Stephan Livera Podcast

Latest Episodes:

SLP131 Parker Lewis - Bitcoin is Intuitive Dec 09, 2019

Show notes

Parker Lewis, Head of Business Development at Unchained Capital joins me in this episode to talk about a range of things:

How he went from global macro hedge fund to bitcoiner
What the Fed gets wrong
A Hayekian appreciation for bitcoin
His blog series, Gradually, Then Suddenly
Bitcoin becoming intuitive
Unchained Capital Caravan - open source & free multi sig

Links:

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SLP130 ErgoBTC - Tracking PlusToken Scammers with White Hat Bitcoin Chain Analysis Dec 04, 2019

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ErgoBTC, a pseudonymous bitcoin ‘white hat’ privacy analyst joins me in this episode to talk about his journey tracking PlusToken scammers in their attempts to mix and dump 200k BTC. This is a must listen episode for bitcoiners to understand how your privacy can be impinged, and we also talk about tools and techniques for assessing and defending your own bitcoin privacy.

We talk:

How he got into bitcoin privacy analysis
PlusToken scammers - what is the scale of it, and what did they do wrong
In depth discussion on bitcoin mixers and bitcoin privacy
Key takeaways for listeners, mixing products, exchanges on privacy
Future of chain analysis

ErgoBTC Links:

ErgoBTC Twitter: @ErgoBTC
Tracking the PlusToken Whale article: https://medium.com/@ErgoBTC/tracking-the-plustoken-whale-attempted-bitcoin-laundering-and-its-impact-on-wasabi-wallet-787c0d240192

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SLP129 Pascal Gauthier - Ledger, Bitcoin Security, and what to expect for 2020 Dec 02, 2019

Show notes

Pascal Gauthier, CEO of Ledger joins me in this episode to talk about Ledger Hardware Wallet devices. We talk:

Pascal’s background in bitcoin
Ledger device overview
Privacy while using Ledger
Multi signature
Bitcoin-only devices?
Future directions with Ledger devices

Pascal and Ledger links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ledger
Website: https://www.ledger.com

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Stephan Livera links:

SLP128 Jan Čapek - Stratum v2 Bitcoin Mining Protocol Nov 27, 2019

Show notes

Jan Čapek, co-CEO of Braiins and working at Slush Pool joins me to talk about this an upgrade to a Bitcoin Mining protocol, Stratum. Stratum V2 is the next generation protocol for pooled mining. It focuses on making data transfers more efficient, reducing physical infrastructure requirements for mining operations, and increasing security. In this conversation we get into some detail about:

How Jan got into Bitcoin and Bitcoin Mining
How the original Stratum protocol came about
What is new about Stratum v2
Benefits of Stratum v2
Relation with BetterHash
Bitcoin Pools generally

Jan Čapek and Stratum Protocol Links:

Sponsor links:

Kraken
Unchained Capital
21X.io (Previously Bitcoin Outlet) use code: LIVERA for 21% off
GiveBitcoin

Stephan Livera links:

SLP127 Ben Perrin (BTCSessions) - Bitcoin beginner onboarding strategies Nov 25, 2019

Show notes

Ben Perrin, host of BTCSessions YouTube channel joins me to talk about his experiences educating new Bitcoiners. Listen to this episode to get some tips on how you can spread bitcoin knowledge in a thoughtful way. We talk:

How Ben got into Bitcoin and doing a YouTube channel
Taking insights from his prior career as a teacher
Helping beginners avoid common errors
Bitcoin tools and wallets
Running a bitcoin node and comparing node products
Update from Bull Bitcoin and 21x

Ben Perrin links:

Twitter: @BTCSessions
YouTube: BTCSessions
Bull Bitcoin: BullBitcoin.com
Bitcoin merchandise: 21x.io

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Stephan Livera links:

SLP126 Ben Askren Nov 19, 2019

Show notes

Ben Askren, a recently retired pro Mixed Martial Artist and former Olympic Wrestler joins me to talk about how he got into Bitcoin and is now spreading the word about Bitcoin to his following! We talk:

How he got into Bitcoin
Common misconceptions
Why we run full nodes in Bitcoin
What’s next for him with Bitcoin

Ben Askren Links:

Sponsor links:

Kraken
Unchained Capital
Bitcoin Outlet use code: LIVERA for 21% off
GiveBitcoin

Stephan Livera links:

SLP125 Thomas Voegtlin - Electrum Wallet: Bitcoin seeds, PSBT, Multi sig, Lightning Nov 16, 2019

Show notes

Thomas Voegtlin, Founder of Electrum Wallet joins me to talk about how and why he started Electrum Wallet, one of the longest standing Bitcoin wallets (2011). In this interview we discuss a range of topics around the Electrum Server model, Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions, Bitcoin seed formats (BIP39), Multi signature, Hardware wallets and the recent announcement of Lightning in Electrum.

Links:

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SLP124 Jon Atack - Bitcoin Core Contribution Nov 12, 2019

Show notes

Jon Atack joins me to talk about his experience with open source software development, and to talk about the process of Bitcoin Core development and code review. We talk:

Becoming a Bitcoin Core contributor
How to best contribute
Communication channels for development
Priorities in Bitcoin development
Funding for development

Jon Atack Links:

Twitter: @jonatack (https://twitter.com/jonatack)
Github: @jonatack (https://github.com/jonatack)
Bitcoin Core PR Review Club: https://bitcoincore.reviews and https://twitter.com/BitcoinCorePRs
How to Review Bitcoin Core PRs: https://github.com/jonatack/bitcoin-development/blob/master/how-to-review-bitcoin-core-prs.md
How to Make Bitcoin Core PRs: https://github.com/jonatack/bitcoin-development/blob/master/how-to-make-bitcoin-core-prs.md
Bitcoin Core Peer Review process: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#peer-review
“On Consensus” by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF): https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7282

Sponsor links:

Kraken
Unchained Capital
GiveBitcoin
Bitcoin Outletuse code: LIVERA for 21% off

Stephan Livera links:

SLP123 Allen Piscitello - Sidechains & Blockstream Liquid Nov 08, 2019

Show notes

Allen Piscitello, VP Product of Blockstream joins me to talk about Blockstream Liquid as a new model for inter exchange settlement, and the possibility of building out new financial infrastructure in a way different from the legacy financial system. We talk:

Tradeoffs and differences between approaches of Lightning, Statechains, and Liquid
How pegging Bitcoin in and out of Liquid works
Features that Liquid’s blockchain has e.g. Confidential Transactions and Confidential Assets
How Liquid can enable much faster inter exchange settlement with different tradeoffs
How to get started developing on it
What the future of bitcoin market structure could look like with Liquid adoption

Allen and Blockstream Links:

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Stephan Livera links:

SLP122 PlanB - Responses to the S2F model Nov 04, 2019

Show notes

PlanB (Pseudonymous Bitcoin Quant) rejoins me in this episode to talk about the response to his seminal work, Modeling Bitcoin’s Value with Scarcity. There have been some responses to his Stock to Flow (S2F) modelling work, so we talk: