Best Vlad Costea Podcasts (2025)

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S16 E59: Curtis Green on Bitcoin, Silk Road & Forgiveness 5:05:05

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2h ago5:05:05

5:05:05

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, a…

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S16 E58: Leona Hioki on INTMAX, ZK Rollups & Privacy 2:41:05

4h ago2:41:05

2:41:05

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 Leona00:02:47 - Leona Hioki's Background00:03:38 - Discussion on Past Podcast…

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S16 E57: Trezor Safe 7 Setup with Matej Zak & Tomáš Sušánka 54:27

2h ago54:27

54:27

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/SHuMTime stamps: 00:01:13 - Introduction t…

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S16 E56: Super Testnet on Papa Swaps, BIP 444 & Prediction Markets 2:59:50

2h ago2:59:50

2:59:50

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 Podcast00:03:03 - Lightning Priva…

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S16 E55: Mert Mumtaz on Zcash, Privacy & Zillions 1:30:18

2d ago1:30:18

1:30:18

Mert Mumtaz is the man of the hour: the Zcash bull who successfully popularized privacy in DeFi, and one of the architects behind the spectacular price action we've seen in the month of "ZECtober".In this episode, we talk about the meaning of privacy, why Zcash plays a leading role in this new paradigm, and what "zillions" really means.Time stamps:…

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S16 E54: Slava Zhygulin & Ros on Stroom Network, Bitcoin Staking 1:35:41

5d ago1:35:41

1:35:41

The Stroom Network presents an interesting proposition: staking your bitcoin on the Lightning network, and earning yield from the transaction fees that routing nodes are collecting. To better explain how this system works, Slava and Ros join the show!Time stamps:00:01:17 - Introduction to Bitcoin Takeover Podcast Season 16 Episode 5400:01:23 - Welc…

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S16 E53: Xenu on Bitcoin Culture & Moreno vs Zcash 4:18:45

10d ago4:18:45

4:18:45

Xenu is the anti-moonboy: someone who is deeply dedicated to promoting digital money as something that you use to purchase goods & services, and a black market connoisseur. In this episode, we talk about Bitcoin & tackle the Moreno vs Zcash debate.Time stamps:00:01:46 - Welcome to Bitcoin Takeover podcast00:01:52 - Vlad introduces himself and Xenu0…

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S16 E52: Paul Sztorc on Bitcoin's Culture Wars 1:48:29

14d ago1:48:29

1:48:29

While the Bitcoin Core v30 vs Knots debate went on, Paul Sztorc was hard at work building the Drivechains software. However, this doesn't meant that he doesn't have any opinions about the recent events and their greater significance.Time stamps:00:01:30 - Welcome to the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast and Paul's Second Appearance This Season00:02:28 - Bit…

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S16 E51: Sean Bowe on Bitcoin, Zcash & Scaling Privacy with Tachyon 3:39:34

21d ago3:39:34

3:39:34

Sean Bowe is a cryptographer and engineer who is best known for revolutionizing Zcash. After cooperating to fix the inflation bug in the first version of the network, he built Halo to remove the trusted setup – basically obliterating the main reason why Bitcoin did not activate the Zerocash soft fork in 2013.More recently, Sean Bowe announced proje…

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S16 E50: Ray Youssef on Why Paxful's Terminated 1:46:02

1M ago1:46:02

1:46:02

On October 1st 2025, Paxful announced the decision to "wind down operations" and blamed the "misconduct" of co-founder Ray Youssef for the company's trajectory. But Ray Youssef had already moved on since 2023, building NoOnes as a non-US entity which better serves the peer to peer needs of the Global South.In this episode, Ray explains what's going…

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S16 E49: Jay Berg on Bitcoin, SidePit & Maximalism 4:15:04

1M ago4:15:04

4:15:04

Jay Berg joined Bitcoin in 2010 and became the first person to tweet about BTCUSD when the price hit a new high of $12. In this episode, he talks about why most Bitcoiners are wrong in their recent filter debate and how SidePit aims to fix trading.Time stamps:00:01:57 - Hot take: Maxis wrong, shitcoining new Bitcoining00:03:00 - Bitcoin kernel: Lit…

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S16 E48: Christopher Smith on Quantus, Bitcoin & Quantum Resistance 2:46:35

1M ago2:46:35

2:46:35

By Vlad Costea

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S16 E47: Max Hillebrand on White Noise & Private Messaging on Nostr 4:02:36

