Stephan Livera Podcast

Walt Smith of cyber.fund joins me to discuss thoughts on MEV and where it may be going on Bitcoin.  We discuss: Defining MEV 10 minute block time? Does it centralise Bitcoin? Suffering from success The approach on shitcoins and spam Timestamps: (00:00) - Intro  (02:02) - Defining MEV (06:02) - Replace-by-fee (RBF) (11:01) - Concern regarding miner centralisation  (18:56) - Growth of private mempoo...

Silent Payments is a new approach to improving privacy and useability of Bitcoin. Imagine not needing to manually create new addresses? Josibake and Ruben Somsen join me to discuss some of the ins and outs of Silent Payments. We discuss: Silent Payments overview Contrast with other techniques such as BIP47  Light client support Stopping address re use Base layer privacy discussion Links: X: @josib...

Skot joins me to talk about his project to bring affordable, energy efficient, open source mining to home miners. We discuss: The current state of open source in bitcoin mining Bitaxe overview Why do people do this? Price and how to set one up Mining pools Decentralisation Links: X: @skot9000 Site: Bitaxe.org Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mempool.space Nomadcapitalist...

Rusty Russell rejoins me on the show to talk about a new idea for a bitcoin soft fork that hopefully avoids some of the ‘horse trading’ dynamic that existed amongst other proposals. Listen in to learn more about the different paradigm that Rusty introduces here, so that developers can build more functionality and efficiency in, hopefully so that more people can use Bitcoin in self-custody.  Bitcoi...

Dan Gould of the PayJoin Dev Kit (sponsored by Spiral and Opensats) joins me to discuss how Bitcoin privacy could be improved with more PayJoin adoption. What’s more, it might also benefit users in consolidating their wallets or potentially even fee savings. We discuss how this could be integrated into more bitcoin wallets.  What is a PayJoin? How it helps privacy Other benefits in efficiency Down...

Adam Sullivan, CEO of Core Scientific joins me today as we chat about: Going through bankruptcy as a Bitcoin miner Debt financing Role of capital structure in mining What makes Core Scientific different? Centralisation of mining pools Fee dynamics going forward 2025 outlook on Mining Links: X: @_Adam_Sullivan1 Core Scientific: C ore s cientific.com Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (co...

Rapha Zagury, CIO of Swan and Head of Swan Mining rejoins me on the show to talk about a range of topics, from Brazil’s flooding, Bitcoin Mining, Capital Structure, as well as share some insights on speaking to TradFi professionals about Bitcoin.  Links: X: @alphaazeta   Site: S wan.com Site: N akamotoportfolio.com Nakamoto Gauntlet: The Nakamoto Portfolio Gauntlet  Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA...

As you may know, at the recent Bitcoin++ conference, there was a ‘meeting of the minds’ and Brandon Black aka reardencode rejoins me on the show to discuss. We talk about:  The state of various covenant proposals What has shifted now in thinking The promise of Great Script Restoration Could it have bad side effects?  Doing good engineering Links: X: @reardencode  Bitcoin++: btcplusplus.dev   Rusty...

Miljan from Primal joins me to talk about why Bitcoiners should not sleep on Nostr. We chat: Why he’s bullish on nostr What the experience is like nowadays Network effects for creators and devs Dealing with spam and sybil Why Openness is the killer feature Links: X: @mbraticevic Site: P rimal.net Miljan’s Nostr npub: npub16c0nh3dnadzqpm76uctf5hqhe2lny344zsmpm6feee9p5rdxaa9q586nvr Miljan’s Nostr: m...

Peruvian Bull, a macro writer and commentator joins me to explain what’s happening with the Japanese economy and how it all ties in with the dollar end game. We discuss:  The impossible trinity for Japan Japanese government debt The global JPY carry trade The impact on the US financial system Links: X: @peruvian_bull Nostr: npub1xwmyzp64xx03kw9ecd7fzsj3e9dgwah6an0rdng0cc6ux4dswwjs28pyyc Newsletter...

Parker Lewis of Zaprite rejoins me on the show to discuss recent updates in the space and what’s happening with Zaprite and merchant adoption.  “Then they fight you” ? Chilling Effect Zaprite Getting Bitcoin Payment Rails Ready Gradually, Then Suddenly Why hope should not be lost Links: X: @parkeralewis Site: Zaprite.com   Get Parker’s Book: thesifhouse.com   Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinK...

A lot of people talk about Bitcoin Ossification. Today Steve Lee, Lead @ Spiral rejoins me to expand on why this is the wrong idea. We also talk about the recent situation with bitcoin mining  pool centralisation and what is driving it.  Links: X: @moneyball  AJ Town’s ‘Slow and Steady’ post mentioned :  Earlier episode also mentioned: SLP433 : v2 P2P Transport Protocol for Bitcoin (BIP324)   Spon...

