@MMBeckerman@JeffBezos Defunding NASA entirely would save the US government roughly $24–25 billion per year (based on recent budgets), which is a tiny fraction of total federal spending and would have negligible direct impact on poverty or homelessness.
Bitcoin is not everyone, there isn't enough onchain bitcoin for everyone
We are lucky to be around a time where we can still afford to buy real bitcoin
It will look completely different in 10 yrs when most are sharing UTXO deriv on L2/3
Take your bitcoin security seriously
If you can’t answer "What is your 12-month LTV?" (based on profit, not revenue) without logging into five tools, you’re scaling a brand blindfolded.
A brand that knows its 12-month LTV by channel and segment will always outbid a brand that doesn’t.
"You can't access the bitcoin, so you're not a custodian."
That single sentence from @callebtc , the creator of the Cashu ecash protocol, just unlocked the biggest scaling breakthrough Bitcoin has had in years.
The reason ecash scaling has been limited to small community mints is because running a larger one makes you a money transmitter. Calle's solution: non-custodial Cashu mints running inside hardware enclaves. The bitcoin keys are generated inside the enclave and never leave it. The mint operator literally cannot access them. Even with full admin access to the server, they cannot steal the bitcoin.
Remove the custodial barrier and the design space explodes. Public organizations, businesses, community groups can all run mints without taking on custodial liability.
The security model is battle-tested. ACINQ already uses the same approach with AWS Nitro Enclaves to protect their massive Lightning node holding hundreds of millions in BTC.
The historical lineage is what gets me. In 2004, Hal Finney built RPOW (Reusable Proofs of Work) using IBM's secure cryptographic coprocessor. The server was "more trustworthy than an ordinary bank" because the hardware itself guaranteed the software hadn't been tampered with. Finney's system wasn't tied to an existing currency. Calle's is.
Cashu ecash backed by Bitcoin, running in a modern enclave, is RPOW's spiritual successor. Except this time it's built on the hardest money in human history.
The honest caveats: this doesn't reduce risk to zero. The biggest practical risk is denial of service. The operator could turn the mint off. But since they can't steal the bitcoin, there's no financial incentive to do so.
We're getting closer to having everything we want: privacy, ease of use, and reduced custodial risk, all on Bitcoin rails.
Hal Finney's vision, finally realized.
The XXI / Strike / Tether-linked business merger was the obvious part. I speculated about that from the get-go.
The real question was always: how do they make money? 🤔
Today we got the answer. 🎯
$XXI is acquiring (rumored hugely profitable) Strike for financial services and distribution. They're acquiring Elektron for its massive hashrate, nearly 5% of the security of the entire Bitcoin network. ⛏️
Tether is providing Strike a $2.1B credit facility to fund Bitcoin-backed loans. Mallers said "try me. Give me an order you don't think I can fill." 💪
Then they securitize the mining revenue and the loan book, sell those securities to capital markets for cash, and use the proceeds to buy more Bitcoin. Leverage the treasury. Repeat. 🔁
Mining feeds the treasury. Lending feeds the treasury. Capital markets feed the treasury. And Jack's in the lab designing products to sell to the markets.🧑🔬
Jack's grandfather chaired the Chicago Board of Trade. His father founded one of Chicago's largest futures brokerages. He's steeped in this stuff. Paolo has access to capital with Tether. SoftBank is the massive investment company backing them. 🏛️
The PIECES were always there. Today is the ASSEMBLY. 🧩
$XXI is becoming The Bitcoin Company. Good luck, @JackMallers. 😎
Don't forget to Stay Orange. 🟠