1M ago4:02:36

4:02:36

Max Hillebrand makes his 8th appearance on the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast in order to talk about his latest project: White Noise, a private messaging application for Nostr. We also talk about Core v30 vs Knots, Bitcoin layer 2s & other bull market topics.Time stamps:00:01:07 - Max Hillebrand's Background00:02:47 - Post-Wasabi Wallet Era and Privacy C…

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S16 E46: Val Venis on Bitcoin, Liberty & Wrestling 4:32:43

2M ago4:32:43

4:32:43

Back in 2013, former WWE Intercontinental Champion Val Venis bought 24 bitcoins for $80 each. Today, he is a big advocate for freedom, privacy, and the right to benefit from the product of your own labor without extortion.In this episode, we talk about libertarianism, his love for private internet money, and his WWE stories.Time stamps: 00:00:00 - …

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S16 E45: Shai Wyborski on Bitcoin, Kaspa & Proof of Work Research 8:28:56

2M ago8:28:56

8:28:56

Shai Wyborski is one of the three co-authors of the GHOSTDAG paper, and a man who takes pride in his independent thinking and divergent approach to research. As a PhD in quantum cryptography, he's got lots of knowledge to share. But by virtue of his involvement in Bitcoin and Kaspa, he's got stories to tell too.What does the future of Proof of Work…

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S16 E44: Abdel on ZK STARKs & Bitcoin Maximalism 3:18:37

2M ago3:18:37

3:18:37

Abdel is a Starkware engineer who, over the last 7 years, went from building EIP 1559 on Ethereum to becoming a Bitcoin maximalist who wants ZK STARKs to happen. In this episode, we talk about his journey & some of Bitcoin's cultural issues.Time stamps:00:00:59 - Sponsors: Sideshift, Citrea, Bitcoin.com News, LayerTwo Labs, NoOnes.com00:01:38 - Abd…

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S16 E43: Vikrant Sharma on Cake Wallet, Bitcoin & Privacy 1:48:49

2M ago1:48:49

1:48:49

Vikrant Sharma, better known as Vik, is the CEO and founder of Cake Wallet: the first Bitcoin wallet to support both Silent Payments and PayJoins. In this episode, we talk about the wallet's Monero roots & what is next in terms of features.Time stamps:00:01:05 - Introducing Vik00:01:24 - Cake Wallet Features for Bitcoin and Monero00:03:08 - Backgro…

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S16 E42: Michael Tidwell on Bitcoin Drama & Tabconf 2:36:50

2M ago2:36:50

2:36:50

Michael Tidwell is the organizer of Tabconf, the longest running Bitcoin technical conference which takes place every year in Atlanta. In this episode, we talk about Bitcoin drama & use a fun roulette game to figure out who's guilty of it.Time stamps:00:01:09 - Welcome and episode gimmick intro00:01:30 - Sponsors shoutout00:01:36 - Bitcoin drama di…

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S16 E41: Yonatan Sompolinsky on Bitcoin, Kaspa & Proof of Work 7:35:17

3M ago7:35:17

7:35:17

Yonatan Sompolinsky is an academic in the field of computer science, best known for his work on the GHOST protocol (Greedy Heaviest Observed Subtree, which was cited in the Ethereum whitepaper) and the way he applied his research to create Kaspa.In this episode, we talk about scaling Proof of Work and why Kaspa might be a worthy contender to proces…

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S16 E40: Cory Klippsten on Bitcoin Culture & Maximalism 2:22:21

3M ago2:22:21

2:22:21

Cory Klippsten is the CEO of Swan Bitcoin and has a long history in both traditional finance and the Bitcoin space. In this two-part episode, he talks about why Bitcoin is winning and how the culture around it has changed.By Vlad Costea

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S16 E39: Karl Kreder (Dr. K) on Scaling Proof of Work, Bitcoin & Quai 6:17:29

3M ago6:17:29

6:17:29

Karl Kreder, better known as Dr. K, is best known in the space for researching the use of merged-mined subnets to scale Proof of Work in 2018 – a concept which led to the launch of the Quai Network, which introduced the Proof of Entropy Minima (PoEM) consensus for high transaction throughput within a decentralized environment.Today, we talk about h…

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S16 E38: Bitcoin Payments in 2025 with Sergej Kotliar & Matt Ahlborg 1:54:49

3M ago1:54:49

1:54:49

Sergej Kotliar is the CEO of Bitrefill, while Matt Ahlborg recently created PPQ.AI to enable millions of users to experience LLMs without expensive subscriptions. But how are bitcoin payments doing? In this episode, they present their latest stats. Time stamps: 00:00:48 – Introducing Sergej Kotliar and Matt Aalborg00:02:20 – Bitrefill’s Lightning N…

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S16 E37: Andrew Poelstra on Simplicity, Bitcoin Smart Contracts & Upgrades 1:38:53

3M ago1:38:53

1:38:53

Simplicity, a scripting language so simple that it can fit on a t-shirt, has finally launched on Liquid after a decade of development. Andrew Poelstra, who works as director of research at Blockstream, explains how it works & why it's good for Bitcoin.Time stamps:(00:00:50) Introducing Andrew Poelstra(00:01:45) Simplicity: Now Live on Liquid(00:02:…

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S16 E36: Maud Bannwart & Cheng Wang on Alephium, Proof of Less Work & Bitcoin 1:57:33

4M ago1:57:33

1:57:33

Alephium is one of the most interesting Proof of Work projects, which aims to build secure smart contracts & fast DeFi on a mineable base layer which minimizes electricity consumption. Maud Bannwart & Cheng Wang explain how all of this works.Time stamps:00:00:53 – Introducing Cheng & Maud00:02:06 – Alephium's Origins & MotivationCheng explains the …

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S16 E35: Hunter Beast on Bitcoin's Quantum Resistance & BIP 360 1:24:26

4M ago1:24:26

1:24:26

Hunter Beast is the author of BIP 360: a proposal that seeks to provide quantum resistance to Bitcoin, to prevent powerful computer builders from brute forcing arbitrary addresses to steal the funds. But is the quantum threat real? Does the number of qubits really make a difference when the quantum computer is general purpose? Shouldn't other indus…

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S16 E34: Prof. Richard Werner on Bitcoin, CBDCs & The Big Beautiful Bill 1:57:46

4M ago1:57:46

1:57:46

Prof. Richard Werner, one of the world's most famous economists, is best known for writing "Princes of the Yen" and penning the term "quantitative easing" in the 1990s while working at the Bank of Japan.Today, he is a big advocate for small local banks and a believer in the power of Bitcoin. In this episode, he talks about recent events in economic…

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S16 E33: Liz Steininger on Least Authority & Auditing Open Source Software 1:29:22

4M ago1:29:22

1:29:22

Liz Steininger is the CEO of Least Authority: a company which specializes in auditing open source software since 2014. Originally founded by Zooko Wilcox, Least Authority has conducted more than 100 security audits in the space. Some of the best known contractors who requested an expert review include the Ethereum Foundation, the Electric Coin Comp…

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S16 E32: Bitcoin vs Monero vs Zcash Privacy with Diego Salazar & Luke Szramowski of Cypher Stack 5:08:14

5M ago5:08:14

5:08:14

Diego Salazar & Luke Szramowski are working to build Cypher Space: a privacy & sovereignty company. In this episode, they compare + rate the privacy of Bitcoin, Monero, Zcash, Firo, Mimble Wimble (Litecoin, Grin), Zano & Beam. Time stamps:(00:00:59) Introducing Diego Salazar & Luke Szramowski(00:02:04) Tribalism and Privacy Protocols in Crypto(00:0…

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S16 E31: Andrew Camilleri ”Kukks” on Ark, BTCPay Server & Open Source Bitcoin Software 3:22:36

5M ago3:22:36

3:22:36

Andrew Camilleri, better known as Kukks, is one of the most prolific contributors to BTCPay Server & an advocate for using bitcoin as money. Recently, he started building Bitcoin Layer 2 applications for Ark Labs & believes in conservative improvements.Time stamps:(00:00:49) Introduction & Andrew’s Background(00:01:46) Getting Into Bitcoin & Altcoi…

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S16 E30: Peter Rizun on Scaling Bitcoin with Hardware 5:23:41

5M ago5:23:41

5:23:41

Peter Rizun is the chief scientist at Bitcoin Unlimited: a software client that aims to scale Bitcoin with big blocks, while also empowering regular users to run nodes. In this episode, we talk about what went wrong during the block size wars & his research in scaling hardware.Time stamps:00:01:15 — Introducing Peter Rizun00:03:32 — Early Block Siz…

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S16 E29: Zooko on Ecash, Bitcoin & Zcash 6:06:49

6M ago6:06:49

6:06:49

Zooko has been thinking about building decentralized Chaumian ecash since the mid 1990s. When Bitcoin came out, he was the first cypherpunk to write a blog post about it. And today, he's honoring Satoshi's last wish of researching ZK proofs with Zcash.Time stamps:Introducing Zooko (00:00:55)Early Cypherpunk and Digital Cash Days (00:03:18)Cypherpun…

