Episode notes
As of 2024, Roger Ver has been in Bitcoin for 7 years and in Bitcoin Cash for 7 years. This episode is a reflection on his journey and an attempt to bring back one of the greatest Bitcoin advocates and entrepreneurs. We also recorded this on Ross Ulbricht's 40th birthday, while he was still in prison with seemingly low chances of ever experiencing freedom again.
Time stamps:
00:00:00 - Intro: Roger Ver, Ross Ulbricht's 40th birthday, seven years BTC / seven years BCH
00:01:44 - "I never left Bitcoin": white paper vs BTC branding; bitcoin.com, Blockchain.com, Ripple
00:02:31 - White paper gaps; why this interview now; Saylor vs early Roger
00:03:20 - Freedom maximalist, not coin maximalist; Free Talk Live and Silk Road
00:04:05 - Ross donations; get-free-quick vs get-rich-quick; other chains for freedom
00:05:40 - Merchant abandonment; Blockstream baseball-bat-and-crutches metaphor; Liquid
00:06:27 - 2011 confiscation talk; Scaling Bitcoin conferences; BIP101 context
00:08:02 - Low-fee alt commerce, Tron USDT, Wasabi sponsor read
00:09:34 - Roger on displaced BTC commerce; Lightning as flying saucers
00:11:07 - Civil interview ground rules; Vlad's Lightning routing losses and LSP era
00:14:15 - Paul Sztorc / Drivechains; Roger on Wallet of Satoshi and CashFusion costs
00:17:25 - Ossification skepticism; asking what changed Saylor's mind
00:18:58 - Mt. Gox scars; 28,000 BTC lost on an earlier exchange; keys not coins
00:20:32 - Early BCH / Monero / Zcash / Dash; financial prison walls worry
00:22:54 - Ossification debate; CashFusion chain-analysis story
00:25:16 - How CashFusion works; Wasabi collaboration note
00:26:02 - Paul Sztorc's sarcastic Lightning manifesto, read aloud
00:27:34 - Lightning as hyped vaporware; Libra / Marcus aside
00:29:11 - Medium of exchange vs store of value; Expedia still gone; custodian irony
00:31:30 - "Free market spoke" pushback; ETFs, listings, Monero bans; lemming buyers
00:33:49 - Custodian seizure risk; Strike / El Salvador account warning
00:36:07 - 6102 bull narratives; steal-of-value joke; Hodling.ch Swiss custody ad
00:38:25 - Hijacking Bitcoin: delays, publishers, why the book now
00:40:44 - DDoS, bitcoin.org, spam floods; Amir Taaki Segway story
00:43:01 - Greg Maxwell Blockstream photo / quote slides
00:45:17 - Craig Wright checksum story; Calvin Ayre; admitting you were fooled
00:49:10 - Ben Arc question: come back to Bitcoin? Zano privacy tokens pitch
00:51:27 - Paid questions; Algorand/Alium confusion; scammer smear and fireworks felony
00:55:18 - Donating question pot to Ross; Ian Freeman ATM case; write prisoners letters
00:57:42 - BCH vs BSV vs eCash; market cap vs price per coin
00:59:15 - Carvalho rematch offer declined; Ordinals and SegWit discount vindication
01:02:18 - False-pretenses debate with Carvalho; Borat analogy; apology condition
01:04:40 - Companies stopped using Bitcoin; Adam Back / Liquid incentive claim
01:06:59 - Censorship effectiveness; small blocks centralized users into custodians
01:08:31 - Vlad's come-back pitch: BitVM, covenants, hacker spirit, Ethereum alumni
01:12:29 - BCH as evolutionary stress test; BlackRock fork hypothetical
01:14:03 - Stalling Bitcoin conferences; razor-close ticker war; ten years behind
01:16:22 - Best pitch for disruptive BTC cash: Season 15 playlist and BitVM
