Lightning Round
The Lightning Network Will Help Make Bitcoin the Most Widely Used Medium of Exchange in the World
Before we dive in today, Happy Mother’s Day to all your wonderful mamas out there! Big hugs to you all.
Editor’s note: Click on images to read the pieces cited in the newsletter.
Okay, now let’s get started.
The Lightning Network is a Layer 2 built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain that enables fast and easy payments with both bitcoin and fiat currencies.
It’s been around since 2018, but hasn’t been broadly adopted just yet.
That’s about to change though, as we move into this fifth bitcoin epoch where bitcoin will be more widely used as a medium of exchange, especially as more people build products that enable people and institutions to use Lightning.
One of these builders is David Marcus, former President of PayPal and former Vice President of Messaging Products at Facebook, who now serves as the CEO of Lightspark, a software as a service (SaaS) company that enables Lightning payments.
I interviewed David in person last week on behalf of Bitcoin Magazine while I was in Las Vegas. It was quite wild to sit across from the former head of PayPal and listen to him speak about how Bitcoin will be the neutral settlement layer for the world and how Lightning will be the largest payments network globally. He’s a true believer.
Here’s a link to the interview:
One of the first major companies to partner with Lightspark is Coinbase. You can now send the bitcoin you purchase on Coinbase to a Lightning wallet — except if you live in New York.
Why’s that?
Because New York is a clown state, governed corrupt politicians and bureaucrats who do everything in their power to protect the old financial guard, Wall Street.
More on that in this piece I wrote for Nasdaq:
And if you ever hear someone refer to New York City as the financial capital of the world, hand that person a Ronald McDonald wig and wish them the best of luck existing in this cruel world with their broken brain.
New York City is the heart of crony capitalism, which is essentially socialism for the rich. It’s not the financial capital of the world.
How could any jurisdiction that tries so desperately to hinder its residents from using bitcoin — the world’s public money — be considered the financial capital of the world? It can’t. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Okay, all of this talk of the parasites that are in control of NY is making my skin crawl. Let’s move on to discuss one of the realest cats building on Lightning.
Evan Kaloudis Isn’t F*cking Leaving
Two weeks ago, I wrote about how we’re in the midst of the “then they fight you” phase with Bitcoin.
The government’s recent crackdown on privacy-preserving software has had a chilling effect on the space to say the least. And while some companies decided to stop serving US residents, US citizen Evan Kaloudis, founder of the self-custody Lightning wallet, ZEUS, made it clear that both he and ZEUS weren’t going anywhere.
What a champ, right?
Inspired by Evan’s words and actions, I reached out to him and interviewed him for the latest edition of my Founders series for Bitcoin Magazine.
I also hosted a Spaces with Evan this past Thursday. You can listen to that here.
I highly recommend reading the piece or listening to the Spaces if you’re in need to a dose of inspiration.
Shout Out To Our Bitcoin Dadas
A round of applause for those who graduated in the 6th Bitcoin Dada cohort this week.
What’s a Bitcoin Dada you ask? Check out my piece on the program to learn more:
How Money and Banking Work
Lyn Alden, one of the sharpest macroeconomic analysts around, released an incredible video that condenses the lessons from her book Broken Money: Why Our Financial System Is Failing Us and How We Can Make It Better (the best book I’ve ever read on money) this week.
If you don’t click on any other links I shared in this edition of the newsletter, click on this one.
Lyn is a boss. She does an incredible job in showing you how fiat currencies and the traditional financial system are designed to rob from you and how Bitcoin is the alternative to these systems.
Alright. That’s all for this week!
Thanks for reading and talk soon.
Best,
Frank
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