Stephan Livera Podcast

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 a hardware device
• Back...

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 Network being dead or not useful. 

Lin...

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 strategies.  Links: 

• X: @nom...

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 LIV...

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: bitcoindesig...

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: Profstonge.com 

Sponsors:

• Swan.com (code LIVERA)
• CoinKite.c...

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)
...

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:

• X: @r...

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:

• Swan.com...

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.exchange
• X: @...

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: adoptingbitcoinarnhem.co...

While in Madeira for Bitcoin Atlantis, I did some interviews on a range of topics with Lyn Alden, James Lavish, Tomer Strolight, Francis Pouliot, Steven Roose and Peter Todd. We discussed:

• is Macro mid curve? 
• USG debt
• Using analogies to teach bitcoin
• librerelay
• MEV concerns
• Self custodial and scaling

Links:

• Lyn Alden X: @LynAldenContact
• Site: lynalden.com 

• James Lavish X: @jameslavish
• S...

What applications exist for Bitcoin self custodial finance? Philipp Hoenisch, founder of 10101 (pronounced ten-ten-one) joins me on the show to talk about bitcoin trading without counterparty risk. We discuss:

• DLC overview and basics
• DLC channels and lightning
• 10101 walkthrough
• “Funding rate”
• Synthetic stablecoins
• For individuals or business?
• Risks and things can break down

Prior Episodes:

• SLP349 Chri...

Eric Yakes, author of The 7th Property, joins me to talk about the future of Bitcoin Banking, LN and ecash. We discuss:

• Chaumian mints and ecash
• Interaction with LN
• Credit markets in the future
• How does the system remain Full Reserve? 
• Regulatory roadblocks
• Will there be a role for passive index funds? 

Links:

• X: @ericyakes 
• axiombtc.capital/bank 
• Site: Yakes.io

Sponsors:

• Swan.com (code ...

Brian Morgenstern, Head of Public Policy of Riot Platforms joins me to talk about the latest attack on Bitcoin miners: 

• Is Bitcoin mining a partisan issue? 
• The EIA “Survey”
• Falsehoods on grid stability and emissions
• False Emergency
• What to do about it

Links:

• X: @MorgensternNJ 
• Thread https://twitter.com/MorgensternNJ/status/1754634147232977246
• X: @TXblockchain_ 
• Sen. Lummis declares the survey to be...

Ben Carman of Mutiny Wallet rejoins me on the show to talk about what’s coming next for Bitcoin. We talk about scaling Bitcoin and contrast the different mindsets, discuss different soft fork proposals and directions Bitcoin could go. We also talk about what impact covenants will have and the latest with Mutiny Wallet. 

• Bitcoin’s biggest challenges
• Taxonomy of Bitcoin development culture
• Soft forks and covenants
• What ‘c...

Do the lies about Bitcoin frustrate you? Join us in this episode as we discuss the ways to dispel and debunk some of the most egregious false climate narratives on Bitcoin with Daniel Batten, Managing Partner at CH4 Capital. We discuss:

• The biggest bitcoin climate myths
• Dishonest portrayal in the media
• “Per transaction” fake methodology
• Where Cambridge CCAF is wrong
• Bitcoin’s PoW and ‘ideological intransigence’
• ESMA ...

We talk about monetary maximalism, and whether everything is good for bitcoin with Christian Keroles of HRF. We discuss:

• Monetary maximalism: descriptive or prescriptive
• Bitcoin Spam 
• Antifragility
• What bitcoiners are getting wrong on personal finance
• How 2023 played out with “ordinals”
• Not being used to winning

Links:

• X: @ck_SNARKs
• Site: HRF.org
• Site: https://cbdctracker.hrf.org/home

Sponsors:

We’re trying something a little different this episode! While at Bitcoin Oasis 2024 in Dubai I captured some short interviews with some speakers at the conference. We covered a wide range of topics ranging from Bitcoin Spam, to nation state adoption and honestly grappling with bitcoin user adoption trade offs. The speakers interviewed are:

• Alejandro De La Torre of Demand Mining
• Luke Dashjr of Ocean Mining
• Prince Philip of ...