Introduction to the podcast episode and guests (Matej Zak, CEO, and Tomáš Sušánka, CTO of Trezor). 00:01:34 - Discussion of the Trezor Safe 7 product launch event in Prague and the host's excitement about the Tropic Square chip. 00:01:55 - Mention of the live unboxing and potential for things to go wr...
S16 E56: Super Testnet on Papa Swaps, BIP 444 & Prediction Markets
Recently, Super Testnet built Papa swaps: a novel & optimistic way of doing atomic swaps on Bitcoin. In this episode, he talks about his new projects, why he is in favor of filtering the mempool + BIP 444 activation, and prediction markets. Time stamps: 00:01:28 - Intro: Super Testnet's Return to the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast 00:03:03 - Lightning Privacy Wars: Recapping Super's Monero Challenge & Layer 2 Debates 00:03:43 - Papa Swaps Unleashed: Super's Lightning-Fast Innovation Explained 00:04:57 - Submarine Swaps 101: From Layer 1 to Layer 2 in a Flash 00:06:04 - Phoenix Wallet Magic: Splicing vs. Submarine Swaps – Why Capacity Matters 00:07:55 - Birth of Papa Swaps: From Mexico Chats to Single-Transaction Br...