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S16 E28: Proof of Work Alliance with Charles Chong, Summer Meng & Spencer Yang 1:21:34

6M ago1:21:34

1:21:34

In a predominantly Proof of Stake world, The Proof of Work Alliance emerges as a champion of research & education among Proof of Work miners. Fractal Bitcoin's Charles Chong & Spencer Yang, plus Bitmars' ASIC Queen Summer Meng tell us how it all works.Time stamps:Introducing Charles, Summer & Spencer (00:00:50)Overview of the PoW Alliance (00:01:43…

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S16 E27: David Seroy on Alpen Labs & ZK Rollups on Bitcoin 2:28:56

6M ago2:28:56

2:28:56

David Seroy works at Alpen Labs: the company which aims to bring an extended suite of financial applications to Bitcoin via ZK (Zero Knowledge) rollups. In this episode, we talk about the ideological divide in Bitcoin between builders & moonbois.Time stamps:Introduction to the Episode (00:00:56)Background on Alpine Labs (00:02:08)The Concept of ZK …

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S16 E26: Mark Edge on Freeing Ian Freeman & Free Talk Radio 1:48:23

6M ago1:48:23

1:48:23

Mark Edge is a libertarian radio veteran best known for co-hosting Free Talk Radio: a show that's responsible for helping lots of OGs discover Bitcoin. In this episode, he explains why his co-host Ian Freeman is unfairly imprisoned and needs our help.By Vlad Costea

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S16 E25: Chandra Duggirala & George Burke on Portal & Making Exchanges Obsolete 1:32:02

6M ago1:32:02

1:32:02

Chandra Duggirala & George Burke are co-founders of Portal: an ambitious project which aims to replace centralized exchanges with atomic swaps across chains. By using technologies like BitScaler, Portal OS & RAFA AI, Portal is a serious contender.-------------Time stamps:Introducing Chandra & George (00:01:02)Portal's Mission (00:02:26)Trust Minimi…

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S16 E24: Vitalik Buterin on the Future of Bitcoin & Ethereum 3:02:17

7M ago3:02:17

3:02:17

Vitalik Buterin is the creator of Ethereum, but he's also a true Bitcoin maximalist. In this episode, Vitalik tells his story as a bitcoiner, explains why he built Ethereum, and makes use of his knowledge to predict the future of the two networks.Time stamps:Introducing Vitalik (00:01:00) Vitalik's Early Involvement with Bitcoin (00:02:22) Writing …

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S16 E23: James O'Beirne on Bitcoin Development (CTV, CFSF & Big Blocks) 2:25:17

7M ago2:25:17

2:25:17

James O'Beirne is a Bitcoin developer who's not afraid to support unpopular improvement proposals: recently, he spoke about increasing the block size on the stage of OP_NEXT. He also works on CTV & CSFS, and tends to favor technical data over clout.Time stamps: 00:00:52 - Introducing James O'Beirne 00:02:00 - James O'Beirne's Current Bitcoin Core C…

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S16 E22: J-Dog on Counterparty & Bitcoin Tokens 2:07:36

7M ago2:07:36

2:07:36

J-Dog is the former maintainer of Bitcoin's Counterparty protocol – a role which he fulfilled for about 8 years. Under his stewardship, XCP witnessed the creation of legendary collections such as Spells of Genesis, Rare Pepes, and Fake Rares – even my Bitcoin Heads and Leftist Tears were created when he was the lead developer and he provided some u…

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S16 E21: Filip Baturan on Tanari, Citrea & DeFi on Bitcoin 1:05:31

7M ago1:05:31

1:05:31

Filip Baturan is the CEO of Tanari – a decentralized finance application suite that's built on top of Citrea. With it, bitcoiners can enjoy the features and user experience from banking applications such as Revolut... but within a self-custodial and sovereign environment, where the user sets the rules. The discussion centers around Tanari's vision …

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S16 E20: Felix Billbert on Wave Space & Spending Bitcoin 1:35:41

7M ago1:35:41

1:35:41

Felix Billbert is the Chief Maximalist at Wave Space: a European company which specializes in making bitcoin easy to spend. They offer a Visa debit card, a swapping service for BTC/EUR pair, Lightning network support... all of which is wrapped inside a non-custodial environment.The conversation explores the challenges of building a Bitcoin business…

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S16 E19: Daniel Krawisz on Bitcoin & Narcissism 4:09:28