Jeff Booth, author, entrepreneur and founding partner of Ego Death Capital rejoins me on the show to talk about his bitcoin advocacy at various levels:  Speaking to politicians about bitcoin The system you give energy to “Staying and fighting” in Canada vs supporting alternatives e.g. Madeira ‘Coincidental’ attack on Bitcoin?  Links: X: @JeffBooth nostr: npub1s05p3ha7en49dv8429tkk07nnfa9pcwczkf5x5...

How do you think about investing as a bitcoiner? Preston Pysh of TIP rejoins me on the show to talk about a range of related ideas:  HODL vs invest in companies Microstrategy and other public companies VC and early stage investment Realistic investment hurdle rates Technical realities as bitcoin grows Links: X: @PrestonPysh TIP: theinvestorspodcast.com nostr: npub1s5yq6wadwrxde4lhfs56gn64hwzuhnfa6...

Dmitry Nedospasov is a PhD in Chip Security, also known for his hardware wallet exploits in 2018 with the wallet.fail talk. Dmitry joins me to talk about hardware security in the world of bitcoin and how it compares with hardware chip security in other domains. We discuss: The 2018 wallet.fail talk Bitcoin compared with other industries Realistic hardware wallet attack types The cost of attacking...

Steve Lee and Matt Corallo of Spiral rejoin me on the show to talk about a range of topics. Firstly we discuss the Great Consensus Clean Up which relates to fixing some long standing bugs in Bitcoin. Secondly we talk about MEV and why it’s the wrong term, instead we should be talking about MEVil and the implications for Bitcoin miner centralisation. Finally we address the rumours of Lightning Netw...

Andrew Henderson rejoins me to discuss his story renouncing US citizenship, and whether the price was worth it. We discuss whether you should “stay and fight” as well as considerations relevant for Bitcoiners on pursuing their options in other countries. We also discuss Nomad Capitalist Live 2024, coming in KL Malaysia. Listen in to learn and stay up to date on global tax, investing and lifestyle...

Kevin Loaec of wizardsardine joins me to talk about bitcoin security and vaults. We get into a discussion about:  Vaults and what’s possible today  Timelocking and using them as part of self custody Inheritance scenarios Business use cases Covenant soft forks Links: X: @KLoaec X: @Wizardsardine X: @revaultdev Site: Wizardsardine   Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mempool...

Have you wondered about the role design and UX plays in Bitcoin apps? Christoph and Mogashni join me from the Bitcoin Design Community to share insights on: What most people are getting wrong about design How you can leverage design principles in your bitcoin product Bitcoin specific design challenges Types of user Tools available by the Bitcoin Design community Links: Site: Bitcoin.design Site: b...

Peter St Onge rejoins me on the show to share some insight into how bad the US government fiscal situation is getting. We talk: How much debt there is and what’s next here The impact on the people Japanese interest rates rising Japanese economic impacts AI and where the jobs will come from Bitcoin outlook Links: X: @profstonge Site: P rofs t o nge .com  Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.co...

Thomas Fahrer, co-founder of Apollo joins me to talk about the Bitcoin ETFs. We talk:  Analysing the Bitcoin ETFs What further institutional adoption looks like How much capital could flow into Bitcoin The Bitcoin FOMO scenario Disagreements on the power law model MSTR and Bitcoin Links: X: @thomas_fahrer   Site: Heyapollo.com   Sponsors: Swan.com (code LIVERA) CoinKite.com (code LIVERA) Mempool.s...

My friend Vijay Boyapati (Author of the Bullish Case for Bitcoin, and part of the Swan team) rejoins me on the show to talk about HODLing, share his analysis on things, and offer some tips on how to HODL. We talk: What phase of the cycle we’re in HODLer psychology Does Bitcoin get captured?  Is Bitcoin for Everyone? Self custody tech GBTC and Bankruptcies Common traps and how to avoid them Links:...

Mi Primer Bitcoin (My First Bitcoin) has grown since I last spoke with them on the show. John from the team rejoins me to talk about how things have developed. The team has now taught over 25,000 students in El Salvador and they are now expanding internationally.  Links: X: @jdennehy_writes Site: Miprimerbitcoin.io SLP381 John Dennehy & Gloriana Solano – Bitcoin Diploma in El Salvador Sponsors...

How do we interact with Bitcoin in a multi layer world? What cost savings and trade offs are necessary here? What even counts as a layer? Kilian from boltz.exchange joins me to talk about swapping across Bitcoin on-chain, Lightning and Liquid. We discuss: How swapping works What makes it atomic and non-custodial What counts as layer 2 Fee savings and trade offs Links: X: @kilrau Site: boltz.exchan...

Patrick van der Meijde, founder of BitKassa and co founder Arnhem Bitcoin City joins me to talk about his experience with co-founding one of the earliest Bitcoin ‘circular economy’ communities in 2014.  How he got started Taking payments pre-lightning Are there enough people spending? Resurgence in circular economies Adopting Bitcoin Arnhem City Links:  X: @PatrickvdMeijde Site: adoptingbitcoinarn...