Jonathan Bier

Chief Investment Officer @farsideUK
Advisor @BitwiseInvest
Board Member @bitcoinbrink
Grant Program @MaelstromFund
Venture Partner @CadenzaVentures

[Jonathan Bier @jonathanbier]

@TheStalwart The book didn't cover this email much, as the email did not have a significant impact on the blocksize war

[Jonathan Bier @jonathanbier]

@TheStalwart It is discussed in Chapter 2

[Jonathan Bier @jonathanbier]

@hodlonaut FWIW

As part of my written response to questions for this article, I wrote the following about Gloria Zhao

[Brink @bitcoinbrink]

We’ve included a selection of highlighted contributions for each engineer we fund:

- Marco De Leon
- Sebastian Falbesoner
- Michael Ford
- Niklas Gögge
- Fabian Jahr
- Eugene Siegel
- Hennadii Stepanov
- Stéphan Vuylsteke

[Sjen_Anoubis 🌎🍕 @sjen_anoubis]

If you want to gift yourself a Xmas
Present, don’t sleep on this book from @jonathanbier

About “ Bitcoins Blocksize WAR”

I’m 5 chapters in and love it!

( there is a audio book version for ORDINALS boys n girls who can’t read)

[Maelstrom @MaelstromFund]

Maelstrom is pleased to announce that @spherostrat has been awarded a one year long Bitcoin development grant.

Please see the full press release below.

[1/3] 🧵

[Farside Investors @FarsideUK]

Amazing news!

🔥🔥🔥

Congratulations to @CryptoHayes and @spherostrat

[Mike Schmidt @bitschmidty]

Hey Dennis, as the co-organizer of most of the Bitcoin Core developer meetings in the last years, I can say there is no industry lobbying at these events. They are for the Bitcoin Core project contributors, not for industry.

You can see all of the events, each events' sponsors, as well as transcripts for the sessions (which began in the last years) here: https://t.co/46Fx7BPVon

Sponsors of these events simply have an acknowledgment of their sponsorship of the event on the website, which also serves as transparency as to who is sponsoring these events.

You are welcome to query or corroborate that these events are in no way related to industry lobbying with other co-organizers like @adamcjonas @moneyball @_jonasschnelli_ as well.

I wont tag the attendees of these historical events out of privacy, practicality, and out of consideration for not annoying them with this on social media, but they are welcome to attest to their experiences at these events as focused on Bitcoin technicals and the Bitcoin Core project and not in any way a venue for industry/companies to come lobby them.

--

Also, as the executive director of Brink, who I believe you are referring to as the recipient of Marathon's $500,000 donation, I can speak to that as well.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Brink must operate exclusively for the public good, not to benefit any individual, company, or donor. Donors cannot, and do not, direct our operations, programs, or decision-making.

Our donation agreements specifically also outline this clause: 'NO QUID PRO QUO: The Donation is made voluntarily and without expectation of goods, services, business advantages, or promotional benefits in return.'

Additionally our board of directors, including independent members, approve all donations of this size before we accept them. They have the sole and final authority over how all funds are used, and we are very protective of that independence. This ensures that every gift furthers Brink’s charitable mission and preserves our nonprofit status. There have been 8 board members of Brink over these 5 years of operation, 6 of which are independent from Brink (myself and John as co-founders being the other two). All of these board members have been publicly named and their reputations speak for themselves. Here are their twitter handles if you are curious: @jfnewbery @jerrybrito @actuallyCarlaKC @hrdng @Snyke @jonathanbier @Leishman @bitschmidty (this tagging will also alert them to this post so they can call out any falsehoods in my explanations)

We, voluntarily, also pay an third party independent auditing company, Rogers & Company, who can and does review these agreements and the associated donations, and flows of money in and out of Brink to ensure compliance.

This voluntary audit, that we choose to do and pay to do each year, is separate and in addition to our other obligations we have for compliance like annual 990 filings.

Additionally, we have a separate grant committee, that also includes independent members, who help decide which engineers to fund and which to continue funding. The quality and reputation of these members over the years also I believe speaks volumes.

The engineering applicants for Brink and the engineers that we end up funding, choose their own focuses for projects, sub projects, and research areas. We simply provide them the funding to execute on their vision.

Additionally, we specifically have crafted the agreements we have with the engineers that we fund to be favorable for their independence. For example, for the engineers that we employ, we have a zero notice out clause for engineers, so that in the event Brink acted in a way they object to, they can immediately terminate the agreement (whereas Brink must give 3 months notice). We also simply state in the agreement that the expectation we have of the engineers is to execute the work described in their own proposal.

The board, the grant commitee, myself, Emily (who oversees much of the administration, operations, and compliance), and the donors do not direct the day-to-day work of the engineers.

Any of our current or past engineers can also happily attest or object to anything that I have said here: @macrohead7 @fanquake @hhebasto @theStack @dergoegge @stphnvlstk @fjahr Crypt-iQ (no twitter), @jesseposner, @lightlike1, @brrrunog, @0xB10C, @tdryja, @afilini, @larryruane, @palazzovincenzo, @glozow

I hope that both the structure of Brink, our processes, as well as the number and independence of people involved at all levels that Ive outlined here can show how seriously we take the independence of Brink as an organization from our donors as well as our engineers' freedom from Brink as an organization.