7M ago4:09:28

4:09:28

In 2014, Daniel Krawisz was one of the most prolific Bitcoin writers: he published some excellent articles with the Nakamoto Institute, and most of them are still relevant. Today, he prefers BSV and believes that Craig Wright is Satoshi. What changed?Time stamps:Time stamps:00:00:50 - Introducing Daniel Krawisz00:02:40 - Bitcoin Takeover00:05:30 - …

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S16 E18: Rockstar Dev & Max Hillebrand on Privacy 3:40:31

7M ago3:40:31

3:40:31

Privacy has had a couple of rough years: companies & protocols shut down, developers got arrested, governments issued new regulations... regardless, Rockstar Dev & Max Hillebrand join the show to discuss privacy & open source tools for sovereignty.By Vlad Costea

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S16 E17: Ben Arc on LNBits v1 & The State of Lightning Network 7:23:42

7M ago7:23:42

7:23:42

Ben Arc is the creator of LNBits: a modular Lightning network wallet which, after 5 years of development, has just launched version 1. To celebrate this remarkable milestone, ”the CEO of Nostr” joins the show to talk about everything interesting in Bitcoin.Time stamps:00:00:53 - Introducing Ben Arc 00:01:08 - Ben Arc and LNBits V1 00:02:23 - LNBits…

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S16 E16: Andreas Brekken on SideShift & Bitcoin Moderation 1:18:43

8M ago1:18:43

1:18:43

Andreas Brekken is best known for creating SideShift.ai and acting as the CEO of Shitcoin.com. In this episode, he talks about his views on Bitcoin development, the emergence of DeFi, and the reasons why he considers cryptocurrencies superior to fiat.Time stamps: Introducing Andreas Brekken (00:00:51)The Sam Bankman-Fried Interview on Shitcoin.com …

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S16 E15: Marko Tarman on NiceHash & Proof of Work Mining 1:56:50

8M ago1:56:50

1:56:50

Marko Tarman has been mining Bitcoin since 2012 – and today, he works as Lead Mining Manager at NiceHash. In this episode, we talk about the current trends in Proof of Work mining and the commodification of hash rate.By Vlad Costea

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S16 E14: Adam Krellenstein on Counterparty & Bitcoin Tokens 1:28:57

8M ago1:28:57

1:28:57

Adam Krellenstein is one of the co-founders of Counterparty and the current maintainer of the protocol. In this episode, he talks about his plan to improve Bitcoin native tokens and why you should consider giving XCP a chance.Time stamps:Introducing Adam Krellenstein (00:00:50)Counterparty’s Unique Features (00:01:30)Historical Significance of Coun…

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S16 E13: Corbin Fraser on Bitcoin.com & BTC vs BCH 2:35:15

8M ago2:35:15

2:35:15

Corbin Fraser is the new CEO of Bitcoin.com. In this episode, he talks about the Scaling Wars, his perspective as a BCH advocate, and the lessons the market taught him over the years. Also, he explains why the news section of Bitcoin.com improved.Introducing Corbin Fraser (00:00:50)Bitcoin.com’s Evolution (00:01:52)Support for Multiple Cryptocurren…

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S16 E12: Martti Malmi on Bitcoin in 2009 & Satoshi Nakamoto 1:05:05

8M ago1:05:05

1:05:05

Martti Malmi, aka Sirius, was Satoshi Nakamoto's closest collaborator between 2009 and 2010. In this episode, he reminisces about the early days of Bitcoin, but also describes his recent adventures with Nostr & the Lightning Network.Time stamps:Introducing Martti (00:00:48)Martti's Work on Nostr (00:02:03)Nostr's Origins and Purpose (00:03:31)Self-…

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S16 E11: Paul Sztorc on Roger Ver 3:45:44

9M ago3:45:44

3:45:44

Despite your bad memories from the Block Size war, you should support Roger Ver's campaign for clemency – or at least this is what Layer Two Labs CEO Paul Sztorc thinks you should do. In this episode, we discuss why Roger deserves to stay free.Time stamps:Introducing Paul Sztorc (00:00:54)The host welcomes listeners and introduces guest Paul Sztorc…

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S16 E10: Eric Voskuil & John Carvalho on Bitcoin & Austrian Economics 8:21:14

9M ago8:21:14

8:21:14

In recent years, Bitcoin has undergone a major culture shift which promotes stagnation, complacency & simping to politicians over maximizing the utility of the money. Eric Voskuil & John Carvalho join the show to remind everyone what the mission really is.State of Bitcoin - [00:01:17]Bitcoin Maximalism - [00:01:32]Bitcoin as a Ponzi Scheme - [00:02…