01:20:17 - Bedtime; Hijacking Bitcoin.com / Amazon; Supra Cycle and Lambo sold for BTC
01:23:23 - Still holds BTC and many other coins; closing thanks
01:24:08 - Outro: Satochip, Satodime, Cryptosteel, civil interview hope
Time stamps:
00:00:00 - Intro: Roger Ver, Ross Ulbricht's 40th birthday, seven years BTC / seven years BCH
00:01:44 - "I never left Bitcoin": white paper vs BTC branding; bitcoin.com, Blockchain.com, Ripple
00:02:31 - White paper gaps; why this interview now; Saylor vs early Roger
00:03:20 - Freedom maximalist, not coin maximalist; Free Talk Live and Silk Road
00:04:05 - Ross donations; get-free-quick vs get-rich-quick; other chains for freedom
00:05:40 - Merchant abandonment; Blockstream baseball-bat-and-crutches metaphor; Liquid
00:06:27 - 2011 confiscation talk; Scaling Bitcoin conferences; BIP101 context
00:08:02 - Low-fee alt commerce, Tron USDT, Wasabi sponsor read
00:09:34 - Roger on displaced BTC commerce; Lightning as flying saucers
00:11:07 - Civil interview ground rules; Vlad's Lightning routing losses and LSP era
00:14:15 - Paul Sztorc / Drivechains; Roger on Wallet of Satoshi and CashFusion costs
00:17:25 - Ossification skepticism; asking what changed Saylor's mind
00:18:58 - Mt. Gox scars; 28,000 BTC lost on an earlier exchange; keys not coins
00:20:32 - Early BCH / Monero / Zcash / Dash; financial prison walls worry
00:22:54 - Ossification debate; CashFusion chain-analysis story
00:25:16 - How CashFusion works; Wasabi collaboration note
00:26:02 - Paul Sztorc's sarcastic Lightning manifesto, read aloud
00:27:34 - Lightning as hyped vaporware; Libra / Marcus aside
00:29:11 - Medium of exchange vs store of value; Expedia still gone; custodian irony
00:31:30 - "Free market spoke" pushback; ETFs, listings, Monero bans; lemming buyers
00:33:49 - Custodian seizure risk; Strike / El Salvador account warning
00:36:07 - 6102 bull narratives; steal-of-value joke; Hodling.ch Swiss custody ad
00:38:25 - Hijacking Bitcoin: delays, publishers, why the book now
00:40:44 - DDoS, bitcoin.org, spam floods; Amir Taaki Segway story
00:43:01 - Greg Maxwell Blockstream photo / quote slides
00:45:17 - Craig Wright checksum story; Calvin Ayre; admitting you were fooled
00:49:10 - Ben Arc question: come back to Bitcoin? Zano privacy tokens pitch
00:51:27 - Paid questions; Algorand/Alium confusion; scammer smear and fireworks felony
00:55:18 - Donating question pot to Ross; Ian Freeman ATM case; write prisoners letters
00:57:42 - BCH vs BSV vs eCash; market cap vs price per coin
00:59:15 - Carvalho rematch offer declined; Ordinals and SegWit discount vindication
01:02:18 - False-pretenses debate with Carvalho; Borat analogy; apology condition
01:04:40 - Companies stopped using Bitcoin; Adam Back / Liquid incentive claim
01:06:59 - Censorship effectiveness; small blocks centralized users into custodians
01:08:31 - Vlad's come-back pitch: BitVM, covenants, hacker spirit, Ethereum alumni
01:12:29 - BCH as evolutionary stress test; BlackRock fork hypothetical
01:14:03 - Stalling Bitcoin conferences; razor-close ticker war; ten years behind
01:16:22 - Best pitch for disruptive BTC cash: Season 15 playlist and BitVM
01:20:17 - Bedtime; Hijacking Bitcoin.com / Amazon; Supra Cycle and Lambo sold for BTC
01:23:23 - Still holds BTC and many other coins; closing thanks
01:24:08 - Outro: Satochip, Satodime, Cryptosteel, civil interview hope