[⚡️네딸바 🇳🇱 daughter's daddy @nldd21]

[블록사이즈 전쟁 스페이스 공지]

예고해드렸던 대로, 블록사이즈 전쟁📖의 저자 @jonathanbier를 모시고 스페이스(영어)를 진행합니다!

📅 날짜: 8월 14일 (목요일 밤 10시)
���� 진행: @nldd21
🤝 주선: @kcalvinalvinn

궁금한 점은 댓글 또는 @nldd21로 DM 주세요!

아래 링크를 통해 스페이스 예약 알림 가능합니다⬇️⬇️
https://t.co/qXNZZLBh54

[Teddy Fusaro @teddyfuse]

Epic book for all bitcoin historians and those interested in the history of bitcoin (by @bitwise advisor @jonathanbier)

[Joe Weisenthal @TheStalwart]

@jonathanbier Even if you're not really into Bitcoin or anything, you might still find the book to be fascinating, as there's tons in there about how group dynamics form and then harden over time in the presence of conflict. Just the sociology of it is worth studying. https://t.co/80a1QBTih3

[BitMEX Research @BitMEXResearch]

Maelstrom Announces Its Fourth Bitcoin Developer Grant Recipient

https://t.co/PniZYo3MBS

[Jonathan Bier @jonathanbier]

Congratulations to Ron!

🔥🔥🔥

[BitMEX Research @BitMEXResearch]

Maelstrom Announces Its Fourth Bitcoin Developer Grant Recipient

https://t.co/PniZYo3MBS

[Maelstrom @MaelstromFund]

[1/2] Maelstrom is delighted to formally announce the fourth grantee on our open source Bitcoin grant program

A grant to Ron, to work on privacy (Silent Payments BIP 352)

https://t.co/KvvbLXrDXn

[Jonathan Bier @jonathanbier]

Congratulations to Ben Allen!

🔥🔥🔥

https://t.co/f7q2hIAcqx

[Jonathan Bier @jonathanbier]

@Nicolas_B58 @Justdoitalex Reported thanks

[Jonathan Bier @jonathanbier]

Congratulations

Amazing news with the generous donation!

[Alexander Leishman 🇺🇸 @Leishman]

We're six years old! The past year was huge for both Bitcoin and @River, as we've made substantial progress towards our mission of building the world's most trusted financial institution.

This growth is thanks to our wonderful clients, partners, team, and the Bitcoin community. We will keep building on this momentum, and want to share what we are focusing on in the year ahead.

We also want to say a huge "thank you" to open-source Bitcoin developers. Without their tireless work, Bitcoin would not be where it is today. We recently announced a program to grant them zero-fee status on River, and we are donating another $50k to Bitcoin developer organization Brink.

What we are focused on:

The most important thing I’ve learned while building River is that focus is critical. A talented team can get a lot done, but needs to be focused on clear, meaningful goals in order to have a consequential impact. Given that, here are the three themes of our focus at River:

Our Clients:

Every decision we make, every feature we build, starts with providing value to you. Our clients come first and solving your needs is our highest priority.

We want to help you succeed in the long run and we strive to do this in a way that is transparent, innovative, and delightful. This year we will be building a number of highly requested features to serve you as the transition to a dual-money era continues.

Our Mission

At River, our mission is to build the world’s most trusted financial institution. This means we will only make decisions that allow us to sleep at night. Companies in this space have failed by taking unnecessary risks with client funds and neglecting to invest in security. We will never do that.

Naturally, we remain Bitcoin-only. It is the first money that allows for Proof of Reserves like we have at River, and the only cryptocurrency you can comfortably recommend to family and friends. This focus means we can dedicate our resources to building valuable features for you, without the distraction of a constant stream of new tokens.

Our Team:

We can only execute on our mission with a team of high-agency, mission-aligned people. We continue to hire the best builders we can find.

If you’re looking for a challenge and want to be a part of what we're building, come join us!

[Teddy Fusaro @teddyfuse]

Weekend reading from Bitwise’s newest advisor @jonathanbier excited to dive in!

[Jonathan Bier @jonathanbier]

@malekanoms @bitwise Thanks @malekanoms

[Jonathan Bier @jonathanbier]

Thrilled to be joining @bitwise as an advisor!

[Bitwise @Bitwise]

Today we’re thrilled to announce the appointment of @jonathanbier as an advisor to Bitwise.

Jonathan is the author of the book “The Blocksize War,” serves on the board of Brink, and is one of the most thoughtful minds on Bitcoin protocol developments.

Bitcoin has no CEO, no foundation, and no employees. Bitcoin is in part a decades-long story of an unprecedented, decentralized collaboration of countless developers, thinkers, educators, and operators around the world aspiring for a better and freer system, contributing their efforts to stewarding bitcoin to that end.

Today, Bitwise manages $12 billion in client assets. We view it as our responsibility to contribute as well. And as we grow we’re in the fortunate position to do so, thanks to the trust investors place in us as a partner.

Jonathan will advise Bitwise on how we can most productively do our part as we engage further in 2025.

We’ve never been more excited about the chapter ahead for Bitcoin. We’re grateful to be part of this movement alongside all of you.